Poem: Those Pumpkins ( Another Halloween Post -#4)

( Click on poem to enlarge )

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Did you have doubts about these guys coming to be? If so you just haven't been paying close attention to my ramblings all these months! :)

As I have often stated, I just hate change...letting go of traditions! And though I am the only one who will see my Jack-O- Lanterns this Halloween, I'm still happy I did them! I'll sit and watch them until their little lights burn out! Who knows, I may even find some more candles when these burn down! I'm sitting with just the candle light and the light from my computer. It's very cozy and festive!

Dinner was a simple Tuna salad, so I would have the time to carve these guys! Two of them seem happy that I did...not sure about the other two!

Oh well! I learned a long time ago you can't always please everyone!

I think I may search out some more Halloween type songs to celebrate! :)



Junie

"Boris The Spider" The Who

Cool song for Halloween!

( sorry- you have to copy and paste! )





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3bZLJhOkrw&mode=related&search



Junie

'Werewolves of London' (POST #2 of today)

Here is a perfect song for Halloween, by one of my favorites-the great Warren Zevon!


Lyrics:

Werewolves of London
( Warren Zevon)


I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
walkin through the streets of Soho in the rain.
He was lookin for the place called Lee Ho Fooks, gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein.

Chorus:
Aaahoo, werewolves of London
Aaahoo(2x)

Ya hear him howlin around your kitchen door, ya better not let him in.
Little old lady got mutilated late last night, werewolves of London again.

Chorus 2x

He's the hairy, hairy gent, who ran amok in Kent.
Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair.
You better stay away from him, he'll rip your lungs out Jim.
Huh, I'd like to meet his tailor.

Chorus 2x

Well, I saw Lon Chaney walkin with the queen, doing the werewolves of London.
I saw Lon Chaney Jr. walkin with the queen, doin the werewolves of London
I saw a werewolf drinkin a pina colada at Trader Vic's
And his hair was perfect.

ahhhooooo, werewolves of London
Draw blood


;>} FUN!

Junie

Happy Halloween!

~~~~~~Some of our past Halloweens~~~~~~





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Have a happy one!

Junie

And now, "A Quick One... "

...A quick one...

Look what I got today!

It's The Who-Live from Toronto-1982 tour!

2 CDs and a DVD!

I can't WAIT to play it! It has some songs that I don't have on any other CDs!

"Boris the Spider" lol!! This can be my Halloween listening!


See the vid here:

(you will have to copy and paste)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3bZLJhOkrw

Junie

...to condense and conclude...

~~ I will condense and conclude our trip with this post!~~

( do I hear sighs of relief out there? :) )
~~~~~~


OK- We had enjoyed our little taste of wintery weather in the High Country! YES! Really - even the Wheel- Deal!

It was a beautiful drive from Banner Elk-Spruce Pine area back to Hendersonville where we stayed for the night!

Some pics of that drive:




And here we are the next morning at the motel, before leaving for Franklin and then on to Silva!




The road we traveled between Hendersonville and Franklin was probably the prettiest we had seen...a very winding, mountain road; still in peak color!






SILVA is a pretty little town we had visited a few times before! We like to see that court house high on the hill! ;) We didn't walk up those steps this time , though! With the way my luck was going I just might have taken a tumble down that hill-right into the road! Indeed, the road runs just at the base of that hill!

Some Pics of Silva:








North Carolina! What a beautiful state!


Junie

Snowy Banner Elk and onward...

We're on the road again...putting the 'cold dip' behind us. My one pair of warm shoes are beyond use now, so I have to make-do with my socks and sandals until I can find a Wal-Mart to get something warmer!

...I start to realize the mistake I made in not doing more to my hair! It has become a complete, flyaway mess! In the end I could do nothing more than put it in a twist and clamp it down!

Like this!

But notice-I'm still smling!

I couldn't spend much time on the ground in Banner Elk (without warm shoes) so the pics here were mostly taken from the car! A good bit of snow in Banner Elk, as some of the pictures show! You can see snow on the ski slopes in some of them!







After a while in Banner Elk we decided to drive on. It was either that or go back to Boone to the Wal-Mart, as there were no shoes to be had in Banner Elk! Charles will not backtrack -ever- so we went south again! This time we were heading for Hendersonville!

~~~But we had got a little taste of winter! In my case, a little more than I had expected!

~~~I will conclude our trip in my next post!~~~


Junie

The Water Wheel

~~~



We returned to the motel and loaded our car. Our plan was to continue on to Banner Elk, which was less than 20 miles south of Boone. Our intention was to see as much of NC as possible and we had never actually been to the town of Banner Elk! We wanted to see what this little ski town was like!

So off we go, after taking another quick run through Boone! We saw a funny sight on the way out…a couple of joggers! (Young guys - students, I would guess) Their top parts were bundled up nicely but their legs were exposed to the weather! Charlie remarked that one of the guys legs were purple- tinted from the cold! … At that time, I couldn’t imagine anyone being that cold!

I was decked out in my little red hat and matching mittens…feeling cozy and fine; my brand new Nikes keeping my feet toasty-warm!

A little ways out from the main part of Boone we see something we just couldn’t pass by! Well, we passed it by but made a hasty U-turn to get an up close and personal look!
It was this!

On a previous trip we had stayed at this very motel and remembered seeing this ‘Water Wheel’ from that time. With the freezing cold weather and snow lightly falling, it was quite a sight and we knew we Must get some pictures of this!

The area around this wheel was well maintained with a board walkway that led to a mulched pathway around behind the wheel-for close-up views from all sides!
The water troth with running water feeding into the wheel had icicles up to 3 feet long, hanging down! I lightly touched one, and to my surprise, it came loose in my hand!



We walked down the path around behind the wheel! My, what a sight, with the ice clinging to every part of it-and snow still, gently, falling!

My husband got this picture of me with the water wheel behind me! (In my cute little hat!
)


~~~~~~

…This next part I have been reluctant to tell-but I will try to tell it in a most humorous way…lest you feel sorry for me- or (God Forbid) think me (or even Charlie) stupid! ;)

Please keep in mind that this was all new stuff for us…all this ice and snow…wooly caps…mittens…freezing ponds…

OK…also –I am used to taking any suggestion my husband gives me - especially in fun situations like this!


…After taking a couple pictures on the walkway he said, ”Stand on that corner and let me get you with the wheel directly behind you!”




I did! When my second foot touched the rock ledge... YES! - I was in the water!
(Neither of us had noticed that the ledge was iced over!)

COLD!


I hit the water and went under! I’m sure I tried to grab onto the wooden part that held the wheel up…I know this from the bruises on my right arm and underarm…but I don’t know how I managed to bruise the left hip!
On reflection, I think it was a small miracle that I didn't hit the back of my head!

All I knew at the time is that I was DANG cold…and I was thinking,
“Oh my! Let me out of here before someone sees me!”

Although I went in over my head, the depth of the water was little more than waist high on me. Attempts by Charles to pull me out, failed! ...but I was able to get through the frame that held the wheel and walk up the incline and climb out!

…lol- and I bet you’re wondering if Charlie captured all this action with the camera…

At the time he was so scared- all he could do was to rush over to see if I was ok and try to help me get out!

He DID mention later that he should have got the picture of me falling…blogging material - don’t you know!! I told him I probably wouldn’t have taken too kindly to that!!

Luckily, we still had time to go back to our motel so I could get a hot shower and change clothes! (I felt sure the housekeepers there would not have cleaned the room yet -if ever- and I was right!)
I laughed all the way back at the utter absurdity of this icy fall into that pond!


I quickly shed the icy, wet clothes and got into the hottest water I could stand- just rinsing my hair! (Not bothering with shampoo or a creme rinse…a mistake!)
A hot shower never felt so good!

We went back by the Water Wheel...Charles had hopes of getting to my hat (with one of the long plow handles he had bought) but he was not able to get it! Here you see the poor frozen little thing- in it's watery grave!




…So we continued onward…

Junie

Snowy Boone -Oct 2006

We arrived in Boone late in the afternoon on Monday. After two full days of 'Leaf Looking' and winding, mountain roads, we were a bit frazzled and needing some rest.

We chose badly on the motel-for purly sentimental reasons. We had stayed at this particular place in our last trip to Boone so were drawn to it again. Sadly, it had become very rundown since we were there several years ago. Nevertheless, we kept the room; the beds were comfortable and clean and the shower was hot- the two main things for us! (PLUS-the price was $49.00-a big + for my husband! :) )

Snow had been predicted and , indeed, tiny white flakes were floating around when we ventured out for dinner. They looked like some sort of little white fly, flitting around!

This snowfall was something new for this Florida girl! We had seen snow on the ground in north California 20+ years ago, but I don't remember ever actually seeing it snow! ( I'm sure in my early childhood in Alabama I had seen it- but that's lost to me now!) Surfice to say-it was an interesting experience for us both-having the snow! It seemed to have been put in the plan just for our pleasure-this early snowfall!

Snowy Boone Encounter - Oct. 2006

We arrived in Boone late in the afternoon on Monday. After two full days of 'Leaf Looking' and winding, mountain roads, we were a bit frazzled and needing some rest.

We chose badly - on the motel - for purely sentimental reasons. We had stayed at this particular place in our last trip to Boone so were drawn to it again. Sadly, it had become very rundown since we were there several years ago. Nevertheless, we kept the room; the beds were comfortable and clean and the shower was hot- the two main things for us! (PLUS-the price was $49.00-a big + for my husband! :) ...never mind the the small pieces of dry dog food in the corner, there! )

Snow had been predicted and, indeed, tiny white flakes were floating around when we ventured out for dinner. These snowflakes reminded me of some sort of little white flies, flitting around!

This snowfall was something new for this Florida girl! We had seen snow on the ground in north California 20+ years ago, but I don't remember ever actually seeing it snow! ( I'm sure in my early childhood in Alabama I had seen it- but that's lost to me now!) Surfice to say-it was an interesting experience for us both-having the snow! It seemed to have been put in the plan just for our pleasure-this early snowfall!

Early the next morning this is what we found...a small accumulation of the white stuff on our car and more of the little white flakes falling! We went for a Bojangles Chicken Biscuit and coffee and watched it fall in ever increasing swirls! This - a very festive and wintery scene!

Here is Charlie being silly-making a snowball!




~~~~

I wanted to get a little more in harmony with the snowy scene so decided I needed to go shop for a hat and mittens- to make my pictures more festive! Besides - the cold weather conditions were doing weird things to my hair and a hat would cover it! In Florida my hair is naturally wavy and managable; here it was dry and fly away! ...LOL- I guess suitable for the Halloween season-on reflection now! However-with the snowy conditions I was thinking more of the Christmas season! A fluffy red hat would be just the thing! I found just the hat at Wal-Mart!

...so- back to the motel and we're off for more adventures...

My cute hat and witchy hair...



~~~My hair was in for even worse times... so was the hat!~~~


...more later...


Junie

Snowy Boone -Oct 2006

We arrived in Boone late in the afternoon on Monday. After two full days of 'Leaf Looking' and winding, mountain roads, we were a bit frazzled and needing some rest.

We chose badly on the motel-for purly sentimental reasons. We had stayed at this particular place in our last trip to Boone so were drawn to it again. Sadly, it had become very rundown since we were there several years ago. Nevertheless, we kept the room; the beds were comfortable and clean and the shower was hot- the two main things for us! (PLUS-the price was $49.00-a big + for my husband! :) )

Snow had been predicted and , indeed, tiny white flakes were floating around when we ventured out for dinner. They looked like some sort of little white fly, flitting around!

This snowfall was something new for this Florida girl! We had seen snow on the ground in north California 20+ years ago, but I don't remember ever actually seeing it snow! ( I'm sure in my early childhood in Alabama I had seen it- but that's lost to me now!) Surfice to say-it was an interesting experience for us both-having the snow! It seemed to have been put in the plan just for our pleasure-this early snowfall!

My travels with Charlie-North Carolina- Oct. 2006- (Part Three)

We traveled north after leaving Mars Hill-Ashville area, to Spruce Pine-Banner Elk and Boone.

The roads were evermore winding and with mountains in every direction. We noticed that a lot of leaves had fallen here, leaving some trees bare!

Christmas tree farms are a big industry in this High Country of NC. The hills are dotted with trees, many tagged and ready for cutting for this Christmas season. It was a lovely sight-the small cattle farms and tree farms and many rustic old barns still standing-and the (still) colorful mountains as a backdrop for all of it!

~~~~~~

Some pics of Spruce Pine area~

~THIS is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip~



And more~~~









...to be continued... ( a snowy visit to Boone!)


Junie

My travels with Charlie- North Carolina- Oct, 2006 (Part Two)

Monday morning we left our folks and headed toward Ashville! I would have to ask Charlie which road we were on (and he's not handy , at the moment) I only know it was a fantastic view on all sides-all the way! Non-stop mountains-and non-stop color! So much beauty it just boggled the mind...sooo much to see my poor little head could not process it all!

Ashville is a big city and we didn't spend a lot of time there...just needed to consult the map and refresh ourselves a bit! The temp had dropped and this was such a welcomed change for us-after our long and hot Florida summer! Pure bliss-this little nip in the air!

We have a fondness for a little town about 15 miles or so N. of Ashville, and that would be our next stop! This little town is called Mars Hill.

Once upon a time- more than 20 years ago- we briefly considered buying a house there! We were enchanted with the area and were thinking of making a change... We even talked seriously with a real Estate Agent and looked at a house there in Mars Hill... It was Autumn (of course) and we were sooo taken with the area! ...But by the time we had made the trip back home we had decided to build the house that we are in now , here in Ocala, Fl!

Best decision I'm sure! :) Because I like to take TRIPS to see the leaves!

:) I do WANDER sometimes...Anyway- here's some pics of Mars Hill! It was just perfect! (tho we didn't hang around long - we had lots more stuff to see!)






After leaving Mars Hill Charles found this junk shop! Yes! Just what he loves! And found just what he was looking for - a pair of handles for an old plow he has!





...stay tuned for Part Three...

Junie