Ever since we arrived here in the mountains, last August, we've noticed the sign to the Rhododendron Festival that is almost the first thing you notice as you drive into Bakersville, NC. So, as soon as we heard that the Festival was going to happen, we decided to go see it. This year, the festival was merging with the local Art Festival by the river- Creek Walk Festival. We were mostly expecting an area to go see the rhododendrons which are beginning to bloom mostly everywhere but not quite on our mountain as yet. Well, we didn't see any rhododendrons that day, but we did see a lot of interesting art work, including some forged metal pieces, ate some delicious local food, heard some local mountain music, and even saw one of the highlights of the festival- a rubber ducky race! In case you are wondering about the rhododendron photos in the slideshow, I couldn't help but add them in after- this is the Rhododendron festival, after all! There was a fishing day for kids at the Carolina Hemlocks Recreation Area, which has a really nice watering hole, like a natural pool in the South Toe river, so we decided that Ri should go try to fish there. He hasn't forgotten how to fish- but just didn't have much luck getting one to bite his bait! As dad said, by the time we got there, all the dumb ones had already got caught! Ri was quite cheerful about not catching a fish as it was catch and keep day ! Maybe he really did prefer catching the stick?!! :-)
There's always a lot to celebrate in June- its usually the end of the school year for us and our thoughts turn to summer vacation and catching up with family and friends. Jim and I also both have birthdays in June. This year was a little different as although we were celebrating the end of our homeschooling year- well, sort of- we don't think its ended. Not really. But we did have birthdays to celebrate and this year Preeti had a milestone birthday. (I turned 50, or as Ri loves to say- half a century! :-)) Well, it seemed like we celebrated almost a whole week between my birthday, my "birthday kidnapping" surprises, and Jim's birthday. By the weekend, everyone was exhausted and Aneka said: Thank God, it's a normal birthday for you and dad next year! Father's Day is yet to come, Aneka! Our neighbors down the road are voluntary fawn rehabilitators- they are licensed to take care of abandoned or injured fawn but are not paid for this. People from all over western North Carolina call them if they've found a baby deer that has been injured or that is orphaned. Angela and Keith take care of these deer, feed them goats milk (1 gallon = $10, and the babies need several feeds every day = $300 per week), bring in a vet if needed, pay for their medicine, etc. To generate some publicity for their unique mission, so that people can help by volunteering time or giving donations to support their cause, we've created a deer blog for them. http://angelasdeerfamily.weebly.com Here are some pictures of some of the fawn they have recently fostered. Unfortunately, a fawn without mom to take care of it and a fawn who has been injured in anyway has very slim chances of survival...but over the years, Angela and Keith have managed to foster and release over 100 deer on Green Mountain! We've been trying to help as we really admire what Angela and Keith do.
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The Happer'sHi! This is Preeti, Jim, Rigel, Luna and I (Aneka). We have recently left our home in Shanghai, China to Somewhereinthemountains, North Carolina. Preeti and Jim are both international school teachers and Rigel, Luna and I are homeschooled. Categories
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July 2015
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