It was a simple gift almost 15 years ago from a favorite employee and friend. It hangs on the back deck and is one of my favorite subjects to photograph. In fact, there is a whole folder devoted to “Monica’s Gift”. She can’t know how much pleasure we get looking at this cheerful sun figurine during all seasons. Because the weather has been so warm, it feels odd that everything is so brown. So, today’s Wordless Wednesday is dedicated to Monica and greener weather. 02/01/2012

To Appease the Busy Realtor’s Appetite - Here's my latest Pay it Forward Recipe Wouldn’t you agree that as REALTOR’s we’re all pretty busy and often it’s difficult to come up with a new favorite quick, tasty and healthy meal? Sometimes we all get in a rut with our “quick” meals and no doubt there are several common to all of us…spaghetti, beans & rice, tacos, zzzzzzzzzzzzzz The information available to us on the internet is seemingly endless and with just a few search words we can find the answer to almost anything pretty fast. Salmon is one of my favorite foods and I remember seeing some guest chef on some morning talk show preparing a salmon with a marmalade glaze. Naturally…couldn’t remember the show or the chef, all I could remember was the salmon and marmalade. With nothing more i... 01/31/2012

Seeing things artistically is probably something everyone has a talent for, transferring the artistic thought from your brain to a medium that everyone can enjoy is the hard part. I've always wished for the talent to sketch and paint. Often when I see artists and artisans in action, there is a brief fleeting moment of wistful envy for the apparent ease in their skill but then it occurs to me that they probably have the same need to work hard for perfection just like anyone who cares about their profession. While I’m waiting for the eventual outcome of when Picnik finally finishes morphing into its next life form, I’ve discovered BeFunky. While it didn’t turn me into an artist, I had fun turning my photograph of the two black labs, Hogan and Riddick into a watercolor painting! The sketc... 01/29/2012

  When I was little, I thought my grandmother was really, really old…like Civil War old. She was probably at most late forties - early fifties. Who knows where the Civil War part came in. My brother Marlon and I asked my father what was it like in WW II…when we were around 9 or 10 and my father was in his late twenties - early thirties. He informed us that he would have been 5 or 6 years old during WWII. I DO know where Marlon and I got that idea though. My parents had woolen Army blankets in the house - olive drab, scratchy, scratchy wool. Back then the only wars we knew of were the ones we learned about in history. Even we knew Dad wasn’t old enough to be in the Civil War and those Army blankets had to come from somewhere, right? I guess they came from my grandfather who WAS in WWII. ... 01/24/2012

Shocked, freaked and dismayed. Yep, no more picnik.com after April 19, 2012. I tried going to Flickr but big upside down smiley face on that. Navigating around that site felt like my shoes were on the wrong feet. I opened up Publisher on the computer and while it’s great for flyers and note cards, it doesn’t serve the purpose at all for photo editing. There was no explanation about WHY picnik is going away, just that it is going away. Some sort of cutesy banner about the “ants have invaded”, what the hell does that mean? Another cutesy banner about “takeout”, their offer to send all of the members’ photos and slide shows to them in a zip file and I’m glad for that of course. They are refunding all the premium members dues and until their final day all of the premium services are free. ... 01/21/2012

They are just names in an article until you can see them laid out. We used to sell the dickens out of raised relief maps when we were in retail with Venture Out, our camping and backpacking store. We keep a framed raised relief map in our office and property hunters are as fascinated by the area’s layout as we are. This is a small portion of our comfort zone. All the names I’ve posted about and more…to the west you can see Dillsboro, where MoonDancer Realty’s office is located, towards the east and kind of in the center of the photo is Balsam where I live right next to the Blue Ridge Parkway and continuing further east is the Town of Waynesville that I love to show property in and spend a good bit of time with my camera. It would be interesting to share these views of where we all live... 01/14/2012

Sure, I saw red but I wasn’t mad or anything. In fact, I celebrated the fact that it was the first color I’d seen in the sky except grey for almost a week! Since this happened in the morning I knew we’d be in for some rain later but I enjoyed it while I could. One of my favorite things about living here in Balsam, NC is that from day to day, the scenery never looks the same. That’s one of the pleasurable parts of buying real estate in the mountains. Your daily drive never gets dull!   "I Saw Red "Create a free slideshow with Picnik!     01/12/2012

Wordless Wednesday is so apt, because it’s been tough finding any time to put down words. Like a lot of the south right now, Balsam, NC has been socked in with fog. Funny enough though, when I was reading Gayle Rich-Boxman’s beautiful post about Fishawk Lake I looked up from the computer to see a brilliant red sunrise that I’ll post another time. I took the camera back into the house and looked up about 10 minutes later and found myself encased in a surreal landscape of fog with ghostly shaped trees.   "Fog in Color Balsam Jan 2012"Create a free slideshow with Picnik!   01/11/2012

Thank goodness the wind had died down from last night, otherwise 11.3 degrees would have felt cold. Well, okay…it still felt cold. Hello! 11.3 degrees IS cold. Working in real estate has enough challenges without adding winter into the mix. What agent hasn’t been thrilled by the prospect of showing a vacant house in winter that the seller is trying out cost saving measures like eliminating heat. Sometimes it just isn’t possible to get out to a listing to turn up the thermostat before you or another agent show up with your buyers. Has anyone ever in their real estate careers, ushered buyers into a house boasting a toasty 48 degrees and have the buyers gush through frosty puffs of breath….”Oh, I love it! Honey, let’s get this one!”. I don’t think so. There is not a house on the planet th... 01/03/2012

The outpouring of concern and compassion from the ActiveRain community during our recent sadness with our Lazer has been so heartfelt and heartwarming. It is unbelievable that all of these relationships were chance encounters allowed to flourish. Meeting Lazer was like that…a chance encounter. Who knows what prompted her to make her presence known at a house in the middle of the woods fourteen years ago? She arrived in spite of the fact that there were a dozen rescued dogs in the yard. It didn’t matter, she selected us to be with. We called her eyes “hoody owl eyes” because the brilliant green eyes were surrounded by a hooded expression. We would sing “Lazer, Lazer the wonder cat” to her utter disgust at our display of emotions. She ruled the house with a firm paw. The dogs learned ear... 12/29/2011

This red sky in the morning actually greeted me yesterday, a clear indicator of the stormy weather predicted to arrive last night.   Living in the mountains of Western North Carolina is an odd experience where weather is concerned. When we first moved here there was no Local Yokel weather service, we relied on television and radio stations in Asheville - 45 minutes away, Greenville, SC or Knoxville, TN both 1 ½ hours away. There is often a world of difference between the weather forecast and what actually appears on the doorstep. Maybe it’s the uniqueness of the geography with mountain ranges lying between us and the forecaster, but sometimes we never see the rain or snow that our close neighbors experience. Since these most ancient of mountains seem like ancient gods of mythology, it ... 12/27/2011

She has filled us with joy and delight for more than 14 years. We never want her to leave but we know the time is coming soon. Her fur is still silky soft and her face, her beautiful face is breaking our hearts. None of this seems possible…we want it to be a bad dream that we can wake up from. Oh Lazer, you are so loved.   12/24/2011

Words will never be enough to describe the emotional balance Lazer helps provide in the household. This independent, sassy and boldly defiant cat is battling kidney disease heroically.  She's beaten this illness before but this time she's really, really sick.  We are doing everything we can to address the symptons and we're guardedly optimistic about the slight improvement she's showing and dedicated to not allowing her to suffer.  As long as she's willing to fight, so are we. Positive thinking and prayers have proven beneficial time after time when patients strive to overcome illness and injury. We would be so grateful for any healing thoughts, prayers and white light you can spare for the amazing Lazerkitty. Thank you for your kindness and caring. 12/21/2011

Don’t you just love some of life’s best “when you least expect it” moments? The loving note card from a friend during a tough week, watching a stranger help another stranger, kind words exchanged in the midst of a chaotic world, a first snuggly warm embrace and being witness to all of these wondrous events.        Wishing you a wondrous day! 11/29/2011

Have you ever noticed that sometimes photos can present themselves to you in different manners? When I first looked at this shot taken earlier in the year, I just thought it was a good shot of a flame.     Tonight though, I can see the figure of an observer. To me, it looks like a very young bear looking out towards the woods. I wonder why I didn’t see this image earlier? Where could the observing bear have been hidden all this time? 11/23/2011

Lots of people are curious about what’s been going on with the Homeless Black Labs of Dillsboro. They are being fostered in Balsam until a great forever home can be found. In the meantime though they are making friends…lots of friends. In particular, their new best friend is Phoenix the Plott Hound. Phoenix was a former homeless dog himself. He loves Riddick and Hogan. They all look like they could be cousins. Hogan and Riddick are getting lots of good exercise. They are terrific with the other dogs and have been very well behaved, most of the time. They do have clownish tendencies and that’s okay.   "Riddick and Hogan Make Friends"Create a free slideshow with Picnik! Thank you for your concern about these two dogs and please let us know if you find the home that will love them forever... 11/20/2011

The outdoor temperature in Balsam, NC this morning was a brisk 25 degrees and a clear indicator that it’s time to lay in a good supply of winter essentials.  Plan ahead, it’s always a good idea to have body warmers not requiring an electrical outlet, batteries or any fuel other than kibble! If your body warmers happen to double as muscle relaxants…that’s even better planning.   11/10/2011

  Finally, I took the time to explore the photo website I’ve been using to edit photos and discovered the slide show application. This may be the answer to the challenge of what to do with so many autumn photographs…if it works!   Most of these photos were either taken at home or on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Autumn 2011 was superb with color intensity. We only had a few days of rain, but even that can’t dampen the showiness of the autumn colors. "Picnik Show"Create a free slideshow with Picnik!     Since this morning’s temperature was 29 degrees, it’s my guess that winter photos will be coming soon! 10/30/2011

  My mother and brother visited recently, the first time since Dad passed away June 9th. As always, she came bearing gifts. Boxes and bags of books, pierogis from a special place in St. Petersburg, cheeses, wines, some of Dad’s flannel shirts, cameras, binoculars and his favorite - Twinings Lapsang Souchong Tea.   My father had particular tastes in food and beverages although he was always willing to taste things first, well…except for egg whites. We four kids grew up thinking Dad was allergic to egg whites. Turns out he just didn’t like them but wanted to be sure the four of us ate them. I wish I’d thought of that ploy with liver and onions! Dad’s approach to foods did teach all of us to at least try something before deciding we didn’t like it. He really didn’t care (once we were in o... 10/27/2011

Since I’ve already done a “wordy” article for this Wednesday with the photos looking up into the trees, I’d like to offer up a different article without as much conversation. It is sufficient to say the weather was stunning and the air felt great. The colors and textures of Autumn are descriptive enough to fill in the gaps.   10/26/2011