The Mountain Thymes

No good stories or pictures about our Thanksgiving Day with Mark and Jen because Mark didn't come.  He called the evening before to tell us he wasn't up to flying, not feeling quite right.  Jen still flew Thursday morning but after she picked up her rental, she checked into a hotel to recover from food poisoning she got after eating an airport turkey sandwich.  Friday morning she arrived around 10 with news that she had to fly back home in the afternoon because her mother's Parkinson's had progressed and she was in Hospice. Thursday Cliff and I boiled and mashed potatoes and two kinds of squash, red kubota and butternut.  I made a nice cranberry sauce from a new recipe that sounded delicious.  Friday the bone-in turkey breast hit the slow-cooker.  Jen made the crust-less pumpkin pie while we talked and even exchanged Christmas gifts.  At one o'clock we hugged, said our good-byes and she headed back to Atlanta.  Around three o'clock Cliff and I sat...

 Cliff and I decided to get away for a few days since we haven't been anywhere in about two years and he was feeling stronger during his six-week break from chemo.  We needed the calm we feel near the ocean and to eat seafood overlooking the salt marshes and ocean waves. This also was my birthday celebration, a drive to Beaufort, SC in lieu of baking my own birthday cake.  Usually when we crave the salt water, we head to Charleston but I needed a different adventure this time.  Beaufort is about a six-hour drive and Cliff wanted to see if he able to do it.  I drove the last hour when he needed a break.   Cliff enjoying fried flounder.  Can you find the vegetables? Hunting Island lighthouse.....................  We walked the beach.................... There was nobody around who could take a picture of us together. Tiny crab taking a chance exposing itself on the beach.  Luckily there were no seagulls flying over or sandpipers running aro...

 Trees have been beautiful this year, hanging on to their leaves and bursting with color.  The other day we both mentioned that one of these passing cold fronts woud change the looks of our forests.  As the  barometric pressure rapidly dropped today,  trees that held onto their colorful leaves began giving them up with each gust of wind tossing and twirling them to the ground.   Our walking path at Konehetee.  This tree is really golden.  These bushes are a brilliant red and full f birds. The mountain view we see when sitting out on Libby's wine porch. Cliff had his 4-week follow-up with our doctor today and a very good visit.  The doctor spent over an hour talking with him and listening to him.  Monday I called the doc to tell him that I haven't been on my RA Rx since mid-September when I had to stop the meds to gets the Moderna booster and two weeks later get the flu vaccine.  In those four weeks without the methotrexate, I f...

  Pictures don't do justice.............. This week our trees were brilliant reds and yellows, our peak week.   This is what we looked like last Sunday evening on Libby's porch after days and days of rainy dreary weather.  It was a breezy chilly evening but so nice to be back outside on her porch.  Five o'clock Sunday evening is wine time.  Once it's too cold to be outside, we gather in her living room.  Libby with her husband, Frank, in the rocking chair with the empty wine glass. No, he didn't drink too much. Frank has dementia.  So sad because he's a brilliant man. Thursday we joined Kathy and Dutch for a train ride on the Hiawasee Loop, a four-and-a-half hour trip. This guy had the right idea with his hood up and layered jackets. Now, the narrative.................. The train was almost as cold inside as the outside temperature.  When friends asked us to accompany them for the train ride, we agreed to go without researching the travel time or ...