A Short Work Trip to North Carolina

Hello friends. It has been a sad week here. But as life happens life just keeps going. I miss my little Scruffy more than you could imagine but I don’t think that is something that will ever go away.

I took last Friday off because I had to leave on Sunday to go to North Carolina for an Attractions meeting. I felt like I needed an extra day off to get some things done. This group meets three times a year and I always love getting together with them to share ideas.

Last week while we were dealing with the terrible decline of Scruffy our sewage started to back up. We live in the country and have our own sewage system. The backup wasn’t bad but it caused some pressure on pipes in the basement and they started to leak. So we had to turn off the water until we could get the septic tank pumped. Last Monday was Labor Day so it slowed the process down a bit. Luckily we still have my father in law’s house next door and we were able to go there for showers. However my laundry piled up pretty bad. That is why I needed the extra day on Friday. Thankfully everything is back in working order.

I left out on Sunday morning for North Carolina. I wanted to stop in Knoxville. I have been working on a project I saw on TikTok and I need some of those cheapo silver platters. I was able to find two at a nearby Dollar Tree but I need three and haven’t had any luck finding another one. The Knoxville Dollar Tree had even less items than our local stores. Maybe I will find another Dollar Tree on my North Carolina trip.

Blowing Rock NC was my destination this trip. I have been there several times but I always forget that it is not an easy place to get in and out of. There are no interstates that take you close to the attraction. It was very rainy and foggy for most of the drive over and I ran into a bit of fog. Especially when I got on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a bit scary.

***Look at this fog. It was only 3:30 PM!!!***

We stayed at Chetola Resort. I will have a full post in a few days of all the attractions we visited. And of course lots of pictures.

***The first night of our trip we had dinner at the resort in the Evergreen Room. The salad was amazing.***

We had a few hours of meetings. But the main objective to these trips is to visit other attractions and get ideas about the way they do things.

***I am ready to take a short hike at Grandfather Mountain and cross the Mile High Swinging Bridge.***

After our meetings on Monday we went to Grandfather Mountain in nearby Linville NC. We were able to attend a very special luncheon for one of our members who has been a part of Grandfather Mountain’s team for more than fifty years. He was actually inducted into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, one of North Carolina’s highest honorary society. It was a surprise luncheon for him with more than 100 people in attendance. It was so much fun and I was so happy to be a part of this.

After the luncheon we visited their Wildlife Habitat and took a walk on the mile high swinging bridge.

***I was a little nervous here. The elevation behind me is 5,280 feet***.

We made it back to the hotel with barely an hour before heading to the Blowing Rock attraction for a reception and view of the mountain from the rock. The legend here is that an Indian maiden and her Cherokee brave were standing on the rock when a strange red color appeared in the sky. The brave told the maiden that it meant he had to leave her and return to his people. She begged him not to go. He was so conflicted that he flung himself off of the rock, falling to his death. The young maiden stood at the rock every day and prayed for the great spirit to bring her Cherokee brave back to her. one day a strange wind blew up the mountain and returned the brave. It is said that even to this day a wind blows up the mountain and has caused snow to fall upside down.

***This view is from the rock at Blowing Rock.***

***Resident kitty at Blowing Rock. She is so precious.***

Next we headed to a most wonderful place for dinner. The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge, The views were amazing. The food, well it was so delicious I will just have to show you.

***Just look at the views from this restaurant.***

I will have lots of pictures in just a few days. I wanted to catch up with you and share these last few days.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!!

Hello Monday, It’s Vacation Time!!!

I was supposed to be waking up at the beach this morning for my first full day of vacation. But you know how plans are, sometimes they’re just not meant to be.

We decided to stay home and not do our beach vacation this year. With everything that is going on with Scruffy I just didn’t feel like going away and leaving him. He is on several different meds for the congestive heart failure and he is doing really well. But because he is still not feeling the best I just didn’t want to leave him. Taking him with us really wasn’t an option .He is having some diarrhea and a ten hour car ride for him, and us, would have been miserable. My sister in law usually keeps him for us but I just didn’t feel right asking her to handle all of that. The meds and cleaning up after him right now is a lot. I didn’t want to board him because it is just so stressful on him. Changing the dates was not a problem for me but Mark’s work has been so crazy this was the week he needed to take.

So here we are. I guess we are having a “staycation” I am not really upset about the vacation and to be honest I think Mark is sort of happy to spend a week at home doing nothing. I guess this is not the time to tell him my big plans for the week like cleaning out the garage, cleaning the driveway, painting our gate that never got painted and planting shrubs around the new gate. Yeah I will let him enjoy his coffee first. Realistically I know I won’t get those things done either but it is fun to dream.

But first I have to tell you about our great family day we had last Sunday. It was my Sister in Law’s Birthday. My niece and her daughter came in from California and we had lots of other family we hadn’t seen in years. It was a great time. I volunteered to bake the cake. I was a little nervous because I hadn’t made a really large cake in a long time. But it turned out great. Nothing fancy just colorful and it was yummy. The Birthday was held at The Fort Loudoun State Historic Area. There is lots of room to play and fish and hike and just have fun. We love this place.

***My sister-in-law, Pat and her daughter***

***Spending time with family is just the best. I love these guys!!!***

I actually started my vacation on Friday. I was scrolling through Facebook on Friday morning and saw that there was a Trade Fair at The Living Heritage Museum in nearby Athens. So I jumped up, got ready and got to the museum around noon.

There were several artist set up demonstrating their art. Such talent and great ideas. I enjoyed it so much. I think it was the perfect start of my vacation.

***The spinning and quilt making were my favorites.***

***I am fascinated by bee keeping. My dad had bees when I was growing up. I would love to have them now but Mark is allergic and is terrified of having them here.***

***This lady was demonstrating Calligraphy***

***Lots of people were trying to weave.***

I stopped in and saw my MIL at the nursing home. We had a great visit. She is still having therapy so that she can get stronger and move back to the Assisted Living Village where she was living.

Got groceries and went home and chilled. I don’t take Scruffy on long walks anymore. He is just not interested and the vet said to do what he feels like doing.

On Saturday I did some house cleaning so that I could enjoy the week off. I also read on one of my online books I have through the Libby App. I go to the app and I reserve books that I want and it seems like they all become Available at the same time. You do have the option of putting them off for a week and still stay in the rotation. I have had to do that a few times.

On Sunday I was very lazy. I worked on my Halloween cross stitch and took Scruffy for a couple of short walks. I decided to make meatloaf for dinner. I like having the leftovers for lunch during the week.

So it should be a very quiet vacation week. I did work in my flower beds today and got a lot of old and dead plants cleaned out. Mark’s grandmother had some large concrete planters on her front porch. No one has lived in the house for years. I wanted the planters and was afraid that someone would steal them before we had a chance to get the. Mark brought them home last week and I can’t wait to get them cleaned up and some flowers planted in them.

***I can’t wait to use these.*** ***They are very old.***

We finished up the day going into town and getting dinner and bringing it back home. I got a yummy chicken Cesar salad.

So how is your week going so far? I plan to have a lot of fun on my “staycation”. Sometimes those can be just what you need.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

And The Hits Keep Coming

This morning, for several mornings in a row actually, I have heard the old kitchen clock downstairs bong three times indicating that it is 3:00 AM and I’m wondering why I am awake. One of the reasons I was awake is because of Scruffy, my little terrier. Well I guess he is most or all of the reasons I am having trouble sleeping and wide awake in the middle of the night.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that Scruffy just wasn’t acting like himself. Let me catch you up a little if you are new to this blog. Scruffy is a rescue. We have had him about four and a half years. When we got him he was in pretty bad shape. He had a horrible skin infection and was almost totally blind from Cataracts. We took him to the vet and had him checked out. Other than the bad infection on his skin and the cataracts he was in pretty good shape. The vet estimated that he was about six years old although we have been told by our current vet that he is older. So that makes him at least ten years old, probably older. We took him home. I fell in love with him immediately and he loves me. He never lets me out of his sight. I am his person. After we brought him home we cleaned him up and had to bathe him about every other day with a medicated shampoo. After we had him a short time we had the cataracts removed. He has been living his best life with us, all the kitties, and until last month, Molly. He is sort of the big bro to all of them.

As I said a few weeks ago I noticed that Scruffy was just not himself. He seemed like he didn’t want to go on the walks with us every afternoon. I thought maybe he was missing Molly being with us, and that may have been a part of it. He acted like he had no energy. He has always been a fairly energetic little guy.

Last week he started this horrible coughing. It was especially bad at night or when he slept and stretched out. He always sleeps with me and usually on my bed. So of course every time he did this I would wake up. I also noticed that his stomach felt tight and maybe a little swollen. I got an appointment with the vet. I also did a video on my phone of him coughing so they could see exactly what it was like. It was terrible.

On Friday Mark took him to the vet. They ran a series of tests and told us that Scruffy is in heart failure. I was afraid that was what was going on. I hoped for anything else but I guess that fear was in the back of my mind. My sister had a dog several years ago and he went through the same thing. I remember staying with him one night when they were out of town and he did the terrible coughing just like Scruffy was doing.

They tell us that they think they have caught it early. His stomach was swollen a little from fluids and he is on Lasix for that along with a couple of other meds. So we were are hopeful that he will be okay for awhile.

But the last few days Scruffy will not eat anything. I am having to coax every bite that goes into his mouth. It is really hard to give him meds. Normally I would put the meds in a bite of food but now he won’t have anything. Even his favorite foods, he simply sniffs and walks away. He also has terrible diarrhea. I went by yesterday and picked up some medicine for the diarrhea. So far it hasn’t helped. We go for a follow up tomorrow. Maybe we will know more after that. All I know is that in the last two weeks he has really gone downhill. He is very lethargic and breaths heavy. It breaks my heart to see him this way and after losing Molly only a month ago I just don’t know how to go through it again.

Scruffy is mine. He loves Mark but wherever I am he is right there beside me. Right now he is lying beside my chair in the office. He follows me every move I make. Even if I am making the bed he follows me from side to side. When I am at home he never lets me out of his sight. When I go to the bathroom he sits outside the door waiting patiently for me. I used to think it was annoying but I will never think that again.

***This is the day I brought Scruffy home, it was over four years ago. You see why we named him Scruffy.***

***After we got his cataracts removed and that nasty skin infection cleared up. And a haircut***

***Waiting to get the cataracts checked out at U.T. Veterinary Clinic***

***He loved his big sister Molly and misses her terribly.***

***He loves sleeping in mommy’s arms. Especially when it is storming***.

So as you can see I am terrified right now and can only pray for guidance on what to do. I am trying to be positive that we can get these meds going in the right direction and he will start feeling better.

I just wanted to share all of that with you. Hug those babies close they are special little gifts. And if you would whisper a little prayer for my Scruffy that he can stay with us for a bit longer.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

A Long Fun Weekend

Hello friends how are you. Just catching up for a minute about my long weekend.

Friday night the babies had a sleep over with their little cousin Maxx. My sister and her husband went out of town overnight. I offered to keep Maxx. Maxx is a Malipoo and a very active and hyper little guy. The last time he spent the night with us was a few years ago and he was quite a handful. The babies just couldn’t get along with him. Scruffy was obsessively jealous and Kitty Kitty could not be found the entire time he was there. So I was a little worried about him spending the night last Friday. I reasoned with the babies that it would only be a matter of hours. I would pick him up at his house when I got off work on Friday and take him back Saturday morning. I explained to them that it was quite literally a few hours that he would be there. They all looked a little concerned except Gus who had not been with us last time and didn’t know what to expect.

Friday evening after work I picked Maxx up and took him home with me. As soon as we walked in the door Kitty Kitty took off and Gus started circling him. Scruffy walked right up to him giving him the sniff over. All the while Maxx was barking his head off in his yapping little voice. I finally told Maxx to shut the heck up and surprisingly he did. From that point on all was well. He and Scruffy made friends. Even Kitty Kitty came down to see what was going on. Only Gus was still a little wary. We took a walk and then I fed all of them and we settled in for the night. We watched some TV and Scruffy and Maxx both jumped on my lap and settled on either side of me. That night Maxx slept on the bed with me and Scruffy, and Kitty Kitty slept in her basket beside the bed. Gus slept downstairs. It was a very peaceful night. I was shocked!!!

***At least this time they were willing to share my lap.***

***Gus just doesn’t know what to think of everything.***

Early Saturday morning we all got up, and again Maxx and Scruffy hopped on my lap while I drank my coffee. I took Maxx home fairly early because I had a lot of running to do.

I first went to visit my brother who had open heart surgery a couple of weeks ago. I hadn’t been to see him and his wife so I went to visit with them for a bit and took them some goodies they like to eat.

I went to visit my mother in law. She is currently in a full facility nursing home instead of the village. When she suffered the heart attack a few weeks ago it set her back a little bit and her doctor felt like she needed some physical therapy before moving back to the village. She is getting physical therapy at the nursing home. I know the nursing home is very short staffed but she was still in her gown and in bed at almost noon. They were delivering lunch and when I asked if someone could help me get her up they said they did not have time to get her dressed but they did get her up and help her into her chair. I later found out she would not get up when they had come to get her up that morning. I don’t think they should have left her until noon but I know that they have only so many people doing everything. It’s hard to do anything when we are not there. We have a meeting with the facility administrator on Friday to determine how close she is to getting back to the Assisted Living Village. She wants so bad to go back that has become her home. She has been there for four years. She loves it and the people.

After my visits I went with my niece to get a pedicure. It was the first time I had gotten a pedicure at this particular place. The guy that did my pedicure was terrible. He did a great job but he acted like he did not want to be there. It’s a family business and the dad had gone to the back to get him to make him do the pedicure. He was not happy. He huffed and puffed and did not speak one word to me. I felt so weird. My niece was next to me and the lady, his mom, who did hers was so much better. I was finished way before she was. Needless to say I won’t go there again. I usually do my own pedicures and manicures but I had gone with her so we could have a little time together.

After the pedicure debacle we went to have lunch with my other niece. She is currently visiting from California. She and her husband and four year old daughter had planned to visit for two weeks for her mom’s birthday. Her husband got Covid at the last minute and didn’t get to come. Anyway we had lunch and caught up on everything. We hadn’t seen her in several years long before Covid. We are planning a big celebration on Sunday for her mom’s birthday. I am making the birthday cake.

I picked up groceries and headed home. I had been gone all day. Sunday was a quiet day. It was hubs’ long weekend to work so he wasn’t around much for all the adventures. I cleaned and did laundry and worked a little on the temperature blanket. I did manage to watch one of my favorite movies, Bohemian Rhapsody, the story of Freddie Mercury and Queen. I love this movie and have watched it so many times. If you haven’t seen it you must watch it.

***Rami Malek did such an amazing job as Freddie Mercury. He received the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor, for his performance.***

Sunday morning we had our second fog of the month. I have always heard that the number of fogs you have in August is the number of snows you will have that winter. So two so far. We will see. Old southern lore or something like that I am sure.

Monday evening we had a birthday celebration planned for my sister. We had several of our family members meet at a local Mexican restaurant. We had such a good time together.