Solo to Scotland!

Yesterday I went to Scotland! Scotland county that is. To a place named Aberdeen in fact. I went to go check out a rental that was an honest to goodness barn home. Haven't I always said "I wish I could live in a barn?" Well this was a dream come true. Four very nice stalls, wash rack, tack room, turn outs and upstairs a great little apartment with two bedrooms two baths! Its close to where Tim's new job is and surrounded by forests. In fact there was 88 acres of forest to ride through right out the back door. Unfortunately, Tim's job will only be in that area for the remainder of his training, then it shifts back down here for his sales area. It was quite the drive, around 350 miles worth of cotton fields, sod farms and cute towns.

I printed directions off of google packed a snack and felt pretty good about myself since this was my first solo outing into the weeds since we've moved here. Exploring here is a bit different than exploring in San Diego. Finding gas stations can be a real challenge. And the sheer number of back roads would make your head spin... All of them shooting off in opposite directions at every stop sign. There was a minimum of 5 street markers per stop sign. Route numbers, road names and which town you might eventually get to. Crazy!!!! Anyhow, my favorite part of the drive was on North Elwell Ferry road. It was very scenic. Fall colors popping off the trees, gently rolling terrain and quaint farms houses in the distance. Then all of a sudden there was a stop sign in the middle of street. Beyond it was a river. Across the river was a Ferry. A one car ferry, making its way to the shore I was on along a rope. I'm not making this up. There was a "wheel house" with a wooden stool, something that looked like a lawn mower engine and a "ferryman"( quit snickering he was not that kind of fairy) It putts across and lets a mini van off and motions me to pull up. I'm not gonna lie, I had a little trepidation about pulling my truck onto a souped up flat bottom boat, off of a back country road with out my bathing suit.
I guess all this showed on my face because the nice Ferryman says "Bet you hadn't counted on this huh?" I said honestly to him while looking at my google map "No, I counted on a road!" He laughed and off we went out onto the river. He smirked even more when he saw me clicking away with my camera. But hey, how often do you get to ride a boat with your car? I wasn't sure I should tip the guy or not so I just waved and thought I might try my second option from google on the way home. It was fun and all but.....grin. Anyhoo, the next bit of fun came a bit further on. Along the side of the road where a bunch of men in orange hats with big rifles slung over their shoulders. They are all hanging out in the back of their pick ups and waving a radio antennae in the air. Ok..well they are obviously hunters, but what on earth are they hunting from their pick ups with radio frequency? My question was answered not a mile farther when a deer shot out in front of me followed closely by three hounds, two that looked like fox hounds and one " yalla" one( that yellow in North Carolinese) I was flabbergasted, My farrier confirmed it though, they use dogs to hunt deer here! I'm guessing that meat is vile after all the adrenalin has shot through it...OMG. It made me drive very slowly the rest of the way to Aberdeen. I had visions of deer across my hood and hounds under my wheels. UGH.

After visiting the barn home, I poked around a bit to see the area and found a beautiful horse park with cross country jumps that would curl your hair.(and those where just the ones i could see from the road!) Apparently North Carolina has a shmancy horse park akin to the one in Leesburg Va. I could find no one around to ask about it though but it was nice to imagine riding out there on all that horse friendly land!
Having found my alternate route home I drove through Lumberton and couldn't pass up the fall pic of this church, one of 5 I spied going through town. It was a fun day albeit long. I guess I can say I've been to Scotland and back.

refried fries? or is country fried fries..no I know...

Today found me combing the countryside for horse feed...AGAIN. Its got to be the only place in the world where one buys ones feed at a hardware store. How this came about I'm not sure. Nails? check. fertilizer? check. gopher poison? check? horse feed?....well, you get the picture. Anyhow, I did locate a hardware store in Castle Hayne about 15 miles away that has almost all the items I need for the babies and the customer service there is great. The one tiny problem is that sometimes they are out of stuff. So after one frustrating trip up there this summer where they had NONE of the items I needed in stock..I learned to call first. I'm very proud of myself for this arrangement and followed through on my end this morning before leaving the house. When I got there I casually placed my order and to my surprise and dismay they where out of Enpower a very key ingredient in Cuervos bucket. After many apologies from the counter people and the warehouse people, they informed me there was sure to be some on Thursday...to late for me really so I took off up the road in search of more. Three hardware stores later somewhere around Rocky Point, I gave in. I was hungry and I figured on line was a way more effective way to shop for nutrena dealers. Anyhow at one pleasant little place where I bought a straw sun hat. I asked the clerks where to grab a bite to eat....I was steered to Paul's Place( that asshole!*)*Inside joke but it came about because a moniker was needed and not much rhymes with Paul who had just ended our relationship. Its funnier with the right people. wink wink! ANYHOW, Paul's Place turned out to be a very crowded hot dog stand. A hot dog restaurant if you will, with tables and such. I stood cheek to jowl with dozens of men in varying degrees of sweaty labor wear waiting to place my order. I know, I know, I don't eat this type of food, but I was really hungry and I was no where near anything any better. I figured fries and a water and I'm good till I get home. I had plenty of time to peruse the menu, which consisted of fries, hot dogs and sodas. You got four choices really, a hot dog with mustard, with chili, with relish or loaded which I guessed was mustard and chili and relish. From there your choices where two, three or four of those babies. Hot dogs are one of those foods, much like spam or sardines that don't really sound so bad until you bite into it then it all comes back to you how vile they really are! They even kind of smell good when they are grilled. My turn comes up and I try to order my fries and a drink and skedaddle but this was confusing to the help. They wanted to make sure I got the most for my money after all and a dog, fries and a drink where a better value. Okay, just give me my grease stained bag and I'm outta here would ya? sheesh! Well, call it hunger pangs, or simply the mind addling presence of so many unwashed testosterone ridden, zaftig men. I got in my car and tried that dog. Hmmm, well... Lets just say the chickens got a nice little snack when I got home and leave it at that shall we. I did however eat a few fries to tide me over and that's where my busy little brain gets me into trouble. Give it a good dose of salt, some grease and starch and the thing starts ruminating on all kinds of inane things. Which brings me to the title of this installment. How come fries here in the south, and I mean all restaurant fries seem batter fried? Truth! They are not smooth or baked like steak fries or Mcdonaldesque. They are like twice fried ,fries or something. They are really crunchy and seasoned and the insides are like mashed potatoes. That's it! they are like a fried mashed potato stick. It true, I'm not sure why unless one company has the monopoly here in Hampstead and beyond in french fry sales. But its the weirdest thing. I fondly remember the south being known for its home fries. Where are those tasty little morsels now?

FALL!

So fall has arrived in all its glory on the coast. That means cold wind and grey skies. No leaves to speak of yet. 48 degrees this morning and it stayed that way all day..I looked like the Michelin man on my walk. Several layers of clothes ending in orange polar fleece. Deer hunting is in full force so I felt the Orange polar fleece was a safe bet to wear down the street on my walkie. What I find so funny is that this polar fleece I am wearing is a ensemble that I bought over ten years ago in New Zealand. Its a kids size 12 ( Ive never seen such tall people as I saw in NZ! ) It didn't get much use in Cali! grin! But here......well.....

I have put in a winter container garden. The prices of veggies here being what they are. I never understood the whining of the east coast folks on the gone raw website about the veggies here on the east coast, when I was doing the raw food diet. Cali had its bonuses as far as that went. I was spoiled by 25 avos for buck and lettuce for 89 cents, cauliflower for a 99 cents etc etc....Here? OMG cauliflower for 3.99? broccoli for 2.99? shit!! well anyhow, when the going gets tough the tough get going right? Finding myself with extra containers after the big unpacking, I planted them! It looks like the bok choy, the broccoli and the lettuces are doing great. It will probably be one big haul 'cause I didn't stagger the plantings but what ever.... at least we will go out with a bang right? I frankly was thinking it wouldn't take anyhow so one lettuce head would thrill me! If it works, look out next year! That reminds me, I was eavesdropping in the supper market the other day and these two gals where discussing zucchini...they had never had any! what? zucchini a garden staple? OK so i checked it out with ma....turns out, a southern garden basically consists of tomatoes, corn, beans, greens like kale, onions and the occasional potato. NO squash! man guess they forgot all Indians had to teach eh? In any case, I will be looking forward to feeding us on home grown eggs(note the chickens in Tarra! Like all building projects they had to move in before it was totally done!) and fresh winter veggies for a week or three. I feel like a pioneer! grin....

Artsy Fartsy: more pics from the smokeys...

meadow

stairs to the loft in historic cabin


fall colors begining

Our cabin in Sevierville

Mom's childhood home, now abandoned


Historic Cabin in the park.

Historic church yard in the park

Hearth at the cabin in the woods

Historic Baptist church

Hand made shingles

Sunrise porch

Sunrise!

The Great Smokey Mountains

"John's Ole bunch" and their bunches( my grannies name was Johnny!)

Cuz'n Joes Beautiful Ladies! Hannah bannana and Anne.

Moms sibs and cousins

Me, Tim, Cathy and Tone malone and his son Max(other son,Jack was off hunting arrow heads!)
Tony and His brother Joe were the closest thing I had to brothers.

Deer in the Smokey Mt National Forest.

Awesome historic cabin in the park, perfect size and came with its own set of bats which hung from the rafters.

The View!!!!

This past weekend was the Artis family reunion in Knoxville, TN. My Grannies people. Some of them I had never met and most of them I hadn't seen in over a decade. The stories where nonstop. Its amazing any of my moms siblings( mom included) survived to adulthood! The mountains where a week or so away from their true fall splendor, but it was gorgeous just the same. I was so surprised at how perspective plays such a role in memories. Grannies old home seemed so close to the road, Aunt Pearls house seemed so close to Grannies, the walk up Old Standard Holler was so much shorter! It was a grand old time. I think Tim was impressed. If not impressed scared into lying that he was after hearing all the crazy stories!

What do gay horses eat?

Its miller time!

yes, those are the rafters of my barn!

Me, Javier, Tim and the Semi, before it got hard!

HAAAAAAAY!(said in two octaves like a greeting) When I first heard this joke the person who told it to me said it would grow on me and it has! Who would have thunk it? grin. The whole reason hay is on my mind is the fact that yesterday Tim, Diana and I and 4 wonderful, hired hands. tackled a semi truck full of hay. That's 640 bales or 41,300 pounds of hay. Why you ask? Well you have all read my mumblings before on this blog about the state of hay here in NC....I still cant get my mind around it.....but leaving off that train of thought I decided to take the bull by the horns and stock our larders for winter. Nothings worse than frantically driving from feed store to feed store looking for reasonable hay for our precious ponies to tide them over until the "hay guy" shows up from parts north.....enough already! So as luck would have it I answered a small ad and made a brand new friend in our new hay broker. She has found a wonderful Ohio Amish connection and the hay is just fabulous! Hay is a challenging crop in the best of times, and this year has not been the best of times. There was all kinds of rain, which is good for growing, but bad for cutting and curing( that's when you leave you hay cut in the fields to dry out before baling) So under these conditions hay is either ruined because it gets rained on after its cut or more heart breaking after its baled, but before it can be safely stowed in a barn! The other option is to leave it growing to long awaiting a good day to cut and bale and stack. That makes the hay less palatable and less nutritious. So I feel for all those hay farmers out there, I really do. It just doesn't solve my hay dilemma and its all about me really! hahaha. So the ambitious project began of scheduling, unloading and stacking ridiculous amounts of the green stuff. The easiest part was to pay for it. Write a huge check and put it in an overnight envelope to wonderful hay broker, then it got a bit more challenging. Find help. I know! All you Cali friends are going "just down to the corner to hand pick the ones least likely to be murderers on the lamb"...right? Not so here in the south. I KNOW! right? Using deductive reasoning, I figure the feed stores should have leads for burly, non-felonesque help. After all, they unload tons of hay for sale at their stores. Er...not so much. It was all, bewildered looks and head scratching and phrases I hate to hear like " Well, I don't rightly know" OMG! Many phone calls later, we get two painters( Diego and Javier) and two yard guys ( Bill and Oiche) Mind you they are only able to help because they have been working at their other jobs since dawn and knock off at noon, the purported hay delivery time! Skip ahead to Friday( yesterday) and Bill and Oiche show up on time. At that moment our semi truck driver calls from over an hour away. Okay, so I got my round pen moved to a new location, but poor Diego and Javier are cooling their heels at our pick up spot, and do I have their phone number? eh nope. We hired them through an intermediary. In my endeavor to speed to their location in my truck, I get exactly 5 feet into the yard and presto.....MUD! 4 wheel drive defying mud. Picture Tims face about now... But wait it gets better, as we are laboring away to free my truck with planks and and old hay being liberally sprinkled about, it clouds up and starts to rain! Hay unloading in the rain is not kosher. I'm breathing, I'm breathing. Om mani padmeh om! 40 minutes later with my truck freed I go bumping down our road with Diana to pick up Javier and Diego hoping like heck they are still there! As I round the one bend in our road( THE bend as its known, when being used as a land mark for things such a pizza delivery...as in " are ya'll before or after THE bend?") I almost run smack into a giant semi taking up the entire two lanes! Well, the nerve! What fool driver is gonna take up two lanes....oh....Its our hay delivery. greeeeeaaaaaat! I shout encouragement to the guy driving (who looks like some ones pappaw) and continue on my way. Really really, hoping that the guys are still waiting for us! On the bright side , it has stopped raining! One missed turn later we arrive at the meeting spot and YES, we have helpers! The fun was just beginning. We began work like a well oiled machine.....OK, well not well oiled more like, a kinda hiccupy and screechy machine. In any case the job was certainly separating the men from the boys after the first two hours. Distinguished honors go to Tim, who has already informed me that hay unloading in any form is now no longer a service provided by Collins Specialty Contractors, and Javier, the Incan power ranger,who even though he was about an inch taller than me, patented the shoulder carry for these 60 pound bales of gorgeous teff hay. It has already been inducted into our family vernacular as the "Javier carry" and doing a "Javier" means you worked your butt off! He literally scampered( yes scampered!) up the growing pile of hay with bales over his shoulders like nothing. I think he is part ant.

After all the fun we could stand here at our house, bales to the rafters! We took the last third a semi of hay to Diana's. Using pick up trucks we shuttle the stuff from the road up her drive and into her barn,. The wash rack was stacked full so we can use that stack as stair case to the loft. Who builds a barn with no outside door to a loft? sigh...but it worked great. And by 6 pm all hay was stowed and 7 very tired, very dirty people where ready to call it a day. Last night before bed I was standing in my barn surveying the mountain of hay and breathing its sweet aroma. I turned off the lights very satisfied with myself for pulling it all off. Horses wont starve, and hay doesn't have to be purchased again until about march! Now that's a good days work.