Our Christmas started before Thanksgiving with decorations and present opening when Jen and Mark celebrated Thanksgiving/Christmas with us. Actually, I enjoyed the extended holy season of playing Pandora's calming Christmas music in the kitchen while cooking. In the evening Cliff played Mannhiem Steamroller, Il Divo Holiday, and Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas music on the TV. This has been a wonderful December weather-wise. We've been able to walk Konehete Park with only a long-sleeve shirt and on most other days wear a light jacket when going into town. I've had so much less pain and less reaction to the weather fronts so I've been easier to live with and not as fatigued. Christmas day was spent with Barb and Mike. As usual we forgot to get pictures. Once Barb and I get together and start talking, game over. Barb is a wonderful cook and loves being in the kitchen too. She prepared a feast, plus fudge and the best apple pie I've ever tasted. We wadd
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I am still alive! The only pain I've had is when I've felt so energetic that I overused my hands and wrists. Lavender Epsom soaks, rest and within 24-48 hours I'm back to being my adorable self. The weather has been up and down with cold and dry breezes, then warm moist air and today is in the 40's, no sun. All the Florida families with children who have rented cabins here in the mountains for the Christmas vacation in hopes to see snow will be extremely disappointed when Christmas day the temperature hits 68. At 7:45 this morning we were sitting at the counter in Waffle King ordering Cliff's favorite waffle, eggs and bacon for breakfast. We call the diner Rick's Diner. We were out early because we needed to go to Wally World to exchange two items and pick up a new furnace filter and a few other things. I thought for sure at that time of the morning I'd be the only one at Customer Service. Wrong. People had been coming in since seven o'clock w
Blairsville, GA had their annual outdoor Christmas Farmers Market Saturday. Luckily, the weather was phenomenal, sunny and 60 degrees. Cliff bought his favorite big bag of freshly popped kettle corn, a blueberry white-chocolate scone and a chocolate chip cookie. I bought goat milk and rosemary with fig goat cheese. I found Santa and told him what I wanted for Christmas................ Had another routine liver panel done at the doctor's yesterday. He feels the methotrexate injections are working because with the last couple of cold fronts and night temperatures in the high teens/ low twenties, my joints haven't been painful or inflamed. Blood work came back normal. After the Christmas holiday and our January trip to Florida, he will slowly wean me off the old meds that I've been on for five years and see how the joints behave. This was the most uplifting news I've had for some time and now I can hardly wait until the end of January. This afternoon I start
Thirty degrees here on the mountain this morning at 8 am. Thirty-four downtown Murphy. I had to pour hot water into the birdbath again because I still have't connected the little bath heater to the bird's water supply. As soon as the water was available, more than a dozen robins flocked to the rim and the tree branches overhead jockeying for water rights. Kind of strange to see so many robins this time of year. Our decaying leaves supply birds all winter with little sprouts and buried insects. One suet block hangs from the back porch eaves and one on a wire strung where squirrels can't get at it but we can view it from our kitchen island. Suet brings the male and female downy and the red-bellied woodpeckers during fall and winter. I don't understand why the red-bellied has been named so as there's no red on it's belly. Before doing errands at Wally-World, we had our senior coffee at McDonald's. Businesses were quiet. There was no line at Dunkin D
Today is a raw deeply overcast dreary dank day. Early this morning a dusting of snow left mush on the porch but clear roads, thank goodness, so I could go dance at the gym after a guilt-free Thanksgiving weekend with Mark and Jen. They arrived early evening on Thanksgiving Day. Friday was perfect for sitting out by the fire pit. Even though it was cloudy, the temperature stayed comfortable. I brewed up a real hot cocoa recipe with a pinch of cayenne pepper in Christmas mugs. Cliff and Mark needed a can of whipped cream for theirs. After relaxing by the pit we went to Bistro 29 in Murphy for dinner. I made whoopie pies before they arrived and froze the cake halves. Mark and Cliff enjoying guilt-free pies with coffee ice-cream filling and whipped cream. Friday we went to Blue Ridge, GA where I thought I was going to buy Three Sisters Homemade Fudge. It seems everybody else decided to visit historic Blue Ridge Friday, too. Coffee shops had thirty minute wait lines a
The older I get, the smarter my mother gets................ From the archives of her letters She loved Ziggy, Calvin and Hobbes, For Better or Worse, and many more comics, and included some profound clippings in her letters to me. This one didn't really hit me until recently as my routine and life had to change so much. It now holds a permanent place on the refrigerator door. We're still working on lowering Cliff's sodium intake. Doctor's orders. Today is dank, dreary, and rainy. The kind of weather that makes some people open cabinet doors scavenging for comfort foods. I know the feeling. Late afternoon is my craving time. I don't always know what I need so I open cabinet doors, move items around not finding what might satisfy the palate and walk away. A few minutes repeat the same search, opening the same cabinet doors still not finding foods to satisfy my craving, close the cabinet doors, and walk away. I guess in the repeated search I figured
Michael flew down from Ossipee, NH to spend four days with us for my birthday. Not a bad rental car......... It was so-o nice too have him here! We took him to The Nantahala River restaurant. Nobody was canoeing or in kayaks. Too chilly. On my birthday we took him to the Longhorn in Ellijay, GA then came home for brownies and ice-cream. Saturday morning we took him to our favorite diner, Waffle King, where everybody else in Murphy decided to have breakfast. When we weren't eating out, we just hung around and talked and laughed. Great birthday!!
Having a hot cup of roasted dandelion tea with my mother on this chilly Sunday morning. Sunny 36 degrees. November 11, 1985 49 degrees raining Dear Betsy, Well, had my grapefruit, toast and coffee--lunch packed & make-up on. Now it's "ten of eight" and I can sit to read a few minutes. There's lots of things I should do... and... be running through house doing chores if I was young. Ah! Age does wonders to slow one down. Now I let my mind wander over projects and plan on doing them tomorrow. Now I understand her words.................... Around noontime on Wednesday, Cliff and I decided to throw some warm clothes in our suitcases and get out of the house for a few days, not think about tasks or chores that needed to be done. I got online, booked a Holiday Inn Express in Hendersonville, NC, and within an hour we had packed a few days clothes, our meds, threw jackets in the Kia and were on our way. This was a great feat for Cliff because h
The three doe nibbling on green shrubbery and twigs near the garden this morning were decked out in their thicker winter coats. Early morning temperatures in the twenties this last week took a toll on the late summer and fall blooms that were still providing nectar for the honey bees. When the sun warms their hives and the air temperature reaches around fifty degrees the bees take flight heading for any flowers still available. There are none left. Later today I'll pull some of the plants and lay them in a pile for Cliff to put in the woods for me. He's been so supportive, taking over many of the household tasks that I've enjoyed and been able to do myself. Sun and sixties are predicted for the next two days so I should be able to get most of the dead plants cleaned up without triggering any inflammatory response. I haven't had any flares, swollen knuckles or hands, or stiffness or pain since I quit drinking my wines in late September. The cold front and dampnes
Every couple of months our neighbors up the hill at the top of the road, Janice and Ernie, open their house for a neighborhood gathering. Janice sends a group text with the date and the time is always 5:30. Anyone wishing to attend replies back with the dish they will be bringing. Weather permitting, people gather outside on her comfy porch, around the dining table, and in the living room. Sometimes it's a small intimate group but this Tuesday about sixteen neighbors gathered at their home. I decided to bake a cauliflower/carrot dish with Parmesan cheese melted on top and a gluten-free dessert that I could eat. There's always two or three delicious desserts on her counter. I found a recipe for pumpkin cookies frosted with cream cheese/confectioners sugar icing. The recipe called for 1/2 can pumpkin puree. The remaining puree stored in the refrigerator. Meat choices were hot dogs, sausages, and hamburgers along with all the other dishes neighbors brought. All des
Coldest morning so far........twenty-eight nippy degrees. Cliff built me a wooden frame for the kitchen garden. For now we're just covering it on the low thirty degree nights with sheets. There's basil, Swiss chard, parsley, and some flower that I planted but didn't label still thriving. Clear plastic is a better cover but we're searching for a smaller quantity than what Lowe's has on huge rolls. Flowers and spinach down in the garden won't be bothered until a hard freeze. Once the sun warms the neighbors' hive, the honey bees still get nectar from the red and blue salvia, basil blossoms, and holy basil flowers. The lone chocolate pepper finally ripened. Sunday night we armed the Blink cameras after Charlie texted Cliff that a bear was on his porch at 4:00 am Saturday morning heading down our back hill. At 3:16 Monday morning the cameras caught him in the driveway. I believe he stayed off our porch when the flood light came on. He ripped do
It feels like only weeks ago that the first hummingbird sighting took my breath away and my heart leapt with joy. For the past coupe of weeks we've only spotted one hummingbird and an occasional traveler fighting over the feeders. Cliff's birthday was Friday and in previous years that is about the marker for hummingbird departures. I'll change the feeders one last time for any travelers. The last sighting was yesterday morning and the feeders have been quiet ever since. The lower garden on the slope is still full of red salvia and other nectar producing flowers along with the large pineapple sage with its red trumpet blossoms at the front porch steps. The only action has been multiple butterflies and a few of Bill and Lisa's honey bees. From my sewing room window I get to watch a female red-breasted grosbeak sit in the feeder tray for 15-20 minutes at a time eating and looking around. She stays through all the the titmice and chickadees seed grabbing. Signs of
Cliff is in Central Florida riding his Harley, hanging out in the bars, visiting his favorite breakfast hangout, chatting with a few friends and living la dolce vita! He didn't know why he went to the bars. He doesn't even drink. This is his adventure so I stayed here on the mountain where it's peaceful and serene. He left early Wednesday morning and I high-tailed it to my rheumatologist in Tennessee. I needed to do this alone. The thought of the side-effects of the new medication I needed to get on was causing me terrible anxiety but I needed to get the progression under control before winter weather arrives. My doctor patiently went over everything again with me, talked me through the injection procedure, then watched me as I talked myself through the real thing. Injecting into the belly was not the problem. Doing things in the correct order such as swabbing, putting the syringe into the vial, drawing out the correct amount of solution, never taking my eye off t
Over a month ago I visited our small library looking for something light and relaxing to get into. I didn't know what I wanted but did know that I didn't want to read anything tense, like David Baldacci's government espionage series or murder/suspense novels. Browsing novels to me can be compared to the way I choose a wine. Wine labels have become quite artsy and I pick many a wine first by the label appeal, secondly by the description of the wine's fruity or oak flavors. I choose novels in the same way, by cover appeal followed by reading the back or the cover flap. It was just by luck that I found my new reading series by Donna Ball. Three life-long friends make a life-altering decision to buy a run-down mansion in the Shenandoah Valley facing challenges and obstacles together. I love these women for their strength and compassion in making their new journey together work. I'm now on the second book of the series, At Home on Ladybug Farm. If you need a
The last couple of weeks have been lovely with crisp mornings in the mid-fifties, not reaching mid-eighties until late afternoon, but the last couple of days we've seen low nineties in the afternoon. I've noticed that the leaves are slow to turn this year and the forest is still lush and green. Fall colors are suppose to be a few weeks late with a brilliant show. I've started pulling up some of the old tired plants from the dry garden soil I started three chocolate peppers from seeds in June and had a terrible time keeping some kind of pest from chewing the leaves. This is the only plant that survived. I faithfully sprayed leaves, top and underside, each evening and morning with a soapy solution but each day I found newly chewed leaves. Then one week I noticed new blossoms and whole leaves with no chewed holes. I got so excited! Picked and sauteed the last of the Swiss chard. Starting to pick and dry herbs. Fresh basil hanging to dry. Fresh basil pe
We're getting there................. Cliff took me to Kirkland's in Chattanooga this morning to buy this mirror. Nikki, Charlie's wife, suggested I try Kirkland's because there's always some discount coupon available and prices are reasonable anyway. It happened that today was the last day for 30% off your whole purchase. The mirror looks like distressed barn wood and is perfect for the bathroom. I didn't buy a matching shower sprayer because we already had this one and it works fine. Not putting a shower curtain back up until we have company. I love the openness of the tub area. We've decided to only use pure Epsom because the cheaper Walmart brand and other brands have clay fillers. I never knew this but did research to ensure we don't ruin the Jacuzzi motor. I'll still use the cheaper Epsom when soaking my hands in my basin. Cliff ripped the old door frame off and replaced with new wood. We did a good job of matching the oak fl