Construction Update 9/18/07

We went to our wall (house) to meet with a guy about taking out some trees & brush. Since we were meeting him at 5:00 we decided to pack a pic-a-nic basket and have dinner there. We sat in our future driveway and had a nice dinner and wine and watched the sunset. It is VERY quiet there. This was also the first time we were able to drive up to the site.

More Chicago

Sunday the weather was beautiful so we walked to Lake Michigan and walked around Evanston. Later, I made Erin's (and PeeWee's) favorite dinner - Chicken Gluck. Pee remembered the aroma of the chicken cooking - even though she hasn't smelled home cookin' since she left Royal Oak.

Chicago

Last weekend I went to Chicago to see Erin and PeeWee. They're both doing well. Pee slept with (on top of) me every night. Saturday, Erin & I went to a few salvage places. The first one was a warehouse with 3 levels of interesting junk. The second one was a firetrap full of junk. In between we went to Greektown for lunch. Erin ordered the Giant Meat Pie which she couldn't finish. I (Mommie Dearest) made her take it home to take for her lunch on Monday.

Paved Roads

Our road (Berry Lane) and the road leading to it (Kalmia) have recently been paved. The 1st picture is Berry Lane and the rest are of Kalmia and what my morning walks will be like. That's Robert trying out his new bike.

Construction Update - 9/12/07

We went to visit the construction site and were pleasantly surprised to see the beginnings of our house! These pictures are of the foundation for the lower level and one is of the footings for the carport.

Devil's Courthouse

After lunch we jumped on the Parkway and stopped at Devil's Courthouse. There is a trail leading to the summit where you can see 4 states but we decided to keep that for another day (one of us had to pee.)

Courthouse Falls

Sunday we went on a hike to Courthouse Falls. The hike was very pretty and relatively easy until the end when we had to walk down into the gorge to the bottom of the falls. The falls were very pretty but unfortunately there were several tattooed people swimming there so it was hard to get a good shot of the falls with out people in it. We left the falls and found a campsite along the road and had our lunch alongside the crick.

Construction Update - Sept. 5

So far, all we have is a big hole, but it's a start!

Birthday Present

This was my birthday gift from Robert. An antique leaded glass transom to use in our new house.

Linville Falls

Saturday we took a ride up the Parkway to Linville Falls. After driving through pea soup fog and stopping for a picnic lunch we finally reached the falls. Only you have to hike in to see the falls. There are trails ranging from easy to difficult. We knew we would take the easy trail with Robert (due to his trick hip) but by this time Robert was ready for his afternoon nap. So, the 3 of us decided to take a "difficult" trail recommended by the guide book for a beautiful view of the falls while Robert napped. It was less than a mile so we would be back soon. Besides, how difficult could it be? Well, it wasn't difficult. It was VERY difficult! With Kent as my Indian guide and both of them pushing and pulling me over rocks and trees, we finally made it to the bottom of the gorge. The guidebook was right. It was worth the hike. We wanted to call for a helicopter ride out but we couldn't get signals on our cell phones so we had to hike back. Robert was anxiously awaiting our arrival. We didn't realize it but we had been gone 1 1/2 hours. In the meantime, Robert had already hiked down to see the falls and look for us so we went into the gift shop and then drove home.

Old Goats

Friday we went to Connemara, Carl Sandburg's home in Flat Rock. It's a beautiful old farm where he lived the last 22 years of his life. His wife raised prize-winning goats and some of the goat descendants still live here.

Later, after washing the goat smell off our hands, we stopped at the Grove Park Inn for a drink on our way to dinner.

Labor Day Weekend

Bill & Kent came for a visit for Labor Day weekend. As soon as they arrived, we took them to Creston to see the progress on our construction.

Bear Visit

We had another visit from the bear. We had set the garbage out for collection Wednesday night and he got into it. When we got up Thursday morning there was garbage all over the road and in our driveway. He had gotten into the neighbor's garbage, too, and scattered it all over our front lawn. Robert cleaned up the mess and we sat out on the front porch with our coffee and morning newspaper. I stood up to go into the house and there was the bear on the front lawn with a bag of the neighbor's garbage!

It's Official!

We're Tarheels.