Met Our Mayor Today

                        Yes, this is the mayor of Tryon, lol, still driving his hippy V-W bus.  Really nice guy, been the mayor for quite sometime.  He saw us on his street looking at the "Woodcarver's Cottage" that is for sale, to tell us that it had been sold to a couple from Florida, then proceeded to tell us about the skyrocketing real estate in our area, which I liked to hear!
 

                        A Tudor style 1927 home with leaded glass windows and cute gardens in town. Only 1100 sq. ft, one bed, one bath for $395. I happened to see it on Old House Dreams which I subscribed to and get listings in my email every night, but had never seen one in Tryon, so since we went to the theater to see the new Wes Anderson film, go to the farmer's market and other errands, I suggested we stop by to walk the grounds of this house.

                       Peeping Bob!

 

                           Across the street is the stone castle church, not a bad view.

                      

   Love all the old houses in this town with their rock walls, gardens and big old trees!  Ten years here and I'm still so happy we moved here!

Vacation Plans

 

Knee is slowly getting better, I can start doing a little yard work, but I'm surprised how good it's looking after two months of not doing a single thing.

The road is a different story, it's a mess after the storms, they now won't deliver mail so I just purchased a post office box and there are meetings with the neighbors on how we are going to rectify this mess.

All this down time has given me the time to clean out books and magazines and sell them on Ebay. One week I sold $600 worth of magazines from the '80s and '90s, who would have thought!! I also got to research the Outer Banks and learned quite a lot.  I found the perfect place to stay, close to the beach but not on it, close to the historic village and lighthouse, close to the wildlife preserve and the 4x4 beach where the horses reside.  One day Bob and I are going to rent a place on the 4x4 beach and stay the entire week and not leave, it's remote and the horses come right up to the homes. For now, we'll do it the more civilized way since my brother and sister-in-law will be joining us! I'm so excited!!! (ps Thank you Linda for this beautiful photo you took when you were there!)

Dinner on Lake Lure Appalachia Restaurant

                   The weather has been unusually cool and low humidity, perfect time for dinner outside by the lake. I really wanted to sit by the water, but it was quite a few stairs to get down.  I injured my knee a few weeks ago chasing the bears, so didn't take the chance, it's not quite healed yet. 
 

                      The view from above was nothing to complain about and it was right next to the bar, a plus!

                Before dinner cocktail, light and refreshing with grapefruit and basil. These are the same owners of the Old Schoolhouse Inn on Amelia Island I went to in Florida.  Same great cocktails!

                    Dinner, one plate enough for two.

                     Key Lime Pie Martini for dessert.  An expensive dinner, but well worth it! Will be back again!

My Minka

                                      The day Minka discovered the feeders.

 

Blooms

A disappointing spring.  I should have had three times the amount of foxgloves, but that bitter weekend near zero this winter took its toll on my seedlings.  
 

                        I know I swore once I got to NC I would never cross the GA line again, but for some reason I had the urge to do the Atlanta Botanical Mother's Day Garden tour.  Well, wouldn't you know it, because of the winter record lows we had, they canceled because of so many wounded or dead plants. Guess I wasn't the only one that lost a lot. Maybe next year which is the 40th anniversary.

     I was so excited that a handful of poppies made it, but when they bloomed my heart sunk, they were red. I had ordered Royal Wedding poppies, they weren't easy to find, black and white, not a one bloomed.  Guess I'll try again next year.

                   Sweet Williams did a little better being in a valley.

           Just planted petunias in the hummingbird planter

                                   Always love the moss in the brick courtyard this time of year.

   My neighbors got a group of "goats for hire", it's a big thing around here to get rid of bamboo and kudzu.  They broke through and came over to our property. 

    I was actually glad they did and wanted them to stay in this area a while and clear it out for me, but Timber had other plans.

                              He chased them off.  

     The cold had no effect on daisies.  I have more than enough.  I did, however, get them out of my veg patch so I could grow my tomatoes and cucumbers and herbs.

    They are free to expand outside my veg garden!