The Beauties

We all need blog posts full of lovely things, yes?
When I took Anna back to college, we stopped by a Mexican place to share a plate full of nachos.  It's one of those simple things that we remember for years. How many more chances will I have to sit and chat with her like that? Many, I hope. She's growing so lovely, inside and out.

The sunset among the mountains and pines was glowing as I drove home.

Sandy and I sat and waited for Julia to finish her art class. Bless the puppy -- she's waiting and she doesn't even know what she's waiting for, until Julia walks toward the car.

Sandy in profile:

As we waited for Julia, I finally photographed this interesting tree, a sycamore, I think. The bark looks so much like a paint-by-number from childhood, or maybe just a watercolor look.

Isn't it beautiful and unusual? How often do we just glance and not look?

Julia's Sketches

On our trip to the mountains, Julia and I stopped at Michael's, and I bought her a new sketch pad and a couple of good pencils. She loves to draw and does it every day. We were chatting, and I told her she should draw a picture of a penguin with big feet sticking out from under his fur, little round glasses, and a long cigarette on a long cigarette holder. Here's what she drew, in the car.

Then we named him Murgatroyd and began coming up with all kinds of stories about him. He's a chef who runs a restaurant with some other interesting penguins. Here's Murgatroyd, cooking in his hat.

And Murgatroyd, slipping on a banana peel.

Julia's involved in an art workshop. Here are three sketches she did yesterday. The swans:

Her instructor showed the students a photo of a dog, and here's what Julia came up with.

Julia really liked this heron that she drew yesterday.

I'd love some feedback from any artist friends out there. What would you consider Julia's skill level to be, for a 13 year old? What would you recommend for her future art training? Thanks for any input you can give!

The Rest of Anna's Visit

Hunter, dear Hunter, had us ladies over for tea yesterday. Mother put together a little flower arrangement to brighten the day.

Anna came along. (That's a funny smile on her face.)

At Hunter's house, we all have this secret addiction to these little "Anna" cookies. Wafer thin, and so very yummy. You can clear the plate of them before you know what you're doing. And Hunter made these wonderful little muffins. I had two.

With toppings, of course. That's her mock Devonshire cream over there, two kinds of jam, and a pot of maple butter, whatever that is. Well, whatever it was, we ate it all up!!

Grandmother teased Julia by tugging her hair. Good thing too, because later yesterday Anna chopped off about 4 inches of Julia's locks.

My plate. You see how I couldn't resist breaking off a bit of cookie, even before the photo?

This is the cheesecake Mother made for Sunday dessert. Graham cracker crust on the bottom, then a thick layer of chocolate ganache, then the cheesecake, and caramel on top.
Whoozah!!!

This morning, she made eggs, bacon and toast for Philip, as his send-off to college. What a pan full of eggs! They are farm-fresh too, of course.

My cute family. I didn't organize family photos as I should have this trip, just snapshots as the mood arose.

I've also been spending some time watching Netflix: The Last Detective starring Peter Davison (aka, Tristan Farnon on All Creatures) and Catherine Cookson's The Wingless Bird. That second one is good for any of you ladies who like a good, sappy romance.

Unnamed Poem

I knocked on my heart

And asked for a poem

Any poem.

I gazed at the world

Mist, mountain, sea.

The poems laughed

and ran away from me.

At last I turned to God

for His leftovers.

They were too great

for my pen.

I stopped asking.

Then I heard the morning dove

Blowing hollow in the still mist,

And the late-summer leaves

Rustling for escape.

Rain pattered on my heart.

And a poem bloomed there.

poem copyrighted by the author

Catching Up

Here are a few photos I've taken since I've been in the mountains. Mother made her luscious tea ring on the first morning.

Peter gave his grandmother a sweet hug. She calls him her birthday present -- same birthday, 60 years apart.

Peter's dorm room. He's in the Honors College, and the buildings are absolutely gorgeous, brand-spanking new. Big room, high ceilings.

I love that his desk chair is a rocking chair :)

He and his roommate have their own bathroom, and the sink is in a separate alcove, outside of the bathroom.

The bathroom is large and roomy.

I snapped a pic of his window from another hallway. It's the single window in the center of the shot. He's up on the 4th floor with a great view of the campus quad.

I drove down to pick up Anna. She's so domestic; she's been rescuing abandoned plants on campus this summer. She has three.

She also has a fish named William Shakespeare, given to her by a former owner.

This morning Grandmother made us pancakes/waffles. Julia presses her chocolate chips down into her pancake, while snuggling in a shawl and sipping hot tea.

Julia's pancake, "half-flipped" as she likes it.

Grandmother chops strawberries for us.

The old waffle iron was spewing steam and doing its thing.

A beautiful old quilt that a neighbor loaned to my mother for the summer. I love the colors.

More later! I cleaned my Very Filthy refrigerator today, and I'm worn out. It was utterly disgusting, after sitting in my parents' garage for a year, and only being tended to by my 18 year old for the summer. Scrub, scrub, scrub.

Skirting Mountains

Hi all. I've been busy driving. I drove all day Wednesday from one tip end of North Carolina to almost the other. I'm at my folks' house. I spent Thursday in town with my 18 year old, doing last-minute desperate attempts to ensure that the start of his freshman college year took off with only minimal distress. Last night, we all sat around and watched Adam's and my wedding video, which gets more entertaining as the years go by!

Today I took off into the bigger mountains, to the other tip end of the state -- Cullowhee. There, after yet another last dash to the Super WalMart (along with every other freshman/parent set in town, and there are not a few!) I left the boy to his own devices. Then I turned my nose southward, drove through more large mountains and found myself in the rather hilly northern part of Georgia. I picked up Anna at her college, and we drove (again, along windy mountain roads) back to my parents' house. All in one day. I'm weary with driving.

Tomorrow we go to Hunter's for tea, and I must say I'm parched for some lady-like rest. On Sunday, Philip arrives in his own little car, and after a brief stop-over here, will proceed to his own mountain-top collegiate establishment for his senior year.

Then I'm taking my 13 year old back to the coast on another all-day ride, from whence I shall not budge for a very long time.

Dragon Boat Races!

I've neglected to tell you all about the excitement in Oriental this past week. We had Dragon Boat Races!!

This is the third year for Oriental to host these races, and the number of teams racing has increased dramatically each year. It's a very popular sport. Above you see the seat and drum; each dragon boat has these.
I biked to the river just in time to get a shot of two teams, digging away with their oars, racing for the finish! The weather was windy and stormy on Saturday. They were up against it.

This is what a dragon boat looks like -- a long, low-slung canoe. Two rowers sit on each seat. We had about 22 teams, and only 4 boats, and one of the teams that owned a boat would not share their boat, so the other three boats got a lot of use.

Each boat has a person who sits up front and beats the drum to keep time for the rowing. Think "Ben Hur."

At the other end of the boat is the person who steers. Many of these poor teams are just made up of local folks who like to have fun, plus a few dozen Marines who come in to help.  People come from all over the country to Oriental to participate.

They don't get a chance to practice in a real boat, bless them. I saw them lined up, practicing while they stood up on the sand. See?

I stood out on the end of the town pier where the starting line was. See the red balls? They mark the starting line. The choppy water and wind made it hard for the boats to turn around and all get their noses to the line at the same time. Ready, set, GO!!

See this lady, the drummer for boat 1? She's my friend Fran. Fran is 85 years young, the most senior member of any team. Go, Fran!

She's pounding away. Her boat did not tump over. Later in the day, the river became more difficult and a rogue wave toppled two boats.

See the dragon? In Oriental, we're all about dragon everything, so dragon boat racing is perfect for this town. It was fun to watch.