Spring!

I'm not sure how we've made it to the end of March, but here we are. Considering the tricks Mother Nature has played all 'winter,' no telling what spring will bring. Or summer, for that matter. No one around here complained about the unusually mild past few months and will hopefully remember them if/when the rest of the year seems unusual as well....

The biggest change around here since the last update is that our fine Sami opted in February not to hang around three more weeks for her 19th birthday on St. Patrick's Day. She was rarely pleasant (I have plenty of scars to prove that's an understatement), but still... 19 years is a long time, and bidding farewell resulted in the usual puddly mess. Honey moped for several days. She and Sami had come to an agreement shortly after we brought Honey home - Sami bared her fangs and claws while executing her ferocious hiss, and Honey wisely paid attention. Honey and the granddogs did covet any leftover cat food crumbs, though, and those have been sorely missed. It is reassuring to picture Sami romping with all the other family furballs, some of whom she may have even liked a little. Just don't tell anyone.

Sami's happy face :)




The eyes have it...




Sunnin' buddies




Not complaining too loudly about a snugglin' session..




Honey waiting patiently for Sami to wake up and play :)




Reminding Kali (also an angel) who's the boss of her, tho she would have likely claimed she was just putting a few of Kali's hairs back into place. Yeah, right.




A favorite! We inherited Maggie as a spunky 12-year old when she insisted she be freed from her nuisance puppy sister. She and Sami, a fellow senior, bonded immediately and enjoyed walking with us up the mountain :)




In other news, our grandbaby, Clara, has already morphed into a toddler! She's zipping all over, keeping Grandmama toddling right behind her. Maybe Grandmama will toddle some pounds off.

We've managed to replace the slats in two park benches around here (on top of the mountain and at the small pond) and break another bench, so I guess that means we've taken care of three so far! Only a bunch left to go.

Hope everyone has a terrific spring! And summer, if I don't get back here before then. Better add winter, too, just in case....

See you sometime!

The Annual Post

The fact that I don't have time to post more than once a year is surely indicative of a full life, right? It's most definitely full, and I don't dare complain.

In a nutshell, the 'spinningest' gerbil wheels have pertained to:

BEES! Bee Daddy decided he wanted more bees this year, and his wish was fulfilled. He ('we') even inherited a few hives in another part of the county when that beekeeper discovered bee stings didn't agree with him. When/if things go well, more bees = more honey, but it also = more responsibilities. And since Bee Daddy is also president of our local bee group, he's often summoned for an SOS or two. Or three.

BABY! Our grandbaby, Clara, is already closing in on a year! We are very blessed that at least one of our multiple gerbil wheels spins to this sweet, happy, delightful little bundle on a regular basis. There's no way to adequately describe how incredible this grandparenting thing is; suffice it to say that the 'grand' in -baby and -parent is an understatement. What fun she is!

And she's pretty darn cute, too :)

FURBALLS! Honey (the 4-legged variety) turns three this month. She keeps us hopping and laughing. And hopping. We've kept one granddog, Maple (Clara's big sis), quite a bit the past year because of her demand for perpetual TLC. She and cousin Honey are BFFs, thank goodness.

 

Maple and Honey, who don't know why they can't have cookies ALL. DAY. LONG.

 

We also kept our other granddog, Mae, for several weeks this summer while her folks took a vacation and prepared their house for selling. She mostly does her own thing while she's here; she's an easy guest. 

Maple, Honey, and Mae (courtesy of Favorite Daughter/Mae's mama, Katie)

Meanwhile, Sami's 19th birthday is coming up on St. Patrick's day. Not sure who the 'lucky' one is here....

Li'l sweetheart...

MISC! Besides a few other duties (carpet-cleaning biz, mowing/mowing/mowing/mowing, and Randy's 'retirement' stint as a school bus driver), there's the cabin!

December means we're in Winter Hibernation Mode again! From now thru the end of March (2017), rates drop to $75/night. They drop even more ($50/night) after the first two nights, so take a peek at Ray's Weather and plan to take advantage of it! Not every winter day here is frigid. Usually.

In case you need a reminder of why Ashe County is such a neat place to visit - and live! - here's a video for you.

Hope to see you sometime! The chocolate will be waiting....

Cheers from Angel Mountain!

'Tis the Season!

Well, here we are again... at the end of the year already! Time apparently flies whether you're having fun or not.

Before I forget, it's time for the annual Winter Hibernation Special, when rates drop with the temperature. Some winter days will be quite nice, though (surely), but we're in 'special' mode thru March no matter what. Check out the cabin's web site for details!

We've been almost as busy as the bees since the last report, but I don't know that they can top our big news. We're about to become grandparents for the first time! 'Our' little bundle is due on the 27th, and we're all excited to meet her! Perhaps we're not quite as excited as our daughter-in-law (Jill), but still.... We're trying hard to be patient, though, especially since our son (Matthew) is trying even harder to wrap up two graduate classes online. One final down, one big paper almost down, some more class assignments almost down... to the wire, for sure.

To make matters more exciting, Jill's sister is also due (with baby #2) on the 27th. And... my brother and sister-in-law will become first-time grandfolks three weeks later! Baby boomers, yep we are.

My 'new' hip isn't so new any more and has been put to work in anticipation of baby duties! 

Honey turned two yesterday and is still fun, sweet, and rambunctious. Sami owns her, and Honey knows it. And doesn't care.

Our latest new venture is Honey B's Bees & Honey! Randy, chief beekeeper (aka Bee Daddy), sets up his honey stand on Saturdays when the weather is relatively cooperative, but we sell it all year. We're also able to offer honey from beekeeper friends, whose bees zip to parts unfamiliar to our own. We're also dabbling in other bee-related items: candles, lip balm, healing salve, body lotion bars, and an insect repellent salve I've just discovered. I'm actually excited to see how it works when I'm attacked by another mosquito mob.

Because of the upcoming baby biz, our family celebrated 'Thanksmas' so we could keep things open when Baby B is ready to break free. It was a great idea from Favorite Daughter Katie, but because WE are pretty much finished with Christmas, we can't get a grip on what the calendar says (i.e., it's still the 16th!). We do like to stay in the spirit, tho, and it's easy to do with these comedians, captured by Katie in a rather insane photo shoot. Or two.

(Granddog Maple, Honey, Granddog Mae)

Happy Christmas and a new year filled with joy and good health! Chocolate would be nice, too....

And We Are STILL Here... 2015 Edition

Goodness - here we are almost a YEAR since the last post. I promise we are not sitting idly by and watching the wind blow. Well, most of the time, anyway.

Before I forget, the cabin site became sorta haunted and will have to be rebuilt. Since no one HERE has a clue, my (Helen's) poor brother will be stuck with the job by default; however, he has zero time to battle web site woes right now, so we have a temporary one up! You can find it at http://jrm2149.wix.com/angel-mountain-cabin. 

I won't begin to try to catch up on the past 10 months, other than to say WHEW. Randy's 'retirement' is anything but; if it doesn't kill us, I suppose it'll keep us young. Or something.

The bees are buzzing, which is a really good thing after some frigid temps this winter. We aren't complaining! At least we don't live in Boston. Yikes. Bee Daddy is working on the hive stands, and soon I'll be able to join him... with my new hip! Yep, I'm almost bionic now, sure to set off an alarm or two. I don't care! One more week, and I should be free to get back to work in the flower beds and bee jungle. And unload some lard in the process!

A few of the hives that made it thru the winter!

The crawdads/crayfish/whatever have messed with the pond levels and Randy's sanity, but the recently discovered hole seems to have miraculously sealed itself up. The fish kids have stopped working on Plan B....

Honey has been with us almost 10 months and continues to be fun, sweet, and a bit rambunctious in the puppy sense (she turned one in mid December). She loves to run, run, run, and took full advantage of the snow!

She may be a little spoiled.

She loves snuggle time with her SC cousins, Emmy and Mae :) 

And speaking of spoiled, Honey's VA cousin, Maple, qualifies, too....

Meanwhile, Sami has somehow managed to flip over another year on the calendar and is 17.

She's becoming brave in her old age, daring Honey to come after her and threatening to claw her puppy eyeballs out if she tries. Poor Honey just wants to P-L-A-Y, although she's learning to be a little more patient around her big sis.

Maybe Sami just needs a nap...

We hope all is well with all of you, and we hope to see you sometime this year!

Still here... 2014 Edition

Why I'm amazed that so much time has lapsed since my last post is beyond me. The time has been zooming right on by for so long, I've given up trying to stay on top of things.

The Mountainbilly gerbil wheels have continued to spin! In a nutshell:

1. My mother released her CD, The Story of Noah's Ark, thru CD Baby! You can learn more about the CD (and Mom's remarkable story!) here.

2. Favorite Firstborn, Matthew, and Favorite Daughter-in-law, Jill, haven't been resting since getting married in November. They moved to VA, then bought a house that needed a fence for their baby, Maple. Randy - being 'retired' and all - built the fence mostly by himself, as the happy homeowners were busy working. Their yard is better than a dog park now!

3. While Randy was busy on the fence, I was busy on our nephew's wedding desserts! I wasn't sure it was safe to leave me alone in the kitchen with almost 20 new recipes (enough of each for over 200 guests!), but I survived, and despite ditching a couple of the choices, the 18 that made the final cut were purty tasty. When Randy was finished with the fence, he shifted effortlessly into wedding cake mode, making a 3-tiered Oreo cheesecake. Oink. The wedding was held in a small airplane hangar (our pilot nephew met his fiancee when she worked at the airport) almost 6 hours away, so we couldn't completely relax until the goods were delivered and the cake was cut. It was all beautiful, and as Favorite Daughter/Photographer Katie ended up taking pictures from beginning to end, there are some stunning memories.

The hangar:

A small section of the dessert table:

 The wedding cake (even more delicious than it looked!):

4. Bees, bees, and more bees! Randy has now retrieved bees from a felled tree and from the wall of a second-story shed accessible only by ladder. We're up to 11 hives now, all bustling along well and rewarding us with treasured honey! And... Randy's been teaching an introductory beekeeping class at the local community college this month. He's had a great time teaching, and I imagine the new beekeepers have had fun learning.

5. We celebrated Jeffrey's 17th birthday! Hard. To. Believe.

6. We have a new furbaby in the family! Long story, Katie and Favorite Son-in-Law, Paul, happened upon a sweet dog at the Charleston Animal Society (where one of their own furbabies came from) and asked what we thought. We apparently thought we were ready for another pooch, so they returned to the shelter with their own furbabies, Mae and Emmy, to see how they'd all get along. They acted like old pals, so that was that. We met Katie and Paul in Fort Mill, SC, to get 'Honey' on Father's Day... which was more fitting than we could have imagined :)

   

We can't wait to get Honey together with the granddogs, Emmy, Mae, and Maple:

             

Meanwhile, we're all enjoying our new baby! Well, okay... maybe not Sami.

And that's a sampling of what's been happening around here. Whew.

Until I come up for air again, happy summer!

Still Here!!!

I could hardly believe my eyes to see that my last post was in April. At least it was in 2013....

Things have been hopping around here since then. After a particularly grueling past few years teaching and coaching football (and baseball this past year), Randy retired from the education circus in May. No more insane commutes and school politics! 

Not one to skip a beat, he's kept himself occupied with our bees and mowing, tho with daily rain all summer, he didn't get everything mowed until a couple of months ago... and then the mower conked out.

At the end of summer, Matthew announced his engagement, so we put ourselves in overdrive in more ways than one. We considered ourselves food experts after our bakery days and catering Katie's wedding (actually, her wedding week) and figured this would be a lot easier.  

It may have been, had we done just the dinner food both nights and a 'cake.' However, Mr. Retiree insisted on becoming a master wedding cake decorator, and the cakes (yep, cakes) were gorgeous and delicious.

(The groom chose chocolate mint cheesecake. So Randy made TWO.)

We're now on a serious quest to shed some of the experimental pounds....

The wedding (on Thanksgiving weekend) was beautiful and fun, and we love our new daughter-in-law, Jill. Katie took hundreds of gorgeous photos, so we can relive the hoopla as often as we'd like and in our pjs if desired!

In cabin news, it was a busy summer and fall! We've been reminded numerous times what terrific cabineers we have :)

Meanwhile, it's time for Christmas?!? YIKES. That means it's time for the annual Winter Hibernation Special! From now thru March, 2014, nightly rates will drop to $75 for the first two nights and $50 for each additional night. And there's still chocolate!

Cheers to all!

                   

The Latest Bzzzzzz...

Greetings - it's already almost May! How'd that happen?

No matter - it's beginning to look like spring even if the flannel sheets are still in place. Hummingbirds are back and bossy, blooms are popping up all over, and the first of the new bee kids have arrived (unfortunately, our two hives from last year were among the 1.4 million others lost across the country).

You'd better sit down for this next bit of news. The cabin is now hooked up with fiber optic for the TV... and WiFi, for those who would like (or need) to stay connected a little even during an escape from the real world. 

You read that right - the cabin has ooched its way into the 21st century with internet, and it's wireless at that!

And don't forget the gift certificates to The Honey Hole.

So there's really no excuse now not to come :)

It's April... Fools and All!

It doesn't exactly feel like spring at Angel Mountain yet, but since the calendar says April, we can pretend.

Spring started off in bittersweet fashion for the humans around here. After a fun-filled day with her mama, our little Maggie decided she'd had a full earthly life and was ready to head to greener pastures. Things moved at breakneck speed and were peaceful and easy (for Maggie, anyway) - a pretty perfect ending to a pretty perfect life for our 15-year old chunk of spunk. To say we miss her and her antics doesn't come close to justice, but we sure have some fond memories :)

 After an impromptu first - and last - dip in the DEEP end of the BIG pond with the BIG catfish!

Rollin' with a party hat for Nana's 80th birthday!

Field of dreams, er, dandelions

Bee girl!

With Emmy (at attention for a cookie) and Mae (not paying a bit of attention).

(Emmy and Mae belong to Favorite Daughter Katie and Favorite Son-In-Law Paul)

Just sittin' on Angel Mountain

Maggie LOVED snow, so it's probably no coincidence that the first of three spring snows (so far!) appeared right after she was tucked away in her resting spot.

In other news, we're celebrating the return of spring (i.e., the survival of winter) with a bonus for our cabineers this year!

Because we're beekeepers now, we've become quite attached to The Honey Hole, a must-visit shop in West Jefferson catering to beekeepers and folks who enjoy quality products - honey, soaps, candles, body-pampering products, teas, and much, much more! It's no cliché to say that there's something for everyone there. 'In season,' you can see the fascinating in-store observation hive, and when it warms up, the hot dog stand will be back in business on Saturdays! 

The Honey Hole is within walking distance to the Ashe County Cheese Factory and a downtown full of other neat shops, so it's easy to park and stroll.

Anyway, back to the bonus for our cabineers:

For a 2-night stay, guests will receive a $10 gift certificate to The Honey Hole.

For a 3-night stay, guests will receive a $15 gift certificate to The Honey Hole. 

Longer stays will definitely garner a thank-you of appreciation as well!

So make plans to abandon the real world for a few days and head on to Angel Mountain! Hope to see you now that the brunt of winter has passed. 

Knock on wood.