The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

Everyone knows and loves the famous Christmas song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", and I have been amongst that group, however, I have discovered that it is not entirely true.  I am here to nominate Autumn to share that designation.

Blasphemous you say! 

So be it.

Even though this Fall has not been nearly as vibrant, or so say the locals, it is hard to not be overwhelmed with the beauty that is Autumn in the mountains. Everywhere that green leaves become a kaleidoscope of color in October is beautiful, but when you add mountains into the equation, well it is just glorious and that's a fact!! 

In the past week I have taken hundreds of photographs of the glory that has surrounded us from Hayesville to Murphy to Andrews and Nantahala Lake, which is what you are seeing above. And since I began writing this two days ago, I went somewhere else that is glorious!

These two fellows took me to Gibbs Gardens in Georgia, and to say that it was beautiful is a serious understatement. So beautiful in fact that it is going to require some serious blog attention on another day.

Writing this post is going to be tricky indeed because there are so many beautiful things I want to show you and so little space.

Tuesday I had my Medicare wellness check up  at Dr. Lohf's office in Hayesville. I am happy to report that it was uneventful. When asked to remember three things for a short period of time, I was a star student answering chair, table and pencil correctly. When Laura learned we were in Hayesville she suggested that we continue driving east on Hwy 64 towards Franklin to see the color that was in peak last week. Duh, that was a no brainer!

Shoulder to shoulder the trees were lined up in their Fall best atop the rocks. But first, it was a bit hard to get there because of the thick fog we encountered, along with blinding light from the rising sun. 

On our way back from the overlook, this scene unfolded before us.

I absolutely squeal with delight seeing the beautiful sights as a few folks have come to experience while in my presence! 

We stopped back in Hayesville to go to Molly & Me, an antique shop that was closed when were there a couple hours earlier following my doctor's visit. What a winner! Great furniture in pristine condition, along with assorted other goodies including glassware. How is it possible not to love this stuff?

Slightly more modern take below. That clock! I wonder if I even noticed it  when we were there because I was enamored of the dish display?

In excellent news another accomplishment while in Hayesville was a stop at a local department store where Bruce was able to buy some new Levis, a flannel shirt and a jacket. All very much needed.

One morning, and now I can't remember which one, but definitely not a MWF as those are typically pickleball days,  anyway, once I noticed the heavy fog outside our windows, and after finishing my Bible reading, I quickly dressed and headed out with my cameras. 

Sandy's tree across the street looked like this:

Before I go further, in my library, this is the photo next to it, taken the previous afternoon.

That would be the playground adjacent to the courts. Those trees!!!

While living in Vancouver, fog was quite common as well and I loved going out in it to take photographs, once even losing my way because it was so thick. There are some awesome photos in this post, written on December 7, 2017. Anyway, while not nearly as thick here, it was pretty darn great.

Not too many folks out at this time of the morning, however, I did run into the daughter-in-law of Mr. Vespasian and I thanked her once again for the part she played in making this home available for sale. 

And this person was on the path.

Really, seeing loads of spider webs in all shapes and sizes was so great and fun to photograph.

Here comes a bunch. I could not stop myself!

Another.

And a tree full of them!

Walking along the primitive path, by now waiting for the fog to lift, I was beginning to glimpse color appear along the river. By the way, the road behind those trees is the one we took over and over again to get to our beautiful cottage. It took me far too long to realize that!

In this area of the walk, wildflowers cover the ground and I believe you can just make them out in the fog. Of course you can....you are not blind!

All this while I was chatting with our son David on the phone when lo and behold, Laura appeared out of the fog on her morning run!! I often say that I don't go many places without running into someone and along this path was no exception. We had a good chat about how beautiful it looked that morning,

and how pleased I was to not be in the harsh light of the sun. Seriously folks it has been so blue, that is until today. which is another story altogether. 

Woo hoo, here it is, still soft and beautiful with just a hint of fog overhead.

After taking far more photographs than is wise, I turned around to head home. As you are well aware, I am a very slow walker ,so by now I was about two hours in, a journey that for most folks would have taken in about 45 minutes, if that. 

But I was enjoying myself too much to rush. 

The foggy photograph with the slender tree sticking out of the ground above was taken in this area an hour earlier.

Don't you just love it??

Exiting the river walk, I took the road out of the neighborhood into ours, but much to your surprise, I saw a few things along the way that caught my attention.

It is hard to say which color I love the most, the yellow above, the absolutely crazy intense red,

or maybe the combo is best? 

And in case you did not know, should you be new to this blog, no photoshop is used so the intense color is just that intense.

Gosh, was I ever glad to have gone on that walk! Once home I spent time in the kitchen because we were having John and Tammy over before they returned to Florida for the winter. I made a gingerbread cake, successfully I might add (!!!), mac and cheese and fried chicken using the BonTon recipe. As well, I still had a few home grown tomatoes that I used to make a cucumber and tomato salad. It all worked, the food, the timing, and the friendship. Yippee! I think using peanut oil is the trick when you make it in a cast iron skillet. Seriously, it was not only tasty, but looked darn good. Before you go thinking that I am a braggart, you have read about many a cooking fail in this space, so when something works, I am most definitely going to celebrate!

And then along came Friday. Hike day. At least for me but Mr. Peck went to do some volunteer work in the Asheville area and Mrs. Peck foolishly agreed to go on a hike, unsuited for someone of her limited experience. Yet, I am here to tell about it. At times I wondered, but the truth is, that all of the folks were great with one young woman (61) holding my hand at times to pull me along!

Cobby and Diane are kind enough to put these activities together for the rest of us.

I rode in Anita's truck and all of the ladies in that vehicle were laughing at how excited I became when seeing all of the beautiful colors.

We hiked up a narrow, root-filled path to the top of a waterfall, which Bruce and I did last summer, albeit with difficulty, however, on this occasion we just kept going up and up and up. My photo taking had to take a back seat as I was terrified, and I am only slightly exaggerating, a good deal of the way. Everyone else was A-ok because either they are stronger than I am, or more experienced. Take your pick. Cary, pictured below, had only returned from a two week African vacation two days prior. The things she did there were darn scary, so this was tame stuff.

Hey friends, fall leaves!

By golly I made it!!

Bless Nancy's heart, when faced with a choice on which path to take going down, she was kind enough to join me on the path of least resistance. We were at Fire's Creek in the Nantahala Forest.

While still in the forest, it was a steep gravel road that felt far safer to this chicken! Lunch was served underneath the trees.

And then along came Saturday. As if I had not had my fill, after getting the laundry going and other house chores done, Bruce took me for a Saturday drive with less enthusiasm as his wife, but as he is willing to do most anything that will make me happy, we took off for Junaluska Road in Andrews. 

And perhaps that is a good place to stop? That said let's look at those amazing trees again. Located so close to home, when I walked to the pharmacy to pick up a regular prescription, my heart sang seeing such amazing color. It is totally rivaling the famed "Taco Bell" tree and it is but a block from home!

Note the tiny bit of brick on the right edge and that is a house on our street! Just a few days before we popped in under the leaves and look at these two lovebirds!

I am seeing yellow, how about you? 

Finally, it was so long ago but if you are still with me, remind yourself of Sandy's gorgeous tree in the fog as seen near the beginning of this post. Well, it looks pretty darn stunning in the afternoon light doesn't it?

So, what do you think? Do I have a few votes for Autumn?

your friend, 

Gail

"You Must Be a Catholic!"

Do you believe in kismet? I do.

Riding along this morning, I was considering how best to weave together a narrative for my next post. Well, by golly, an image appeared before me like magic!

The biggest, baddest, spider web I've practically ever seen, shone in the sunlight as if lit with electricity! Solar power Gail, solar power.

So what? Very cool, but what does it have to do with anything? And where the heck does that title come from? It's coming....

As many of you know, marrying into a family big on genealogy research, our son Matthew took up the mantle, finding out amazing things about our forbearers. He learned that our ancestry on my Dad's Paternal side came from Wales. Coal miners they were, which may or may not explain my long term love of novels set in the coal country. Then too, he learned that my Maternal Grandmother was born in Fancy Farm, Kentucky. Never heard of it? No surprise there as it is a mighty tiny place although they do have their own website which I've perused with great interest, so much so that I contacted the author of the site, discovering that in addition to the FF website, she also writes a blog about life in Fancy Farm. Guess what? She wrote me back.

The airline tickets are booked--we are officially making a pilgrimage because here is about the size of the family history I have any knowledge of.

Wait a minute--that is way too ambitious as far as my knowledge, whereas Matt has put together many, many generations on the web that is our family tree. Armed with his information, our plan is to learn more from whence I came. Plus, my new Fancy Farm friend, Cynthia has offered to show us around!! How about them apples?

Chatting with the owner of the bed & breakfast where we plan to stay in Paducah, the largest nearby town, the first thing she said when I said we were visiting Fancy Farm is, "you must be Catholic." No, no we are not, however, had our Mother had her way, we sure would be. She lost that battle with my Dad a long time ago.

According to Cynthia many of the same families live in Fancy Farm that were there from the early 1800's founding. And they are all Catholic. This should be fun; when I know more, you will too!

In other news, should you have the extreme misfortune to have a plantar's wart on your foot or toe, I've found a home remedy that might just work for you as it seems to be working for me. I'm cautiously optimistic that the clear nail polish I've been putting on it, covered with a band aid, is suffocating that creepy little virus on my big toe. After about a week of this treatment it sure is less painful, giving me reason for hope. File that one away.

Then too, I mentioned I was also suffering from night time sinus drainage that really interfered with a good night's sleep. Well, somewhere on the world wide web I read that if you hydrate very well before lying down it would help. Drinking two to three glasses of water before bedtime is making a big difference for me.

Gross information I know, but it may be of help to a fellow sufferer. Consider these last two paragraphs a "public service announcement."

If you can imagine, I went swimming in our pool yesterday. Yup--November 11! As far back as I can remember, I've not been in any swimming pool this late in the year, but with daytime temperatures still hanging around the 90 mark, a cool dip following lawn mowing was just what I needed. Incredible really.But, I did say people were in the ocean this past weekend so there's that.

The various sand colors along the coastline really fascinate me. Here is the orange of Flagler Beach...

but when we got closer to St. Augustine it was white and powdery as can be.

I don't know what you call the activity pictured above is....kite skiing perhaps? Very cool whatever it is called.

Following Saturday's wet weather, Sunday morning the sand at Vilano Beach was probably more orange than if it were dry, but still orange again, in spite of it being about twenty five miles North of Flagler.

The waves were pretty wild on Sunday morning when I took a short walk on the beach before leaving for home. The surfers were doing their best to take advantage of the conditions.

One more from the wedding that was just plain too cute not to share...Monica's sister adopted Gracie, and the darling boy carrying the hound (remember the name of their company), is the son of her best friend. Absolutely adorable!

This morning it looked like this outside before sunrise,

but the fog soon burned off from the warmth of the sun and not a cloud in the blue, blue sky.

One thing that thrills me at this time of the year is the re-opening of one of my favorite places.

Riding my bike there yesterday morning the woman at the counter asked if I was still selling my work. Hmmm....am I? Don't know just yet. Stay tuned.

Look what I saw in someone's yard...

Already?

Nancy asked me recently how Angela is doing, making me think that perhaps you are wondering the same. She is doing as well as can be expected, filling her days with a huge remodel of her home. So big she's moved out if that tells you anything! Today, though, she is in Washington, DC because Matt will be buried tomorrow at Arlington Cemetery, according to his wishes. His Dad and first Commander in the Marines are making it possible. Time though---nothing quite like the tincture of time. Heals most things doesn't it?

I'm really looking forward to our trip for plenty of reasons, one of which is too see rural America, something I've rarely done. Next week can't come soon enough!!

Excited,

Gail

We've Had Some Rain

As we were preparing for bed Sunday evening, after watching a bit of the Golden Globe Award Show, the sound of a gentle rain could be heard through the open window. Before long, that gentle rain became not so gentle, with some pretty serious wind action along for the ride.  A very nice way to fall asleep, don't you agree?

By morning, it was over, but boy, oh boy, was everything drenched. I'm lucky in that, either direction I take, after leaving our street, errands can be done within a mile. Shopping, dry cleaning, the post office, the produce market, all are to the right. To the left is my bank. Most of you don't go to the bank so often anymore, however, weekly I receive cash that begs depositing. A good thing, I might add.

So, I took the left turn and rode to the bank with my deposit. I decided, since I was so close, to cross Orange Avenue, (scary as it is) and ride into Cypress Grove Park, last visited for the Christmas light display. Because it is winter I assumed the roses would be in bloom, and my assumption turned out to be right on. Bonus points for heavy raindrop coverage!

Leaving the house, the sky was still gloomy, however, the sun peeked out of the grey for a little while, enough so that the water droplets glinted in the bright light. In particular I was amazed at how they stuck to the leaf edges on the rose bushes.

Tiny little dew drops, oh wait, make that raindrops! The red climbing roses had a gold glint to the blooms as they raised their pretty faces to the sun.

I wish I'd done a better job on the red roses--I'm not sure the photo is really conveying the beauty that I saw. Then too, African irises are beginning to bloom.

Don't you find it interesting how the petals on the iris lose their pigmentation? Or is that what you would call it? Whatever the terminlogy, they look as delicate as lace...

It is awfully hard to find a place to ride your bike in a park....in spite of miles of walkways, bicycles are not allowed on them. I confess to occasionally breaking that rule because the park was nearly empty. Mostly I confined my time to the parking lots, roadways, and the long dock.

Are we all still in agreement about the cuteness of my bike?

Good. Let us continue our journey.

There were spider webs galore, including plenty between the dock side slats,

and amongst the shoreline foliage:

Everything I saw was good. I'm sure I could draw some parallels between the wonder of nature, and appreciating life to the fullest, and what have you, however, up till then, those thoughts did not occur to me. When I saw the exposed roots to the smallish Oak tree, while the sun made the reeds in the far background light up, it was then that some philosophical thoughts began to percolate in my little brain.

Is it doing the same to you? Well, maybe it is a stretch, but I was thinking about how far and wide my personal roots go. Are they exposed for anyone to see? Or, like most of the trees in the park, are my roots just nudging the surface?

Well, that sounds pretty corny doesn't it?

More practically speaking, my side flower garden is planted where once, a gigantic oak tree stood, with larger roots than you see pictured. When the time came to have it taken down, they ground the major roots, but still much of the side roots remain, leaving me with some difficulties planting flowers amongst them. I do what I'm able.

The sun played peek-a-boo most of the day, however, when it came time to do a few errands needing the car, some sprinkles began to fall. Not enough for an umbrella, or, so I thought! Heading into the library it occurred to me that I might need an umbrella, but, ever the optimist, I left it in the car. Bad move. By the time I was ready to leave, with some books that may or may not be good, including Silas Marner, a classic I've yet to read, the rain was so intense, you could barely distinguish the cars in the parking lot. Eventually I made a run for it. So I got a little wet...big deal.

I decided to postpone my planned trip to William Sonoma, where I was headed next to redeem my Christmas gift card from Bill. I'm very glad that I did because the rain just kept hanging around. And around, and around,... This morning I could not wait for daylight to see how much fell. Checking my rain gauge....

well, you can see for yourself how much fell in about eight hours time. We've exceeded our monthly average in one day! Enough already--Mr. Sunshine, show your face will you?

Before I forget, while Jon boy was home he told me about a show we could watch on Netflix, The Honourable Woman, and no that is not a typo, it is the British spelling because it is a BBC production.  Here's a link that, in spite of misspelling the name of the show, gives you a bit of information. We watched two episodes while he was here, followed by me binging on four episodes while Bruce was out with some old buddies, followed by two more last week. Captivating, albeit, confusing, and complicated, I was delighted to see Maggie Gyllenhaal win the GG award Monday night. Watch if you feel inspired. :)

Finally, just as I suspected, the market on Sunday was pretty much a downer, or at least for most of the day. Crazy weather, with chilliness requiring a jacket and sweater, dampness which always makes it feel colder, rain, yes, rain, and two hours before closing time, the sun came out and I couldn't peel my outerwear off fast enough! Sales were mostly pathetic until just about an hour before closing. a physician from Tampa walked in, studied everything. and asked if I might wrap up two of the framed canvases. I agreed to do so.

It's official--FSU is no longer the College Football National Champs, ceding the title to Ohio State in a good game last night. There is always next season!