Lawnmower in Paradise

After many months of discussion, debate, research and anxiety, hubby's new John Deere lawnmower was delivered.  His biggest concern was the steep slope on the side of the house.  Only one of those commercial mowers that you stand on would be able to mow that hill.

Hubby was all a-twitter mowing his lawn for the first time.  My last words were "stay away from that hill".  Half an hour later, there he was, stuck, on the side of the hill.  Oh Deere!

Mount Jefferson State Park

It was a beautiful morning, just a tad of cloudy, and we decided to go hiking.  Mount Jefferson State Park is a few minutes away.  The peak is 4665 feet, which is 1665 feet more than the town of Jefferson.  The only car in the parking lot was ours.  It was 69 degrees out.

We chose the mile long trail. It was creepy being the only people in the park and hubby kept mentioning bears.  Scrambling over rocks and tree roots I kept my eyes away from the cliff edges and my ears open for big furry creatures.  We did see a butterfly and a chipmunk.

Summer Reading

I've been doing a lot of reading this summer.  Even though I read mostly fiction, my favorite books tend to be non-fiction.  Comeback: A mother and daughters journey through hell and back deals with drug addiction.  Mia, who was sexually abused as a small child by her father, takes her pain out on herself and her mom and stepdad.  She runs away at the age of 15 and lives on the streets doing just about anything to get drugs.  Her parents find her and send her to a rehab center in Russia.  When the center closed down, she went to Montana.  Both mother and daughter tell their story.  To say there's a happy ending of this joint memoir is wrong. There's a happy beginning. When you get to the end, you'll want to cheer. 







Making an Exit is also about a mother and daughter.  Lillian was born in 1908.  She married a violinist and they had one daughter, Elinor.  After they got divorced, Elinor went to live with Lillian's parents and she went off to work. She was a flamboyant non-conformist who created her own company selling parts-any kinds of parts-automobile parts, military parts, etc.  She traveled the world.  When Elinor was a teenager she went back to live with her mother.  She doesn't really get to know her until Lillian gets Alzheimer's.  The book is funny, inspiring and hopeful.  Elinor wrote"The last ten years, they were our best".

Hair salon

December was the last time I dyed my hair.  Gray hairs started sprouting when I was only 16 and I haven't seen my natural color in 25 years.  My hair isn't that long and it is curly, so I didn't look hideous while the old color left and the new color came in. (at least I don't think I did)

It was time for a hair cut.  For over ten years I had been following Michael around Boca Raton and was spoiled by his expertise.  I asked around for referrals and was sent to the LadyBug to see Stephanie.  The LadyBug is a hair boutique and gift shop that sells jewelry, clothes and what nots.  Stephanie is a cute little 25 year old that used the phrase "Bless your heart" a lot.

She was very excited about her upcoming trip to Las Vegas with the other LadyBug employees.  They were going to some kind of trade show.  It was going to be the first time she had ever flown on an airplane and the farthest she had ever been away from home.  Her mom didn't want her to go.

Fifteen minutes later the last of my hair dye had been cut from my locks and I took off, happy and gray.  I hope Stephanie enjoys her weekend in sin city.  Bless her heart.

  

Wildlife

We are certainly enjoying the butterflies, birds and rabbits that we have been seeing in our yard.  Hubby bought a climbing vine and trellis and put them next to the house.  He found an old bird house that one of the kids painted years ago and set it on top of the trellis.  Two days later we had a pair of birds living in it.  Like anxious parents, we are awaiting the birth of our first baby birds.

The flowers in the mountains are just fantastic.  In Florida, the only plants I could grow during the summer were geraniums, and they had to be in a pot on the porch.  Here we have our pick, each one prettier than the other.  The butterflies are attracted to them all.

Biltmore House was built in 1895 by George Vanderbilt.  There are 250 rooms (we saw 42), 65 fireplaces, and a 10 foot deep indoor swimming pool with electric lights (this was before electric lights were common), comprising 175,000 square feet.  There was a walk-in refrigerator,  electric washing machine, bowling alley and fitness room.  There was a lot of the original furniture and art work.

The grounds contained gardens, ponds, green houses and acres of fruits and vegetables.  It was so hot that we couldn't see everything.

We drove four miles to the winery where we tasted as many types of wine as we wanted.  I had never done a wine tasting before.  The bartender gives you a list and description of the wines and you let him know what you would like to try. We bought three bottles for a total of $34.00.  The wine is made right on the property.

The next morning we headed for home.  About 30 minutes into the drive hubby turns to me and said he forgot to bring the wine!  He called the hotel and they said they would mail the bottles to us.  Sure enough, UPS brought them yesterday at a cost of $47.00  I hope they taste as good as we remember them.

The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands

Over the weekend hubby and I went to Asheville and met up with Dave's cousin and his wife.  We went to the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands and Biltmore Estates.

As soon as we got into Asheville we went down this street with these huge older homes set on large lots.  I said to hubby "I sure wouldn't mind living here."  A minute or so later we were in the middle of downtown Asheville and I changed my mind.  It was like driving in Atlanta or NYC.  Cars were everywhere.  We found the Civic Center, but could not find a place to park.  We spotted the parking garage and it took about 15 minutes to get there, between dodging septic trucks digging up the street and one-way roads, we were frazzled.  The parking lot was full!!  We headed to the hotel and took a cab.

The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands features craftspeople from the Appalachian region and focuses on the traditional process of crafts.  I just wanted to find something cool to hang on my front door.  No luck there.  These were high-end crafts.  Hand carved furniture, blown glass, fancy jewelry, woven cloth, leather purses, clay people and very large price tags!!  We did walk away with a small pottery bowl made to hold cut flowers.

More on Biltmore Estate later...