Our brother, Larry, and our sister-in-love, Susan spent Wednesday night with us. Late Thursday morning we all went down to Clayton, Georgia to enjoy lunch at Grapes & Beans. After lunch we drove back up the mountain to hike to Secret Falls. Larry and Susan had not been to this waterfall. The beginning of the hike was as easy as we remembered it being... We ran into an unexpected obstacle early in the hike when we came upon a big tree which had fallen across the trail. It was probably a casualty left by Irma. We hiked up hills and down hills... We crossed two streams with the help of fallen log bridges... There were a few more fallen trees as we approached Secret Falls. We went to the top of the falls first. Then Phil and I tackled the steep drop down to the bottom of the waterfall. We had to climb over a tree which had blown down across the steps and we had to crawl under one more fallen tree. It was worth the trouble. What a great day with two of our favorite people!
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I know many of you further south are still baking in the heat, but the crisp cool mornings in Highlands, North Carolina have been giving way to perfect mid-70 temperatures in the afternoons. With the official start of autumn, I decided to add a few fall touches to our garden. I dumped our summer window box and created our fall window box. I use real pumpkins and add touches of rhododendron greenery and pine cones from around Two Holt, artificial silk sunflower blooms and small beaded garland bought a few years ago at Hobby Lobby. I could fill the box with bright colorful mums, but the bloom time wouldn't last until Thanksgiving like this arrangement. With the window box completed, I added a few other fall touches at the side entrance...like this decorative pumpkin beside the door. I changed our hanging sign from the summer watering can to a fall pumpkin. I added our ceramic pumpkin post near the steps leading to our screen deck. On my next trip down the mountain I'll pick up a few more pumpkins to add to the front of the house. I surely hope the bears around here leave my pumpkins alone!
On September 20, our Boots turned two years old. He has so many doggie friends in our community and we wanted to celebrate Boots' birthday with all of them. I spent Monday baking the first batch of birthday treats-- Bacon/Cheddar/Apple/Parsley doggie biscuits. I mixed the ingredients and rolled out the dough. It looks good enough for us to eat, don't you think? Then I used my doggie bone cookie cutters to make individual treats and popped them in the oven. They smelled so good while baking. On Tuesday I baked a batch of Fat Elvis Doggie Biscuits. Crunchy dehydrated banana chips, fresh bananas, and peanut butter are mixed in this dough. I mixed two tablespoons of bacon grease with 1/4 cup peanut butter to make a glaze for the baked biscuits. Boots loves peanut butter! We bagged up Boots' treat bags and put his birthday bandana on Wednesday morning. And look! Boots' mystery rocker dropped off a birthday rock for him. I love this dog-loving Mirror Lake community! Happy birthday, Boots!
We have a 10-foot section between the back of our house and a retaining wall which had been a muddy mess because of all the construction. What an eyesore! Phil has always planned to turn this into an area for Boots with gates on each end and sod covering the ground. So on a crisp cool September morning we headed out to Turf Mountain Sod Farm in Brevard, North Carolina for a pallet of Black Beauty sod- a mixture of Kentucky Bluegrass and Fescue. That pallet filled Phil's pick-up to the brim! We got back to Two Holt and started laying the rolls of sod. Let me tell you something! It has been years since we put down sod and I guarantee you that this is the last time we'll lay sod. If there's ever a need for more sod, I will hire it done. End of discussion! But hard-working Phil patiently rolled out the sod as I carried roll after roll up the side hill to the back yard. We worked until dinner time and called it a day. The next day was our Meals-on-Wheels delivery day. Phil stayed behind to work on the sod and I delivered the meals. At the end of the second day all the sod was down. We drove down the mountain to the Home Depot and bought lumber to begin the fence and gates. And since this is Boots' Run, I found the perfect outdoor mat. On days 3 and 4 of the project, Phil put in the fence posts to prepare for the fence pickets. We had problems digging out for one fence post which sat on an endless bed of big rocks. We both dug and pried rock after stubborn rock out of the ground, but finally we got it done. We took a trip down the mountain to the Home Depot and found dog ear pressure treated fence boards on clearance for 50 cents each. We bought what we needed and Phil got to work. When both ends were finally enclosed, we let Boots try it out. And, as you can see below, he loves it. Yay! Those middle of the night or snowy day potty times for Boots won't be so bad now! The effects of Hurricane Irma reached little ol' Highlands up on the mountain. There were conflicting reports of wind gust speeds, but suffice it to say gusts were between 56 and 65 mph. I didn't catch any video of the large gusts but a steady wind blew all day and night on September 11. We kept power until late afternoon, but then the lights flickered and power was gone. There was nothing to do but read a bit and then nap. I was awakened by a loud crashing sound that sounded like a close clap of thunder shaking the house. But wait...there was no thunder and lightning. I ran to the bedroom window and there it was... the neighbor's tree had snapped and blown over on our house! The tree clipped the back side corner, damaging the gutters and soffit beneath. After taking a closer look we discovered the metal roofing and ridge cap were damaged. And it broke the beautiful arbor we had just put up this summer. It tore the electrical lines from the side of the house... But the five white pines directly behind the house stood strong through the storm so we consider ourselves blessed. It could have been so much worse. Our Mirror Lake neighbors came to help clean up. Scott has experience cutting trees, but he didn't have the equipment necessary to safely remove this one. We loaded up their trailer and our truck with limb debris and headed off to the emergency collection site for debris caused by Irma. I called McKinney Tree Huggers and he had a crew here the next morning. They tied ropes around the tree and around another standing tree on the hill behind the house. He used the pulley on his truck and removed the tree like it was a match stick! Now we just have to wait for the roofing company to come and give us an estimate on repairs so we can submit it to the insurance company for approval even though the insurance agent said they would raise our premiums if we submit a claim. Ugh. Some insurance companies have become quite a beast!
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Phil & SharonMarried 40 years and hoping to enjoy many more! Archives
December 2019
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