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?

A wake up Call

Tuesday I had an appointment with my doctor for my annual physical. A week ago I went to the office for lab work for my upcoming Appointment. I have the blood work about a week before so my doctor can go over the results with me during my visit.

I was concerned about my weight. I knew I had gained weight during the last few years. And as it is with many things as you get older losing weight has become really hard. It seemed like when I was twenty I could lose ten pounds in two weeks. Wow those days are no more. I guess I have just been comfortable in my own skin and really still am to a great extent. I don’t like the extra weight when it comes to fitting into clothes or liking the way I look in a particular outfit sometimes. But I guess it hasn’t bothered me enough to really do something about it. I feel like I have had a lot of other things in my life to deal with.

UNTIL, I noticed that my knees were starting to bother me more, I wasn’t working out like I should.I am getting older I noticed I am stiffer when I get out of bed in the mornings or after I sit for a long time. Not moving makes that worse. Just a few years ago I was training for a half marathon. What happened? Well at that time I injured my knee, stopped working out, didn’t do the marathon, and basically just gave myself a freebie not to work out for awhile. Unfortunately the “while” turned into a long while. And the extra pounds started piling up.

Now don’t get me wrong. For most of my life I have been plus sized, chubby, big boned, whatever you want to call it I have always been above my normal weight range, whatever in the hell that might be. You know most people are only in that weight range when they are in kindergarten. I probably wasn’t then either. That is me. I was never picked for sports or cheerleading but I was just as comfortable, more so really, sitting in the library reading a book. Do I like myself thinner? Well yes I do but as I said I guess I have reached an age where I am comfortable with me. Until it starts causing me joint issues and not feeling like myself and not wanting to do things like I used to. Or until I realize I am not taking control of my weight and it could really get out of hand and cause blood pressure and cholesterol and diabetes issues.

I have been on a diet most of my life. I have lost hundreds if not thousands of pounds throughout my lifetime. Thousands is probably more like it. Every time I have an event a few months away I think to myself well that gives me plenty of time to lose about 20 pounds and wear that outfit in the back of my closet. But you know that doesn’t usually happen.

I realize I could have a lot of health issues that could be worse than having to lose some weight. No blood pressure problems, no cholesterol problems. Everything is within range. But I do know that carrying extra weight, not exercising and eating the wrong foods could change all of that as I get older. Older than I am now.

I could blame my weight on a crazy work schedule with lots of travel, being a care giver and not having a lot of extra time of my own, depression, anxiety, stress, any of these things or all of them can cause someone to eat mindlessly and just have the need to fill a void within themselves.

The first picture was when I was about three and the second one was when I was about ten. I will never forget being at the dentist when I was young and the assistant ask my mom if my cheeks were always that puffy or if they were swollen? My mom said “no they are always like that”. That memory has always stuck with me and made me self conscious of my chubby cheeks. I still have them.

So on Tuesday I went to the doctor’s office, I felt pretty good about myself. I wasn’t even dreading the weigh in as bad as I usually do. I hadn’t weighed myself at home in weeks if not months. I thought maybe I had even lost a little weight. My body did feel different my clothes were still fitting o.k.

The nurse called my name, of course the first thing they do is lead you to the scales. I didn’t even ask to remove my shoes. I bravely stepped onto the scale and after she adjusted the weight thingies I almost passed out. I literally stepped back and almost fell off the scale. And then she said my weight in a loud voice like I hadn’t seen it on the medieval torture device scale. I cringed and quickly looked around to see who else had heard her. Dear Lord!!!!! It was terrible. I couldn’t get that number out of my head. I guess the fact that I thought maybe I had lost some weight only to find out that was not true but I had actually gained!!! It was too much.

Through the years my weight has fluctuated. If you could look through my medical records you would see probably a 35-40 pound range over the past 20 years. My closet has everything from a size 6 to a size 16. I just shove them around as needed.

The doctor came in and went over my blood work with me. Everything looked great. We discussed my weight, which was not great. I had only gained five or ten pounds since the year before but I could see myself adding on year after year.

So we came up with a plan. My doctor doesn’t want me to try anything ridiculous and try to lose 10 pounds in a week, not that that would happen with me, he wants me to set a goal of a ten pound weight loss by the end of the year and add 150 minutes of exercise per week. That may sound like a lot but it is only 30 minutes a day for 5 days, or less if you spread it out over 7 days. I think that is doable until I get back in the swing of exercise and build up some muscle and endurance. After the first three months we will look at the next goal. Having a goal in sight helps me to stay focused.

Now please don’t get me wrong when you read this post. I have seen many men and women with excess weight who are happy and comfortable in their skin. I love them and think you go, good for you. But I can only be comfortable with myself to a certain point and then I do have some self esteem issues. Add in the joint pain and stiffness and that is just not the me I want to be. I feel that I should try to be the best me a I can be and that is what I want to do. But you are you and you be the best YOU, you can be.

I will keep you posted on the progress.

Always remember to Love your day your way!!!!

A Quick Trip to Cherokee and Bryson City North Carolina-

Hello friends how are you? Last week no sooner had I gotten back from my trip to Nashville, well I did have one day at home, I was off again for another few days to North Carolina. Another tourism meeting and lots of fun this time getting to see some fun attractions. We stayed at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort. It was a central location for both Cherokee and Bryson City. This hotel is very nice but I am too cheap to be much of a gambler. The hotel has lots of nice restaurants and shops. First stop Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.

Located in the heart of Bryson City North Carolina the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is a favorite beautiful ride through western North Carolina. The views are amazing. We rode The Michigan one of the newer cars and it was fantastic.

Look at the Conductor isn’t he adorable

We were able to step outside between the cars and get some great photos.

I love the gentle rocking of the train and being able to see the beautiful scenery. We had great weather for the entire trip.

We rode the train down to The Nanatahala Outdoor Center. At NOC you can raft, hike, zip line, eat, shop and stay in some amazing cabins. It is the perfect place to chill out. We went back the next day for a longer visit. We had the chance to raft or zip line or just hang out by the water. I decided to sit by the river and chill out with a glass of wine or two. It was so relaxing. I even dipped my toes in the water and it was ice cold!!!!

After our day riding the train and visiting NOC we went back into the town of Bryson City. A charming town that I fell in love with. We had a little time for shopping. If you go you have to check out some of the small boutiques a couple of my favorites were: Humanite and Pursenality. For dinner we went to a great place to eat Everett’s Bistro. Everett’s is also a hotel with guest rooms. Believe it or not it used to be a bank. The owners have done a spectacular job with this Hotel and Bistro. We were able to tour some of the guest rooms. I can’t wait to go back and stay for a few days. We also had dessert on the rooftop. It was a great day with so much to see and do. I was so glad to get back to the hotel that night.

The next morning we met a local guide for a trip to The Road to Nowhere. When I mentioned to my niece that I was going to Bryson City the first thing she said was, Oh!!! are you going to see the Road to Nowhere? To be honest I had heard of it but really wasn’t sure what it was about. We traveled about six miles in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For the abbreviated version of this story click here.
It is a sad story. The local people can share with you many of their own stories of having to take boats out to visit their ancestors’ gravesites. Basically this was a road that was started, many families were displaced and then funding ran out and the road development just stopped. So it really is a road to nowhere.

Lot of graffiti on the walls of the tunnel. The middle of the tunnel can get quite dark. I can only imagine what it would be like at night.

We continued on with our local guide, Wendy, who was just a wealth of information. We went for a two mile hike through Deep Creek. What beautiful scenery with several waterfalls along our hike. Check out even more on the link below.

https://www.greatsmokies.com › deepcreek-waterfalls

Fontana Lake. I made our driver stop so I could get this picture.

Later that evening we had a tour of the Museum of The Cherokee Indian in downtown Cherokee. This is a wonderful museum full of history and culture. It has so much character and love put into it. This is a must see if you visit Cherokee. Another thing to check out while in Cherokee is Unto These Hills and The Cherokee Historical Association. We didn’t do those on this trip but I have been before.

And then later that night we had dinner prepared for us by some wonderful Cherokee women. We also participated I some of the traditional Cherokee Indian dances and heard some amazing stories while sitting around a bonfire. A great ending to a great day.

I always think a fire is magical

The next day we had meetings most of the morning and just like that I was back at home by late evening. I had a really good time on my short journey. It makes me realize just how much we have to see in this U.S.A. I want to see it all!!!!

So if you are looking for something to do in Western North Carolina I highly suggest you check out these adventures. You will love them!!!!

And always remember to Love Your Day Your Way!!!!

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Let Me Take You to Nashville

Hello Friends happy Sunday,

I spent most of last week in Nashville. It was a quick trip but I did have time to take in some things I had never done before. I always love that. I got home late Friday night and now I am headed to Bryson City, NC. and Cherokee NC for most of the upcoming week. Another tourism meeting and a lot of sight seeing. I have barely had time to get home, do laundry love on the fur babies, and my hubs too of course, get groceries and pack up again. More on the North Carolina trip later but for now Nashville.

First of all let me say that Nashville is an amazing city. Until you actually go downtown and visit the historic buildings, art centers, and see the building art murals,The Gulch, and the bars, you haven’t seen Nashville. It seems like I see something different every time I am there.

Mark and I come to Nashville three times a year for a check on the kidney but we are usually in too big of a hurry just to get here and back to spend any time doing anything. I think we may have to rethink that next time.

Every year The Governor’s Conference on Tourism is held in a different city in Tennessee. I usually attend and if I am not able to another of my co-workers, Annie, attends for me. This year we were both able to attend and that makes it even better because we split up the educational seminars and get twice as much done. But we also wanted to take advantage of this wonderful city and do some fun things with the little bit of free time that we had.

Nashville is about about 180 miles from my small town. You can usually drive it in a little over three hours. Also it is in the central time zone and you gain an hour going there. Of course you lose it back when you go back home. We started out early Wednesday morning and it was a beautiful day but hotter than H&ll The high temp on Wednesday was about 96 degrees.

We stayed at The Sheraton Grand Nashville. This hotel is across the street from the Capitol Building and is a little pricey. We did get a special rate through the conference but for a few nights stay without a group rate it would be pricey. I have stayed just outside of the city and used Uber and it is also convenient and a lot less costly, even with the Uber cost. The Sheraton has a free shuttle service that is very convenient and will take you within a certain radius of the hotel.

One of the things I wanted to do was eat at the Loveless Cafe. It is a little bit out of Nashville. So you actually drive through Nashville and then continue on about another 25 minutes. It is located just off of exit 192 on Hwy 100. The history behind the Loveless Cafe is very interesting. In 1951 Lon and Annie Loveless opened Loveless Cafe serving homemade southern dishes. They also built a 14-room motel next to the restaurant. I guess you could say their biscuits are what put them on the map. And I can testify that THEY ARE AMAZING!!!!!!! More than a half million visitors a year eat at the cafe. There have also been many famous people who have eaten at the cafe. There are autographed pictures throughout the restaurant. You can even buy the biscuit mix and jams and jellies to take home with you and make your own delicious biscuits.

The small motel now has quaint shops to visit. The Loveless Cafe is open 7 days a week and if you plan to eat there at lunch or dinner time you might want to make a reservation which you can easily do online. Check out more on the Loveless Cafe here.

I hope you are not too hungry when you look at these photos. I had the pulled pork barbecue. We shared a banana pudding for dessert. We went at lunch time and made reservations in case it was super busy. The portions are huge and had we known we probably would have split something since taking a to-go box wasn’t an option.

Another thing I have wanted to do for a long time is visit The Gulch in Nashville. The Gulch is a LEED certified community in the heart of Nashville it is just off of Interstate 40, Interstate 26, and Interstate 65. There are so many trendy restaurants and bars in The Gulch. We stopped at Bar Louie for a drink and appetizers. They were delicious. One thing The Gulch is famous for is all the murals on the buildings. I wanted to see the Angel Wings by Kelsey Montague. After we left Louie’s it was starting to get dark and we were trying to find the wings. We had almost given up and started back when we turned around and there they were!!! Of course we had to get some pics. The mural is actually called, What Lifts You and It is beautiful!!! The mural is 20 feet high. The wings are located at 302 11th Ave S in The Gulch but for much more information about The Gulch please visit http://www.explorethegulch.com.

You know I had to get my picture here. Usually there is a line of people waiting but only about five other people were there before us.

As I said we didn’t have a lot of time outside of the conference but we did have some time to do a few other things. We went to The Johnny Cash Museum. I have always been a huge Johnny Cash fan. The Museum is located at 119 3rd Ave S. visit the website at http://www.johnnycashmuseum.com.

Another thing you must do when you are in Nashville is go Honky Tonkin. This involves putting your boots on and going to your favorite bars on the strip. Nashville is alive with country music. Many musicians have found stardom by playing in the small bars along the strip in Nashville. Anyone you see could be the next big name in country. We were able to take in several bars while we were there and we listened to some fabulous bands. One of my favorites was Tequila Cowboy. This bar features live music, a dance floor and some fabulous food and drink. We saw Josh Keas perform and he was amazing I am sure he will be the next big name in country music. http://www.tequilacowboy.com

The Nashville nightlife is crazy fun!!

Nashville is such a beautiful city and with only a little free time in a couple of days I think we got to see a lot of new things. I do want to return and add to my list so I will keep you posted on that. A few things that were on my list to see and experience were:
The Legendairy Milkshake Bar Just try not to drool when you look at these pictures.
Draper James. This shop, founded by Reese Witherspoon, is true southern charm.
Ryman Auditorium There is so much history here. I have been but would love to go back.
Frist Art Museum. Another place I have been but the exhibits change frequently and there is always something new to see.

So now I am off to North Carolina. I will share that with you very soon. But in the meantime remember to:

Love your day your way

How to Make a Perfectly Decadent Chocolate Cake

Hello Friends, I have to tell you that chocolate cake is one of my favorite things in the world. This post even includes homemade chocolate frosting. We usually call it icing in the south. You know how much I love to bake. I am a cake person and I love almost all cakes. My husband, on the other hand, loves pies. Check out this post I did awhile back on making a great coconut cream pie. But my husband does love chocolate cake probably more than I do so when I make one I know I will not be eating the entire thing myself. So here goes. This is going to be a four layer cake because I like to split the layers so that I have lots of room for the yummy chocolate cake icing. So here goes:

Use your favorite cake mix. Cake mix is so easy and inexpensive. I always keep several in my pantry. You can just do so much with them. My favorite cake is yellow or white cake with chocolate icing. I think it offsets the chocolate a little. Now don’t get me wrong chocolate on chocolate is never a bad thing to me. But I usually prefer yellow or white cake with chocolate icing.

Mix your ingredients according to the directions on your cake mix. I always grease the cake pans with solid Crisco and flour them before baking. This is a great way to make sure that your cakes do not stick.

Pour the batter evenly into two 8 x 2 inch round cake pans. Again bake according to the directions on the cake mix.

Before removing the cake from the cake pan, and you should do this as soon as you take it out of the oven, I use a little trick to flatten the top of the cake. This makes it easier when stacking the layers. I put a paper towel on top of the cake and then put a small saucer on top and flatten it just a little. Then just turn the pan upside down and the cake should pop right out. I put them each on a plate with a paper towel under them so they can cool completely.

After the cakes have cooled completely, and if you want to split the layers, this is the best way to do it. This little handy tool is called a cake cutter or cake leveler. It is almost like magic. You can get one at Walmart or on Amazon. A leveler can be used to split a cake into two thinner cakes or just slice the dome of the cake off to make it smooth. I use the small plate and paper towel for this I think that is easier. But when it comes to splitting a cake this handy dandy tool is just the thing. It is adjustable so that you can evenly split the cake. It cuts through the cake like butter. I promise You might be able to do this with a knife if you are Martha Stewart. And remember you don’t have to split the layers you can keep it to a simple two layer cake and you don’t have to worry about the leveler.

This is such a simple chocolate icing recipe. My mama always made her icing like this and I loved it. I have had no complaints about mine. I always double the recipe: I use two sticks of butter, softened, 12 tablespoons of cocoa ( the powdered cocoa in a can) a one pound bag of powdered sugar and Half & Half. I like to use Half & Half because it makes the icing so smooth and creamy. You can use milk, and if you do, make sure to use at least 2% or whole milk. It usually takes about one cup of Half & Half for the icing. I also flavor with a tablespoon of vanilla flavoring. If you are keeping it to a two layer just use half of these ingredients.

Mix the butter and cocoa together first. Make sure the butter is softened. Also, I sift the cocoa and the powdered sugar to make sure there are no lumps or bumps in the icing. Add the powdered sugar and Half & Half in a little at a time.

Now you have a bowl of yummy chocolate icing. If you doubled the icing recipe you will probably have extra left over. You can store it in the refrigerator for several days.

I always put a little icing on the plate before I put down my first layer.

Turn the cake upside down if you didn’t split the cake this will be the bottom. This makes your cakes stack a lot easier whether you are doing two or four layers.

When you put the icing on the first layer don’t worry about crumbs getting in the icing. You are going to cover up that first layer with more cake and more icing.

Add the second layer. If you split your cakes this will be the bottom of the first layer.

Continue with the layers until you get to the top. Make sure the top of your cake is the outside top of the layer so that it will be fairly smooth.

Put a large scoop of icing on the cake and start spreading it along the top of the cake. Always keep the icing in front of your spatula or knife or whatever you are using to spread it. This will make sure you are not digging into the cake and picking up crumbs. At this point you do not want to see crumbs in your icing.

And the finished product. You can swirl the icing a little and use a pastry bag and an icing tip to pretty up the edges, but you don’t have to it’s going to be yummy anyway.