Looking Up

We're in!  We finally got to spend the night in our new cabin last weekend.  The beds were not delivered until after ten o'clock on Friday night, but they sure felt great!

Although we have had a garage apartment on the same lot for six or seven years, we never realized that we would be able to observe sunsets from our new deck.  The colors are even reflected in the pond below the house.

Our son Dave, his wife Emily, and their baby Charlie came up to help us move in.  It was so nice to have a proper bedroom for them, and lots of room for Charlie to run around.

In fact, she is a Mountain Girl now!  She has been on Gator rides,

run through  the Christmas tree farm,

and played with Aunt Katy's baby goats and chicks, and a whole mess of Hall cousins.

And I think I may have another budding artist in the family.  I got out my box of 64-color Crayolas, and I swear she said, "Oh, Wow!"  She carefully took out one or two crayons at a time and then put them back IN the box without breaking them.  That's my girl!

Back at home in Raleigh, the dogwoods decided to start blooming while we were gone.  Now if only the weather would warm up a bit, we could go outside and enjoy the North Carolina springtime.

Here are two of my pieces featuring dogwoods.  Carolina Woodland Spring is a trapunto quilt with additional painting and beading.  I used real dogwood blossoms for the patterns.

Carolina Woodland Spring, by Jeanne Turner McBrayer

And here is my watercolor painting of the dam over the creek at our mountain place.  

Creek at Dogwood Time, by Jeanne Turner McBrayer

And for those who read my previous post about my dog needing more surgery...she did just fine.  What a trooper!  We have a very good dog.  Getting expensive, but what a sweetheart!

Autumn Color Inspiration

It has been a fabulous three days in the North Carolina mountains.  It rained on the way up on Thursday night, but after that it has been beautiful, with a full moon and mostly clear skies.  We took a couple of trips into town to buy groceries and other supplies.  Signs of the season were everywhere!

We took a ride up to the top of Mount Jefferson to see the colorful view.

Of course, we took some Gator rides closer to home.  It was so pretty.

I was a happy girl!

Our contractor has finished excavating for the basement of our new cabin..  Now when we look out the window we see this.

But the view from the new cabin will be nice.

Tomorrow morning I start my class with Fealing Lin.  I am both nervous and excited.  More to come!

An Uncloudy Day

This weekend's weather was a blessing- especially on Sunday. We were in the North Carolina mountains, where it was bitterly cold, wet, and dreary on our last visit. This time it was sunny, warm, and not a bit windy.

At our elevation of about 3,000 feet above sea level, the trees were bare except for the oaks, whose leaves tend to cling on into the winter. But the sky was so blue and the air so balmy, it was just gorgeous.

We had a wonderful time. I'm not sure if I will be going back again until after Christmas, because next weekend is the beginning of gun season for hunting deer. I don't like hearing the guns going off or being around when someone kills a deer. But if the weather stays this nice, I will have to go up one more time.

As we came down the mountain, there was still some lovely autumn foliage.

And the clouds started to pile up, but just gentle white clouds.


And we could look back on the sunset as we headed east for home.

Cold Mountain Weekend

We got a little taste of winter this weekend in the North Carolina mountains, with temps down to the thirties and an occasional snow flake. Our son brought our two grandkids up for the weekend and we had lots of outdoor fun despite the cold weather.
I let Lily pick all the flowers that she wanted, since they probably won't last much longer. We tried to light that big pile of wood behind her from our recent land-clearing, but it was too wet.

Here she is coloring outside with some of the flower tops she picked off.We followed the Halloween trail to Ricky and Mary's housewhere they got light-up Halloween masks

and party favors.

In fact, Avery was in disguise most of the weekend as "Batman."
On Sunday the sun finally came out, and we had a pretty but cold ride across the mountain.

A very nice weekend!

Autumn Color

I just looked at my last post, which was a week ago...man, I wasn't kidding when I said I'd be distracted for awhile! Actually, we spent a long weekend in the North Carolina mountains, not returning until Monday this time. Leaf Peeper Alert: Better get up to the mountains fast if you want to see the autumn hillsides.

The change was drastic this weekend, and the leaves are already starting to fall.

When we arrived Friday afternoon, the sun was golden and the temperatures warm. I took lots of pictures, because I was afraid the weather was deteriorating the next day.It was kind of rainy Saturday, but on Sunday afternoon, the sun came back out just in time for a family afternoon with my visiting brother and sister-in-law from Florida, and one of my brothers from Boone. It was perfect! I thought these clouds looked like a crown.

We put up some seasonal decorations at the cabinand did a little fishing in our pond. I love the reflection of the autumn foliage in the water.For those who eagerly await wildlife reports, we had a close encounter with a raccoon in our yard. We have seen lots of photos of them on the stealth camera, swinging from the corn feeder, but have never seen one at the house. This one was interested in Maggy's dog food bowl and Maggy was interested in keeping the raccoon in the tree. It was very smart, moving to the "dogless" side of the tree and sneaking down very slowly, then making its escape.

Monday it was rainy and time to come home. Tired today!