Pittsboro, NC

 I'm a bit sad and quite frightened today.  Wonder if the German citizens had these thoughts in the 1930's?

Pittsboro, NC

 I didn't want anyone to think we've fallen off the face of the earth.....

But it sure feels odd especially after the time-change yesterday...

Hard to believe that I've changed over to long sleeves and long pants....

 

And I actually hunted out some fall decorations.  It's been years and years since I put out any decorations!

We've been getting back into riding our bikes....and Duane has been out vacuuming up leaves for the first time in years.  A losing battle but a somehow pleasant chore.

Pittsboro, NC

 I spent the day mostly at the two airports....busy - a business jet at each airport.

And snapped another photo of the fall foliage as I was driving westbound.....beautiful weather here with temps in the 70's for the next 10 days.

 

Pittsboro, NC

 Back to the house.....it's really fall weather now.  A bit of a drizzly day and really cool temps.

 

Some of the bushes have lots of berries....I think the almanac says that means a harsh winter ahead....

Oriental, NC

 Time to do some bottom cleaning and inspecting before the water gets too cold!!  Fortunately, Duane volunteers for this duty on SCUBA when it involves inspecting/replacing the zinc anodes on the saildrives/props.  Wrapping up our time in Oriental and will head back to Pittsboro soon.

 

 

Oriental, NC

 The local hardware store in Oriental is a hoot and an almost daily trip for us.  They have a popcorn machine so you always end up with a cone of fresh popcorn while you shop....and now as Halloween approaches they have this lovely door-greeter!

 

And he comes to life when you approach!  Small town fun....

Mostly finished the window project on boat #1....then a little campfire and bbq in the evening with the usual suspects.

Oriental, NC

 Still working on windows and various small chores....last night was, of course, Tuesday BOGO night at Silo's.  We had a big crowd - (we're at the far back of the photo.....Fun to catch up with Dale from HiFlite and Chris & Gosha from Solaris join the usual culprits - Jerry & Donna (Bluejacket), Ed & Cathy (What If) and Joe & Colleen (True North).  All of them will be heading out southbound in the next several weeks.....

Oriental, NC

 Still busy with the window install. 

Ed and Cathy arrived in the afternoon so it was fun to catch up with them. They’ll be staying with us until they splash What If in about a week. 

Perfect weather for a little campfire and more visiting with neighbors Joe and Colleen too!

Oriental, NC

 Busy, busy with the window project. Here is a completed one. Tedious work!!

Oriental, NC

 We dove right into the salon window replacement on Oasis....beautiful weather so comfortable.

Duane made quick work of removing the old window.  It did not come off gracefully though!  Using butty knives and a lot of muscle.  He drilled holes in the 3/8" acrylic and had the window in tension with a halyard as he worked the old sealant loose.  The window broke into several pieces but that isn't an issue.

Getting the surface cleaned up and ready for dry-fitting the new acrylic.

After dry-fitting the new window, prepped the surface for new black Dow 795 sealant.

 

 And this is a preview of the new window.  I know, doesn't look like much.  I need to wait for the sealant to cure a bit before cleaning up all the edges.  I'll show you tomorrow.  We have 3 more windows to do on Oasis and 4 more on Sojourn.....good fun.  Not. 

Oriental, NC

 Back to the boat finally.

We stopped by Bridgeton for a quick visit with the Jandals Crew. They volunteered apart for us and we stopped to pick it up and say hello.

Dave and Toby, are there getting the boat ready to go south  

When we arrived, next-door neighbor, Andy had a crowd of people at his place. As he sailed his small catamaran by he invited us to come over at 6:30 for a gathering around the campfire.

 

The campfire was a nice thing since it was quite chilly!!  Lots of the folks are Andy's friends and former/current employees.  Some traveled quite a way for the weekend.  Some staying in RV's on the property and some staying at a rental house in River Dunes closeby.

 

 

The moon rise was beautiful but I didn't catch a good shot of it.....

 

Andy had a food truck come serve a yummy meal to us all.  It was a pleasure to be invited....Andy and others had lots of kind words for each other and friendship.  Fun gathering!

 

Pittsboro, NC

 We discovered The Plant - an eco-friendly art/business space....I'm embarrassed to say that we've lived here 30 years and haven't ever driven back the little roadway to this area!!  It's the home of Starlight Mead and Fair Game Brewing.  And a handful of fun looking restaurants.  We had a beverage at Fair Game then ordered takeout from from Kingston Kitchen 99 for supper at home (too chilly to eat there really).  Fun and we'll be back.

Pittsboro, NC

Today is the first day of early voting....so we decided to get it done!  The line was pretty long - took about 1 hour to get inside.
 

It won't come as a surprise to anyone who knows me how I voted for the presidential candidates.....my vote is cast for the only one on the card that is a rational, intelligent, caring human being. How anyone can vote the other way mystifies, baffles and saddens me, but I certainly respect everyone's right to their opinion as an American. 

(FYI, this is a photo of my sample ballot since taking a photo of your actual ballot is unlawful apparently).

Got my sticker!!!

By the time we exited the building, the line had grown very long....I think I would just come back another day if I was at the end of this line...but it is a beautiful day.

Pittsboro, NC

 

So I heard the chainsaw running again this morning.....Duane has been wanting to cut this half-dead pin oak tree for some time now.  It's a pretty tree but needs to go since we don't want it falling on the house some day!

I just barely made it out of the house to capture the fall!

 Timmmmbbbbeeeerrrrrr.

Then we got to work trimming the branches and pulling all the brush away into the woods....

 

Brush mostly out of the way, Duane cut up most of the tree into manageable pieces.  Most of the centers of the logs were rotten or hollow.  Friends Tom and Janet are coming to pick up some other firewood so we hope they'll take some this oak as well.  (It's not perfect for firewood since the core is lightweight and won't burn very long or hot...but hey, it's free).

 

They arrived as planned with their log-splitter.  We helped them split some other wood over on our next door neighbor's lot first.

 

Fun process.  That splitter is the bomb!!!

 

Makes quick work of even the biggest logs.

 

After that, we went over to the house and lots of teamwork made quick work of the tree Duane felled this morning.

 

All loaded up and they'll come back for some other wood later.  Fun process - wouldn't want to do it every day - but fun for a change.

 

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Pittsboro, NC

 At Mom's house they have a lot of white squirrels - we looked them up - not albino - just a mutation of genetics for a regular grey squirrel.  Fun to watch as they are very visible.

A quick pose with Mom before we headed back east.

Back to Pittsboro....it's turned off chilly here.  BRRRRR.  Wearing long pants.

Hendersonville, Asheville, Swannanoa, NC

 My mom asked me to drive her to her hometown of Swannanoa - about 27 miles away.  Swannanoa was one of the hardest hit areas from Hurricane Helene.  Never fear - we did not obstruct any cleanup crews or first responders.  Traffic was actually flowing pretty well and we didn't stop the car to take any of these photos either.

I'm just going to upload a few dozen photos without much comment.  They speak for themselves about the power of nature.  We started in the Biltmore area and drove to Swannanoa.  Most roads were open but there were several that had cops or rescue personnel monitoring traffic.  We did not go down any of those streets.  If you see a car in a photo, it was likely completely underwater during the storm.  I'm sure there are worse areas but this is pretty bad!  

This is the Biltmore area of Asheville near the entrance to the Biltmore House.

 

We drove by where my mom grew up - formerly my Grandmother's house in Swannanoa.  It is on high ground so was not apparently harmed.

Then we drove out on some side roads in the Buckeye community where she know a lot of folks growing up.  Fall just starting to turn the leaves.....little damage here except fallen trees in places and washed-out creeks.

The rest of the photos are from Swannanoa proper.