FIGGETY, FIG, FIG, FIG

II am going to tie up our little trip to Asheville with a few great pictures I took while shopping.  Then will probably whine a lot about other things happening in my life.

We visited the town of Blowing Rock about 2 hours away.  It was THE most incredible trip of my life.  The mountains, the valleys, the colors...looking out the car window at the side of the road a few feet away that dropped off a few thousand feet as we rounded curves.  The Husband and I were in such awe we couldn't speak.  Seriously.

The town didn't disappoint either, everything was dressed up in  Christmas finery and I really loved that.  Is the first week of November too early for Christmas displays?  Not on your life.  It's not yet hectic, the sales people are happy and bustling, everyone is humming along to the carols they haven't heard in a year.  I just love it.  I suppose pictures like this make you wonder, the overabundance of holiday decor.  You have to work hard to keep the "want, want, wants" from going through your head.  And I find it a bit ironic how we have veered toward nature and the rustic/simple sort of look in decor, and then you see it, heaped upon heaps!  Far be it for me to criticize after buying faux acorns!  So, just as you stood in front of the candy counter as a child with your nickel in hand, you just choose a few things and that will be enough.  No, I haven't taken the pain killers today.  Yet.

I love these sort of little town gift shops, they have the most unique items.  I adore these little guys, just unusual and I believe I have a scarf like this somewhere! :)  But I knew those twiggy little legs would never make it home in my luggage.  

This guy was precious.  Part deer/part fox?  And are those socks?  I really wanted him, too.

And the ideas you come away with.  I've always loved seeing what bloggers do with the vintage mantels and fireplace surrounds they find.  This would make a believer out of me!  The Husband's eyes lit up when I asked if he could cut the wood for something like this...you know we have the wood!

Shopping makes you work up an appetite.  This is my version of a sandwich I had in a restaurant, I had a picture of the original in my last post.  Good bread toasted a bit, some hummus, sliced avocado, tomato and sprouts.  And for those of you who made it or want to, I forgot to mention the red peppers.  Ouch!  I served it with sliced Honeycrisp apples to keep it healthy.  The Husband and Abby enjoyed it, although he had a little pile of avocado left on his plate, and she had picked off her sprouts.  ^^

I've always been curious about figs...what they tasted like, what to do with them.  Of course we had Fig Newtons when we were children, at least in my case I smelled them and turned away in disgust, but I think they are being re~vamped.  So in a neat place called Strada, I ordered these as an appetizer.  Figs stuffed with Goat Cheese, wrapped in Panchetta with a Balsamic Vinaigrette.  Very, very good!  Don't let the picture make your mind play games.  And then Monday night, Emily had us over for dinner and she had an appetizer plate of Pepper Jack cheese, crackers and a fig jam.  I think I am ready to enter to world of Fig Recipe Experimentation.  

We never went horseback riding.  The morning we has planned to, we woke up to some drizzle.  The Husband looked sadly out the window and said, "Jane, I'm afraid the trails will be too muddy for the horses."  I nearly spit out my coffee.  I'll let you in on this.  Everyone in the family knows The Husband is afraid of horses (although he vehemently denies it).  As the story goes, they won a pony in some sort of county fair when he was a young boy, and they kept good 'ol Rocky on his uncle's farm in Indiana.  We've heard many stories about Rocky over the years, but none involved riding him.  Oh, we ask, but The Husband hedges around about it.  There have been other clues and we are all pretty much tired of teasing him about it.  Every once in awhile he comes up with a plan to go horseback riding and it never fails, we never do!  So, on this "terribly sloppy" day, we instead went to a wildlife and nature center.  It was not only beautiful in the fall, I was up close and personal with black bears, wolves and coyotes.  I actually took a video of a conversation I had with a wolf and I was going to put in on this post, but alas, I said a bad word as I often times do when I see something that surprises me, and I couldn't delete it.  Sigh.

We arrived home early Saturday morning.  On one hand I was miserable getting up at 2:30 in the morning to catch the only direct flight that day, but to be cozy in my own bed with my dogs at 8:20 a.m. was heavenly.  As most of the country is involved in this polar vortex hullabaloo, I thought I'd show you how Layla deals with it.  If she could just crawl under that radiator, she would.

Okay, on to the meaty stuff.  I am so miserable I could cry!  For the past two days I have wondered how to write my next post, what viewpoint to take, do I describe my agony or just fluff over it?  So...with my two poor, stiff index fingers, I will just let the words flow.  This last surgery was hell.  I don't know why.  How can your hand be numb and still painful?  My fingers were swollen and turning blue.  And then yesterday was worse because the numbness wore off and it was just real pain.  And of course, the pain pills give me a headache...how ironic and just my luck.  This cast is bigger and bulkier than the one I had on my right hand a few weeks ago, making it almost impossible to even peck on the computer.  Since my right hand is still healing and pretty weak from not using it, it just doesn't pick up the slack for the left hand (oh, did I mention, I'm left handed?).  So, I'm learning to use a fork and spoon with my right hand, forget scissors, speaker phone only, no texting.  No driving, online shopping but I've answered a few emails and visited a few blogs I follow by email,  And I made a salad for dinner last night only because I spent two hours the night before the surgery cutting and chopping 10 pounds of lettuce, celery, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli and onion so we could eat for the next few weeks.  

I feel really bad because right now I have a lot of friends and some family members that are not well, and almost all of them in worse shape than I.  I'm not trying to play the martyr but I have a keen sense of guilt.   I walk that tightrope where I lean into the Superwoman side, and back over to the Pity Party side. 

Many years ago I had a friend who had just given birth to her fourth child in 6 years.  One day she came over and slumped in a kitchen chair and said, "I'm sorry, I try to make it look easy."  I nearly slapped her!  All this time she was my Mama Hero.  I was going to have ten kids because she made it look like a breeze.  No matter that the only time I got away from my kids was when I was in the hospital having one.  

So, I've been honest.  It has taken me almost 3 hours to do this post and I really didn't want to at all.  I actually want to lie in my bed in my jammies and probably will.  I may take a pain pill with a Tylenol chaser.  Salad again tonight with a different dressing?

Before I forget, someone asked me if I could send some of my Morning Glory seeds that I offered and I'm so sorry, I forgot who you are!!  Please email me again, and if anyone else wants some, I have plenty.  :)

I am planning to perk up and get into the swing of the holidays.  I have actually made a few craft things, and have a really pretty Thanksgiving tablescape all figured out in my head, so please, have faith in me, I will be back to "normal" soon!   Thanks for your well wishes!

Jane xx