Hendersonville, NC

At the airport for a few days....neighbor Dick Parr visiting in his Piper Cub.

 

 And Bill unfortunately ran into a cool falcon on his way to the airport with his truck.

 

 

 So happy to get to visit with Richard a little while.  He also worked in a short visit with my mom!

 

 And with Granny of course!

 

 

 

 The next day Robert and Granny visiting.

 

And Miranda too!

 

Back at the McCraw house - all the kids and family visiting from Indiana too.

 

And there apparently are pretty sunsets in the mountains as well!

 

Rest in peace, Cordy....sad days ahead.  We'll pack up the boat this morning and make plans to head to Hendersonville to be with the family.

Some photos from long ago:

 

Oriental, NC

Just doing chores on the boat. My happy place. Pretty but hot day!

View from the back of the boat across the creek tonight....

Oriental, NC

 Back at the boat!  We spent the morning and early afternoon doing some mowing and weed-eating at both the extra lot and the boat lot.  It's been over 6 weeks since we've mown...so it was overdue!

Hot and sunny here - 90 degrees and humid.  

Jerry and Donna suggested we go out for a meal - so they picked us up and we headed over to M&M's for a very nice catch-up visit with them.  Forgot to snap a photo of them, but did take one of my fried scallops salad.  Yum - haven't eaten out much lately so this was a real treat!

 

Back to the boat and my "happy place"!  (Sunscreens and sunshades out in full force to help with cooling!

Pittsboro

 Fun to be doing our own thing on our own schedule. Lindy invited me to share some of her garden bounty, so I went and picked some this morning.

Airport authority meeting tonight and then to the boat tomorrow!

Pittsboro, NC

 Back at home! Pretty drive thru the mountains. 

I did a bit of catching up at the airport. 

The new corporate hangar is well on the way to completion 

And just checking in on a repair to another hangar  pretty plane!

All is well at the house  just some mowing and cleaning to do.  Hopefully to the boat during the week!

Mills River, NC

 A few more days in the mountains…the deer around here are pretty unconcerned about people! I disturbed this doe sleeping just a few hundred feet from Keith & Denise’s house.  She eventually ambled away  

Asheville area

Duane and I were able to attend the Hall reunion this year - beautiful views on the way to Leicester just a few miles from Asheville.

I was getting ready to say "two of my favorite uncles" playing and singing before the reunion....they are favorites but they're also the only remaining uncles.  And now that I think about it, I had no aunties as there were no girl children in either of my parents households.  I digress.  Fun to listen to their relaxed playing.

Always have to include the "food shot" as there was the usual abundance.

And lastly, here's a pic of Mom, Trudi and myself.  Aren't we cute?

 

 

Hendersonville/Mills River

Back to the mountains...my Mom planned a nice July 4th celebration.  This time of year has lots to celebrate.  My sis's and Duane's birthdays plus my brother & sis-in-law's anniversary.  So Mom suggested I make a couple of cakes to surprise them.   I got out all the ingredients.   

I made one layer with the regular recipe and I vegan-ized one layer using vinegar and some baking soda as substitute for the egg. 

I used Mom's old-fashioned icing tool for the very amateur decorations....

 

The vegan on sort of "fell" a little in the middle but they were both delicious and surprising for the recipients!

 

 

And there was gardening, of course in the morning before the party.

Big bro Eddie and sis-in-law Trudi working hard too in the corner that Keith & Denise "loan" them every year!

 

 

  My mom with her small rototiller in her little plot. 

 

Denise is over there somewhere in the lush garden weeding.

 

On to pool time in the afternoon.

 

Vegan tofu and veggies from the garden on the grill before the "normal" meats.

 

But Teresa and I both got an Impossible burger grilled.  Delicious!

 

Fun meal with WAAAAYYY too much food!  The rain held off until we were mostly finished but the umbrellas really kept us dry anyway.  Much needed rain for the garden anyway so everyone was happy.

My sis being silly in the pool as "Alfalfa"....

 

Good ending to the party with the great-grandkids shooting off some fireworks.

 And later all the old farts ended up at Keith and Denise's for hot tub drinks and fireside chatting.  Nice day and a good break for Duane. (thanks again Carolyn!)

Pittsboro, NC

 I spent most of my day at the airport doing quarterly paperwork.....in the evening I saw a large thunderstorm approaching on radar.  We got a huge amount of much-needed rain!  It made of a cozy/dark evening.

Pittsboro, NC

 After Keith and Denise left, I had some time on my hands so I got ready to put a much needed coat of paint on our front steps. 

 

It has been several years since they've been painted.  I ended up scraping the peely paint and doing some sanding to smooth it out.

 

Kinda hard to see in the photo, but they're all nice and uniform now.  Just a stop-gap as the treads really need to be replaced as they are cracking and old! 

Nice to get a chore marked off the list.