One last sunset

One last sunset until we get back.

Homeward Bound

Miss Bobbie came to town for the weekend. Roberto was in Italy so he missed all the fun. Saturday we went to the Tobacco Barn - huge old barn full of antiques. We didn't see anything we couldn't live without so we didn't buy anything. Then we went to Black Mountain for lunch and went on to Creston. We were walking up our driveway and heard a rustling in the woods. No bear - just a bunch of turkeys. Whew! That night we went into downtown Asheville for dinner. The restaurants were all busy and the streets were crowded with people and street performers. Bobbie left Sunday morning and I picked Robert up from the airport at 11:00 PM. Not my favorite time to be driving to the airport. I don't see well at night on these dark, curvy roads full of truckers. Much different from city night driving. Tomorrow morning we leave for Michigan. We'll be staying at a cat-friendly hotel in Piqua, Ohio then heading up through Detroit to pick up tamales then I hope to make a stop at Holiday Market in Royal Oak, if the kitties are behaving. They should like it at the cabin with the screened porch, once they get used to it. I think they'll enjoy FinnFest, too.

Blue Ridge Parkway & Mt. Mitchell

A Rough Life

Yesterday morning I decided to take advantage of my new Biltmore pass and go there to walk the gardens. The estate consists of 8,000 acres so the gardens are not small. Cathy (landlady) said she also has a pass so we went together. I have been to Biltmore to tour the house twice but have never been there when the gardens were in bloom. We must have walked a few miles by the time we were finished. There are formal gardens closer to the house then azalea gardens, a bass pond with waterfall, a meadow etc. as you go further from the house. There are different pathways to take to and from each one. It was beautiful and by noon we were ready for lunch. It was just in time as the gardens were getting full of tourists. We ate at a restaurant at the stables near the house. We were sweatty and I had my State baseball cap on but Cathy said it doesn't matter how you look (or smell) in Asheville, so we didn't care. In the afternoon we took a ride to Creston so Cathy could see our property. It's about 30 - 35 minutes from our house. I called ahead to see if our road was being paved and was told not until Thurs. or Fri. We were halfway up the road to our lot and there was a huge dumptruck blocking the road with the engine running, door open and no one in sight. We got out of the car and walked around but didn't see anyone. We couldn't get around it so I had to back down the road. Luckily Cathy was there to guide me and didn't end up off the side of a cliff. We went up to the top of the mountain so she could see the community center - thinking that the truck would be gone by the time we went back. We told Marsha, who works in the office, about the truck and she laughed and said he was probably out watering a tree. We were laughing thinking about what a panic the guy was probably in when 2 women appeared while he was trying to go. We went back down and didn't see the truck so we weren't sure if he was still up our road or not and didn't want to chance backing all the way down again so we parked the car and decided to hike it up to the property. It's about a half mile. We got about half way up and it started to rain along with thunder and lightening. We saw a deer off the side of the road as we were walking. He looked at us for a minute then took off. We made it up to the property and were able to take shelter underneath our trees. I was anxious to see what it would be like up there during a thunderstorm but not until the house was there. It let up a bit so we walked back down to the car. On the walk back we saw the deer again but this time he ran across the road about 20 feet from us. We then ran into the same dumptruck coming back up the road so we were glad we had walked, otherwise we would have had to back up all the way UP to our lot and there are no guardrails alongside the road. At least I got to see what my morning walks are going to be like when we live there and it's not too bad. Beautiful views all around and deer.

Bear Detectors

The Boys couldn't believe their eyes.

My birdbath!

Outside our bedroom window

Early morning visitor

Another view from our bedroom window.

This is what we see when we wake up every morning.










our view

Biltmore

Yesterday afternoon we decided to go to the Biltmore Estate to check out biking trails. Robert is itching to get a new bike and ride around here. He's talking about riding on the Parkway but everyone I see riding on the Parkway looks to be in very good shape. We bought a day pass and went to the bike trails. They have 1 paved trail suitable for road bikes so Robert rode his bike on the trail and I walked it. I could ride the trail on my town bike, no problem. It's 3.5 miles round trip so he road it twice and I walked one-way. It follows the French Broad River and ends up at a lagoon with a beautiful view of the house. It was nice and cool by the lagoon and people were there having picnics or just sitting and reading and relaxing. As I was walking with the river beside me and mountains behind me, I thought, "Sure beats Huntington Woods." Robert picked me up in the car and we decided to buy a 12-month pass. We went to the Winery to do that and, of course, got our free tastings. If we make too many trips in for our free tastings they'll probably start recognizing us so we'll have to come up with some disguises. After that we sat outdoors at the Arbor Grill and had a glass of wine and a snack. It was nice.

Climb Every Mountain

Well, I have reached my goal! Friday morning I went out for my up-and-down walk and met a neighbor, Leslie. She was also out walking so we started walking together. She was going all the way down to the end of the road so I thought, "What the heck, if she can do it so can I." Well, she was almost running back up and I wasn't. She turned off to go down yet another road and I struggled on up. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It's 1/2 mile down and then 1/2 mile UP. Now that I know I can do it, I'll do it all the time until I get in shape.
Friday Robert and I went to our property to meet with the architect, Tom Lawton. The house site has been staked off so now we can see how the cottage will fit on the lot. There was a nice breeze and it was very cool in the woods compared to the road. We were marking trees with ribbon - some to save/some to go. We realized we were walking though poison ivy and some of the trees Robert was marking had poison ivy vines growing up them. When we got home we stripped down and threw our clothes in the washer and took quick showers because we had a window salesman coming over. After he left, we went to CVS and bought poison ivy soap and showered again with that. Saturday was our annual Property Owner's Assoc. meeting at the community center at Creston. We met some of our future neighbors. After the meeting we changed our clothes and went back to the lot to mark some more trees. This time, I think we avoided most of the poison ivy. I went further down the hill (mountain) than I ever had and we found Robert's "secret view" which until then was so secret even Robert couldn't find it. It's an area further down where we want to put some chairs to sit and enjoy the view. I marked a big hickory tree with 2 ribbons so we could find it again. We went to CVS and bought more poison ivy soap and this time also bought something to put on after you break out, just in case. We're sitting here like ticking timebombs waiting to see if either one of us gets it. I guess it can take up to a week for it to appear and Robert has to get on a plane Tuesday for Italy. Won't that be fun if he breaks out then.

Busy

I've been so busy I haven't had time for my "blob." Let's see, Friday night we went out to dinner downtown to a sushi bar then went to a tapas (not topless) bar for a glass of wine and tapas. Saturday we went down to Bobbie's in Simpsonville. We went to Total Wine (huge discount wine store) and stocked up for FinnFest. Then we had dinner at Bobbie's. Sunday we went into downtown Greenville and had lunch. We had a nice time. On the way home we stopped at this architectural warehouse to look at things for our house. We found a few doors and leaded glass windows so may return for a 2nd look. Robert left Monday for Detroit so I've been on my own. Tuesday, Cathy (landlady) and I went to a nursery nearby to get some perennials for the garden. On the way home I showed her the Giant Pig. She was impressed. We went home and planted the flowers. It was very hot & humid. We went to dinner and a movie later. We went to a Mexican restaurant to see if their tamales were up to Evie's standards but they weren't. I may have to have Evie's ship them to me. We saw the movie Once. We both liked it a lot. The music in it was great. We went to the Fine Arts Theater in downtown Asheville. Very cute art theater and they serve beer! Red Stripe even! I didn't have one but it's just good to know. Wednesday I had to go to Black Mountain for some banking and to look at windows at the local lumber yard. I drove to our property to make sure it was still there and it was. Today I went to 2 architectural salvage places to look at doors and leaded windows for our house. I found some good possibilites so will continue looking. It's beautiful outside right now with the sun setting and there is a wonderful breeze so I have the windows open to enjoy the fresh air.

Bear Detectors

Well, I already blew my new exercise routine - but for good reason. About 7:30 Wednesday morning I was laying in bed and all of a sudden the cats went running to the bedroom windows. I thought the enemy kitty that was hanging out the night before was probably back so I looked out the window and there was a freakin' bear! It was just sitting there next to a lower level patio. I yelled to the kitchen for Robert to bring my camera so I took some pictures of it. (To be posted if I ever figure it out.) Then he reached up to drink water from my ANTIQUE ENGLISH birdbath and knocked the whole thing over. Luckily, it didn't break or I'd have to go out and beat him up. Then he ran into the woods. The cats were so spooked by it. Harvey ran and hid under the couch then he kept coming into the bedroom but wouldn't go near the bed like there was something underneath it. So far, they've been pretty good little bear detectors.
Robert was feeling better by afternoon so after lunch we took a ride on the Parkway again. This time we took my car and went with the top down. It was beautiful. We went to a place called the Graveyard Fields and went on a short hike. We hiked down to some waterfalls then took a trail that looped back around. I think we probably went about 1 1/2 miles or so but that's up and down. When we got back to the car a big gray cloud was coming in and it was about 66 degrees. We drove back for a while with the top up then the sun came out and it was nice again so we stopped and put the top down for the rest of the ride. The weather changes so fast when you're up that high. We went home and grilled some steaks, ate potato salad that I made earlier and grilled asparagus. Oh, and we had wine, too. We sat on the front porch hoping we could see the fireworks from downtown Asheville, but couldn't see them. We heard fireworks from all around and the sky was lighting up behind the mountains. There was a hillbilly party down in the holler with fireworks, too. Next year we'll go to the fireworks in Black Mountain.
Thursday we had appointments in Asheville. Robert for hair and me for a pedicure. Robert dropped me off and it was a very nice spa. I sat in a massage chair drinking water with lemon and had a hot aromatherapy pack around my neck which felt great because I woke up with a horrible neck ache. Probably because Robert made ME carry the rucksack (backpack) on our hike. After lunch we had a date with another couple. Robert picked up the guy along the French Broad River on Sunday. He went to check out a bicycle ride organized by a local bike shop. They have one every Sunday and Robert wanted to see if their route was flat enough for us out-of-shapers to handle. Only 4 people were there. The ride had been cancelled but it wasn't posted on the website. Robert got to talking with this guy and he's a retired vet (animal Dr., not Viet Nam) from Florida and they bought a house in Black Mountain last year. He was very informative about bike riding in the area so he and Robert exchanged phone #s and they called us and invited us over. I asked him, "What if they're Swingers?" He didn't care. We went to their house at 2:00. They live in a house that they call a treehouse outside of Black Mountain. They were very nice and know a lot about hiking, biking, etc. in the area. They are very outdoorsy and showed us this mountain that they climb. They're WAY ahead of us. They wanted to see where we're building our house so we took them to Creston. They really like it. Then we had to drop them off because we had an appointment with our architect, Tom Lawton. They were a nice couple so we made plans to have dinner with them in a few weeks. We met with Tom and had to make some choices on matierials for the exterior so he could submit them with the construction drawings for a meeting July 10 with the Architectural Review Committee at Creston. If all goes well, we should be able to start clearing trees and building soon. He gave us the names & #s of some door and window companies so next week I have to start investigating them and I also want to visit salvage companies to find "junk" to use in the house. Robert is going to Detroit on Monday for business (so he says) so I have the whole week to try to accomplish something.

Mountain Walking

Yesterday I decided I had better start exercising again. I hadn't done anything - other than unpacking and hoisting boxes around - since we moved. It's too nice outside to use the treadmill so I decided to start practicing walking up and down mountains. Robert decided to come with me. I thought I should start out slow and get my muscles used to walking up and down hill without being sore. We walked up the road to the top of the mountain - not far - and down again. Then we went a ways down and realized that however far down we go we have to climb that far up so came back. It wasn't too bad. I figure if I start out slow this week and start increasing my distance I should be able to work my way to the end of the road - 1/2 mile - to do 1 mile round trip. I know it's not that far but it's all uphill coming back. That is my goal, for now.
We went into Black Mountain and opened a local bank account. They're so nice down here we even got a free gift. A red duffle bag. You can always use another duffle bag. First, we had lunch at the Veranda Cafe and it was packed. We may not be making too many runs to town in the summer once we're in our new house. Too many tourists.
This morning I went for my walk again. Robert was feeling under the weather so didn't come with me. I did it with no problem and was not sore from yesterday. Good sign. I had a hair appointment at 11:00 so went into downtown Asheville. It was kind of scary having someone new cut my hair. Catherine has been cutting it for almost 20 years. I didn't want to just find someone in the phone book because you never know. I knew to stay clear of anyplace called the Hair Emporium. I saw this salon when we were downtown last week and stopped in to get a card. It looks like it could be in Royal Oak so I felt safe from big hair. Someone named Jenn cut my hair and it turned out fine. I made an appointment for Robert with her on Thursday. I have a pedicure appointment around the corner at the same time so we can share a ride.
We were supposed to go out to dinner and a movie tonight but Robert still isn't feeling up to it. I guess we can do it another night. There is a small theater downtown showing Le Vie En Rose so we were going to see that then check out one of the many restaurants for dinner.

Italians, Giant Pig and Fog

Let me see what's been going on... Oh, yeah. Thursday night we had our second dinner guests. Franco and Enrico (owners of OMV, a division of Parpas) were here visiting a customer in Asheville so they came for dinner along with Tom (he took Robert's job.) We had Franco's favorite - steak and corn. Luckily, it's corn season here and we ate corn that had been picked that morning. We had a good time. It was nice to see them. It's funny, we already had guests all the way from Italy and no one has shown up from Detroit yet. The next morning they had to head to Charlotte so we met them at 7:30 and took them to Black Mountain to see our property at Creston. We didn't see any bears. Just 3 wild dogs and 2 deer. Maybe we'll be in our new house the next time they come back to Asheville.
Saturday I decided I couldn't stand looking at empty planters around the patio so we went in search of herbs. We were driving down Lower Grassy Branch Road by our house looking for a nursery I had seen before and Robert stopped and pointed to a lower area and said, "Look at that pig." I looked down and lo and behold there was the biggest pig I ever seen. Not that I've seen too many pigs living in the Detroit area all my life but I have been to the State Fair a few times. This was a giant pig. He looked like a hippo. He was in a pen with a little shed for shelter and people were standing outside the fence looking at him. Robert wanted to go back and see him. We turned around and there was an entrance for The Asheville Haven - an animal shelter for abused and homeless animals. We drove down the driveway and parked and walked up to the giant pig and looked at him. He was laying in mud and green slime and was making pig noises and seemed as happy as, well, a pig in shit! There was also a pen with 2 goats (I think) and we saw a cat. There were more pens with animals across a bridge and there was a thrift shop where the proceeds went to help the animals. I can't help but wonder if maybe the giant pig was a victim of the roll-over on I-40 and that's how he became homeless.
Sunday we went for another ride on the Parkway, this time going south to Mt. Pisgah. Not as tall as Mt. Mitchell, but still quite impressive. We brought a picnic lunch and after lunch these gray clouds started rolling in through the trees. At first it looked like smoke then we realized we were being engulfed in a cloud so decided to get outta there. I was driving down the Parkway in the fog and then realized I was on the same stretch of the Parkway I had been on almost 20 years ago with Dan driving home from Bobbie's after Xmas. It was so foggy then we couldn't see. I guess that stretch of the Parkway is always foggy. I'll have to try it again another time.