What I was doing the other day when the thought occurred to me, I can't say, but it popped into my cluttered mind and has not dislodged yet. Surprises. According to my limited research, the word surprise means: an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, or thing.
Friends, moving to North Carolina qualifies as an astonishing event.
Over the years we have known loads of folks who visited North Carolina with regularity, enjoying the climate and the beautiful mountain views. Were we some of those folks? A resounding NO! Our North Carolina experiences had been few and far between. Many of our NC friends visited yearly, or had a cabin here for years before committing to full time living. Us, we come here once and decide it is for us! Frankly, I am surprised and astonished that we did this, and even more so that we could not be any happier despite our inexperience. So, yes, life is indeed full of surprises!
Now let's see what surprises were in store for us this past week.
Before Christmas rushes in, a few more autumn images. A big surprise to this life-long Floridian is how darn long a pumpkin lasts on your front porch! Chastity and Daniel's pumpkins have been there for easily a month. Those suckers would have caved long before had they been in Orlando!
Having rain with frequency this past week, it seems to have hydrated the Japanese Maple leaves, keeping them on the tree, albeit in a rust tone these days.
I will say, despite last week's mowing to pick up leaves, a whole lot more leaves are currently carpeting the lawn.
With a Lowe's only about two miles from the house, visiting there is easy and necessary when Bruce is either fixing something at the church or creating something in our home. The garden center is my favorite and this time of year there is some seasonal confusion going on.
Each year the decorations are weirder and weirder. A rooster, while in the crucifixion story, has no place at Christmas.
Then again, does any of the above fit?
It is 5pm and nearly dark, in part because it has been a very gray day. The Christmas snowflakes come on even in the middle of the day if it is dreary which is most welcome.
Here's a neat downtown story for you. Continuing my quest to find interesting books for a song, I filled two grocery bags with them after studying the shelves. The sale was ending on Friday and I think instead of a bag of books for .50, the price was rising to .50 a book. What's a bargain hunter to do but get them while they are hot? Anyway, as is SO common, I ran into a friend at the library and I almost asked for a ride home because those book bags were heavy! Mostly I have become somewhat efficient on the steep streets, including ours, but on this day, for a minute, I thought maybe I would catch a ride with Bette. Then I decided to just go for it. As I was walking, only a very short distance from the library, and ditto that to our home, a woman pulled up in her Subaru, slid the window down and asked if I wanted a ride because my load looked heavy. My initial reaction was that I was okay, and then I thought this is why you live in a small town now! She was quite pleasant during our short time together and in the end I was grateful.
LOOK what is happening with this heat and rain! My creeping phlox are blooming along the front wall!
Oops while we were on the subject of downtown, I walked by this the other day and thought, wow, I forgot how old North Carolina is compared to Florida.
Showing off my ignorance is what I am doing! Unlike lots of folks that have moved to Murphy and never bothered to learn a thing about the town, maybe because we live in town, we do know some things. Earlier today, while doing a task at church, my partner is a native who when she saw a name said, oh yes, that is one of the local families. I like that. When we walked by a shop, she said the owner was her cousin. I like that too.
This past week Bruce has been hard at work on bookcase number two and if fact, he is working on it in the living room as I type. This one he built in his shop, rather than in place.
I waited the requisite week for the paint to harden before putting much on the completed case. Using mostly what I could scavenge in the house, or of course my bargain books, I've had fun with it although who knows how long it will stay like this.
It is not unusual for us to spend plenty of our time either volunteering or attending things at our church, and this past week was no exception. The Soul Table meal was well attended, and by all accounts, the food was terrific. Cobby and Diane had some help in the kitchen this week preparing the Thanksgiving meal. Plenty of guests and volunteers.
Oh look!! Your favorite dishwasher in action too!! Both ham and turkey were served along with the usual suspects. I was making name tags like they were going out of style!
Sunday following church, a bunch of folks helped to decorate the church for the upcoming beginning of Advent.
Lest you think that is all we do, we did go out with John and Laura on Friday night and had a scrumptious meal at Poor Parsons Pub. Cozy and fun, that too, is one big surprise how we landed at their cottage and have become good friends. On Saturday she came over with her sewing machine and we worked out a few problems she was having while making napkins.
Projects around her though were the star of last week and I am so happy to report that the machine sewing on the quilt is done!
That is because the lines are two inches apart and you might be wondering why? Maybe not but I'm going to tell you anyway! The last one I made they were quite close and it is a style that I like, however, the quilt is just too stiff for my liking. Hopefully this one will be soft and comfy! I told you the back was pieced and I was not kidding!
Seriously polka dots just add so much fun to anything!
Good night, Monday rolled around and we were back at church with a bunch of other volunteers, making boxes,
which truth be told, were a pain in the butt to assemble; talk about stiff....holy cow!!
The boxes were then filled with all kinds of farm fresh ingredients from around here, including large chickens that were added when the recipients came to collect their box. Farmers carried in their produce, or in the case of the potatoes, brought them the day before. Two fifty pound bags worth!!
Today I learned that the potato farmer lives quite near David and D'Anna and is still farming by himself at 83! Also included were apples, carrots, greens, pumpkin pies made with fresh pumpkins, cornbread, lettuce,
homemade jams, eggs, honey and well, that sound like enough doesn't it? Grant, (below) applied for a grant that paid for the food so not only were the farmers blessed, so were the families who signed up. Very much a win-win situation.
Homemade potholders and dish cloths were included as well.
So yes, we do spend a lot of time there, but with time on our hands to donate, why not? 75 boxes were assembled.
I've got a notice above all of my own typing that Google wants me to try a new AI feature that promises to produce a more engaging reading experience! Well, should I?
Videos are coming in fast and furious of Christian walking!! Yes, walking! I reported he was close last week, but by golly he is sailing into his first birthday on his own two feet!That's an awkward sentence isn't it? You get my drift. They are just so fun to watch on repeat, or at least to these grandparents they are.
Mrs. Mockingbird says hello from a bare tree, matching the gray of the day,
however, the sun is coming out tomorrow and if all goes as has become common to this old couple, there will be surprises waiting!
your friend,
Gail
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