It's Official

We have survived the winter!

Thank goodness.

These gorgeous bearded iris are proof!

They came out in great numbers this spring.

There is grass and spring thunderstorms.

Lots of green every where!

Strawberries on the vines ... lots of them!

Some, almost ready to pluck ... yum!

Beans showing up too!

And the porch swing became the tree swing this year.

I had my morning coffee in the swing this morning --- Splendid!

The garden is thriving, even though it has just woken up

Baskets of grass show the abundance of GREEN and LIFE!

Rhododendron are blooming all over the mountains --- Luscious!

They are even showing up in Fairy Ball center pieces! Thanks Beth!

So, we decided to have a "Thank God We Survived the Winter Craw fish Boil and Beer Bash"! Of course, wouldn't you? So Mark & Janine and Paul and I got together and threw a big bash ... AWESOME!

Here is brother Mark, the Chef

Great job, Mark! The food was amazing!

Sister Janine, Mark's bride and our dear friend (with her posse tee hee)

Get your name tag here ... a clever tag, of course!

Some of our favorite partiers, Chad & Jennie

Crista and Sam

a kitchen full of great survivor folks ...

a porch filled with very wonderful people who survived the winter! It was so nice to see people again ... finally!!!

And Beth, the florist and happiest woman around these here parts.
More pictures to follow of all the activities * Beth took a bunch so when we get them uploaded, we shall share!

Hope all of you survived the winter too!

Happy, happy, happy SPRING!

Whoo hoo!

Paul & Cheri

Trying to keep up with it all!

It's proving absolutely impossible to keep up with everything, but at least I'm trying!

Shannon and I installed our art "goods" at BJ's Mountain Specialties. Looks pretty good. Can't wait to get elbow deep in creating new stuff! After May 15th that will be my major concentration. Til then ... there's work to be done!

Paul & I went to the Newland Cruise-In Friday night and saw some really fun cars! Then we went to Fabio's for dinner (yummy, as always). My phone died and threw some horrible corrupt message. So really, it has fried itself! Terrific!

Saturday was teaching at Crossnore, and afternoon art. Paul reffed 3 tournament games in the sun (quite warm!). Saturday night was here, calm and relaxed. Still no phone.

Sunday morning I mowed the side yard with a BIG determination to mow the whole yard before the rain came in ... but on the second portion of the yard one of the back wheels bent and ended up at the most odd angle ... so I finally broke down and got a new mower. Whoo hoo! Ain't she a beaut!?! Can't wait to mow when the rain moves out! Paul did 2 more games Sunday, and is properly sun burned now! We went to Mark & Janine's to plan our crawfish boil and eat fabulous pizza a la Mark! Lovely!

Monday ... first thing: off to Verizon, 10 A.M. On the phone with the big wigs ... update software on my computer. 5 hour process - FAIL. Still won't fix the phone. At 7:00 pm Verizon is shipping me a replacement, Fed Ex for morning delivery. For your information, if you get a new phone, the warranty for a new phone is only good for 30 days. After that it's a refurbished one. I should receive one of those tomorrow. Awesome. Probably because of the rain/floods and things bigger than my problems, it'll be days from now. But, it's been nice and quiet, on the bright side! It's been frustrating, but reality is: my little telephone problem is ridiculous compared to the people who are being displaced from flooding, earth quakes, fires, or worse, killed. SO ... I'm trying to ignore this and put it in the proper perspective.

R.I.P. phone ...

Therefore, I would like to wish all those folks facing all that water really good luck and send lots of prayers. My sister is right outside of Nashville. She says they are stuck, bridges closed, water rising ... expecting cresting on Wednesday. Scary! Hang in there y'all. And keep your life vests on!

Still working on the back room ... about 70 trips up and down the stairs to disperse the boxes of stuff ... and by the end of this weekend we should have a proper room. Yes! Pictures to follow, of course!

Been planting the herbs we got from the nursery last weekend, and hoping we don't go back to frost temps. Got about half of them in containers today. Hope tomorrow wraps up mowing and planting. Then, on with the rest of the spring cleaning of the house ... those walls and windows are waiting for their spring bath!

Doesn't this all sound terribly interesting? HA! Life is good!

Happy Spring to all .... Safe journeys and happy trails!

Paul & Cheri

as a side note --- blogger is in a mood and won't let me post my pictures right side up! I've had to switch everything upside down to get them to post properly. SO, in case they turn back around by the time this posts, you'll know the background story! :-D

Mid Week in the Mountains

April 28th, 1924 - Birthday

Edna Frances Johnson Taylor - my momma

First of all, it's April 28th, and that was the date of my mom's birthday. So, naturally I've thought about her sweet spirit all day long. Janine came by last night with the bouquet of lilacs from her mom's lilac bush because we had a hail/snow storm that mandated either protecting or harvesting the tender blooms on our greenery. One look and I knew the lilacs were in mom's honor. So, happy birthday, Mom ... I miss you greatly.

On another note, my sister and her husband broke ground on their new house on our dad's birthday, February 11th. Today, on our mom's birthday, they are moving in. She predicted it! Seems very sweet to me. Happy new home Paul & Cyndie. Many blessings.

A weekend shopping trip to Johnson City's Evergreen Nursery and I scored TONS of great herbs. I also managed to grab a few veggie plants - beans, peas, tomato, eggplant, and peppers. We can't put anything in the ground yet, so the veggies that I got will go into containers. That'll be fun in itself. It's so nice to have a little time to play in the dirt. I am so lucky!

The tall things here are garlic! I can't WAIT to get it in the ground. As most of you know, I have a BIG passion for garlic. Whoo hoo! Last night I made some killer bruchetta, but poor Paul kept say he was smelling garlic. I got up every couple of hours to brush my teeth because the after taste was so strong! Either the garlic, or the Chianti ... something was the culprit!!! I haven't had any garlic today. I think I'm safe. ha ha!

Ok --- the sleeping porch ---

BEFORE photo shot

Wall #1 (the interior wall without any windows)

AFTER photo shot

Interior Wall #1

Nice, huh? And SO exciting! We found a treasure trove of books!

Now. The other 3 walls! Yikes!

Exciting news (well, at least I think so!)

Shannon and I rented a space today at a venue in Newland for our mixed media art!! We are going to set up tomorrow as it's a new place that is going to open on Friday since the car show is in town. The Newland Cruise-in! Can you imagine? We are "setting up shop" at BJ's Mountain Specialties (next door to Mountain Jewelers, for you locals). BJ is setting up an eclectic beer and wine shop with cheese from Ashe County (yummy) and some candy. She wants to have vendors who represent the mountain area and wants to open as soon as possible (Friday) ... but I think the grand opening will be later. Shannon and I are excited and looking forward to getting our business (CLAYZAICS) off the ground. FINALLY. YAY!!! We are also planning on participating in the Riverwalk Festival in August. So, in addition to the house projects, there are pieces of art that need to be created. At least the "busy" I've become is the "busy" I love. Makes for a lovely and wonderful life!

Paul is off to West Caldwell to ref a soccer game. He's the center ref for a varsity game today. Too bad he has to drive to Timbuktu, but he's really loving the whole reffing thing. I love his stories when he gets home. His eyes shine, his dimples ... well, dimple ... and he's a full fledged babbling man for about thirty minutes. So fun ... and adorable really. My sweet husband has the most enthusiastic lust for life of any person I've ever met. It is the most refreshing, admirable quality in a human being. (He's a pretty good guy). Anyone who can do what Paul does all day long, come home elbow deep in grease and oil, smile and be happy with life is a Prince in my book. Even if his uniforms say he is a Sir. ;-)

Happy mid week to all!

Paul & Cheri

Spring Fever/Spring Cleaning

I know it's impossible to tell what this is without some identification! Paul & Joseph went fishing Saturday at the falls and (Paul) caught this trout! It was 18 or so inches long after it was cleaned and beheaded and was plenty of fish to cook for dinner Saturday night! There is parsley all over the fish, sorry ... but it surely made it taste good! So fun! As they were leaving for their adventure Paul & I decided he would be responsible for dinner. I never dreamed he would catch dinner! (I don't think he did either!) It was a very pleasant surprise for everyone! And I'm quite sure it was the first time Joseph had caught and cooked his dinner!

This picture was taken last Friday (I think). It was such a fabulous day that I stayed outside and worked the entire day. The cherry trees are in full bloom ... so gorgeous! Today was rainy and the wind blew though and I saw a lot of blossoms flying around ... so the blooms won't last much longer.

Taxes are done! What a task every year! I decided to do the laborious task in the dining room this year so I could see better as the light is great in there ... and with all the plants and windows open with warm breezes flowing through, it was a lovely time, actually. Except for that check I had to write when I was finally finished. Oh well, happens every year. Don't know why I always hope for a different outcome! Ugh! Isn't that the definition of insanity ... doing the same thing and hoping for a different outcome? Well, 'nuff said I guess!

This pile of stuff was accumulated from the harsh winter knocking branches down, our clean up of the yard (both front and back). It was quite impressive! Not to mention, the yard looks immensely better.

So Fireman Paul helped me burn it down to nothing. As a side note, I've built the pile back up again! Something about having that burn pile full and ready to burn that just keeps us feeling like we're really working! ;-)

Sunday afternoon post gardening sit down! It was a hard working afternoon!

We got these two rows of taters planted (and two others that are not shown)

And this is the strawberry patch! I spent the entire Monday afternoon making the borders and pulling grass out of the plants. We still have to weed out grass from the far portion of the bed, but at least we have a plan! It doesn't look like it, but it is really hard work to put in the borders. Our backs are not young any more, it seems. Turns out all that abuse our bodies were given in our youths is affecting our old age! Dang it!

We had an entire side yard filled with these lovelies, thanks to the neighbors who must've planted them years ago. They were beautiful when they all bloomed out!

Remember the wood pile? This is what it looked like about 2 weeks ago ...

And this is what it looked like by the end of Friday afternoon! We still have a ton of it to cut and split ... but I stacked and stacked and stacked! Thankfully I had lots of water, sweet tea, and the baby goats to amuse me! HARD work! Sore hips! But by golly there will be wood for next year!

I finally got up enough nerve and energy to tackle this room. My friend and hair dresser, Beckye and I spent 2 days in this room. We removed as much as you see here, (and then some) to get it down to this level. This room is a wonderful sleeping porch. We (me, myself and I ... and sometimes Paul) are trying to get it in shape with beds and etc. in it in time for hiking season so we can have hikers rest and etc. First ... what to do with all this? And this is only one wall of stuff. What you see here are clothes, camping gear, hiking gear, swimming gear, snorkeling gear, financial records, power saws, household equipment, rugs, tin, drywall board, plywood, christmas bows, and etc.

As you walk into the room, this is the wall you see straight ahead of you ... there are windows on all three exterior walls, which I think I've mentioned before, but here is a visual. These boxes have Easter baskets, pumpkins for Halloween, blankets, juicers, mosaic tiles, wrapping paper and some of my parents keep sakes. What are you supposed to do with those things? I can't throw it away ... it's filled with someone's life memories ... Lordy! Oh yeah, and there's a ladder or two too.

This is the interior wall ... the one with no windows. ALL the boxes you see here are STUFFED full of books and pictures of our children from birth through last year. Also a box of space heaters, fans and air purifiers. Oh yeah, and one HUGE box of tools and extension cords and wall paper supplies...... So, Paul & I made a trip to Wally World and picked up some book shelves. I'm hoping to get the walls turned white, the floor covered with something (Paul says we have enough wood, but what he doesn't realize is that he doesn't have the time to install it right now) and the beds set up without all this junk. There will be shelves of books and games and lots of open space. I hope ... that's my vision (and I'm planning to stick to it!)

The far wall ... and more junk. But it is apparently junk we cannot live without, like the "Flakes Welcome" sign. Anyone need a non working halogen light? Or chairs that have no seats and/or need a major reupholstering? Of course, there are two closets filled with clothes, coats, golf clubs, suit cases and collectable cars. I'm hoping my magic wand works well! Next time you see this, I'm hoping it'll be totally different! Please keep those good thoughts with me! Gotta wait for the temperature to get warm enough to paint. Come on sun!!!!! Today is misty and cold. Nice napping day, actually. ;-) Can't do that at work - so nice to have a break.

Jenn leaves for Japan tomorrow ... safe trip honey!

Prayers to you, Janine, and friends and family as you all try to heal from losing your Frank, Blessings.

Good luck to Hollie (my niece) as you conquer Los Angeles and the model world. Stay strong, don't give up, and knock em dead! Sure hope your audition went perfectly!

Happy 1st Anniversary to Jon and Melissa! First anniversary on Saturday, the 24th. Hope it's a lovely celebration!

Rick, thinking about you as you embark on getting your new hip! Keep us posted on the progress! Swift healing.

Happy trails to all,

Paul & Cheri

other highlights of Christian's visit

We went to see the movie How to Train Your Dragon while Christian was visiting. Then we went to McDonald's ... of course ... to get a Dragon in a happy meal. Apparently, it's a requirement. ;-) The movie, by the way, is a wonderful love story between a dad and his son; a dragon and his boy master; a boy and his village; and the token preteen/teen romance. Excellent!

Christian sporting his dragon on his shoulder!

There was, of course, a garden day. In the foreground here is the blooming blue berry vine! In the background is Gardener Christian, who is working with some specially made tools by Paul Paul just for Christian.

Super cool Gardener Christian, preparing the potato planting rows with his special hoe.

He also planted sunflower seeds ... which we are hoping will sprout as the ground is very cool still.

There was a picnic on the porch outside ... on garden day. It was delightful!

Looks like PAUL PAUL is pouting over not having enough cookies! ;-)

Then we had a star wars project to tackle ...

turns out Christian is a VERY good engineer!

Game playing night! A Labyrinth game of moving paths was quite fun ...

and Christian was very thrilled with this one. And he was quite good at it too!

Then there was the polar bear game ... which Christian won as I recall ...

And I think this is the celebration dance HAHA!!!

And there was a pancake dinner and t.v. night on the last night! We so totally enjoyed having this little fella here. It was a wonderful break in our normal reality. Thanks to Jenn and Vic for sharing your fine fella with us!

Happy Spring Break to all!

Paul & Cheri

p.s. blogger formatting is completely messed up and I can't get things to properly space. Please overlook this issue ... I will find the *patience* and time to correct this one day :-)