Hello friends and happy Sunday. Come in and share a nice cup of coffee or tea or hot chocolate with me and we will catch up on things.
I think we would talk first about the weather: Our weather yesterday and so far this morning looks perfect. Temps in the mid to high 70s F and sunny and clear. The sky is a beautiful shade of blue. We did have some rain earlier in the week and a lot of clouds. This caused the partial eclipse in our area to be a bit of a flop. But we had the total eclipse here in 2017 so it will be hard to beat that.
What am I reading? I am still reading The Shell Seekers. Because it is a big book, and one that I can’t really take to bed with me, it’s going to take me a while to finish. I like to read before I go to sleep at night. I am also reading Still Life at Eighty by Abigail Thomas. I love her books. I have to say this one is a bit of a downer but I just started it so we will see.
How is work you ask: Well it is absolutely crazy right now. I work in Tourism and we are really gearing up for the season. So much to do before summer. My work load has been a lot with not a lot of down time.
What I am loving: I am loving the flowers that are blooming. The Azaleas are blooming. My Irises are blooming this year. They really didn’t do well last year. I did some research and discovered that they probably needed to be thinned. I did that and gave some to my nephew and his wife. I love spreading them around. These are very special because my mama had them at our house where I grew up. When she passed and we got ready to sell the house I made sure to get some of them.
What projects have I been working on? Well I finally finished the heart cross stitch that I have been working on for years. I started it a few years ago for Valentine’s Day. When I didn’t finish it in time for Valentines, I put it away until the next year. Finally after doing this for a couple years I decided to work on it until I finished it. So that is what I did. I love hearts so much, why just put it out for decoration on Valentine’s Day. I decided that I will keep it out all year.
Finishing the heart cross stitch has made me want to tackle a lot of other unfinished projects.
I had just started the hearts: probably 3 years ago
A little more progress. My Scruffy was still with me then. He always loved to snuggle when I was sewing or knitting.
This is where I finally decided this thing was going to be finished.
I did finish it and washed and pressed it.
And framed it. I love the way it looks.
So what has been happening with you? I think I will wander outside and enjoy this nice sunny weather.
Hello and happy Sunday. Come in and have a nice cup of coffee or tea or some hot chocolate with me. Let’s catch up. What have I been up to you might ask? Well let me tell you about my weekend in Nashville last weekend. I had a short mini vacation with a friend from Pennsylvania.This is how it went:
Last weekend I spent a few days in Nashville with a friend from Pennsylvania. We met several years ago at a cave convention. Yes there really is such a thing. We just became friends really fast. We have been talking about this Nashville trip for years. Every time we planned it something came up and we weren’t able to do it. But it finally worked out.
My friend Ann flew into Nashville Friday afternoon. I am about 4 hours from Nashville. I picked her up at the airport and we started our adventure.
We stayed at the Hotel Vanderbilt which is very close to downtown without the horrendous downtown prices. Also a perk with this hotel is that we had shuttle service to and from a certain mile radius. This covered downtown. Another perk was the Commodore Grille within the hotel that offered amazing food and local song writers and singers every night.
Our first night in town we decided to go to the strip in Downtown Nashville on Broadway. I parked my car at the hotel and we checked in. Our room wasn’t ready but the hotel stored our bags and off we went via a short shuttle ride to downtown. It was so much fun and so loud. It is not for the faint of heart. Weekends in Nashville are a bit crazy. A singer from near Ann’s hometown in Pennsylvania, Josh Gallagher, would be singing in a couple of different bars during the weekend so we wanted to see him and his band perform. Josh was a top 4 finalist on The Voice in 2016. We caught the last few minutes of his performance on Friday night but he was also playing on Saturday at a different bar. One thing I love about Nashville is all of the wonderful music. So many country music legends have been discovered in small bars in Nashville. You never know, you might be watching the next Alan Jackson or Morgan Wallen.
As you can see it was fairly crowded. It was Friday night after all.
Josh Gallagher
It started to rain before dark, so we went to a couple of bars to hear music inside, and then decided to head back to the hotel for dinner, and listen to the singers and song writers in the Commodore Grille. The food there is amazing!!!
The rain started and the crowds dwindled somewhat
Rainy night in Nashville
Look at this salad topped with salmon!!!! So good.
We went into this candy store that smelled so wonderful you could smell it from the street. We only looked and didn’t purchase anything.
The first morning we were in Nashville there was a fire alarm at the hotel. Everyone was ushered outside where it was a balmy 32 degrees with a wind chill of a lot less than that. Fortunately we didn’t have to stay long. Apparently someone had pulled the fire alarm on one of the floors and broken it so it continued to sound for a long time. The fire department came and checked everything out.
For our first adventure of the day we decided to take the shuttle over to the Parthenon. I had never been. The Nashville Parthenon is the World’s only exact-size replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. It is in the center of Centennial Park which is a large public park just west of Nashville. The park itself is just beautiful. A lot of activities were going on at the park on Saturday. Soccer games, picnics and lots of people out enjoying the beautiful sunshine. I will have a full post on the Parthenon later this week.
If I lived close to this park I would walk the trails here all the time. It is so beautiful.
Someone was getting ready to have a picnic
The Parthenon
Next, we got the car and drove down the road to Belle Meade Plantation. The history behind this mansion is so great. Mostly known for the thoroughbred stud business Belle Meade produced more than two thirds of all the Kentucky Derby winners including 11 Triple Crown Winners. A lot more of this history in a future post. There is just so much information here that I would like to share with you. It will be better done in a separate post.
Belle Meade Plantation
After our house tour we did a short wine tasting, there is a winery on site. We enjoyed a light lunch outside in the sunshine. It was so nice and relaxing. Ann and I both agreed it had been awhile since we had just chilled out and taken time to enjoy what was around us. A lesson to be learned here for sure. I will have a full post on Belle Meade later in the week as well. To give you a little information Belle Meade is actually a city with a population of less than 3,000 people. A beautiful place.
Before we left Belle Meade we visited the gift shop. It was so nice. There was something for everyone in the shop. I loved the handmade pottery by local artist Roy Overcast. He has done some amazing pieces.
So many to pick from.
I just had to bring a piece home. I love this color.
On Saturday night we returned to the downtown strip and it was so packed. I knew it would be on a Saturday night. We wanted to see Josh and his band again and catch the full show. They were playing at the Tin Roof. We got there about 30 minutes before his group came on. Lots of people were there for him. He has quite a following. Josh is from Pennsylvania but now lives in Nashville. He came over and talked after the show and we got a few pictures.
What a cutie he is, and just as nice.
My friend Ann with me
The strip on Broadway was getting crazy
We decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel.
A yummy cosmo
We shared these chicken tenders. They were yummy and I like the way they were presented.
On our last day in Nashville we visited The Hermitage, Home of Andrew Jackson. I had been here a few times but Ann had not. It was a bit chilly. The house tour was very short only about 30 minutes. The grounds were beautiful with a lot of the gardens starting to bloom out. Check out this cookbook I found in the gift shop. Southern Cakes. I have decided to make each of the cakes from this book. There are 60 cake recipes. I plan to share each one on my blog. I can’t wait to get started.
We couldn’t let Ann leave Nashville without visiting The Opry Mills Mall. We spent some time there and headed back to the hotel to visit The Commodore Club for the last night. We had an early night because Ann’s flight left out at 6:00 AM. I had to have her at the airport by 4:30 AM. Luckily the airport was only about 15 minutes from the hotel.
I think our mini vacation was well rounded. We had history, honky tonk, shopping and lots of great food. All things southern that makes Nashville such a great place to visit.
After I dropped Ann off I left for home. I had a 4 hour drive ahead of me.
It was very nice getting back home to hubs and the babies. I got everything unpacked and took a short nap. What a fun weekend we had hit it is always nice to get home.
I hope you enjoyed our time together. Our coffee share was quite a lot today. So now what have you been up to?
Always remember
Love your day your way!!!!
I am linking up with Natalie The Explorer over at Weekend Coffee Share. Check out her latest post and lots of others here #Weekend Coffee Share
Hello and happy Sunday. Come in and share a cup of coffee or maybe tea or a hot chocolate. Before we have our hot drink, or you can bring it with you, I wanted to take you with me on a short walk this morning. The weather is cool and a bit foggy. We have had a lot of rain lately. But I think it is just the best time to get out and smell spring and feel the soft grass under your feet. Let’s go.
The morning dew on the bottles on the bottle tree are shimmering in the light.
The lake has an eerie fog across it this morning.
My Iris’ are starting to pop out. I really need to clean this bed and thin out this bunch of Iris’ or they may not bloom this year. I have a lot of outside work to do.
Daffodils, they are such a happy flower. I love them. I think they are the bravest because they come popping out before any of the other flowers.
These daffodils make me think of a little lady wearing a bonnet.
And all of the wet weather and the dead leaves bring out many types of mushrooms.
After our walk we will go in and warm up and catch up with what has been going on in our lives.
What have I been up to? Mostly working and checking in with my mother in law. She fell a couple of weeks ago and broke her hip. She is 90. She is still in the hospital because she tested positive for Covid. So she had to remain in the hospital for ten days. She will be moved to a full care nursing facility tomorrow. You can read more about this on the post I did earlier in the week. Sunrise, Sunset
What I am wearing Anything comfy and warm. Although the temps here have been very mild a rain storm came through on Wednesday and the temperatures did a nose dive. I wear hoodies a lot. They are warm and cozy. I also wear them at work a lot of the time. When I have a lot going on I have to be comfortable.
What I am reading: I am still reading The Shell Seekers. It is a big book and I think it will take a little while to finish it. I am also reading Boil The Frog by Dennis McVicker. The author started this book as a journey of his weight loss but it became so much more to him. I will let you know all about it when I have finished it.
What I am excited for: A girl’s trip with a friend. We are headed to Nashville at the end of this month for a few days. She is from Pennsylvania and hasn’t spent much time in Nashville. I have a lot of fun things planned for us. She wants to see The Johnny Cash Museum. I want to take her to the Parthenon and the Grand Ole Opry. I am sure we will have a lot of fun.
Something I am doing for a better me: I am trying to reduce my screen time. This is a bit of a challenge with a blog and a full time job where I communicate a lot with my employees by text, not to mention having several email accounts. What I have been working on is not picking my phone up constantly. It can become such a habit. I think it also causes stress because you are always “on”. So while I am at home I try to put my phone aside and work on things I enjoy and not focus on what is on my screen. My screen time has reduced by about 40% in the last few weeks. That is a good thing but also sad that I spent that much time looking at my phone.
What have you been up to this past week?
Always remember
Love your day your way!!
I am linking up with Natalie The Explorer for the Weekend Coffee Share. Come and check out some other posts here #Weekend Coffee Share
Happy Sunday!! Come in and share a nice hot cup of coffee or maybe some hot tea or a cup of hot chocolate. It is a rainy cool day here.
If we were having coffee today I am sure we would talk about the weather. It has been rainy all weekend. We do need rain in our area so that is not a bad thing. The temps have actually been quite nice. I would also offer you a piece of pound cake that I made yesterday. It rose nicely and looked so pretty when I took it out of the oven. But then it just sort of sank. That’s ok it still tastes delicious.
If we were having coffee today I would tell you that I visited a couple of thrift shops yesterday. Even in the driving rain it was still a nice adventure. I would show you this lovely yellow McCoy bowl that I bought. I just love yellow. I also bought an old book by Beverly Cleary. I read all of her books when I was a kid and still have several.
I didn’t have this one and actually got it for .50. It was half off.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that my big boy Gus is feeling much better. He was not feeling well earlier in the week. If you missed that post you can check it out here. It makes me so happy that he is back to his old self.
If we were having coffee I would look around and point out that my orchids are mostly dormant right now. This is a trying stage for any orchid mom. It makes you wonder if they will ever bloom again. I know they will, I just have to be patient. I am recording everything in my orchid journal so that when this happens I will know it is just temporary.
If we were having coffee we would probably discuss the fact that spring will be here soon. What new plants will you buy? Will you have a garden? We usually have just a few tomato plants. I am excited to see green trees and flowering plants. I hope to add several things to my yard this year.
If we were having coffee I would show you the book I am currently reading. The Shell Seekers. It is a big book, over 600 pages. It will take me a while to read this one. It is a classic and I have had it for a long time and am just getting to it.
If we were having coffee we would discuss the upcoming week. Valentine’s Day is Wednesday. Will you do anything special? I am going to the assisted living center where my mother in law lives. They are having a special Valentine’s Day luncheon and family members are invited. My husband works almost an hour away and cannot get there for lunch. I told her I was coming and she seemed happy. She may have forgotten all about it when I show up Wednesday but that is ok. She is 90. I will take her some chocolates and a Valentine.
It has been wonderful chatting and sharing coffee and cake with you. If we were having coffee what would you share with me?
Always remember
Love your day your way!!!
I am linking up with Natalie The Explorer over at Weekend Coffee Share you can check out hers and some other posts here #Weekend Coffee Share
Southern Patches 