The most frequently asked question by our Texas friends when we said we were going to the mountains of Western North Carolina for 7 weeks plus the one week driving time going and coming was “Wow, seven weeks just you and Eddie-what are you going to do?” I am quick to answer that we were expecting company and family for part of the time...but how are we spending the rest of our summer away from the heat and humidity of Houston. Remember we typically spend a month aboard a cruise ship....375 sq ft...with tons of other people. This is a nice sized house, with lots of wide open spaces, a kitchen and laundry room and I have a car at my disposal. This is a piece of cake! It is currently noon time on Sunday, 57 degrees and chilly outside as we have had a front pull through with rain and a real taste of fall...temps that we don’t see until November...global warming aside. I have on Eddie’s fishing woolen socks (as he has not used them), my comfy stretchy pants and a long sleeved top and am wrapped in a blanket. So, I thought I would give you a top ten recap of how we are spending our summer vacation...when we are alone.
#10 trout fishing - we came prepared (see previous posts), purchased licenses in two states, hired teachers and guides but have yet to strike out on our own on a daily or weekly basis to fish. Eddie claims it gives him comfort to know that he has all the things necessary should he get the urge...an urge...could I get a better definition on that one.
Grab those fishing wader, it is getting deep in here. With the current cool front, fish should be biting...place your bets, now. Oddsmaker has this as a long shot 50-1.
#9 perfecting our various recipes for cooking said caught trout...the reality of trout fishing with a guide and some of the streams is that is catch and release.
Our fresh trout comes from catch, keep and pay for fishing at Grandfather’s Trout Farm. We have caught a total of 13 pounds of fish (cleaned and filleted weight around 6-7 pounds) and had 4 (2 severing per) better than restaurants quality meals off of said fish.
#8 Eddie’s needlepointing...yes, he brought it along. He has completed yet another stocking (read 200 man hours) but not without a field trip or five. We had a couple of earlier trips to the Boone Michael’s for extra thread...including 3-4 pop in to see if they had restocked a particular color...which they had not. With no Amazon friendly address, we were forced to make an hour drive each way to Hickory where Eddie had figured out by putting said thread in his virtual cart at the Hickory Michael’s that it was in stock. I knew we were headed for a field trip a couple days out when he announced that he would love to drive to Hickory and perhaps go to the Furniture Mart (60,000 sq feet of furniture) and take a look....for what I asked, since everything downstairs is almost new. Maybe bedroom furniture for Lauren’s room since he is scheduled to refinish the dresser for Grace and Lucy when he gets back home. Yeah, right...I know him too well....it is walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...So, we made a trip to Hickory, stopped at the Michael’s, got the thread, no furniture shopping but we had a delightful lunch at a local restaurant in the quaint downtown. Remember the cool front, there was rain...like Texas blinding rain on the way back associated with the incoming front. Curvy roads, truck wash and cars that did not put on their headlights...my butt muscles are still sore from the clinching. So, do I count that as #7 exercising?
#7 working on a Jigsaw puzzle - what cabin adventure would not be complete without working on a 500-1,000 piece puzzle. Based on the number of random pieces of puzzle I have picked up here (missed by the crack cleaning team) we decided to buy new...as the frustration factor of working a puzzle with missing pieces is not on our agenda. I am not really a puzzle worker...visual discrimination issues and dyslexia are not characteristics that one wants if they enjoy working a puzzle. I will breeze by the table add an easy piece and buzz off. Eddie however can enjoy this activity late into the evening. I guess he is training for “the home” as there is always one in the available.
#6 reading Believe it or not I have been the champion reader on this trip...7 books read, all while sitting outside or on the screened porch. Funny, I never feel like I can do that at home.
#5 watching TV -only at night...we enjoy the quiet during the day too much, and besides we went weeks before we knew we could on demand. We watched the Roger Ailes series with Russell Crowe, jeopardy, wheel of fortune, the news local and national, a little golf, no football —-we will watch college next weekend. We keep up, but only slightly.
#4 Eating and Meal Planning - we tend to eat out when Company is here, but when we are alone we tend to go out every couple of days to either a favorite or a new place. As Eddie lives for another fine meal and all, we pick lunch over dinner and usually have a couple of breakfasts or brunch thrown in for good measure. We normally fix a simple meal here...with lots of fresh farmer market’s produce. As we are a week from departing, our meal planning is based on what is left in the refrigerator or freezer...kind of like Chopped. (Food Network Tuesday night—not that we are watching) In your basket is Dino shaped chicken nuggets, the uneaten undesirable flavors of salt water taffy from Mast General Store, cocktail onions, and fresh peaches...what’s for dinner?
#3 looking at houses, condos, property in the mountains...kinda like boat Fever, just lots more expensive. Not as expensive as Colorado mind you, but pricey for a second home....that is 19 hours away. After several of those kind of field trips, I (the bean counter in the family) threw a big old bucket of cold water on that idea...concluding that unless we won the lottery or sold our house in Houston and moved up here full time it was much more cost effective to use the “annual cost of maintenance” to go for a couple of Months to several destinations around this country. Good exercise, good conclusion. So, now I am planning our next adventure...I am feeling the North West calling to me.
#2 watching/critiquing the construction next door. The house that shares this property has shown signs of some kind of addition being contemplated since we arrive. In the last week, work (and rain) has started in earnest...metal roofing material (and people on roofs in lightning storms), gravel, backhoe, bubbas on ladders. We have sat on the rockers on the front porch and Eddie, our Chief Engineer and Construction guru (see Harvey) has been explaining to me in great detail how they are doing it wrong and the way it should be done. Never mind he has no idea what the project actual is. Figure he will eventually wander over there and share his wisdom with them. Wonder if they want some peach chicken nuggets with taffy onion sauce.
#1 Not sweating! Duh! Whether walking on one of the miles of trails, exploring new places, sitting on the front porch or running errands...we will miss the cool temps, the gentle sound of the breeze through the trees, the flow of the water over the rocks and the smells of the outdoors.
Well, as the afternoon shows no sign of warming up...it is back to my book and Eddie’s puzzle. Hard to believe two years ago we were battling the water and rain of Harvey.
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