Category: community service

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New Years Eve

Well we’re completely booked for New Years Eve through Sunday.  What a wonderful way to bring in the New Year.  I really hope it will snow.  That would only make it better for my guests.  That’s one of the things they look for this time of year, snow.

We will have a buffet set up with all sorts of finger foods, eggnog, wine, and champagne for midnight.  There are plenty of noise makers and Little Joe is one of them!!  He’s been running around since Christmas laughing and squealing like crazy.  I love it too.  Nothing like joy in a child to bring this old house to life.

It’s been a year full of blessings, surprises and additions to not only my bed and breakfast (the barn and animals) but to our lives in the form of Celeste and Little Joe.  I can’t wait to see what the new year brings to us this time.  If it’s half as good as last year, I’ll have another wonderful year.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

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Decorating for Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of year.  I always get the Christmas spirit before I even get up from the Thanksgiving dinner table.  We put an artificial tree in every room of the house except for the bathrooms and the kitchen of course.  We do decorate a live tree in the gazebo part of the front porch.  It’s where the wind and blowing snow don’t usually get to it because of the other out buildings around it.

We keep plenty of firewood since there’s a fireplace in every bedroom and if there’s not a fireplace, I have installed a wood burning stove so everyone can have a fire to cuddle up beside to watch the snow fall outside.  The trees in the bedrooms are decorated to match the room.

There’s an antique room with only old type ornaments from the period of the furniture.  Then there’s the woodsman room that has a deer head over the mantle and the furnishing is a rustic type.  That tree is decorated with ornaments that reflect the outdoors or animals.  Then there’s the romantic ‘honeymoon’ type room.  All the ornaments are pastel colors to match the room with lots of lace and flowers.  It’s so very beautiful.  The other rooms trees are decorated like those too, to match the room.

The tree that is in the main sitting room is decorated with hand made decorations from either locals and from the many children that have gone through here at Christmas time.  It’s my favorite tree.  This year that tree is especially special to me since my sweet Little Joe has made some ornaments with me to put on the tree.  It’s going to be a wonderful Christmas season.  Now it’s time to go shopping for the gifts!!!!

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Here’s wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving

This is going to be one of the best Thanksgivings we have ever celebrated here.  With Celeste and Little Joe now new members of our family, we have a great deal to be thankful for.  They have brought so much joy into our lives the we are truly blessed.

Blessings come in all shapes and sizes.  I find a new blessing every single day and more than one in most.  We are open for business and have a full house but we also adopt a few local families for Thanksgiving Dinner too.  We’re having turkey of course, deer roast, and all the extras that everyone has.  Desert is of course pumpkin pie, coconut cake, carrot cake, and banana pudding.

I hope and pray that each of you has a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving too.

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Celeste is free from her father

Since Celeste is 17 years old, she does not have to return to her parents as long as someone, me in other words, is appointed her legal guardian until she turned 18.  Well I gladly accepted that responsibility.  Since I have taken a restraining order out against her father, he can no longer come within 50 feet of my home and establishment.  Celeste also took one out and now he can’t come within 50 feet of her anywhere she goes.

It’s a shame that such a beautiful and bright young woman should have to make such hard decisions about her own father but Celeste knows that she in turn must protect herself and her son.  The law is on her side in all of this mess.  Her hopes and dreams to be her own person, go to college and support herself and her son are what keep her going.

Life is hard at times and tough decisions are all a part of growing up.  A 17 year old shouldn’t have to make such hard decisions but she has and has done it without malice or hatred in her heart.  She will go far in life with her gentle and loving heart.  I only can hope and pray she doesn’t develop a hard heart because of all of this.  I honestly don’t think she will because we will surround her with love and respect here.  I am so very proud of her.

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Election Day

I don’t care who you are going to vote for, just make sure you do go out and vote.  This election is going to be a history making election either way.  I have always felt that if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain about the shape our country is in because you didn’t even care enough to vote to try and help it be better.  Well every voice needs to be heard this year for sure.  Please, get out and vote.  I’ll be there.

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Throwing a Halloween bash

We’re having a Halloween bash!!  The place is all decorated in spooky stuff, have a hay ride through a spook trail, bobbing for apples, and a best costume contest to boot.  It all starts at dark and the whole community is invited.  Well most of it anyway.

I’m Scarlet O’Hara of course, Grace is a clown, Celeste is Snow White and Little Joe is one of the seven dwarfs, Happy!!  He’s always smiling so Happy fits him perfect.  All the adults have to bring a big bag of candy to help with the candy we give out to the kids that come by Trick-or-Treating and other than that, the party is free.

Hey, if you’re in the mountains of North Carolina, stop by and see us.  I promise you’ll have a blast.  Don’t forget to come in a costume!!!

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Now I understand

It all became too clear this weekend why Celeste took Little Joe and left home.  Her father found out where she was, got drunk and came beating on my door last night.  I could smell the liquor on his breath as soon as I opened the door.  He demanded to see his daughter and I told him that he was not welcome here and to leave.  That didn’t go over very well.

This crazy man shoved me out of the way and started up the stairs yelling for Celeste to come down right that minute.  Celeste locked herself in her room with Little Joe and Grace, my faithful friend and help around the house called 911 as soon as she heard what was going on.  By the time the deputy sheriff got there, he was trying to break down Celeste’s door and I had my shot gun on him asking him to stop or I would shoot.

They got him cuffed and as they were taking him out of the house, he yelled to Celeste that she was not taking HIS grandson from him.  He then called her every kind of low person you can imagine for having a baby as young as she was and not married.  She was not only abused physically by her father but he was also abusing her emotionally.  My heart stopped when it hit me.  I went to the sheriff’s department and took a restraining order against him so he can’t come back.

Now to help Celeste and Little Joe never have to go back to that crazy man again.  After a lot of tears and some talking, I told Celeste that I would take her to a lawyer and get custody of both her and Little Joe if that’s what she wanted so she would not have to go back there again.  So we have an appointment with my lawyer today to see what we have to do to protect them.

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It’s been 10 days

Well it’s been 10 days since Celeste and Little Joe showed up on my porch and knocked on my door.  I can honestly say that they have been nothing but pure pleasure around here.  Celeste works her rear off when she’s scheduled to work.  She goes to school every day and studies hard when she gets home.  She is a great mother to Little Joe.  She’s just an all around good kid.

I have to admit that Little Joe has stolen my heart.  That child has brought so much joy into this house that I didn’t realize was missing until the two of them moved in.  I never got the chance to be a mother and now I have found myself mothering Celeste and Little Joe.  He calls me “NaNa April.”  My heart just melts when he says it because he says April so cute.  I never knew what I was missing until now.

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Celeste

Late Friday night, there was a knock on my door.  When I opened the door, there stood a young woman with a little boy.  She said her name was Celeste and her little boys name was Joe.  She didn’t have anywhere to go because her family had thrown her out that evening and she wondered if maybe I had a job she could do to pay for a room tonight and some food for her and Joe.

This is a 17 year old young woman with a 15 month old beautiful little boy.  I invited her in and got her and Joe something to eat.  I sat with her and talked to see what I was dealing with here.  I sure didn’t need a teenager that was on drugs here but I didn’t see any signs of anything like that.  All I saw that she had a bruise across her cheek that she had tried to hide with makeup but didn’t do a very good job of it.

She said her father was bad to get drunk and take everything out on her and her mother and she just couldn’t take it anymore.  He had gotten angry about nothing and threw her out.  She said she was still in high school and had someone that kept Joe for her to be able to go to school.  She really wanted to stay around here so she could finish school and then hopefully go to college so she could take care of Joe and herself.

My heart almost broke as I listened to this beautiful young woman talk.  I made a deal with her.  I told her that she could clean the rooms and help with the other chores around there and she would have a place to live as long as she stayed in school and took care of her son herself.  No male visitors to her room and no drugs or drinking.  When I saw the tears swelling up in her eyes, I knew this was not a bad kid.  Just a kid that had made a few mistakes and was trying to do right by them.  I guess I now have somewhat of a daughter and grandson if all works out like I think it will.  I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

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Fall Festival

Well with fall finally here, to kick off the weekend, we always have a fall festival here at the bed and breakfast.  Friday night starts off with a ‘pig pickin’ which is where we have a whole 75 pound pig barbecued and then there’s the usual fixins which are barbecue slaw, potato salad, baked beans and banana puddin’.  Some of the local musicians (and there are a lot of them in these hills) stop by for some pickin and grinnin.  I guess you could call it a mini fiddlers convention.

Then Saturday, some of the locals bring their arts and crafts for a craft fair here on the grounds.  We have everything from handmade quilts, home made jellies and preserves, fresh vegetables, and some of the most amazing paintings and crafts you have ever seen.  Anyone is welcome and many come from all around just to spend the day if I’m booked up which I usually am for this weekend.  This year wasn’t any different which surprised me.  There weren’t quite as many here just for the day as there usually are but that’s the only difference.

Today, we had a good old fashioned gospel singing.  There were choirs from several different churches here and again some locals just got up and sang solo.  The air was just crisp enough that I made hot spiced apple cider for everyone.  The whole weekend was a complete success not only in fun but financially for me and several in the community too with the arts and craft fair.  It’s one of my favorite weekends throughout the year.