October 22, 2013
The first cold front of the year has brought chilly temps to the mountains of Western North Carolina for the last few mornings. In Appalachia we describe that cool breezy weather as being airish.
With scattered frost throughout Cherokee County it’s a might airish out this morning. Perfect weather for a pair of dandy boots and Granny’s latest sweater creation.
Tipper
Appalachia Through My Eyes – A series of photographs from my life in Southern Appalachia.
The 1974 Winter Edition of the Foxfire Magazine contains a compilation of newspaper articles written by Harvey Miller. At the…
I know you’re probably saying “Tipper November is over.” It is over, but my series of Thankful November has a…
Water from grapevine by the creek “When we were kids I remember the water dripping out of the grapevines when…
The other day a few friends and I were talking about how fast 2014 has flown by. I said “Forget…
Are you a worrier? Or maybe you know someone who WORRIES about E-VERY-TH-ING? Granny is a worrier. She is a…
Every surface and plant surrounding the Blind Pig house was bejeweled with ice yesterday. Although it made for a beautiful landscape-it…
Still below freezing at 6am today, and the chilly air has that lovely freshness that either inspires me to pull my old coat on and get busy with chores, or dive back under the covers til the sun is just a tad bit higher.
If the rain holds off, I’ll be hastening through more outdoor chores today, trying (as always) to get “everything” done before winter.
It’s a mite airish here also, looking forward to a little cooler weather, not as hot this year as we’ve had, but still I like cool weather the best.. We took a little trip up to Pigeon Forge the last week in August and was surprised that the black gum had not started turning yet, they had already started back home, even the sycamore had start turning colors here but not there yet and they’re usually ahead of ours.. Thankful we haven’t had the tornadoes and hurricanes this year, so far, that usually terrifies the south…
Tipper
Please tell b.Ruth that I have the same problem she does. If the web site “times out.” Or if I go to another web site before I hit “post” it all goes away. If she will put her comment into Word or notepad or something like that, then when she is happy with what she has written, copy and paste it into the comment box on your blog, it’ll work fine.
First, refresh the Blindpig. Then paste the comment in the box. Now do something to the comment, even if it is to move the cursor to the right. Then your name, or the last one you chose to use, will appear in the spaces below. Then hit preview and see what it looks like. If all is OK, hit POST. Let the games begin!
Tipper,
I have lost my comment three times today…I guess my computer is going crazy…I loved the post and it brought a tear to my eye as I have heard my Grandmother use “a mite airish” as well as my Mother mimicing my Granny. I use it too, and it is supposed to get plum airish this weekend. I will have to bring in the begonias that are potted.
The leaves were beautiful on the plateau this afternoon. We went for more apples…
Thanks Tipper,
I am closing this off…for now..
Good to read Jim’s post again..
and Whit Waltmans as well as the others…Wonder if Don has slipped down on the wet leaves..guess not..he is probably romping around on the mountain trails….LOL
When my grandmother was stumped about something, or had no answer to a question, she’d say, “I don’t have airy idee.” (Translation: “I have no idea.” 🙂 Love your site, Tipper!
Tipper,
This airish kind of weather suits
me just fine. Can’t wait till the
snow starts fallin’. I’ve already
had a couple of frosts, the first
one I had ICE on my windshield.
This cool spell is just a warning
of what’s to come…Ken
Frost on the punkins here on White Oak-Brrrr!
Tipper, I knowed exackly what you meant as soon as I seed the title..
I enjoy this time of year…a fire in the wood stove every morning and the promise of many airish days to come! We haven’t had any frost yet, but I do believe we are in store for some before the end of the week…can’t wait for that first frost!
My Grandpa had a saying or word he used to describe weather when it got cool and windy. He would say – and I never really understood the significance of the word – “It’s a little pinchy this morning!”
Airish is a new word for me. I haven’t heard that before. I have used the phrase “a mite bit nippy” or a tad bit nippy”. Here in Western West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky it is just that this morning.
The airish days are welcome here in KY…for a little while anyway. The rainy spring and summer has just about worn me and my mower out. After a few weeks of not being able to go outside for long periods of time, I will start hating the cold weather as I always do.
I didn’t know Granny made sweaters, too. Lucky you!
It’s a bit frash in Swain Co. also, personally haven’t seen frost but I’m sure there has been some in the higher climes of the county. I love the post about making molasses since I’ve been there, done that. It amazes me that so many today think such endeavors were so ideal, I remember hours behind a horse and then with a hoe in hand raising the cane then cutting the tops, stripping then cutting and hauling the same, hours of grinding it with the same horse pulling the sweep pole to power the mill the hours of cooking the juice in a boiler, keeping it stirred and skimmed then the physical labor of at least four stout individuals pouring it through cheese cloth into five gallon cans trying not to spill any then pouring the syrup into gallon jugs. Then we had to haul the pummeys left from the grinding and haul fifty five gallon barrels of skimmings to the barn to be added to the cow feed. This was all hard work but satisfying when you stirred fresh churned butter and sopped it up with a cathead biscuit on the cold winter mornings that followed. I think part of the entertainment value to all the visitors at festivals comes from them being glad they are able to buy the finished product without having to perform the labor. I didn’t mention fighting the packsaddles while working the cane nor the yellow-jackets while making the molasses. I think the nostalgia and yearning for the “Good Old Days” shows how our memories are kind in that they tend to forget the unpleasant aspects and magnify the pleasant parts of our raisin.
It has been a bit airish here in Caldwell County for the past couple of mornings. However, chilly for the bones, it is refreshing to say the least. New term for me; I’m still learning.
The word airish is new to me but I’m familiar with tad and mite! My mom was raised in the mountains of Nelson Co. Virginia (Blue Ridge)and my dad in the Shenandoah Valley. A tad North of you but we certainly have a connection!
My family is all from the South, mostly Tennessee. I am first generation Northerner, but my roots show. I am a new follower; love your blog!
Tipper–Your title for today’s blog flat-out caught my fancy. I could almost hear my beloved Grandpa Joe talking, because he often used the word “mite,” along with “a tad,” to describe the weather. Phrases such as “a mite airish,” along with “a tad chilly,” “passin’ cold,””a mite unseasonable,” or “a tad on the wet side,” were regular parts of his linguistic stock in trade.
Jim Casada
http://www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com
It’s a mite airish here on Oglethorpe Mountain too. No frost on the punkins yet but expecting it this week. We are overrun with bear here looking for food. The oak trees produced very few acorns so the animals are foraging for whatever they can get. You have to keep your garages closed and your vehicles locked. I found out that a black bear is pretty smart. One opened the door of my truck and climbed inside looking for food. All I had was gum so he had fresh breath for a little while anyway. It took me about to two hours to clean it up.
“A mite airish”…that’s what my Meemaw used to say!
I know those “mite airish” mornings in fall in the mountains. As we cranked off the syrup mill in September and October on the farm, it was always good to “back up to” the furnace and warm by its glowing fire on those cold, cold mornings. With the sorghum festival going in Blairsville for the past several years, it’s amazing to know that now a festival that attracts thousands celebrates what was a fall way of life and one of my father’s main sources of income to pay “the annual taxes” and also get us through the lean months of winter with a little cash to spare. His output of sorghum syrup for himself and people far and wide who brought their cane to his mill for processing netted a total of about 3,000 gallons of sorghum syrup made each fall “back in those years.”
Have come the days when summer’s haze has vanished in thin air. Scenes so dear thought lost a year we find are still right there.
Around here they say it’s gettin a bit nipplie.
Yep, it’s airish here in Black Mountain too. I wasn’t quite ready for cold weather yet, but then it didn’t ask my permission.
Our leaves have started falling but we have not yet seen the spectacular color show we have most years. Guess it’s the wet weather this summer.