A Busy Week And An Earthquake

Hello and happy Monday. It is not often that we have earthquakes in our neck of the woods but we had one Saturday morning. Yep you heard that right. I was cleaning house upstairs and hubby was cleaning downstairs. He had his headphones on as he usually does when he vacuums. I was in the bedroom and suddenly everything started shaking. We have a large armoire with mirrors on the front. It started shaking like crazy. The windows were rattling. I yelled downstairs and by this time hubby noticed it too. He yelled for me to come downstairs. It seemed like it lasted forever. My sister who lives thirty minutes from me called and they had also experienced it.

Turns out it was a 4.1 earthquake centered just about 10 miles from us near Greenback Tennessee. It was felt from Atlanta Georgia to parts of North Carolina. Wow!! I am hoping for no aftershocks.

I spent most of last week in Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia with the attractions group that my work is a part of. I will give you a more in depth post on that visit tomorrow. Bristol is about a four hour drive for me. I left early last Monday because my first meeting didn’t start until noon. It was a full couple of days. I got back to my house Wednesday evening and I was so tired I collapsed on the couch and didn’t move.

Because I was gone most of last week for my attractions group meeting I was only at work on Thursday. I came in and caught up on a few things. On Friday I went with my sister for her appointment with her oncologist. We had to wait almost three hours but it was okay because she is in full remission. That news was well worth waiting for.

We did a little shopping after the doctor visit. I bought two planters at T.J. Maxx.

***I added a couple of succulents to this kitty planter.***

***And I put one of my smaller orchids in this sheep? ram?***

I spent most of the weekend at home. I made a yellow Bundt cake. It stuck really bad. Note to self, please use parchment paper, I just put it back together and slapped some chocolate icing on it and it was fine. And of course I knitted and crocheted the day away. AHHH a good weekend.

***This is a picture of the side of the cake that didn’t stick to the pan.***

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day. My mama has been gone for many years. And we lost my little mother in law last July. It’s always a bit sad when we think of them no longer being with us.

My orchids are still doing very well even my miniature orchid, Ingrid, is blooming. I just love this color.

That was my week last week. I barely had time to do anything at home or on the blog. I did post a Wordless Wednesday. It was made up of sunrises and sunsets over the years. If you missed it you can check it out here.

Have a wonderful week and join me back here tomorrow for a new post on my time in Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee. I will give you a teaser. I got to ride on the Bristol Motor Speedway!!!! What????

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

A Trip To Harmony Lane Farms In Smithville Tennessee

Happy Monday. How was your weekend? Last week was a long week. I started last Monday taking my sister for outpatient surgery in Knoxville. Then I had to stay late at work three different days. A long week. But the weekend was great!!! And I was so ready for it.

On Saturday my sister, niece and I went to nearby Smithville to visit my nephew. He works in Smithville and has lived there for more than a year. He discovered a goat farm near his house. Harmony Lane Farms, it is a working farm and they sell goat milk, ice cream and even fudge all made from Goat’s milk.

I went online to check it out and saw that they even had a farm tour and baby goat cuddling. We were all in.

We met my nephew in Sparta Tennessee which is about thirty minutes from his house. He had a pizza place he wanted us to try. We got into Sparta almost an hour before we were scheduled to meet him so we drove around the town.

My sister and I chose something different than pizza. Although the pizza looked great too.

Just outside of town we saw a little farm store that was very crowded. We still had some time to kill so we pulled in. The Farmers’ Storehouse. It was the neatest shop.

They make a lot of sour dough and even gave me a sour dough starter. It turns out that my sour dough bread is actually more of a yeast bread than an actual sour dough bread. But that’s okay I can do both. I have already fed the new starter a few times but haven’t actually made bread yet.

The farm tour was so much fun. We rode on a wagon and fed chickens, goats, cattle and watched the hogs being fed. I even got to milk a goat. Then we were able to cuddle the baby goats and even feed them with a bottle. They were just adorable.

***The goats know when it is feeding time.***

***The goats are hand milked twice a day.***

***Me and my sister and some baby goats. We also got to bottle feed them.***

We sampled several different types of cheese and the fudge of course. It was all delicious. My nephew always buys ice cream here.

I got home just in time to capture this beautiful moonrise.

Sunday was mostly resting and some laundry and spending time with my hubs.

How was your weekend?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Making Chocolate Pudding Cake

Hello and happy Monday. It really was a true Monday. I left the house this morning and several miles down the road I realized I had forgotten my purse. I did not go back. I had my phone and my lunch. I can use Apple Pay on my phone if I need to. So I did without it today. It did feel a little strange though. Oh well I guess it just proves I don’t really need a purse. I think I will get me one of those cute little wristlets and hook it to my keys.

It was a great weekend. The weather was so nice. I went outside Saturday morning to check out the tulip bulbs, and there are now fourteen coming up. I am hoping for even more because some of them are just barely breaking through. Of course I had a little helper. Allie.

I spent some time out on the deck reading. I am still reading Ina Garten’s Memoir. The sunshine and warm temperatures were just great. I baked bread and took most of it to work with me today.

When I was growing up my mama made a very yummy chocolate dessert that she called Chocolate Pudding Cake. Think lava cake or something like that and you will have an idea of what it is similar to. For many years we have tried to perfect the cake and make it like hers. I think my nephew and I just about have it down. After we came up with our recipe, other than a few tweaks here and there, my niece casually mentioned that she made it all the time. We are thinking we need to have a bake-off and let the family decide which one tastes the most like my mama’s.

Here is the recipe:
First melt one stick of butter in a 9×5 baking pan or casserole dish.
In a separate dish mix these dry ingredients:
1&1/2 cups of self rising flour
1&1/4 cups of granulated sugar
1&3/4 TBS. of cocoa
after you have stirred these together add:
3/4 cup of whole mild
2 tsp. of vanilla extract
pour into your pan evenly (DON”T STIR) after you pour it into the pan.

In a separate bowl mix:
1&1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of cocoa
Stir all of this together until all of the lumps are out of the cocoa
Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the first mixture (DON’T STIR) after you put it on top of the first mixture.

Boil 2&1/2 cups of water (this is where I am tweaking mine next time and only adding 1&1/2 cups of boiling water.) But I used 2&1/2 cups yesterday and it was still delicious just a little runny while it was still warm. Pour the boiling water over your mixture very slowly. Let it soak in for a few minutes and then put it in your oven at 350 degrees and bake for thirty minutes.

*The recipe we found online, from the sweetest woman from Alabama, Diane Leary, called for 2&1/4 cups of boiling water. Next try, I am only going to use 1&1/2 cups. Diane calls hers chocolate cobbler.* ***Chocolate and cobbler, how could you go wrong?***

***It was delicious. Next time I may even add some ice cream. This is definitely a once every now and then treat. Just a spoonful or two is more than enough. It is very rich.***

That pretty much sums up my weekend. Weekends go by so quickly. I have a full and busy week coming up. How about you? Have a wonderful week

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Hello Monday – Kitties and Tulips

Happy Monday. I had a great and very relaxing weekend. The weather here has been so nice. We were laughing about the weather because it has been cold in the mornings, very warm in the afternoon and then cold again in the evening. Welcome to East Tennessee. You never know what you are going to get.

My husband and I met some family for an early dinner on Saturday. It was a little retirement celebration for him. He didn’t want a big to-do so we agreed on a small dinner at our local Mexican Restaurant. I made a cake. There was just a few of us. We had a great time.

We also spent some time walking around outside. The weather on Saturday was warm but windy. I guess you could say March came in like a lion for us.

Back in the fall hubs and I planted about fifty tulip bulbs. We realized a little too late that something had gotten into them and dug them up and ate and chewed on them. I am thinking it was probably a raccoon. I thought they had all been destroyed. But maybe not all of them. While we were out walking I noticed about ten little buds coming up. I was so excited. I’m hoping a few more might have survived.

***Look at this little bud. I am thinking I will need to cover these up if another cold snap happens.***

The outside kitties love it when we are outside with them. They run and jump and show out. I got a few pictures of Izzy. I think she is very photogenic.

We also found more Daffodils blooming. You know spring is coming when you see Daffodils.

I spent the rest of the weekend reading and knitting a hat for my sister. She loved the slouchy hat I posted a couple of weeks ago so I started one for her. I have the four inches of the knit two purl two brim finished, and it is straight knitting from here on. My favorite kind of knitting. I should have it finished very soon.

My niece shared this little Bucket List of ideas for March. I am going to try several of them. What do you think?

It’s hard to believe that spring is just around the corner. We change back to Daylight Savings Time this coming weekend. I am probably one of the few people not crazy about it. It’s not that I don’t like the longer daylight hours but I say we just stick with one time and it will all work out.

Have a wonderful week.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!