The Mountain Thymes

As we say good-bye to a long hot summer, the harvesting of a stinkbug ridden tomato crop, and head into the winter months, I look forward to comfort foods and trying new recipes. Delicious thick soups, casseroles, and trying to make wheat bread again. Daylight lessens......nights grow longer. Being married to a volunteer firefighter, we won't be burning any bonfires to ward off roaming ghosts or the evil spirits here on the mountain, but I will be baking apple and pumpkin pies to usher in the winter season. We're off to our diner for breakfast. Rick, the cook and owner, is placing a reserved card at the counter for us this morning for 9:30. Have a safe Halloween. Allow the little trick-or-treaters to collect lots of candy so parents can eat the goodies when the kids go to bed................

Maxine's Little House of Horrors scary things...... Things that scare me Coming home and listening to recorded phone messages from Sarah Palin!! Things up here on the mountain that go bump in the night! That fact that house values are dropping so rapidly, we may have to sell our Florida house for the same price we paid for it 20 years ago!

Found another way to save $$$$ or stretch it to eat out more often. I've tried a couple different recipes for dish washing detergent and this is the one that works for me. I already have most of these items on hand from making my laundry detergent so only had to purchase the citric acid. DISHWASHER DETERGENT (dry) 1 cup washing soda 1 cup borax 1/2 cup salt 1/2 cup citric acid Mix ingredients together and store in Mason jars. Use about 1 TBS per load. Add vinegar to rinse dispenser. Make sure water is very hot. Citric acid can be found in the canning section of your grocery store. Surprisingly, this works and is easy and cheap. Glasses came out sparkling clean. We use well water so its not hard. Hard water areas may need to adjust ingredients. I've been using the same laundry detergent I made back in the summer months. I'm on the last container so will make more this week.

Had 2.5 inches of badly needed rain since Monday. Weather was quite volatile to the west of us in TN and some areas in North GA. Tornadoes touched down and hurricane strength winds damaged homes and knocked out power. Thankfully, Murphy came through the storms with minimal damage. One day last week when I was missing "ladies night out" with the girls in Florida, I called Barb and left a long message about how I needed to talk and laugh and get together at the Olive Garden with everyone. It's the one luxury I can't replace here. Friends are those you learn to trust and love slowly over a period of time. You grow together, share your ups and downs, refrain from judgment, brag about your children and grandchildren, and call on each other at anytime. So I used up the whole message pouring my heart out to Barb on how I wished I were there. Days went by and I wondered why she hadn't returned my call. Tonight Barb called to see if we had any damage from the s...

Pat and Larry's site at their favorite campground out near the TN border. There is a small stream running through the campground and the lots are nicely shaded. The other RV park is a concrete jungle where everyone is on top of each other and the sun beats down on the RVs. All the Sofies running to greet us. When someone arrives at the campground, there is a thunderous stampede down the hill as you are greet by Sofie, Sofie, and other Sofies and a few roosters. I've never seen chickens travel at such speed or make so much noise. They sounded like a buffalo stampede. Waiting for bread crumbs, biscuits, muffins, or whatever crumbs you bring from a restaurant in the "doggie" bag. Working outhouse decorated for Halloween. The owners decorate it inside and outside for each holiday. Pat and Larry's acreage and site of their retirement home. We went out to their lot and celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with the ladybugs. Larry and Pat have been here for a we...

The last of the hummingbirds are gone and are trekking south. Jack Frost has been busy painting his autumn colors. Fall colors are more brilliant this year than last year. The rains haven't dulled the yellows and reds. After living in Florida for 28 years, I'm enjoying the vibrant colors of fall again. The cooler nights bring the smell of wood burning in fireplaces and the crisp mornings make me feel refreshed and alive. I can hear the crunchy rustling of dry leaves beneath my feet as I walk home from school on River Street, kicking the leaves high up into the air. Great soup weather. Getting read for the ginger-carrot soup. Chopped carrots and onions and grated ginger. All it takes is the sound of cabinet doors opening or a cookbook page turning, and Max is ready to help me in the kitchen. The other day I was trying to use the auto setting on my camera to snap a picture of me cooking and set the camera on the window sill. I couldn't find the instruction booklet after I...

Just hail a sudden freak thunder storm pass through the mountains plummeting acorns and hail. I don't know which was louder....the acorns or the hail. Luckily, I got the car windows up and the shed doors closed in time.

Sharing a few of Cliff's favorite things. "The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." ~ Lucille Ball Happy 66th Birthday, Cliff.

This morning when we got up at 6, the temp was 39....a heat wave compared to temperatures a few days ago. Once the sun burned the mountain fog off, the air quickly rose to 80. Weekends are still very busy here with tourists passing through for the colors, bikers, canoeing and kayaking visitors, and trail hikers. Maxine and I had our coffee out on the porch and watched the sun burn off the mountain fog. Later Cliff and I headed to town for yellow beans and his zucchini relish at the farmers market. We'll only have a few more weeks of fresh produce, jams, and crafts downtown. The mornings are too cold and damp and the vendors begin setting up around 7....in the dark. Yesterday I made a new batch of hummingbird nectar because we saw two hummers still drinking early in the morning and during the day. Not sure if these are our two summer residents or if they are migrating birds stopping at our B&B on their way south. Last year I noted the last hummer seen on Cliff's birt...

Was 29 degrees again this morning at 6:30. I've been bringing in my plants every night and putting them back out about mid-morning. Hope this isn't a sign of things to come for this winter. Temperature today reached 75....much more normal.....thank goodness. After we arrived home from doing errands and having our senior coffee, we opened the doors and windows to let the warm air in the house. It was 65 inside. Cliff's birthday is the 11th. Nothing much planned. We'll celebrate all October birthdays on the Tiki Bar with good friends and laughter......and make fun of the old people. Hayden's 6th birthday is on the 22nd. Can you believe it?! She's old enough to be driving the John Deere around the farm....................................

Holy icicles, Batman!!! It's 27 degrees on Bat Mountain at 6:30.

Pour a cup of hot tea and get comfortable ..............this is a long post and my very favorite activity of all events in this area. Last year was our first year attending the festival so, of course, didn't know what to expect. I was thrilled with all the art, crafts, not little crafty items that you see at some shows, but Appalachian arts and crafts and the history of these early people who settled here deep in the mountains. We arrived when it opened at 10 and were directed to parking way out on the lower 40. Temperature this morning was 40 on our mountain but hit high 70's quickly. This was a neat display..... Elfmade Wooden Toys.... so this guy must be the elf. His wooden toys were interchangeable and very clever. No batteries need......just imagination. Coming to Cliff's favorite part of the festival. In the white building you can buy pulled pork and other kinds of barbecue sandwiches. We ate there last year. The huge gray barn has 50 booths......some quilting...