We Love Lucy

We love to spend time in our  front yard.  Because it is well buffered from the street with plants and boulders, Lucy can be off lead and explore the smells.  Our Ellie loved to pose for photographs, but Lucy does not like to sit still in the yard.  So she always looks a bit disgusted as if we have interfered with her fun.

The plant on the left is a cultivated type of laurel.
Shorter but fuller than the native laurel

 Sitting on this bench is no fun at all.

 Nope.  They are not going to make me smile.

It is fitting that our quote for the week comes from Maya Angelou who left this earthly life a few days ago.  I haven't the words to eloquently express how much this fine woman meant to so many people.  I will leave that to others.  Fortunately, Maya Angelou will continue to live on in her writings.  I'm glad that future generations will understand a bit more about the segregated south and Jim Crow by reading her remarkable words.  They will know that "still we rise" and they will be motivated and inspired by this courageous woman.

Read some of Maya Angelou's books or poetry this weekend.  You will find them fascinating.  You can read and listen to one of my favorites;  her "On the Pulse of Morning" which she composed and read at Clinton's inauguration in 1992.   (here) 
[NOTE:  Click on the cassette player below the photograph if you simply want to listen and not download.]

HAVE A SAFE AND WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!

The Kids in Spring

Connemara, the Carl Sandburg home is one of our favorite local trips.  The grounds are lovely in all seasons and there are great hiking trails and points of interest.  But in Spring it's all about the kids.  That is what draws us there in April.  This year we were not disappointed.

Carl Sandburg's wife was an award-winning goat breeder, and generations of offspring from her original herd still live at Connemara.  You can read more about the Sandburgs and the home which is now a National Park here.

One of the new kids on the block

 Still nursing, but the kids already nibble on grass

 The farm cat doing what farm cats do

 The little kids huddle together despite the warm weather.

Their mothers were in the meadow right then.

 The males are kept separate from the females.  The brown one seems to be the alpha.

He re-directed this one for no apparent reason other than that he could.

It is humbling to stand in places where the Pulitzer Prize winning author walked and lived and wrote.  He lived at Connemara for 22 years and died there in 1967.  His wife Lilian was determined that his home in Flat Rock should be preserved in perpetuity and the site officially opened as a National Park in 1974.

The Golden Girls loved the trails at Connemara even though they could not be off lead.  Here they are taking a rest in April of  2012.  Princess Lucy is, of course on top of the stump.

Fridays Are Golden

The leaf peepers have gone and we have the mountains to ourselves for a while.  The dogs love Autumn, the brisk mornings and sunny days.  They especially love running through the fallen leaves.  There are several picnic areas that are deserted now and great places for the Golden Girls to run off lead.

Never far apart, they sniff and run.  Sniff and run.

 

 

 

No destination.  Just milling about.

 

 

 

We make them sit and rest after having a drink.

Look at those smiles!

 

 

 

Life is definitely better in the mountains.

And here we are in November already.  The colors are mostly gone with some red remaining.  High winds are clearing the trees of the remaining leaves and the streets are covered with them.

Sir Walter Scott said of November:
"November sky is chill and clear,
November's leaf is red and sear."

In case you have no other reason to panic:  only 53 days remain in 2013.

HAVE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

 

 

 



Fridays Are Golden

August.  Summer is flying past us.  We continue to have sunny days and afternoon thunderstorms.  When the weather predicts "pop-up" or "scattered" showers, they invariably pop up right over our house.  And this weather has been especially favorable to the ticks and mosquitoes.  They are everywhere!

In the warm weather, we don't take the Golden Girls for long walks like we do in cooler temperatures.  We do let them romp around in the woods.  That way they can judge just how much running they want to do.  My husband took the following photographs.

 

 

Lucy loves the laurel and rhodo tunnels

 

 

 

Ellie patiently waits on the stoop for the go ahead

 

 

 

Lucy always looks at you to see if you are following along.

 

 

 

She really does not like a sit/stay.

Our lives go along peacefully despite the onerous actions of our General Assembly and Governor.  Our governor signed the new abortion restrictions into law last week despite repeated pre-election promises that he would never sign any law making further restrictions on abortion rights.  And he maintains that he did not.  He signed the recent laws to "protect women's health."  Never mind that it effectively closes all abortion centers in the State except for one.

A group of women protesting his actions gathered outside the governor's mansion.  They were dressed in retro fashion styles of the early '60s.  As they silently protested, Governor McCrory came out with two armed guards and DELIVERED A PLATE OF CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES TO THEM!!!  He smiled as he handed the plate to a surprised woman and kept saying to the group "God bless you, God bless you."  He did not take any questions from the group.  Just handed over the cookies and walked back inside the gate.  As one newspaper columnist wrote,  "The governor doled out sexism, chocolate, and a side of condescension."

The women placed the cookies at the mansion gates with a sign that read:  "Governor McCrory, we'll take women's health over cookies."  In response to massive complaints sent to the governor about his actions, his office issued this statement, "Sometimes a plate of cookies is just a plate of cookies."  Yeah, right.



Our timely quote for the week comes from Kahlil Gibran.  I try to keep it in mind.

"I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind;  yet strangely, I am ungrateful to these teachers."

HAVE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

 

 



Fridays Are Golden

 

 

The dogs go on alert.  They stare out the door to the deck, standing stiff as boards.

 

 

We're on guard duty!

 

 

And what has put them on high alert?  A squirrel sunning on the deck as if we had no defense.  Just lying there taking a sunbath.

 

Dratted squirrel

 

Of course, the squirrel runs away immediately when I open the door to release the dogs.  Ellie doesn't follow the trail, but Lucy stares down to watch the squirrel in the trees.

 

See?  I made him leave all right.

 

 

 

She sniffs and sniffs where the squirrel was sunning.

Both girls prance inside, so proud that they got rid of the squirrel.  They immediately go over to the treat canister for a reward.  We try not to say the word, "squirrel."  If we do, the girls run to the door and then wonder why we don't open it for them.

July is passing by so quickly.  There are only 165 days left in the year 2013!  It has been a strange summer here in the mountains.  While we are seeing more and more sunshine, we are having almost daily afternoon/evening thunderstorms.  I don't think we will dry out for a while.

Today's quote comes from satirist and author Russell Baker:

"Ah, summer; what power you have to make us suffer and like it."

I hope your summer is going well and your 2013 goals are half met.

 

HAVE A SAFE AND WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!  ENJOY THE SUMMER DAYS.

 

 



Fridays Are Golden

 

 

 

And so it goes.  We continue to have daily rain, almost three inches again in the past 24 hours.  The constant rains and swollen rivers have profoundly affected our tourist industry.  The rafting, kayaking, and tubing companies cannot put people on the flooded fast-moving streams during this, their otherwise busiest season.  Tomatoes are rotting on the vines.  Corn stalks are knee deep in water.  Slides have closed several roads and houses are being undermined and threaten to come crashing down hillsides in some areas.

 

So I should not complain because we are truly very little affected by all the rain.  Just more and more dog towels to wash. 

 

Lucy is bored.  Her bed is wet because she just ate an ice cube.

 

 

She looks out the dining room window.

 

 

 

Still raining

 

 

 

Ellie doesn't even look out the window.

 

 

 

It's too depressing.

I'm reminded of Longfellow who said that "Thy fate is the common fate of all;  into each life some rain must fall."

Today's quote is from Marcel Proust:
"Let's be grateful for those who give us happiness; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls bloom."

 

WHATEVER YOUR WEATHER, HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND AND GIVE SOME HAPPINESS.

 



Fridays Are Golden

 

 

I'm always surprised to find another month almost gone.  I'm retired and have no idea where my time goes.  OK, it goes to reading, knitting, and playing with dogs.  And a bit of house cleaning, cooking, and laundry.  Regardless, 2013 is simply flying by.

 

You know that Lucy almost always "shares" a bed with Ellie.

 

Sometimes she uses Ellie for a body pillow

 

 

 

Other times for her head

 

 

 

But I really don't understand why she does the same thing on the floor.

We have LOTS of floor space in the great room and the dogs tend to lie on the hardwood in warm weather.  You would think they would not want to lie together, but Lucy invariably finds Ellie.

Here in NC, people are still gathering at the General Assembly to protest the terrible legislation that our Congress is enacting.  All of it seems designed to take power away from the cities or to disenfranchise women and the poor.

So every week, Mondays are declared "Moral Monday" and people gather to peacefully and legally protest.  Hundreds of them have been arrested by Raleigh's finest.  Members of the clergy, business leaders, local commissioners, school board members and concerned citizens are arrested.  Last Monday a 79-year-old Asheville man and his 77-year-old wife had plastic handcuffs snapped on their wrists and they were hauled to the police station with others.  And what is their crime?  Simply that they refuse to disperse when the police order them to do so.  They are doing nothing illegal.  They are in a public place and have every right to be there.  (Reminds one of Madison, WI, doesn't it?)  I applaud these people.  I hope the gatherings increase in number every week and especially I hope their message is heard.  I thank them for what they are doing.  I might even take the journey myself.

There are so many people still suffering on our planet.  It is our duty to help them as much as we can.  So give of your time or your money.  Do whatever you can to help your neighbors.

As Kahil Gibran said,

"There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward."

So give whatever you can and give it with joy.

HAVE A MOST WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

 

 



Fridays Are Golden

 

 

 

The earth around here has just about as much water as she can hold.  More than enough in many places where flash flooding has washed out roads and bridges.  And we are expecting more.  Today is quite warm and gives new definition to "muggy."  Guess we'll stay indoors and be thankful we have air conditioning.

 

 

I had a regular doctor's appointment yesterday morning.  The office called earlier this week to remind me and also to tell me to be sure to come at least 15 minutes early to meet with the nurse.  So I dutifully arrived 20 minutes early.  I signed in, started reading, and waited.  (Reminder to self:  sync your Kindle before you go if you aren't sure there is Internet connection available to you.)  So I read and waited.  Ten minutes AFTER my appointment time the nurse called me back.  I have no idea how she got so far behind since my appointment was at 8:30.

 

My doctor was pleasant enough, as always.  He asked if things were going all right and then asked about my allergies.  I told him they were pretty bad this year, like almost everyone else.  Then he started telling me how bad HIS allergies had been this spring.  And he went on and on.  Thankfully I have no real medical problems so I suppose it was fine if he needed an ear.  But it was rather strange.  When I got back home my husband asked me how my visit went.  I told him my blood pressure was fine, my pulse oximetry reading was 100% but the doctor's allergies were terrible.  We had a good laugh.

 

The Golden Girls do not like this weather at all.  They do not like rain and they especially do not like muggy weather.  So they are happy to do what they need to do and come right back inside.

 

Ellie sits in front of my chair.  She seems to have deep thoughts.

 

 

 

Lucy sprawls beside my husband's chair.

 

 

 

She's never had a deep thought in her life.

Your point being???

There is so much trouble in our world.  So many people are truly suffering and we need to think less about our minor complaints and more about being grateful.

Novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder provides this week's quote:

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."

So think of the treasures you have and hold them dear.

HAVE A MOST WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

 

 



Fridays Are Golden

 

 

I don't know how 2013 is passing by so quickly.  Yet here we are on the cusp of June!  We have enjoyed a week of wonderful weather and our only complaint is about the pollen.

 

Our neighbors had a gathering for Memorial Day.  Just before dinner was served, she announced, "I hope you all like Mexican."  I glanced at my husband who did not change expression.  You see, in general he HATES Mexican food.  But he batted not an eyelash, rolled not an eye and graciously followed everyone to the table with a smile on his face.  Fortunately our neighbor served do-it-yourself carnitas so he found several things to enjoy.

 

The Golden Girls do not enjoy the heat of the summer days, but they love the cool breezy mornings and the late evenings.  Like small children, they go to bed during daylight hours right now.  Bedtime for dogs is 9:00 and believe me, they don't mind one bit.  When we come in after our last time outside, the girls head straight downstairs to their crates.

 

Among the various commands we find important, the command "wait" is near the top of the list.  Wait simply means, "Stop what you are doing.  I'm going to give you another command and you need to listen for it."  When we were training them we used this command to make certain they never went outside the door before we did and that they never jumped out of the car until we give permission or started across the street without a command.  We no longer have to say the word for doors and cars and streets, so we practice at other times.

 

I took them outside and asked them to wait at the top of the stairs.  They especially hate to wait just before heading out for some fun.  And that makes it a perfect time to practice.

  

We use the word, "release" to signify that they no longer need to follow the command, whether it's sit, stay, go to your mat, or whatever.  We use this word rather than OK or all right because it isn't often said by mistake.

 

Waiting at the top of the stairs.

 

 

 

 

 I did nothing more than aim the camera and Ellie immediately sat although I did not tell her to.

It's difficult to get candid shots of her.

 

 

 

 Lucy takes a moment to decide where to go next.

 

 

 

Ellie smells something beneath a plant. 

 

 

 

 Move, Ellie.  You need to really get in there if you want of find something.

When they come inside, they bring pine straw, pieces of mulch, and flower blossoms in their long hair.  You gotta really love your dogs to put up with all that.  And we do.


The quote for the week comes from one of my favorite authors, Barbara Kingsolver:

"Empathy is really the opposite of meanness.  It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost.  And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own."

So in times of stress, remember that you are not the only one in pain.  And that the pain of others is just as meaningful as your own pain.  So reach out to others in empathy.

HAVE A WONDERFUL FIRST WEEKEND IN JUNE, EVERYONE!!!

 



Fridays Are Golden

 

 

 

Can you believe it?  We're at the last weekend in May?  And as we celebrate Memorial Day, we also unofficially welcome summer.



 

We have had stormy weather and lots more rain this week.  No surprise that parts of Transylvania Country are considered rain forests.  And as we have these minor weather patterns our thoughts still go out to those in devastated Oklahoma.

 

 

Surprisingly enough, this time Ellie has most of the bed.

But Lucy still maintains the upper paw.

 

 

 

Such a sweet face...

 

 

 

And Ellie deep in thought...

 

 

 

I told you I couldn't stop taking pictures of the Biltmore Gardens

As we approach this Memorial Day, let us pause and remember those who have helped make our country great by their sacrifices.

Trappist monk, Thomas Merton provides this week's quote:

"The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another."

HAVE A SAFE AND WONDERFUL MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

 

 



Fridays Are Golden

 

 

Our lot slopes so that our deck is on the second story at the back of the house.  We are eye level with the forest and the birds and the girls just love being out there.  Oh, the sounds and smells.

 

 

Ellie is trying to figure out where the hummingbird went.

 

 

 

She feels a bit foolish.

...what?...

 

 

 

Proof that the dogs do not always share a single  bed.

 

 

 

But more often than not they do, thanks to Lucy.

 

 

 

I'm ever so glad we live so near the Biltmore Estate.  There is so much to see and do.  We go over there several times a month and love to see the changing gardens and walk the trails.  Oh, and get a scoop of ice cream.

 

 

Yet another shot at the Biltmore azaleas.

The quote for this week is about kindness.  Our vitriolic Congress seems to be lacking in kindness, courtesy and compassion.  So all of us need to pick up the slack.

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama said:

"Be kind whenever possible." He added, "It is always possible."

Be kind to those you meet, even if you don't even like them.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

 

 



Fridays Are Golden

 

 

The rains have stopped for a while and the streams are reducing their swells.  Most roads are open again except for those with rock slides.  Our weather is still very labile but today is beautiful and for that we are indeed thankful.

 

 

I thought I would share another couple of photographs from the Biltmore Estate.  I just cannot stop taking pictures when we are there.

 

Some of the tulips in the walled garden.

 

 

 

Wisteria, looking more like the deep South than NC.

 

 

 

The dog photographs once again show Lucy's version of sharing.

 

I just take most of the bed.  Ellie can have what's leftover.

 

 

 

Somehow Ellie doesn't seem to mind being pushed under the chair.

 

 

 

 

This week's quote about sharing is from The Buddha:

 

 

"Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened.  Happiness never decreased by being shared."

 

 

So share the happiness this week.  However much you have.

 

 



HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

 

HONOR YOUR MOTHER