Back from the Mountains

Mountain Porch

Mountain House Afternoon

The Pinnacle

I had a wonderful time in the NC Mountains – cool breezes, family, fresh veggies, clear water, clean air.  Its a long drive from here, but always worth it.  More pix to follow.

Mountain Retreat

Fresh mown pasture down to the chortling creek; trimmed boxwood fragrance lingering in late afternoon; rose buds lifting with fresh spring water; thrumming of the hummers; snapping beans on the front porch; fresh sweet corn for dinner.  Home in the mountains.

Brought to you courtesy of the Marianna Black Library, Bryson City, NC.

Houston ATC Swap

ATCs – First Group

ATCs – Second Group

ATCs – Third Group

ATCs – Fourth Group

You may remember from an earlier post that I made some artist trading cards to take to Houston with me for the Cloth Paper Scissors sponsored swap.  The first day we were there I made a beeline for that booth, and found close to 100 ATC’s posted on a swap wall – take one, leave one – with velcro dots available to help with posting.  You see above the ones I came home with!  Excellent variety of fabric and paper, some themed to the holidays or entertainment, and some not.  When I got my self together after the trip, I sent e-mails to those who had included their addresses on the backs of their cards, thanking them for the swap.  I heard back from several of them, from as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Houston, Scottland!  Philippa, of BC, was one of 40+ ladies who came to the show from her guild! 

A day or so later, I received an e-mail from a quilter, Marianne, who discovered when she got home that she’d selected four of my cards!  That message was particularly interesting to me, as it was in French.  My resident translator not available at the time, I successfully premiered the Google translator to learn my correspondent was in Switzerland!  The following morning, I received a note from Andrea, who also swapped ATCs at Houston and whom I’d traded messages with earlier, attaching Marianne’s message with the addition of a web site that showed the ATC’s Marianne had taken home from Houston!  So then I could see which cards she’d selected – great fun!  Perhaps you had to be there.  Anyway, here’s Marianne’s site – remember the Google translator if like me you’re mono-linguial: http://malice1618.skyrock.com/

Mountain Report

Pirate Ship

Dan Springs

Momma and Me

Mountain Wolf Spider

Rhododendron

This comes to you from the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City, NC.  We had a good trip down, and found the Mountain House in good order, with a wolf spider on guard against bathroom marauders.  He’s now outside, far away, watching the perimeter.  The rhododendron is blooming and Dan Spring is flowing – weather is brisk in the morning and hot by midday. Typical Smokies!  McKenna and Ella are posing on the pirate ship bed their grandfather, of Up the River Canoes and Woodworks, made for their younger brother Jake.  He may need a boarding party to claim it!  Momma and I had a good visit with Tim and Victoria, and will shortly head back into the boonies.  Have a good week!!  Over and out.

Glenn’s Cabin

   

On Friday my parents and I made a loop thru Charlottesville and Scottsville, hoping to see the dogwoods.  They were just starting to open, but the redbud was lovely.  We made a stop at Bodo’s and momma had a wonderful time visiting with 14 of her closest buddies.  Then we joined Glenn at Lumpkin’s in Scottsville for lunch followed by a tour of his log cabin.  As you can see from the photos, he’s making progress!  And the view of the James was spectacular!

Letterboxing in Littleton

   

While touring south of the Virginia border with the Lake Gaston Six, we took time to search for three letterboxes.  The first one was easy – it was placed in an antique shop in Littleton, and provided a wonderful introduction to the town.  The other two were in this Civil War cemetary just outside of town.  It was a beautiful day, and very quiet and peaceful wandering among the generations of stones.  For clues and more information on letterboxing, see letterboxing.org. 

Lake Gaston and Weather Musings

   

I was going to do this note later today, but a ticking sound caused me to look out the window, and little pellets of ice are bouncing off the roof!  With the redbud blooming in the background!  ‘Snow’ in April?!

Weather has been variable, to say the least, this Spring.  When the pix above were taken in mid March, temps were in the 70’s!  We were a bit further south, near Littleton on Lake Gaston, just over the Va/NC border.  My good P.E.O. buddies and I, the same crew that went to Cape Cod last June, jaunted off to Sissy’s lake retreat.  Her husband built the house some 30 years ago, and its set up for all their family to visit at once. So it easily accomodated the six of us.  You can’t see it in the bunkroom photo, but there’s also a Murphy bed! 

We lounged by the lake in the afternoons, and on Friday toured the town of Littleton and found three letterboxes!  More on that tomorrow…