Wahsega Valley Farm

Holiday lights and the Capitol Christmas tree

On Thanksgiving Eve Mike and I went to our little town's lighting of all the holiday lights and see the Capitol Christmas tree. It's the tree that will be in front of the White House very soon and came from Wyoming. The reason it's here for a couple of days is because the driver is from our town. The tree is huge! Well, what we could see of it was huge; it was lying on its side and completely covered.

Here are a some pictures of the evening, starting at our little farm as we were leaving...

We now have goats and horses! Well... kinda. These are our neighbor's from across the street, but they are now in our pastures. Kelly, the neighbor, put up an electric fence and they're now out there until he reconfigures his land and makes it flatter for them. They seem to be liking their new surroundings and I'm looking forward to spending some time with them.

 

 

We drove on into town as the sky started to get darker and I wondered how my camera would fare without a tripod. I'd decided to not take it since there would be lots of people there. Some of the pictures were a little blurred, but most came out quite nicely. I didn't use the flash once for any type of shot. The light source was just the lighting in town.

Here are some of the cute shops and downtown area all dressed up for the holidays.

 
 
 

Some of the decorations were quite simple, but very pretty.

 
There were some carolers up on the stage singing...

 

And Mike shot a couple of me...

 
 
Here is the Christmas tree on the tractor trailer and part of the crowd. The town square was packed, but the good thing about small towns is that they clear out so quickly. No traffic jams!

 
And, to the left (below) you can see more people and Mike in the bottom left corner with the light colored hat.

 
Here is a kinda goofy picture of Mike in front of the truck hauling the tree.

 
And one last shot of the crowd.

 
It was fun seeing our little town come to life with all the lights and people. Mike ran into quite a few of his shop customers and we ended up eating out in one of the restaurants on the square. We lucked out on the weather; it was clear and cool.

Frivolous fun

I've never done one of the "this is me" lists that I've seen in various forms over the years (and have enjoyed reading when others participated), but I'm in the mood today to partake. This is the most recent one floating about...

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ABC Me

A - Age: 59. Holy cow.

B - Bed size: King... tall people gotta have some room!

C - Least favorite chore: I hate vacuuming... hate hate haaate it.

D - Dog's name: No dogs yet; just two cats - Sophie and Miko. More animals to come next year we hope though, including a dog and some chickens.

E - Essential start your day item: I don't have an "item", but start my day by looking at the mountain range while lying in bed - just before getting up. Depending on the time of year, light, time, weather, etc. it can look different every day.

F - Favourite color(s): "Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose..."

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 5'10"

I - Instruments you play: Rudimentary piano

J - Job title: No official job title anymore; I retired this past summer. But I am busier now than I was when working full time. I have become a creative "scanner" bouncing from one project to the next and am currently in the thick of making holiday gifts.

K - Kids: One son, Jesse, who is 35.

L - Living arrangements: Live in a little log cabin on 10 acres in the mountains with a large veggie garden, little lake and several pastures - with two kitties and husband and best friend Mike.

M - Earliest memory: Getting a bath in the kitchen sink in Gainesville, Florida.

N - Nicknames: Avrilon

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth:  Yes, this past summer.

P - Pet Peeve: Just one? Hmmm...  People who constantly complain about something they have control over but don't do anything about to change their lives.

Q - Quote from a movie/tv show: "Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say goodnight 'til it be morrow." (Romeo & Juliet)

R - Right or left handed: Right, though I am quite ambidextrous and can write backwards easily as well.

S - Siblings: Older sister, older brother and younger sister.

T - Time you wake up:  When the sun comes up - a far cry from 4:15 a.m. just months ago when I was still working.

U - Underwear:  Can be provacatively fun or just comfy. I've rarely had them be both.

V - Vegetable you dislike:  Rutabegas

W - Workout style:  Structured. I need classes because day-to-day living - even when working in the garden a lot - just doesn't provide enough. Or, is the question about what I wear when I work out? Yoga pants and leotards for the most part.

X - X-rays you've had:  Chest, oral... I think that's it.

Y - Yesterday's best moment:  It was a tie:  completing a sweater I was crocheting and seeing Mike pull up the winding, dark driveway after a long day at work.

Z - Zoo favorite:  I haven't been to a zoo since I was 13 years old. I know they've improved a lot since then, but seeing the animals in cages back then upset me so much I couldn't sleep well for months.

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Seven seconds of me

Here is a silly clip of me in motion at work yesterday. I've not seen myself in motion in many many years, so it's kind of a hoot. It's very short and I look ridiculous. The mail lady here at work, Debbie, wanted to take my picture because we're buds (both big-time animal lovers) and she knows I'm going to retire sometime relatively soon. I grinned and she shot my picture. I asked her if her camera had video capability too because I want to buy one that does so I can take movies of our chicks and other animals when I get them - and other things too just for fun. She said yes it did. I was listening to someone else standing at my desk at the same time when I realized Debbie was filming me. Do I look horrifed? Ha! Look quick; it's only 7 seconds.

Update:  I had to put this clip on Youtube to get it to work for anyone not looking at it from my computer. I feel kinda silly since it's so inconsequential, but I'll be putting farm videos up there eventually anyway so might as well get my feet wet. Thanks Leia, for pointing out that you couldn't see me! 

Mountain festival

Yesterday Mike and I decided to take the day off - finally, a day off - and go to the mountain festival on the town square of our new home town.The festival was described as "an incredible weekend of music and art held each spring in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains". The town itself is small and quaint and we love it. There are lotsa cool shops surrounding the square that we haven't had the time to check out since we moved there. We'd walked around several times before we bought our farm, but there are new shops and it's just different because now it's home.

The festival was small compared to the huge ones in Atlanta and I enjoyed getting there early, right when the artists and crafts people were setting up their wares. And not being trapped in traffic clogged streets! What a luxury. We chatted with soap makers and potters and blacksmiths. And a really cool artist who makes jewelry, furniture and books out of willow, bark and stones. Beautiful stuff. The weather was as perfect as it could be and we're thinking that next year or the year after we might be there in our own little tent selling our creations. Well... you never know. It would be fun.  

So here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure...

This painter had a whole tent full of colorful pictures he'd painted for sale. 

Here are a few of shops around the town square:

And some of the vendors setting up...

In the middle of town is the public square where people were sitting around playing blue grass music. It was just getting started here. Later in the afternoon when we drove back through there were lots of people playing and listening.

This is Mike LaVoe, a pottery teacher at a folk school in North Carolina - about an hour north of where we live. While my Mike talked to a blacksmith, I chatted with Mike about pottery. He threw four bowls while we talked and gave me some pointers on throwing. We also talked about the school where he teaches and I will write about that in my next post. It sounds perfect for Mike and me.

It was sure nice having a day off from working on the cabin and garden. And being at the festival has planted all kinds of ideas in our minds about the things we want to do at our little farm. Trying to be patient while we set things up is difficult!

Julie & Julia

Mike and I are going to the movies! We never go to the movies. Well, we've gone maybe once since we met, but I can't even remember when that was or what we saw. But Sunday we're going and I already have the tickets!

Mike is an odd duck. That's probably one of the reasons why I love him. His birthday is this Friday and I asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate. I'm making him a cake on Saturday and I have a gift for him too, but I thought he might like to go out and do something fun Friday night. He said, "I've been thinking about that and I think we should go see that new Meryl Streep movie." Huh? He doesn't usually like movies, so why would he want to go on his birthday? I asked him that! He said, "I know you love Meryl Streep and like to cook and I like to see you happy." Awwww. What could I say? Okay then, we'll go to the movies. I can do that to make him happy... to make me happy. Like I said, he's an odd duck. I love my crazy odd duck. But instead of going on Friday night, we're going on Sunday instead. We prefer matinees to Friday evening packed date-night showings.

Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Julie & Julia

I can't wait! I do love Meryl Streep and have enjoyed every movie I've seen her in. Two of my favorites are Sophie's Choice and Out of Africa, but I've loved them all. And I love Julia Child too, who she is playing in the movie. I used to watch her cooking shows and she'd crack me up. What a character. I have two of her books, The Way to Cook and The Art of French Cooking, but never used them much because it's just not my style of eating or cooking. But Julia always impressed me. And she was 6 foot 2 inches tall! The movie is also a true story about a young woman who decides to cook 365 recipes from Julia's book during a year and blog about it. How can I not love this movie?

Here is the trailer:

Maybe I'll come home after watching this movie even more inspired to cook wonderful things... not the lobster or chicken or other animals  (which will make me wince upon watching, I'm quite sure), but be even more motivated about cooking than I already am these days. If that is possible!

Tallest scratching post in the world

Well, it might not be the tallest, but it sure is tall - over 13 feet! Mike wanted to make this pole for Sophie before we even got Zena because she loved to climb and her current posts are the typical cat posts - too short to climb unless you're a kitten. And Zena has been climbing up my ficus trees and knocked one over. We came downstairs one morning and it was lying on the living room floor! Neither claimed responsibilty, but we knew who the guilty party was. These are trees I've had for at least fifteen years and I really don't want them destroyed. And Zena is so active we decided the post would be a good thing to keep her busy and keep them both in shape. Here's Zena on top of one of our regular scratching posts:

And Mike working on the post yesterday - putting the rope around the wood (I helped):

And here is Zena climbing up the post and Sophie rolling her eyes at her showing off. She is so fast. She goes from the bottom to the top in three seconds - if that! Then she runs down the stairs and does it again. Sophie was the first to go up, but keeps getting shown up by Zena because she is so much faster. I think Sophie doesn't like the competition. So she's giving me the "Oh please..." look in this picture.

Here is another shot showing more of the post. It looks lop- sided, but it's not; it's just the angle I shot from. The armoire is a resting place about halfway up if they want to stop there.

And here is a view looking down from the top of the post. I was trying to get Zena to run up, but she was just lolling about on the floor with her toys and wasn't in the mood. Pardon the messy room; it hadn't been straightened up yet. There are towels on the top of the armoire in case they want to sleep up there. Those who have cats know how they love being up high.

And I must say that Mike is the best kitty daddy in the whole wide world.

40th high school reunion report

I had such a good time time at my high school reunion! Most of the people I'd not seen in thirty years, so it was fun checking out what they looked like and then catching up a bit too. Everyone looked great - and the women hadn't gained weight at all like my friend had warned. And they were friendly and happy and Mike and I stayed four hours!

The picture above is my senior picture from the yearbook. I always hated that picture. The photographer was mean and nasty and I was not a happy camper when he took this picture. I wanted to slap him.

I hooked up with my best friend from back then and she looked just the same to me. We talked and talked and I showed her some pictures from back when we were in high school. I've always taken a lot of photos, so I had some great ones of her to laugh about. We're getting together with two other old friends in about two weeks. These are the girls I used to hang out with all through high school. Part of my old "gang" y'know.

But now to the important stuff: what I wore and how I did my hair! Ha! I decided I wanted my hair to be kind of wild, since it was always sleek in high school. I used to dry it upside down in front of our heat vent in the winter to get it super straight back then. I braided my hair in two braids and then took it down and never combed it. I picked out the ends a bit to fluff it up a little, but for the most part I wanted it to look ropey. I edited the photos to give my white skin (yes, it's just about that white) a bit of an ethereal look to kind of go with the hair. Mike did a great job catching me moving about. This is my favorite:

From the back:

I don't know what the heck I was doing here, but I like how my hair was moving:

From the side:

And here is one of me from the party itself, just of my face. I was sitting with my best friend from high school, Cathy, but she doesn't want her face online, so it's just me. We didn't take a lot of pictures at the reunion; there was just too much to do and people to talk to. I just wish I'd gotten someone to take some pictures of Mike and me together.

I'm just glad I decided to go this year; I almost didn't. I ended up having such a great time.

Preparing to enter the time machine

Tomorrow night is my 40th high school reunion. Yep, it's almost here. I'm really looking forward to the party though I wasn't friends with many people there. I had my own little group I spent time with, but most of them won't be attending. But my best friend, Cathy, will be at this reunion - so I'll see her after thirty years. And I will recognize most of the people there, so that will be fun. Here are a few pictures of me back in high school.

I wonder if they will play the music we listened to back then? Music can really take me back. Then, all I'll need is a whiff of some English Leather cologne to really time travel. I gave Allen English Leather as my very first "real" gift when we were dating back then. Oddly enough, this reunion is going to be held just down the street from where he lived at that time. Old familiar music and smells - whoa, that would be a heady mix.

The party will be fun and I'm sure everyone will look so different. My friend Carol told me that she was shocked at her last reunion, which would have been her 40th or 50th. She said all the women had gotten fat. She is almost 70 and still in shape and was surprised at how all the women had changed. I told her I thought lots would have had face lifts by now, but she said the biggest difference will be their weight - "just wait and see." I don't know... a lot of women my age work out and keep in shape.

I've been fretting about what to wear and how to do my hair. Now the party is almost here and I still don't really know the look I want. I have a "fall-back" outfit that Mike likes a lot, but it's just not doin' it for me the way I want it to. You know how you feel when you're wearing clothes that fit perfectly and project just the look you want? The exact you you want to project? It makes you look pretty, approachable and confident? And your hair is perfect? I don't really have that look in my mind's eye. Maybe it's because I don't know the look I want for this occasion. I sure don't want to look 18 again. But do I want to look 58? Well, I am 58 so that's where I am. But I don't dress like a 58-year-old. Today I am wearing jeans to work (a new summer Friday thing), a long form-fitting tunic  with a big belt slung on my hips. Big earrings, silver cuffs... Do I feel 58? Nope, I just feel like me. Age doesn't enter the equation... I've never felt an age.

The invitation said "NO JEANS!" and to wear "Sunday casual". Those constraints put a fly in the ointment for sure. I had a beautiful "evening" outfit all picked out that I can't wear now, and I can always throw a good jean look together at a moments notice. But "Sunday casual"? What the heck does that even mean? My Sunday casual in summer is jeans with a t-shirt, usually barefoot.

Well, I will have all day tomorrow to figure it out. If I don't post tomorrow, you will know that I will be in a tizzy with half of my closet on the bed and hanging around the room trying to put "the look" together. Whatever the outcome, I will try to get pictures. Gotta do that.

Stay tuned...

Saturday morning at the market...

Mike and I got up early this morning to go to a new local area farmer's market nearby. We'd heard it was inexpensive and just starting out - so thought we'd give it a try. It starts at 8:00 a.m. and goes until noon - and after 9:30 most of the good stuff is gone we were told. So we were there at 8:00! Which worked out fine since Zena rarely lets us sleep later than 6:30 in the morning anyway.

And what a beautiful day! Oh my goodness, to get a 60-degree morning here in July is unheard of, so we enjoyed being out in it immensely - and spending time together. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the humidity was low. I took my camera in case I saw any interesting shots...

Here is part of the little market as we were walking to it:

We bought fresh corn from some guys who have a farm not too far from our acreage, so we chatted with them awhile. Here is their truck loaded with the corn...

... and some cucumbers, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, beans and yellow crookneck squash ready to sell.

The next place I wanted to go was the Indigo Bath and Body booth. I talked to Jennifer and Justin and Jennifer has been making soap since she was 13! They smelled heavenly, but I didn't buy any since I still have plenty I've made myself. Justin's t-shirt says, "Real men use handmade soap!"

Here is a picture of Mike testing out some basil lemonade, something I had never heard of. It's made with lemon juice, basil, sugar and some "secret ingredients". It was pretty good!

And here I am picking out some patty-pan squashes. I love patty-pan squash; they look so cool - and yeah, they taste good too.

And me again - with the sun in my eyes and my face looking weird. I was really enjoying our cool summer weather!

Mike was "starving" so he stopped to get a big ol' cinnamon bun. Okay, I had two bites.

We bought too much and it really wasn't all that inexpensive. We ended up with a round zucchini, round lemon cucumbers (so cute!), watermelon, okra, corn, mole sauce, multigrain bread, jams, honey butter for Mike and some sweet potato bread that Mike just had to have.

But it sure was fun being out in the beautiful weather first thing in the morning together. It was like a little mini-date for us since Mike is usually at work Saturday mornings.

After leaving the market, which is right next to the Chattahoochee River, we drove down a bit to take a shot where all the rocks are in the river. I couldn't get a really good vantage point, but this will have to do. It only shows a narrow part of the river and not all the big rocks where people hang out. You can't see it in the picture, but there were several people fishing and quite a few herons hanging around them hoping to steal a fish I guess.

When we got home, I checked my tomatoes and here is what they look like today. These are some of the grape tomatoes:

And here are the standard sized tomatoes, not yet red, but getting bigger daily:

I also have at least 13 banana peppers almost ready and 9 bell peppers. I'm drying more catnip, stevia and mint leaves. Here are some of the mint I just picked; I think these are the lemon mint:

This was a super fine morning. I could use more like it!

After putting away all our goodies, we went shopping for a new "outfit" for Mike to wear at my high school reunion next Saturday. He's going to look nice all spiffed up!

Dancing

I love this video! See if it makes you smile too...