Last Minute Booking

We've had an exciting new year.

Before January, my husband had been driving from Hickory to Charlotte...for about 20 years! So when he got a new job 30 minutes deeper into Charlotte, we realized we would need to find apartment in that area, but keep our house in Hickory. Since then, we have also been traveling with my husband's new job, and going back and forth between the house and the apartment, visiting with our many children and grandkids. So as you can imagine, I haven't been able to keep up with listing the cottage as often as well as I did last year, or check my messages right away.

This is a favorite Blue Ridge Parkway view.
 I have painted it several times,
and on the day I took this picture, I noticed
a photography class field trip going on at the top of the "hill".

Lucky for you, this means I have more available dates than I had last summer. Don't worry. The cottage is adorable, in excellent condition and in an ideal river front location. As a matter of fact, I can say with confidence that it is one of the nicest vacation rentals around.

Another view of my favorite hill. This is the view I usually paint.

Now I am actively working on the cottage rentals again. You are always welcome to email me at cottageonthenew@yahoo.com or call and see if you can book for a last-minute stay, because we do have availability right now, and I'm always happy to assist when the cottage booking is open. If you call, please leave a message and state your number twice. I will always try to return a call if I can, to let you know to keep looking, but if I don't call right back, you can usually be assured that it is already booked. However, do email me as well, at cottageonthenew@yahoo.com, just in case.

This is the second bedroom; very peaceful!

The Boone area is a great area for photographers and artists.
Everywhere I look, there is something wonderful that I must preserve on camera.

Thanks so much for your interest in our cottage. Do keep us in mind for the next time you have time for a mountain getaway. Be sure to scroll down and see photos of some of the wonders we have to offer.

If you "friend" us here on the website, you will receive my occasional postings, and keep up on the news of "what's happening" at the cottage.

Thanks! Deber

It's Summer Time, and the Livin' Is Easy!

Oh, I know it's not quite summer, but it sure does feel like it, and there's nothing quite as lovely as summer in the Cottage on the New.

With the good old New River running right through the front yard, there's so much to do when the weather is warm! First of all, you can go wading and swimming, right in the front yard. There's inner tubing, kayaking, canoeing, water skiing...okay, I'm teasing. No water skiing. But fishing, bike riding, hiking along the ridge...


Inner tubes waiting out a shower.

I thought I'd put a few pictures to let you see what you're in for if you should decide to book a stay at the cottage. Send us an email soon (at cottageonthenew@yahoo.com), so you will be sure to get the date you want at the cottage. By the way, the best deal is to book a full week!

See you soon!

(Scroll down for lots of summer photos!)


View of our low water bridge from the front porch of the cottage.



This is Mo Bear, my son's dog, going for a little swim.
She can't resist a dip on a hot summer day.

The river gets pretty busy in the summer.
River Road is two miles long, and the cottage is half-way down the road.

My grandson's first fish,
caught about this time last year.

This is the view from the bridge,
taken one afternoon last October.

The wildlife is abundant along the river...
so is yard art.

Inside the cottage living room

You'll always be welcome at the cottage.
(The fact that there are no moose in North Carolina
did not stop me from buying this little plaque for the front door.)



There are lots of nice places around the area where you can
enjoy a good beer and a sandwich with friends and family.



The moon and stars are especially beautiful at the cottage,
because there are no city lights to compete with their glow.

This is the view looking across the river from the cottage's large,
covered front porch.

One afternoon as we prepared dinner on the grill,
we spotted these deer grazing in the pasture across the river from the cottage.
Very peaceful.



More of the New River's wild life...



My daughter and her boyfriend pet the neighbor's dog.

Another photo of the beautiful view of farmland
and mountains from the cottage porch.

Same view; early morning.

Pretty little kitchen. Well equipped, too.

This is the Master Bedroom.

They grow sugar cane on the farm across the road/river from the cottage.
Sometimes I get great photos.

Isn't she a beauty?
I saw this little sweety driving around the countryside
on the way to the cottage.
(Actually, I didn't see her driving...I was driving!
Everybody over three years old knows that donkeys can't drive!)
She was just standing in a pasture off of Big Hill Road which
is another way toward the cottage, off of HWY 194.

Moooo.

From the parkway, this might have been a winter photo.
The Blue Ridge Parkway isn't far from the cottage,
and offers gorgeous vistas of the mountains.

October!

I just wanted to show you some photos that I made when visiting the cottage the other day. Its gorgeous up there this year (as usual).



The trees around the cottage are just starting to change into soft Autumn yellows. There are a lot of Poplars in the woods behind the cottage.




This little mule is the prettiest I've ever seen. I had to stop and take her picture. She lives on Big Hill Road, near the cottage.




Maples are my favorite fall tree. Their black trunks and colorful leaves...gorgeous!




View of the River as you pass over the bridge just before River Road. I love this view. So peaceful.



Astors are blooming everywhere. Their soft lavender blooms contrast beautifully with the golds of the grassy fields this time of year.



Pumpkins! Need I say more?




Country Road, take me home...John Denver would have appreciated this little country road in the valley below the mountains.




I couln't resist showing off this pretty little mule again. (She's not a donkey, is she?)  Her name is Lucy. Not really. Well it might be, as she does look like a Lucy. Could also be Lulabelle...




Another beautiful Maple tree in her fall glory.




This waterfall is found right on the road called "Waterfall Road". It's on the way to my house from the cottage. I go that way on dry days when I don't mind being a little late. The road is partially unpaved, curvy and steep, so I don't go that way if the weather is wet, as it is quite slippery when wet.



Sweet Tantalizing September!

Just a sample of the October leaves in North Carolina...

All the world over, it's month number nine, September (which actually means seven. Right?) But numerical placement aside, "September" means different things in different places:

For instance, in Down Under Land, Austrailia, where they have lots of ancient rivers (see "An Ancient River Called the New", upper right) it has been winter all summer, so I suppose September means that spring is springing for at least some of those friendly folks below the equator. And let's see. In India where it's still Monsoon Season, it's September, too. In England where my daughter says it rains a lot, it's September, and in Russia where they have Siberia, its September, too. (I know little about Russia.) And in South America and Africa, who straddle the equator, it is also September, but with winter on one end and summer on the other.

Very interesting.

Yellow wild flowers growing along the river in the front yard of the cottage

It's even September in Central Florida, where I was born and raised. And though my friend Molly tells me that "it's sort of cool here, too," I know that's not exactly true...at least not by my standards. I'm not calling my girlfriend a liar, mind you, because Molly never lies. She doesn't. (She is honest as the day is long!) But her idea of cool is "under 90 degrees". Dear sweet Molly, that's...*writer shakes her head sympathetically, "tisk, tisk, tisk"*...that's not cool.

September is not the same everywhere as it is here in North Carolina, where cool, crisp breezes whisper fall to you with the scent of ripened apples on their breath and the crunch of colorful leaves under your feet...

(Sorry. I don't mean to make you feel bad. I'm sort of bragging.) But...

I love September in the Blue Ridge Mountains! Just the thought of it lifts my spirits and makes my heart beat faster. On those first cool fall mornings as the mist rises off dry summer grasses, you can smell fall on her way. As a matter of fact, my son (who lives in Boone) called this morning and said he can smell fall in the air. He said that its cool, and that some of the leaves are already starting to change. So its official.

Fields across the river from the cottage's front yard

That does it. My husband and I are going up this weekend. We're gonna smell the air. We're gonna pick up a couple of pretty red dogwood leaves off the ground below the trees. And we're going to eat dinner up there. Maybe we'll go to the Todd General Store for one of their famous hamburgers. We've never had one before, and I think a beautiful early fall day is the perfect day for a hamburger aficionado, such as myself, to have her first ever "world's best burger" (according to the mountain bikers, who know their hamburgers...) in a little General Store along the river in Todd.

One of the next door neighbor's
little pumpkins

Okay. So maybe you're one of those folks who is saying, "It's just September 3rd, so it is still officially summer right now." I hear you; you tell me that every year. And I do not care...'cos I tell you. In North Carolina when those first sweet, cool breezes wash their breath across my face and catch my hair in their gentle fingers, they whisper, "It's me again, your old friend, Autumn".

Welcome back, old friend.

NOTE: September 5

We did visit the cottage yesterday, and it was a crisp, clear autumn day. Gorgeous. The clear water was filled with happy canoers and rafters. Fields of wildflowers were blooming everywhere! You'll want to take a sweater.

Mozying Slowly Northwards

Like I told you yesterday, it was raining at the cottage when I left my home in Hickory at 11:00 am. The mountains are a rain forest. But by the time I got to the first mountain top, the clouds were already rising off the mountains, and blue sky was peeking out here and there between them.

That's okay. I much prefer a sunny day!

That's the way the mountains are. You never know what to expect. It's July, so usually along the New River, it's warm. But if you plan to visit any time but summer, actually even into June, do the Girl Scout thing and "Be Prepared". Especially if you tend to chill easily or if you are bringing children.

Now, if you are from a warm place like Florida, take it one further, and be prepared in the summer time too, with a light jacket or sweater for cooler nights, usually in the 60's.

I thought you'd like to see the next door neighbor's garden. It's absolutely charming. This is how it looked yesterday afternoon when I left. The neighbors are very friendly and helpful, and sometimes share the fruits of their labors with us when we're there.

While I was at the cottage yesterday, I put up an American flag on the porch. My daughter in law said, "How can you put that flag pole holder up without a drill (with Phillips bits)?"...because her husband, my son, always has a drill or an electric screwdriver for such tasks...him being a professional with his own construction company.

The cottage looking very American, with our new United States flag.

I, on the other hand, am an unprofessional when it comes to such matters. I have an old-fashioned manual screwdriver like the one my granddaddy used to use, and I know how to use it. I'm not saying it was easy, though. I'm a pathetic substitute for a real handyman with upper arms of steel. I'm sure when Bill and I get there this weekend, he will want to tighten the screws so tight that no one will be able to get them out of that post for the next 500 years, at least. He always does. It's the manly thing to do. (And he's been building things since he was a kid, when he hammered and screwed together his first tarpaper submarine http://tarpapersubmarine.blogspot.com/.)

Last, but not least, here is the photo of the river that I promised you yesterday. After the rain. Ooops! The camera batteries were exhausted. At least that's what the camera always says. I always say they're "dead". Yep, they were dead, so I couldn't get that last picture for you as I left the river. Sorry...you'll just have to take my word for it.

It wasn't high, it wasn't low, it wasn't muddy, either. The sky reflected it's pretty blue and fluffy whites on the surface of the waters as they mozied slowly northwards. Everyone who had planned to go inner tubing yesterday made it out sometime after 12:00 pm, so they were having fun bobbing about like happy little corks in the River of Summertime Fun.

As is to be expected on the New River on a sunny, hot and humid summer day.
As is proper for the New river on a lazy day in July when life is good, and the river is cool...
As you'll experience when you come to the cottage for your visit, some day soon.

Until next time, my friend. Have a great day. Hope to see you soon!

Deber

Just a Revised, No Longer Quick Note:

We spent a day at the cottage with some friends and relatives recently. So, when I first wrote this post a few days ago after receiving these pictures from Jake (my son and fellow owner of the cottage, an avid fisherman), I thought that these darling kids (left and center) had been visiting the next door neighbors when we were at the cottage visiting our visiting relatives. (If you think that's confusing, you should be with me right now in my little brain trying to make all this make sense...) 

After all, what is now almost 2 weeks ago, I'd been hanging out with my sisters and nieces and nephews inside while the some of the men sat outside on the front porch chatting about manly things, going down to inspect the bridge and river, and watching the children play. With so much commotion going on that day, I wouldn't have known if they'd caught a hammerhead shark in the river. (But don't worry. There are no sharks in the river!)

Anyway, it was just a quick note written late at night; I didn't do my usual editing. I'm normally very careful about what I write. However, I can't be 100% responsible for what happens here on http://cottageonthenew.com/ after 10:45 pm... 

The cottage from the front yard, summer

This morning, Hubby Bill and I met the family who spent last week at the cottage; I realized that these were the children in the photo above. Now that I knew who they were, I decided that I must revise this post. I arrived home and went straight to my computer to do so. Hmmm...somehow, it sounded like these two children were my relatives...oops! I'd be proud to have them as family, mind you. But since they aren't, I have to correct my mistake and pronto, just for the record. 

It's official now: these two cuties were two of our guest children.

Looking up New River from the bridge this week.

As it turns out, Jake had gone to the cottage with my grandson on an errand during this past week (unbeknownst to me), and decided to go fishing with his son and our little guests. He took the pictures with his new fangled cell phone, and sent them right through the air and into my email. Amazing.

This morning, Bill and I were delighted to meet these kids, their sister and their mom as they were just preparing to leave for their next fun destination. What a precious family. While in the area, they went to Tweetsie Railroad twice (because if you go after three pm you get to return the next day for free?), made Indian headdresses, played Cowboys and Indians (Tweetsie style, I imagine) in the front yard, visited charming Todd General Store for hotdogs and icecream with everything on top, swam in the river, saw a small bear, collected 31 tiny live river snails and one dead crawdad, and swam some more. They enjoyed their visit so much that they said they will indeed come back again, maybe next time with their grandparents.

Getting back to my original post, I thought you'd enjoy seeing some pictures of my grandson and his new friends, with a fish they caught. As you can see, my little grandson is destined to be a fisherman, just like his dad. It's too dang cute. That's all I have to say. Scroll down for other posts that will tell you more about the cottage.

deber