Working Trees

THE cutest guy on the tree lot!! AND the one who makes the most money in tips. :-) (Dimples and English accent ... gets 'em every time!)



















Look for the hillside filled with Christmas trees. Not a problem in our area of North Carolina. This is the biggest and most profitable industry here. So, this time of year is very busy for the locals. Most families "leave" a tree farm for the generations up and coming. Most families put their children through agricultural school with the profits from the trees, and it passes right on down ... until one day someone does not want to be in the tree biz .... then it gets sold to another, bigger tree farmer ... there are some VERY successful folks. And so it goes.



Then, after you've spotted a hillside full of trees, you look for a FARM full ... this is the one Paul is working for this year. John White is the owner. He works a "choose and cut" lot, as well as wholesale orders. It is H A R D work. They sold over 100 trees on this lot the day after Thanksgiving. That means someone (Paul or one of the other fellas) cuts, drags/carries, bags and loads the trees that the customers pick out. Paul is sleeping pretty good right now!




After you find the farm, you must find just the right tree. When there are thousands or even hundreds to choose from, some families manage to stay for hours. Some only need 10 minutes. Lots of family's tradition is to go and pick out a tree over the Thanksgiving weekend ... they were BUSY last weekend!

I think one of these trees has our name on it! And remember that cute guy from the first photo ??? Well, he brought it home and put it on the porch. Then the snow came ... and stayed ... until today. Maybe it'll get into the house soon. We shall see! I don't tip as well as the people at the tree lot ... I think he's holding that over me! HA!



Paul says all the folks who come to the choose and cut lot are HAPPY and in a very festive mood. It is a wonderful contrast to the folks who are normally shopping and are frustrated and tired. Sometimes there are families of 7 or 9 people choosing a tree, which takes a little while, it seems!
Paul comes home feeling a little like one of Santa's elves and has a great twinkle in his bright blue eyes. He also comes home wet and frozen to the bone sometimes! There have been a couple of incidents where he's arrived home bruised and sore. (nothing broken though, we've had the x-rays!) He has seen lots of deer families in the trees and had a lot of time out under the beautiful Carolina sky. One morning I made scones and he and his tree worker buddies had a tea party in the canopy where they collect the money. Hey, it's a job ... but somebody has to do it!
Life in the mountains is very different from the city life. We go much slower, enjoy more subtle moments, and wear more layers of clothing. It is only December 3rd and it has snowed more already this year than it snowed the whole season last year. The ski industry is thrilled!
Anyway, we hope you ALL get a beautiful Christmas tree this year to help you feel the magical ambiance of the season. And support your North Carolina tree growers (and cutters) ... we truly appreciate your support!
'Tis the season to be jolly .... we're there!
Paul & Cheri

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well here we are at Holiday Season once again. It is hard to fathom another year has flown by. But it has, and we have been fortunate enough to collect multitudes of blessings along with that time. I hope every one of you can say and feel the same way.

My daughter, Jennifer and her family will be joining us up here in FROZEN CITY for our Thanksgiving feast. We also have a few "strays" that will popping in and out, as always. One of the things I love the very most is having people come to our house and sharing their Thanksgiving with us, as they have no other table in which to sit and share a feast. It is the best feeling in the world to give.

On the news front,

Paul is working the tree business again this season. He was VERY lucky to find a guy who truly needed a lumberjack to work, and it has turned out to be quite the job for him. He is working the "choose and cut" lot on the days that is hopping, which will most definitely include this Friday as everyone comes up to "tree country" to find their living tree. It seems to be a huge tradition with gobs of families ... and Paul has landed right in the thick of it. He is quite the novelty with his English accent, bright blue eyes, cherry cheeks and charming personality. The tips are great! However, during the week while the tree lot is slow, he's been loading trees into semi trailers for wholesale orders. NOT SO EASY. The fella he is working for owns a smaller company, independent and under 5 employees. Last year the man he worked for had whole crews of people, some gathering the trees, some bailing the trees, some staging the trees, some loading the trees, etc., etc. This year Paul is the crew ... along with 2 others and there doesn't seem to be the organization that a HUGE company can provide ... no conveyors for example. So Paul is lifting 100's of trees, bailing them, loading them, etc. He's getting his work out, and he's sleeping good! And he is getting paid. So ... that is our blessing we are so grateful for this Thanksgiving. As so many are not able to find work, with consider this a great blessing!

I have had the sweet gift of getting back in touch with someone who I've not spoken with in 20 plus years. It has been a delightful reunion, and as with all good friends, we picked up like we never left off. Jan, thanks so much for getting in touch!

The heating system has been stalled because Paul is working 10 hours a day now. But ... we might be able to check it out tomorrow (I HOPE!!!) and see if we are on the right track. It is a HUGE fire when it's going ... and warms the kitchen up without even being "plugged in" to the system properly. So, if we can get it through the ventilation system, we'll be warm people!! Please keep good thoughts that we don't just fill the house with smoke! HA!

Well, instead of continuing with idol chatter, I'll shut it down for today and get on with finishing up here at work so I might be able to leave in a few hours and begin the feast preparation! I can't wait to get home and dig in!!!

Meanwhile, we are hoping for ALL of our friends and family all the blessings you can possibly hold. Good health, good fortune, good friends, great love and a Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Paul & Cheri

Winter is totally here

Our new wood burning furnace, thanks to the genius of Paul. Soon we will hook it to the ventilation system and be WARM (can I get an AMEN!) ... it is supposed to be 12 degrees in a few hours, with snow pouring ... some more!


















Another view ... we're burning it first to make sure there won't be any problems before we hook it up throughout the house. It puts out tons of heat .... LOVELY!!!

Typical cat naps ... mostly together ... the room where we watch t.v. has a wonderful little propane heat in it. The boys obviously love it!

I finally got some tiles out and this is what I have so far. It's Artemis, and you'll be able to identify it better once I get out the grout! And this was a lot of fun - back in the saddle, I hope!

A go-zillion Mother Earth magazines, compliments of Elise! Shay thinks we need all the help we can get ... she is RIGHT! This is where Paul got the information for the wood burner. We are TOTALLY grateful for the donation of this collection ... Whoo Hoo!!!

More apple juice ...
Well, 'nuff said

Paul's first finished weaving project. I was doing a mosaic ... he was weaving. It was snowing!

I am so impressed with this and can't wait to get my hands in it too ... more mosaics first.

Paul, the weaver. Isn't he precious? YEP!

The most incredible mountain man around! And comfortable enough in his masculinity to weave in the kitchen! HA!

Today is Paul's Mum's birthday! We wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY with many more to come.

Saturday is Sabrina's birthday! We wish her the very same!

Paul worked in the Christmas tree biz today ... and he smelled just like Christmas when he got home ... SO WONDERFUL and really gets you into the spirit. He might work again for the next couple of days ... depends on the extremity of the temperatures and the depth of snow. We hope he gets to work as we need the wages!! But we need the heating system completed, so if he doesn't work trees, he'll still be working! The list is so very long. Keeps us on the adventure!

We're drinking lots of hot drinks and I wore a toboggan to cook dinner the other night! Not for a fashion statement tho ... for warmth! I think that is a first for me ... and I hope it is a last!

Thanksgiving is coming up, which always makes me ut together that list of things I express gratitude over. The list is HUGE this year ... beginning with the continued remission of Jenn's cancer and moving right through waking up every day with such a perfect life and a wonderful loving partner to live this life with! THANK YOU doesn't seem to be adequate ~ that's all I have though ... so it's what I get to say. Hope all of you have your own lists to celebrate. :-)

For now ... Happy Trails to all,

Paul and Cheri

In these hills ...

Baby, it's cold outside! Not that you didn't know that was coming, but sometimes pictures are worth so much more than words! So, for those of you in Orlando who think you've had a cold snap ... here's to you!!!! The iced over trees are from Beech Mountain yesterday. The sunrise snow flakes are from the last time it snowed in late October. Paul & I hiked up a mountain in Tennessee yesterday because we could and because we wanted to!! It was an exquisite day to hike because the air was so crisp and clear and the ice on the mountain tops all around us shone and sparkled like diamond clusters. The sunshine on the ice crystals was glorious! And with long johns, shirts, corduroy pants, 2 pair of socks, boots, a flannel-lined pair of overalls, an insulated vest, a hat, a pair of gloves and a jacket with a hood, I was just toasty warm ~ it was really cozy when the adrenaline started flowing from the exercise! I love mother nature and the life we get to live here. We are the luckiest people in the world.

Hope you are all feeling the same way about your lives.

Happy Trails,

Paul and Cheri

Random Updates and such ...

Pluto, Charon and Pluto's two moons from the Hubble in 2006. GORGEOUS!

Hard apple cider (corked bottles)

WAITING TO BE FILLED (uncorked bottles)

Now that Paul has been laid off from work, perhaps all those apples in the back of his car will turn into juice, jams, butters and such! Or maybe he'll have to look for work ... hmmmmm.... fish or cut bait ?????

We dusted off our engineering degrees (NOT!) and have begun assembling the loom (!) Shay gave us from Elise's craft treasure chest. I have wanted to learn to weave since I was 5 years old. I'm so excited I can barely wait for Prince Charming to wake up so we can finish putting this together (a feat I don't seem to be able to achieve on my own!) ...

Man cannot live without trailers and trucks filled with wood around here. We have been blessed with good friends who are aware of our need for wood! This is a trailer filled with apple wood (which is great for smoking meat - which we will give to Bruce, our next door neighbor) and hickory, which Paul has been splitting and stacking. This was from "Apple Butter making at Nana's house" Saturday of last week. (that would be Charles's Nana, Lula Belle. (see below)

Another treasure chest find !!!!! A Kiln!!!!! We have to get wired for 220 ... but hey, what's new!?!?! Electricity is a running issue for us. (HA, no pun intended) Anyway, this too is an exciting "can't wait to do!"

Two warm kitties, staring at the wood stone, and sleeping on Paul's work boots. They're so funny.

Paul & Charles - Apple Butter making day at Nana's

72 jars by my count ... there was bunches! Many more containers than we get out of our little crock pot when we make it. There are many recipes to making apple butter. Nana uses the old country recipe with cinnamon oil and red hots.

Quite an assembly line. L to R are Charles (red shirt), Gene (Sabrina's dad) sitting and stirring with what looks like a canoe paddle, Paul pouring into jars, Nana (with her back turned) wiping down the jars tops and Sabrina putting on the lids. Then I put them in the cases and onto the porch to cool ... then they went to the root cellar for storage. Well run operation, even if I do say so myself!

Nana is definitely in charge!

Apple butter cooked in cauldron over wood fire around here ... another difference from ours!

Some of our more interesting carrots from the garden!! One of these is the "normal" shape, which we have pounds of ... good job, Paul! But some of these are absolute works of art, aren't they????

Halloween hay ride for the Adams brothers and their cousin Bobby! Cade is in the forefront, with Bobby on L and Austin on R in the black costumes. Aren't they the most handsome kids you've ever seen!?!?!

May I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ballard!! (Charles and Sabrina) I am working on getting better images of the wedding pics, so you will see more coming soon.

There are about 12 hours missing from each day as I see it! I just cannot seem to keep up with everything that I want to. I suppose that is normal, but it is still anxiety producing. I'm going to try to hit the highlights and hope for the best!!!

* It is birthday season big time for our friends and family. Last week we wished happy birthday to Pennisu and Valerie Marozzi!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY OUR SWEET FRIENDS!

This week we wish Happy Birthday to Molly (Shay's daughter) who turns 19 today (I believe ...) Dwayne in Orlando! Best of all things to you both!

* We went down to Anderson and helped Shay try to begin the HUGE task of organizing and rearranging the condo that was Elise's so she and her children can move in and begin life once again. I cannot even begin to put into words how monumental of a task this is for Shay and her family. So PLEASE send good thoughts to her for a speedy transition .... whatever that turns out to be for them. They have opportunities out the ears, just "what to do" is the major starting line issue. And for Shay, good health thoughts please! life for those of us with the normal stuff is tough enough sometimes, but when you add the extras on, it's a bit over whelming. Most of us are dealing with recent loss of loved ones, Pennisu and Scott with their mothers and Shay with her mom in particular. We think of you all every day and ask for your hearts to heal as quickly and as completely as possible. Hugs, hugs and hugs!

* Paul, along with 25% of his company nation wide, was laid off from his job Thursday night. We now have our adventure back and rocking and rolling! There are several different paths for us to go in now. Please keep good thoughts in mind that we might choose the "right" one for our adventure!! We are currently in the process of installing a wood stove furnace system for our house. It requires a HUGE cylinder (similar to 55 gallon drum) to hook up to our vents ... the fire is made in the cylinder, which is installed in the basement just like a regular furnace, vents out through the chimney that is currently used by the oil furnace, and it circulates through the ventilation system. There are lots of conversions and such, but for 2 years we have been researching what is the best answer for us. Now that heating oil is astronomically expensive; we have determined wood to be the warmest heat we've found; and we really are trying to be more "self sufficient" as our electricity has gone up 15% this month from the company. Since we live so far up in elevation, trucking is also ridiculous. So our gasoline is at $2.49, while my sister in law in the suburbs of Atlanta is enjoying 1.99/gallon. Our groceries are effected, as well ... it costs money to truck everything up this blinking mountain! SO ... we are ever so diligently trying to adjust our needs (basic and otherwise) to what we feel we can live with and without. If you have any ideas that might help us with our updates, please feel free to offer them up!!!!! Paul has suggested we start a food co-op, which we might just do here to be able to afford what we cannot grow, can or freeze! I know there are many who are saying "why don't they just move?" ... well,

when you are ready to leave the cities because you must, we want you to have someplace warm and safe to come to! :-)

For those of you who know me well what I'm going to launch into now will not surprise you. For those of you who are sure I'm a weird-o nut job, you can skip this particular paragraph. What I don't know, etc., etc.

Pluto is now moving into the sign of Capricorn. Saturn and Uranus are basically "squaring off" for power and position. From November 4, 2008 thru 2010 (forgot the exact date) things promise to be very interesting. The astrologers are likening the times to 1967 in regard to political happenings. My advise to all of you who I love and adore is, HANG ON TO YOUR HATS!! You ain't seen nothing yet! If you follow astrology at all or are interested in it, check out Eric Francis's Planet Waves Astology at http://planetwaves.net/. He and his staff are amazingly clever, and very talented and gifted astrologers, as well as writers. They address the current stuff ... as well as fun and frivilous as he believes in FUN!!!

* As miracles do happen this is testimony to that: Paul and Nina have begun communicating again. We thank time and the universe for whatever put this reunion together. Amen.

On that note .... Prince Charming has awakened and I must go make tea.

OUR very best to you all,

Paul & Cheri (but mostly Cheri for this post!)

Apple Heads!

Grunhilda, the not quite so good witch has taken the place of St. Christopher in Cheri's chariot hanging on the rear view mirror for protection from rear ending. Between the two, perhaps they will not get squished! (anymore than her face has already become - Grunhilda's that is!)

Whoopie, the cannibalistic voodoo priestess, is in the kitchen rooting out herbs for her potions. Costume, make-up and nose bone to follow.

Einstein (thank you, Charles) looks like he is sitting in a barber's chair waiting for a much needed hair cut (he should have had Sid in tow). I don't think he needs a haircut, I think he looks great - after all, he has hair!!! And all opinions are relative ... har har!

Sid, the aging punk rocker still has his cool hair do from 1978, although it's greying a bit.

Constantina ... the fortune teller may have cataracts (poor girl) and not much hair, with only one tooth ... but she can see well enough to tell you her future. Stay tuned for costumery and props ....

Barnabus The Pirate stole the dreds from a crew member of the last ship he pillaged and sank! Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for he!

YES, they are all little apples carved, manipulated, and painted by PAUL, who as you know has a real fascination for apples these days. Just wanted to share his clever work, and make him happy. Remember you can click right on the picture and it will enlarge so you can see the super sized version with all the detail!

Cheers for a wonderful Friday night to all!

Paul & Cheri