The Mountain Thymes

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 ...

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....

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...