Arden, NC Trip, January 2008

Greg and I were able to get away for several days (thanks to our WONDERFUL parents!!!)  We went to Arden, NC to visit and stay with Granny and Pop Pop.  We had a lovely time.  We left on Thursday the 24th, stopped in Statesville to deliver a cage, and then locked our keys in the truck at a gas station, around 10:00 PM!  The folks in Statesville were so kind and helpful!  We arrived in Arden rather late, but Granny & Pop Pop got up to greet us and visit for a bit.

Friday we headed out around 8:00 AM for Sugar Mountain to go skiing.  A little before 9:00, we were involved in a four car wreck!  It was 9 degrees F outside...brrr!!!!  The officer was very good and wrote up what she needed to and had us on our way as quickly as she could.  Neither the Kia or the Jeep could drive off, thankfully our truck was still drivable!  Just a bit damaged.

After driving around for some time and entering Kentucky a couple of times, we got to Sugar Mountain - right on time for the half-day skiing. This was my first time ever to go mountain skiing, Greg had been in the past, but not for a number of years. We got our skiis (no sticks) and headed out. He took me straight to the lift! I could not get on with him, did't really know what I was doing! The man was yelling at me and finally I got to the lift chair.

I thought we did ok getting off of our chairs and going for a while. BUT we were in between the chair lift machine poles which was not pleasing me. At some point I lost track of Greg and was on my way to a "CLOSED" sign!!! I veered off and wound up in the woods, but I found Greg on the other side!  Later, from up on the lift, I saw what lie after that "CLOSED" sign -- the mountain dropped off!!! eek!!



Our second time up, we were able to ride the lift together.

Here we are on the ski lift:

Time two and three down the mountain I think we did great! I went down twice w/o falling. We zipped back and forth across the slopes, over little hills. At the end, I would stop, but then slip and keep going and panic! The second time I took out some guy waiting in a group of people and wound up completely underneath him! My fourth time down I tumbled pretty badly at the end and hurt my arm, so I called it quits and just watched Greg.



Oh, this was the huge machine that we both found while skiing down the mountain. We would be blinded by the snow machine blowing into our eyes and by the bright sun only to look straight ahead to see this monster!  Greg is on the lift in this photo.

You can see Greg skiing towards me!

Greg is kind of in the middle of this photo, standing sideways in dark clothing:







Here is Sugar Mountain, we got this shot afterwards when leaving the health store armed with Arnica!



After our tiresome afternoon skiing and a nice late lunch at the Corner Palatte, Loretta joined us for a little nap



We had a nice dinner and evening with Granny & Pop Pop.

On Saturday, we joined a group of Greg's friends in downtown Asheville at the Asheville Pizza and Brewery Co. A good time was had and Heather even joined us. (Greg, you can edit here if you would like to add more!)

Sunday, Granny surprised Greg with an Italian fruitcake for his birthday cake!

Afterwards, Greg, Heather and I went out to watch the movie Juno which I thought was really good!

On Sunday we joined Granny, Pop Pop and Heather for brunch at the Boathouse, were Greg's cousin Lea's husband works. We saw Ted, but Lea was not able to join us, she was on her way to pick up their son Oliver from his grandparents (even though she was about to pop at any day with the new baby!)

Later, we headed to Fairview to meet Rosetta, her family & flock.  Rosetta has been a member of our Partners for Parrots group since October, so we finally met in person.

Monday morning, (Greg's birthday!!!) the four of us headed out for a hike.




Pop Pop testing a vine for stability!









The bridge that Pop Pop and Uncle Kim made last year, I believe:




On Monday, Heather took us to visit the Cumberfords in Fairview and we got to see our girls that moved there!!! It was so good to see them, especially Holly.


Here is Pegasus, now named Cascade



Holly!!!







I think this gal with Estalla is nine years old, I cannot remember her name though...




Eribotria and Estella:



This baby, now named Chiffon, turned out beautifully!!  This is Degrafenried and Puff's baby!







Here's my sweet girl :)





Here we are in the coop!



Estella's lovely decoration, I have a close up shot that Heather was kind enough to shoot if you'd like *L*









Isn't Pegasus (Cascade) a cool looking chicken!!??









Here is where the coop is situated



After our visit, Heather, Pop Pop, Greg and I met Granny downtown at Rosetta's Kitchen for some delicious vegan grub!!



After lunch, we headed home. We did stop at Greg's parents to pick up a house key and they had a little something (cake and present!) for Greg (he did just turn 25!)



Happily home, cozy in bed...

A Beautiful Evening with George

During my cooking evening on Sunday, I heard the geese at the river.  From our back window you can see the Neuse River, where the old draw bridge used to be.  For those of you that don't know, Martha has been missing for a little over two weeks.  George also moved to the Blacks down the street from us, to live on the river with her "Ladies and Gentlemen" and ducks.

So, I hear the geese and go running to the river, hoping George is there.  He lives maybe 1/2 mile down the rivers edge, but they do come this far up.  I got down there and it was a bit hard to see as the sun was setting.  The "Ladies and Gentlemen" (white China geese) were there as well as Mother Goose (the African goose) as well as the Mallards and Pekins.  I could not see George anywhere.

After a while, I decided to call to him: "GEOORGE!"  And he answered with his usual "honk"  I could tell he was probably at the Blacks.  So I ran in that direction, calling to him on the way, and he answered every time.

When I arrived at the Blacks yard, I found that George was the ONLY bird there!  Poor boy was on their back deck peering into the door windows. 

We chatted for a bit, then headed to the river.  He went into the water and swam towards our house as I walked along the river's edge.  We chatted along the way.  George is always so full of stories.

The scene was gorgeous, I sooo wish I had my camera in my pocket as I often do.  You could see George's silhouette on the river with the darkening sky in the background and that fiery reddish orange sky along the horizon.  

We reached the flock, still in the river behind our house.  George came out and sat with me for a bit, we chatted of course.  It was getting rather dark, the soup was still cooking on the stove and Greg was waiting for his dinner which was in the toaster oven baking.  I had to leave, but I felt so sad to leave George.  I gave him a pat on the back and told him "George, it's time for bed.  I have to go.  Good night, George"  Before I even turned to walk away, he headed out into the water, joined his flock and started to lead them home.

I was so touched by all of this.  I actually felt sad for some reason.  It is so beautiful to see that George knows and understands his place in nature, he is a goose!  But Martha Goose is gone, and he was so attached to her.  George came from a hatchery that sells hundreds of birds, thousands probably, and I can't even bear the thought of how the others must live once they are hatched and sold.

I hoped that George would learn he could swim to this place in the river and honk for us.  The next day, Greg told me while he was caring for the chickens he could hear the geese, so he went down to the river - and what do you know?  The LOUDEST goose was George :)