Extremes

Last week was in the mid to high 60s.  The Scotch Broom started to bloom and the daffodils are up four inches.

I couldn't stay inside, so started to get a lot of my plants out of pots and into the ground.  Five big hydrangeas were planted in the ivy bed in front of the house.

A very large lacecap hydrangea was planted in front of the sunroom.

While cleaning up debris around the side stairs, I found three large rock stepping stones, so I unearthed those and started planting moss around them.

Just like we used to say in Atlanta when they were pouring sidewalks that just deadened "sidewalks to nowhere", the stepping stones are the same.  There are now big bushes covering probably a path that used to go around the front of the house to the courtyard, but having these three uncovered makes it look prettier.

Another nice thing about last week besides the weather was after months of being at a cobbler in Colorado, my Italian hiking boots arrived with new soles, free of cost!  Thank you Gorsuch, a wonderful family-owned company, that stands by their products.

Went to our property off the lake hoping to find wood to cut up and store for next year from when we had it cleared five years ago . . . 

The walk up.

. . .  but instead found this overgrown mess of briers.  Couldn't believe that this once-cleared property now has large trees and nothing but brush with lots of briers making it nearly impossible to walk.  Still has that nice mountain view, though.

The walk down.

Stopped by the boathouse on the way out.  I actually got to rent it to Judd last week because it was so warm.  He wanted to take a kayak out and just hang.  Nothing else going on, it was very quiet.

This week, total opposite.  Very cold, windy, some flurries.  Back to painting inside.  The mountains were orange this morning, not white with snow.  That's okay.  After a bit of spring last week, I want it to return to that and get planting!

A Sunday Hike

Found a great blogMeanderthals: A Hiking Blog. It lists all the trails in Western NC with maps and tips and I can't wait till I have hiked them all.   This is a restaurant on Lake Lure on the way to Hickory Nut Gorge.

I really wasn't planning on a hike, I was on my way to a little town called Gerton to look at a house for sale, but since the trailhead was right there and there were some other girls and their dogs going for a hike, I decided to just do about 30 minutes just to stretch.  

It climbs fast with a lot of switchbacks.  It is a mile to the Florence Nature Preserve, which I want to see in the spring when the rhododendrons are in bloom.  There is also a trail to the gorge and to Bearwallow Mountain, both of which are longer and strenuous hikes which I am not ready for.

The town of Gerton is just a mile up the road from the trail, a little community of cabins from the '20s. Even though closer to Asheville than where I live, it is more remote, but all the trails are there and it has a real mountain feel to it.

The community consists of only a few gravel roads centered around a pond.  

This is the home I went to see, which is all of 600 sq. ft.  Always planning for the future, I was thinking wouldn't it be nice to live very small, small house, small garden, two dogs and spend my time hiking, traveling and doing fun things?  Can you tell all this renovating and cleaning is getting to me?

The house is to the right behind those bushes.  I had a panic attack as I came up the road, which was a deadend, had to back down and the dirt road was wet, I was stuck, but thank goodness I managed to get out and not take those bushes down!

This is strange.  When I got out of the car to "check out my situation", there was a dead crow in the tree hanging upside down.  Poor thing.

More homes.

This was one of my favorites.  None of the homes are on a lot of land, something I would have to get used to, but it would be low maintenance for sure. It looks like every one of these homes would need updating, though.

With the weather being so nice for January, I will be out and about again soon!

Photos Found

Received a letter and some photos from the previous owner of the house, a nice surprise.  These were taken in 1949.

Check out those cars!

And this one says, "Our house before we had any trees."  And what a mountain view they had, which is now obscured by all the trees they planted.  And where did all this ivy come from?  Ivy kills trees, so I would say in the future this will be the view again!

My first camellia of the season.  The bush is loaded with buds, but the cold snap will set the blooming back a bit.  Glad I brought this one in when I did.

Since I don't have any reno updates to post at the moment, I thought I would show you around the Town of Tryon.  Morris the Horse is a big feature here and above is his story.

This is the "new" Morris.

Tryon Mountain

The Old Mill Inn down the road from me.

Some local homes.

Stone church in town.

There are so many interesting homes here, a lot of which are being renovated by younger people moving into town.  Love this cabin in the woods.  Quaint little town with lots to offer.