Hello and happy Monday!! I was gone all last week on a work trip to North Carolina. Well most of the week anyway. I am so glad to be back to a regular routine. I was even glad to get back to work today. What???
I did take a couple of days off at the end of the week to sort of rest and rejuvenate. I did some work outside in my yard, and trimmed shrubs and some overgrown hedges. I still have a lot to do. I was just reading that and I was thinking, where was the rest? If you are like me working outside is restful. The temps have cooled a little and will be even cooler this week. I am loving it!!!
I stayed home most of the weekend. On Saturday, Mark and I drove to Knoxville with my niece and picked up her kayak from a friends’ house. It was in an area I had never been to before. I just love looking at homes and yards in places I haven’t been.
We also worked on the house a bit and it seems so clean and shiny. Too bad it won’t last long.
I thought I would show you some of my projects I am working on. You know it isn’t me if I don’t have several going at one time. Sorry for the wrinkled comforter. The color is a great background for my projects.
This is the granny square afghan I am working on for my nephew. This is Tennessee Titans colors. One of his favorite teams.
My Hats off to Halloween cross stitch. I really need to get to work on this one. I want to get it finished, framed and out before Halloween.
This is a shawl I started yesterday. It is sort of a trial and error. I am going with a pattern as I go along. I’m not sure if it will work out. I used an inexpensive yarn so if it doesn’t work out, it’s no loss. I just realized it looks sort of like candy corn. You see where my mind is. There’s several other colors as well.
This scarf. I love the pattern and I love this green color.
I am also reading a couple of good books.
First Lie Wins. I just started this one on my Libby App. It is already full of secrets and suspense. I will let you know what I think of it.
Isadora is a University researcher. On her 30th Birthday she reads an article about 31 ways to be happy. Being the researcher she is she tries to prove the article may not make everyone happy. A lot of things happen for Isadora along the way. I have heard a lot of good things about this book. I can’t wait to read it.
That is pretty much what I have been up to. A little boring I know but just the way I love it. I have a sister trip coming up in a couple of weeks and a work trip in October. So for now I am just going to hang out at the house and enjoy some quiet time with my husband and the kitties. Speaking of kitties, I will leave you with a picture of Kitty Kitty. She was very cool to me when I returned home. I think she was mad that I left her behind. She’s starting to come around. Silly kitties.
Kitty Kitty
How is your week? Do you have lots of plans and fun things to do?
Happy Labor Day. If you work in tourism, as I do, there’s two very important days in the season. Memorial Day is very important because it is sort of the kick-off to the summer season. And then Labor Day is the last big hurrah for the season. Whew!!! I am happy to see you Labor Day and the start of a slower work pace.
I have to go back and give August its due, all thirty minutes of it. That’s how fast it seems like it flew by. August was a very busy month.
I started August in Las Vegas at the Star Trek Convention and then had a short visit to Utah and Zion National Park. It seems like as soon as I got back home work was busier than ever and I was trying to juggle everything again.
Star Trek Convention.
We visited the Sphere in Las Vegas
A beautiful drive into Utah.
We are still dealing with a lot of final issues with my mother in law. She passed away in July. We are still settling things with the nursing facility and continuing to clean out her house, which is going to be quite the undertaking.
We had a quick day trip to Nashville for the Time Traveler’s Vintage Expo. That was a lot of fun. And then last week we, hubs and I, had a quick overnight to Nashville for a four month doctor visit for him. We always eat at a nice restaurant and spend the night in the same hotel near the hospital. That makes our trip over and back, about four hours each way, much easier.
Because of my job the summer months are really hard and stressful. Luckily, I have amazing and wonderful co-workers. We try to have as much fun as I can during these times. Life is way too short not to try and enjoy something about every season. But I’m always happy to see the fall season arrive. What is your favorite time of year?
Labor Day is almost over. I am home where I love to be. I just came in and fed the kitties and had some dinner and gave all eighteen orchids a water bath. Now I am off to work on a knitting stitch that I just learned from a YouTube video. Life is good, precious, wonderful!!!!
Hello and happy Friday. I feel like I don’t have a lot to share with you. Things have been really busy. Work is always a little crazy in July but this year has been even busier than last year.
Last Friday night I had dinner with a couple of friends. We went to the Peach Street Grill again. They were packed. Luckily we got there before it got too busy. We had a nice dinner. It was great catching up.
Peach. Cobbler and homemade vanilla ice cream. It was delicious.
I worked for a few hours on Saturday so that cut into my weekend a bit. On Sunday I did the usual laundry, cooked dinner and then decided to make some chocolate chip cookies to take to work for my coworkers. I did both chocolate chip and white chocolate chip. They were yummy.
Last weekend I also put new curtains in my kitchen. I got these on Amazon and I love them. The others were really old and needed to be replaced. I should have done a before and after pic but I forgot. I am using a lot of black accents in my kitchen. I am planning to switch my cabinet and drawer pulls to black.
I abandoned the book, A Little Life, because I just didn’t have time to read it not because it wasn’t a good book, and downloaded an audio book. I felt like I needed to return the Little Life book because there was a wait for it. I may buy it later and then I can read it at my leisure with no one waiting for me to finish it. At least I can listen to my audio book while I’m in the car. His and Hers is a murder mystery and very creepy. I have so many thoughts on who the murderer is.
The Crepe Myrtle trees are blooming and so beautiful. I just love the different colors.
This is my favorite of the colors.
Wednesday I took my sister to Knoxville for out patient surgery. While we were in the waiting room a couple came in with two adorable dogs. I think they may have been Golden Doodles. I’m not sure. One was named Shiloh and the other Gracie. They were going from person to person and letting them pet the babies, if they wanted to, some people don’t care for dogs. I can’t imagine that but some people don’t. I ask them if I could take a picture of them. And they said yes. They have permission from the hospital to bring the dogs into the waiting areas. They said it makes people so happy seeing them and it helps relieve stress while waiting to hear news about their loved ones.
I wasn’t able to get a great picture because the dogs kept moving so much. But it seemed to brighten up the entire room. I think it’s a great idea. These people are just wonderful for taking the time to do this.
I took off a couple of hours from work yesterday to get my hair done. Much needed. So a very busy week. I haven’t had much of a chance to catch up with my blog or reading my favorite blogs. My husband and I are headed to Vegas next week to attend the annual Star Trek Convention, we’re such nerds, and then take a short trip into Utah to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon.
That is what has been going on in my world how about you?
I leave you with another picture of my big boy Gus who seems to think he is King of the kitties. At least he looks like it in this picture.
Hello friends, I hope you had a wonderful and full weekend. I meant to get this posted yesterday but I had to go to Knoxville for an appointment with the doctor for my annual physical. I am happy to report all is well and I don’t have to return for a year. My sister went with me and we did a little shopping afterwards. So it was late when I got home and I didn’t get to post. So here we go back to Saturday and the weekend.
On Saturday I decided I needed to get out of the house. I had a long weekend off because of my mother in law’s funeral. I posted about that a couple of days ago and if you missed it you can read about it here.
I had planned to go out and buy groceries, and for several weeks I had been wanting to get to the Mennonite Farm Market that is near our house. I thought this would be a good time to go. My nephew, Chris, had recently mentioned that he and his wife wanted to go as well. I called him to see if they would like to go with me. His wife had to work but I met him in town and we drove out to the Mennonite farm.
The Market is always packed on Saturdays. We got there a little after 10:00 AM and barely found a parking spot. The building is small and open. The minute you walk in you are greeted with so many fresh vegetable smells. It is hustling and bustling as the Mennonite farmers go back and forth refilling the vegetable bins. They are constantly refilling the baked goods as well. They only take cash and the cash registers are the old fashioned ones with the big buttons and the hand crank that totals everything. Only the men work in the market. You never see women working with the customers. They also have a couple of signs at the entrance letting you know that only appropriate clothing is to be worn inside.
The farm market has the most beautiful and yummy vegetables. They also sell baked goods. I bought cinnamon rolls and cookies. I also bought cucumbers, squash, potatoes, corn on the cob, a watermelon, cantaloupe, and some okra. I cooked some of that on Sunday and we had a feast.
Just look at these lovely peppers. They are so colorful.
Collard Greens. These are not my favorite but my husband loves them. I am sorry to say I have never cooked them for him. I think they smell terrible when they are cooking. My mama used to cook them when I lived at home and it made the entire house so stinky. That is just my opinion you may love them and their smell.
Chris bought some garlic. He loves to cook and he is great at knowing just how to season things.
I got several ears of corn. I think I may go back and get more to put in the freezer. Corn on the cob would taste wonderful in the middle of winter.
I love the canned chow chow, and the sweet pepper jam, and the apple butter. There are so many different things to choose from. I will have to stock up before they close for the winter.
After the trip to the market we drove on into Tellico Plains. The drive itself is something you just have to see to believe. The rolling countryside, farm animals and barns are just beautiful. This scenery always reminds me of why I love living in Tennessee. Chris and I got hungry so we decided to grab some lunch at a fairly new restaurant I had heard a lot about, Peach Street Grill. It just opened last year. It has such a great atmosphere. The food is very unique and there is a full bar and lounge as well. It was still early in the day and we had no trouble getting a table. Our waitress was just lovely and we shared some stories and she shared some stories with us. Chris is just like me, he never meets a stranger and talks easily to everyone.
We ordered the trout dip for an appetizer. I have had trout dip before and it was served hot. This dip was chilled. It was served with veggie slices and toast and it was so good.
I decided to get the trout cakes and truffle fries. The truffle fries were so good I could have made an entire meal on just those.
Chris got the shrimp tacos. Don’t they look yummy.
We also stopped in at a little antique store near the Grill. I found this cat ornament, well actually Chris spotted it first and we thought it looked like Gus so I had to buy it. I have temporarily hung it on my bird tree that I have in the kitchen.
I also found this little riser. I just love the color. I think I will put one of my orchids on it.
And I saw this little planter. These were so popular back in the day. Their back ends are open so you can plant something in them. I guess. Most of them have the weirdest faces, most of them are animals. I recently bought a dog and I just had to have this siamese? cat? I’m drawn to them. I don’t know why. I am sure I will look for more of them. Just what I need something else to collect.
I dropped Chris back at his car and went to buy my groceries. It was such a fun day. It was so good to get out and spend time with Chris and get my mind off of a lot of sad things. I am a true believer in being with people and spending time doing things you enjoy as much as you possibly can. Life is short, it is meant to be lived while we are here.
Sunday was a lazy day. I did laundry, read a great book and cooked a lot of the vegetables I bought at the market. What fun things have you done lately?
Southern Patches 