Happy Valentines Day~

to you.
:)







[...the above photo is the
actual color
coming through our strangely
woven trees at sunrise.
This small photo (here) was
taken after the -red sky-.
Simply amazing-eh?
Will nature's splendor
ever cease?
...methinks it 'tis truly
scrumptious; the red color thrills my soul. :)]

My Valentines Day Present

Valentines Day: An Excursion...
I had the good fortune to choose ( my dear sweet husband gave me a series of all good choices- here...) a car trip as my 'gift'
in and around the Blue Ridge Parkway
(a long road on the top of the mountains
of the Appalachian trail) during (another) mild
all-day-long snow storm and lunch out
at a cafe in a near-by small town
(that we had never eaten at)
with my daughter and husband.
(And I had a darn good bowl of
clam chowder. :))Hooray for me (us!) :)

We celebrated with an outing
a day early as the weather has been so
unpredictable here and at times, after
a certain amount of snow and icy build-up
the three levels of road up to our home
becomes unsafe and sometimes impassible
(especially at night before the PLOW comes;
a device the sight and the sound of which
I have truly come to appreciate.) :)

The parkway was closed as they do not plow
this road on the very tops of the mountains,
so we went on another mountain top smallish
road. Oftentimes we just drive not really
knowing fully where we are (or where we will
end up~ sometimes it's in nearby Tennessee!)
But the truly wondrous thing about living
here (well, one of them) is that around
every curve and each new bend in the road...
lies another looming mountain peak
[or very often several; some off in the clouds
disappearing and overlapping; then in
the background often lies the monster of a peak
dwarfing those in the forefront...leaving one to
wonder-can this (long view)-here; be real??
Is it real??] My amazement at the
landscape here is never-ending~ I believe
that I am as surely as I know it, in love.
Yes, I am in love with the Appalachian trail.
I am smitten.

There are also valleys and ravines and gorges
and rivers where you least expect them,
all surrounded by the majestic, thrusting
Appalachian mountains. Each mountain
(and probably each gorge or each valley)
has a name; and we are learning them slowly(!!)
Names like Beech mountain, Brown Mountain, Grandfather Mountain,
Sugar Mountain, Banner Elk and even- yes...
Seven Devils. Each one has its particular
elevation; some thrust higher than others
and boast of being the highest county
seat east of the Mississippi
(I believe -here- that this is indeed, the
town of Boone.)
Bottom photo: A group of adults and children
sledding near the Blue Ridge. It was a balmy
21 degrees but with full sun!! The children
(little tots too) were such fun to watch, flopping
over and sledding backwards!
Top Photo: This is an interesting shot
because of the subject matter. We have not
seen hide nor hair (ha!) of any deer in about
almost 3 weeks. The weather (we even had a
blizzard with winds of 60 mph) has been
pretty rough; and we have about , well...
25(?) inches of snow. So, where have the
deer gone...and are they hungry??? We were
driving on a curvy single lane highway
in the mountains and spotted a big
(7-9 or 10) pack (??) of deer and a
rather large group of huge turkeys
all together gobbling UP a patch of
grass or some kind of food w-a-y back
off the road by a beautiful, massive
old farm home. They were ravenous and
would barely look up. The turkey and
the deer were all together.
Dear Readers(!): Help me if you would...
Just what is a group of deer called?
I have apparently forgotten or
(perhaps) I have just plum never known!
Top of the mornin' to YOU today friend!
It's sunny and 21 here.

Winter trio~

I wonder (today
amid the wintry
doldrums...mostly
a product of being
shut in from
time to time)~
...what will
my flower box
look like
in the spring?? :) :)

Night light view

...from the mountain;
a massive light blue snow
plow lit up, waited
behind us for the shot.

11February~after the storm...

Lakhi (the collie pup) runs like a crazy girl outside; the low temperatures invigorate her! She is a streak of fur and energy; whipping over crusty snow and snow banks... all the while her mantra as she runs to attract my attention is:
"Play stick-play stick-play-stick-or else I growl at you!" I have to bring her inside when I scrape the car off; she hates the scraping stick and must attack!

Front Yard View Feb. 10

B-l-i-z-z-a-r-d

I have to laugh~

at this photo. :):)
I don't often post
pics of me; but I
kind of appreciate
this one, taken by
my dear sweet
husband. :)
Ha! I am sure
that I was saying~
"No. Don't take
it." :) But it's funny.
My title: "Snow
Removal;
Women in Red
Jacket." Gives
a whole new
meaning to "Women
in Red." :) Ha~ha~
ha, snicker, snicker.
It's been a good winter
here; as you can tell. Enjoy.

My husband came to show me

it's snowing more.

a wee reminder
of our beloved woods
in it's green.

Feb. 6

and still...
snowing (10")
and icing
and snowing
and raining
and snowing fluff.

The trees are
sagging down
and arched over
the roads.

What i wanted to post today

"Wee Clown;"
acrylic, 1990.

Need i say more?

A 'posterized' version of our snow.
~Do you think that we're perhaps getting a
wee bit 'stir crazy??!~'
:):) Anyway~~"Hello!!"
(said with a Julia Child's voice here!)
to you today friend!
P.S. If it ever says "H-e-l-p!"
please send someone! Actually--I
'promise' to be like (brave) Nim
and I will (more to the point)
write...
"Come."
That way--you will know. :)
(Reference was from : 'Nim's Island;'
a great fun movie;
I loved Jodie Foster in it;
me thinks I'm 'like her!' :)
She played a hypochondriac
writer who never left her house...
but her stories were of a brave hero!)

clair de lune

lune d'hiver;
wintery moon
evening last.

Top of the Mornin' to you

Here is the view from my window.
An aside~
May the Lord~ever present be with you.

February 1

This was our illustrious dinner last night. All i can muster up (minus ~~ about :) 2 more cups strong coffee) ...is YUM.