Changing numbers

First it said, “85”-as in degrees, in the FL garage at 6am no less. Humidity you could cut with a knife, sprinkle on cinnamon sugar and serve for breakfast. A bit later in Gainesville FL it said 77 and we knew were were on our way.

We really start looking in Atlanta.. figuring HOT ‘Lanta but yesterday it was 85 at 2pm and breezy. It actually felt a lot better than 85 at 6am in Tampa. But as they say in the tv commercials… But Wait—Dillard GA said 77 and balmy.. I love going backwards.

After a stop in Franklin NC, Lowe’s, to pick up new tile and grout, we eagerly watched the car thermometer…. drop.. Yehaw. We took Rt 64 up the mountain to say ‘heh’ to the Cullasaja Falls, Bust-Your-Butt Falls a bit farther up, people still at the Dry Falls lookout in early evening, and wow-the sunlight was hitting Bridal Veil Falls in Highlands just right. It was a glistening veil that photographers just love….not to mention people looking at their car thermometer!

As we rounded the turn in our driveway and checked one last time… 68! incredible. I was actually looking for my flannel jamies before we went to bed.
But Wait…. I turned on the electric blanket instead. Ahhh technology. cozy. Ya gotta love it. www.chambersagency.net

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Possibilities become probablilties

Can it ever be possible… that one can be exhausted with happiness? I guess it’s better than the alternative. In Highlands it’s an easily ‘catchable’ disease. Not only is the place Nature’s Wonder but we are in the midst of some big physical changes in the house. The last time we did this was 10 years ago when we bought it. I was 10 years younger so ‘happy exhaustion’ was slower in coming!
In this economic environment, remodeling had only been in our dreams. We have the roof to thank. We were originally told it would last 5 years and it went 10… but no more.
We also have Eltimio Hernandez in Highlands to thank. His bid came in so low that it allowed us to do some major remodeling and it keeps continuing. I think my smile reaches from ear to ear because of possibilities becoming probabilities! just incredible. Can smiles ‘break’ if they’ve been up too long?
The previous blog shows the kitchen remodeling–thinking we were almost done. Au Contraire! In a week the floor now comes up for tile and some re-arranging of fridge and cabinets for easier access to the fridge when we have our seasonal closings. It could get tricky because we have a serendipity house with emphasis on ‘dipity’! We have a House With Character, definitely a Mountain House-not cookie cutter!
Are we then done… just wait til September when I Can See Clearly Now… I’ve been waiting for that for 10 years, too!
A photo will follow of the kitchen newly ‘robed’… Hang in there. Better yet-come and rent a week or a month! The weather is cool and magnificent.
PS The bluette is out, the rhodies are blooming and by golly, my walk down the long bedroom hall reveals the 3 leaf, 3 flower petal trillium on the hillside. Mountain laurel should be out our next visit. Come and drink it in.
With a smile this wide I’m going to have to invest in teeth whitener………..

Tweet and not twitter

Here's looking at you, kid.. and you'd better skidaddle!

I’m peeking but cannot see. I’m listening but cannot hear. Just what is going on in that fake plant hanging on the edge of my mountain deck? I get scolded if I go too close! That’s when I really get to hear Mama or Papa bird tweet if I try to sit on the deck railing and take a picture. they are good parents.
As we sit quietly at the deck picnic table we have a front row seat. Mama is bringing succulent lunch to something inside that silk spider plant; a bit of worm is dangling from her mouth as she peers around making sure it is safe to hop under the fake leaf with her prize lunch. I do hear a bit of a chirp when I sit inside the sliding door of the den and listen as I type this… but nuthing, absolutely nuthin’ if we sit closer by! I’m afraid that the unveiling will be after we are gone-maybe in time for a rental guest! How lovely.
Meanwhile I’ll have to be content to watch the first trillium flowers begin to pop through the 3 leaves–just waiting for the applause.

Shy Peek-a-boo

Shy Peek-a-boo

Was it only a few weeks ago I was blogging about daffodils? It was just a short time ago, I arrived to a standing ovation of beautiful white daffodils with yellow hearts as we drove into the Lodge driveway. I felt like clapping and bowing towards their beauty.

As we unpacked a special one announced her place, off by herself to the right by the stairs. She shyly greeted us and it stopped me in my tracks. Where’s the camera and where did I pack it? I’m not moving one inch til I get this shot. My heart longed to wrap her in my arms but instead, sigh, I must look from afar hoping her time with us will be longer than usual. I will pine til I see her once again next year.

But wait, I’m going back shortly to to see tiny delicate bluette ranging all over the front yard next to the creek–the moss will be blooming. Who knew I was such a flower fan??? Highlands is always offering herself, whether it’s the flowers, creeks and lakes, wonderful hikes with all kinds of surprises and shopping and eating… Heaven. I am so blessed.

Looking With New Eyes

What a difference a week makes. Just a week ago, I started counting down the days we would be back in our High-lands, NC, Norton Creek Lodge, even if for so short a time this Spring season. Days at work were month and quarter-end tense, trying to get work done in 2 days that would take 4. I was dreaming about the first yellow daffodil popping up-with so much courage and promise against the winter skies.

I’m down to two days and counting and what am I thinking about? Splashing in the creek, listening for the baby’s cry and just smiling from ear to ear. and thanking God. That’s what happens when your son and daughter-in-law come by the house to tell you that you are going to be grandparent’s for the First Time!

Time for our annual gathering to be changed to an earlier date!! This is going to be such a happy house in years to come because it’s a perfect house for families of all ages to gather and cherish the time together. It was over twenty years ago when I told my husband that we needed to find a house that grandkids wouldn’t ‘fall off the mountain’ if they went outside to play. We needed a place to park more than one car for the family to come for their visits. Ten years ago we found Norton Creek Lodge–just perfect for couples and for family gatherings with split bedroom arrangement for 4 bedrooms (2 masters!) and 3 baths. Just ask the Glovers returning to us in August! Smile at the wild daisies and taste the yummy black raspberries for me please.

August WildFlowers

Say It Isn’t Soooooo

May Trillium Highlands NC

One of my favorite flowers of Spring in Highlands NC is a very special flower. I learned that if picked, the entire plant will die. I also just learned how it’s seeds are spread; if you’re interested, visit Wikipedia! Even that explanation has not doused my ardor for Trillium. I’m so anxious to see my first one for Spring that I checked my Google Calendar. Last year I wrote on the date it first appeared and checked ‘annual’ so it would appear each year. I didn’t see it on March. So I checked the April calendar… not there. Ohhh noo-it’s on the May calendar for the 5th when I saw my first bloom along the hillside last year.
I spend long fragments of time walking down the long hallway from my bedroom to the lodge great room, stopping by each of the windows facing the plant covered hill behind us. I peek and move my head every which way, hoping to see the first Trillium blooms.. They are so special and so delicate. There is a ‘story’ that each of the three flower blooms (& three leaves) are for Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I like that explanation but my favorite could also be-love, beauty and everlasting hope. I already know God put it there!

Smiles of Daffodils

I‘m counting down the days. I know that just under that latest dusting of beautiful snow is a daffi just waiting to burst through, raising it’s bright yellow head against the winter past, giving me a trilling heart for the Spring to come. Hurry up Spring! It begins with the beautiful white blooms of Bradford pear tree all along highway 64 in Franklin NC. I watch as Spring begins there and slowly blooms up the mountain side into Highlands. That brown, quiet, reclusive time of winter changes into the incredible shades of light green coming up the mountain side into Spring. Are my bags packed yet?