Old Mountains in Winter

We love to drive in the mountains, especially on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Often, however, we travel in other directions on rural roads. One of our favorite areas for mountain viewing is in neighboring Jackson County where the Nantahala and Pisgah Forest meet.

While all the Appalachian Mountains are very old, these particular mountains are among Appalachian's oldest. One mountain has been geologically dated to being more than 400 million years old.

Many of the mountains in this area have sheer rock faces. The rock began as molten lava thousands of centuries ago. Wind and rain "beat" down the mountains, leaving the molten lava exposed as rock faces. They are lovely and popular destinations for rock climbers.

You can see houses built in this previously pristine area.

These mountains have become a playground for the rich and famous. Acres and acres of forest land have been turned into immaculately groomed golf courses and communities. With no zoning to prevent it, some houses are built directly on the ridge line. These people think it is perfectly all right to destroy the mountain in order to get the "perfect" view. My heart aches every time I see a huge house sitting astride the ridge line. I really dislike these people whom I do not even know. The homeowners in this area are now suffering the same housing slump that affects the rest of the nation. Many of these luxurious home are summer homes and the owners want to sell them and cannot. Perhaps that is the only positive thing to be found in this time of economic hardship. The houses are not selling, so there are no spec houses being built.

Gifts That Keep On Giving

I am very fortunate to have two children and a husband who give me wonderful gifts. They are gifts I can continue to enjoy for years to come. (Well, except for the Godiva chocolates in my Christmas stocking.)

This post is about a Christmas gift I received from my son and his wife.


Many years ago Marcella Hazan authored The Classic Italian Cook Book. It was hailed as a "Bible" for Italian cooking. That was followed by More Classic Italian Cooking a few years later. Some recipes have been revised and both books have been incorporated into a single volume titled, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. And that is the book my son gave me.

The recipes are wonderful. Most are simple enough for the novice cook, yet sufficiently complex for the experienced cook. The book contains an encyclopedia of ingredients in a chapter entitled "Fundamentals," beginning with "Where the flavor starts."

The cookbook is good reading and I really learned a lot about Italian cooking. I was amazed that many of the recipes are so simple and there are fewer spices than I would have imagined. Time and patience seem more important than specific ingredients.


Marcella Hazan lived part of her childhood in Egypt. It was an accident that sent her and the family to Italy for treatment of Marcella's broken arm. The family remained in Italy where Marcella's teen years were spent at the height of World War II.

When she married, she and her husband moved to America. At the time Marcella did not speak any English at all. She knew few recipes, but tried recalling her favorite dishes from childhood. She gradually built up a number of Italian recipes. She took a class in Chinese cooking and some of the students asked if she would teach them Italian cooking. She started giving cooking lessons in her kitchen and that was the beginning of a career.

Marcella Hazan and her husband now live in Florida. She is more than 80 years old and still cooking.

So what, you may ask was your first dish from the cookbook? It was chicken cacciatora, and it was wonderful. The recipe has few ingredients; chicken, olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, wine, and tomatoes. I was skeptical. No basil? No oregano? No parsley? No thyme? I had prepared myself for a rather bland dish.

Here is the chicken cooking.

I hope you cannot see the grease on the stove. The chicken must be browned in the olive oil which makes for a bit of splattering. Don't worry, I cleaned it up afterwards.

----------The dish was outstanding! I couldn't believe that so few ingredients and so little spice could result in such a tasty dish. I served it with some penne and a salad. Several wines would accompany this dish well. We had a good chianti. (No, not the cheap ones you used in college. You know...with the straw basket that you later used as a candle holder.)

----------It was a wonderful meal. Thanks, son, for this great gift that will definitely keep on giving.

Fridays are Golden

Instruments of torture? Nope. Just the brushes and combs we use for grooming.

People often ask us how we keep our two dogs looking so silky all the time. There are couple of answers to that question. First of all, they get a balanced and nutritious diet of a high quality dog food. The dog food is supplemented with olive oil to make certain they have sufficient fatty acids. (We give them one teaspoonful three times a week over their dry food.) Secondly, they get plenty of exercise with free running almost every day. Finally, we groom them regularly. They are brushed at least every other day (preferably daily), teeth are brushed several times a week, ears cleansed twice a week, pawpad hair and nails clipped monthly.

We are fortunate to have a special room in which to groom them. http://ncmountainwoman.blogspot.com/2008/05/fridays-are-golden_30.html

We always groom Ellie first. Her hair is thicker and longer and she takes more time. But that doesn't stop Lucy from hopping up on the grooming table.

Grooming begins with a wonderful de-shedding tool called the Furminator. It removes the dead hair, especially from the undercoat.

We use the Furminator on the top and sides of the dog. A different undercoat comb is used for her underside and the feathering on her hips.

The Furminator is really good for getting that hair under the ears and the chest hair.

Ellie hates to have her tail combed. It is so feathery that it takes a while.

Ellie is very patient, but looks around to see if my husband is almost finished with her tail.

We cleanse her ears with an astringent. Floppy-eared dogs are prone to yeast or bacterial infections, so a good cleansing is a necessary preventative.

When she hears the click of Ellie's collar, Lucy knows Ellie is done and it is her turn. She hops up on the table.

Gee, Mom. Don't I already look glamorous? So we don't need to groom me today, do we?

Yes, Lucy. Look at your ears and the feathering on your legs. You don't want to get any matting, do you?

It is indeed a golden Friday here in western NC. The sun is shining brightly through the branches. January is practically over and it's only four weeks until March. Wherever you are, I hope you are doing well. Our thoughts are with our northern and mid-western friends who have suffered yet another ice storm and power loss. Be careful on those roads.

Have a wonderful weekend, full of love and happiness.

Snow Birds

Juncos are fairly common birds in our area. We rarely see them, however, because our feeders are mounted overhanging a second-level deck. When I was a child, we called them "snow birds" because we often seemed to see them during snow storms.

We have no snow, but I did spot a Junco in the trees the other day.

He flew down to the deck, but failing to find anything interesting, he quickly flew away.

The visit may have been short, but I enjoyed it immensely.

Rabbit is at Rest

One of my favorite authors died today. John Updike introduced me to Harry (Rabbit) Angstrom when I was a college student. I loved the book and the dysfunctional Rabbit and his family. Rabbit Run was followed every decade by a new Rabbit book, until the final book Rabbit Remembered in 2001. Some of them were better than others, but I enjoyed them all. Many women criticized Updike for his stereotypical portrayal of women, especially in the Rabbit books, but I simply overlooked that and enjoyed the wonderful writing. Updike could capture an idea and write about it in wonderful ways.

He authored many books, the most recent of which (The Widows of Eastwick) was published last October. He was a prolific writer and winner of most of the literary awards available, except for the Nobel. (He wrote a story in which the character did win the Nobel.)

I never had the pleasure of meeting John Updike, but I felt as if I knew him and I shall miss him just the same. I always had a dream that in 2011 he would surprise me with another Rabbit book. Sadly, that dream is not to be.

(Photo from the Associated Press)

John Updike left us with many thought-provoking quotes:

"Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them."

"Born laughing, I’ve believed in the absurd,
Which brought me this far; henceforth, if I can,
I must impersonate a serious man."

"The artist brings something into the world that didn't exist before and he does it without destroying something else.”

And my favorite quote:
"Life is like an overlong drama through which we sit being nagged by the vague memories of having read the reviews.”

Godspeed, John Updike. We will miss you.

At the Feeder

One of my favorite birds is the nuthatch. We have Red-breasted Nuthatches only occasionally. The White-breasted Nuthatches spend the winter with us, and we see them often.

They are very skittish and grab seeds and run. But we love seeing them for whatever time they stay.


This nuthatch waits in the trees for the feeder to clear.

He stops for a drink of water first.

Then he has a little snack and then takes off again.

While they don't remain at the feeders for very long, we do enjoy watching their antics in the trees. What a fun bird.

37 Things

I have enjoyed following the fellow bloggers who responded to the "37 things" meme. So I decided to do it myself.

With the clear understanding that you might not be all that interested, just skip this blog and look for some birds tomorrow.

1. Do you like blue cheese? Yes, I love it.
2. Have you ever smoked? Yes. If you graduated from high school and started college in the ‘60s it was pretty much a given.
3. Do you own a gun? Not now. We used to have a 22 pistol. We kept the pistol in one locked box and the ammo in another. One day my husband and I wondered where the ammo was. After spending half an hour trying to find the ammo, we decided perhaps we didn’t need the gun after all. Gave it to the police.
4. What flavor Kool Aid is your favorite? I HATE Kool Aid! I didn’t even like it as a child. Way too sweet.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? I used to get nervous if I had gained a few pounds. Amazing, isn’t it, that we become little children again when the doctor says, “I see you have gained a few pounds since your last visit.” Now, I look him in the eye and say, “Yes, I suppose I have. Now can we talk about my medical condition?”
6. What do you think of hot dogs? I LOVE them so much I dare not keep them around. I could eat hot dogs every single day. I especially love “Dixie Dawgs” with cole slaw.
7. Favorite Christmas movie? “A Christmas Carol” with George C. Scott as Scrooge
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee, immediately
9. Can you do push-ups? Not anymore
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? A diamond and sapphire ring which was my husband’s grandmother’s engagement ring. It was commissioned by Tiffany’s many, many years ago and is unique and lovely.
11. Favorite hobby? Reading, or maybe knitting, or maybe hiking. Depends on the mood and the weather.
12. Do you have A.D.D? No, but I’ve been known to have flight of ideas
13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? Drugstore readers
14. Middle name? Carolyn was my given middle name. My first name was Nancy until I had it legally changed. Now Carolyn is my first name and my maiden name is legally my middle name. Took quite a while, $850 in attorney fees, notarized statements from three people who know I’m not a crook, and an appearance before the Clerk of Court. I should have done it before 9/11/01.
15. Name thoughts at this moment? My feet are cold, I’d better put on some socks
16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Coffee, wine, water
17. Current worry? The economy and the environment are my constant worries.
18. Current hate right now? People who are not sincere, i.e. two-faced
19. Favorite place to be? Driving through the mountains or standing at a waterfall
20. How did you bring in the New Year? Quietly, and with relief and anticipation
21. Where would you like to go? Yosemite, but I don’t want all those other people around. Perhaps they would close it for one day just for me?
22. Name three people who will complete this? Three fellow grasshopper bloggers
23. Do you own slippers? Yes, but I rarely wear them. I go barefoot or wear slipper socks.
24 What color shirt are you wearing? Green. It’s a Green Bay Packers sweatshirt.
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No, and I don't like flannel either.
26. Can you whistle? Yes, and I walk around whistling all the time. It’s so absent minded that my husband will often ask me what tune I was whistling and I hardly ever remember.
27. Favorite Color? Green
28. What songs do you sing in the shower? I take showers only when we are traveling. At home I soak in the tub, turn on the jets, and while songs my run though my mind, I don’t actually sing.
29. Would you be a pirate? No desire whatsoever. How did this question get in here?
30. Favorite Girl's Name? Emily
31. Favorite boy's name? Nicholas
32. What's in your pocket right now? Kleenex and a throat lozenge. I’ve had a cold.
33. Last thing that made you laugh? I laugh a lot, but one of our dogs really cracked me up. We were watching “Best in Show” and they squeaked a doggie toy. Lucy went crazy trying to find it, moving to both sides of the television and looking under the cabinet.
34. What vehicle do you drive? Volvo with all-wheel drive and Turbo
35. Worst injury you've ever had? Broken ankle
36. Do you love where you live? Yes. I can’t imagine a more perfect place for our lifestyle.
37. How many TVs do you have in your house? Three; a flat screen in the great room, a little one on my desk in my study, and a big honking football-watching macho one in the den.

So that's probably more than you wanted to know about me. If you haven't done this one, give it a try. I'd love to read about you.