The gardens and landscaping are well documented on this blog.  Here are a few pictures of my house.

There is a front and back deck, plus a balcony off one upstairs bedroom.

The living room, dining room and kitchen are all open.

The garage has the potential for two car if another door were added.  Right now it is a workshop with a pool table.

My neighbors house is so unique inside and out.  The price is $215,000.

It has a beautiful stacked stone fireplace.

The driveway entrance is level, and has room for several cars.

This is just a part of the fantastic view.

If you are interested in seeing more pictures, asking questions or touring both houses in Waynesville, North Carolina contact me at katheygreg@yahoo.com for my house or lissacald@charter.net for my neighbors.

There’s a saying in this tar heel state that if God isn’t a Carolina fan why did he make the sky Carolina blue?

When I return from my garage these colors take my breath away.

These trees provide something to enjoy while I hang up clothes in the backyard.

As I walk to the garden this is what I see.

The blueberries in the foreground provide buckets of berries in the summer and many-colored leaves in the fall.

The beauty is fleeting, so I’m trying to enjoy every minute.

Mushrooms and Fennel

After cleaning the fennel I use only the base of the leaves.  The tops can be saved as garnish for salads.

After sauteing the mushrooms in a mixture of olive oil and butter add the chopped fennel.  Next add enough white wine or chicken stock to slightly cover the mixture.  Simmer until liquid is almost gone.

The optional step is adding cream and simmering until it has thickened.

Sometimes I use it as a  side dish.  This time I topped spaghetti with the mixtures and added Parmesan cheese.

When planting the Burpee Orion Hybrid below I was very careful to space them so they wouldn’t crowd.

And another gorgeous view, one of the last this year that will set in my mountain view.

The picture below is a shallot that was too small to pull last fall.  It made it through the winter and is growing big enough to pick this time.  I do plan to plant some this fall for an early summer harvest.

This sunset was just too beautiful not to share.

It is scenic, especially the last snow that coated almost every twig.

My favorite snow-covered tree is the blue spruce below.

It collects the snow and holds on longer than others.  Even a strong wind has trouble dislodging the accumulations on the branches.

Every detail was outlines with snow this time.

On another the heavy snow is trapped in the branches.

The apple tree even kept the stacked snow on it’s sparse limbs.

The Supervisor hesitated to come along for the photo shoot.

Finally she decided to brave the cold, but stayed on the shoveled path.

Then my daughter-in-law had an upsetting experience.  Her beautiful roses that the deer had not bothered for three years were stripped of roses and leaves one day.  Previously they had eaten day lilies, hostas, garden vegetables (except rhubarb and herbs), and even the ramps I transplanted.

Here are just a few of the deer that seem to be always around where I’m moving.  Looks like there will be a whole new set of problems!

One more beautiful sunset to enjoy before the sun starts moving the other direction to eventually set behind many trees.

My garden is being planted anyway.  Can’t stop gardening.

Now I’m trying to never miss another sunset.

You can view the listing here.

With no four-wheel drive I wasn’t going anywhere, so I decided to put a new twist on a easy recipe.   Crustless Ricotta Pie is the original recipe.  When I’ve tried it before I’ve put in different ingredients, but today I needed to use baby bella mushrooms, along with a few grape tomatoes.  Here are most of the ingredients I used:

After sauteing the mushrooms in olive oil and a bit of butter, I added balsamic vinegar to enhance their flavor.   Next I spread the mushrooms in the bottom of a ten inch pie plate.  I moved them around enough to oil the plate.  Then cubed mozzarella cheese seemed like a good addition.

After baking I sprinkled some fresh parsley on top.  I thought it was much better than the original recipe I tried, or any other variations so far.

It is a beautiful snow that coats every twig, but I’ll be happier when there is no snow in sight.