Monday Murals

Saturday last I finally did a bit of grocery shopping. Hopey's is a locally owned smallish store with 2 locations in the Asheville area which sells some items that are out of date but otherwise has lots of goodies. I had just 4 items to find, jelly, bread, eggs and fish. No fish was there, but I got chicken instead. The prices were understandably higher than the last time I shopped, but it's a recovery time! And today I had a breakfast of bacon and eggs! All cooked in the microwave to avoid dirtying a pan that would need to be washed. I'm still not running hot water because my tank has the clean water from before the hurricane still in it. If I run it then it will start refilling with the current water which has sediment and high chlorine content in it. Who knows how long it will take to get clear water here. For now I have a tea kettle of potable boiled water (no sediment) for washing dishes. So I still refrain from using real ones and defer to paper and plastic as much as possible.

While visiting my friend, Martha, we went in search of murals.

This is all mosaic tiles, including some mirrors.

As a tourist I'd never have found these hidden places where Pittsboro natives enjoy themselves. There are a lot of micro-breweries there.

Actually just a fence perhaps, in Chapel Hill if I remember right.

Our continuing attempt  for a good selfie of us two.

Sharing with Monday Murals.

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Today's quote:

In times of turmoil and danger, gratitude helps to steady and ground us. It brings us into presence, and our full presence is perhaps the best offering we can make to our world.

JOANNA MACY ------------------

A real live "steam punk" receptionist, from 2023.

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Today's dose of sober photos of my area as Hurricane Helene moved through (not where Martha lives)

My little black cat friends

 These two are definitely the cats who run Martha's house. She talks to them regularly, but their answers are often enigmatic.

This is Sabrina, who lost her back leg as a kitten and can haul her dear little self right up the scratching post to sit on the platform and look out the window.

And this is Sable, with a bit silkier texture to his fur.

But Sabrina likes to take turns for which chair at the table she's going to sit on!

I love this kitchen nook in Martha's house, and you can see Sabrina on her favorite chair (this week.)

I jokingly called this my hotel room. I was totally comfortable here!

A couple of senior gals who've been friends for 49 years! Though there have been many years of gaps in our friendship, we're so comfortable just picking up where we left off when we get together again. This is the front of Martha's pretty house behind us.

But don't think that I got to sit on the couch and write blogs! No no indeed. We went various local places (twice out for lunch) including Walmart for me to stoke up on things to bring back to Black Mountain at my apartment complex. And Martha likes to go for a walk on a trail around the local community college, so I sat and read stuff on my iPhone, and took a few pics of the winter squash the college gardeners are growing. (most of those were photographed in yesterday's post).

And I wanted to be in old town Chapel Hill, so I clicked a few pics on that trip, as well as around Pittsboro. 

Today's quote:

When we drop fear, we can draw nearer to people, we can draw nearer to the Earth, we can draw nearer to all the heavenly creatures that surround us.

BELL HOOKS

Sharing with Eileen's Saturday Critters

Renewed friendship and being shown around

Since I've a backlog of photos from  my evacuation after Hurricane Helene, I'm afraid those are what are on the top of the pile.

When you've driven through Charlotte traffic on a week afternoon, but there are 3 times as many trucks and cars as the roads can handle, it does wear one down. So to have to climb 13 stairs with my various packs was a major chore (even though Martha carried the heavy suitcase for me.) And I was thrilled to see a crystal hanging in Martha's east facing window the next morning giving me a perfect spectrum. I still had trouble climbing the stairs.

So my first outing with Martha was in Pittsboro, the county seat of Chatham County.  You may note (if you remember a post from 2018) that they have removed the statue of a confederate hero!

A friend of Martha's has work displayed in this gallery.

And I'll skip the murals, because once I said I wanted a picture of one we passed, Martha drove me to various sites to see more! That's for Mondays though.

Pittsboro NC is a lovely town to browse in shops, but we had places to go and things to do.

Apparently Pittsboro is now known for many micro-breweries. (Sounds like Black Mountain too)

We visited a neat kind of community gathering place in Pittsboro, with this metal cut-out fence.

Some of the paper goods/plastic and even gasp, styrofoam cups which I brought back home and gave equal amounts to the give-away place at the apartments. I was determined to not use water to wash dishes etc, so I wouldn't use potable water for that, but it's a hard habit to break!

And you may have (especially if you follow Facebook) seen some of the shoppers who frequent Walmart, but I got a big kick out of being behind the Buddhist monk in the checkout.

 

As we returned to Martha's home, we were greeted by these lovely flowers and plants across from her driveway, planted by her neighbor.

I took more photos of her beautiful camelias...blooming in the fall? Yes! But you've seen enough probably by now. I dragged on and on about staying with John, not knowing what would happen tomorrow. But this is in retrospect now, and I want to move forward!

Enjoying her living room comfort we had to try for a selfie...not our best!

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Sharing with Floral Friday Fotos  and Sepia Saturday