Friday, July 18, 2008

My Auntie's Socks


This is my Auntie Helen (on right) last weekend, at a family gathering hosted by my cousin, Kae, up in Green Mountain, NC. Don't worry if you've never heard of Green Mountain, NC. I don't think too many people are aware of it. I wasn't, until recently. It's a tiny little unincorporated community outside of Burnsville, which is a tiny little town near the NC/Tenn border. My cousin owns the top of a mountain there.

I. Kid. You. Not.


More on that later. First, I want to
show off my Auntie Helen's socks. She loves crazy socks (hah! I KNEW I got it from somewhere!). She wore these to the party.










These aren't hand-made, but I'm going to completely rip off the colors and make a pair as close to them as I possibly can. I show
ed her the pair of toe-ups I've been working on (forever, it seems) and she loved them. So when I get them finished, she'll be able to add these to her collection:






When I said my cousin owned
the top of a mountain, I meant it. A good portion of the real estate is VERTICAL. She and her husband have a charming house at the base of the mountain, where they live with their champion bull mastiffs. They also have goats (one less now, thanks to a bear, which also ripped open a honeybee hive and ate the contents) and Scottish Highland Cattle, which are just about the only breed of bovines that could (a) take on that mountain and (b) take on the bear that appears to have decided to call it home. There were roughly 40 of us there, cousins, aunts, uncles, and so forth. Great food, great visiting, and one heck of a winding trip up the mountain to the top. It is so steep that even all-terrain vehicles must zig-zag up to the top. Once you get there, though, the view is gorgeous. You can see into Tennessee when the cloud cover is high.


Here's a shot about halfway up the mount
ain. This barn, one of two on the mountain, stores hay for winter, and the cows occasionally go in when the weather is too cold:
Here's a shot from higher up:




You can see the two barns peeking out from behind the trees.

And at the top, looking towards Tennessee. We passed many lightning-struck trees (elevation is about 2,200 feet there, so it's no big surprise that lightning strikes trees up there. It doesn't have to even try hard!) and beautiful vistas.


Cool, huh? :-) By the way, my cousin raises the cattle for beef, so they have names like Steak and Taco. She says that makes it easier to eat them. If you're unfamiliar with Scottish Highland Cattle, check them out on the web.




4 comments:

  1. Beautiful property! All vertical, eh? Bet the cows are the only ones who can really appreciate the terrain!

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  2. It is just breathtaking! I'd forgotten how lovely the mountains are. We go so rarely anymore. Kae's place is wonderful, and the cattle are perfectly suited to the terrain. Highland cattle are not your average cattle. They look like hippie cows, with the long fur, and they've got some serious horns - and very feisty, independent natures. Kae's husband says they're as good as goats, if not better, at clearing away brush and so forth. They eat everything! It was so cool that Kae hosted the whole family. Everyone was there except for my Aunt Patty, the one who lives in WV.

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  3. I can't get my printer to work so I can't send you a physical copy of the purl lace pattern you were asking about, but it goes like this:

    Row 1: K1, YO, P2Tog, P1, P2Tog, Yo [6 st repeats]
    Rows 2-4: K across

    Of course that means that if you want to do a knit version that just makes eyelets w/o ridges, it goes like this:

    Row 1: K1, YO, K2Tog, K1, SSK, YO
    [6 st repeats]

    Rows 2-4: K across.

    I finished my first Frankensocks with short row heels!!!

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  4. That view is breathtaking .... I think I'd forget that I was afraid of heights if I had THAT as my backyard!!

    ReplyDelete