Always remember
Love your day your way!!!!!!
Wordless Wednesday 2-1-2023
A Short Trip To Highlands North Carolina
Hello friends and happy Monday. I know I have been a little quiet over here but as I have said before sometimes life gets in the way and it makes it difficult to keep up even with a bit of writing.
Last week something very unusual happened my husband and I found ourselves having to go out of town at the same time. On different trips for our jobs. I tried to think of a time when this has happened in the past and it hasn’t. He had to be gone Monday through Thursday and I only had to be gone Monday through Wednesday. It threw me into a bit of a tailspin at first because I am so used to him being at home with the babies whenever I have a work trip. It did work out o.k. my niece came up and took care of the kitties. They are all inside kitties and they don’t require a lot of work even though there are five of them.
My trip was to Highlands North Carolina. . I was meeting with The Southern Highlands Attractions Group. We meet three times a year. This particular trip took us into the mountains of North Carolina. It was absolutely beautiful and if I hadn’t had to worry about the threat of snow on my way over it would have been perfect.
I had never been to the Highlands of North Carolina and let me tell you it is quite beautiful. I left out early on Monday morning. My meeting didn’t start until 11:00 AM. I had about a three hour drive and of course there was a slight chance of the dreaded snow. I left about 7:30 AM and went through several small towns and over a couple of mountains before I even reached the Highlands. I did see some snow but there was nothing on the road that threatened travel. I stopped a few times to take pictures but I was in a bit of a hurry to get to my meeting. I knew the name Highlands wasn’t just a coincidence and I would probably be traveling to a much higher elevation. I wasn’t expecting the last fifteen miles or so to be straight up with winding and narrow roads. Luckily there was no snow on these roads.
Our meeting was held at Old Edwards Inn & Spa. This place is spectacular. Old Edwards Inn was Highlands’ earliest boarding house, known as Central House built in July 1878. There is a lot of history throughout the years, owned by John Norton, he and his wife Mattie managed Central House. They were known and loved by everyone. In 2001 Art and Angela Williams of Palm Beach, Florida, bought the Inn and restaurant and begin building on the 132-year-old tradition. Old Edwards Inn & Spa is #2 and #5 + Leisure Top Hotel in the South. U.S. News & World Report #2 Hotel in North Carolina, Conde’ Nast #14 Top Hotel in The South. You can read more about the Inn and all of the properties surrounding the Inn here http://www.OldEdwardsinn.com There are now several houses, cottages, and a motel located on or near the property. We stayed in 200 Main. It was so nice.
Photo credit Old Edwards Inn & Sp
Our meeting started with a panel discussion with the Old Edwards lead team members including, the President and managing director, their General Manager, and several of their top directors. The information they shared was so inspiring and informative. The meeting ended around 4:00 and we drove a short distance to 200 Main, the property we were staying in during our stay. Check out this room. I even had a balcony. The weather wasn’t great so I didn’t spend a lot of time there.
That evening we had a cocktail reception at The Barn and then dinner at Orchard House.
A couple of hours of meetings the following day followed by a tour of more of the property. We were taken by shuttle to Half Mile Farm. It was still early when we arrived and quite chilly. The sun was shining and there was frost on the grass making everything look just magical.
After a quick lunch we met in front of the Motel lobby and climbed aboard these vehicles and headed out for an off road trail ride higher into the mountains. Check out the website here: www.highland excursion.Com it was so exciting. We visited Bridal Veil Falls and Dry Falls and they were both beautiful. I can’t say these were the most Comfortable riding vehicles but it was quite an adventure. If you are ever in this area think about booking a tour with this adventure group. The tour guides are amazing. (Check it out here) http://www.highlandexcursion.com
We later visited the Bascom Arts Center. What a beautiful display of art. There was even an area to purchase art made by students. We didn’t have a lot of time to look and that is probably a good thing because I could have spent a freaking fortune there. http://www.thebascom.org.
After we returned to our rooms for a quick refresher we headed into town to Four 65 for pizza and other yummy things.
The next morning we met for a few hours and then everyone headed back to their different areas. I always learn so much at these meetings. The information I gain from other attractions is priceless. But I was glad to get home and back to hubs and the kitties.
How are you? What is going on in your neck of the woods?
Always remember, Love your day your way!!!
Friday Favorites
Happy Friday, how was your week? I have a few favorites from the week to share with you.
I had seen these rollers all over TikTok and Instagram. I finally bought one from Amazon. They are about $20.00. It is amazing. I have to admit I put it in my freezer and forgot to use it for a couple of days. I finally got it out and used it. The best time to use it is in the morning. It is cold and feels wonderful on your face. It reduces pores and puffiness and it just feels so good. It is supposedly good for headaches and pain relief.
I decided to put out a few Valentines decorations. I was thinking about the red and white wreath I had made for Christmas. I made the wreath and then added the white bells for Christmas. I decided to take the bells off and add a red heart. I bought this heart at Hobby Lobby and painted it red and added it to the wreath. I am still a little undecided. It looks like the reds don’t quite match. I may do something different but for now it is on the door and it looks just fine.
I stopped in at The Dollar General Store yesterday and all Christmas items were on sale 70% off. Most things were picked over but look at this adorable little Christmas calendar I got. I will save it for next Christmas. It was only $2.00!!
I love to color. I found this Cat coloring book. It is so nice. I may have a problem with cats I just love them so much!!!
I love taking salads to work. My niece has one of these Bentgo salad containers. I had to get one too. It is so convenient. Again I got this at Amazon. Only $14.99 and so compact. It’s perfect for taking my salad to work.
I just finished this book. It was really good and had a little twist at the end. I got it through my Libby online library app.
Now for the best “favorites” this week. I had lunch with my niece Michelle and lunch another day with my friend Lorie. And my sister is doing very well after her first Chemo treatment. She has five left to go but so far so good. I think we have to celebrate the small victories as well as the large. And that is right on track with my word of the year. Celebrate.
Always remember
Love your day your way!!!!
A Long Weekend and Some Snow
Hello friends, it was a busy weekend for me. We actually woke up to snow on Saturday morning. Not much and nothing on the roads but it was a pretty little snow. I did an early grocery pickup on Saturday morning. I came back home and did a few chores. I cooked two meals to take to my sister’s house. She started chemo Monday and has been having absolutely no appetite. She said she had been wanting pinto beans and fried potatoes and cornbread. If you are from the south you were probably raised eating pinto beans and cornbread. I did the beans and fried potatoes and my niece made the cornbread. I also made spaghetti and took to her and her husband for the next day and some chess bars that my brother in law loves.
I had planned for Sunday to be a quieter day but I looked at my Christmas decorations still up and I told my husband that we had to get all of that taken down. So that was what we mostly did on Sunday. I had planned to get everything put up the first week of January but my sister has been sick and I have been spending time with her. We are also building a new entrance building at work and a demolition crew has been at work most of the past week. Anyway that is why I hadn’t gotten around to the Christmas decorations. But you know we just plugged in the Christmas lights every night and enjoyed the heck out of them. It does feel good to have everything back in place. I had put chicken in the crockpot earlier in the day so dinner was easy and quick. I also repotted one of my orchids, Oliver. Oliver was looking really bad and his pot had become so small. I hope he will be o.k. I will keep you posted.
As I mentioned a lot of demo work has been going on at my workplace. We have been relocated to another building on the property because our office building was part of the main building coming down. The building officially came down last Wednesday morning at 7:00 AM. I was there at 6:30 AM. I have been working in that building for more than thirty years and I wanted to be there to see it go down. Several coworkers came out as well. It was both sad and exciting with lots of emotions.
Yesterday I left my house at 5:30 AM and picked my sister up for her first round of chemo. It was an all day event. The first treatment is administered very slowly in case there is an allergic reaction. We arrived at the hospital at 8:00 AM and she had blood work and a short visit with the doctor. We were then led to an area with several reclining chairs. We got her comfortable and she was given warm blankets. The first meds started at 9:00 AM. The entire infusion took until about 3:30 PM Most of the others will only take 1-2 hours. One down and five to go. I was able to go over into the main part of the hospital and grab lunch. And of course I took my knitting. So the time passed fairly quickly, for me anyway. She actually slept most of the time because she also got a large dose of Benadryl. She is doing really well so far. She has had very little nausea. As we waited for the chemo to be administered we watched people come and go for different treatments. I always wonder what their story is. I hate cancer it has hit my family really hard through the years. This type of chemo will make her lose her hair. I took her several scarves and hats to try for when that time comes. She is not worried about her hair she just wants rid of this cancer.
It was back to work for me today in my new work environment that we are all trying to adjust to. We had to move offices so quickly we are still constantly looking for things. I’m sure as soon as we get familiar with everything it will be time to move back to the old new office.
How was your weekend?
Always remember
Love your day your way!!!
Southern Patches 