December!

Not sure how we arrived here so quickly, but here we are... ready or not!

What we are ready for is the annual Hibernation Special at Angel Mountain Cabin! From now thru March, rates are $75/night (a third for a mere $50), plus that tax nuisance. So far, the weather's been really nice, and while that will likely change at some point, we hope to see you either while we're hibernatin' or when we thaw out!

Hope Thanksgiving was good for everyone. There was a touch more insanity than usual here, although this picture doesn't show it (and even if it did, you'd have to have been here to fully appreciate it). But we had a great time and laughed a LOT :)

In the kitchen, with the cook.
Worked every time.

So now it's December! This morning we had another turkey convention in the back, with about 30 attendees (too many to get in one shot, um, photo). They know not to be worried, though the camera is a S-C-A-R-Y thing.

And in case you need a bit of cheer to get you pumped for the upcoming holiday hoopla, here are our grandfurballs, Mae (left) and Emmy. As you might notice, Emmy's holiday spirit isn't overflowing (or flowing at all, for that matter), seein' as how big sis Mae got the fancy Santa beard/hairdo/whatever and hat. Poor, neglected Emmy. Ha.

Still here!

Yikes - it's been a couple of seasons and almost five MONTHS since the last post. What the heck have we been doing the past five months? I don't recall taking a vacation or anything.

Hmmm...

1. Son-in-law Paul graduated from College of Charleston. We went to celebrate.
2. Katie and Paul found a house to buy near his new teaching job. We went to inspect.
3. Matthew found a new teaching/coaching job and a new place to live. Friends moved him. We went to clean the old apartment.
4. Katie and Paul moved a week later. We went to move, paint, clean, referee furballs (including their NEW furbaby), sweat profusely, and collapse.
5. Worked to spoil the bee kids. Succeeded.
6. Randy landed new teaching/coaching job just after school started. Hours still grueling, but it's closer!
7. Football, football, football. Randy's team made the playoffs, as did Matthew's (they're at different schools in the same conference).
8. Worked with my mother on some ancient music projects.
9. Celebrated Mom's 80th birthday with a family get-together.
10. Digging for chocolate - and bigger sweat pants - until the election is over.
11. Etc., etc., etc.

Okay, so there's been a little going on here. We've enjoyed seeing some old friends and new ones and look forward to seeing more of you at some point!

Early announcement! Winter rates begin December 1 and last until April 1: $75/night, with a third night of $50. Sound too good to be true? Well, it is! (Not too good to be true... just TRUE!)

Until I can remember how to add pictures to the cabin site, below are a few to hold you over. There would have been more, but they have apparently taken some sort of detour....

Happy November!

Got our money's worth out of this 10¢ plant :)

These bee kids are no easier than the stingin' kind. 

Katie and Paul's Mae (black Olde English bulldog), their Emmy (fine brown, um, 'mix'), 

and our shaggy Maggie leading the way as usual... 

tho she's not quite sure where she's headed

Mae and Emmy - pretty much their activity level all the time.

Whew.

News bulletin!

Lots going on around here!

The cabin site has been completely overhauled, thanks to Favorite Daughter Katie's insistence and her willingness to get things set up. She offered some fantastic suggestions and held my hand virtually the whole way. It looks great!!! You can take a peek at angel-mountain-cabin.com (same as before).

We're proud new beekeepers!!! We've had two hives in place for three weeks, and the bee kids seem to be thriving. If you don't know anything about honey bees, you're in for a treat! We've had visiting bees every year, but it's not nearly the same as having your own :)

The transport boxes full of NOISY bees, set down beside their new homes to let the new kids scope things out for a little while before the transfer to their new home (i.e., while we could get our bee-working garb on).

Bee Daddy and his smoker to calm the bees down before the transfer.

Bee Daddy, looking official, making the move. So far, so good!

The bees didn't waste any time finding pollen (the yellow sacs on their back legs).

Rearranging some of the frames earlier this week. These guys, er, gals, have been BUSY!!!

They've been so busy, in fact, that some of their cells were attached to adjoining frames; when the frames were separated, the cells split open to reveal honey! Woo hoo!

It has been fascinating to watch the bees in action. It would be nice to have a way to watch them at work inside, and thanks to The Honey Hole in West Jefferson, that's possible with their new observation hive! You'll have to check it out and their cute shop while you're here :)

Meanwhile, happy May!

Win a Cabin Stay!

(Edited to add the auction link to the cabin stay, which was the purpose for this post. Sheesh.)

Happy spring to us all!

We're still a tiny bit suspicious as to what happened to 'winter,' but that's okay. We're enjoying seeing colors again and are almost excited about mowing!

Almost.

Anyway, a 2-night getaway to Angel Mountain Cabin is one of the available items in a very special auction. Blankets for SMA (B4SMA) is a project started several years ago by MJ Purk and her super duper caregiver extraordinaire, Brenda Hanson. MJ was diagnosed with the same type of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) as our angel, Jeffrey, but she's never let SMA get in the way of helping others. MJ and Brenda send blankets and quilts to SMA families, providing both loving support and hope for the families that perhaps the prognosis for SMA, Type 1 (typically, death by two) isn't carved in stone after all.

A fellow SMA mom recently had a brilliant idea to organize an auction to help raise funds for shipping, supplies, and other expenses incurred by B4SMA.

The Hand In Hand Auction runs thru April. Some of the items, like the cabin stay, will be available for bidding all month. Others, like a 4-CD collection of my mother's original music, are available only thru April 15. Still more items, like a copy of The Jeffrey Journey (book) combined with Dreams for Jeffrey (CD of my mother's original lullabies) are available only from April 15-30.

Please feel free to share the info with others. Thanks!

Meanwhile, happy spring and mowing!

Spring - Really!

Because in years past we've seen significant snowfall the first week in April and three nights of teen temps in the middle of May, I'm not foolish enough to proclaim winter has moved entirely out of the way for spring, but until further notice, we are basking in whatever this is while we've got it.

Ever see a catfish bask? Okay, maybe he's begging instead. These guys spent a few months without the usual pond chow buffet, and they're almost skin and bones! Not really.

Basking, er, begging for more food like the big pond kids!

Sami, 14, is a pro basker.

Maggie, 14, is our new addition! She loves to bask in pinestraw...

and roll wherever.

The two furballs aren't BFF, but they're agreeable to being basking buddies.
And that's good 'nuf.

Happy SPRING to all!

Snow!

After last year's non-stop winter turmoil, this winter has been amazingly pleasant. We've had a couple of chill factors plummet to negative numbers, but we've been blessed.

There's plenty of time for that to change (not that we want it to!), but meanwhile, we're giddy with yesterday's snow and gorgeous blue skies (and NO WIND) today!

Don't forget the Winter Hibernation Sale; it's good thru March... whether anyone needs to hibernate or not :)

deer teechur...

I've got a good excuse for not updating. Really.

Uncle Sam demanded most of my attention for way too long... and we have a new addition!

Meet Maggie... again! She was our grandfurball, but after a few months with her rowdy puppy sister Mae, she decided 'nuf was 'nuf and begged her mama (daughter Katie) and daddy (son-in-law Paul) to move in with her mountainbilly grandfolks.

Well, okay, maybe her mountainbilly grandma begged, um, offered to take her.

Our big girl Emma and Maggie were good pals. Maggie had just turned 13 before their Christmas visit in 2010. Ten days later, Emma turned 12, and six days later, she earned her wings.

We weren't in the market for another dog for a while, thanks to the grueling football demands and emotional toll of bidding farewell to Emma a mere 2-1/2 months after we'd done the same to our ballmeister Kali.

Alas, having Maggie here has been so much fun for all. Okay, for most, although once Sami realized Maggie came alone, she has been more agreeable to getting outside the box.

Sami catches up to Maggie in age when she turns 14 next month. Both gals are troopers in our walks up the mountain.

Meanwhile, Mae is trying to adjust to being an only child. She's managing, but just barely.

Cough.