Home again, home again, jiggidy jig.

 Sort of sick by the time I finally got home yesterday. So no blog this morning (I usually write the night before). Slept fine though, and it probably was just fatigue from travel.

This morning there's heavy fog, but no rain. While I was gone, Black Mountain apparently got a lot of rain, which it needed. In Tampa FL we had off and on light showers a few days. There were many coastal floods from the previous weekend's deluge which hit...just heavy rain and wind, but some Gulfport boats were flung ashore and are now stranded.

Here's my daughter-in-law selling Moonlit Macarons in Gulfport the weekend after the storm.  All is well in the center of the little town.

And here I am with my own bunch. Doug (ex-hubby) me, William, Cayenne and my son Marty. Becker in front row is the service dog at Freedom Plaza, a senior apartment building in Sun City Center, FL

There are more photos to come...

Here's something I like...though of course the big celebration is over.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀.

"Santas" of Northern Russia: on very left, Yamal Iri, the "White Elder" of the Yamal Peninsula, belonging to the indigenous Nentsi people; Second from the left is Russian Ded Moroz himself; Third from the left Chyskhaan, the "Bull Man" of the Sakha people of Yakutia, in Northern Siberia; next one, the lady, is Tugeni Eneken, "Mother Winter", of the Evenki and other tundra nomads; after her is the visiting official Santa Claus of Finland; and then Pokkaine, the youngish "Santa" of the ethnic Karelian people.

Photo: Vladimir Sevrinovsk posted to Facebook Dec 25, 2020

Have a great day...in this mid-time between Christmas and New Years.

Going to Pisgah Inn last Sunday

 A partly cloudy cool day in Black Mountain. What would it be like up on Pisgah Mountain, an elevation change of at least a thousand feet..maybe more.

We drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway which had a little color in the leaves as we left Asheville going south...but up in elevation! There were some good bright yellows, oranges and reds as we went along, and we decided where we'd like to stop on the way back, at an overlook which had pretty colors in the trees as we passed on the way to lunch.

We arrived within a quarter mile of the Pisgah Inn to find clouds had dropped to 20 feet off the ground. Sometimes there was mist on the windshield. But driving was clear on the road at least.

It may have been 43, but that cloud sure made it colder, and did I mention the wind?

We kind of rushed inside, and were a half hour before our reservation for 3, but there were just 2 of us, so that changed our status. Nobody said for better or worse! 

We had no intention of going out on the deck while waiting!

So we wandered between the gift shop and the waiting area looking into the dining room. Finally my name was called and we were led to a table for 4 by the window! Wow. I'd never expected that.

These were our views

But we kept hoping the sun might dry it out a bit by the time we were done eating.

We actually got a glimpse of the sky over the mountains for a while, and the little colorful trees below us on the side of the mountain.

I had the small beet salad and my friend had a hamburger. I forgot to take a photo of the French Silk Pie, which was good as always...and I inwardly bemoaned the increased price. But I brought home half the salad which I'll have for another meal.

We did step on the balcony to take a few photos, but it was really really cold, and just a bit windy. 

While I took the obligatory selfie, my friend declined the favor. Now there is no record of J. having been there with me.

My un-retouched photo as it came out of the iPhone.

I did capture the pretty yellows as we left the restaurant.

Yes, people are renting rooms here, who go on hikes as well as enjoy the food. We even passed the camp store on the way out...brr, can't imagine camping on a mountain in this weather!

We rushed to the car and hoped the cloud/fog was just on the peak, and we'd be able to stop and get some better leaf photos on the way down. (Yes we did.)

Just a reminder to all women over 45 years old...including us over 80.

And another sweet reminder of the season. The rest of my photos will follow soon - at least I added some in the headers!

Today's quote:

Wanting to meet an author because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like paté. -Margaret Atwood, novelist and poet (b. 18 Nov 1939)

So sayeth an author!

Simple pleasures

 At 8:30 am (early for me) the clouds/fog haven't dried up yet so mountains aren't visible!

There don't appear to be any evening primroses growing here this year. 

My friend who walks twice as far as I do, wanted company while doing errands in Asheville. So we stopped for breakfast at...iHop. By then July heat had arrived and the mountains probably could have been viewed...but we saw just traffic and parking lots!

It was pretty darn good, and simple fare. Though I took some home in a box, I ate it around lunchtime.

Today's quote:

Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.

LEONARD COHEN