Satulah Mountain hike

An easily accessed hike from downtown Highlands is to the top of Satulah Mountain. It is an inclined climb through a winding neighborhood first before you arrive at the trailhead at the top.

One of my favorite homes in Highlands sits  on a lovely lot about halfway up. It is difficult to get good photos of it though. Hopefully these shots show some of the beauty of the lot and very charming cottage.

A babbling brook runs through the ferns and moss of the side yard alongside the little out building. The home has mountain views to the left, hard to see in the midday haze.

This is a peek through the trees just past the cottage.

After the paved road ascent, and a ten minute wooded trail hike, with patches of galax leaves here and there

the views finally reveal themselves at the top. 

Looking east

Looking to the southwest toward Rabun Gap and Georgia, we found an old stone foundation and fireplace.

Western view.

A perfect hike with temperatures in the seventies and a blue sky, a typical summer day in Highlands, NC.

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy

the garden this morning and other stuff

Hi everyone! 

I am still absent in the blogging world. 

Moving into a house and making it a home are much more time consuming than I would have thought. Even if it is a cottage! I finally have finished unpacking all the boxes and making many trips to local consignment and thrift stores to purge unneeded items. 

It has been an effort considering I did the same thing before leaving Ohio but on a much larger scale. I am still amazed at how much we all accumulate over the years and I am not even a collector or habitual shopper. I thought I was a minimalist, uh, no, definitely not. I am enjoying the "less is more freedom" philosophy but it does take effort to get rid of things in a thoughtful way.

Spending time in the yard has been a nice break when needed.

Coreopsis in the front yard that we planted a few weeks ago are happy. The dead tree in the background is one of the many sad Hemlocks that died from the Hemlock Blight in the last few years. The trees are vulnerable to aphids once they weaken.  We have several that will need to be removed.

Summer mornings on the porch are lovely.

Hydrangea tree in bloom, planted tightly between the rocks.

We added a few perennials to the yard here and there and transplanted day lilies and irises that were in the shade in need of sunlight. Also a large arborvitae tree that we needed help with.

Also enjoying the local scenery, which there is a whole lot of! 

We hiked to Sunset Rock one evening. It is an easily accessed trail in downtown Highlands.

View from Sunset Rock.

Next to us as we waited for the sunset was an Andy look-a-like. 

Surreal and sad for us. We are suffering from empty nest syndrome for sure. No more adored children and dog in the house. We miss our Ohio gardens and ponds.We miss our kids and we miss Andy. We are trying to not get a puppy right now as we have more freedom to move around and explore but it is getting tough to resist! We have had goldens for years and are used to their mellow adoring personalities. We are worried about little dogs barking but a small dog would be best when we are ready.

Making our adjustment easier is the fact that we live in such a naturally beautiful area. These  sights are all within a few miles of our house...

Dry Falls a few days ago, a few miles from town.

 Lake Sequoyah

Cullasaja River along Rt. 64

Rt 64 Whiteside Mountain looking east

and we see this view  every time we run errands to Cashiers. So we are blessed to have found such a special place. Highlands and Cashiers are charming and easy. And there is much more to see. I have saved lots of places on my Pinterest boards.

Back to the garden, we arrived back into town last week after visiting friends at Lake Chautauqua in western NY with a nice show of wildflowers on our driveway bed to greet us. 

We do not know what they are, does anyone know? They are blooming everywhere right now, a lot on the roadsides.

* figured it out, it is Helianthus divaricatus or woodland sunflowers

The background is the neighborhood park across the street. Our neighborhood features rustic split rail fences. 

Rhododendren are plentiful, always easy for a quick bouquet. 

That's it for now, hope I can blog more often soon. 

We are waiting for several things to be done in the house. Wallpaper installation, carpenter, furniture delivery, carpet installed on our basement steps. The summer is so busy around here and requires patience for service people. Once all that is accomplished, I will share some photos of our cottage.

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy

heading to the mountains

Hi everyone! 

Dry Falls, Nantahala National Forest

Not much blogging lately due to some changes over here. After moving south in January and having almost completed a coastal house design for our lot on the Port Royal Sound, we have made a decision to make an "about face". I use that term because our decision is affected by a military decision announced in March to place approximately 80 new supersonic F 35 jets (you may have heard about them in the news for their cost overruns)  at the Air Station in Beaufort over the next few years.  

Whiteside Mountain, Highlands, NC

Since our break ground date was set for late June, we saw the timing as an opportunity to make a change. We decided to search for a home in other favorite areas of the Carolinas and ended up in beautiful Highlands, NC in the Nantahala National Forest. Since husband works from home, we are free to live anywhere with a good internet connection. Situated near the borders of SC, NC and GA, Highlands is a summer escape for Southerners. It and its sister city, Cashiers, are known for mountain views, waterfalls, hiking trails, and charming towns with excellent restaurants, pretty shops and a world renown inn.

Old Edwards Inn and Spa in downtown Highlands

We have purchased a small ranch home with a porch view of Whiteside Mountain in the distance. Here are a few shots of the house and lot, taken on a very cloudy afternoon as rain was approaching. Will post more once we make the move.

The home is well kept and decorated beautifully.  We love the raised ceiling and fireplace. 

We are purchasing most of the porch wicker, the sellers want to keep a few pieces. The view is difficult to see in the light of that day. There are plastic blinds in place that roll up for warm weather, they will keep things nice and dry through the winter.

Stone steps to the front door. They are taking the chimney pot, we wanted to purchase it. ;o(  I left ours with the buyers of our Ohio house because it covered the well pipe.

May trim foliage for an enhanced view. 

View from the garage. A drainage system is in place in the gravel driveway.

The street circles around a common land park with a playground and community garden plots.

We will move in late June. Our plan is to escape back to the Low Country in the winter months for sunny breaks. I will post in a few days with some beautiful images of mountain homes in the Highlands/Cashiers areas. 

Thanks for visiting! 

Cindy