Our Thanksgiving Day was quiet. Just the two of us and a slow cooked turkey breast. We talked and texted the children wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Day. Michael and Mike Jr left Ossipee, headed south to Hudson and spent the day with my sister and Vic and their family. Out in Shawnee, KS, Mark and Jen had turkey at John and Carolyn's house. Friends in Virginia shared their home and table with Lauria, Jim, and the children. The last two nights brought us the first measurable rain, over two inches, in many months. Wind gusts here didn't down trees or take out power as they did in other areas around us. The saddest thing is watching the fires destroy the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN areas. At least 14 fires burned in and around Gatlinburg forcing tourists and nearby residents to evacuate. Winds up to 70 mph knocked out power and blew embers igniting new fires. Families still await news of missing relatives and in...
Posts
After enjoying weeks of lovely warm days and mild nights, our first real sign of fall weather arrived this weekend with wind gusts up to 20 mph and rapidly dropping temperatures. Cliff built the first fire in the soapstone yesterday morning to take the chill off the house. I made a three-bean vegetarian chili and stone ground cornmeal muffins. With the combination of kitchen heat, fireplace warmth and full sun coming in the windows, by mid-afternoon we had to open doors and let the cooler air back in. We thought with the predicted winds all day, we'd need the fire. The absence of leaves allows full sun all day and a warm house. Still no measurable rain and we're still in an extreme drought. Some communities have evacuated their residents and livestock. Cliff has been responding to brush fires, started by fire bugs as we haven't had any lighting, and by a few ignorant people who insist that the fire ban doesn't pertain to them and those wh...
Last Thursday we headed north through the smoky Nantahala Forest, up 40 through Asheville, picked up 81 toward Warrenton, Virginia to spend a long weekend celebrating my 70th birthday with Lauria, Jim, and children and a pug and two cats. Lauria and Jim installed an old rope swing like we used to swing on when we were children. We played Spinner, which is like Dominoes but not like Dominoes. I call it "chicken feet" due to the way it branches out like chicken toes. Grant ladling Jim's vegetable soup. Grandchildren helped me blow out the candles. Looks like a bonfire! Sofia plowing over the raked leaves on the wagon-mobile. Olivia popping up through the leaf pile after Hayden buried her. Olivia and I doing our yoga together. Saturday we did the buffet at Mandarin Gardens which is always a treat because the buffet offers so many culturally different foods not available to us in Murphy. And a delightful surprise from my sister. ...
The extreme drought continues with no rain in sight over the next few weeks. This morning's sunrise. We're under hazardous air quality alert again this morning. Any morning that we enjoy a colorful pink/orange glow to our east alerts us to take caution with outside activities. From our porch. Below are a few pictures of the burning in the Nantahala Forest. On our return Sunday from celebrating my birthday with Lauria, Jim, and our grandchildren, we had to travel via Knoxville, Cleveland, and through the Ocoee Gorge in TN when the Forestry Service closed the road to all travelers. Portions of the Appalachian Trail are closed and there is a ban on all burning.