Tis the season…the nativity scene and village are in place. The mood is set.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! It is that time of the year when the urge to reach out to friends and family comes front and center. It has been a full-time job for us this year just working through the ever-changing Covid world, just like everyone else. Our health has been good but with compelling incentives to stay behind closed doors to keep out of harm’s way. It was disappointing to cancel all summer travel. On the upside, we got to spend our first full summer in South Carolina tending a full-fledged southern garden. Our hiking shoes still got a workout exploring local trails and the hundreds of waterfalls close by. Last fall we committed to six months of very invasive remodeling and house decorating projects. The demand on our time was all encompassing which ended up being ok as we were grounded anyway. Once the house projects were out of the way, Larry took on a six-month online cooking class.
…and before we knew it, the holiday season was here!
This year has been different. Even on the “trail” rules change. Sign of the times.
Social distance, please. You cannot escape the Covid world even on the trail.
Life is never without a good photo opt! Here are some from our side of life… Pictures to follow.
We enjoyed our summer visitors. Our garden seemed to be a meeting place, at times it was covered with colorful visitors. Little did we suspect that the plan was to use many of our herbs as host plants for their chrysalis.
So many colorful Swallowtails.
They come in all colors
Here are snowfall scenes from last year. Our current weather report indicates the possibility of a white Christmas.
The only snow of the season for 2019
It was gone by the next day.
The passage of time confirmed that taking on the house projects was a good decision. Everything that got in our way got painted, all the floors refinished or replaced. The big projects were painting all the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, major upgrade for the laundry room, and a couple of pallets of ceramic tile.
There was a lot of heavy lifting here.
Would you believe 80 gallons of paint by the time the job ended… Sorta of looks like a works of art?
Painting kitchen cabinets turned out to be project not for the faint of heart. I knew we moved the beach cabana from Alabama for some reason. It took on a second life as a paint booth.
The living room housed the drying racks for the never ending painting project.
It is so good not to have dust everywhere…
By the way we have new neighbors…Big Ben and Pumpkin. It is so good to have good friends next door.
These guys are on the move all the time. They bring a bit of balance to the landscape. Each one has their own personality to keep things interesting.
Spent a lot of time on the deck.
The deck, the summer hangout. Great place to grill and eat out. Surprisingly, there are few bugs in this part of the country.
The Fourth of July was celebrated on the deck…
Fly the flag whenever we can…
The garden was great…good resource for the cooking class.
Lots and lots of tomatoes. Developing a herb garden has been very productive.
Enjoyed the flowering trees…
The Crepe Myrtles give our visitors a colorful welcome.
Great sunsets…each one is different!
Our summer evening ritual…wine with the interesting sunsets.
This summer hundreds of photos posted online along with descriptions of tasty culinary dishes. Competed all the cooking course requirements. If you get a chance stop in, I love to show off…
There were so many dishes created for the course. Here is one from the no cooked world. Not sure I would want to live there full time but sure was fun to create plus being very colorful.
Then there was a traditional take in the plant-based world…
The final assignment, small bites. There sure was a lot of great food to work through over the course of the summer. So good in fact that it promotes a News Years Resolution to drop a few pounds.
Then there are all the hikes and fun fall colors…
On the trail in the mountains…there seems to a river and bridge to cross most times.
North Carolina falls. Excellent hiking trail makes getting there half the fun.
Fun setting and a beautiful day make it almost perfect.
There can be a little color here. This is about 5,000 feet and early October.
Meet Hooker falls in North Carolina…
Fun little falls, actually only a few miles out the back door.
Lots of folks on the trail here…everyone anxious to get out of the house.
The Maple trees along the drive do give us a little color. With 25 trees, thanks so much for a mulching mower.
This hike in November at a much lower elevation…still plenty of color.
The bridge that leads to a favored hike…picture perfect.
Still having fun. Merry Christmas!
Enjoy the Christmas Season!
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!
God Bless,
Jan and Larry