We Love Lucy

Our Lucy just loves the cooler weather we have enjoyed this week.  She runs and runs in the crisp mornings and snoozes in the sunny afternoons.

Happy Lucy smiling as she runs

Today is rainy and I doubt we will see the sun.  But rainy days are nice too and summer is a wonderful time of year here in the mountains.

The quote this week is from architecture critic and writer Ada Louise Huxtable who won the first-ever Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.  (Did you have any idea there was a Pulitzer for criticism?)

"Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit.
A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world."

May you have days that are jeweled balm for your spirit.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

 

Native Magnolia

Ever take photographs for your blog and then forget all about them?  That's what I did recently with pictures of our Mountain Magnolia.   These were actually from May but I think they are well worth the view.

Mountain magnolia (magnolia fraseri) is a lovely tree native to small parts of the Appalachian Mountains.  Fortunately for us, we are within this lovely plant's range.  The lovely blossoms are huge, eight to twelve inches in diameter.  A cone-like red fruit follows the bloom.  The birds love the fruit.

The Mountain Magnolia is not generally available from nurseries but can be grown only under contract.  I have no idea why this is true.  It was named by John Fraser, famous botanist who studied extensively in the Appalachian Mountains in the last half of the  18th century.

 The trees can grow very tall, as high as 75 feet or more.

 This is the primary native area for the Mountain Magnolia.  Although there are isolated spots further north in the Appalachians.

 Photograph from Wikipedia

Once you have identified Mountain Magnolia, you will easily spot it among the trees in the forests.  It is lovely indeed.  Not as showy as the southern magnolia, typically associated with gentility of South Carolina and Georgia, it is nevertheless a wonderful tree, much appreciated by us and by the birds as well.

Big Baby Bird

Pileated Woodpeckers are among our favorite birds.  We have two pairs nesting in our woods.  Their voices still amuse us, sounding more like tropical birds than mountain birds.

A special treat for us is when the parent brings the fledgling to a tree near the suet.  After several days of feeding the little bird, the parent flies away, leaving the fledgling struggling on its own to get to the feeder.

Mother and baby

The fledgling (on the left) seems as large as the parent.

 Left alone to try its pecking skills.

We are blessed to see these wonderful birds on a daily basis.  It makes us only imagine the sight of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

We Love Lucy

What a nice week we have had.  Perfect mountain weather with cool nights and sunny days and a bright moon.  The lightning bugs are everywhere.  Unfortunately, a lot of other bugs are plentiful as well.

As regular readers know, our Lucy has two speeds.  Zero and sixty.  She loves her long walks and off-lead time in the park.  And she also loves her frequent naps in the sun.  A dog's life is good indeed.

Lucy finds the sun even on warm days.

July is whizzing past and there are 173 days remaining in 2014.

Today's quote is from naturalist and travel writer Edward Hoagland:

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi-human.  The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.

Good advice for these hot summer days.

HAVE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

New Vendors at the Festival

We find many of the same local artisans with booths at our downtown festivals.  We have several potters who display their works and sometimes demonstrate throwing pots at the booth.  Quilters and knitters are very common as well.  This year we had several vendors new to the festival.

[You may want to click to enlarge the photographs]

This potter had not previously had a booth.

 There were two booths with sweetgrass baskets and bowls.  Most people think of these as Gullah baskets from the coast in lower SC and GA.  One of the vendors was, in fact, from Charleston, SC.  But many people do not realize that we have sweetgrass along the rivers here in the mountains.  The Cherokee have made sweetgrass baskets for centuries.  We also have river cane which is stripped for baskets as well.  It seems surprising to see stands of bamboo growing along the river in the mountains.

Lovely sweetgrass baskets

 One booth featured glass birdbaths, something I've never seen before.  They would certainly add color to your yard.

 Glass birdbaths

 Not all the vendors were new.  The ubiquitous funnel cakes and sno cones were right at hand. along with many of the "fair" favorites.

It was such a nice day.  We met lots of our friends and acquaintances strolling the street or manning the booths.

Small Town Fourth

Like most towns and cities, we have an Independence Day festival downtown.  We go down to all the festivals to look at the displays and purchase from local craft vendors.  We go down early before the large crowds.  Large crowd is a relative term in small towns.  Makes us miss the children's parade, but at least it isn't crowded.  Music filled the air and the mood was as festive as the displays.

It was a beautiful day in the mountains.  Clear with just-right temperatures and low humidity.

A view down one of the streets

 I can't believe we passed up the chance to get this mystic clay that cures most ills.

 At first we thought this was for display purposes.  But then we saw the EMTs assisting a fallen vendor.
We hope the injury was minor.

 Yes, Virginia.  We do have some Democrats in Transylvania County

 The Republican Party booth is usually very crowded.  Notice the period dress.

There was no Tea Party booth this year.  I think they lent their costumes to the Republicans.

Many of the non-profit vendors were handing out free bottles of water.  I especially like the one from the Episcopal church.  The label listed the top ten reasons to become an Episcopalian.  Number ten?  "You don't have to handle rattlesnakes."

We by-passed the festival food, amazed at the number of people eating heavy greasy food so early in the morning.  We strolled along and looked at all the displays, bought a few things and were home by 11:00.  The weather remained perfect and we had a great day.

Liberty and Justice

Today we celebrate our country's birthday.  It's a day for remembering all those who sacrificed to give us the liberty and justice we enjoy today.

And so we salute them.

Today's quote is by Emma Lazarus and is the inscription on the Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,

Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me.

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

HAVE A WONDERFUL INDEPENDENCE DAY AND A GREAT WEEKEND, EVERYONE!