How Did This Happen?

 I just finished lunch a bit ago. Bruce has gone to meet with Marji and David for a lesson in caning. As I sat at the parlor table, eating my ham sandwich, watching not only a beautiful Goldfinch at the feeder, but twin hummingbirds flying in and out of the porch before landing on their feeder. A squirrel was lapping up the water from the bird bath, which explains why it has been so dry of late. Yesterday morning as I went on the back porch I could just make out the bunny rabbit down below. The days are shortening at a rapid pace now. As are the changing trees. 

Following Hank's departure last evening, I peered at the sky and watched as the nearly-full moon appeared from the cloud cover, something that has been in very short supply here this summer. Clouds I mean.

We had him over for an early birthday dinner, although when I scheduled it, I thought yesterday was his birthday. 83 years young by the way! Once he has his new hearing aids he is going to be get-to-go.  Still giving flying lessons I might add. And riding his motorcycle to Asheville. Nancy is the keeper of the dates and in my foolishness I did not confirm the date with her, leading to my slight blunder. He could care less if we had him over on Monday or Thursday, he was thrilled having his birthday celebrated.  I have a whole series of birthday cake photographs of yet another failed baking attempt, fortunately saved by a suggestion from our friend Suzann. I will spare you the flop, but all is well that ends well. 

Maybe as you age you just find rolling with the punches is the way to go? Or maybe it is just me? 

At any rate, as I turned back toward the house, I was struck with the thought that we could not be any more pleased; it is like a dream come true, living in this sweet house with the scallopy screen door and crazy textured walls.

Wonder of wonders, those clouds produced some overnight rain that continued falling softly as we began the day.

It has been like a part time job keeping all my planters watered. I've never had so many pots of flowers before and it is glorious. Rain will make the job a wee bit easier.

I've got gold, red, orange, white and purple mums for the first time in my life. My whole life!

Perhaps you remember, well scratch that, of course you do not! Anyway, last early Autumn I purchased six plants of yellow mums, putting them in tiny pots along the front steps at the cottage. Circumstances dictated that we leave for two weeks, during which time we returned to Florida. Predictably, the mums died in our absence. Ever the optimist, I put them under cover of the cottage porch. We brought them here and if you can imagine, lo and behold, they began growing. Well those back porch steps were calling for some floral delights and by golly they are almost blooming! 

Notice the pan on the steps as you read this next bit. Because of all the heat, the hummingbird feeder developed mildew which I finally figured out how to get rid of.

I tried bleach which did a little, but after a while I discovered that hot water and bleach might do the trick. The hot water did wonders, along with some vigorous shaking and finally it was clean. A bottle brush should be on my shopping list. Anyway, little missie here, screwed up, which come to think of it, is a bit of a theme in this post. Regardless of my botches, I seem to come out okay in the end. In this case, I mixed the sugar and water and set it on the burner on high. Duh, bad time to go out to water.  If you have ever smelled burnt sugar before you get it. Unpleasant indeed.

Something more pleasant is an example of how I love the lighting in this house.

As I walk through the rooms, I cannot resist documenting the many ways that the light comes in. The little tomatoes are from D'Anna's garden. 

Stick with me friends, we are a long way from being done!

Changing leaves, oh how I love thee.

Looking to the left from our front steps, the houses heading up the hill have more leaves to show off and as each day passes there is increased vibrancy.

Thinking of the steps reminded me of this little incident that is another example of all is well that ends well. I walked out that cute screen door and discovered this.

It is rare for a bird to sit still, so between that and seeing the red, I thought the finch was injured. Calling Bruce to come outside, he watched for a bit, wondering what he could do for the bird, when fortunately, he flew off. Not far mind you. It flew into the bushes near the feeder, resting for a bit before eventually flying off. Whew!

While we are on the subject of birds, I have some exciting photos to share with you. but not before an introduction. Or maybe explanation is a better choice of words? In any case, for nearly all summer long I have avoided walking and most especially the part called "Fisherman's Loop" because my experience has been one of misery on that portion due to an excessive amount of mosquitoes. As you well know, that is not a winning combination for me. Because we have had cooler nights (56 degrees), I assumed it might be safe. Ever the optimist, I took my chances and was I ever rewarded!! First, I saw a cool butterfly with a long name. Red-spotted Purple Admiral. That's most certainly a mouth -full!

A Buckeye. I always thought this was a Moth, but I stand corrected.

Those were good sightings, especially because I was not expecting much happening on that day and walk. But then, as I came closer to the confluence of the Valley River and the Hiwassee River, I heard a familiar sound. A Belted Kingfisher!

A very rare sighting for me, but that pales in comparison to seeing an Osprey!

Both birds are common as the day is long in my neck of the woods, but here? Not so much. I'm pretty sure I've seen neither since I've been in Murphy. Good stuff!!

Here's more good stuff. The Taco Bell tree is changing!

When we visited two years ago, our friend Karen described it as such because it is in their parking lot. She also described it as her favorite tree and I cannot wait to see a huge ball of orange before we know it!

So any idea what these are?

If you guessed Chestnuts, we have a winner! They are raining down from our backyard tree, as are leaves from an adjacent tree.

I will show you the case they pop out of in my next post. Scary business, covered in little spikes.

I'm still not done!

Not a week goes by without a stop at our favorite thrift stores. Above are the goodies I discovered in a  cookbook I had the pleasure of finding. During our first year of marriage, my dear husband bought me a set of these cookbooks for Christmas and I was so touched, I bawled like a baby. There's a picture in Orlando of that day. Look at this beautiful handwriting which will be legible to older folks.

Supper and card party!!! Isabelle! The letter in the photo above is from the Southern New England telephone company stating that they had no choice but to raise rates, dated November, 1968. Nothing new under the sun, right? 

You just know how much I love finding that kind of stuff!

I took lots of fun pictures of a great party we attended on Sunday afternoon with good friends and an outstanding setting. Most of those will wait for my next post but this one showed so much joy I want to include it today.

The first three ladies from the left are sisters and I have two sisters as well. I used to have five though. Typing that makes me feel super sad. By the way, these ladies are dancing in case you could not tell!

But as someone who believes that there is a reason for everything, I try not to dwell on that, instead I concentrate on the future which is bright. Especially when I concentrate on how much beauty there is yet to be discovered in our little corner of the world.

How did this happen??

Heaven only knows.

your friend,

Gail

The Heat is Gone

Yippee! It is 51 degrees as I type! The forecast for the next ten days has the highs mostly in the 70's, and even some days with a chance of rain, albeit slim. Obviously I don't know what to make of it but I've heard from a few folks that because some leaves are already beginning to change, it means a colder winter, while others claim it is because of the lack of rain.  Then others claim who knows? 😀

Apparently, Orlando is drowning in rain, whereas here, there has been so very little. 

Our Japanese Maple tree continues its' changing ways, yellow, orange, green, you name it. After I began writing this entry earlier this morning, I went outside to see what I could see. Running into two women who were walking the neighborhood with their walking sticks in hand, I asked them how long they have lived in the area. 37 years as it turns out. Posing the question about the changing leaves, she is in the drought camp. Asking me if was I staying in the bed and breakfast that was within eyesight, I answered no I was not, but I do live across the street. Further into the conversation she expressed the opinion that this amazing tree would next turn red, something that will delight me to no end.

Labor Day was spent with friends at Cobby and Diane's house, mostly outside on the deck, over top of a babbling brook, fed by a small waterfall.

Oh my goodness, my photo library is acting crazy showing a jumble of photos taken many moons ago, such as this one of a Sandhill Crane colt.

A gorgeous pair of Barred Owls!

But that was then, and this is now. Let's see if I can find them.

Here we go....

They each have a grill and one to spare as well.

Here's the group with Florida heavily represented, although there are some Georgians, South Carolinians, along with Alabama which is where Diane is from. Oops, I forgot Texas. In other words, all transplants!

We were slightly less busy the rest of the week, or at least I was. The same could not be said for Mr. Peck as he has been working many days over at the ramp which looked like this after Saturday's work session. 

Dr. Dan sent the photo with Tom and Jane in the doorway. Much of the pictured hand rails will look more like the posts you see in the foreground when it is complete. Many men have contributed lots of hours as well, but it won't surprise you to learn that Bruce is over there as I type! Tomorrow afternoon more volunteers are coming, including our pastor, to help get this project done. 

It is a good thing we are close to town since I am left without transportation other than my feet! I used those feet late Saturday morning to pick up something I had on hold at the marketplace. While I won't show that because it might be a gift, I will show off another goodie, this amazing find for $30.

The minute I got home I carried it upstairs, hanging it on one of the many walls beside the bathroom. It is signed, Love, Oma, Christmas 2004. The work is impeccable, and it is so vibrant and cheery, it is my new favorite piece! 

Speaking of the stairs, one of the things I most love about this house is the light and now that the heat is mostly gone, the light has softened. Heading downstairs, which btw, I hold on to both the rail AND keep my elbow against the other wall, the light was so good I had to go and get a camera.

Easing your mind further, there is a rule in this house that the overhead light must be turned on before either of us goes down. 

That pretty light was coming in from this room.

While on the subject of lighting, I forgot to show off this adorable candle holder that Matt and Tom gave us! It is so cute and especially fun when lit up at night.

Isn't it just the cutest? We think there are maybe three hummingbirds that come to feed, one of which tried to find nectar in the above. They much prefer, drinking like mad of late, apparently in preparation for their upcoming migration.

With the onset of cooler weather, while Bruce has been gone, I have returned to walking ways in order to be up close and personal as the new season approaches. I came across something mysterious on my walk along the river the other day. My usually trusty iPhone was of no help in identifying this which was strewn about in several places. It is not cotton, or anything I've see before.

Here is something kind of fun. For the most part, when presented with an image of something, AI is doing a pretty darn good job, however, the mushroom below stumped it. A coral reef? I think not.

All summer I have not seen a mushroom to save my life, however, I came across some biggies on this walk. These were one of four different batches in one tree!

Here's another tree.

In addition to the mushroom sightings, I as lucky enough to come across one of what I have now learned is called a "Kindness Rock". 

The most amazing thing about this is that about a day after I took the above photo, Cynthia texted with the news that she and Ann were slated to teach a class on painting "Kindness" rocks! Because I have come across about four in my wanderings I was able to send her those images for inspiration, along with a Facebook page called, Murphy Rocks.  Isn't life just so fun?

This place was along my route to the river walk. RC Cola used to have a plant in town back in the day.

Something about seeing that broom beside the door just made me pick up my camera. Lots of texture going on as well!

 We've got mums in the house my friends, or more accurately, outside the house. I told you the weather was cooling off!

There was but one pot of white ones at Lowes, and as it turns out, not completely white! I moved the red begonias outside the back porch on the top of the red steps.

According to AI we have a European Beech tree, which may or may not be true, but whatever the tree is called, leaves have been falling for the last two weeks.

Wonder of wonder, last Sunday there were clouds in the sky and actually, on our way home from Mark and MaryBeth's lovely dinner party, it rained.

When I tell you the sky is blue, and all the way blue I really mean it. Linda and Randy having a chat after church on a nothing but blue sky kind of day.

Hopefully you are still reading and if so I have but one more story to share. Actually I have more, but if I want to keep my readers, I must learn to be more succinct! Anyway, as I was walking home from through town on my walk, I came across something I had yet to see and that was what appeared to be a family band performing outside of Cherokee Cellars before the evening's Art Walk began.

Live music is such a thing here in town, with the above group one of three scheduled to perform that night! 

Once home, and after resting for a few minutes, because although it may not seem like much, some of the hills are pretty steep for a Florida family! Anyway, we went first to Marketplace, running into Bob and Kem who told us that a good band was playing later at the Mason Bar. Okay, thanks for the info. But first we saw the chainsaw artists in the town square.

As well, we popped our head into the Ballroom where the Rotary Club was holding a book fair.

As is so often the case, conversation ensued and I learned that the woman I was speaking with had lived in Orlando for years. Bruce on the other hand was wearing his pickleball shirt and that always sparks conversation. That said, they moved to Murphy from Albuquerque, New Mexico, a place renowned for a bit hot air balloon festival, which she claimed was the only good thing about the place! 

Finally, I'm nearing the end! 

Indeed we did stick our head into the Mason Bar, discovering loads of folks we know and a very good band as well. Kem and Bob (cowboy hat) are out on the dance floor.

And here's the thing, a little later I was too! Saturday I was still smiling thinking about Heidi, a woman we just met, asking me if I wanted to dance. She also asked for my phone number so there was that. Actually they moved up not long ago from Venice, FL and the more people she meets the better for her. 

Secondly, I was thinking that one thing that I really like about here is that it is okay to be old. An article published this week in the Cherokee Scout cited a recent study about North Carolina demographics, and Cherokee county has the second oldest median age in all of North Carolina, making up 52% of the population. In the coming weeks they will be delving into those numbers in more detail, so while it is good for us, maybe it is not so good for the area? We shall see what they report.

On a lighter note, the heat is gone and I am a happy old lady who hopes she does not have to eat her words!

your friend,

Gail