Blue Ridge blog

I'm not dead yet...

There weather is quite lovely in Boone, North Carolina today. Perfect day for football. Go Apps!
But instead of shooting the ASU-N.Arizona game, I'm forced to sit in the internet-free zone of Watauga Hospital watching old re-runs of "Kate and Allie" I have a blood clot in my leg which is which is being disarmed by a cocktail of anti-coagulants. Thus far, all but the most esoteric of tests have come back and remain normal. It is probably just one of those things that happen. I shrug my shoulders.
And I feel great. For a life-threatening condition, DVT ain't so bad, which is probably why it has been dubbed the "Silent Killer.".
My pain started after the ASU game last weekend at a time when I was already dehydrated and was on my knees shooting the game along the sidelines. But I am going to be set free soon and have the greatest intentions of grabbing my camera with vim and vigor.

I am like the peasant in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" who crawls out of the cart of the "Dead Collector" and declares,

"I'm not dead yet."

At least not until some bloke wallops me up on the head with a club or coconut:)

Check out the UTube clip...

Under less pressure

My fingers may be blistered and burned but the process of putting up food is finished for another year. There is a certain satisfaction in having rows of canned summer sun lining the pantry.
Last year, my mother-in-law gave me her own mother-in-law's Sears and Robuck 'Maid of Honor' pressure cooker-- circa mid 1950's. The old lady sold souce meat in order to purchase the valuable cooking vessel. Despite it's age it still works great. And, I am pleased to inform you that I have grown up enough to be able to say the word Petcock with a straight face. That and I have extraordinary respect for the function and law of physics of the petcock.
The 'Maid of Honor' pressure cooker came with a lovely instruction book chock full of recipes. In honor of my husband's grandmother, I thought I would include her recipe for Souse, or Head Cheese:

( hat tip to Amy for the link to the newspaper clipping generator.

There's a kind of hush...

...all over my world. Tonight.
My internet connection decided to be rude to me and in disgust I walked away from it. Instead, I canned nearly 4 bushels of tomatoes, handled a family health crisis, and met all my deadlines the old fashion way. If the internet could see the gesture of me wiping my hands clean, then it would understand my particular feelings.
App won it's game against Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday but that is hardly a shocker or news.
Today I post a grab photo of a flock of geese cruising above the Watauga River looking for a spot to land. Seeing the geese was a sign of change. I was nearly excited seeing them circle the river until I thought about them. The barn? Sheesh. I love this barn, but the old lady doesn't like folks snooping around her property. I don't blame her and hope to grow up to be just like her.
Maybe she wants her quiet like I do at the moment....

This is just an ordinary spider...

...until Photoshop Princess Gnumoon transforms it. Then, She takes it one step further..
And check out what the stylish babies in town are wearing. Woverines are fuzzy!

"The Previously unknown Blue Ridge Blog"

Hmmm? Blue Ridge blog and others debut on the Washington Post's D.C. Sports Bog. Guess we are all hot, hot, hot. Heavy sigh. I haven't heard that one since like 2 years ago.
But I got a personal 'ding' from Mister Irrelevant and a gal has to like that...

Michigan Who?

You expect this from the local business signs...

And the ASU athletic facilities, in their copious amounts of spare time, find a moment to express themselves...

But it is poignant when the local high school spirit rock forgets for a moment about Friday night football....

We may be podunks and paint rocks, but we are proud.

Appalachian State is on cover of Sports Illustrated

Go ASU has the story.
There is a constant buzz of excitement in the town of Boone stirred up by national media attention. This is good, of course, but I don't believe it will end until after the home game against Lenior-Rhyne on Saturday. But today I return to taking normal, ordinary photos of flowers and rainbows and mountain ridges. I mean, there is a point at which the celebrating must end and taking care of the normal returns;)

Didn't see The Game?

Saturday while my husband sat in the Lowe's parking lot listening to the 4th quarter of the ASU-Michigan game on a local radio station, suddenly the radio station personnel switched to a political talk show. He was one unhappy fellow. We watched a re-run on the BTN Sunday, but if you missed watching the game, Our friends at Boone Web have gathered some helpful info:

Appalachian State stunner on TV Tuesday. Fox Sports Net tonight at 8 p.m. Sports South will be airing the game at 10 p.m. Thursday. Big Ten Network has repeats set for Wednesday at noon, Friday at 4 a.m. (Our VCR, DVD-R, recordable laser disk is set)

From App State with Love...

Dear Ohio State, Nittany Lions and the rest of you fans of Big Ten teams (other than the Wolverines, of course),

We hear your thanks for beating Michigan the other day, but really, it was all our pleasure.

Check out the hot ticket item being sold in downtown Boone today. And guess what? It is not just ASU fans buying those t-shirts. Those are a couple of serious Ohio State fans in the photo. Meet Gene and Dave Hausfeld of Dayton. Welcome to Boone.

Just thought you'd get a kick out of it.
BTW, if you are interested in purchasing Appalachian State items, a great online store is The GoASU store. I heard a rumor that many, many OSU fans will be donning black and gold to wear with their scarlet and gray at a certain game this year....y'all are a brutal, but lots of fun!

Here is a link to where to purchase the Michigan Who? tee shirts.

Sincerely,
Marie

P.S.
Hey Lloyd "34-32 How d'ya like them APPALs?" (hat tip) Popcorn Dreams Yep. From the same guy who asked "What if?" the day before the Game. Go. Look. Read.

Seen at the Wendy's intersection in Boone last night

I took ten tons of photos as the entire community of Boone rolled out the red carpet to welcome home Appalachian State University's football team. I braved the crowd with my daughter and Gnumoon. Gnumoon shared her trash can with me. Thank you.
It may take a while, but I am putting together a photo album of the 'The Day Yosef whooped a Wolverine' and will post it at the top of my blog. If you were at Legends, on the streets of Boone afterward or in the stadium parking lot for the return, you might see Yosef.

Other places to see ASU stuffs on the internets: What's hAPPening, Photographer Chuck Burton has lots of his celebratory shots on AP, Go ASU.