More Flowers and Celebrations

Here I am, once again, trying to figure out what I did with my time. Of course, we did actually finish moving and we closed on the sale of our house. We are now the proud owners of only one residence! And today is my birthday, so I wanted to get this done before I got a year older.


After an extraordinarily rough winter, the spring was extraordinarily beautiful. I want to share some pictures of the wild flowers that were on the ridge. If I can figure out how to get some pics on, I'll share some with you. I now have the pictures on, but whenever I try to caption them everything goes haywire. So, you'll have to settle for running commentary. These three wild flowers (from left to right) are trillium, wild strawberry, and flame azalea. They are some of the most dramatic flowers in the springtime landscape up here. I have more, but getting pics on is so tedious that I quit!


Of course, the Fourth of July always brings an excuse for getting together with friends. Jarleth and LT came, as well as Jim's niece, Fran, and her husband, Neal. The Longs from Cashiers came along with their daughter and her significant other. We had a wonderful time cooking out, eating, sitting by the fire, and watching fireworks off our deck.











These pics on the left are of Christine Long and her daughter, Elyse. On the right are the "boys"... JR, Curt, and Neal, all standing around Lynn's raised bed garden. It is doing very well, by the way!

Adam and his family came to visit from Texas. While they were here, Jon and his family came up. It was such fun having all the grandchildren together in one place...even though it was very much like a gerbil cage around here! The kids went gem mining and went in search of waterfalls. JR and I stayed home and rested up! The following pictures are of us with the boys and their children; the boys and their families; and of us with our 5 grandchildren. Aren't they beautiful? MiMi and PapaJim love those little things! Well, we love the big ones, too, but grandchildren are just the best!

This past weekend our friends Jim and Eileen came for the weekend. We were great friends in Charlotte when Eileen and I were teaching in the same school. Our kids were about the same age and we played bridge together regularly. When the kids were little, we'd take them over to Jim and Eileen's and they'd do the same. Now, their children are "mature" and so are ours! It was a great weekend. I forgot to take any pictures, though, and Eileen forgot her camera. Well, age is a beautiful thing! We haven't seen them in about 10 years. They have moved to South Carolina (via Orlando and Atlanta), so we're going to visit them in September at their lake house. It was such a fun weekend. Jim P. and I won at bridge! I'll take pics then...but not one of me in my bathing suit!

The next family thing is "Celebrate Everything" at my sister's house in Rural Hall, NC. That's a little thing we do at least once a year and sometimes more to celebrate friends and family and all the good things in our lives. JR and I are going to spend the night with Judy and Johnnie. It'll be like a slumber party...if we can stay up that late!

Just so you know...as I post this, I am STILL only 63 years old!

So until next time. I love you guys!

Guests and Mountain Flowers

Wouldn't you think that somebody who is retired would have time to do a simple blog? Well, yet again, nearly another month has gone by and I haven't done one. Now I had the BEST of intentions ( have your heard about the road to hell being paved with them?), but, okay, I'm just lazy.

But here the new one is. I meant to make this political, but gave that up as I couldn't figure out how to write something reasonable without alienating almost everybody I know. I have thought about sticking pins in the dolls of everyone who disagrees with me, but I'd have to buy too many dolls! You're safe for now. I don't think I'll become the feminine equivalent of Glenn Beck...at least not this week!


The first weekend in May my friend, Carolyn Petty, and her husband Tim came to spend the weekend with us. Carolyn, bless her heart, was recovering from a torn ACL (I think) and , actually spent a pretty miserable weekend, but she was a trooper, and we had a good time anyway. Jim and Tim drove over the county and did some tame four-wheeling. We had never met him, but really liked him and hope that they will come back again soon. He has old cars (as does Jim), so they hit it off. Jim went to see him when he returned the shirt Tim left and got to see his cars. I'm not sure what men see in cars, but if it makes them happy, so be it! The above is a pic of Carolyn and Tim taken in front of our fireplace (which doesn't work at this moment). New house?

The next weekend my Bridge Girls came...well not all of them, but some. They came on Friday afternoon and we spent Friday night eating and playing bridge; Saturday, eating and playing bridge; and Sunday morning eating and talking. Gayle Aughtry, Susan Gibbs, and Vicki Jaus spent the weekend with me. We laughed and laughed, ate (did I already say that?), and played bridge. Gayle was the overall winner. She got a tea towel that says: "If a man says something in the woods, and a woman doesn't hear him, is he still wrong?" (We decided "yes") I, on the other hand was the overall loser. Oh, well. I finally did get tired of not getting any cards, so we called it an evening and just didn't pick it up the next morning. They are such a wonderful crew. Here is a pic of the four of us on my deck...looking out into the beautiful beyond.

Vicki Jaus, Gayle Aughtry, Me, Susan Gibbs

And I do need to show you the beautiful spring flowers that are up here. Domestic rhododendren and wild iris.

I meant to get a pic of one of the pink lady slippers that we have, but I always forgot to take my camera down when I went out the gate where there was a real pretty one. I showed it to Gayle when she left that Sunday.

I have a couple of other pieces of news. JR and I FINALLY sold our house in Charlotte. It was on the market for almost a year. We didn't get what we wanted, but we got what we needed and we are looking forward to having only one house to care for. It's been 15 years (almost) since that happened. We will close on the 30th and it can't come too soon! I have joined a couple of civic groups here in Jackson County and am meeting really nice people. This is getting to be home!

Love to all. I will try to be better as I'm sure that all of you wait with bated breath to hear about my exciting life.

Love to all of you.

Breaks and Grandchildren

OK. I took a nap and April disappeared. I've thought many times that I would add to the blog, but somehow never quite got around to it. Part of the reason is that I have been cogitating on the ObamaCare bill that passed the Congress in March. I'm not happy with that, but I wanted to make sure that I was reasonable before I commented on it. I'm not going to do that now, but that will be my next post...fair warning for those of you who don't like my rantings! :):)

However, some really wonderful things have happened to me since then...Mary, her children, and her friend, Abby, came up for a few days during their spring break; we got a REFUND on taxes (first time in living memory); and I spent a wonderful weekend with my grandchildren (and son and daughter-in-law, of course) this past weekend.

First things first. Mary, the kids, and Abby came for a few days. We didn't do much of anything. We had lunch with another of my friends, Cathy Baker, one day (it was raining hard), but I forgot to take a pic of the group that day. Ana brought a friend, Christina, who is a very nice girl. I liked her. Mary took the kids and Abby gem mining one day, but mostly we just hung out, played Chickenfoot (if you don't know what that is, you should), and drank wine. I always love having Mary up here. She just brightens days! Even after how hard her life has been, she always sees the glass as half full.

Mary and Abby

Ana and Christina (left), Zach (right)

I am so bad at this stuff. I can hardly believe that I even DO a computer, much less pretend that I know what I'm doing!

The next great thing was the 5 days I spent in Charlotte this week. Almost all of the time was spent with my grandchildren, and though I meant to contact some of my friends there, I just didn't do it. I saw Jon's ballgame on Thursday (though I went on Wednesday, thinking that was the day..I got lots of kidding about that); went to a wonderful Grandparent's Day at Saint Gabriel's on Friday,; went to THREE ballgames for all three grandchildren on Saturday, and to Reni's birthday party on Sunday. I have made the transition from Charlotte to the mountains and consider this home now, but this weekend was one of the best I have spent there! All thanks to Jon and Patti for opening their home and hearts for us...and to our good friend, Jarleth, who gives me a place to stay with grace, style, and love.

Reni's Birthday

The Cousins
Reni, Mikey (Giroux), Jonathan, Katie, Charlie (Giroux), Robbie (Giroux)

A wonderful time was had by all!

Mamas and Sisters

I had a wonderful two days with Mama this week. I don't get to see her as often as I'd like, so this was a real treat. She will be 86 years old next moth. She still lives alone, and is in reasonably good health. My brother, Charlie, and my sister, Judy get the credit for looking after her so well. While I was there, we went to see Judy's new house. It is a really cute log home with a wrap around porch. Judy cooked lunch (delicious), we sat on the porch in the warm spring sunshine, and took a walk to examine an old family cemetery that is down the road a ways. All of us like cemeteries, and this one was very interesting. The youngest grave we saw dated from 1965, and the whole plot is in great disrepair. We saw some graves marked with inscribed stones, but many graves were marked only with stones stuck in the ground. Many young babies were buried there, and most of the current "residents" were not really old.

Only 14 months separate my birth and Judy's, so we were very close as children. We got away from that closeness as were were young women rearing young families, but as we have aged and as concerns about Mama have enabled us to reconnect in a most wonderful way. Isn't family great?

I'm going to try to put a picutre on this site, but I'm having some difficulty with the blogger site, so who knows. Well, I got it on, but it's not where I want it. Beggars can't be chooers, I don't guess.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

It happens everywhere, but in the mountains when the winters can be, and often are, harsh, a day that is a harbinger of spring is received with joy that is just short of giddiness...or not!  Today was such a day...sunny, warmish (50's), light winds.  Although I should have worked on my taxes, I resolved to wait until the next rainy day (tomorrow).  JR and I joyfully spent the entire day outside, cleaning up small (very small ) amounts of winter detritus and burning them in the firepit.  When I had used up every bend-over that I could, I sat by the fire with my book and enjoyed the fresh air (when the smoke wasn"t following my beauty) and reveled in the opportunity to be out of the house.  

The winter is not over, and there will be other inhospitable days, but today was a promise of things to come.  I just can't wait!!!

Austin City Limits and Mud, Lovely Mud!

The view of Austin from Adam's and Shanna's deck.

At last report I was contemplating descending a mile long driveway in 10 inches of snow. I finally decided to just get in the car and go.  I left on Wednesday afternoon while the snow was soft and went to Asheville to spend the night before heading to Austin on Thursday morning.  The next morning was bitterly cold in Asheville with the wind chill approaching the single digits.  I had not intended taking my heavy jacket, but since I had to park in the long term parking row that was furthest from the terminal, I was forced to do so.  That, of course, meant that I had to figure out a place for it in my carry-on bag.  It didn't fit well, but at least I had a coat...just what was needed in Austin's high 60's and low 70"s.

The trip was fine, if a bit long (I had a 4 hour layover in Atlanta, which stretched to 4 1/2 when the plane was late).  Jim joined us all on Thursday evening and a great time was had by all.  Adam and Shanna have a nice house that is plenty large for the girls and their playthings.  We spent an afternoon in downtown Austin, a very nice and livable urban area.  It rained for a couple of days, and we amused ourselves with the children.  Oh, how wonderful!!!  Gracie never shuts up, Avey is learning to talk, and I have watched enough "Dora the Explorer" to last a lifetime.  I think this is the longest sustained time I have spent with the girls and I loved every second of it.

Avery (left) and Gracie (right) in a playful mood.

Right before Adam and I left to go to the airport, I called Curt (our builder) to find out the condition of the driveway.  No snow, but muddy.  I can do mud!  When I got to the drive, I was very pleased to note that there was NO SNOW on the drive.  Oh, mud, lovely mud!  Getting up was no problem.  Right now, it is foggy and a bit rainy with more of that forecast, but NO SNOW for the forseeable future.  God is smiling on me!

Soon as I finish this, I'm heading to Charlotte for a couple of days.  Got some clean-up to do before I put that house back on the market and am going to the doctor tomorrow with Jim's elderly cousin.  Flat Stanley, from Arlington, TX, is visiting us for a few days.  I hope he doesn't get snowed in.  Love to all.

The Best Laid Plans...

My intention had been to create a blog titled "On to Austin!!!"  That was until the weather became very uncooperative.  I am (still) planning to got to Austin on Thursday to visit Adam, Shanna, and the most wonderful grandchildren, Gracie and Avery.  Ummm...we have about 8 inches of snow on the ground as I write, and it isn't supposed to stop anytime soon.  I could, once again, be stuck.  I have resolved not to cry.

Anyway, the last thing to keep me prisoner was the damn dog, but his doggie care facility is now complete, and we feel pretty confident that we can leave him for a couple of days without having to worry about him.  The cat, being pretty self-sufficient, will, as always, be fine with food, water, and a litter box.  You know, the older I get, the more I'm like my mama...she doesn't want to take care of anything anymore!

OK.  Back to the subject hand.  Those of you that know me well, know that when we moved to the mountains, we gave up the comforts of a fenced in back yard, and a doggie door.  We have been working with a wrought iron guy (who doubles as a VERY GOOD country singer: Name: Freddie Way) to create a "doggie daycare facility" (prison) that would protect him, keep him comfortable, and allow us some time off.  Until this project was complete, one of us had to be here all the time.  OK.  It is complete!  Therefore, I felt very comfortable leaving him with food and water (and an intermittent caretaker) for a few days while I went to Austin, TX to see Adam (on his birthday), and, most importantly, the grandchildren.  This could work...except for the fact that I now have about 8 inches of snow on the ground with the probability that it won't quit until midnight.  I am now playing things by ear...or snowfall inches.  The snow has been very heavy, and I wish that I could say that it is diminishing...wishful thinking!  I tried to take a pic of the falling snow, but I don't think I know the resolutions on the camera that will do that.  Use your imagination.

So...I may or may not get to Austin, but I will leave you with pics of the doggie prison, and of the latest snow.  I don't think there will be anyone more happy than I to get the winter over with.

Love to all.