April showers bring the flowers but May rain knocks them down again (I just made that second bit up). Actually, it’s no secret that we had an unusually wet May in the North Carolina mountains. For a while the weather was making me homesick for England. The rains have now well and truly passed, thank goodness. We are finally able to bask in seasonal spring sunshine and things are in full bloom again.
One side effect of May’s rain was to back up our lawn service’s workload. The intervals between recent mowings have consequently been a little longer than usual and as a result the grounds at the Andon-Reid Inn have at times been more of a country meadow than a venue for a genteel game of cr
oquet or lawn bowls.
This lush lawn vegetation, however, has provided guests with some unexpected opportunities for nature watching from the Andon-Reid Inn wrap-around porch. I did not follow up Andrea’s suggestion that we get a goat to keep the grass down, but the tasty grass and clover has made some of the local groundhogs more intrepid and wide ranging. You can now frequently see them munching away in the middle of our mountain view. We named the first one we saw Gretel (as in Gretel the Groundhog) and of course once we saw her charming chubby partner he had to be called Hansel.
The moist early spring has also resulted in a particularly large and active crop of fireflies in the hedge at the bottom of our property. One even made it through an open door at our owner’s quarters last night and was flashing on and off above our bed until we shooed him out.
Finally, for all of you who have asked after her, I am pleased to say that 
despite the vet’s direst predictions, Bibb the cat is still very much with us and is about to turn the ripe old age of 18. She was particularly picturesque snoozing in the sunshine among the clematis and I am happy share a snapshot of her for all her fans.
If you want to meet Hansel and Gretel, or if you are here in the next week or two and want to come on my 10 minute tour of the Andon-Reid Inn’s “un-synchronized” fireflies, or if you just want to say hi to Bibb, then now’s the time to take advantage of great seasonal rates and come and enjoy a stay at the Andon-Reid Inn. Just call us on (828) 452 3089 or visit our (new) website https://www.andonreidinn.com/ to book your room.
