Summer is drawing to a close soon and many of you are probably dreaming of fall and cooler weather, but those that are still working outside in the woods and brush in this dog days of summer heat may find this treatment for chigger bites helpful. If you are experiencing multiple chigger bites, you know they feel like the bane of one’s existence!
Continue reading “Treating Chigger Bites with Clove Essential Oil”
After our fun at Dry Falls and Bridal Veil Falls we headed on up to Whiteside Mountain near Highlands, NC. The hike to the summit of Whiteside Mountain is a moderate 2.5 mile loop. After an initial steep start we reached the point where the loop splits to the left and the right. The left is less of an incline, but will take longer to get to the top. We chose to take the right which is steeper and includes some steps as well. I find the older I get the steep inclines and steps are actually harder on the ole knees coming down (just another reason to go right). The first small opening along the path is a beautiful tease of what is to come.
With Jon’s new job and all of the animals it is hard for us to take a long vacation right now. Over our 3 day Fourth of July weekend we took a trip about 4 hours away to the mountains in Franklin, NC. We had a short stay which included a fair amount of rain and not a lot of time to do everything in the area, but we still had a great time. The first thing we did after arriving and settling in was drive a short distance to see Dry Falls and Bridal Veil Falls in Highlands, NC.
Continue reading “Dry Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, Highlands NC”
We generally try to go on a little weekend getaway for our anniversary each year. However, there was just too much going on this year around our anniversary with Jon’s new job, church events, Sarah’s soccer, Sarah’s birthday, and Ryan’s high school graduation. We were going up to Morgantown, WV for Ryan’s graduation and needed to get Jon’s Mom along the way. So our trip to graduation was going to be about 10 hours of driving in one day. Yeehaw! After the graduation, we stayed the night with Jon’s Mom in WV. We had planned on trying to hit a hike somewhere along our way home to NC the next day. A couple of years ago, we had visited Coopers Rock State Park, Babcock State Park, and Valley Falls State Park nearby so we wanted to try some place we had not already been. We settled in on Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, VA. It was just a short drive out of our way as we headed back south.
Continue reading “Molly’s Knob Hungry Mother State Park, Marion VA”
I grew up in the country crawling around in weeds and such as a kid. We were always warned we were going to get chigger bites, but never did I in my entire 38 years until this year. While mowing and working out at the land several weeks back, Jon and I and one of the boys got a bad case of chigger bites. I even got them twice. The second time was horrific and they even blistered. No chigger bites in 38 and years and now twice within a few weeks of each other!
Jon and I finally had the opportunity to take a “mini vacation” this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. We were blessed with wonderful weather for hiking. I took about 160 photos and they are all so beautiful. I wanted to share them with you, but it was really difficult to choose just a few.
Friday, we visited Babcock State Park, WV and hiked 5.5 miles. I love the Glade Creek Grist Mill there. The mill and the views are lovely. Although we did a lot of hiking, you can see them by driving and parking if you prefer.
Last Saturday Jon was off and we were blessed with some gorgeous weather in the 70’s. Working in the restaurant business, he does not get many Saturdays off. So, we headed to the land for the day. We ate a big breakfast at a nearby truck stop on the way and packed lunch and snacks for the day.
There are several logging roads and paths cut through the land. Some have been kept clearer and in better shape than others. The first thing Jon wanted to do was to clear out one of the paths that had grown up with a lot of brush and briars so that we could better access that side of the property.
While Jon started on that, Sarah and I went exploring. This is really the first time she had seen it. The last time she was with us when we were out there it was raining and cold and we had not purchased it yet. She just sat in the truck that day while we looked at it more trying to determine if we were going to put in a offer. The first thing she had to see of course was the creek.
Our one year anniversary was coming up May 20th. We wanted a little weekend getaway to celebrate, but we just couldn’t work it out around the 20th. So, we planned a weekend trip for just the two of us in the mountains at Chimney Rock, NC leaving on the 5th.
Some of our trees and bushes came and were planted, but we were a little worried our apple and peach trees would come while we were gone. Also, we had just planted our first garden so we were a tiny bit anxious. We left our second oldest, a high school senior, at home for the weekend with instructions to water the garden and to keep an eye out for our other trees. If they came we wanted him to put them in the shade and give them some water on the roots. I know they are supposed to last 30 days with that gel stuff on their roots, but that is new to me and well we were nervous about them.
This is the first time we had left him home alone and before we got 2 hours up the road he was calling because he had cut himself at work (restaurant) and was going to the emergency room. Oh my! We were worrying about the trees and garden thinking he’d be OK, and here he is only his second day at a new job and on his way to the ER!! He kept reassuring us it was OK and we didn’t need to come back. He was telling us it wasn’t that bad and he didn’t see why they were taking him to the ER. So, we hesitantly proceeded on our trip checking in with him constantly now. He ended up getting a couple of stitches and texted us pictures! Still he says there is no need to come home.
Other than obsessing over leaving him behind, the garden, and the trees we had a wonderful time at Lake Lure and Chimney Rock. Lake Lure is where they filmed the movie Dirty Dancing. What woman hasn’t seen that movie a few hundred times? We took a pontoon boat ride the first evening and just chilled and enjoyed the gorgeous evening.
Our sweet little cabin:
