Suddenly it is May

 My word, I have no idea where to start. 

Firstly, there are a lot of birds in our new yard, so much so that their songs fill the air from morning until night. And here's something--last night was our first one in the house on Campbell Street and it was one to remember because storms raged throughout the night, including a tornado in the next town! Fortunately we had no damage but others are without power or water along with downed trees/limbs. 

We closed on the house last Friday, the 3rd of May at a downtown law office. We met our realtor Donna there and David Cowan, the attorney who is in practice with his dad. It was all so easy and sweet if you want to know how it is in a small town.

The transaction was complete when he had his assistant come in the room with a check for $50 as a thank you for using their services. Unreal! Immediately we drove the two blocks where Donna took our first photo, probably soon to be many photos, on the front steps. Looked okay on a tiny phone, but not so much in this space but you get the idea!

As is our wont, we immediately went to work, moving things trip by trip from the cottage.

We both agreed that we have accumulated more than we thought! Our time at the cottage was so special that I have to admit, more than once I was teary eyed while packing. We just so love Laura and John and the family. The deer!   

I was really feeling nostalgic when the closet, once packed looked like this. Those would be my pickleball shoes that we left there because I participated in ladies doubles yesterday, late morning when it was hot as the dickens. Let's just say that Lori and I improved with each successive game! 

I still have the refrigerator to clean at the cottage, but for the most part we are moved out. Bittersweet would be a good way to describe our feelings right about now. 

Last Saturday it was raining, but still our friends Cobby and Diane met us with their truck at the nearby antique marketplace to transport the dresser we bought to use as a buffet. Bruce worried like mad that the raindrops would damage it, but all's well that ends well.

I may have mentioned that the living room at the cottage looked like a lamp store? Or did I? Anyway we had seven lamps clustered on the floor, mostly bought at TJ Maxx or Homegoods, and above are two of them. Generally,as you well know, I am more of a colored lamp person, but we bought what we could find. I've yet to even show you how pretty that drive to Cleveland, TN was. Hopefully I will get there once we are more settled.

It must have been Friday after the closing that we went straight to Walmart for any number of things.

Excuse me a moment, I must go down to the basement to get something out of the dryer as it keeps reminding me to do so. Amazing that I can hear it in the new office upstairs but it has been relentless. 

The fact that I typed the above sentence is almost unimaginable, or so I would have thought a year ago! The porch cushions were in there for drying after last night's monsoon. The big rugs we bought are now drenched! Hank came over Sunday afternoon for a visit, bringing us a housewarming gift of an azalea. Unlike the azaleas at home, here they are absolutely laden with blooms unlike anything I have seen outside of Vancouver. He is doing so well here and is brimming with enthusiasm for this little town he's called home for two years now.

Tomorrow will be a hard day for him as it would have been Carol's birthday, although as the years pass it becomes easier.

Bruce had a fellow come change the locks on Monday,

and while he was still here, the furniture arrived, minus the dining room, which is still in transit.

Before they walked in the living room looked like this:

After delivery it looked like this:

Can you even believe that Japanese Maple out front? It is glorious and a haven for birds.

Now we were ready for company! Mark and Mary Beth arrived, followed soon thereafter by John and Laura. Bruce insisted John try out his new chairs! which are in what we are calling the parlor, adjacent to the living room. Lots and lots of small rooms my friends.

We have been absolutely saved by the previous owners who have left all manner of small tables. Seriously, maybe ten? We did pay for them, but we very much got more than we paid for. The little table between the chairs has a cupboard and a marble top. Perfect! While Bruce was touring John and Laura, Mark and Mary Beth rested in the new "thrones" after just returning from five weeks away the night before. It was very sweet of them to make that effort! 

I'm giving advance warning that their will undoubtedly be plenty of house photos in the near future and that is because it seems as if the light is very nice inside.

I was a little leery of the size of the kitchen, but I've cooked dinner two nights now and it is working just fine. I figured if I could prepare meals at a picnic table I could do so most anywhere. Plus, the refrigerator is nearly new and takes magnets! Hurray! Art work was also left in every room.

We are leaving the cottage just when the irises are blooming alongside the front steps.

And for the first time ever, there were Rose-Breasted Grosbeak at the feeder.  In spite of one not looking like the others, it is the female version that has the brown coloring. 

Honestly I was flabbergasted because before last week I'd never seen one in my life! During our time away in Florida, most of my small birds took off to parts unknown. It was a sad moment when Bruce put the screen back up! When I got up to check on the dryer, passing through the long hallway,  I could see birds on the front porch! Where the feeders will go here is ytbd. One thing is with the super old glass, I won't be taking photos through the window because it is, while crystal clear, a bit wavy.

The good news is we have peonies! Two bushes. Along with a lilac tree, hydrangeas, hostas, and a whole host of goodies that I know nothing about, including the fact that the peonies are SO fragrant. 

Slightly droopy after the storm, but still hanging in there! We have met most of the neighbors and the first thing each and every one of them have said is how much they love the neighborhood. 

Bruce is already a regular at Lowes where he bought the lumber to make the shelf that is holding all manner of shop supplies. 

The car this trip was about two-thirds full of tools and that brings me much joy to see him in his element once more. Seven years ago when he divested himself of so many tools in order for us to move to Vancouver it was painful so all these years later we are in the process of healing that wound. Speaking of wounds, Bruce is suffering from an seeming out of the clear blue, onset of carpal tunnel syndrome which has made some of what we've been doing very painful indeed. He left me to either walk home or get a ride yesterday in order to go to the doctor in nearby Blairsville, hoping to get some relief. They ordered a nerve conduction procedure which does not thrill him in the least. We shall see what comes next! Turns out Linda drove me home with Nancy accompanying us to see the house. After the tour you can probably already guess where we spent our time visiting. If you assumed I meant the porch you did good.

A few other things worth noting: both of us are going to probably be losing weight what with all of the steps needed to navigate the house between all three levels. For those worried, both of us are being very mindful of our limitations and are keeping safety at the forefront of our minds. Were we crazy to do this at our age? Maybe but so far it has been fun! Secondly it cannot be stated often enough how grateful we are for both the opportunity to own this historic house AND how clean and tidy they left everything!! When Linda was here yesterday, as she cleans houses when not playing pickleball, she remarked on how perfect they left everything. We agree! Plus, they left us this gorgeous tree!

Just when you thought I had fallen off the face of the earth, here I am, once again sitting at my iMac, using fantastic wifi, I might add, writing stories about life whatever it may bring. So far so good!!

I remain,

your friend, 

Gail

Primarily Pink

Easter week has come and gone and what a week it was for us, busy, busy, busy. Unlike most years, we attended most all of the services. Oh wait, maybe all of them.  In a first for us, we participated in what was called a "cross walk" where those participating carried the cross for some distance from the Catholic church where we gathered, to the Methodist church. Along the way there were breaks for scripture readings. To be honest with you, when we began we felt a little self conscious but quickly that silliness faded as we joined with others of similar faith. Mr. Peck, as we are approaching the church.

Behind the Catholic church I spotted a Camelia, one of only a few on the plant. Big deal, right? Perhaps they are prevalent here but this was my first sighting of a flower I am accustomed to be admiring in the winter. Of course it was pink, everything is coming up pink these days!

I mean check out the incredible number of blossoms on this tree!

And this one.

One day we drove to see some furniture friends are selling. Super cool house, super cool folks and some of the furniture will work, or so we think, not to mention it is reasonable. Wow, we are discovering that furniture is darn expensive!

Oh look....it's pink!

Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, "what is the big deal?" to which I would reply that after months of bare sticks, it is downright startling. Plus there are variations on that theme with different shades of pink. Now this makes no sense to me, but folks are telling me it is a red bud tree. I see pink!

The view from the porch is glorious. I cannot get enough of this look.

Note the green small tree in front with blossoms just beginning to open. Wonder what it will look like in a week? Because we have been busy, I had not imported all of the photos I'd taken, so it surprised me how much this scene has changed since taking this photograph.

Those white trees, whatever they are, are now mostly green. That's the thing, I've got to get these photos when I can because everything changes in the blink of an eye. These are the leaves from the tree in front that were once red and now are burgundy.

We are so grateful to be surrounded by beauty at every turn here at the cottage. Again, this tree is nearly green now, but what gorgeous color the blossoms were.

The Goldfinch are turning gold or more neon yellow in my book. That has been amazing to witness as it happened.

One day we stopped by city hall for Bruce to talk to the city manager and thank the city for granting the money for the fence and gates on the pickleball court. That's easy to do in a small, small town. 

Leaving we saw that it was the ribbon cutting for the shop that has my prints for sale so we stopped to chat. While there we ran into a young woman we met on the courts whose job it is to promote Cherokee county; her official title escapes me. She asked if I might share some photos of the county with her for her to use however she saw fit. You know me, way too prolific in both words and photographs some might say. Scanning through nearly a years worth of photos I am actually pretty proud of myself for only choosing this many.

So that took me far too long when I could have been blogging. Additionally choosing photos to enter in the Senior Games contest, which has come up far sooner than I was paying attention to, took another big chunk of time. Honestly I should have just skipped it this year as my mind is swirling with house details. Adding to that, I entered myself into the literary category, more specifically writing about a life experience, which also took a big chunk of time. Seriously folks what was I thinking? I did sit down and write about writing a blog for 17 years which will appeal to probably no one. Again, what was I thinking? John has a printer below us and after typing seven double-spaced pages, the printing went haywire so I was doing something wrong. Again another time waster. Back to the prints, I sent the files to Roger,  or really I should say RTArt because it is all employees these days, but old habits die hard. Anyway, they should arrive today, or so FedEx claims and then I need to find some frames and deliver them on Thursday morning. Apparently the judging is done that afternoon and a reception follows on Friday. I would say wish me luck, but honestly the photographs I chose will probably be the wrong ones. One of the criteria was to be creative, so with that in mind I chose, for example, the old tool photo I took at the flea market. I wonder if I shared that? Anyway I will breathe a sigh of relief when it is over. 

 Shopping, oh my goodness, we have been shopping. For furniture of course, but goodness me, we are going to need a lot to begin a new household. I told Bruce it feels like we are newlyweds again although we won't be having any showers to help fill our new nest. That's not really true though because both Bill and David declined birthday gifts, which btw, they turned 45 (!!!) on Monday, choosing instead to add it to the fund to outfit their Dad's new shop.  One of things I wrote in my submitted piece was about how great it is to be a blogger with memories at your fingertips. Well I didn't actually say it like that but it was of that ilk. Anyway, Bruce once had a shop he'd been outfitting since the time he agreed to "me wanting a baby if he could buy a table saw days".  Yes indeed, that happened and the result is Matthew. Anyway, when we went to Canada, I wrote about our garage sale here. That was painful for us but the reward was great but now it is once again, "all about the future". That will become clear if you go back and read the old post.

Speaking of shopping our new friend Latasha had a pop-up shop set up in the back room of the wine shop and of course we could not let her down.

That is kind of how we feel, you have to support the small businesses when you can. I bought a dress for Easter, but as it turned out, it was far too cold to wear it because we attended sunrise service. Wonderful hearing the birds singing along with the humans. The view was nice as well.

The flower cross was lovely with many folks choosing to add daffodils from their gardens. 

There is an insert in last week's Cherokee Scout, more like a little magazine, about the history of all of the little communities around Murphy which has been so informative. As a newcomer, I am learning just how rural this area of the country was for a long time. As an example one of the communities did not have electric power until the late 1960's. For a woman raised in a small city, now a big city, I am gaining a new respect for how the towns have come to be. Some locals, of course, are not keen on some of the progress, but the same could be said for lots of places, including our hometown! Neither Bruce nor I am overly pleased at the place Orlando has become.

I'm hoping to use these stained glass windows for color inspiration in the living room on Campbell Street.

We looked at this couch and stool along with a chair to match over in Blue Ridge, but ultimately we went a little bigger buying a green sofa yesterday.

The bluebirds are busy too! This has been so fun to watch. Hopefully the little ones will arrive before we leave our beautiful cottage.

One day I decided to walk to the house from the river walk, clocking the walk back to the courts which turned out to be 10 minutes. As I was approaching the house on Campbell Street, look what I found.

Another day, driving by we were thrilled to see the front yard tree, completely bare only 10 days prior, with leaves to delight the senses. Now we are super excited to be having a Japanese Maple tree out front.

Isn't it glorious? The view from inside I took that first day.

This blog post has rambled a bit and gone way off of my title theme, but that is okay. Another thing that has happened this past week is I've had a cold, not been sleeping as well as I would like, and have a cold sore to boot. Nevertheless, I am carrying on, as we do, and hoping it will pass before too much longer. Tying up that loose end, let's look at these few primarily pink photos to close things out. Isn't it gorgeous?

Honestly I have taken so many photos ...

Butterflies galore.

Can you stand one more? (credit goes to John and Laura for providing me with more photographic opportunities than is good for my overloaded photo library)

What is most surprising to me is how gorgeous it has been, and how the trees are so colorful, somewhat like a reverse Autumn. Eventually, that is in the next few weeks, we will have to return to Orlando for some of our things, like clothes for example ,which is going to please me to no end. But for now I am still reveling in things being primarily pink.

your friend,

Gail

Elk, Cookies, Birds and More

 Have you ever wondered what a female elk looks like up close? Wonder no more my dear readers.

Feel free to return the stare.

I took this through the trees, thus the shadow, but I am happy to have gotten the moist snout and the bright eye. And, where pray tell did I take this. Read on!

Ever since I became aware that elks were present in Cherokee, NC, I have been dying to go and see them. Like for five months or so. Woo hoo, we went last week and it was not only beautiful weather, but a glorious day, that is until I smashed my thumb. I have every confidence that you will be happy to know that while it still hurts, I am managing. We are back to playing and practicing pickleball which is making both of us very happy indeed. 

So let's go to Cherokee, shall we? The day began frosty as we made our way through Andrews, the part of the drive that you already know I love so much.

The mountains on both sides, the fog, the fields framing the road, trees, crossing the river several times, what pray tell is not to like?

Then you get to the foggy parts,

not to mention windy! Bruce is doing such a great job driving us on all of these unfamiliar roads, but one thing that still bothers him is the notion that he might be going slower than the locals. That said, his confidence is increasing which each road trip.

Coming into Bryson City it was still foggy and overcast.

Although we spent no time there, one thing really caught my eye, necessitating a turn-around-the block and stop situation.

Not only was the mural super sweet and fun, but when I looked in the shop window I was dying over a displayed dress that was so cute, but so unavailable because they were closed. Not just because it was a little bit early, but because they have winter hours and are only open a few days a week, something we have discovered is not uncommon around these parts. Maybe another day we will return when I can go into the shop and perhaps come out with the Madison Look!

The Great Smoky Mountain Railway begins in Bryson City, helping the local economy immensely.  Perhaps folks that come to ride it stay here?

This is our first time being in a touristy area so things looked quite different as we approached the entrance to the GSM National Park. Lots of old-school motels along the way with super great signage.

The sign reads vacancy and indeed there were no people, but holy cow was there a lot of junk in front of it!

The Pink Motel! Love it!!

I was getting more and more excited as we got closer, as was Bruce, however, we were disappointed as we made our way through Cherokee because it is SO touristy!! For my Orlando readers think International Drive with mountains surrounding it! 

Before leaving the cottage I called the visitor center to see if elk were present on that day to which the employee replied that "yes they were but how far away are you?" When I told her Murphy she said, well then, I can't guarantee that they will be here when you arrive to which I replied, "I guess we will just take our chances." Although it is about 60 miles away it is most certainly not an hour away due to mountain driving! Lo and behold, look what we came across as we were approaching the center. Yeah, we were not pickled! Oh wait, this isn't pickleball! That term means that your opponents score 11 while your score is 0.

This was our first view of the herd, albeit from afar.

The visitor center is to the left of the image, as is the old farmstead, a group of buildings culled from throughout the park that were moved to make this exhibit.

Here is the man of the house as we are walking back from the river walk. 

Well look here..it is the Pecks having fun in the crisp weather!

Selfies are not usually our thing, but it was too pretty of a day to not document our visit. We went on the river walk because the elk were gathered at the tree line on the other side of the walk which, while a little challenging through said trees, gave us a little closer look.

We learned from a lovely older couple that what you are seeing is the bull of the herd who has forty gals in his harem!! When we first arrived we had seen him from the back and wondered about there being any more males.

There was one more with a broken antler who mixed in with the ladies.  Bruce kept reminding me of the signs which said to say at least 50 feet away which was not all that easy to do on that walk! Oh my the river was pretty!

The farm exhibit was great as well. I took this photo to demonstrate how every part is built on the stacking principle. Pretty neat, huh?

I was very interested as well in these purple martin houses made out of gourds as they would have been done back in the day.

As we were leaving, one more appeared along the roadway, something that apparently occurs with frequency. Well heck, we saw one on our way in as you might recall.

It was an awesome visit to the gateway of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The drive home was fairly straightforward, but unfortunately we missed our turn so went on a crazy winding road to hook up with our original route. There was this lovely view which will be impossible in a few months time because of the kudzu. We are really puzzled as to why they don't do more to rip it all out in the winter, but what do we know? Someone has a reason, or perhaps it is lack of employees, but in any case between the trees and the kudzu we would have seen not much. Instead, a glorious view on a glorious February day.

And then I shut my thumb in the car door in Franklin marring what up till then was a perfect field trip. We were vacillating about getting lunch and then wondered if we had some crackers or the like in the back seat of the car. That was the mission that went awry. What saved me, aside from it not bleeding what with me being on blood thinners and all, was, when I could speak again, I said I needed ice quickly. Turns out within two or so blocks there was a McDonalds where we did get something to eat and ice for my thumb. It still hurts like a son of a gun, but I suspect it will for a while. I am managing. 

I've been meaning to show you this beautiful cake that was part of the church luncheon a week or so ago. So pretty and it was delicious too. 

Let's talk about baking and I mean in my own kitchen. Here's a question for you--have you ever wondered what would happen if you used the wrong leavening agent while baking cookies? Probably not. I shall spare you the experiment because I've discovered the answer purely by accident. Or, maybe I should say stupidity? At any rate, I had not baked cookies since Christmas, so when Bruce was asked whether or not he would like come chocolate chip cookies, well you can guess what his response was can't you? Never in all of my years of baking cookies have I ever used baking powder when the recipe calls for baking soda but now I have and here's what the cookies look like with that ingredient swap.

Generally I only bake one batch at a time so when the first batch came out looking like the above I wanted to blame it on the oven. So I adjusted the temperature which was high so I was sure that was the problem. Nope. Next I moved the oven rack and again I had cookies with a ring around them and very soft centers. Not to mention pretty tiny, but still I had no clue. Finally, after they were all nearly baked, I looked in my fabulous Joy of Cooking cookbook and upon reading their recipe, it hit me right away! I still wasn't willing to take the blame and went so far as to have Bruce get the empty chip bag out of the garbage, all the while hoping they had printed it wrong. Fat chance! 

So not only did I have the thumb accident, baked the cookies wrong and, here's a funny one. On our field trip I discovered that I had put my leggings on inside out!! I fixed it at the park bathroom and in my defense they are black on both sides, but still. What next? I wish I were not so clumsy or stupid but one needs to call a spade a spade when one sees one!

Oh wait, here's another crazy thing. I ordered a new muffin pan and did not check the proper delivery option so it went to Orlando along with a new jigsaw puzzle from Amazon. Not wanting to bother with returning it from afar, nor bothering friends, I ordered another one and let me tell you it is a winner and worth every penny. Get this...no greasing the cups required! 

The pop right out and a little water in the hot pan softens any remnants. Perfection!

The puzzle I ordered to replace the one that is in Orlando was a beauty and although I got off to a great start, I had to bring in the calvary. Unlike me, Bruce sorts the pieces in a tidy fashion.

Together we finished it and isn't it just so pretty? Gallison is the manufacturer. 

I know there are those amongst you that can complete a puzzle of 1,000 pieces, without even looking at the picture I might add, however, this couple is sticking with 500 which is challenging enough for us!

While many folks have thought we should have returned to Florida for part of the winter, as has been repeated a number of times, I am enjoying the winter and Bruce is growing to like it as well. (note big smile in our selfie!) We considered coming home for a few weeks, but why quit in the middle of an experiment? What if it snows and we miss it? Although it has been unseasonably warm here, cold weather is still very much a possibility. And then there is this:

The garden you have now become familiar with because of the feeders and hot tub has multiple groups of sprouts and I can hardly wait to see what happens next. I am beginning to appreciate how much having seasons changes ones life and seemingly, in many ways, for the better. It gives a person something to look forward to and I don't mean the end of greater summer and beginning of lesser summer like it has always been for me in Florida. The days are lengthening and it now feels sort of weird for it to be light after 6pm. Are you feeling the same? 

And in the last of today's exciting news, look what happened last week.

You would think I was some sort of scientist or something what with the amount of time I spend watching the birds come and go. In spite of all of that time I have not seen my couple again since I took the above late last week. My gut tells me they will return when they are good and ready, but I am hoping it will be sooner rather than later. I caught them eying out the property that day so I know they are interested.

Here's a little something though....who knows what prompted me to do so but I have been keeping a list of birds that have come to the feeders or the ground below, which btw, we had a new guest this week in the form of a Hermit Thrush, but anyway, I went through my photo albums and discovered that I have photographed a lot of different species in my days. To the tune of 135! I agree that with 10,000 species in the world it is a mere drop in the bucket but I am excited nonetheless.

Well folks, that's all the news that is fit for print from Charlotte's Cottage. Never fear, there will be more.

your friend,

Gail