Wildflowers

Mindful photography was a pleasant occupation during the month.  I enjoyed looking for wildflowers and then identifying them from a sort of homemade guide book that was in the cottage.  I've already uploaded a few mixed in with the other posts, but there were many more.

I laughed a few times when I was thinking of "wildflowers" that I might have called "weeds" had they been in my Norfolk yard. The elusive "catch" - I wanted to find a "Jack-in-the-Pulpit" to photograph, but never did.

Here are some little lovelies I did find, along with their common names and location.

There were so many "little purple flowers"!  I think this is a form of phlox, growing on the hill behind the house.

I think this is wild geranium and creeping phlox - at the house.

Umbrella Leaf - growing profusely on the banks at the house.

Trillium - there are many varieties!  This one at the Arboretum.

Fire Pink - Arboretum

Not sure what this is called, but it grew so thickly along the gravel road and creek at the house that sometimes it made me think of the "yellow brick road"!

Another form of creeping phlox, growing by the creek at the house.

I couldn't identify these, but they also grew well at the house.

I believe this is called Pinxter Flower - at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.

Phlox again, I think - or just little purple flowers!  Asheville Botanical Gardens

Another type of Trillium, also at the Botanical Gardens

Silver Bells, growing over the creek at the Botanical Gardens

Flame Azalea, which I understand is prolific along some of the popular hiking trails.  This is in bloom at the Botanical Gardens.

Couldn't find the exact name, but I believe it is a type of Cinquefoil, growing at the house.

Stonecrop - Botanical Gardens - but I also saw it growing around the house.

I believe this is Wild Geranium, growing near the house.

Perhaps this is Dolls Eyes or Toothwort, never was sure.  It covered the bank in front of the house for a few days.

Yellow Buckeye Tree - the butterflies LOVED this.  There were several in the area around the house.

One of my favorites - Daisy Flea Bane - at the house

Could not identify, but it sure was pretty at the house!

Common Cinquefoil, house

Erect Trillium, Arboretum

Purple Toad Shade, Arboretum

Golden Ragwort, at the house

Arriving and Departing

The last couple of days in the mountains I tried to take shots that were very similar to the shots I took on my first full day at the cottage. I thought it would be fun to compare the gray with the green and to remind myself of the changes that occurred while I was there.

(More posts to follow: wildflowers, wildlife, towns, and the Blue Ridge Parkway)

View off front porch "before"

View off front porch "after"

Hill behind house "before"

Hill behind house "after"

The long view "before"

The long view "after"

The driveway 'before"

The driveway "after"

Re-Entry

Yes, it's true...I did have to leave paradise and return to the real world.  Re-entry is a bit challenging - maybe it's the decrease in altitude?!? I'm pacing myself and wondering how soon this will all feel "normal" again.

I do have more photos to post from my retreat and will try to get to them in the next few days. 

Last photo of the trip - from a tree at Moses Cone Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway

 

Do-Little Days

The posts so far have mostly been about events or activities.  Many of my days are actually spent "doing" very little.  Those are the best of days!  

Almost every day, I'm awake before the sun is up. I love eating breakfast at the bay window while watching to see if sunrise will be in black and white or color. 

Yesterday was definitely black and white - the first foggy morning I've seen here where the mountain was peeking through the clouds.

But most mornings have been gloriously colorful!  I've taken dozens of sunrise photos.

There is no television or radio reception, very limited cell phone signal, and slow/low capacity internet access.  But there is a wonderful little nook beside the kitchen where I can use my laptop (on a self-imposed limited basis) and have a beautiful view at the same time.  One morning, I saw two young deer headed up the mountain from this window, and on another I saw what I think was a ground hog.  

One of the things I've enjoyed on the do-little days is taking time to prepare a wonderful vegan, gluten-free, organic meal for myself.  And then I eat the same thing for days because I made so much!

Spring Salad with Chickpeas and Dried Cherries

I enjoy walking around the "yard" and looking for unusual tiny bits of nature, or trying to capture a unique photo.  Sometimes I sit on the porch;  sometimes I sit on a rock.

On a high-traffic day, I might hear a pickup truck going up or down the road four times. It is the truth that I have seen ONLY pickup trucks on the gravel road in front of the house.  My only reason for looking is to see if the truck is red or blue.

It's blue.

I enjoy reading in the quiet. For the sake of "place" I am trying to get through Thomas Wolfe's first book, since he's the local literary celebrity.  It is a weirdly captivating read!

Then there's painting....what a treat!  I actually have four paintings going at once, but it is very different to be painting outside a "class" setting.  Feels like riding a bike without training wheels.

Naps.  Naps are delicious.  Now that the smell is gone, I'm back to napping on the sofa whenever I feel like it.

The house has beautiful old chestnut wood floors.

As the day ends, I'm usually back out on the porch, since it is not so dominated by bees and wasps by then.  I enjoy just listening to the evening calls of the birds and the babbling of the brook, while watching the light change from day back into night.  And then I climb in bed very grateful for the gift of another do-little day.

Two Day Stink-Out

The dead animal smell officially became too much for me to endure any longer as of noon on Monday! In desperation, I contacted the property manager to let her know someone needed to come do something.  I left the house and she sent a maintenance guy up late in the afternoon who said he couldn't smell anything!  Seriously?!?  The guy must have no olfactories.  

I endured another night and left the house again on Tuesday, and the property manager herself came up to check it out.  Bless her heart, SHE found the source!  Apparently a family of mice had nested in a rolled up carpet in the attic.  And then with the rain we've been having and a new leak that had developed in the roof, the smell was being enhanced with moisture and heat.  So my new hero, Leah of Appalachian Vacations, dragged the whole mess out and bleached out the attic.  And the nose-dead maintenance guy is supposed to come back next time it rains to see about the leak.  The smell isn't completely gone yet, but it is MUCH better, and I'm hopeful that a couple more days of open windows will take care of it.

So while I needed to be away from the house, I took the opportunity to do a couple of other things that were much more pleasant....photos below.

On Monday when I left the house, I had no plan - just had to get away from the smell.  So I drove out a different route away from the house and ended up in Waynesville, NC.  It was a cute and quaint little restored mountain town/Main Street USA kind of place.  My most fantastic experience was of the chocolate shop there - salted caramel dark chocolate, key lime white chocolate, and jalapeno dark chocolate! There was public art throughout the revitalized area, most of it made from recycled materials.  The guys above were my favorites;  they were huge!  I think the standing "musician" is about 10 feet tall.

On Tuesday, I had a plan.  I spent the day in Asheville, with a quick stop at Barnes & Noble, and then on to The Botanical Gardens at Asheville.  It is a very small, 10 acre, urban preserve adjacent to the campus of UNC Asheville.  But they have over 600 native plant species, so it was a great opportunity to see some of the wildflowers and native trees in bloom.  My southern heart LOVES dogwood trees, and I was happy to see many in bloom at the Garden.

There were several "oddities" at the Garden, and none had explanations I could see.  This was a huge rock face along one of the paths.  I am beyond amazed at the curving of the layers of rock!  I can't imagine what kind of force caused that.

Another beautifully unusual sight - the exposed roots of a huge tree growing beside Reed Creek that runs through the property. I'm always amazed to see what is usually unseen about trees, and I have a whole philosophy about people that is related.

And I have a grande latte for anyone who can explain this unusual thing to me!  There were a couple of shrubs that had leaves that looked like this.  No other blooms or anything else unusual.  It was like these little bud things were supposed to grow from the underside of the leaves and pierce through to the top side.  Maybe it was a "gall" or disease or something?  Freaky looking!  I wanted to stop back at the education building and ask someone, but they had closed by the time I left.

This eye-catching "structure" was along one of the paths right next to some of the campus dorms.  I have a feeling it is one of those student-inspired ongoing projects that just sort of happens.  It looked like a ceremonial shelter of some kind, but I imagine the students find all sorts of uses for it.

Okay, back to more normal things.  This is a Yellow Lady Slipper - first one I've seen here.  I'm still looking for a Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

Part of the Garden is meadow-like.  This was a beautiful section filled with wildflowers that are very common in the area.

Again, another lovely place to spend an afternoon safely walking in and among nature.  It was great to experience the warmth and humidity of spring without the unpleasant odors!  And mindfully meandering the paths and trails once again restored my soul.