Focus!

Einstein said "A human being is a part of the whole universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

SO .... with this as my mission, why do I waste my valuable time worrying about insane things like losing weight before the wedding, wearing the right dress, making sure my nails grow out ... wondering IF I can even fit in a place other than the mountains any more!

This is what Spartacus and I have our morning meditations about! Just trying to take away the nonsense and really concentrate on what is real and important - like embracing all living creatures and remembering to be grateful for all blessings, both clear and not so clear!

When we first moved up here, Paul and I could not understand how people took Mother Nature's beauty for granted around here. After all, it is MAGNIFICENT beauty. I just keep trying to remember NOT to forget. As I age, that memory thing is a real mystery!

So, I am ever grateful to Einstein for being the brilliant man that he was and sharing his insights with those of us who need to be brought back into focus from time to time.

Thank goodness for the upcoming weekend. We truly need this one!

Happy Trails to all!

Paul & Cheri

Plowin' Day. Thanks Charles!

Ok, this has NOTHING to do with plowing! But I just thought this picture was worth posting. It is the one of the views from the top of Grandfather Mountain. It was posted on our weather site, just thought you might enjoy the gorgeous view from a mile high!

Ok, so on to the plowing part ...

Yep, that's the metal detector. All the fresh dirt, the boy can't help himself! :-)

Check out the smoke plume in the background. IT looks beautiful, but it was chilly enough for a fire inside!

Thanks to our plowin' man, Charles - our garden space doubles in size this year! Whoo hoo!

Some serious tractorin' here .... you can tell by the concentration on this face! This is one happy man right here, atop his bright orange tractor!

The process is, Charles plows and Paul walks behind picking up the HUGE rocks that are in the way of the blade. They make a great team.

Rear view - big, sharp blade cutting through the earth. VERY impressive.

Look at that beautiful soil! We give thanks EVERY DAY for having the option to plant our own food and thrive as mother nature intended! We know we are lucky and blessed.

And now, Paul has some camo pants so he can fit in around here! Stylin'!

We are so grateful to Charles for plowing our land for us. He'll come back in a couple weeks (weather permitting) and rotovate the stuff he turned over so we can rake it out, sift it, and make the squares for the garden as we see it. Paul will have some real work to do ... in amongst all the other things I've already put on the list! He's been building a "wood carport" since Sunday ... later post. We've been busy now that the weather is beginning to favor on the side of "thawed out". Goodness knows, I'm doing a happy dance!

Do hope all is well where you live!

Happy Trails!

Paul & Cheri

Simple Pleasures!

A Porch Swing! I L O V E it!!!

Freshly cut wood!

A Porch Swing! (I know, 2nd take)

The sun came out yesterday! When I arrived home from work, my sweet husband had the ladder out installing the porch swing! When he finished he took my hand and we sat on the porch swing and listened to the birds and it was very simply joyous!

The wood pile is from the trees Paul and Mr. Boone pulled out of the stream (creek) so they could install a "goat fence" to detour the goats from our yard and certain roasting if they get into Mr. Glover's garden! Mr. Boone was very generous in offering us the wood and we very gratefully accepted. Don't really know why I get to say "we", as I am never home when Paul chops and splits it. I guess he figures it's a lot easier without my help! Hmmmmm.

Hope you are all having a few simple pleasures in your lives. It certainly makes the world go round a lot smoother. One of the members came in today and I heard him tell Hugh that "everyday is a gift, some are just easier to unwrap than others".

Talk about insight! Or maybe just experience ... either way, good words!

Happy mid week to all!

Paul & Cheri

Goat Herding!

I married a goat herder ... just didn't know it until now!

We are lucky enough to have a house that is snuggled between two retired law enforcement officers. Bruce King, on our right as you are facing our house from the road, is a retired prison guard. He is about as wide in the shoulders as a coke machine and some over six feet tall. He shaves his head clean and is Cherokee Indian in descent. He is very intimidating and no one messes with him, or his neighbors really. Thankfully!!! The guy on our right is also a retired prison guard (who's son is currently a State Trooper and lives up on the hill behind us all) his name is Mr. Boone, Johnny Boone to the locals. Mr. Boone used to be about the size of 2 Bruces. He has just recently lost over 100 pounds! Very impressive, to say the very least. I have been working with 10 pounds for over a year. We feel pretty safe around our little neck of the woods ... Anyway ... Mr. Boone is the one who had the gorgeous yellow rooster that used to come and visit ... the hens and the miniature donkeys last summer. This year he has found a fondness for goats. Lots of them! They (the goats) have a fondness for our other neighbor's yard, who lives down and behind us ... and behind Mr. Boone's house. The owners of that house are seasonal and live in Daytona Beach so we try to watch out for the place. There is a gorgeous rock retainer wall between the properties and a stream that runs along side both of their properties. (on the other side of Mr. Boone ... otherwise we'd have a stream and that would be AWESOME) Well, the goats love to walk down the stream and end up in the lower yard behind us, which allows them to then walk through our backyard and onto a very busy road that runs down to the Elk River Falls. They can also get to the road a dozen other ways by following the stream. The neighborhood is very tolerant of Mr. Boone's goats, and always gets them back to him .... one way or another. The picture above is how they reacted when they saw Paul (& me, but I don't really count) walking toward them. They just went for the bench to get back up to their own yard over the rock wall. The big brown Billy Goat had to be picked up and thrown over the fence once already today (Paul's poor back!) so he didn't even try to get back into the lower yard. But the rest of them like the grass better .... Mr. Boone needs to get a herding dog for these crazy goats - or an electric fence! But until then, he has Paul the goat herder!

double click and enlarge the pics ... they're worth it!
Paul the goat herder is trying to keep Billy from jumping down into the wrong yard

They basically just walk up the bench and jump over the wall to get into the Boone yard, which is where they are supposed to stay! We take the bench away from the wall ... they just walk down the stream and cut through the water to the yard anyway. This picture looks like they are flying goats! :-)

This is the baby. she is adorable and bleats REALLY loudly! She had Paul playing chase ...

and hide and seek ....

but she's too little to win right now. By next summer I hope there is a fence to detour the running of the goats! Isn't he the cutest goat herder you have ever seen? We do have fun here .... it's just different fun than you city folks have!

The week in a nutshell has been busy ... Paul installed the new wood stove in the basement and it is wonderful! We were promised an ice storm that didn't happen (amen!) so we are keeping warmer than we expected and are glad of it. But whilst working in all the dust and dampness, Paul found his sinuses irritated and has been recovering from sneezing his guts out. He sort of looks like Paul the red-nosed Englishman. Still cute as ever! I've had some sinus stuff too, but mine shows up in dizziness and clogged ears. Between us, we've got it all covered!

We are on the mend, and I am sure we'll be back to normal sooner than later.

We taught the kids at Crossnore today and had great fun. It is a rainy, cold mess today, so it was a great thing to have a plan .... lest we lie around in our jammies and veg out all day long!

This coming Wednesday is my niece Erin's birthday! Happy Birthday, Ms. Erin! Hope it's a great one for you. Erin is back in Tennessee now and pursuing the whole animal vet dream. May all your dreams come true, Erin!

Work is still weird without Steve there. The dynamic is different and I miss him terribly. The phone rings every day just as Vicki and I sit down to eat, and there is no one on the other end. Vicki and I know it's Steve checking in. He always liked lunch time the best and teased us about whatever we were eating. (espeically my tofu and such) His spirit is still with the office, but goodness knows I (and everyone else) miss his sweet physical attendance. I know I will always have "those days" when it's more sad than others. But basically, I just miss him. Hugh continues to recover and gain strength in his health, thank goodness! He's beginning to smile again and look forward to some of the golfing activities of the season but I know that will come with its own set of sad things for him. I know his heart hurts as much, if not more, than the rest of ours. Please keep sending Hugh good thoughts for all things.

I'm working on a new mosaic while we wait for spring to stay long enough to grout the ones that wait. Beth keeps telling me the cold spells are going to get shorter and shorter. I know she's right .... but she also lives about 14 miles into Tennessee, and believe it or not, it's MUCH warmer where she is. I'm envious most of the time about her warmth! That just doesn't seem right at all. Sorry, Beth. I want you to be warm, I just want to be warm too!

I am currently sharing my chair with a cat ... a cat who is doing his best to push me out of the chair so he can have the whole thing. (Artemis) He likes the idea of cuddling in a room with me and him, all by ourselves. He's scared to death of Paul's presence ... especially if Paul has boots on! So, while I'm in the kitchen and it's just the two of us, he always snuggles up to me, even if it's lying on the floor beside me while I chop veggies. But he's getting greedy and taking over my chair. Stinker that he is!

Well, guess I've rattled on long enough (& then some), so will close and get to cooking dinner on our new cook stove! IT IS SO GREAT!

Do hope all is well with everyone and you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Happy Trails,

Paul & Cheri

Generosity, Gratitude & Grace

Part One

Ok, this is a story so follow along .... on the far right above are Caroline (in the green sweater) and Barry (in the darker green). Barry was the realtor who found our perfect Green Acres humble abode for us. Caroline is his wife. Together they are now a Carolina Mountain Home Real Estate Company. And they are our friends, as you can see by the picture above.

Well, Caroline called on Friday and said some of their other client/friends were getting new appliances in their mountain home and would we be interested in a new cook stove! Hallelujah! And HECK YES! Caroline, the perfect Southern Belle says, "it's white, would that be ok?" It could be purple polka dots with green stripes and it'd be GREAT!! Well as you can see, it is the most gorgeous cook stove I've ever seen and it's in our kitchen!

Look at this beautiful thing! OMG! It's in OUR KITCHEN!

Ceramic stove top! With a clock that works, and a timer! It cleans itself and the oven has a light with a window you can see through. AND ... it is LEVEL! Holy moly! I don't have to keep turning the casseroles and cakes around so they'll cook right ... and my eggs get finished all at the same time! It is REMARKABLE! I am SOOOO excited. Can you tell?
So ... while we're getting ready to go pick up the stove Barry calls and says, hey, Alvin says you can have the refrigerator too if you want it. IF WE WANT IT!?!? Barry has a VERY STRONG Brooklyn, New York accent. It's great .... anyway I told him Paul & I would be there and they could talk about it when they got to the house ..... so here is the outcome of that discussion!
It is HUGE! They are both energy Star whirlpool appliances!
It's a lot bigger than what we had and completely fills up the corner and then some.
The grandsons will have a great time with the dispensers. So will Paul ;-)


Isn't it just incredible?!?!
What really boggles our minds and makes me tear up every time I think about it is the complete generosity of these people. Caroline & Barry for thinking of us, knowing that we've nickel ed and dimed our way through what we've managed to do, restoring this Grande Dame we live in and remembering us with total joy. And Barry just volunteered his back and truck to help us get it all accomplished, while Caroline and I caught up with the gossip and girlie stuff. And Alvin & Karen for being SO generous to GIVE AWAY these appliances to perfect strangers just because they've had an opportunity to upgrade and want to give back. My heart freaks out every time I try to wrap my mind around this! What a wonderful world! What wonderful people and wonderful things happen in life!!! And how do you ever get someone to realize just HOW GRATEFUL you are for such a random act of kindness!!!!

Part Two
Enter Mark, who is Beth's best friend for the past gazillion years. Fellow gypsy and all that. He and Paul can talk for hours (literally) and they never run out of things to say or interests to share. Kind of nice, really .... we're not the norm around here ...

And our friend Beth with her sweet little girl, Foxxy. Just so happens that Beth's stove only has 2 burners that work. And it's kind of ancient ... more so than what we have now replaced! SO, Mark and Beth came over and picked up the cook stove we were getting rid of and today Paul took the refrigerator that we have now replaced over to her house! YEAH ... so the circle now has continued on .... and to finish it off, Beth's old(est) appliances were taken to a local fella in Roan Mountain who collects the bits and pieces for scrap and lives off of the proceeds. Paul was very clever thinking of him to take the stuff to .....
SO now that there are lots of sore backs and cleaned out refrigerators and stoves in this place, we are all reveling in our newly gifted appliances, and Beth and I seem to be equally ecstatic about the new toys and the hopes for plenty of meals to come!
OH, and Beth & Mark had us up to Beth's for dinner Saturday night after moving all of that stuff and it was delightful!!!! Thanks, you guys! It was good to see Mark, as he was visiting from out of town. Not a local, unfortunately. Hopefully, he'll be back again soon.


Part Three

Then it was Sunday, and I found Mother Nature's beauty right outside the door.

It was beautiful! And FINALLY warm enough to begin grouting some of the projects I've had on hold since NOVEMBER! Whoo Hoo! art work! I'm in heaven .... HOG HEAVEN once again.

TALK ABOUT A GREAT WEEKEND! While I was grouting, Paul actually had some work with Mike at the shop working on 18 wheelers (rigs?) keeping them road worthy. He was a tired, grungy man when he arrived home. And we finished up the evening watching t.v. and being ever so grateful for being in this life .... together ... on our adventure.

THANK YOU to the Universe, to our friends and to our family.

LIFE IS GOOD!

Happy Spring to all,

Paul & Cheri

Happy 50th Anniversary!

HAPPY 50TH, Mel & B

(Mum & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa!)

Hope you have a wonderful day of celebration!

What a beautiful and impressive story!

Much love,

Paul & Cheri

Spring!

We received these GORGEOUS & HAPPY tulips at the office this week, sent to us by Steve's mom, step dad and 2 brothers. They have so brightened our lives that I wanted to share. Remember, we had an entire foot of snow Sunday/Monday, so receiving these spring time reminders had a doubly happy attachment for us!! (It's been a rough couple of weeks.)

Updates are:

* Hugh is doing GREAT and is back at the office cracking the whip again. Blessings! He has a very good prognosis and is back under control and sporting some pink cheeks. Amen!

* Tomorrow is Paul's mum and dad's 50th wedding anniversary! Good Lord! That is the most impressive thing I've heard in ages!! Congratulations to Mel and B! We hope for 50 more, just as precious as the last ones have been!

* Caroline (my friend who's husband sold us our house here) called this morning and has offered us a ceramic top stove that one of her clients is "tossing out". I'm so excited I can barely contain myself! Our current stove came with the house and has served us very well, but I'll be VERY glad to have something a little more current and modern! Whoo hoo!!! :-)

* My blood test results came back and I'm human (!) ... which made Paul even more perplexed as he was certain I was something else! ;-) All results are good news, blessings!

* Jon & Melissa are getting married April 24th. The shower is April 4th. I'm looking forward to happy events as there have been TOO FEW lately.

* Jennie & Chad (our friends here who helped so much with our yard last year) are getting married April 11th. More HAPPY times to look forward to!

* It is supposed to be in the 60's this weekend. Now let me tell you ... we are ecstatic about that! Well, I am ... I'm not sure Paul even notices unless it's below 10 degrees. Must be nice. By 10 degrees, I've rattled into pieces from shivering! I am very excited about the warmth coming!

SO, hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a happy adventure you can tell about!

Happy Trails,

Paul & Cheri

Beautiful Snow! March 1st :-) Beautiful Morning! March 2nd

Who cares if it's only 11 degrees! Look at this snow!
Coming in to town (Newland) look up at the Christmas trees in the top center!

More Christmas trees! Beautiful!

This is what the road looks like on the way to work in the snow! Paul drives, thank goodness!

in town ... SO MUCH FUN!

The view of Beech Mountain in back of our house --- oh my gosh - gorgeous!

Trees on the side of the house

Shoveling a path!

Side yard - cherry tree
It was just a gloriously beautiful morning to wake up and enjoy! Hope you all had such a lovely morning to enjoy!

Happy Week!

Paul & Cheri

Random updates

This is the room where we teach on Saturday. As soon as I get permission, I'll post some action shots. These kids are my angels. It is a true blessings to spend Saturday with the kids and with Mr. Paul. They teach us new things every week. :-)

Spartacus LOVES to lie on our wet towels in front of the space heater and nap in the morning. This is his favorite place. I sit on the little pink (DORA the Explorer) stool next to him and we have our morning thoughts and coffee together. (directly in front of the space heater) I have no doubt there is no sweeter soul in the universe than our Spartacus.

Today Is March 1st and we have received about 5-6 inches of snow. I know we aren't the only ones, my kids in Atlanta have snow ... Alabama is covered and I understand it is moving up the Northeastern corridor. I really just didn't expect it to be quite so much snow! I guess "they" didn't either ... not exactly projected. I hope Shay in Anderson SC got some because she LOVES it!! The slopes here are doing really great revenue wise, considering the economy and etc. Come on snow!!!!

I miss Steve A LOT. I know life goes on for us, but I sure miss his company and his sense of humor and his advice and his friendship and his smile and his generous sweet heart. I know it will pass eventually, but when I wake up and remember he is not going to be at work, I sure get sad. He left me some things, some tangible, some more of the heart. I will be forever grateful that I had him in my life for a little bit. I know there are many others who feel the same. Some of the other people who were in his life have been gifted to me as new friends and for that, I am also grateful. Turns out it is, after all, a very small world.

Hugh (my boss) is doing so much better and looks fabulous. He is home and resting this weekend, but I have a feeling he'll be back in the office with a new fire burning this week! Thank goodness! I hope to get a day off soon! My turn you guys!

My friend Vicki and her fiancee Richard, gave Paul & I a new wood burner stove for the basement. The had it in their house as their heat source and they got a new one, so we were very blessed with good friends who wanted us to be warm. I am SO thrilled and looking forward to a furnace system that blows warm air through the house. It is already set up and ready to rock ... Life is good! Vicki and Richard live in a beautiful valley in the area where we first stayed when we came to look around up here. (Valle Crucis area) They're getting married August 1st on the property. I know it will be BEAUTIFUL. It is much like a fairy tale from what I've been able to put together. Enchanted ... so sweet. Paul was taken with it, it has to be spectacular.

There is a new baby in the area ... Mike and Carrie Downing had a little boy, Tyler last week. Thank goodness there is new life! Welcome to earth,Tyler!

No news on the work front for Paul. We're talking about grabbing a welder and installing a home workshop. There are a few folks who are quite willing to help throw the work our way, even if it is welding tractor frames instead of fancy railings. Planning stages ... as goes our adventure!

Hope all of you are well and happy, taking time for joy in your lives.

Happy Week to you all ...

Paul & Cheri