Beltane Eve

The is the night of fertility celebration, welcoming spring and all the wonders of animal and plant life that regenerate at this time of the annual cycle of life on our planet.

One of the rituals that is performed is jumping the bonfire.
Not just any bonfire.  It was historically made of special wood...whatever that pagan or Christian group may have thought would be significant ...Rowan, Hawthorne, old growth to burn and bring the new into life.

Yes, cattle/sheep etc were driven between 2 fires, the smoke thought to lead to their fertility as well as maybe to keep them more healthy.  I dare say they were pretty scared of that ritual, but farming people did it.

I did jump a bonfire once.  It was nowhere near as high as the one depicted in that photo above.  But it was fun to see that I could run and jump over a pile of burning coals.  It proved something to myself, and brought me into a new sense of being.

Large Cauldron, can hold water or fire.

So this year I've got a cauldron, in which I will burn something or another.  And perhaps jump just a little to get over it.  The point is to go through smoke...to reach the other side of a barrier, and I sure do think I have lots of physical and psychological ones these days.  It can have other significances to other people.  Just stepping over a small fire will have meaning.

Small cauldron...which is my preference for holding Beltane fire this year.

Three black and loose bowls

I may have shared one or another of these before, but when they all got together, it was such a fun group.

White on white bowl with legs

A pair of hummers and lots of trumpet flowers, all done in tiny little white lines on this creamy white bowl standing on 3 legs.

Vases white and black and altered

Number one, some altered loops with matt black glaze, then some satin white over that...2 views

Number two, another black vase with swoops on 2 sides...here's side one.

The middle showing loops and twists on both sides.

Three, this vase has the satin white glaze on the lower half, as well as overlapping the black which comes from the inside to the outside over all the loops.

The colors and weather- come and go

More of the joy of a pink dogwood right outside when the sun shines

 Even though it was a rainy day, I had to capture the buds about to open of the Flame Azalea

I'll let you see it once it's opened of course!  Such color pops against the grey day!

Surprise at the Overlook on the Parkway

 A quiet time sitting at my favorite overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, about a week ago...one of those first really warm days.  It's about 10 miles from my house.  Looking down on these nice farms, or just homes in a cove, I never saw a car going along, nor a person.  Just found one big brown dog who loped along from one house to another for a while.

There were some guys in a California SUV with a tripod and video camera set up, and I thought they were just doing an interview type thing with the overlook in the background.

I kind of ignored them while I sat there.  But as I was about to go back home, I noticed they were giving instructions from one to another, and then there was a third presence.

Yep, a drone was flying around (just to right of sign).  It makes a fan kind of sound, whirring as it moves in any direction.  I remember hearing one when I was at a Woman's March in January.  They take photos as part of the equipment. Mmm, my inner 1984 paranoia reared it's ugly head.

Then there are azaleas

 This bush may be under my kitchen window, but I can't see it when I look out.  Oh well.

 This fuchsia color definitely says it's spring! Of course it's been hit by a few freezes since the buds first appeared.

 It's funny that bushes that were planted at the same time, next to each other, have different times to bloom - full sun must do a lot for them.

Before the big renovation during which I was able to obtain one of these apartments, some of the residents had planted bulbs.  This iris still remains, though now we're told the landscapers will do all the planting these days.

The two dogwoods in my courtyard

The bright sunshine makes white dogwoods pale in comparison, but also allows their luminescence to shine through.

OK, it's not really a courtyard so much as a walkway between the two buildings.  This walk feeds the lower level apartments of the uphill building, and the upper lever apartments of the building which is down hill.  This is a clever setup, so that you meet and greet other neighbors who either live in a downstairs unit on one side, or an upstairs unit on the other.  Thus 5 buildings are stair-stepped down the hill, and our walk area is one of the smallest, so we've at least got some ornamentals to look at!

In the rain, these pink dogwood blossoms just pop out.

Changing faces of Lake Tomahawk

Happy Earth Day. Let's see about reducing our plastic pollution this year! (Great post here.)

Use reusables and just wash them, rather than plastic plates, utensils and cups.

I admit to carrying home each day the left over plastic ware that was distributed to me each day at lunch, so I don't throw away unused ones. But... I could just bring my own each day instead.  What a simple plan.  And reuse a cloth napkin rather than a paper one.  So the food is served to us on styrofoam trays with little dividers.  I don't have a choice on the plate.  But I do on what I drink out of, and the utensils.  Ha.  That will delete a bit of plastic in land fills. I already refuse to use the straws that are provided.

Thinking I eat M-F usually at Lake Tomahawk's Senior Center, a.k.a. Center for Active Living.  That's how many cups, forks and knives? 52x 5 = 260 of each!  OK Barb, now go pack up a carrying bag to take each day...because you know as you dash out the door you'll forget it!

So back to Lake Tomahawk.

August 2017

Jana 5, 2018, ice around most of the lake.

Iced at one end of lake, and snow capped moutains where the Blue Ridge Parkway runs (and was closed) Jan 5, 2018

Feb 5, 2018 cold but sunny

Feb 6, 2018 snow still on some mountain slopes

March 23, 2018

April 12, 2018 (same tree)

April 12, 2018

I admit there are rainy or snowy days, or days when I'm sick, when I don't walk around the lake.  So these are the pictures when I am able to walk.

White on white bowl

Morning mugs that say hello

I am the proud owner of two pieces of Charlie Tefft pottery.  (His home page is ctpottery.com)

I just found this neat video of him describing his process, Here.

So here are my two mugs...it's taken a few years to get the second one, which I purchased at The Potters of Madison County show just this month.

It's nice the Charlie still does the same ash glaze, and his little painted animals are still lovely...this is my first from about 3 years ago, used many many times.

This new one is a bit more tapered, in honor of my dear friend who recently died, Rosemary, who loved crows. We would be drinking our first cups of coffee while emailing for the last 17 years, almost every day.  That her time zone was 3 hours later than mine for the last 5 years, didn't seem to matter.

And in honor of showing them to you, I fixed some espresso and made an Americano for my waking cuppa this morning.  Hadn't had that little old machine out since I moved here 2-1/2 years ago. 

More wildflowers and unknowns...

At Walnut Island River Park, north of Asheville NC, we found these...

Some interesting yellow blooms were off in the woods on either side of the park.

Even enlarging and darkening a bit doesn't tell me what they are definitely. (Except it's not the season for Goldenrod)

The little run is between Walnut Island on the left and a nicely mowed area along the bank on the right.

An enhanced buttercup, I had to darken it in order to see the details of yellow on yellow within the flower.

Violets again eveywhere, notice those heart shaped leaves.  You do know you can eat the blooms, don't you?

 The little white with blue in center are probably a violet also.  But the white star shaped ones on the right are Chickweed

Helen held a Chickweed to show me how each petal is just split which gives it the look of 10 petals...sorry about blurry shot.

But these little hot pink goodies were very few, and very bright! No leaves came with them, and they were kind of like an orchid or pea in the petal configuration. There were only a very few of them among mossy ground, but not near the river. And of course the whole area has either been sodded or seeded with grass, so it could be a hitch-hiker from anywhere.  Anyone know what they are?