Catching Up While I’m in California

I am waking up in California this morning. It is very early here about 5:30 AM. It is 8:30 AM at home. I still feel just a bit jet lagged. Yesterday was a very busy travel day for me. I started at 7:00 AM with a flight out of Knoxville and then to Chicago and then to San Francisco and then a short flight into Redding California. I am here for a Caves Association meeting. I will tell you more about that as the week progresses.

My weekend was great!!! I got home from our sister trip on Friday. If you didn’t catch that post you can read more about it here. On Saturday I had the usual groceries, checking on mother in law and laundry. My nephew, Tyler, had messaged me earlier in the week and wanted to go to the local Mennonite Farm Market near my house. He had never been but had heard a lot about it. So we did that early Saturday morning before all of my other errands started.

The fields around the market are just beautiful. I love the simplicity of the Mennonites. They use every field to raise vegetables. They have sheep and cattle and rabbits. They also bake some amazing breads and cookies. They make beautiful furniture. I have my eye on two Adirondack chairs that I would like to have. I may ask for those as an early Christmas gift. They usually close the market in late December and don’t open back up until early spring. Of course the seasons depend on what they are currently selling. Right now they have an abundance of squash and peppers. I bought okra, green peppers, chow chow, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and a cantaloupe all of this was about $17.00. Tyler bought several jars of honey, I think he was giving it to some of his friends. He loved the market and wants to go back. He was looking for corn but they told him it was a little late in the season for corn. Spring and early summer is the best time to buy corn there. I plan to go back and get some more okra to freeze so that we can have it all winter.

***Isn’t this a beautiful scene. You can tell that winter is coming and colors are starting to change.***

Many different types of squash.

I love this view looking out over the fields. This is molasses. I am not a big fan of molasses but they do sell a lot of it.

***I bought some of these peppers. I planned to make my husband a nice meal on Sunday. Since I was going to be gone all week to California I knew he wouldn’t cook a lot for himself.***

Muscadines, I do not like muscadines but my husband loves them. We have a couple of trees on our driveway that have quite an abundance of them.

The peppers were listed as to the severity of heat. Tyler bought some of the hottest peppers. He loves really spicy foods.

***Isn’t this Indian Corn pretty? I think it makes a great decoration for fall. There were also some pumpkins but I didn’t get any.***

On Sunday I didn’t do a lot except get my clothes ready to pack. I hate packing for an entire week. The temps in California are actually very similar to what East Tennessee is right now. Cool in the mornings and mid 70’s to low 80’s F later in the afternoon. Although I just looked at the weather here and now it is saying mid 90’s for most of the week!!!!

I did cook dinner on Sunday. We had quite a feast from all the vegetables I had gotten at the Farm Market on Saturday.

I love okra and I’m not sure how you cook your okra but I always do mine the way my mama made it. I like crunchy okra. I don’t want it do be soft and mushy. I start out by cutting it and then dredging it in cornmeal or flour. I didn’t have any cornmeal so I used flour. I salt and pepper it and fry it in a large skillet until it is starting to get brown on the edges. I then drain any oil, which is not a lot because I don’t use a lot of oil, and then I transfer it to a small baking pan and finish cooking it in the oven.

So you can see we had quite a feast. Stuffed Bell peppers, a baked sweet potato, okra and cucumbers. All from the Farmer’s Market.

I moved my suitcase into the little den I have upstairs. It’s easier to pack it here and bring clothes and put in it and it’s not in the way while I do this. Kitty Kitty kept watching me from her perch on the loveseat. I think she knew what this suitcase and clothes business meant. Her mom was leaving again. I caught her a couple of times trying to get into the suitcase.

And now I am in California for the week. It looks like a beautiful day here. I know we will be doing a lot of fun things this week and I will be sure to take lots of pictures.

Have a wonderful week.

Always remember

Love your day your way.

Friday Favorites

Happy Happy Friday!! I am so glad to see the weekend. I have a few favorites to share with you.

First of all I have to tell you about last weekend. This was definitely a favorite. I made a wedding cake for a sweet couple I work with. The wedding was on Saturday. I didn’t get home from the Chattanooga trip until late Wednesday evening. I knew I wanted to make a couple of the layers on Thursday so that is what I did. As soon as we had dinner finished on Thursday I started working on the largest layer of cake. I already had all of the cake pans out and ready. I got the cake ready to put in the oven. The couple had requested the bottom layer to be a yellow and chocolate marble swirl.

***Sorry I didn’t get a picture after I swirled it.***

It took about an hour and a half for this layer to bake. As soon as it was done I put the middle layer in. They had requested that the middle layer be chocolate inside. It didn’t take quite as long to bake this layer. After that I cleaned the kitchen and went to bed. On Friday I left work a little early and went home to start making the massive amount of frosting that I had to make. While I was working on that I made the top layer of the cake which was vanilla. This small layer would be the layer they would keep in their freezer and eat a year later on their one year anniversary. I also did a crumb coat for the two larger layers. I let them sit in the fridge overnight. It is so much easier to spread the frosting on a cold cake.

***This base layer was huge and heavy. I was whispering a prayer as I flipped it onto the cake board.***

The next morning, Saturday, the day of the wedding. I got up at 4:00 AM and started to put the frosting on the layers. I was so nervous but it went great!!! The wedding was at 1:00 and I had promised to be there by noon to set up the cake. The bride provided the flowers that she wanted to use. They matched her bouquet and the bouquets her bridesmaids’ carried.

I was using my tried and true cake stand that I have had for years. I loaded the layers into separate boxes so they could travel the distance to the wedding venue. once I was there her dad and another man offered to help me carry the boxes. I told them I appreciated the offer but I hadn’t even let my husband touch it. HA!!

They used their Boyds Bears cake topper.

I think you can probably see the relief on my face that it all turned out ok. I am always a nervous wreck. Especially when I make a wedding cake.

The newlyweds. They were both happy with the cake that’s all that matters to me.

I would like to say it was a beautiful day for a wedding but it wasn’t. It was outdoors. And just as the ceremony started it started raining. Before the ceremony ended it was a steady downpour. Luckily the food and tables and chairs were under tents. But hey if it rains on your wedding day it’s supposed be good luck. It rained on mine and me and my husband have been married for 33 years.

The rain didn’t stop the fun. Everyone pulled their shoes off and danced in the wet grass. We ate and ate and had a great time. I was so happy to be a part of their special day.

***Hanging with some friends at the wedding. Waiting on the ceremony to start, and the rain.***

A few other favorites I wanted to share with you.

My little mother in law. She will be 90 years young in November. She has been through so much in the last few years. She’s tough and feisty and can get with you if she doesn’t like something. But she almost always has a sweet smile. She was enjoying a bowl of ice cream when I went to see her a few days ago.

I had to show you my yarn I bought when I was in Sweden. I am not sure what I will make with it yet maybe a scarf or two. I always write the name of the place where I buy it so that I can remember later.

I also got this planter when I was on my European trip. I got this lovely in Copenhagen. It was one of our first stops on the trip. I had to take her out of her box because it took up a lot of room. I was afraid I wouldn’t get her home in one piece but I packed her really well in my suitcase and she made it. I currently have one of my orchids in it.

Dunkin’ has finally opened in our small town. We have been waiting all summer. It actually opened when I was in Chattanooga but I heard it was so crowded you couldn’t get in. Just the newness of it all. One of my coworkers stopped in the other day and got us some much needed afternoon coffee.

***I’m very basic and my drink of choice is an iced Caramel Macchiato.***

If you have bridgework, implants or braces and you have used dental floss with those little blue hook looking thingies. Stop the clock!!! These things are wonderful. It’s sort of an all in one threader and floss. You may already know about these and I am just late to the game. But I love them!!! I got these at Walmart.

I have come to terms with the fact that when it comes to my upper body I am muscularly challenged. On our last trip I carried my backpack as a carry on for the plane. But it was so heavy I think my arms actually grew a few inches from carrying it. My nephew Tyler took pity on me a couple of times and carried it through the different airports for me. I decided I needed something with wheels. I have a trip to California in a couple of weeks and I will be traveling alone so no hubby or Tyler to help me. I decided to buy this bag on wheels. It is small enough to fit under your airplane seat. I got it today and I love it. I ordered it from Amazon. And look it has kitties on it!!!!!

I have only finished one book in the last week or so and man it was a long one. The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner. I love her books and have read many of them. This one had a way of detailing every single person in the book. Maybe a little more than you wanted to know about them. But it was good just a little long in places. The overall story was a good one.

So how has your week been? I hope you did some fun things.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Friday Favorites

Hello and happy Friday. It has been a bit of a hectic week. Earlier this week we had the bad storms and the power outage at work. Luckily we did not lose power at home. But overall still a bit of a crazy week. I have a few Friday Favorites to share with you.

First up is this body mist, Ariana Grande, I am not a big fan of the singer Ariana Grande but I do think this body most smells great. I think you can also buy the perfume. The mist is not as expensive as the perfume and it is much lighter. I really don’t like a heavy scent. I got this at Walmart.

These little face masks are so nice. It literally is a little mask that you put over your face and leave for a few minutes. It makes your face feel so fresh and soft. You can buy them at Walmart or Target or just about anywhere cosmetics are sold. They are very inexpensive but will definitely give your face a refresh.

Do you have a Cato’s in your area. We have one in our city. I love it. I have found so many shirts and sweaters that I like. The prices are very reasonable and the quality is good. Definitely as good as Kohl’s or Target. I have a couple of shirts I have worn for years. I bought this long vest last week and I can’t wait to wear it.

I mentioned that our power was off at work all day Tuesday. It was a rough day for all of us. Our wonderful County Tourism Director, Blaina, brought a care package for all the staff. She is just the best!!! Thank you Blaina!!!!!

***Look at all of these goodies. The cookies are from a local bakery.***

Wednesday I got a much needed cut and color. I wanted to get it in before my trip. I was looking a little shaggy.

Last night we had a wedding shower for a couple of coworkers. They have been with us for several years. The fact that they found love at work and are getting married is just extra special. This is the same couple that I am doing the wedding cake for in September. I made the cupcakes for the wedding shower.

I made four dozen cupcakes Wednesday night. I like to make my own icing. I did the cupcakes on Wednesday night and got up early Thursday morning before work to make the icing and finish the cupcakes. They are doing a yellow, bee theme for their wedding and their house. I made yellow icing and bought the little decorative bees to put on each cupcake.

***Four dozen cupcakes. They were vanilla.***

***I don’t think I have ever bought icing for a cake or cupcakes. I always prefer to make my own.***

Of course I had to give them a taste test before I let them out of the house.

***This was at the shower. We bought a Pioneer Woman tablecloth for the table. The bride is also collecting a lot of Pioneer Woman dishes and utensils.***

Speaking of Pioneer Woman would you look at these glasses. These were a gift from the groom’s parents. They ordered them directly from Walmart. I haven’t seen them in our local stores. Such a beautiful color and so nice and heavy. I LOVE them!!!!

So that has been a few of my favorites from this week what were some of yours?

Always remember,

Love your day your way!!!!

Goodbye July, Hello Monday

Goodbye to July and hello August. I can’t say I am sorry to see July go. I love fall so that means that the end of July is bringing my favorite season closer.

July was a hard month for us. We lost our precious old Molly girl. If you didn’t catch that post you can read it here: Goodbye Molly Rose. She was fifteen years old, approximately, and she passed over the Rainbow Bridge on July 7th. I was just getting over Covid and still feeling weak and loopy from it. My brother underwent open heart surgery, but he is doing very well and that is such a blessing. My little mother in law suffered a heart attack and is still recovering from that so whew!!!! Yes it has been a rough month.

And now. July was an awesome month!!! Lots of great things happened!!! My brother is doing great and recovering wonderfully from his surgery. My little ma in law is recovering nicely and still feisty and waiting to go back to her room at the Assisted Living Center. Mark did not get Covid when I had it. I am feeling much stronger. And sweet Molly is running and playing and happy across the Rainbow Bridge. We were able to visit with some sweet family members from Texas. And while it has been hotter than Satan’s breath we have had some nice rain showers and everything is a brilliant green. I guess it’s all how you look at it.

I had a lot of fun this past weekend. I went out on Saturday morning to buy groceries and decided to make a slight detour to the farm market near my house. I knew their vegetables would be crazy good right now and yes they were and very plentiful.

***This is the long road leading to the Farm Market. Last year it was totally gravel and soooo dusty. It looks like they have put some concrete or something on it.***

***I have been craving okra I was so happy to see this.***

After I left the Farm Market I drove on over to nearby Tellico Plains, the downtown area. I went to the Museum Marketplace.
This is a thrift store and antique store with locally handmade items and just a little bit of everything. I only bought one thing this little powder box. I am not sure if it is pewter. It is heavy and old and I will probably keep my earrings in it. It just caught my eye and I had to keep circling it which usually means I need to go ahead and buy it. So I did.

***I am not really sure how to clean this if you have any ideas please let me know. It is heavy.***

This little group of music makers travel all around downtown Tellico playing in lots of different shops. Today they were set up
at the entrance to the Marketplace and I just had to stop and chill and listen for awhile. They have been playing together for ages
and they are just amazing.

I bought potatoes, cucumbers, okra and a huge cantaloupe. The prices are so much better than Walmart or anywhere else in town and so delicious and fresh.

I bought a spiral ham at Walmart and was planning to cook the ham and veggies on Sunday and maybe do spaghetti on Saturday night. Mark suggested I cook the ham after I got home on Saturday and we made sandwiches and then just reheated the ham on Sunday. That way we only had to do the veggies on Sunday. So that is what we did and it worked out great!!!

I cook okra the way my mama always did. I don’t know how you do yours but this is how we ate okra when I was growing up and I just love it this way. I wash and cut up my okra. I could’t help but laugh as I was cutting the okra. It is a little slimy and sticky inside the stalks. My brother Joe and I used to get the ends and stick them to our heads and pretend they were horns. HA!!! My mama never found that as amusing as we did. Anyway back to the okra. After I cut it I roll it in a little flour or cornmeal, whichever I have on hand, I used flour this time. Salt it. And then I put oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat and cook it until it is nice and soft. Then I drain it and put it in the oven and finish it by baking it. It makes it nice and crispy. I cannot stand soggy okra. It is so yummy this way. How do you cook okra?

It rained most of Sunday and I worked on the temperature blanket. I was a little behind but here it is through June. If you don’t know, I started crocheting the temperature blanket in January. You crochet a different color, which corresponds with the temperature, for each day. I used blues for the colder months and I have been using red and orange for the warmer months. The last couple of months have been totally orange and red. I think orange goes to 88 degrees F and anything above that I am using the red color. If you want to check out all the colors and the temperature chart just check out this blog post from a few months ago:
I am making a crocheted temperature blanket.