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 A few days before Christmas the weather drastically changed from frigid to unseasonably comfortable and my favorite temperature....anything where I didn't need to wear, thick coats, scarves, and shiver.  Mark arrived from Melbourne early Monday evening to spend Christmas with me.  Tuesday morning we had coffee, bacon and eggs at Waffle King, a wonderful treat for me, then headed to Walmart for Mark to pick out his Christmas gifts for me to wrap and place under the tree.  He needed a new toaster, some new sheets and pillow cases, a large bag of pistachios and Andes Mints.  On the way home he shopped for me at Tractor Supply.  I love that place. He bought me a two bags of bird seed and a couple woodpecker suet squares.  When we got home he went into his bedroom and wrapped the gifts so I wouldn't know what I was getting.  He also changed the filter and all the smoke alarm batteries, did some outside chores.  Tuesday evening we made meatballs w...
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 While chicken soup simmers for another 30 minutes, I can either vacuum all the floors or sit and blog.   Yesterday the Kia went for its maintenance checkup plus a few things I threw in. Brakes were squeaking, the three wipers needed replacing, and I requested a good washing.  I wash it about once a week when the weather allows but the gravel road dust gets into everything.  I vacuumed the inside and wiped down the dashboard and doors, etc.  At 11 I met two neighborhood ladies at the gym yoga class which ends at noon.  I hadn't eaten since early morning and had been awake since 4:40.  Couldn't fall back asleep.  On the way to Kia Service, I stopped at So's Good Chinese for Miso soup to eat on the Kia porch while the car was being serviced.  First I sat in the TV waiting room for a few minutes until a small male child about 4 years old started talking in a high-pitched ear-piercing voice to each customer.  He talked nonstop barely ta...
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 Another sign of autumn is saying "good-bye" until next spring to the farmers markets in the area.  I visited the Blairsville market this morning, much later than my summer runs.  It's colder in the mornings and I chose not to rush out.  In the summer I was at the markets by nine to be sure I got the fresh greens before the vendors ran out and the summertime I have more energy.  Now I linger longer under my warm cozy covers, stretch and wiggle before putting my feet on the cold floor.      Japanese turnips and whatever the other bunch is.  I can't remember what she said.  Maybe a variety of a kale? Anyway, it's something for me to saute or throw in a soup.  A few days I did a slow-cook whole chicken, picked all the meat of the carcass, and froze the chicken in four bags.  Then added water to the carcass and onions, carrots, celery, a couple of bay leaves to boil for stock.  I got four containers of stock in the freezer for...
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 With two approaching cold fronts coming, I brought most of my potted plants inside Sunday evening. Monday and this morning were in the high thirties.  That's cold to me but it's nice for sleeping.  Thursday morning will be close to thirty on the mountain and in the sixties during the day.  It's been a lovely October.  Leaf colors are not as vivid as previous years but still enjoyable. It's been raining so I figured it was a good time to sit and type. After complaining and whining, driving my friends crazy about the microwave  issues, I just went to Lowe's last Friday and bought another one to replace this one that Cliff and James installed only four and a half years ago.  The mother board had been replaced during the first year but stopped working about a year later.  I kept paying for repairs.  Charlie told me it would be better at this point to buy a new one.  I bought the same style GE but in stainless steel.   I'm so happy...
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Today is Cliff's birthday.  Mark called this afternoon to see how I was doing and we had a lovely talk.  He sounds good.  Sometimes I get concerned about him but he's really doing okay. We both found things to laugh about.  He's had rainy days for the past two weeks from the tropical systems.  It's terribly humid and there is standing water everywhere.   The temperature here this morning at six o'clock was forty-six degrees with thick mountain fog.  I went to the Murphy farmers market around nine and bought Swiss chard and the last of their green beans.  Only a few more weeks of these markets. The fog finally burned off around 10:30 when the temperature shot up to high sixties.  The rest of the day was wonderful.  This has been the nicest October in the eighteen years I've lived here.   Last Sunday my last hummingbird perched on the front feeder and when she didn't show up Monday or Tuesday, I figured she had left for Cent...
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 My goodness....This feels like the longest day in years.  When Cliff and I were working we used to get up around five or five-thirty to start getting ready for work...feed the cats, pack our lunches, shower, and whatever else working people used to do.  This morning I woke at 5:10 and didn't go back to sleep because I promised a dear friend I would pick her up in Blairsville where she was dropping off her Kia Soul at 7:30 to be cleaned and detailed.  I showered, did my ten-minute yoga routine, made my oatmeal with chopped dates porridge, brushed teeth, took morning vitamins, got dressed and headed out the door by seven-forty.  Felt like I should be going to work.  Thank goodness I wasn't!  Traffic was heavy as all the "worker bees" were heading to their job sites.  I picked up Susan at Weavers Detail & Car Wash  and she navigated me to her house up in the mountain and into the woods.  Cliff responded to emergencies in Susan's neck-o...
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 I just made a hot cup of Mandarin Mint tea and told myself to stay put at the computer for at least fifteen minutes before jumping up to start another task.  The mountain fog has finally burned off (10:20) and sunshine is making its way through the forest.  Temperature was 53 when I got up at 5:30, is 68 now and predicted to reach about 80 in town so maybe high 70's on the mountain.  I still have three hummingbirds battling at four feeders.  It's very entertaining to watch their behavior this time of year before they head back to Central America.  There is more of a slow dancing type movement in their flight as they approach each other.  Their wings and tails fan out as they stay in rhythm face to face.  I sit on the porch mid-afternoon and watch this.  I've even had all three sit at the feeder at one time and sip nectar before bothering each other.     Then there's this male who has claimed the swing.  He sits waiting fo...
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