Blue Ridge blog

Valle Crucis, NC

I was up and at 'em this morning. It seems lately that afternoon rains, toddlers and work have interupted my daily photo taking. This morning I saw clouds resting in the Valle so I set out to find where the morning light breaks. The time was 7:45 am. I made the 7 mile loop covering DeWitt Barnett Rd, Baird's Creek and Broadstone. My strategy: Go up until the light begins to change. With luck and a wee bit of patience, I may happen upon a photo opportunity. This morning there were several. These two photos, the first of the Mast Store Annex from a nearby field and the Cooper's barn were the last images from my photo trek. They were taken about 10 minutes apart at approximately 9 a.m. when the last of the fog was lifting.

And it seems, Valle Crucis has always been popular with the tourists, even 10,000 years ago.

Looking for the good stuff...

I woke up this morning wishing the day to be filled with good karma and positive feelings. Then, I walked into the shower and saw the prettiest little mushroom growing on the tile in my bathroom floor. I left the fungus alone because I wanted my husband to delight in its presence just as I had. That was spreading good karma, wasn't it?
Anyway, despite a couple of early morning assignments I did make time to stop on my foggy driveway and suck in a bit of that good old woodsy mountain air and then find a couple of roadside flowers for you.
Y'all have a good one, ya hear?

A much needed cleansing....

After four days of no working out I took an evil spin class this evening. Every pore in my body released what amounted to a salty puddle I dubbed 'Lake Marie' underneath my bike. Ahhh. I'm renewed even though my legs ache.
We finally got rain yesterday. Quite a bit, actually. The rain helped clear the smoke lingering in the humid air cause by the Linville Gorge fires.
Currently blooming on the mountain our the wild rhododendron which range in color from pure white to light to mild pink. I muted the colors in this photo because I felt like it...

My friend Todd

I came home Saturday evening and announced to my husband that my friend Todd was wearing a serious case of quirky cute these days.
After 19 years of marriage my husband was non-plussed about my announcement of Todd's sudden presence in my life. There was no jealousy, yet he still couldn't resist asking me a few questions:
"So what did you and Todd do?" he asked.
"Oh we frolicked in the New River, listened to some hot Bluegrass and watched goats slide down car windshields near the River Girl Fishing Company. It was a big time hootenanny. You should have been there," I taunted him.
Yep. Todd is one of those places that wants to be friends with everyone--much like a golden retriever. For more about my friend, Todd, google zipcode 28684.
I just know you and Todd could be friends...
If you do go there, tell the woman in the funny hat that I sent ya. It is a small town, if she's around, she'll certainly ask you to join her parade...trust me, just go with it and enjoy.
Todd Rocks!

Other places to see Todd are: The Elkland Art Center, River Girl Fishing Company, and the Todd General Store.

Portrait of a hillbilly weedeater...

Meet Jackson, a nine week old pygmie goat. I showed this photo to my husband and he asked me why I didn't bring Jackson home with me. I'm a-thinking we've just decided having a goat is better than having another kid...

32 and a whole lot more...

Ain't no one gonna get this Relay for Life luminary note except for my blog buddy,Terrilynn, and those of you who have been following her cancer fight on Chrysalis and her other blog Nearest Distant Shore. This is a simple, yet quite public note to let her know that even though we are a whole state away, I am thinking of her and hoping for her recovery.
Watauga County held its Relay For Life this evening. The one thing that strikes me most each year is the many people I know and love who are living with and fighting cancer.
32. That is the number of people I can easily recall, who I know and who have the disease. Thankfully, most are still fighting...

Running on the River Road...

This afternoon I bagged Valle Crucis Park and treated myself to a long run on the old Watauga River Rd. instead. If you take the River Rd and start where the pavement turns to gravel and go to the intersection of Long Ridge Rd, it measures exactly 2 miles. From Long Ridge to the old mill and spillway site adds another mile. From the beginning to Hubert Thomas Rd is approximately 6 miles total. Because the route follows the river it is not only flat, but cool and scenic. I saw two other joggers, a handful of bikers, a walker, many cows, several farm dogs and a dead snake as I eased on down the road. Nope, I didn't run with my camera in hand. I haven't figured how to do that one yet ( but I am working on it ). Instead, I drove my Jeep up and down the road using my trip meter to measure distances. This scene is typical of Watauga River Rd. No special effects here either. I stopped down my aperature to something like f22 to make the sunburst effect. I also used a bit of on-camera fill-flash to help fill in just a bit of shadows--but that is asking alot from to flash to compete with the sun.

Glad yesterday is a done deal

Whew. The last couple of days at work have been filled with death and mayhem. Just a little bit too much action for this neck of the woods. Problem is, when something tragic happens around here, folks just can't wait to hop off their tractors to blame the community newspaper for covering the event, or for the lack of covering the event or for just leaving a participle there all by itself, dangling in the air.
Our motto should be: "We get to hear all the hate so you don't have to."
Years of experience has taught me to expect the vitriol. I just wish I would know from which direction its being flung so I might duck.

But on a truly positive and upbeat note. I did get to meet and hold Pookie yesterday. She's beautiful. I admit to shedding a tear at the site of her and I look forward to seeing all what Gnumoon has to say on the subject. This oughta be good, folks.

It looks like a happy tomato to me

I sit here at home anxiously waiting word on "Pookies" grand entry into this world so naturally I surf the internets. One of my favorite recipe blogs is A Veggie Venture written by veggie evangelist Alanna Kellogg. Her twists on old recipes such as Lima Bean Hummus briefly take my mind away from my dear friend, Gnumoon, and her labors, towards summer places such as the Watauga County Farmer's Market. In the spirit of promoting local markets, Alanna commissioned a special icon for bloggers to freely add to their site and link to their own local markets. Thanks Alanna for both the icon and your yummy ideas. I will keep the icon on my sidebar throughout the season which will hopefully link to the 'What's fresh' page of the Watauga market.
So tomorrow I wish for two good things. 1) To see Pookie for the first time ever and 2) Pick up some fresh greens from the new Valle Crucis Farmer's Market behind the Mast General Store. Maybe I'll see my buddy Tom Philpott, who writes a column for Grist, but who also shares the goodness he grows at his Maverick Farm in Valle Cruics, at our local markets.
And speaking of gardens and such, the dude at The Garden Mob made me blush just like a ripe tomato. So much so I'm gonna send him the Groovy Smocked Woman right over to Athens, Ga with a 'welcome to the neighborhood' pie.

Update...

When I don't update my blog for a couple of days, my mom gets worried.
"Well you haven't posted anything in two days so I wanted to make sure you were alive," she laments in a phone conversation last night.
"I've just been busy and sometimes my yard needs weed-eating and sometimes, I would rather pick daisies and such," I explain to her.
Yet that doesn't satisfy her.
And as if I didn't feel bad enough about not posting on my blog, my mother further lays on the guilt.
"How else do you suppose would I keep up with y'all?" she says, not really asking.
Ok. Point taken.
So Ma here's just a couple of photos I took this weekend. The first is a grab shot at the Blowing Rock Charity Horse show. Love the garb these folks wear. The next is a bee thing perched on an unknown blossom at the Daniel Boone Native Gardens. I'll try to post something more meaningful later. We're all fine and dandy.
It is just that I'm enjoying summer....
Any more questions, Mom?