A Bunch of Pretty Pictures and Stories Too

There was a time when this blog was all about me showing off pretty pictures first, with stories taking a back seat. Not that I was not writing about life, but my expectation was that folks would react to the photographs. Well, it seems as if times have changed, or maybe it is expected that the photos will be good, but rarely does anyone seem to react to a photo that I am thrilled with. Or maybe it is because everyone else has caught up with me because when I began this blog, most folks were not carrying a camera around on their person? You know what they say...the best camera is the one you have with you!

Me? I go around with a couple of cameras and it is a good thing that I do because at this time of year it is impossible to not be in love with everything that I see. Everywhere you look there is something beautiful to not only enjoy, but photograph. In my last post I forgot to post this fun shot of a Catbird eating a berry.

As has been our custom, we have been nonstop busy, so much so that I am forgetting some things for sure. Before I go any further, let me explain why I am so behind in posting. We had company this week; Bill and Lisa arrived on Monday afternoon and we had several days of fun. Monday night we tried the relocated brewery named Buck Bald, located right around the corner from us. Previously they were located on the end of Tennessee Street, however for months on end, they had been remodeling the building next to the Murphy Chop House. Following extensive renovations,  it opened last week. I'm not a beer drinker but Bill and Bruce have been known to enjoy a beer or two. :

Joining John on his almost weekly trip to Asheville, where he works for Habitat, Bruce had so much fun. Hard not to when you are hanging around with John. Hard work, breweries, a minor league baseball game, what is not to like??

Meanwhile, I did some sewing, although one day David and D'Anna picked me up on their way to Blairsville where we had a yummy breakfast at the Sawmill, followed by a trip to an outstanding plant nursery where there were so many wonderful plants and trees. 

They went home with a cart full!

Seeing the big sign to Alexander's, I mentioned that we had never been, so without any hesitation, David turned right instead of left, driving us through beautiful, and GREEN countryside. After a long winter the green is a balm  for the soul. 

I told D'Anna that looking at the above scene is like looking at a Crayola box of 64 crayons with all manner of shades of green. Plus, didn't you draw a landscape with these same rolling hills when you were a kid? I know I did!

The store is big with a varied inventory and is well worth the trip if you are in the area.

What began as a roadside stand in the 50's

has evolved into a place with something for everyone.

Tell me this does not look like it should be a jigsaw puzzle!

Not for me of course because I could do nothing with all that green!!

We stopped at a wonderful and expensive farm stand. Arriving to the delicious aroma of a pound cake just having come out of the oven, we were nearly overwhelmed with the choices.

The view from the back deck was outstanding.

Our yard has been busy with hostas that seem to be doubling in size daily,

along with the first roses to bloom!!

Isn't it so sweet? More have since opened. Beginning most mornings with a survey of the property, looking for changes, almost all days I am not disappointed, including finding these unusual blooms alongside the stone wall. 

Called Arum Lilies, when they open they look like this:

Very delicate, after two days, they topple over and that is that.

The amount of buds on the big hydrangea bush is incredible.

Speaking of growing like mad, five month old Christian says hi!

He. continues to thrill Bill and Fallon with a sweet personality emerging. 

A week ago we had the pleasure of attending the awards ceremony where Anna Claire won best in show! I had John reenact his move.

The minute I saw the painting I knew it was a winner!! 

On the day we first saw visited the gallery, we also saw a tic-tac-toe made of light green clay with frogs and flies as the pieces. So very clever, we decided if it was available we would buy it and buy it we did. I did not get many details about the artist but I can say that it made his day along with his father's as he kept exclaiming how proud he was of his boy. Of all things, I've not photographed it yet ,but will soon. (striped shirt is the artist and his dad is in motorcycle regalia)

Second from the right in the photo is the director of the gallery who stated it was one of the strongest student art shows they have ever had the pleasure of showing. Lots of good stuff.

From there we went around the corner and up a three story fire escape to what Kevin and Laura lovingly call "the penthouse". Located in the only three story build in town, they turned the space into a wonderful place to live. We are super sad to see them leave for a lot of reasons, one of which he is my gynecologist! They are beginning their own adventure with a five year stint in Colorado Springs. It is a small town folks....my doctor, our realtor and our wine shop owner in one shot!

More friendly faces.

Lots of fun!

Saturday night we went to dinner at John and Vera's lovely home deep in the mountains where I saw, for the first time in my life, an Indigo Bunting on their feeder!! While we were enjoying a lovely meal, with  me seated in a prime spot for watching the bird feeder,  I spotted it and knew it was far too big to be an Eastern Bluebird. And that is all I have to say about that because it never returned!! Vera took me on.a side-by-side ride through their neighborhood and when we came across her neighbors we stopped and had both a tour of their home and pottery collection, 

as well as some beautiful views from their deck! May I present some of the Blue Ridge Mountains!

Our trip was cut short because of the fast approaching darkness, but I did see a small lake,

and a glimpse of the near sunset.

The light was good on their porch that overlooks the many gardens below.

Service Sunday happened the next day with our fellow church members doing tasks around the town. Painting posts for the town QR coded walking tour of the town was our assignment. Done and done. I must admit I did not accompany Bruce down the hill where he painted two of the post near the train! Too steep to climb back up but heck, while waiting I did admire those Knock-Out roses that are blooming around town!

Around five that evening it was over to John and Laura's for a wine party that included wines from the regions they visited on their recent bicycle tour.

Some of the goodies:

and some of the gang on their lovely porch.

Beautiful variety of Viburnum blooming beside their porch steps.

Are you tired yet? Get why I was not posting? I thought so.

All except for Bruce who went home and mowed our yard!

I do look forward to recounting Bill and Lisa's visit, however we have plans for this evening, so with time of the essence, I will leave you with a fun rock that was painted during the Service Sunday. Both children and adults painted rocks to leave around town. And yes,

I do love you for reading and caring about our North Carolina adventure!!

as always, I remain,

your friend,

Gail

p.s. Did I mention it is green again?

Dogwood Winter

A month or so ago I was told about three winters that happen just when you think winter is over. One that I cannot recall, but the other two I can. Dogwood winter, when a freeze is not out of the question, and blackberry winter. So, the dogwoods are blooming like mad and it is a glorious sight to behold. Especially when they are pink!

Speaking of pink, my favorite blossoms are to be found on the plum trees with their luscious fat flower clumps. My gosh!

The close up is great but look at the whole tree covered with literally thousands of flowers! It is in Shannon's back yard, although she and Randolph have already moved to Blue Ridge so she is missing this spectacular display. 

The white screened porch on the left is ours. But, I digress, I was talking about cold weather and in the last two days it has been chilly indeed, after some record breaking weather last week. Actually, it's been a pretty wild ride, but we will get into that in a moment. Yesterday morning we woke to no frost on our yard but Shannon's had a bunch. I think David and Randy even had snow.

Although it warmed up throughout the day, it remained blustery and chilly, requiring several layers of clothing. Last week we had on shorts for a few days when the temperature reached 80 degrees, which by Florida standards is just fine, after months and months of cold weather, it felt like I was burning up! Friends who live higher up in the mountains had some really cold overnight weather yesterday. 

But the big news around here was the weekend rain. A steady rain fell on Sunday, after Saturday's heat wave, unlike in Florida where it pours like a son-of-a-gun but only for a short while, here it goes on and on for hours, but rarely very heavy. Those hours of rain add up and while I could not find a total anywhere in the Scout  (and our rain gauge is out of commission), the rivers were very swollen and in some areas homes were flooded. We drove to Andrews for pickleball on Monday morning and it was then that we saw the results of the rain.  The green!! After months of brown, well need I say more?

I figured that the visitor rest center in Andrews would be a good place to see the raging Valley River and I thought right.

You have seen the scene below often enough from my walks that you probably see the high level of water in the Valley River, rushing to meet the Hiwassee River. Lots of tree limbs included. 

To put this into perspective, I took the photo below about a month ago and the river was still low. This is where the two rivers join.

Not only was it high, but it was moving very fast as well.

So fast that this duck couple could find no place to enter the water.

Keeping my eye on their movements, before too much longer they a place to take a dunk!

Lots more exploring because one cannot stay home when one has a penchant for photography and there are subjects at every turn! I nearly missed the cherry tree at city hall.

Beauty amongst the wrecks.

Check this out!!

No enhancement in this photo of a color that I am at a loss for words to describe, although the tree is called an Eastern Redbud, I'm thinking the namer of the tree was a wee bit color blind!

I put some little daffodil bulbs in and they are plenty happy where they are planted.

The front wall is looking good.

The small rhododendrons bloomed like mad and then the rain came and knocked more blossoms off than I would have liked. 

A bumblebee!! For many months there were exactly no bees, or other insects for that matter, and now they are buzzing around all big and fat!

Let's talk about the lilac tree. It was absolutely gorgeous and purple, our friend Mary's favorite color. She even had a purple pickleball bag, shoes with purple, you name it, if it is purple, she is in. Anyway, she would have loved our tree that I photographed from every angle including looking out to the street.

And should you be wondering about the color behind it, well, you guessed it, the Japanese Maple tree which is on fire!! 

Actually I took the above a week ago and now it is even more amazing.

So back to the dogwood winter lore and their prevalence here, but not in our yard, I must add....apparently when the dogwoods are in full bloom, another cold blast occurs, followed by another cold blast when the blackberries are in bloom. It is advised to not plant major plants until after Mother's Day. We are learning what it means to live in the mountains.

While we do so, we are enjoying the glories of spring. My peony bush, that only a week or so ago were just weird things sticking out of the grand, are covered with buds already! 

Tulips have just begun to open. These are in an open field but it won't be long before I will be showing ours off.

Remember the Murphy Bed from a previous post? Hank's company arrived, deemed the bed good and we went over to Hank's house to celebrate with Mike and Michelle, longtime friends of Hank and Carol. We had a good dinner and liked it so much that I invited them over for the next night. Here we are at Hank's place,

and here they are with my darling husband and brother-in-law.

Are you tired of flowers, or people, or both? Let's do a little art then, shall we?

Anna Claire, John and Laura's 16 year old daughter has crazy artistic skill which is presently on display in a downtown gallery for a student exhibit. I am pretty sure this was an assignment that she nailed big time.

We had seen the above in progress so knew of how great it was; this one, on the other hand was a beautiful surprise. Drawn from a 1990 photo of them, we just love it. 

There is more to say, but I suspect I have lost most readers by now. TMI? Nevertheless, lastly I will say that when Mike and Michelle arrived, as we were admiring the lilac tree, and let's face who wouldn't, we were treated to the appearance of two Swallowtails, another species we've not seen in months and months.

As we await the arrival of blackberry winter, we have seen two groundhogs so I wonder if that says something? 

your friend,

Gail