I would like to pay homage to the crowning glory of Thanksgiving feasts all across this country. Pies. Every November, families come together, friends come together, and all the pies come together. When else is there ever such a gathering of pies? This Thursday, we met up with friends at a beach house and shared good times together and an epic feast including: turkey, a quarter ham from our ...
Seasons
Give Thanks
I have learned over the years to recognize the vast importance of being thankful in day-to-day life. No matter how many things are not going well, acknowledging those things for which you are grateful, however small they may seem, can shift your focus, put you in a whole new place, and ultimately change your experience of your life. Sometimes this is easier said than done. Being thankful for ...
Bob the Snowman
Bob the little snowman had a radish for a nose... ...
The Snowy Day
I woke up at 3 in the morning, just to peek out the window. Sure enough, the ground was white! Try as I might, I just could not go back to sleep. Finally, I got up at 5 when the kids went running downstairs whooping and hollering to put on their snow gear. They went straight out to play in the snow in the dark. Can you tell we don't get snow around here much? In all the years I've lived around ...
That’s Some Gall!
Have you ever noticed these strange round balls while your feet crunch along through the oak leaves in the fall? When I first moved here I had no idea what they were. Perhaps some strange fruit produced by oak trees? My kids thought they were fascinating. Maybe they were some sort of little fairy balls? I soon learned that these were oak galls. What, you might wonder, is an oak gall? Well, dear ...
Autumn in the Country: A Tour in Photographs
In the rolling hills, and fields, and farmlands Autumn has covered everything like a warm colorful quilt in preparation for the winter. Gardens are harvested, pantries are full, flocks of geese are departing overhead and cheerful wisps of smoke curl out of chimneys. This fall has been magnificent with the late warm weather and sunny days. My wish to have my favorite season go ...
Mushroom Festival
In a place such as this where mushrooms grow in abundance, it makes sense that we should have a fantastic mushroom festival. Every year Mt. Pisgah Arboretum throws a major mushroom bash at the end of October, and it is an event not to be missed. Here you can buy wildcrafted mushrooms from our local forests, sample mushroom cuisine, take in some great live music, learn to dye silk and wool with ...
Fairy Pumpkin House
...
Fall Color in the Mountains
Up in the mountains, Autumn is beginning to cover the land in a patchwork blanket of bright, fiery colors as we go about our lives in the towns and cities below. While camping at one of my favorite lakes this weekend in the Cascades, all the beautiful leaves turning color on the huckleberry, vine maple, and bracken fern kept catching my eye. I couldn't bring them all home with me (although ...
Summer in the Country: A Tour in Photographs
The garden grows First sunflower of the summer The garden gate Onions and tomatoes The corn patch (it's Bodacious!) Mr. Scarecrow Pumpkins ripening on the vine Ornamental Baby Boo's Herb garden in flower around the front porch Strawberry border around the herb bed Hothouse gone wild! Hops Chickens in the shade Ripening apples Clementine Rose takes a cat nap on a hot afternoon. ...