The Roundhouse

Look...it's the Roundhouse! Site for the movie "Sun Valley Serenade."

And, site for our lunch yesterday. We skied down the mountain, over the valley and through the woods to get to the Roundhouse, about half-way up the mountain (at the top of the gondola).

We had to climb about 50 steps to get to the restaurant, which is not an easy feat after you've skied for 3 hours.

Then, to our meal -- I got to eat Wiener Schnitzel, Rotkohl and Spaetzle...and listen to a man play polkas on the accordion...while we looked out over Seattle Ridge and watched skiers coming down the mountain.

It just doesn't get better than that!!

Today We Skied The Bowls!

Yep, that's me...on top of the mountain, at 9,200 feet, right off the chairlift, getting ready to ski the "bowls."

Thought I'd share the beauty of the backdrop with you. It was awesome.

PS. On the way to the bowls, I looked to my left and saw a virgin patch of snow. So, off went my skis so that I could scamper up to make a snow angel. Now, that was fun!

Leslie's New Helmet

Hey, how do you like my new baby-blue helmet...the one that Phebe and I bought to bring out the color of my eyes?!

Here I am sitting in front of the fireplace in the Main Lodge, after a splendid day skiing.

:o)

Sun Valley, Idaho

My husband and I are out in Sun Valley, visiting his cousin, and doing some skiing. Here's a picture taken from the top of the mountain. It was an awesome day!!!!

PS. I ran into a guy who I knew at college -- I used to help him with his papers...he was a geology major and wrote lots of papers about being on the ski patrol and bombing canyons to help avert avalanches!

Top 'O Beech

Here's a picture taken at the top of Beech Mountain, North Carolina.

Sunday was a beautiful day for skiing -- we took close to 10 runs before we called it a day.

Monday? Not so good. It poured rain last night. Good day to be working, which we are...

High hopes for tomorrow. :o)

Nana's chair

WOW. Look at how beautiful this chair looks...

This chair used to be next to the bed in my Nana's room. The last time I saw her, when I was 3 years old, I was sitting in this chair. It used to be covered in a torn pink damask.

Look at it now. I love it. Thank you to the guys at East Coast Upholstery in Beaufort. They are amazing!

Alligators in our Pond

We've got a gator in our pond -- can you find him in this picture?

He's eating our fish -- we've got carp, bream, catfish, minnows and more. Hope he'll leave some for us...

Settlin' In

Today is a magnificent day. Sunny, bright, cold. It was 34 degrees when I got into the car this morning.

This is one of those days where everything is unfolding...

I got up this morning and went swimming in the pool before any one else showed up. It was hot and very relaxing, especially to those tense muscles that haven't been worked for awhile. Right as I got out of the pool, the attendants brought big, white, fluffy towels that had come right out of the dryer. Ahhhhhh...

As I drove out of the fitness center, I hopped out of the car, hood over my wet head, to see if there were any pecans (remember, it's pronounced PEEcans) on the ground. While the leaves have started coming down, the big brown hand-like spreads covering much of the uncut grass, I could see a couple of nuts peeking through. It became a treasure hunt. I had to find the season's last pecans. So, I developed a technique. I shuffled my aqua-blue Keen Mary Janes through the lightly frosted grass and leaves until I felt something hard under my foot. A pecan!

So, I ran back to the car, emptied my bathing suit and cap out of the plastic bag I use to carry them, and took the bag across the street to pick. And, I picked and I picked and I picked. Half a bag. I'll shell a couple for breakfast -- and bring the rest to my parents and sister, who have never eaten pecans taken right off the tree.

Drove to the mailroom, picked up the mail, drove over the dike where I saw some egrets and blue herons and on home. On the way home, I tuned into NPR, where I heard an interview with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. When you live in the South, car radio becomes much more important as driving becomes a huge part of your life. Did you know that I have to drive 35 minutes to find a pharmacy, extensive grocery store, and a liquor store? That's a lot of driving time for this city girl. So, I pass the driving time listening to music CDs, audio tapes, talking books, radio, and talking to my clients and friends on my hands-free cell phone. It's a strange adjustment from using public transportation for 23 years, that's for sure.

Home to feed the dogs...it's so cold, they were sleeping under the heater in the garage. Now the dogs are inside with me, one at my feet, Blaze of course, and Xena across the room. I feel warm and happy and content.

Tonight there will be an oyster roast...stay tuned for more stories in tomorrow's edition...!

A Note to Eve

Dear Evie:

Thanks for wishing me a Happy Thanks-giving. As for your question, did you kill your own turkey? The answer is: no, turkey season is in the spring. :o)

But, if we had been stalking an unlucky turkey, this is what his "track" would have looked like. I took this picture on our "farm" on October 25th.

Much love, Leslie

BANG BANG...An Untraditional Thanksgiving

In my old life, a traditional Thanksgiving meant going to church, hearing the people in the congregation give thanks for blessings received during the year, followed by a yummy turkey and friends and family at my parents' house.

In my new life, everything is different. Thanksgiving means...shooting? That's right.

Today, instead of going to church, I called in to a church service broadcast by one of my former churches in Connecticut. It was fun to listen in...I could recognize many voices.

As is true with my new life, it was a day packed with adventure. My husband and I took a glorious bike ride around the plantation. On the way, we stopped at a car that was parked in the middle of the road. What were they doing? Give up? Why...seeding oyster beds, that's what. Of course. :o)

Then we came back to start the next adventure of the day. A little background...Jeff, my husband's best friend, passed on right before our wedding, and we have stayed close to his family ever since. His wife still lives next door for part of the year. So, today, we spent our Thanksgiving with her, and her daughter and son-in-law and two grandsons.

We took all of them -- minus Sara who was cooking -- to our "farm". Jesseca and I picked while the guys did "boy things." Here's a picture of me pickin'.


And, here's a picture of what we picked!


Then, she and I walked part of the grounds, ending up at the pond where the guys were fishing. Lots of fun, not a lot of fish.

Later on, we went shooting...that's what you can do when you live on a sporting plantation. Even the ladies shoot, usually not to kill, just to hit the sporting clays. I'm not there yet, but will let you know when I take my first shot.

A different Thanksgiving, for sure, but it was a great day.

Check out this sunset!

Check out this sunset -- I took this picture from our backyard. Gorgeous!

New Day Tomorrow!

After days of rain, I see a clearing. Here is the view off of our backyard.

Tomorrow will be a new day!

Halloween

Yep, that's me.

Can you guess who I am? Yes, Glinda.

We've Got Okra!

Check this out...have you ever seen red heirloom okra? Here it is. I love the flower.

And, for those of you bubba-ettes who have more experience cooking with it than this Connecticut Yankee, I'm open to recipe ideas. Thanks. :o)

PS. Here is the Star of David okra. Pretty cool, no?

Pickin' Pecans

This is what a pecan looks like when it falls off the tree. Isn't is splendid? This pecan is about 2 inches long. Now, that's a pecan!

It's one of the many gifts of the Lowcountry's bounty...pecans.

As a born Yankee, I learned to say "pee-CONS'", with the accent on "cons." Here we say PEE-cans...unless it is in a pie and then it becomes "pee can" pie, with equal emphasis on the "pee" and the "can", go figure.

So, here's a picture of my husband pickin' pecans under one of our favorite trees. Look at the size of the basket. We've got a bunch of baskets full. How many? More than 3. They should last us awhile!

And, we are going to comb over every inch of the earth and pick up every pecan because here's something you might not know. Pecan trees yield fruit every other year -- so next year, no pecans. You gotta get them while you can.

There is nothing quite like a fresh pecan. True, they are difficult to crack, but that makes it more fun.

We have a special device in our kitchen just for shellin' pecans. You can adjust the back to hold the pecan, located on the left hand side, depending on the length of the nut, then grab the lever on the right hand side and swing to the left...CRACK! The sharp point on the right hand side, pierces the shell and it cracks perfectly in half, if you do it right. And, if for some reason, it doesn't crack quite right, you can still use the pick, which looks like a utensil you might use to remove the hard-to-get pieces of a lobster. Lots of effort, plenty of reward.

There it is. The meat of the nut. And, when it comes right off the tree, like in the above picture, it will be supple and moist and ... absolutely yummy. I've gotta go...am going to go crack a PEcan.

Hoota Woods Redux

Check out the produce from Hoota Woods! We are producing...

green peppers, black peppers, patty pan squash, hot peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, yellow tomatoes, okra and red okra.

It's yummy!

Visiting My Parents

Last week, I went to visit my parents in Chicago.

(BTW, in case you were wondering, this is a picture of the stuffed animals that greeted me in the guest room of my sister's house, where I stayed.)

I miss my parents.

It was strange this summer to go to New Hampshire and stay at the family cabin -- without them. For most of my lifetime, that was our family pattern.

This year it was different. My parents were unable to go.

I was used to seeing them often when I lived in New York. They lived only 30 miles away in Connecticut and it was easy to visit. Even after I was married, I travelled to New York monthly and could check in with them. In May, they moved to Chicago to be closer to my sister and her children and to live in an environment where they could receive more care.

So, it's been a process of letting go of old patterns and reaching forward to create new experiences. There is sadness and wistfulness associated with the letting go. But, I know that to ease that I can look forward, with excitement, to the new experiences that can be created when the old patterns go away.

My parents are living in an independent living facility, which is full of vibrant and caring people. They have already made friends. Both of my parents need care right now, and I'm happy to know that they are receiving a very high level of care and are safe. It's a HUGE relief.

My parents are in the process of recreating their lives. I've told them that they have a choice: either they can measure every new experience against what they've known and what feels familiar, or they can decide to be happy and look for reasons to support that state of mind. I recommend the second option.

I'm in...

..Tennessee!

Yes, if you guessed Tennessee, you were right.

This is Lake Watauga in the Appalachian Mountains. Created in 1948 by the TVA, it covers about 10 miles in a very rural part of the state. It's really beautiful.

And, remote. You can only get to it by taking winding mountain roads. We had to take a left by the Baptist church and drive through a Confederate cemetery to get to our friends' house on the shore.

I do find it a little creepy that underneath this lake, there are towns that were flooded when this lake was formed. Apparently they drain the lake every 20 years -- and you can see the towns that lay beneath.

Summer Roundup

It was a full summer...and a beautiful one in the Lowcountry.

I enjoyed the beach, as you can see.

Mostly though, it was a busy summer.

In June, I received my last load of furniture from up North. My parents were able to make the move from Chicago at the end of May and we split up the contents of the home. So, I spent time in June, trying to get moved in all over again.

July marked workshops. I facilitated another round of workshops, 16 to be exact, in the Lowcountry, in the four surrounding counties. This time it was different. The "official" unemployment rate in one of these counties is 22%, and you and I know that the "actual" rate is much higher. I bet it's over 30%. That's 1 in 3 people not working. We are hurting down here.

August was a relief. I had fun in New Hampshire with my sister and her children. It was kind of a poignant time actually. For the first time in 40 years, my parents weren't able to come and I stayed alone in the family cabin. I missed them. But, I sure had fun with Kathy, Emily and Luke. It was a precious time. We hiked, swam, walked, swam, ate, swam...you get the idea.

Sunrise on Beech Mountain

I thought you'd like to see the sunrise on Beech Mountain, right off our back porch. We are slightly below 5,000 feet. It's beautiful...