A Quick Trip To Bristol TN/VA

Hello friends a recap of last week’s trip to Bristol TN/VA. I had hoped to get a post out during the week about my trip but it just didn’t happen.

First of all I hope everyone had a happy Mother’s Day. I have no human children but I have definitely mothered many through the years. I think mothers come in many different forms. I received a precious message yesterday from a former employee that I still keep in touch with after many years. He wished me a Happy Mother’s Day and said he always thought of me as someone he respected and could come to for guidance and that I was a mom in his life. That truly made my day. It is amazing how just a few words can mean so much. My own mama has been gone for nineteen years and I have to tell you she was the best Mama in the world!!!!! We were best friends and I miss her every single day.

Last week I spent a few days at a meeting in the Bristol Tennessee & Bristol Virginia area with our Southern Highlands Attraction group. The two states are very close and there is a spot on the street where you can stand in both states at the same time. I did however almost get run over doing this once so if you try that be very careful. I am sure the locals hate this area. My meeting was actually in Johnson City but we spent the entire day Tuesday in Bristol.

We started the meeting Monday in Johnson City about a two and a half hour drive for me. I left early Monday morning so I wouldn’t have too many nights away from hubs and the fur babies. We met at the beautiful Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site. If you missed my Wordless Wednesday post I posted a lot of pictures of the site it is beautiful with so much history. You can check out the post here.

***Just look at these beautiful yellow Irises***

Our meeting ended about 4:00 and I headed to the hotel where we were staying. It was only a couple of miles from Tipton-Haynes. The Carnegie Hotel is a beautiful historic hotel. It is located in the heart of Johnson City with lots of things to see and do around it. We had a little time before dinner. I actually took a small nap.

Dinner was so delicious We went to Southern Craft Barbecue. It was only about a mile from the hotel. The food was amazing. This was probably some of the best barbecue I have ever had.

***A deviled egg, cornbread and sugar bacon, this was the appetizer***

***Salmon, Barbecue pulled pork, okra and sweet potato souffle. We had so much food, we had to do a lot of sharing.***

We started Tuesday morning with meetings. And then at 11:00 we took a bus to Bristol which is about twenty miles from Johnson City. We started out with lunch at The Burger Bar. This is supposedly the last place Hank Williams was seen alive. Not from eating there but it was a favorite of his. And that is where he ate his last meal. Just a little local history for you. There you will find the best burgers and milkshakes ever. Just a few of the burger selections: Hey good lookin, cold cold heart Hawaii 5-0, Howlin at the moon. I didn’t get a milkshake but the list to choose from is unbelievable. Check out their website here and plan to eat there if you go and get a burger and milkshake. It is such a sweet place with lots of memorabilia on the walls and just plain old southern hospitality.

Next we went to The Birthplace Of Country Music Museum. This place is amazing and I love it. I have been several times. It is so much more than a museum. A lot of people think that Nashville is the birthplace of country music but actually it was in the small homes and store fronts in Bristol where the very first country music was recorded. We didn’t tour this time but met with some of their staff and board members.

***We stopped in at The Southern Churn Ice Cream & Candy Shop and we just had to try this Mountain Dew Fudge. It was actually very good.***

Next stop we visited Benjamin Walls’ gallery for a wine reception and some chill time enjoying the beautiful photos of Benjamin Walls and we were actually treated to an unveiling of a couple of his new photos.

Benjamin is an internationally acclaimed artist, avid environmentalist, and successful entrepreneur. I am taking all of this from his website but go and check it out for yourself. His artwork has received seven international awards and has been displayed in dozens of museums, including five exhibits at the Smithsonian and twice at the Natural History Museum of London. It is almost unbelievable some of the photos that he has captured. Check out his website here

A few other places that we visited: The Paramount Theatre
and Lost State Distilling

After the wine reception at the gallery we went to eat at 620 State Restaurant for dinner. Another amazing meal. I had the chicken and rice and a sushi roll, and a margarita. It was yummy. We were exhausted from the day and being on the hot street. It was good to relax and enjoy our meal.

***This Margarita really hit the spot after a long hot day.***

Our bus picked us up to take us back to the hotel. I think I napped on the way back. The next morning we had meetings until noon and then I headed for home. Although I was only gone for two days I was so glad to get back home to my hubby and the babies.

If you live near this area or if you are just passing through don’t forget to check out some or all of the things I mentioned. It really is a great trip. Bristol Tennessee or Bristol Virginia is a beautiful area. You won’t be disappointed.

I hope you enjoyed your short trip to Johnson City and the Bristol TN/VA area let me know how you liked it.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

May Day May Day

Hello and happy May Day. Can you believe that May is here already? Well it is. And full summer will be here soon. April was not a great month. My sister got sick in late March and passed away April 8th. It has been such a hard time for everyone in my family. But my Birthday and Wedding Anniversary were both in April and that was great although bittersweet without my sister.

When my sister passed away her neighbor and friend made me and my sister a “Pat” angel. She gave it to us at the funeral and I put mine in my pocket and didn’t open it until after the funeral when me and hubs started home. I looked at it and and I couldn’t believe that she had so perfectly captured something about my sister in this little angel. My sister wore a purple sweater a lot of times when she was sitting outside at the apartment complex where she lived. The angel is made of clay and it is perfect. It has brought me such peace having it with me. This sweet lady makes lots of things from clay especially animals. She has made clay animals of all of my cats. She is so talented.

Work has been absolutely slammed. I have to leave tomorrow for a few days for a meeting in Johnson City. I will be meeting with our attractions group. It should be a lot of fun. I know they have some great adventures for us and a couple of really nice restaurants. I stayed late on Friday at work to get caught up to be gone for a couple of days. I’ll take lots of pictures of everything and share them soon.

We are still working on getting Gus, the new kitty, used to the rest of the family. The only one who is still not very friendly is Kitty Kitty. I know it will take time. We have been keeping Gus next door at my father in law’s house. We can run over and visit and feed him and love on him several times a day. Last week we started bringing him over slowly to help all the inside babies get familiar with him. So for the last few days we have left him here in the house for most of the day. He hasn’t spent a full night but I think when I get back from my trip we will just leave him here all the time. The visits have been a great help in getting Scruffy and Molly adjusted as well as Gus. As I said Kitty Kitty is still not a fan.

***Gus seems perfectly content and is making himself at home.*** ***His hair has started to grow a little from where it was shave***d.

Our weather here has been crazy. We have had some very chilly mornings and then warming quickly in the afternoon and evening. I think we may have been in Whippoorwill Winter last week because the Whippoorwills were calling like crazy at dusk and then first thing in the mornings. The changes in the weather have made some interesting changes on my temperature blanket. I am a little behind on it but I’m working hard to get caught up. When I have April finished I will show you what it looks like.

And in my own true fashion of getting ready for a trip I have saved everything for the last minute. I planned to pack earlier this afternoon but started doing some other things. I absolutely hate to pack and will probably wait until first thing in the morning. I spent most of the day binge watching Ozark. If you watch it then you know the last few episodes of the last season came out on Friday. It was so good. I also worked on my temperature blanket while I was watching.

So that is where I am on this beautiful first day of May. I had some great walks outside with the babies. A nice May Day. I am heading up to start packing or at least put a few things in my suitcase. It’s a short trip so I won’t need a lot of things, said no woman ever. HA!!!

***This is Izzy. Doesn’t her color blend in with the woods?***

Have a wonderful week. I wanted to share this poem I found online last week. It has brought me a lot of comfort and I don’t know exactly when it popped up but it was obviously just when I needed it.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

Hello Monday (Weekly Happenings)

Hello friends, how was your week and your weekend? It was a bit on the crazy side over here It was a busy work week. I still feel like I am playing catch up from taking time off a few weeks ago. Thursday was my Birthday and my wedding Anniversary. I know!! I got married on my Birthday. I remember telling my husband that he would be the best Birthday present I could ever hope to have. I still feel that way thirty two years later. We had Birthday cake at work. And my hubs sent me the most beautiful bouquet of tulips. He said he wanted to do something a little different in the way of flowers and he did. They are beautiful. It was a nice day I had a lot of calls and messages and I felt really special.

We didn’t really do a lot for the Birthday and Anniversary because as usual a lot of day to day life happenings got in the way. But we are used to that around here. Gus was also having a big day Thursday. He had an appointment to be neutered. Remember Gus, he is the orange kitty that we recently took in when we were looking for our lost kitty Milo. When we got Gus his fur was so matted we knew we would probably have to have him shaved or have his hair cut very short. Gus was not chipped and had not been neutered and he had an upper respiratory infection so we had to have all that taken care of. We have been keeping him quarantined next door at my father in law’s house. This way we can go over several times a day to visit and feed and love on him.

So on Thursday Gus was neutered. They also shaved a lot of his fur. The poor baby looks pitiful but he has to feel better without all that matted fur hanging off of him.

On Friday my niece got married. The venue was on the Ocoee River about forty five minutes from my work. I took all of my things to work with me to change into for the wedding because I wasn’t going to have time to come home and then drive back to the venue. My sister and I went together and it was a beautiful wedding. We had so much fun and the food was great!!!

***And the cake after, it was so yummy!!!***

On Saturday my sister, niece and I went over to clean out my Sister Pat’s apartment. Her son was there to help and her sweet neighbor who had become her best friend was also there to help us. It has only been two weeks since she passed away and it was really hard to do. But her apartment had to be dealt with so we did it. That’s just how we roll in this family. We have very strong women in our family and we have been through a lot. We do what needs to be done. We looked at pictures and read old letters and cards we had written to my sister. She kept everything. We laughed and cried and I think it helped with the healing process.

On Sunday we decided to introduce Gus to the rest of the family. We have decided to keep him inside when he moves in with us. We brought him over in a carrier and the minute he stepped out of it Scruffy was all over him sniffing. Scruffy quickly lost interest in Gus except whenever I was around Gus, and then he was all about sniffing and licking Gus. Molly barely gave Gus a second glance and then settled back on her bed. But the real test, we knew, would be the Queen, Kitty Kitty. She was upstairs when Gus arrived. She didn’t come down right away. Gus wandered around downstairs and hid a couple of times. An hour or so later I heard Kitty Kitty coming down the stairs. Mark and I glanced at each other. I could see the fear in his eyes. I whispered “here she comes” we held our breath. As soon as Gus saw her he started doing this loud meowing sound. Kitty Kitty froze for a few seconds and then ran right back upstairs. I think the two will eventually be able to tolerate each other but we are taking it slow and doing short visits right now. We hope to move him in permanently very soon. Fingers crossed. I don’t want to stress either one of them uhhhhhh or us out.

I love irises and I have some that came from my mama’s house from when I was a kid. I noticed the blooms this year were nothing like they usually are. I did a little research and discovered that they need to be thinned out. I plan to do that and maybe take some to work and give some to my sister and nieces so they will have a part of mine and my mama’s flowers.

***See how they need to be divided. I guess I just hadn’t noticed how bad they were.***

***Only two or three of these blooms have appeared this year.***

I have been working on the temperature blanket that I am crocheting. I have gotten behind so I am trying to crochet several rows or days at a time to catch back up. I will show you a picture soon. If you have never heard of a temperature blanket you can read my post about mine here.

That’s about it for the last week. How is your week shaping up? Will it be busy or will you be chilling?

Always remember

Love Your Day Your Way!!!

Hello Monday A New Addition To The Family.

Hello, how are things with you? All of a sudden my life has slowed down from what it has been for the last few weeks. I was so busy the weeks that my sister was sick. I was trying to work and stay at the hospital with her. In the end I took time off from work so I could be with her as much as I possibly could. I am so glad for that time, it is something I will cherish. Now I feel a bit lost and don’t know what to do with myself in more ways than one. I try to stay busy, memories of her are wonderful but so painful at the same time. I start to work on something and just find myself a big blubbering mess.

I am a true animal lover and animals have always been a way for me to express love and nurturing. This gives me comfort. Several years ago when my brother Allen died my Scruffy appeared at the same time. It was almost as if he had been sent to help with my grieving. You know the Scruffy story. A little Terrier, malnourished with a terrible skin condition. We took him in, he was in bad shape and blind with cataracts. We took him to the vet and got his skin cleared up. We had the cataracts removed so he could see again. We have now had him for four years and I don’t know what we would do without him.

Early in March my two male cats went missing, you can read about it here. Milo and Buster. We think coyotes probably got them. They never ventured far from the yard. We also found a lot of Milo’s fur in the yard. He had the orange tabby fur that was so unmistakable. We were heart broken. We hoped and prayed that they had gotten away and maybe ran for safety. Maybe they got lost and would find their way back.

About three weeks after the kitties went missing I was flipping through Facebook. It was late at night and I saw a post about an orange and white cat that had showed up at this lady’s house and she was wondering if anyone had lost one. She said it had been hanging around for about three weeks. It would only come out at night and people in the neighborhood were feeding it. My heart started beating a mile a minute. This woman lived about ten minutes from us. Could it be Milo? The picture she posted was blurry but it definitely had Milo’s coloring. Maybe Milo had gotten lost and wandered away from home. I messaged her and she messaged me back the next morning. As soon as it got daylight I went to her house to see if I could find him. There was no sign of the kitty. Heather, that’s the sweet lady’s name, and I, started corresponding back and forth and she was on Kitty watch. She told us the kitty was sick and she could hear him cough and sneeze while he was eating. A couple of nights later she called and said the kitty was there. Mark and I jumped into the car and tore down the road to her house. When we got there he had run into the woods behind her house and we could not find him. I worried myself to death thinking it was Milo and he was out in the cold and rainy weather.

A couple of times Heather called and said the kitty was there and I was at the hospital with my sister and over an hour away and could not come. Mark was working those times and we had no one to try and catch kitty. But by this time a couple of weeks had passed and whether the kitty was Milo or not we had already formed an attachment, if it is possible considering we hadn’t even seen the kitty. Well yes it is possible for us. That’s just the way we are. Sadly I realized it probably wasn’t Milo when she sent a second picture and we realized he had a Seresto Flea collar on. We never used that type of flea protection. But I reasoned that someone could have found him and put it on him. I would not give up.

Finally all the stars aligned I was home one night and she had put food out on her screened porch and the kitty came on her porch to eat. She called and we went right over. It wasn’t Milo but it was a kitty that needed some love and meds. We took the kitty carrier but he is a big kitty and was not having any of that. Heather had a box on her porch. We coaxed him into the box and put a towel over it and carried him to the car. He never gave us a bit of trouble. He did have some type of infection and runny eyes and he just didn’t look like he felt good.

Let me just say that without Heather keeping a watchful eye out for this sweet kitty we would never have gotten him. She was relentless in trying to get us connected and we will be forever thankful to her for that. She is a wonderful caring animal loving person. Just what the world needs more of.

We took the kitty next door to my father in law’s house and put him inside. This way we could go over several times a day and check on him. We didn’t want him around the other kitties until we had the vet look at him. We got him settled in the house, fed him and gave him water. I called the vet the next day and was able to get him in for a visit. He was not chipped, he was a male, he had not been neutered. His hair was so matted you could feel knots when you picked him up. The vet thinks he is about a year or two years old. He did have an upper respiratory infection and he got a shot for that. We are still keeping him quarantined until we get him neutered on Thursday.

Nobody has come forward to claim him. I am not sure where he came from. He is just about the sweetest baby there could be. He is so friendly and lovable. He loves to eat and he loves attention. We named him Gus. I truly believe these babies are angels sent from God to help us at our neediest times. Gus isn’t Milo but he is a precious baby that needs us and we are here for him.