Author: Lisa -Southern Patches

Hello everyone, my name is Lisa I am a southern girl born and raised in East Tennessee. I love discovering new places and things to do. I have a lot of favorites, shopping, traveling, knitting and photography are all at the top of my list. I am married with my fur babies my only children. This blog is actually named after my beloved basset hound Patches. She passed away a few years ago but will always have a huge part of my heart. Come with me and we will explore some wonderful places and discover some really fun things. Are you ready?

Weekends

Are you ready for Christmas? I am never ready. I always hear about those people, and maybe you are one of them, who say “yes I am ready”. I am always shopping and cooking until the last moment. But isn’t that kind of what makes it fun? Yes yes and that is my story and I am sticking to it.

Another long weekend for me since I had Friday off. What am I going to do when I have to work a full week?

I started out on Friday like a crazed woman with a mission. I slept in a little later than usual but my main goal was to get a honey baked ham from the Honey Baked Ham Store. Is that just a southern thing? Anyway they are fabulous!!! My husband requested one for our Christmas Day dinner with his family.

On my way to the city I saw these lambs in a field and I had to pull over and take a pic. I would love to have some sheep some day. We had a really big frost can you see?

I did not want to go to the Honey Baked Ham store in Knoxville. If you have ever been at Christmas time or Easter or any other major holiday you know what it is like. Cars are actually lined up on the highway trying to get in. Once you get in the store you have to take a number just to pick your ham. You better know ahead of time if you want bone it or bone out. Then you take the number to a tent set up outside, to deal with all the overflow customers. There is where you pick up your ham. And you better not even blink an eye at how much it cost because it is a “Honey Baked Ham” and it is Christmas!!!!! There is even extra security there. The whole time I am thinking yeah!!! my husband has never had this experience. If he had, would he really want one of these hams? But who am I kidding they are amazing.

I did not go to Knoxville. A friend at work told me of a Honey Baked Ham store in Alcoa which is actually closer to me. Only about 30 miles away instead of 40. I went at 9:00 AM on Friday morning. There was no one in the store!!!!! WHAT????? How can this be? I actually went in and picked the ham and paid for it all in about five minutes. This even included a conversation with the clerk about the benefits of getting a bone in ham, which may be more expensive but much more flavorful. Thank you very much. I was dumbstruck. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I wandered back to the car in a daze. I actually had time to do some more Christmas shopping before I had to take the ham home.

So I ran by the Walmart in Alcoa to pick up Kitty Kitty a condo. They had some really nice ones for about $69.00 but you did have to assemble it yourself. Oh well I am sure me and the hubs can do that.

After doing some Christmas shopping I went home. I had a couple of hours before I had to be at a Christmas party at the assisted living village where my mother in law lives. When I got home I decided to rest for a few minutes. My husband decided to assemble the Kitty Condo. I heard him in the kitchen going HMMMMM HMMMM. I thought oh dear Lord he is trying to put the condo together without using the instructions. It’s a man thing. I went in to help him.

It turns out the Kitty Condo was harder to put together than you might think. You put it together from the top down. A little backwards if you ask me. We finally got it put together and only contemplated divorce once or twice. Kitty Kitty was all about watching us but when we put it in the corner for her she wouldn’t go near it. GRRRRRR!!!

Look at Kitty Kitty all interested in the assembly of the Kitty Condo. Not so much once it was put together.

This is the finished Kitty Condo. If you look closely you can see Kitty Kitty on the lowest level this is as far as she has ventured.

Over the weekend Mark and I watched our favorite Christmas movie of all times. A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott. If you haven’t seen it I highly recommend.

Our Christmas tree and a kitty kitty in a basket gazing at the tree. I am almost Christmas ready. How about you??

Merry Christmas to all of you I hope you have a wonderful time with friends and family and all of your loved ones. Remember those that can’t be here with you and cherish those who are.

Alway remember

Love your day your way!!!

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The Pina Colada Song

Do you ever feel like a worn out recording of your favorite song? I am really telling my age now. But do you remember this song? It was actually called The Escape. It was about a man that was tired of his “lady” because they had fallen into the same old dull routine. While they were lying in bed one night, I guess it was night, he was reading the personal ads and he came across one that suggested if he liked Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain and wasn’t into yoga and had half a brain and loved making love at midnight in the dunes on the cape then he should write to her and they could plan their escape.

He replied back that yes he loved all of those things and he would meet her at a bar and they would plan their escape.

When “she” showed up it was his own lovely lady who had been asleep in bed beside him while he was trolling the personal ads. She said “Ah it’s you”. and then they said they never knew that the other liked all of those things including the Pina Coladas. The song indicates it opened a whole new world for them yet no one questions what might have happened if it hadn’t been him who showed up at the bar and just why his lovely lady put the ad in the paper to start with. O.K. I’m getting side tracked sorry, that often happens to me. Anyway you get the jest of the song. I think it was always called The Pina Colada song.

So I ask again? do you ever feel like a worn out recording of “your” favorite song? I am not referring to a spouse, partner lover or even a friend but YOU!!!! Do you ever feel like you just go through the motions day after day and you do the same things over and over. Do you eat the same things for breakfast, wear the same clothes, take the same route to work? same routine day after day? Why not change it up a little? do something totally different and unexpected!!! I challenge you. Let me know how it goes. We know that there are often big things in our lives that we can’t change for one reason or another so we will deal with that. But lots of little things in our lives can be changed and maybe make life a little more interesting and make the big things easier to deal with. So here we go:

For myself, and yes people it may be baby steps, this is what I am going to do every week or every day.

*Call or talk to a loved one that I don’t see often.
*Eat different foods, try a new food every week or try a new recipe.
*Watch something I am usually not interested in.
* Wear something different
*Read a book that I normally would not read or be interested in, (I have Harry Potter on my night stand). I know I know I Can’t believe I have never read this book.
* Volunteer for an organization.

I think you see where I am going with this. Just do something different. There are so many things about ourselves and in this world we can’t change. But as for the things we can do a little different, why not? This is our one life, enjoy, live, love

So yesterday I decided to wear these kind of blingy earrings I hadn’t worn in about six months and I did my hair different. You know what? I felt a little different, in a good way.
I mean you just can’t wear Blingy earrings without feeling a little sassy.

So what will you try different? So let me know how it goes. What might you discover?

Always remember

Love your day your way

Weekends 12-14-19

Happy Monday friends. How was your weekend?

My weekend was really good because it was three days long. I took Friday off as a vacation day and I will be taking that extra Friday off until the end of the year. I love having a four day work week. I think it should be mandatory. I feel like I get so much done having three days off. Oh well. Such is the life.

So on Friday my sister Sandy and I went Christmas shopping in Knoxville. It was crazy!!!! But what else can you expect less than two weeks till Christmas.

My main focus for this trip was a pair of AirPods pro for my husband. He put them on his Christmas list. We don’t usually get a lot of gifts for each other. We get one big gift for each other. We got a new Apple desktop computer this year. We have our MacBooks but when I am working on my blog and doing photos I like a desktop. Our old computer bit the dust about six months ago but in all fairness we had had it for about ten years so it served its time. Rest in peace you did an awesome job!!!

So I, in my ignorance is bliss way that I have sometimes, marched into Target and requested the AirPods. The dude behind the counter practically burst out laughing. We are out of stock we may have some in by the 16th but I heard they are on backorder until after Christmas. Ok. I thought, I will check at Best Buy I am not panicking yet. But I did have this little worrisome voice in the back of my head saying “haven’t you heard those are the most popular Christmas item this year” I went to two different Best Buy stores and they informed me they wouldn’t have any in until after Christmas. The clerk even chuckled a little evilly at the second Best Buy Store, well that might have been my imagination considering my panicked state of mind, and said everyone is sold out they are on back order everywhere. Ok. Ok. I got on line and searched EVERYWHERE!!! “Not in stock” kept appearing. I am starting to panic a little o.k. a lot. I have a plan. I think some of the stores will get them in just before Christmas. At least the Apple store right? I will magically be at said store at the perfect time to snag the AirPods. Yes that is my plan. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted.

We left Knoxville fairly early because it was just getting too peopley.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing laundry, reading, knitting and grocery shopping. I baked a ham on Sunday to have for dinner and then have leftovers during the week. I also made home made pizza to have in the fridge and some peanut butter balls to take to work and deliver to some people that I promise them to every year. Can you say carb overload!!!

I found this book at a thrift store and am re-reading it. I had all of these when I was younger. I love the Little House Books.

Peanut Butter Balls are my signature dessert to make for Christmas

I have been in a sock knitting mood. I don’t know why socks all of a sudden but I do love to knit them. It’s almost like working a puzzle because you have to do all the different parts, cuff, heel, toe etc. Maybe that’s just me. HA HA.

Mark got the new computer hooked up and we are awaiting the fiber optic cable that will be coming tomorrow. We have hoped wished and prayed for fiber optic to be introduced to our little remote area and it finally is!!!! It’a a Christmas miracle. We are beyond excited.

I hope your week is wonderful!! It’s Christmas Crunch Time but Always remember,

Love your day your way

Biltmore Estate at Christmas

Hello friends, Have you ever been to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC? Have you been at Christmas time? Well either way you need to go. I have been to Biltmore many many times. I love it!!! I especially love going at Christmas time. It is magical. Last week my husband and I had a few extra days off from work and we decided to go. It is about 3.5 hours from where we live. We decided to go over very early and spend the day and come back.

Not the best picture of the estate but it’s hard to get a good shot of it it’s so big.

George Vanderbilt visited Asheville with his mother in 1888 and loved the area so much he started purchasing 125,000 acres of land to build a “French Renaissance Chateau”. It took six years of construction and around 1,000 workers ranging from local laborers to internationally known artists. Biltmore House was started in 1889 and finished in 1895. George was a Bachelor at this time. He married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser in 1898 in Paris. She had not seen the house. Can you imagine what she thought the first time she came through the trees and saw the house!!!!

Biltmore house has 250 rooms, including 35 bedrooms for family and guests, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces and three kitchens and two libraries, a total of 178,926 square feet of floor space.
This is the Banquet Hall. The ceiling here is over seven stories high. At Christmas this room is decorated with a 35-foot Fraser Fir. The tree is decorated with 500 ornaments up to several feet long, 500 lights and 500 packages. It is really something to see.

This is in the entrance hall and the first thing you see when entering the estate.

This is the Breakfast Room. Guests of the Vanderbilt’s were served both breakfast and luncheon here. It is located just off of the Banquet Hall.

This is the Tapestry Gallery. This room is 90-feet long. The Flemish tapestries on the wall are part of a 1530s set know as The Triumph of the Seven Virtues.

The Music Room

George Vanderbilt’s Bedroom

Edith Vanderbilt’s Bedroom

This is the Library. This room contains half of George Vanderbilt’s 22,000-volume collection of books which range in a large variety of subjects.

The 70,000-gallon swimming pool was heated and still has the original underwater lighting.

This was one of the nation’s first bowling alleys in a private residence. A favorite place for the guests to spend time.

In August of 1900 the Vanderbilt’s welcomed the arrival of their daughter Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt. The Halloween Room in the basement of the estate was often used for parties with Cornelia’s friends.

In April of 1924 Cornelia married the Honorable John Francis Amherst Cecil. In 1925 the couple spent weeks painting the wall scenes for a New Year’s Eve Party.

The staff quarters was very minimal but Biltmore functioned much like a luxury hotel. Employees received room, board and uniforms as well as New York wages which was substantially higher than the Asheville standard.

Every year a gingerbread house is set up in the kitchen area of the estate. It is one of my favorite things to see at Christmas. The detail is really unique.

Seeing the Biltmore Estate is only a very small part of what visiting the Biltmore is about. There is so many things to do while you are on the grounds. There are several different tours of the house that you may purchase separately if you wish. These are behind the scenes tours that you don’t usually see while touring the house.

There is also several places to eat on the estate, and many gift shops to purchase one of a kind treasures.

The spring is a wonderful time to visit during the Festival of Flowers. The gardens are absolutely unbelievable.

The Winery, Antler Hill Village, The Farm and The Village Green are just a few of the places to visit while you are on the estate.

November 8, 2019-April 7, 2020. DOWNTON ABBEY, THE EXHIBITION is on display at Biltmore with many of the costumes worn while filming.

There are two places to stay if you would like to include an overnight or a few days to enjoy everything. My husband and I stayed at The Inn on Biltmore Estate for our anniversary a couple of years ago it is spectacular with beautiful views of the entire property. There is also The Village Hotel which is not quite as upscale as the Inn but also very nice.

For more information about the Biltmore Estate check out their website http://www.biltmore.com and if you plan to visit be sure to download the Biltmore App http://www.biltmore.com/app

Biltmore Estate is a magical place. I always like to pretend what it would have been like to live there. I can only imagine. Put this on your to do list. Asheville NC is also a beautiful place to visit. For some additional things to do in Asheville check out my previous post here from a few months ago when I spent a few days in Asheville.

Until next time, always remember,

Love your day your way