Well last week was another busy week over here. The temps were in the high nineties. WHAT???? Technically it is still spring here in East Tennessee but you just never know what kind of weather you are going to get. The last few days have been cooler and it was only about 56 degrees F here this morning. That felt wonderful.
Work has been its usual crazy self but that is just to be expected when you work in tourism in the summer time. I just take it a day at a time. I have had this job for many years and I have seen a lot of things and a lot of people. I think that is what makes life interesting. That’s how I try to look at things anyway. Well most of the time. HA!!
We realized last week that the outside kitties were going to have to have a cooler spot to come into at night. We bring the three outside kitties in at night and close the garage door. Now with this horrible heatwave the garage at night is just too hot for them. It’s probably really not but I’m not taking any chances. Since bringing all three indoors was not really an option we decided to buy a small upright air conditioner for the garage. I stopped at Home Depot last week and picked up a small unit.I am terrified to see just how much my monthly utility bill increases because of this. But The garage was so hot at night I just couldn’t leave the babies out there. Leaving the door open a little is not an option since that is how Milo and Buster got out and disappeared. We know there is still a coyote problem in this area.
So I got the little air conditioner and Mark and I got it set up. It doesn’t make the garage as cool as the house but it is so much better.
On Wednesday I had Sister Lunch with my sister and sister in law. We caught up with each other and solved some world problems.
On Saturday my friend Lorie invited me to a campsite that her and her husband have in the summer. The site is beside a beautiful creek it’s actually called Steer Creek. We floated and talked and ate wonderful food she had made. It was just the best therapy ever.
Sunday was quiet. We stayed home all day and ran into town for take out later in the day for a special Father’s Day Dinner. We may not have any human children but Mark is a perfect dad to our babies.
A few years ago I wrote a blog post about a favorite memory of my daddy. He was so stern and strict but he had a huge heart and would do anything for anyone. This special memory was when I was six years old and a first grader and I thought I was way too grown up to carry a book satchel like all the other first graders. You can read it here. It is a special memory of my daddy.
And look what happened one of my orchids bloomed. This one I named Saffron. I was so happy to see this precious bloom.
You know I had to sneak in a kitty picture. Just look at those eyes.
Hello friends. Wow we have had three inches of rain today. This past week we had unseasonably high temps and then today was rainy and cool. I loved it!! How was your weekend?
My weekend extended into today. I have to work next weekend because it is Memorial weekend and it will be our first big weekend of the season. So I took today off.
I had a great weekend. I think everyone should have a three day weekend. It would be the perfect amount of time to get things done and get some rest and have fun!!!
I started my weekend with these blueberry muffins. Believe it or not the potassium in these are not that bad. I also do not believe in totally restricting myself from things I love. I think moderation is key in everything.
On Saturday I went with a friend to take photos. He likes taking pictures almost as much as I do. He had told me about some of the roads he traveled to work. Some of them are short cuts on the back farm roads with the most beautiful scenery. I have to say East Tennessee is beautiful. I say East Tennessee because Tennessee is divided into three grand divisions East which is Knoxville, Chattanooga, Gatlinburg area all the way into North Carolina. Middle Tennessee is Nashville, Murfreesboro area and West is Jackson and Memphis areas. Each area is so different it’s almost like a different state. That is why the state flag has three stars. One star for each division. Ok enough history.
This is the first photo I took on our trip and I love it. I love taking pictures of old barns. Especially the ones painted red.
So we took off early Saturday with our cameras and cell phones. I love taking pictures with my cell phone about as much as my big camera. Chuck had almost the same camera as me and he was able to show me a lot of new things I didn’t know. We took pictures for a few hours and then stopped in nearby Athens and had lunch and then walked downtown to get some shots of the old buildings in the downtown area. I am saving most of the shots I took for my Wordless Wednesday post so stay tuned for that.
Flags all around the courthouse. It was very windy and they were billowing and beautiful.
Isn’t the courthouse here beautiful. It is very old.
I picked up groceries on my way home. I took care of all the babies when I got home, we went on a long walk. I put the groceries away and started some laundry. It was a great day!!
This is our girl Sadie, she thinks she is a wild jungle cat.
Scruffy and MollyAllie Cat, AKA Mama kitty. She is mama to all the kitties we had. Sadie and Izzy. These babies love going on the walks with us. It is the funniest thing you have ever seen. They are all trailing behind me as I walk. I feel like we’re in a parade. HA!!!
Izzy
Sunday was quiet. Mark and I were both off and we just hung out at the house. I did more laundry and worked on the temperature blanket. I had about a billion ends to weave in. That is the only bad part about switching colors so many times. I cooked dinner and caught up on Working Moms on Netflix.
Monday I had to get my hair done really early and then I planned to continue cleaning my Mother in Law’s house. We are planning to rent it so a lot has to be done. A sweet friend came to help me. We worked for about three hours and then got some lunch and went back to her house to eat it. I had to pick up some things for my MIL and take to her. She was In good spirits and wasn’t even upset about her upcoming doctor visit. I went home to feed and walk the babies and get ready for work tomorrow. It will be a long week because I have to work on Saturday.
My eating is going well this week I am down about nine pounds. I want it to go faster but I know realistically this is the best way. I also am now on a low potassium diet. I had blood work a couple of weeks ago and my potassium was higher than it should be so I had to drink a liquid potassium binder, which was pretty yucky, and have the test repeated. The results were better but not quite where the doctor wants them to be so I had another of the delicious binders and will get rechecked on Thursday. We will see after that. All other blood work was great so it is a bit of a mystery. I would be concerned with only having one kidney and that could be causing a problem but all kidney related blood work was great!!! I’m trying to remain calm and optimistic that we will get to the bottom of it. However potassium does play a big role in your body. It is very important to keep it balanced.
The inside kitties, Gus and Kitty Kitty are getting along better every day.
This was the first time I have seen both of them on the bed at the same time. Gus’ fur is starting to come back in and it looks so weird. The places where there is the least hair is where the hair was the most matted.
I love this look I think it says I am here and I am King!!!!
More daisies blooming. I love them. They are my favorite. do you remember picking the petals and saying “he loves me he loves me not”? You always had a special person in mind while you were picking the petals and you just always had to make it end the way you wanted.
I love these. Weeds or flowers either way I think they’re beautiful.
I think that there is nothing that makes you realize your own mortality then the death of a sibling. I have lost three other siblings before my sister Pat passed away last month. But something about her death has hit me harder and made me take a long hard look at my own life and health. I guess it’s because I am older now. I have really been trying to clean up a lot of unhealthy habits in my life. With my weight being the main issue, as far as I know anyway, I have been working really hard on eating better and moving my body more. I am down about seven pounds so far and hope by this time next month it will be even more. I am not doing anything radical or taking diet pills or drinking shakes or anything like that. Just better eating and exercise that is what will have to do it for me. I have always been one to eat my feelings instead of feeling them. By numbing myself it is easier to avoid feeling bad. Well that is until all your clothes don’t fit and you can’t walk a short distance without being out of breath. There is a lot of life to live and I want to be the healthiest I can be to do it. I want to be better physically. I just felt the need to share all of that.
A busy weekend over here. On Saturday my sister and my nephew helped me clean out some things in my mother in law’s house. We know that realistically she will never be able to live at home again and the house has needed a good cleaning for several years. We worked for several hours and then I went to visit my mother in law at the assisted living village. Her short term memory is getting so bad and she asks me the same questions over and over or tells me the same story over and over. I just pretend it’s the first time I have heard it. She loves for me to show her pictures of the babies. I try to take several throughout the week so I will have plenty to show her. She has so many stories of when she was a young woman, newly married, riding a greyhound bus to Knoxville every day to business school. The trip was over an hour each way. She studied on the bus and the bus driver always flirted with her. She can still tell these stories like it was yesterday and I love to hear them. Sometimes I start asking her questions so she will tell me one of those. She has such a look on her face when she tells them like she is still seeing every memory and I am sure she is.
Look at this pollen. It’s been crazy!!!!
After our visit I bought groceries. I am amazed every week when I see the price of groceries. Of course having seven babies to buy for isn’t cheap. Scruffy and Molly have to have canned dog food because their teeth, or lack of them, makes it hard to chew hard food. Also dog food and cat food have become really hard to get. I know you have heard the horror stories about baby formula.
Sunday my sister had a cook-out at her house for my nephew Tyler, he graduated from college last week. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to go. He only got four tickets and his mom and dad of course went. My brother in law, his grandfather, couldn’t go so I was able to get his ticket. My sister and I went and sat on the bleachers in the gym for three hours. It was more than worth it. We all went out to eat afterwards and had a really good time.
I have been doing a lot of walks with the babies. It has been really hot here so we don’t go far. I have also been working on the temperature blanket. I am still a little behind but working on it when I can. I can’t wait to show you what I have.
I love daisies they are my favorite flower.
Work continues to be busy but manageable. I am trying to get my house de-cluttered, I think that is an ongoing process and that is o.k.
You knew I would have to sneak a kitty picture in somewhere.
That is what has been going on in my neck of the woods, how are you doing?
Wow!! here it is Sunday again and back to work tomorrow. Do you or did you, if you are not working now, ever get the Sunday Scaries? Supposedly this happens on Sunday when people get anxious about returning to work the following day. It could be any day before you return to work from time off. It doesn’t have to be a Sunday. I do get the Sunday Scaries a lot. I love my job and I really don’t hate returning to it. I think it is just the fact that I like to be home doing the things I love without interruption and plenty of time to do them. Sunday Scaries is the total emotional opposite of Thank God It’s Friday. Oh well neither of those feelings last very long anyway. So how was your week? It was a very rainy week here with wind and cold and some local flooding. Monday of course was a holiday but I had to work. Being in tourism there are very few holidays that we get off because that is when everyone else is off from work and traveling.
Wednesday I had to take our last kitty baby Sadie to get spayed. The last time she was scheduled to go with Izzy and it didn’t happen. That was just after Christmas. That particular morning we were in the garage trying to get Izzy and Sadie into the kitty crate. We got Izzy easily enough but Sadie is still scared and skittish and she darted away from us every time we got close. We finally took Izzy in by herself and rescheduled Sadie. We had to reschedule Sadie again so that I could take my sister to the doctor so it was just this past Wednesday that we finally got Sadie back in with the vet.
I was worried sick about trying to catch Sadie. I was on my own this time because Mark had to leave for work even earlier than I did. I went out early Wednesday morning and she and all the other kitties were waiting by the back step of the garage, I had closed the garage door the night before to help make it easier, and I just reached down and plucked her up. I put her in the crate until I got the kitty carrier and transferred her over. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. She however was very unhappy and let me know about it all the way to the vet. She did fine and I picked her up that afternoon on my way home from work. WHEW!!! I am so glad to have all five of the new kitties spayed and neutered.
We have had so much rain that schools have been closed, buses couldn’t get through a lot of the back roads. I have seen some of the fields near our house flooded like I have never seen before. It’s crazy!!
We have a little car that belongs to my mother in law. It is literally the car that the little lady only drove to church and back. When she moved into the assisted living center and could no longer drive we kept the car for awhile. But we really didn’t need it and she needed the money from the sale of the car so we decided to sell it. It sold really fast and we were supposed to sign the car over on Friday. I called a local car cleaning service and they came on Thursday and picked the car up while I was at work. They washed and waxed the car and shampooed the interior and brought it back to me. It looked fabulous. I had had the oil changed on Tuesday morning. Mark delivered the car on Friday and now it is no longer sitting in my driveway taking up space. I do love that.
We still haven’t gotten the new gate painted. It does look much better. If you missed the story on our new gate you can check it out here: The Gate Story. I was very unhappy about it to start with but after some tweaking and taking away some of the board work It looks much better. I think it will look great when it is painted and shrubs are put around it.
Friday was a long day. I had lunch with my friend Lorie, we were craving Mexican and it was so good. But the best part was just catching up with each other. We realized we had not seen each other since just before Christmas!!! That is crazy and we will definitely have to work on that. I stayed late at work so that I could be in town for a funeral that night. I took some extra clothes with me to work and changed into those. Usually my work clothes are pretty casual and I can wear a sweatshirt or hoodie with our attractions’ name on it. I do this especially in the winter when the crowds are down. I didn’t get home until about 8:00 so that made for a long and tiring day. I think I was in bed by 9:00. I have been watching Ozark and I watched one episode of that before getting into bed.
Saturday was grocery day so I bought groceries and did a few things around the house. I bought another Orchid. I may be slightly obsessed with them. I have been wanting a yellow one and I found one that I loved. I brought it home and introduced it to the two others. I can neither confirm nor deny that I have named all three of them. I KNOW!!!! Mark and I went to visit his mother and take her some groceries. We got take out from our favorite Chinese restaurant in Sweetwater and headed home to feed and walk all the babies. I watched a couple of episodes of Ozark and worked on the temperature blanket I am crocheting. I can’t wait to show you what it looks like so far. I am only two months in and you do a row a day with the color depending on the temperature.
Sunday, today, it was cold and rainy a good day to just stay in and read, knit, or crochet since I am working on the temperature blanket, watch Ozark and chill with the family. I made blueberry muffins. I forgot to drain the blueberries before dumping them in the batter so I wasn’t sure how they would turn out but they were sooooo good. I will have plenty for the rest of the week. We had cheeseburgers for dinner with sweet potato fries, easy and yummy. How was your week?
Southern Patches 