Decreasing Daylight

 My goodness me, I am several days behind my promised weekly blog post and for that I apologize. As the title suggests, daylight is diminishing and with it has come some crazy busy days. Weeks, for that matter. It seems as if with the impending cold, activities are scheduled at a frenzied pace. 

What a good problem to have, right?

Baby it is cold outside! This morning the front porch temperature read one thing while the back porch read another, however, the real story was told by the frost found on the front lawn, as well as the bird feeder lid that I just  went outside to fill. I'm thinking that gloves may be in order for the upcoming winter.

So what does one do when the temperature plunges? Make chicken noodle soup of course!

To be honest, I made it for what I imagined would be lunch here at the house when our friend Karen from Orlando  came for a visit yesterday. 

In addition to that, I made an apple crisp that while tasty, is not the most photogenic dessert. Neither were consumed with Karen because, as I thought about things more, I decided that because the last time she visited while we were living at the cottage, she and Rich did not get a chance to see the sweet town we fell in love with, Instead, she came first to play pickleball, next we took a walk along the river, followed be the house tour. It was a nostalgia trip for her as her folks had a home built in 1925 in Orlando. We walked into town with our friend Nancy, got a table at the Mason Bar and waited for another Murphy friend of Karen's to meet us for lunch. It was delightful, cut shot though because Bruce and I were to meet at Laura and John's at 3 PM for yet another adventure.

A pontoon boat ride on Lake Chatuge with their friends, Steve and Sue! Laura brought blankets and all of us were in our coats to ward off the chilly windy weather that one encounters on a boat in 45 degree weather. 

A brilliant blue sky overhead, along with the warm sunshine and spectacular mountain views made for a great time. Steve and Sue were super nice, their home lovely, his visiting sister was a dynamic person and the meal they prepared was fantastic. What, pray tell is there not to like?

Plus, the drive home was lit by a gorgeous full moon. This morning though, the fog is still thick and the frost as mentioned is on the ground. I am trying to get this written before we head to work at the bi-monthly free lunch at church, but we shall see how far I get.

Meanwhile, your favorite blogger's husband is in the basement working on his chair project. A few days ago he met with his group to continue the process. Arthritis in his hands prevented him from getting done as much as he liked, so he brought it home in order to catch up.

It is a complicated process with many layers of weaving involved.

It looks to me as if he is doing an excellent job. No surprise there, right?

Meanwhile the lady of the house made a wall hanging for her sewing room. Seeing the design online, there were no instructions, but you know who figured out the measurements and off I went, using the fabric I bought at the local art gallery the week before. Did I write about that? Walmart donated all of their bolts of fabric because they were going to folded fabric. The price is definitely right! I put it all together and of course it wasn't exactly square so...

Since the picture was taken, I've finished it up, adding tabs on the back for hanging, as well as the binding. Another project that, while working on, I second-guessed myself but in the end I think it turned out pretty neat. Instead of above the futon as I envisioned, I think we will hang it in the upstairs hallway. And what shall we use to hang it on you ask? Stopping at one of our favorite thrift stores on the way to Blue Ridge, we roamed around and what should I see for $1.00? A large wooden dowel that will work perfectly! Woo hoo! One of the things, and there are not a whole lot of them., but one thing that I feel as I age is less confidant in my ideas and choices. Writing that statement I'm wondering if that is a good thing or a bad thing? Your thoughts.

We were heading to Blue Ridge because, as mentioned above, this is the time of year for Fall festivals and art shows. To the best of my recollection, admission is not charged at any of our outdoor art festivals in Orlando, but here they have a five dollar admission to increase the coffers of the local art museum.  Perhaps the fees charged to the artists are less? If so that is a good thing because it is hard sledding having to pay for a space and sell very little. Fortunately, aside from the one time we had torrential rain that washed out a show, I was never in that position, but many of the artists surrounding me at shows were most definitely in that boat.

That sky, right? So, so blue.

The only thing we came home with, actually much to my surprise, was this little bear that is made from fabric that a woman procures when she is in Guatemala helping the local women. As so often is the case, people are constantly raising money for worthy causes.

He's kind of cute isn't he? With the button eyes and nose, he is probably not meant for a child, instead a 70 year old child at heart!

Normally not one for decor items with sayings, when I saw the above pillow on sale for $5.00 at Walmart I could not resist as it says it all for this old couple.

Are the leaves changing you wonder? Not as much as I would like. Yet.  Perhaps you recall how I mentioned the leaves actually turning greener on the Japanese Maple tree? Here's exactly what I meant.

As you can see we are ready to head to our boat trip with me wearing jeans for the first time in six months. You absolutely know that is a big deal for me as I dislike wearing pants so much. 😉

While Bruce had the car at Marji's house for the caning adventure, I walked into town, all two blocks, on another beautiful afternoon. We have had a slight amount of rain since the hurricane, but not very much. Blue skies it is. That said, when the grey days of winter descend, I imagine we will be very much missing that brilliant blue greeting us daily.

Continuing up the hill I meandered a bit at Harshaw Cemetery which overlooks the town. 

Our home is just on the other side of the trees on the right. 

Another afternoon I walked a long ways on the River walk, finding one of the largest mushrooms I have ever seen!

If you have any interest in our time in Vancouver, this post shows me and my Vancouver friends taking a walk and finding all manner of goodies including a giant orange mushroom. 

Along the river, in this section of the walk, an abundance of wildflowers lining the path made for a very narrow pathway!

While we are on the subject of plants, my mini carnations from last year are looking very cute indeed. As our the geraniums that I moved to the back of the house. In reality, they look better than they havesince we bought them five months ago! Hopefully they will stay that way for awhile.

As to last night's freeze, we shall see how it affected my flowers. Here was something new to me. What was once bright white, turned to this.

Gosh I am so happy having lots of flowers around. 

Pumpkins. It would almost be blasphemous to have an October post where they are not featured! I came across this display on the next street over. Would you have tried to rub the price off of them before putting them out for all to see? Am I being silly?

That said, the variety is so interesting and colorful! 

A few weeks ago Diane issued an invitation to have a pumpkin decorating party that did not involve cutting them. Okay, why not? It turned out to be loads of fun and I am not a crafty person.

Pictured standing on the left, Diane had all manner of crafty items, as well as all manner of crafty people excluding myself! Dottie, pictured on the right made a funny pumpkin.

Does this look like a group of ladies enjoying each other's company? It should.

Miss not-crafty-at-all managed to decoupage these tissue paper leaves on hers with the bow compliments of Dottie!

Seemingly the cool days are what are keeping the pumpkin looking pristine. As to the cool days and nights, some folks have told us that they will help to bring the color on. One can hope!

Tom Payne, the man for whom the ramp was constructed, is doing so well! Honestly he is a marvel at 92 years old and now doing laps on the ramp, albeit with a cane.

When last we met, Bruce had gone to Asheville with John to deliver supplies. He came back with photos, this one behind a gallery. Can you imagine having to throw away so many paintings? 

The good news is that great strides are being made all over the region, with roads being re-constructed and water being restored in some places. All of the small Western North Carolina towns so count on the season to keep themselves afloat, so hopefully more tourists will begin to arrive. 

I so forgot to include in my last post a couple of photos I took at Mark and Mary Beth's house. Their chickens have grown and begun to lay eggs. Talk about free range...

Yes that is a road and yes they were in it when we arrived! How they get out of the way of cars is a mystery to me. Turns out a rooster was in the mix, much to their surprise.

They hosted another wonderful meal, this time with a Mexican theme which was a big hit.

Much to their relief, all of their children living in Tampa and the Sarasota area were mostly unscathed in Hurricane Milton, as were ours in Orlando. 

We have returned from four hours during which time we had a very good crowd for the chili and cornbread lunch. In fact, since I have taken on the role of official greeter and name tag person, not to mention keeping a running count going, it was the largest group yet. Count me surprised as I thought perhaps the cold would keep people away! Shows you what I know.

As I was scanning photos before writing this post, I came across the one below that I neglected to post when I wrote about the Big Brothers and Sisters event. Do you see who I see?

Many of my  friends here in North Carolina have husbands who are experiencing declining health and that makes me sad. Gosh I am so thankful and grateful for how healthy my honey is! At the above event Mr. Bruce outbid our local insurance agent for a set of Mr. John Lachance's fine outdoor furniture. Actually it turned out to be too large for our space, so we got something else instead, which I will show you in my next post.

For now I need to go on a little walk to loosen up before a group hike in the morning. Here's hoping it is a wee bit warmer AND that I can keep up! AND that I see some mushrooms!!

your friend,

Gail

The First Week of October

The blouse I am wearing this morning is one that I made while we lived in Vancouver during the winter, when the days were short, chilly and often rainy. It has a white background with tiny black dots interspersed with graphic white and black circles. Sort of a polka dot with a twist. Because we went to Vancouver in a car, we brought very few clothes with us thinking we could buy some while there. Not so fast, as the saying goes! Turns out everything in Vancouver was far more expensive than we had imagined. 

My sewing skills came in handy and it was while we were there that I made more new clothes than I had, in say the previous ten years. A lined coat, something I had not made since I was in my late teens. Probably six blouses, three skirts, two sets of pajamas and more. What made all that possible was an amazing fabric store, Dressew, located in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, about a two mile walk for me. Begun in 1961, they served Vancouver on two floors, jam-packed with fabric and every kind of notion there is. Never having seen anything like it in my life, it became one of my most favorite places in the city to visit. It was there that I watched in shock and disbelief when the workers at the cutting tables did not actually cut the fabric, but tore it instead! Shockingly accurate, I might add. Buttons by the thousands in every color of the rainbow. Same goes for zippers with big teeth, little teeth, and lengths ranging from three inches to forty. All of the fabric anyone could ever want, or need.

Perhaps you are wondering what prompted this long introduction? Recently our Vancouver friend Dale sent me some newspaper clippings detailing the upcoming closure of this wonderful emporium.  No longer will there be a place for Halloween costume supplies. Or fabric for "serious sewists". What has changed about Vancouver since the store began, aside from most everything (!), is a growing population, a few blocks away, of unhoused people living five deep on some of the wider sidewalks, many of whom have drug or mental health issues. According to the article, the "vandalism, graffiti, crime and our neighborhood falling apart around us are but some of the reasons they are closing and selling the building. All that to say, in my lifetime of sewing, it was the best fabric store I ever had the pleasure of frequenting and I am so sad others will be denied that pleasure! 

So, there is that. Lots of ground to cover today, but I did not want to forget my sadness and if it is not in this blog, well it is "gone with the wind!"

Hurricane Milton is barreling towards Florida as I type. Folks are nervous about this storm as it seems they have every right to be. Also, while I type, Bruce is with John in Asheville, delivering water and more to the main campus where food is distributed on a daily basis to those in need all over this part of the state. Called Manna, their warehouse was flooded and all was lost. Somehow they have regrouped and are in a new warehouse that is filling up fast according to the photos Bruce sent. While he was doing that, it was my Tuesday to help count the offering. What normally takes about two hours, took me and Anita, four, for a variety of reasons, one of which is because a special offering was taken up last Sunday for hurricane relief. Let's just say our congregants were very generous.

Here's a silly little tale of generosity, if you can call it that. Make of this what you will. 

Did I mention in my last post about how all of the chestnuts had disappeared from the back yard? Mentioning that to Tammy, she said that the squirrels gather them for winter which made me think, "do we need them more than the squirrels?" No we do not! My plan was to return them to the yard and in a case of me thinking things through, rather than my initial thought of scattering them, I placed them in a pile, all 114 that I had gathered, and waited. It took about a day and a half for the squirrels to clear it all out! I took this a few hours before they were all gone.

Isn't that super cool? I thought you might agree. Here's something else that happened recently. While we have no indoor pets we do have three bird feeders which are almost like having pets. Most days I fill them and we are going through sunflower seed like nobodies business. Well, with the dry weather all summer, for the most part we would occasionally get a bucket and clean up the dropped shells. Except not all of them are empty. Those darn Goldfinch toss them out like, I don't know what to call it! One day it was merely a big pile of shells, and like magic, it was this.

Before long they looked like the above. For now as Bruce mowed the yard, which because of the rain, looks better than it has since our arrival. 

Staying outside for a bit longer, here is our beautiful Japanese Maple tree which has, of late, turned greener rather than red. Oh, the mystery of what happens next!

Our little backyard garden is looking sweet, however, the overnight temperatures this week are slated to go as low as 41, so for how long it looks this way, is another mystery in the making.

Rain kept us away from the courts last Monday;  instead Bruce painted my sewing room! Actually it took a good long while because there are three doors in that room and the ceiling needed some repairing as well..

Obviously, there was nothing really wrong about the room, but you know me, I was looking for a bit more coziness. While he painted, I did some sewing in our bedroom.

It is so crazy big! And here comes Stratton Blue, a Benjamin Moore color that I chose because I both liked the color, and we have good friends with the last name of Stratton. I know, I am pretty crazy, right?

When Nancy, Matt and Tom came to visit, I had Nancy bring a print that I'd had for years, never having any space to use it and knowing that now I did! Bruce made the frame, we have a frame shop three blocks away where the glass came from and woo hoo...here it is.

Isn't it fun? The room is a bit lighter than this photo suggests.

And what was I making? A table runner is what.

On a trip to Hayesville we stopped at the fabric store that while nice, was no match for Dressew! Anyway after putting the top together I was not so sure about it, but now that it is quilted and bound, I think I kind of like it.

The river has completely receded showing off the crystal clear water again.

Some leaves are falling, but for the most part we still have loads of green trees here.

Our sweet little downtown is all dressed up in its finest Fall finery.

Called Paint the Town Fall, folks painted the windows of stores, and of course these owls caught my eye.

Saturday the weather could not have been any more perfect for the annual John C. Campbell Folk School Fall Festival. That's a mouthful isn't it??? First thing, we went to see John at his primo spot beneath the trees. Having been an outdoor vendor for nearly a decade, I know how important location is to a good show.

With booth #1 as his spot, plenty of folks were ensured of seeing his great furniture. From there we made our way towards the Barn to see the entertainment and the artists undercover there.

Along the way, we came across another stage and after looking at this picture I took, I thought it said a lot.

Mums galore, corn stalks, man in camo shorts, a musician, and women with long hair. All of the above are plentiful around these parts.

The Morris dancing was not slated until 2:30 but to ensure a good seat we got there early, listening to two acts before they came on. What fun it is watching them twirl around, stomp on the ground and hit sticks together. Does that sound crazy to you? It does to me too, but in person it is really neat.

The women are great too. 

We know one of the dancers as it turns out. The woman pictured on the right closest to my camera is the head of the church preschool. (facing the camera below)

Meanwhile back in Orlando there was a baby shower for Fallon, pictured here with my sisters Nancy and Lisa.

Fallon looks great, as do my sisters, if I do say so myself. After having Covid at the first of the week, Fallon recovered enough for the show to go on. Just shy of two more months to go!

Because we have only been in our darling home for five months I am still learning about the location of the sun and the moon. And the sunsets. Through one window in the living room I spotted a red sky at night, prompting me to grab my camera, head down the steps to street level in order to witness the magnificent colors. That would be the courthouse which is a story for another day.

Unfortunately, there will be no sunset in Orlando tonight as they are under a hurricane watch. We are hoping and praying everyone is safe, including our niece Laura and Jerry over in St. Petersburg! 

One last thing before I go. Bruce just returned with pictures, including this one of the garments from the store behind them.

And yes that is drying mud on both the garments and the sidewalk. He took lots of photos that I will share next time but wow, this one below. That water line on the door! And the worst part is that the water system in Asheville has been mostly destroyed. Yikes and double yikes!

Hard to imagine isn't it?

your friend,

Gail