#3 and I spent most of the day just driving around and a good deal of that driving was done on the parkway. It was a beautiful day, a little cool and breezy at times but the sun was out, the sun being something we haven't seen much ot lately, a good picture taking day.

Tomorrow is Christmas eve and we will be on our way to the Beach to spend Christmas with the family. It's hard to believe that this year is almost over. Hopefully next year will be an improvement over this. Things for me have been good but I know it has been a tough year for a lot of folks.

These past few days have gone by quickly. My #3 son is here on his winter break from school and I have been keeping him busy. He has helped me out a lot tomorrow we will be bringing a good size load of wood down to where I am staying to help keep me warm.

Yesterday was the first day of winter and today was I believe the coldest day of this season. Today I have been inside making carrot cakes for friends while #3 son is out and about with friends. Yesterday we spent a good deal of time at the cabin. I tried to position the cabin in such a way as to take advantage of the winter sun. To me it looks like a wood stove and the sun should keep me toasty.

We have done some driving around the county this past weekend and while on Alum Ridge we pulled over to get a few shots of these cows. They look like Oreos to me. I don’t have the slightest ideal what type of cattle they are but their interesting

I got back from the Outer Banks Tuesday afternoon. I went there to work the weekend and to pick up another load of “stuff”. These short work trips are all a blur. I never even got to see the water except from the Jeep (on paved roads). This shot is of the sound around Colington Island. My #3 son came back with me. He is out of school till January and wanted to spend some time here with me, besides I needed someone to help me unload the trailer!!

Nothing has been done on the house but I can’t fault the builder it has rained just about every day this month. I went on the NOAA website and looked up the rain totals for the month of December so far. According to NOAA this area has had 3 days of sunshine and 14 days of either partly cloudy or cloudy skies.

The work prospects are looking good. I got two calls today, one asking if I would be interested in a position the other wanting to know when I would like to come in for a pre-employment physical. I guess there is a chance that I might be working a little closer to home soon.

I got this little note in my last credit card statement. It basically tells me that they are going to raise the interest on my credit card balance to nearly 20% and that it could go higher. now they are allowing me to "op out" of this, and I did, but I wont be able to use their card when it expires and at that time the rates will change. I wont be using their card a lot sooner than that, I am looking for a different company now.

What really pisses me off about this is that I have been their customer for nearly 20 years. I very rarely have a balance and I typically charge around $1000 a month; lately with building the house it has been a bit more than that. Now admittedly they make very little off me with finance charges but credit card companies charge the seller a fee of between 3 and 5%. so every month the credit card company makes about $30 off my card.

I am very pleased with the new credit card rules that have been adopted. Regulators adopt new credit card rules - Yahoo! News the consumer needs some law's that are on their side!!

I have been seeing a lot of commercials for Hughes Net lately. Hughes Net is a satellite internet provider. The house that I am staying at has Hughes Net and to be honest I’m not impressed. For $60 a month I get “unlimited” internet access…. kinda. The other week I went on line and watched the “Daily Show” I had missed it the night before and my mom said it was a “good one”. I downloaded it using ,Hulu a great site by the way, I was getting good “reception” that day and thought well what the heck I missed “Chuck” while I was away I’ll watch that too. Half way through “Chuck” my signal strength went way down. I thought there was something wrong with my computer, maybe a virus? I did a virus scan, I checked for tracking cookies, deleted my temp files every thing I could think of short of calling my son, the family IT guy. After I rebooted my computer a few times I decided to check my Hughes net connection at the source. When I did that I found out that it was not my computer it was Hughes Net. They had decided that I was using too much internet and cut me off. Where I came from, and I know things are different here, but where I came from for $100 I got local and unlimited long distance and DSL. I watched TV shows on the net any time I wanted to. When I was in the camper I paid $30 a month for dial-up; dial-up sucked but I knew what I was getting. I don’t see enough difference between Hughes Net and dial-up to warrant a $300 to $600 initial out lay, a two year contract and $60 a month. Just my two cents worth!!

I did enjoy the slow down time the almost bitter cold gave me yesterday, I was able to work on my egg Christmas ornaments.

What a difference a few degrees and no wind can make. Yesterday when I went out to feed the horses my face just about froze off. It was 16 degrees outside and the wind was kicking. At that very moment, the second the cold wind hit my face, I knew that I would be spending my day inside cleaning and doing artsy / crafty things. The Floyd Christmas parade was that afternoon at 3pm, I had intended to go but while I like the colder temperature I don’t want to freeze my butt off so I did not think I would be making it; I didn’t. I hear it was very good. I can’t wait to see the pictures. I was not going out if I did not have to. Well anyway I did have to go out; I needed to replenish my wood stores for the wood stove, when I went up to the property, (remember all that wood I split that’s where it is) I got a good feel for how great a southern exposure can be. While the cabin does not have any windows in it yet, the sun shining on the inside made the cabin, even in it open state, feel warmer than the “outside”. I can’t wait to live in that cabin. Boy is this a rambling paragraph, lets get back to the weather. I gathered my wood and went back to the house and stayed warm. This morning when I went outside there was no wind and the temperature was 23 degrees, it felt almost balmy. Its suppose to be much warmer today which is good I have to spend a lot of time at the building site today.

I can’t even remember when I last posted; things have just been so busy. This week I got back from the beach on Tuesday hauling a trailer filled to the rim with stuff I have in storage and then went to class that night, Wednesday I unloaded the trailer and went to a job interview, Thursday I cleaned house and such and went to class, Friday I don’t know what I did it was a blur. Today I went into Christiansburg and took my EMT test, I won’t know for at least 2 weeks if I passed but I don’t care NO MORE CLASS!!!!!! I also gave a pint of blood and did some shopping. On the way home, while listening to Christmas music it started to snow. We barely got a dusting but it was beautiful.

The moon Jupiter and Venus on a clear windy night in Nags Head

this is not normal November beach traffic.....

Its been a very busy week or so…

I just got back from the beach; I went there for thanksgiving and to put a few days in at work. The beach was busy. Traffic was almost as bad as it is in the summer…. Well maybe not that bad but it was close. Work was busy. Sometimes I get the feeling that folks go to the beach just to go to the ER, work was great we were slammed.

My family and I celebrated thanksgiving on Friday, there was way too much food and the company was wonderful. I can’t wait for Christmas. The holidays are always best when spent with family and friends.

The house is moving right along. The roof is on, we will see how long it take for the windows to be put in.

It is bitter cold and windy this morning but I am hold up in the house with a warm fire and a hot cup of coffee. I love the wood fire heat but one of the disadvantages of wood heat is that you have to bring the wood into the house. On a cold day bringing wood in is not fun. I like to keep at least one day ahead on the indoor wood supply, I feel wood burns better if it is room temperature, so every morning right after feeding the dogs and my first cup of Joe I bring in the wood. This morning right as I stepped out of the house Mellow whinnied really loud at me and then just stared.

Mellow is a nice sized tan mare that belongs to my friend who is letting me stay at her house. My friend also has a mule named Amos. While she is away farmer Tim normally takes care of the horses but it makes no since for him to come down here every day while I’m here so for the next few months I have taken over that job. It seems I am being or have been trained by the horses to feed them on their schedule and Mellow was ready to eat. Dutifully I prepared their food, donned my shoes, heavy coat and gloves and marched my way up to the barn and fed them. I don’t mind feeding the animals and there is something about the feel and smell of a horse that I like but I wish they would be a little more patient in the morning. It would have been nice to have had two cups of coffee before I went into that cold windy barn yard.

The dogs are checking out the cows in the back ground.

This morning there is a dusting of snow on the ground and ice on the pond. The air is cold and damp with scattered snow flurries flying about on the breeze; perfect hot coffee and warm fire weather. I know in a few months I will most likely be complaining about this type of weather but today I’m enjoying it.

Today we had snow! Well actually it was more like the world had a bad case of dandruff but it was white and it did come from a cloudy sky. I’m not really wanting a cold snowy winter but it will be nice to see a little snow.

I had a good weekend. I spent both days enjoying food and the company of friends. I also took the scenic route around Floyd County to get to some friends house on Sunday and again on my way home that evening. I find it difficult to locate land marks while driving winding county roads at night; I call that taking the scenic route.

There was some progress on my cabin today. They started putting up the logs and my builder says weather permitting the walls should be done by the end of the week. Could be a good week; could be an even better week if one of my job inquires works out.

The weather for the past few days has been kinda dreary but on my way out yesterday afternoon I took this shot. We are back to cooler temperatures today; if the gurus at the Weather channel are correct the cooler temp’s are here to stay for a while. I don’t mind I seem to work better in the cold of course if this wind doesn’t let down I wont be working out side!!

Not much has happened this last week in fact I’m getting kinda board. I find myself looking forward to Thanksgiving not so much to see the family but to go to work. I’m soooo ready to get back to work. I keep telling myself that when they get really working on the cabin that my altitude will change but to be honest I like going to work. I’m doing a lot of physical work around here but I miss the interpersonal relations that you get at a job.

Today they are calling for rain all day so I guess I have to stay inside which is OK. I will do some reading and work on a new project I have started. I eat a lot of eggs so I decided to make Christmas balls out of the egg shells. Its really quite easy, I just remove the egg yoke and white from the egg through a small hole, rinse the egg shell out and then paint them with primer followed by a metallic acrylic paint and then a clear coat to make them shiny. It takes a little time in between coats and I usually only do one coat a day but since I’m stuck inside maybe I’ll get two coats of color on each egg. I have never done this egg thing before but it is turning out OK

Just a few fall shots

I awoke this morning to a low guttural growl emitting from both my dogs. It was dark and just around 5:30 am so I told them to be quiet! I felt that most likely there was some type of vermin out outside that they caught a whiff of so I just wanted them to shut up and let me sleep a little more. There was no quieting them in fact they became more agitated and after about 2 minutes I found out why. Its hunting season around here and the men who my friend allows to hunt on her property were driving down her long driveway and as the growls turned into barely restrained barks all I could say to myself is that its going to be a long.. long 6 weeks.

I woke up this morning to “change”. Barack Obama has been elected by a wide majority as the president elect of the United States of America. We as a nation needed a definitive win in this election. We needed there to be no question who won and that is what happened yesterday. Now comes the hard part, now comes the time of reckoning, now Obama has to deliver on his promises. I don’t expect the economic crises to be over tomorrow or even next year, it took along time for us as a nation to get into that mess and it will take along time for us to get out of it, but I do expect to see some true progress to a more stable economy. I don’t expect our involvement in the wars over seas to be over tomorrow, or for our status in the eyes of the world change over night, but I do expect to see great progress in both those areas. It is important for Obama to represent our country in a dignified way, to avoid scandal and extremes. To work towards a united country and to make me proud to say to anyone that I’m an American.

The election is over for the most part and it looks promising for an Obama win. Right now it looks like it may be a definite win, something this country needs. The last two elections left a very bitter taste in the mouths of many, there were too many questions about who "really" won. We need an election were there is no doubt who won. When I wake up tomorrow I hope we have Obama as the president elect.

It really is a small world out there. Yesterday I met a couple who like me moved to Floyd County in July from Virginia Beach VA. Virginia Beach is about 80 miles north of where I am from. They appear to be about my age, she is nurse and I think he is a chemical engineer. I have met a lot of very nice folks here, both local and transplant, I am really happy I moved here.

Now something I have mixed feelings about, mice. It seems my cat and girl dog are real mousers. That is OK except they feel the need to eat only half the mouse, I mean they seem to be Kosher. They eat the tops and leave the bottoms. Its disgusting! I appreciate that the animals are ridding me of a very destructive force that can also harbor disease but they do not have to show me what they are doing, they don’t have to share. If they catch them outside they can keep them out side I won’t mind. I am just tired of picking dead and often times half eaten mice off the floor. Country life….. gotta love it.

It’s been another good week things are progressing on the cabin and I have been trying to spend at least 4 hours working at the property a day. Tim the farmer and I moved my camper down the hill Friday, I have a little more clean up to do on it and then I will be putting it up for sale. The camper has served me well these past few years but I don’t need it any more. I can’t pull it with my Jeep so there is no need to keep it. Any one interested CAMPER FOR SALE!!

Another 10 days has flown by…. The fall leaves are starting to thin out and there is a touch of winter in the air. I find it all very refreshing.

I did go back to the beach this past weekend to see the family and to work for a few days. It was nice to visit the beach but even better to come back here to the mountains. I do wish I could bring my job here. Its hard to find a job you like going to with people you like working with.

Construction on the cabin is coming along. The guys are putting down the sub floor today who knows they may start the walls this week.

I haven’t been keeping up with the blogg lately I have just been too busy with “things” to hassle with blogging via dial up but I have moved from my 19ft camper into a small house that belongs to a snow bird friend of mine and it has satellite internet, not the best but better than dial up!!

Things here have been good. The weather last week was warm but the fall color has been just great. It has been many years since I have seen Fall. This past week, thanks to the mild temperatures, I put the top down on the Jeep and cruised a little of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was hard not looking up as I drove. I love the way sun light shines through the trees causing the leaves to have a glow about them. I also LOVE it when a breeze comes by and it rains leaves; it’s just so magical. I love fall!!!!

Things are coming along on the cabin. They poured the footings this week. One thing done a week, I guess that’s progress. What can you say? My builder is working on another house soooo

This has become

This

My friend Tim and I finished splitting the wood pile, a great accomplishment. Now I get to stack all this wood. Yea for me I get to be warm three times!!!

Skunk. I thought that I knew what a skunk smelled like after all I have driven by many unfortunate skunks that had been struck by cars; they stink. Well…… last night I learned that when your dog gets sprayed by a skunk it smells worse than you can ever know. When the girl dog came in last night just as I was eating my dinner my olfactory nerve was struck by a odor so noxious that it brought tears to my eyes. Needless to say dinner was over and the girl had a bath there and then! Not that it did a whole lot of good but had to do something. This morning I bathed her again this time in vinegar. It helped for a while but after she “helped” split wood and then ran round the yard for awhile and laid in the sun she stunk again. I bathed her again this afternoon. While at EMT class this evening I asked the folks who live here how they deal with skunk smell the consensus is use tomato juice followed up with a concoction of baking soda, vinegar and dawn dish soap. Tomorrow I will try their recommendations.

I saw my first lady bug today. Not the first one I have seen all summer but the first one of the fall lady bug blitz. These are not really lady bugs per say. These are the orange and black , real lady bugs are red and black. Every fall they congregate in my camper I am usually not here, this is my first full fall in Willis, but every spring I clean thousands of dead lady bugs out of my camper. They are attracted to the white siding of the camper and the warm interior but unbeknownst to them it is not a safe place to be; I spray the camper for bugs when I close it up for the final time in the fall.

Fall colors are starting to really stand out. The reds and yellows against the deep greens with bright afternoon sun light filtering through is just amazing. Ahhhh. I love the cool mornings and warm afternoons that fall brings and the night time sky is so deeply black that the stars just shine like bright clear white light. It could stay this way all year for me.

Today I have spent the day doing as little as possible. This past week has been very busy. My builder started on the house, I have been splitting and stacking firewood, I helped place a dog who needed a new home, spent a few days explaining to Amerlink why I needed my logs delivered, went to EMT class, took a friend to the doctor and I worked a little with the church yard sale (there must have been a million of those this weekend). Tomorrow starts a new week and hopefully Amerlink will deliver the logs tomorrow morning as promised; that would sure be a good start to what will most likely be another busy week.

Another week has flown by, almost another month. This week had kinda been a work week. I personally, with my own two hands (and a pick ax, shovel and post hole digger) built a fence where the old barn had been. The girl dog had stopped worrying about the “electric” wire fence I had put across the area and any time she thought she could get away with it she went through it. The road I live on is not that busy but it is my responsibility as a pet owner to keep my animal under control. I needed a fence and until I can afford to have a better one built this one will have to do!!

These past few days we have been getting some much needed rain (that’s what they tell me anyway). This rain hampers my ability to do stuff. With two good size dogs and a cat there’s not much use cleaning a 19ft camper when its raining so for the past few days I have reading and watching movies. This mornings view was a pleasant sight; patches of blue sky and morning mist. My living conditions are not ideal but I am so fortunate to live here.

When I moved from the beach I left a lot of my plants. I had tons of geraniums and hanging baskets. I had grown these from cuttings of plants I had for many years. Each year I would take my plants indoors for the winter clean them up and do a few more cuttings all in anticipation for the next spring. Getting things ready for the move up here I could tell it would take more than one trailer load to move all my plants so I decided to give all but a few away. My logic being that all the plants I had started out as cuttings so I’ll just do more cuttings up here. These are the first 6 new geraniums. If as in the past they all make it to spring I will have a nice spread of flowers.

My plants I brought up here seem to be doing well, the fox glove my #2 son gave me last Christmas is really happy.

It has been raining today, a nice light rain that brings with it perfect reading weather.
The rain has been coming and going.
I can tell when it starts and stops by the noise the rain makes on the roof of the camper.
When I stepped out of the camper during one of the times the rain had stopped I was confused for a moment, for while I did not see the rain I did hear it.
All around me was that soft sound that I have heard rain make on my walks in the woods.
So after that moment of confusion I was able to take in the gentle breeze that shook the leaves and caused the rain to rain again.
I love days like this.

For the young man who lost his mom and his friends surfing is a way to be together in this unfortunate time.
Two of these young men are my sons and one is like a son to me.

I’m back from my visit to the Outer Banks and while it was a trip I am sorry I had to take but I am darn glad I went.

September on the Banks is a great time to visit. The weather is still warm, this weekend was darn right hot, and there are a lot fewer people. As you can see from these photos the water is still good for swimming and surfing.

Sunset on the sound

A friend of mine passed away early this week and I returned to the beach for her funeral. It was a nice service; my condolences to her son and the rest of her family. It was nice to see so many young men attend the funeral in support of her son. She would have been pleased.

Living in a 19ft camper gets to be a bit cramped especially on a rainy day but Jean Gray my cat has a comfortable perch near the window. Jean very seldom stays inside but today she is enjoying a long nap. Me…. I guess I will just sit here and study. I am taking an EMT course and while I have been a nurse for quite awhile there are differences in what an EMT can do and what a nurse can do. I have learned that I need to get away from “how it’s done” and back to “how it is suppose to be done”. The class is turning into a good refresher course.

Its seams OPEC is not happy with the fall in oil prices and are going to pull back on oil production. I say good for the US. By cutting back on production and keeping oil prices up it gives the US entrepreneurs a financial incentive to go ahead with alternative energy and other energy innovations. In the 70’s when oil prices went up conservation and innovation became a big deal but as time went on and the 80’s gave the American public a false sense of energy security we put the worry about the cost of energy on the back burner and forgot about it. Well that pot is burning and we need to do something about it. Now we Americans have a short attention span and if oil prices go down too much we will add a little water to the pot, put the pot back on the back burner and forget about it again. We need to try to think in the long term and do what is good for now and the future.

The cost of energy affects me just like it does everyone else; I drive a Jeep wrangler and live 4 miles from the nearest convenience store, 15 miles from the nearest town and almost 30 miles from the nearest Wal-mart. To save money on gas I kept my sons Sentra that was wrecked back in May (her tail looks bad but she gets better than 30mpg) and I drive it when the weather is fair. I feel safer on these mountain roads at night and in bad weather in my Jeep. I keep a list of what I need and plan my road trips accordingly. I have planned the placement of my home to take advantage of solar energy and while I can’t afford to put solar panels on it now the placement of windows will help heat the house using passive solar techniques. I hope that the US government will support the advancement of alternative energy. I hope some day to be able to afford to put solar panels on my house and be able to buy an alternative energy vehicle that would meet my needs. As long as the American people are adversely affected by the cost of energy I believe that energy innovation will be supported by the people and therefore by the government so good for OPEC, they are doing more to promote energy innovation in this country than any of us tree huggers ever could.

The dogs have gotten into the habit of an evening walk/run and they don’t care if I want to walk or not they pester me until we walk. At the end of the walk we go through the fruit trees. Theses trees are a sad sight. They have not been taken care of and are surrounded by wild roses and some type of scrub tree with 2 inch thorns. My plan is to clear the brush out from under and around the trees this winter. I am hoping that by cleaning things up the fruit will look better. I am fortunate to have apples, pears, cherries, peaches and grapes.

I have been cooking apples for about a month now. I don’t know what kind they are but they are green turning to red and right now kinda tart. The redder they get the sweeter they become. There is so much brush and dead branches around the tree that it is difficult for me to pick the apples. Every day I pick up the apples that fall to the ground keeping the ones that are not damaged and tossing the others over the fence for the deer to eat. I am hoping that next year I will be better able to harvest them for apples sauce and such. The pear tree is also producing well and I should be able to pick some of them soon.

It’s been a long three weeks but today I got rid of the last bit of fire debris. I took a load of old tires that were in and around the barn that burned down. I had options on how to dispose of the debris the cheapest was to bury it on my property the most expensive was to have it removed. The only place I had to bury it was down near the small creak that flows through my property. This is the area I hope to build a pond and while some folks told me this would not be a problem I did not believe them. It looked like it would create a big problem in the future not to mention my “earthy” side just could not do it. Burying it would be bad for the environment. The waste from that fire had to be bad for the water that was nearby. So I opted for the more expensive way, a way that was not in my budget but the only way I could live with, I had it removed. The person who cleaned it up Booth Creak excavating removed everything but the old tires, today I got rid of the tires and it really did not cost that much.

I took 23 tires to the Floyd recycling center. It cost me $1 per tire ($23), 2 hours of my time I feel I’m worth $20 hour ;-) ($40) and 2 gallons of gas (We will figure high $8) for a total of $71 of which just $31 was out of pocket. It does not cost much to do the little things that help our world so much.

This is not a political blog but…..

I am deeply disturbed with my fellow Democrats. I have had many conversations with people who like me voted for Clinton and are not real happy with Obama. More than one of these folks tell me they are not voting for Obama in fact many are not planning on voting at all. Here is my answer to that: If you don’t vote you are voting for McCain, If you vote based on race Obama is half white vote for his white half, vote for the candidate that offers you what you want.

Here is what I want:

I want a president that will help keep the county strong. I want my president to be willing to protect the US and its allies but not be quick to anger. My president must work to make the US a respectable country by being willing to listen to what the world has to say while at the same time paying attention to what his people are telling him they want. The president is not a king he is accountable to the people.

I want a president that promotes alternative energy and is environmentally friendly. My president needs to listen to the scientist that tell us that more drilling will not be a “cure for all” and that we need to put our money into real ways to make the US as energy independent as possible.

I want a president that will promote some type of universal health care in this country. I am so tired of seeing families lose everything they have because of health issues. I am tired of seeing emergency rooms used as primary care providers because people can’t afford to go to the doctor. I am tired of sick people not going to any doctor because they know they can’t pay for it. I’m in the medical profession; I know what I am talking about here.

And most importantly I want a president that will help keep the Supreme Court balanced. The next president has the potential of placing three new Supreme Court Justices.

Obama is young and somewhat inexperienced but I feel of the candidates we have to choose from now he is the one who will give me more of what I want.

There goes the metal!!!

Wow its September 1^st already my golly where has the time gone?

Things with me are going ok. They still have not started on the house, maybe tomorrow. I’m getting to the point where I will believe the house will be built when it happens. The barn debris has been cleaned up. Yeaaaaaa….. Tim Boone of Booth Creak Excavating finished the job today and it was very well done. While I did not intend to spend the money to clean that area at this time and the clean up will make things a little tight financially it does look a lot better. It should look real nice next summer. This spring maybe I can put a pond in that would look great, we shall see.

I haven’t heard from my brother, he and his wife live in Harvey La right outside of New Orleans. They went to my sisters in Pensacola fl to wait out the storm. I tried to call them today and as could be expected the message I got was that all the circuits were busy. I’ll try again tomorrow. We won’t know if everything is OK levee wise for a few days anyway. Now all eyes will turn to Hanna. Looks like it will be an east coast storm but if it stays on its projected path I’ll get more rain up here than my family on the North Carolina coast; oh boy

My brother and his wife live in Harvey La. just outside of New Orleans in Jefferson Parish. Katrina flooded their home 3 years ago and it has been less than two year's since they were able to move back into that house. New Orleans has been through many hurricanes and most likely will be just fine but the wound that is Katrina is still too fresh to allow its residents to relax. Every storm is going to have people asking : Is this the big one? Is this the one that wipes the crescent city from the map?

Yesterday was a good photo day as can be seen by the photos I have posted today. I could not post them yesterday because I only have a dial up internet connection and it would have taken hours to down load.

My contractor is suppose to break ground on the cabin today but we will see. X-tropical storm Fay is threatening to drop some much needed rain all this week so I won’t be surprised if nothing happens this week. I’ll be disappointed but not surprised. The guy who is going to clean up the fire mess said he will be here rain or shine Wednesday so something should get done around here this week!!

Oh another week has just flown by and as I sit here I can’t think of all that much that has happened. Oh yea I did take a quick trip back to the beach. I left on Monday and was back Wednesday night. I needed to get my certificates so I can prove I can do what I can do and get a job and they were at the beach so the dogs and I took a trip. All I can say is I miss my family and friends but I do not miss the beach, not this time of year!! (To those of you I did not see in town sorry... the next time I will be there for a week and I will definitely hook up with you) I did not tell many people that I was heading down that way because to be honest I did not want folks to know that I was away. The fire debris is still there and I fence is still down and to be quite frank I don’t want my other barn burned down so I stayed mum on the subject.

I did have a good time visiting with my family and a few friends but the traffic was horrible. I was almost hit twice by the same car. This person was what we called a wanker. The first time she almost hit me she was riding in the left lane with her left signal on when she decided that she really needed to turn right so she cut right in front of me I’m telling you she looked me right in the eye and did not even mouth sorry. That woman missed me by inches. I pulled in to the bank did my business and got back on the road. Now I went into the left lane because I was going to be turning left went down the road a little ways when this same woman whooshed in front of me and stopped halfway in my lane and the turn lane. Luckily there was no one to my right so I was able to cut around her but the guy behind me had to screech to a halt. God I hate the Outer Banks in the summer. Give me the spring and fall, that’s the time to go!!

While the dogs and I were away I put the cat in a kennel and she came home a changed kitty. This cat has never been affectionate. She was separated from her mother before she was fully weaned and they say that when this happens the cats are less social. She does seem to like the company of dogs and I but she never seemed to like to be petted. She not the kind of cat that would lie in a ball in your lap enjoying a pat: she would rather nip you but after 4 days in the kennel she has become almost too affectionate! She still won’t get on my lap but she curls up in a ball right next to me on the bench and when I go some where she is very voicetress when I get home. She seems almost to be saying “why did you leave me? You can’t do that! You can’t leave me!!!” Cats….

It’s nice to be back in Willis. You can’t beat the weather and aside from the arsonist the folks around hear are a lot like the folks on the Banks in the winter very nice. I’m working on my work applications and I hope to get them out buy Tuesday. I’m just looking for part time employment; with the construction of the cabin starting soon I want to be available as much as possible but it will be nice to have some inward cash flow even if it’s just a little bit

Well time is passing quickly tomorrow is one week since the barn fire and things are for the most part unchanged. It looks like the fire was set and the scuttle butt is that we have a piro around here who has set fire to quite a few buildings in the past few years. If what is said is true this person or persons is good at covering their foot prints. Well such is life, its discouraging that there are people like that around and I’m not happy that I will have to take measures I did not plan on taking to make my property less inviting. As Mr. Burns would say close the gate and "send out the hounds”.

Other than the fire things have been good. I made the first draw payment on the cabin. My builder hopes to start next week. I can’t wait!!! I had some trees removed and I am very happy with David Zemmer of DZ Tree Removal. There will be much to keep me busy this year. Does any one know what kind of splitter I should get? There is a LOT of wood to split. I don’t have any wood for this year but I’m probably set for the next few years after that.

The roses are doing well in the raised beds I made for them. I will most likely lose at least one of them but at least I tried. The bougainvilleas are not happy. Next year they will most likely have to stay inside better yet I should build a small green house for them. I know it seems foolish to worry over a plant but I have had one of the bougainvillea longer than I have had 2 of my 3 kids and the person who had it before me had it for quit a while; something that like that is worth a little extra work.

For the most part it has been a nice few months. I have never taken this much time off from work but it was worth it. Unfortunately the bank account is down low and end of summer is coming so that means its time to look for a job, besides I’m ready to get back in the swing of things and meet more people. Its going to be hard to go back to work. I will miss coming and going as I please, sitting on my “porch” with lap top in hand listening to good music as I alternate between just looking at the things around me and pounding on the keys writing aimlessly about nothing all that important..

This morning my dogs woke me up and for good reasons my lower barn was on fire. I’m a little loss for words at this time but I want to thank the Floyd county fire department for there help.

Well another week has gone by and for me it has been a good one punctuated by a great Saturday. Today a friend and I went out to check on wood stoves but after finding out that the store we were going to visit was not open on Saturday we decided to see what we could find in Floyd. We spent the day checking out the shops. We found some wood stoves at the Farmers Supply on Main Street that gave me something to think about. We went to the Jacksonville Center and looked at what the artist had to offer. On the second floor they had an art gallery and a room where they exhibited quilts. I found the Star Trek quilt very interesting. We then checked out a few of the antique shops in town and then went El Charro Mexican restraint for lunch. The food and atmosphere were very good but the service was a little lacking. I will give the service a little leeway this time because they were busy and did not seem to have a lot of help. After lunch we checked out the shops that were in the same building as the restaurant. In one shop that sells variety of local artist’s work we met one of the artist Gretchen St Lawrence. She gave us a history of how the art shop came to be and told us a little bit about her life. Be sure and check out her website she has some nice art work posted.

After all this eating, talking and walking we decided it was time to head on home. The weather for the day had been great, neither of us was hot or cold, it was like the baby bears porridge, to Goldilocks, just right. In fact it was so nice that when I got home I put the top down on the Jeep so that I could enjoy an open air evening ride to and from church. I’m ending the day listening to “The Thistle and Shamrock” (Irish music) on NPR. Some times it’s great to be alive!!

I’m in heaven today, cool temperatures very little humidity and lots of sun is what greeted me this morning. Last night the Buffalo was surrounded by fluffy pink clouds and as I was taking in the view the old saying “Red sky at night sailor’s delight” popped into my head along with the wish that today would be fair. That wish has been fulfilled.

Things are moving along on the cabin. I went to check out windows and doors and have talked to the cabinet man. Hopefully the foundation will be down by the end of the month and the cabin dried in by the end of September. I have been told that the cabin should be ready for me to move in to by November but I’m hoping I'm in by the first of the year. November is doable the house is only 720sf but………

Well I’m off to clean and organize the shed; my project for today.

Over the past month I have had a bit of work done on my property but I really have not done anything myself so to get my hands dirty I have started building raised beds for my roses. I brought the roses from my home on the Outer Banks and I am hoping they make it up here. Each of the rose bushes has a meaning to me most were given to me by someone close and it would be very sad for me if any of them did not make it through the winter but any time a plant is moved there is the chance that the plant won’t make it. We shall see what the spring brings.

The swing bench in the foreground is one of my favorite rest areas. In the early morning and late evening I enjoy sitting and just looking at the view. At night it’s a great place to look at the stars. The heavens here are so different from the Beach. There seems to be so many more stars. Last night I saw a few shooting stars and I hope to see a lot more, the Perseids meteor showers appear in August.

The boy and girl in a hay field, run Trip run

Well I have been here 4 weeks now and things have been good. I will say in all honesty that I am a little lonely I miss my family very much but the animals and I have settled in nicely. This past week I settled on a builder and if all goes well they should start on the house by the end of August and it hopefully it will be done by November. The house is going to be a log home and quite small about 700sf but it is in my budget and it should be very comfortable.

Living in the mountains is a bit different than living on the beach. I have acclimated very quickly to the temperature, this morning when I woke up I was hot, the temperature in the camper was 70 degrees and I was very uncomfortable. I very much like the upper 50’s and 60’s. The hilly ground has caused my glutes (butt) to hurt. Walking on uneven ground uses muscles differently than on flat land, I expected my leg muscles to feel the burn but not the glutes. It’s a lot dryer here which is nice for me but it has been hard on my girl dog. I had to take her to the vet, it seems she has environmental allergies and the dry air has caused her to have dry skin, so now she is on a steroid, an antibiotic and an eye ointment she will be starting on fish oil tomorrow. The girl dog has also developed an attraction for wild animal poo. She has had more baths this past 4 weeks than she normally has all summer. The boy dog is doing just fine he does like to sit on the hill side and howl but.. if he’s happy. The cat is keeping busy being a cat.

I will be heading to PA the end of this week for the yearly friends and family party at my cousin’s house. It should be fun.

Well I have been here in Willis for a little over 2 weeks now and I think I have finally settled in. now admittedly living in a 19ft camper makes it hard to really settle in but the things that make a house a home are here for me. I have a bed & bath, a place to eat, a DVD player and a Wii. the dogs and cat have settled nicely. trip the girl dog is loving the 4 1/2 acer yard so much that I had to increase the amount of food I feed her. She seems a little disappointed over the fence I had installed this past week by Tracy Blevins of Beaver Creek Fencing but I love it. gravel was delivered this past week boy does that help keep the mud down, of course I did not mention that I needed it spread so I will have to drive the Jeep because the Nissan cant get through the rock. Shortts Excvating are the folks I had deliver the rock and they are going to send some one to spread it as soon as possible. They are also the ones who cleared the building site and I think they do great work. Still working on getting a house built, ... it will happen.

I'm heading back to the beach tomorrow to pick up a load of stuff. Its a quick trip down and back. My #3 son want's to come up. He will follow me up and then drive back to the beach by himself.

great view except for the mud

Paradise comes with a price which in my case is mud and lots of it. Mud is something I have had very little experience with in the past 27 years but in the last week I have had more than I want. Other than the mud and the mess the that comes from it I am very happy to be here. the weather is great and I am enjoying daily walks and visiting friends. Friday after going to a friends house for a cook out I went to my first July 4th celebration in Floyd and had a great time.

This next week I will be working on getting a house built. I think this will prove to be quite a task, we shall see what is to come....

Well I’m here in the mountains and I must say the beginning of this adventure has been an adventure. My house at the beach closed last Friday as scheduled and believe me I hope I never sell another home. I was a wreck. What were the appraiser, inspector and surveyor going to say? What unreasonable requests/demands were the buyers going to make? How am I going to pack the house in 30 days and where am I going to put all the stuff? Well I did it and it has taken me 3 days to recover from the move.

All my sons helped me prepare for the move but #3 son was the only one who could help me move. He drove my car, the car that was wrecked in May up while I drove the Jeep pulling a fully loaded trailer. We got up here Friday night right after a storm so we were welcomed by a beautiful mist covered mountain view and red mud. Mud, 2 dogs, a cat a fully loaded trailer and two very tired people make for a very messy 19ft camper, my home for a while.

We had to head back to the beach Saturday morning because my son had to be at work Sunday. So we got up early and braved the Saturday traffic to the beach. It only took about 15minutes to get over the bridge to the beach, a 5 minute trip normally and while traffic was heavy it was steady. My son helped me load the trailer I then took him to his dads house so he could go on line and load my Wii with some games (I’m a Mario & Zelda girl) I then headed to the other storage room to finish filling up the trailer. With the trailer full I went to #2 sons house took a shower, went to the kids dads house collected my Wii and headed back to the mountains. How convenient that #1 son was in a sailboat race and #2 son was helping a friend in a surf competition when I need brute strength for a move.

I was surprised how depressing the trip back was. It was on that trip that the move and all that it entails hit me. I have left my home of 27 years, my family and friends and am moving to a place that I have only visited. Tears welled up and WHAT HAVE I DONE screamed in my head. I was stressed and tired, the weather sucked and everything was a mess my out look was grim.

Sunday was not much better. I had gotten back to the mountains at 2am and was up by 7am. A look at the sky was all I needed to see that rain was again on the way so I quickly unpacked the trailer and headed to Galax for a phone jack and groceries. By the time I got back to the camper, put everything away and connected my phone the rain came and I exhausted and again close to tears decided to take a short nap. It was 4pm and I just wanted a 20minute rest. When I woke up at 8pm I felt better. Fixed some dinner played some games and went back to bed around 11pm.

Monday was a much better day. The day started clear and bright, I had slept well for the first time in weeks and with out the use of Ambien. It is amazing how much better the world looks after a good night sleep. I went to a friend’s house and did a few loads of laundry came back to the camper and enjoyed the afternoon rain.

Today is starting out beautifully. The temperature is cool the air is crisp and view is great. I have no doubt that I will miss my family and friends and yes even the beach from time to time but I also do not doubt that this is the right move for me. I don’t know if I will be here forever but today I am glad to be here.

Well its less than 12 hours until my house closing and I am bushed. Above is a photo I took this morning. My last sunrise on the Atlantic for a little while. I stayed talking for about an hour to a tourist I guess starting tomorrow I'll be a tourist also. Well I'm off to bed tomorrow comes early.

It is less than 2 weeks from the closing date on the house sale and boy do I feel over whelmed. I have been in this house for almost 10 years and have accumulated a lot of stuff. I have had to rent two storage units to hold my things. I have gotten rid of a ton of stuff but just cant let some of my momentous go. Many years ago I heard a George Carlin skit that dealt with the American need to collect stuff and as I look at my different piles, the keep pile the sell pile and the toss pile I have to smile just a little because he was right; stuff does start to add up.

One of the hardest things for me in this move is leaving my kids. as aggravating as they might be I do enjoy their company so #3 son and I set up a web cam. its not as good a being there but it is nice to see their faces and talk real time. It kinda has a Jetsons feel to it.