Faith-manor Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 Hi everyone, it has been insane, crazy busy, so I haven't checked in for a while. We closed on the house, everything went smoothly. Then it was a whirlwind of painting, painting, and more painting, changing light fixtures, and moving our daughter, son in law, and grandsons into the house. Our little suite is set up for us so we will be back this fall for a long visit to see if the cove produces any fall color. It is largely chestnut oak and hickory plus several other varieties of oak so we hope it is beautiful. We have fallen in love with this house. In the mornings, we would make coffee and sit on the deck watching the sun rise, sometimes clouds rising out of the cove. It is so peaceful and serene. Our little grand boys are having the time of their lives exploring the yard, eating what is left of the blueberries and grapes. The tree house is repaired, and you should have seen N's face when he saw it! I wish I could attach the video, but his mum and dad are extremely cautious about photos and video on social media, and I would be a bad grandparent to violate their privacy so I won't. Mark put a ribbon over the ladder steps so he had to cut it to go up. He out a sign on it, "Welcome to Fort Last Name". Now that we are home, we are taking one more fishing trip with our youngest, going to the lake for cookouts a couple of times, and then packing him up to return to college for his senior year. Thankfully, they have 83% of faculty and staff vaccinated, and 71% of the student body at this point. He is still going to mask even though it isn't required. Since our county is only 43% vaxed and covid numbers are climbing, we are getting ready to hunker down again and not do much of anything but get groceries, run through the drive through pharmacy, and take care of the grandmothers. We canceled their dental cleanings for fall - Mark's mom can't take any illness at the moment, a simple, not particularly bad flu could take her down at this time. We are working with her to try to get her stronger, but the P.A.D. is getting worse, and she has numbness and pain, quite a bit of pain, in the leg and foot. I don't know how long surgery can be put off, and if she has surgery when the hospital is flooded with Delta variant? Ugh. Mark and his brother had a long conversation the other day about the what ifs. I may end my gig piano work due to the covid mess. I am not happy about that, but there just is no point in my mind to taking the risks of bringing it home to MIL. I may be on another two-thirds week board break again after today. I am trying to make our current house purge, and vomit up an awful lot of stuff that needs to be gotten rid of, and doing it one room at a time so it isn't overwhelming. I want to work on that every day for a while, and I have to take care of a bunch of housework for MIL. I was going to make her hire someone, but with Delta, I will just buckle down and do it myself. Here is a photo of a cloud in the cove. This was taken from the deck on the back of the house. It is approximately 1300 ft elevation. The switchback is fun to drive, but one has to be careful doing it. The roads from the north coming from Huntsville are just fine, easy driving, well maintained. But the switchback east of us not so much! 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 The picture and your description are lovely! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 I'm so glad everything worked out with the Huntsville house. Good luck with the cleaning & I hope the grandmothers' health holds through the worst of the covid mess. Best to your youngest in his senior year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaybee Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 It sounds like a lovely place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith-manor Posted August 3, 2021 Author Share Posted August 3, 2021 2 minutes ago, Seasider too said: That sounds so beautiful and peaceful! Can you access the water for paddle activities? No. The cove is in conservancy because several species of endangered bats live in the cave system down there. It is a no trespassing zone. The conservancy gave permission to the Spelunking group in Huntsville to go into the caves and check on things several years ago, but they have nor given permission to anyone else to go down there. Jackson Cove on the other side of us, down a different and better maintained switchback, has a lovely little stream running through it but far too many snags to paddle. Mark and youngest have a hankering to drop a line in it this fall and see what fish might come out. But, youngest won't have a chance to do that until after his college graduation in the spring. We can paddle on the Tennessee River 5 miles north (distance depends on what public boat launch location we use) which is gorgeous, and at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge 20 minutes west. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 Congrats on getting settled into your house. my dd's piano teacher did lessons via skype because of the pandemic - would that be an option for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith-manor Posted August 3, 2021 Author Share Posted August 3, 2021 (edited) 53 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said: Congrats on getting settled into your house. my dd's piano teacher did lessons via skype because of the pandemic - would that be an option for you? I retired from teaching lessons a long time ago. Locally, parents want something for nothing and getting them to pay is like pulling teeth. Plus, the vast majority still think covid is a democratic hoax to steal the election. They are not going to sign up for online lessons. I offered an online music class (every student would receive a box of rhythm instruments, boomwhackers, etc.) weekly for the fall 2020 semester and only had one kid sign up. Two other families inquired but would only do it if I was volunteering for free. Sigh. Not going down that rabbit hole again. Edited August 3, 2021 by Faith-manor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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