Beautyberry and the Beasts

Beautyberry is a vine- like shrub native to Fl.  This lovely grows along the fence line across the road from our place. I asked around but nobody seemed to know what it was called so I checked out a book on Native Florida Plants at our little library over in the village and there it was!  Beautyberry ..  And a beauty it is.  The book says it blooms all summer long.  I have seen it here before but I didn't discover it until later in the year, like maybe late Nov. and its 's leaves had all fallen away, leaving just the ball of berries and they were a darker shade of purple at that stage.  So pretty anyway and so different from what I have seen in VT. It says that the birds like it and that it can start from seed or cutting.  So I will try rooting a shoot or two in some water and Lord willing may have some growing right near our birdbath.

I like to come over to this pasture often as I am buddies with a couple girlfriends who live here...or at least graze here.  We first met them one evening at dusk as we were walking and stopped to pick up some trash someone had dropped alongside our road.  Dennis went to the fence line to retrieve the litterbug's scatterings and we heard what sounded like a large animal charging across the field straight toward us.  That brought my heart up into my throat for a few seconds until we realized it was just a couple of hopeful heifers  thinking to be fed !  There ARE bears, deer and even a few panthers in Florida. The heifers stopped their charge just short of the fence and proceeded with extreme caution, coming closer to check us out.  We told them that we would be back another time soon with some goodies for them.  Now and again we take these friendly gals a piece of fruit or a bit of a veggie.

I 've been having a bad time with my internet server, a WiFi setup available to us here in the Park. Uploading photos or downloading anything but words takes FOREVER, just like the old dial-up. Hopefully with so many using it and so many complaints and reports they will fix it soon.  I guess the Lord is trying to create in me a bit of patience!  

This was a rainy morning here, a gentle rain good for my newly seeded front lawn.

Market Day

Monday is market day... a very large market here in this otherwise sleepy little town.  NOT sleepy on Monday.  Wide awake and visited by many, many folks from all over the place.  Just a bit over a mile from our place, down a quiet country road that passes by our Sunshine Village, it makes a great walk in the fall sunshine.  We don't leave early like in the busier season after all the Snowbirds get here.  Today there are 4 of us.  Two of us are pushing or dragging, which ever suits our fancy, our market carts.  These handy gadgets sort of fold together when empty and roll along on two wheels.  Later, after much shopping, and they have cargo, they open out and roll along on all four wheels, much like a stroller. So off we go, trudging down the road enjoying the day and each other's company. The journey seems shorter if we can talk and laugh together. We decide to take a short cut across a grassy field alongside a vegetable garden.  It takes us over to a state road that we cross right into the market place, after getting across the street, which can be a bit tricky.
The veggie rows are on the other side of the market so we travel through the covered vending sheds looking at all the things people are selling.  There are MANY vendors here even this early in the season.
I find a little clip-on-your-belt or waistband cell phone holder to buy.  I left mine at home!  Onward we go, someone stops to buy a small crockpot from folks selling kitchen things.
The veggie rows are real busy today as always.  Such a selection of everything from homemade cheese to collard greens.  The prices are unbeatable!  Many items are a dollar a bunch or basket or bundle.  I buy a large bag, heavy too, of big navel oranges which we are invited to have a yummy sample of, for only $2.
Nice big red-ripe tomatoes, corn on the cob, baskets of pears, bananas, grapes, bunches of radishes and you name it.  We all pick out our favorites for this week and talk about what we will try next week.
 I am not often out without my camera. My little one that fits so nicely into a pocket, is without it's charging cord as I forgot that too. My good camera was too big to pack along. Thus, I am not able today to take pictures of this vegetarian paradise. :(    I will remedy that soon, I'll confiscate Dennis' camera!!
After we get all our veggies for the week and load our carts up we do a little more looking about as we head back to the trail home.  Crossing the grassy field is a bit more difficult with these heavy laden carts!
Thank goodness for Cheryl who is pushing my cart now !
The noonday sun is VERY warm beating down upon us.  As we trudge along, I think about the women of the Bible days, in their sandals and mantles over their heads to ward off the sun's rays. I always picture those roads as dusty and dry and envision the women with heavy water jugs atop their heads. Or the disciples going from place to place following Jesus.  My feet are HOT in my Reeboks and I am thinking of a swim in the pool. I scrounge around in the cart for my light weight plastic water bottle. The water is quite warm.  It is a long way home.
We finally arrive and divide up our purchases.  Dennis is home now for lunch, which I left for him in case I wasn't back in time.  He enjoys the radishes with his sandwich and soup.  I have a salad I'd made earlier, so thankful to sit down and eat something cool.   I find I am too tired to go swimming !  Now that is BAD, huh? Could it be that I am just a bit out of shape??  I park on the porch couch and think about what I'll tell you all about our adventure today.

A Quiet Sunday

Blue-sky day from in the pool

It's Sunday...a warm blue-sky day with just a few wispy clouds and a gentle breeze.'I'm ensconced in a corner of my comfy couch here on the porch.   Dinner is finished and Den is having his nap in the recliner. Our wind chimes sing in this gentle breeze, the soprano section, while across the way chimes ring out a nice tenor in perfect harmony.

Somewhere in the back yard, now and again, we hear the crazy mocking bird so full of himself, singing the songs of all the other birds.  He'd like to come to the birdbath I think, but hasn't garnered enough courage for that yet.  It is quite close to the porch and he may have forgotten that we come in the fall and keep it full of fresh water or he may be a newcomer to the area and is just being shy.  Another member og the choir is a crow or two somewhere, scolding with their rude and raspy caw-caw-caws. I am glad the Florida room/porch is on the north side of our place.  It is so pleasant here.

I managed to get my walk in this morning.  I have trouble doing this in VT.  Having a walking partner or two or three is so much nicer and there seems to be more time for walking here. Dr. Barb would be proud of me!  Her first question when I go for my physical is, "So, have you been walking?"

After walking this morning, we puttered around in our flowerbeds getting them tidied up and planted two new holly bushes.  I found a really big purple/lavender mum on sale and put it in the front flowerbed.  Dennis cleaned out the eave troughs and built some side boards on his little trailer that he drags around behind the golf cart.  He will start work tomorrow.  He is the mechanic here in Sunshine Village for the winter.  He is also Mr Fix-it here, a role he is well adapted to.

Later this afternoon we go over to the pool for a swim.  The water is 85 degrees.  The pool is kept covered at night and on chilly days.  Today it is 80 degrees on the back thermometer.  The sun may be influencing it a bit so it probably is a bit cooler, like maybe 75 degrees. We have the pool all to ourselves for awhile.  There are floaties and noodles to share and lots of lounges for drying off on.  I choose a chair under the umbrella away from the strong sun rays.

I have my camera and am chasing after some beautiful bright yellow butterflies.  They don't sit still very long to pose for me!   I saw several Monarchs today while walking but..no camera then.

                                                                   

It has been a lovely Sunday.  We skipped the ice cream social tonight.  Maybe next week.  It can be really habit forming, eating those sundaes!   Tomorrow is Monday and that is Flea Market day here.  A VERY big market just up the road.  Will see about that tomorrow.  Sleep well and have sweet dreams.

Settling In

Whew!  It has been a busy couple of days !  After a short ride on Tue. we arrived at Cousin Janice's where she and hubby Phil are the greatest hosts.  It is so nice to be able to spend some time with them.  North Carolina seems so far from VT !   We enjoy good fellowship and a wonderful noontime dinner of steaks Phil char broils for us and Amish potato salad followed by Janice's delicious homemade apple pie. Yum!
After dinner we all hop in the car and head back up to Fancy Gap, near the Blue Ridge Parkway, for a fun time browsing around this really great shop that sells pottery, fabric and many many other interesting things. Then back to the house for more visiting while the guys head out to Phil's workshop to check out his latest project.
We had rain during the night and it was still raining when we were packed and ready to leave on the rest of our journey.  It rained most all morning and cleared in the afternoon with sun and clouds and a good stiff wind that we could feel pushing us around as we drove. When we stopped for the night in GA, a decision we made because we thought we could use a nice quiet and peaceful late afternoon and evening to rest up before all the work of unpacking and putting things away. As we alit from the car we noticed that a cold front that was predicted had definitely arrived. We had a light supper in our room from our 'goodie bag'.
We were up and on our way by 6:30 AM and as daylight arrived it was nice to see it was going to be a bright and sunny one.  Only 50 degrees but that is pleasant.  We were only 3 1/2 hours from our winter quarters so it was a short ride.  After stopping for a few groceries at the local store we were 'home'.  Home is a small, friendly mobile home park in a little community in cattle country.  No big cities for me!!
I'm just a country girl !  There are little cattle ranches scattered around and a really big dairy farm just up the road a bit from us.  It is about 8 miles into 'town' and that isn't a big town but has all we need usually. It is 14 miles to a bigger place if we need something not available there.
It was nice to fall into our big cozy bed at night and to wake rested and ready to tackle the rest of the chores of settling in. Taking a break from all this 'settling' I took a nice walk around the Park.  The temperature here was 68 degrees and that is just right for my liking. I notice the whooping cranes are back and so friendly.  They feed in the green areas here in the Park.  I think some folks feed them.  They are such great birds.

Today I finished my inside cleaning and Dennis used the power washer around outside and then we got the Fl. room/porch all tidied up and the tires on the bikes pumped up.  Now I am officially ON VACATION !!  Amid all my hustle and bustle my thoughts are constantly on my dear friend Betty, who underwent by-pass surgery yesterday.  Each task I work through is accompanied by a prayer for her recovery.  I know she has placed herself in God's care.  If you feel so inclined, say a prayer for her.
This is a different world here in the sunny south... different from my usual homespun existence but I find that where ever I am there are such nice people to meet and get reacquainted with.  A lot of the friends who migrate are already here and more will arrive each day.
I think I'll make a cup of tea and sit a spell.... put my feet up and read a poem or two as I have a new book of Billy Collins' poems.  Take care and have a good weekend.

From the navigator's log

The car is packed... the pipes are drained, the computer shut down and stashed in its bag, Lizzie Love is at her winter quarters on the hill, Rosie, my big rosemary plant and Philadelia, the old philadendron plant I have had for years are all farmed out at Angel's. It is nearly daylight... time to go.  I am such a  home body and always find it hard to leave. 
We are out early and enjoy a beautiful, quiet and peaceful ride down the Taconic Parkway where the foliage is at peak with lots of reds and oranges. We avoid lots of traffic this way.
Lunch is from our goodie bag at noon at a rest area. Dessert is a couple chocolate covered, crunchy things in a pretty tin, thanks to Alison's thoughtfulness.  She got these on her trip to England early this month.  Yummy!  Now a nap for my driver (the navigator sleeps while riding and in between route changes). I stay awake and 'people watch' .  We are in a different realm here, a highway traveler's world.  I watch the comings and goings of folks and note the various methods they use to navigate from one place to another.  This time of year we see many "Snowbirds" on these highways heading for the sunny south. Motorhomes, huge ones, and little houses of all sizes and shapes, all stopping for a pause in the journey to eat or to rest.  Truckers with their big semis everywhere.  The cabs are huge these days with tiny apartments behind the driver's seat!  Some get out and fast-walk all around the parking area.
A group of three fancy trucks with 5th wheel campers in tow seem to be traveling together.  I wonder what they had good for lunch as they gathered in a big one to eat together?  I wonder if they take turns being 'host for the day'?  Do they take turns being 'wagon master'?

There are fancy vans and beat up trucks and motorcycles and even the new trycicle variety so popular with the older bikers today. We see pets on leashes racing for the grass dragging their owners along behind, lovers and families, and oldsters all stretching their legs and heading for the restroom line!

Onward we go finally coming to the end of our first day of travel, a ten and a half hour day which lands us in a lovely motel in Virginia.  A nice little restaurant attatched to the motel provides a quiet atmosphere, good service and delicious food for our supper.  They started us off with complimentary fritters, a tasty southern treat. No dishes to wash tonight !  This isn't our first time here... it is our usual stopping place and we even got the same quiet, large room with a comfy bed.  We find a good old movie on the TV and settle down after a nice relaxing bubble bath.  My eyelids are drooping and it is only 8 o'clock!  Bet I don't make it to the end of the movie.  I nod off thanking God for the nice day of travel and for our safety.  More another day.

Migrating Time !

Packed and Ready !!

Well it is that time again.  Migrating time I call it.  We pack up our stuff for our journey to a warmer climate for five months.  Pretty wimpy for real Vermonters huh?  Well, a bit of winter is fine but they are just tooooooo long here lately.  Coming home in March gives me just enough cold weather.. Although it isn't always very warm where we are in sunny FL.  We have kept track of the cold mornings and have recorded at the most, 16 mornings with ice on our birdbath. The nice thing is how it warms up so fast and can be up to 60 by noon on these cold ones.

The packing is a bear!!  I wrote a poem a few years ago about the whole thing and will share it with you, those who haven't already seen it will get the idea of what I feel like.

                                 Migrating Time

Like Snow Geese, we Snowbirds know

Just when its time to go,

South...where balmy breezes blow,

Far away from cruel sleet and winter snow.

Packing up is an awesome chore,

It takes forever to get out the door!

   "Got your pills and potions.

Make-up, swimwear, summer wear, lotions,

Some books to read, any tools you'll need,

Sporting gear, summer hat, all the hobby stuff?"

                   And then HE yells,

                  "Enough ! Enough !"

Finally we are on our way

To play in the sunshine 

And laugh in the rain,

Almost as if we are children again.

At last, with our Snowbird friends we gather

Away from the icy Northern weather;

To bask in the sun, till winter's done

And it's sugarin' time back home.

I am cramming so much fun and family time into this last week at home.  My daughter Angel and I have had a great week together, shopping, eating out, detailing my very much in need of cleaning car, Sewing and just sharing love with each other.

Today my grandson, wife and baby girl Lauren were down from northern VT for a visit and we had such a great time with that sweet baby.  I sure miss everyone for the five long months.  Tomorrow after church Angel and Paul are hosting the family for a birthday/Thanksgiving dinner and we will get to see more grandkids and our little Brielle who will soon be two.  

This evening was special as we went to the local Historical Society annual supper and program.  Always an event I look forward to just before leaving.  The food is so good, lots of great cooks around here !  Also the programs are always really good.  A windy evening after the rain today and a bit of late afternoon sunshine, it has turned quite cool and that fall nip is in the air as we walk to the old meeting house from the parking area with our arms full of casseroles and goodies for the supper.  As we leave 3 hours later, after a delightfully entertaining evening listening to a great speaker, Willem Lange who speaks on Vt Public Radio and writes a column for newspapers, we feel that nip and smell the fresh, damp scent of the falling leaves that shower down upon us in a little whirlwind as we trudge through the maple grove.  Making more beautiful memories of sharing with friends in the country, not so different as in the days long gone by.  It is nice to hop into our modern cars and head down to the valley below.  I imagine as the heater sends out that warmth onto my feet, how the ladies with 4 miles to go in a horse and buggy had to wait to get home to have their feet that cozy !  And when we arrive at home, the smell of oak wood or maple smoke rising from our chimney means that the kitchen stove isn't quite out yet and with a little poke and a couple more sticks of wood will soon be crackling and the teakettle will sing once again, lulling us into a sleeping mode.  Tomorrow I  MUST finish packing!  And I will take my computer down and pack it so it can travel with us to our winter quarters. If you are so inclined, prayers for a safe journey will be appreciated.   So I won't be writing for another week or so.  But I'll soon be up and writing again I hope.  Keep well and warm.  I'll talk to you again soon.  Blessings to you all.

Precious Friends

God has been so good to me by bringing into my life so many precious friends.

I am looking forward next week to spending lots of time with my most wonderful daughter, Angel, my special precious friend.  We are counting the months, twenty now, until she and my favorite son in-law Paul, another precious friend, return to VT to live!

The other days great blessing was a visit from Debbie. (You know, every day has blessings, some great some small and we need to be still and count them all!)  Debbie is another precious friend who is also a fantastic photographer!  She captures the beauty she sees in the world so well with her every ready camera.  We so enjoy each other's company over coffee and scones.  So much we have in common, so little time to finish all our discussions, relate  our discoveries, swap recipes and debate a few issues. We had a wonderful time together.

And then there is Alison, my lovely friend and caring neighbor who is a real world traveler and just got home from a trip to England.  We plan to get together for lunch this next week.

Today is a day away from home.  A visit to Darling Hill, our last for the year... to visit with three more precious friends.  Cyndy, the super creative one, Her Mom, Dotty, an inspiration to us all and Syd, himself a very creative guy.   It is a work day here for Syd and Mr. Fix- It  as they are putting a pump in a well. We girls will make sure they have some nice homemade soup for lunch to warm their bones. Then we'll take a walk in Dotty's woods. Maybe eat some of the delicious wild apples from the many trees on the hill. It was 37 degrees here at 8:00 AM but with the promise of a blue sky day and maybe 68 degree temperature by afternoon.  Another one of those near perfect Oct. days.  I so love these days and refuse to 'migrate' to the south until mid Oct. when the vibrant colored leaves are mostly on the ground and it is once again stick season.  Only then, after loading up the car with a couple bags of local apples and consuming at least a quart of cider over the last weeks, will I consent to the journey.

Friends on Darling Hill

'Whose woods these are, I think I know...'

We stop for our second day and night with more great friends, Cousin Janice and her hubby Phil who are great hosts and put us up for the night.  It's like a favorite Bed and Breakfast!  that second bag of apples is for these sweet people who miss VT in the fall.

I guess I could write six blog pages about precious friends.  I'm not forgetting all my friends who read my ramblings and send me nice emails either !  Thanks, I needed that ! How well our God provides us with all our needs!

An Unplugged Day

My friend Jeannie invited me to her home on a hill above the village the other day, to come and share with her a part of her 'unplugged' day.  This is a day in which she unplugs form the rest of the world... no phones, no TV, no internet... just the peace and serenity of her home with all the wonderful windows looking across the valley to the mountains, quite distant to the west and our familiar mountains closer and to the north.

When I arrive, she offers a nice cup of herbal tea.  It is a very windy, but sunny day. A lovely, cool autumn day, just perfect, as October should be.  We have a plan for our time together today and Jeannie is all ready for me.  She has set up all we will need as we will be painting together today, creating our impressions of the day in pretty watercolors.  Watercolor is a new medium for me as I usually paint with oils.  I've new techniques to learn!  And Jeannie turns out to be a good and patient teacher.

Since this is to be a relaxing time, we will try not to take ourselves too seriously as we work.  In fact we are calling it 'play' today!  I have a bent toward fuss and twiddle sometimes when I paint and she recognizes this and reminds me to just loosen up and PLAY.  So I learn to let the little accidental strokes become 'happy occurrences' and let them become a part of this creation. WOW, are we having fun now!

Creating always brings me peace and joy.  How God must have felt as He rested on the seventh day of creation!  Then surveying His world he pronounced it 'Good". Thoughts along this line sure make my creations seem pretty small!

I learn that sometimes our painting needs to 'rest' and dry a bit before we continue. ( How like people, we need to stop and rest and clear out our minds sometimes too before continuing on.) SO Jeannie has a second sheet of watercolor paper all ready to go. We start a second 'masterpiece'.  We choose to spend our in-between time beginning this new creation rather than taking a pause with a fresh cup of tea.  You can see I'm really getting into this!  So we laugh and learn, 'wash' and paint and daub and splatter.  Before we know it, it is time to finish up and for me to go back down the hill to the village and create supper.

What a grand unplugged day we've had!  This should become a habit, don't you think?

Fantasy Flowers

Autumn Thoughts

The Last Rose of Summer

from my rosebush

It's been awhile !  Time stands still for no man they say and I find it zooming by so fast !  Lots of things to do this time of year.

Amid all the rush and bustle of our lives we really need to take a 'time out' to just be still... sit quietly.... listen to the clock tick. Wait on the Lord, to see what he might have in store for you today. On these misty, moist mornings (and we've had LOTS of those here lately) and with cooler temperatures,  the spot of choice to take my time out becomes a favorite chair by the window where the warmth from the woodstove can be felt,  its crackle appreciated, and the song of teakettle, the only music.   Especially if  just coming indoors from a walk and the dampness is chilling to the bones.  There is something about autumn that inspires me to poetry.  Mine to write and the poems of others to read.
As I sat with my coffee cup warming my hands the other day, and waiting for a friend to arrive,  I glanced up at the cups on a wrought iron hanger in my kitchen and they became the subject of a poem.

                     CUPS

Clean and waiting...
Hung on a holder of black wrought iron
there on the old brick wall
next to the woodstove;

Four cups, of porcelain made,
With apples painted on their faces;
Cheerfully waiting, each one,
to hold a draught of friendship
and caring when friends or kin come
'cross the well worn threshold
and through the old dutch door,
to visit or just to pass the time
or to laugh or even cry with me.

We too should wait, clean and quiet,
still and prayerful, every morning,
Our selves the cups,
clean and cheerful,
Ready for our God to fill,
that we might overflow today
with His love and kindness
for those He sends our way.

I hope we get to see the sun again soon !  I still have a few yard chores to do.  Be well and smile often,  for a smile is like a ray of sunshine !