Sunday Morning Coffee Share

Hello and happy Sunday. I haven’t had a chance to share coffee with you in quite a while. Come in and I will make you some very strong coffee, the way my husband likes it, or a light roast, that’s for me. Or we can have tea, water or a big Diet Coke. Let’s catch up.

What I have been up to you ask? Work. My work load is always crazy in July because I work in tourism. July is our most popular month for visitors. Our hours have been long. I am usually too tired by the time I get home to do anything but eat some dinner and watch a little TV or read. I have been going to bed before dark. Yeah I’m that old. Ha!!!

The weather where I am? HOT, HOT,HOT. The humidity has also been really high. It almost feels like you are walking through warm water when you are outside. You can see that after today we might get some rain and a slight break in the temps.

What am I reading? In typical me fashion, I am reading two books at once. I don’t mean for this to happen but while I was in the middle of this book,

I actually own this book so technically I can finish it anytime. But it is such a psychological thriller it’s hard to put down.

This one became available on my Libby app.

I had been on the waiting list for this one for months so I had to grab it. It’s really long and I know it will probably take me the full two weeks to finish it.

What I am watching? As I mentioned, sometimes after work, I just like to veg out watching TV. I discovered this great cooking series called Zoe Bakes. I think it is on MAX. Zoe Francois is a self proclaimed dessert lover and baker. She loves to eat cakes, pastries and anything sweet, almost as much as she likes baking them. The recipes are very user friendly and she does them step by step. She has a very unusual way of doing chocolate chip cookies. It’s not in the recipe but in the actual baking. I plan to try them today so I will let you know how they turn out. I’ll tell you this much. She takes the cookies out of the oven halfway through baking and lets the pan drop onto a flat surface. This takes the air out of the cookies. She does it a couple of times during the baking process. Supposedly it makes them a little flatter and chewier. I’ll keep you posted on that.

***Isn’t she a cutie? I just love watching her. After a long day at work there is something soothing about watching people cook. As long as it’s not me.***

What am I loving? Well I have to tell you about my orchids. I now have eighteen. I know!!! Too many? Never. When my mother in law passed away last week. I received these beautiful orchids from my work family. There was three in this beautiful planter. All three are different sizes and colors. I thought that was just the sweetest thing because they know how I love orchids. I think our local flower shop was a little confused when several people called within a day or two to ask if they had orchids. They did not. My co worker had to buy these at a local grocery store. I thought she arranged them so nicely in this planter and she even added several bags of my favorite dark chocolates. So nice.

**Isn’t this planter beautiful? I’m not sure if I will keep all of the orchids in the planter. So far I have moved one out.**

What projects have I got going on? Well I finally finished the blue shawl. I washed it and blocked it a little, it really didn’t need a lot of blocking.

I also decided to switch to crochet for a minute and I started this little bo-ho bag. It is super easy and works up really fast. I needed something that didn’t require a lot of thinking or counting stitches. I will probably use this to carry some of my other knitting projects. I can’t wait to finish it.

What a nice visit we have had. Please come back soon. Oh and before you leave I will take you to see some of my other orchids. Several of them are blooming and so beautiful.

***I think someone wants to be in the picture.***

Have a wonderful week and always remember.

Love your day your way!!!

Weekend Update

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?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

A Long And Short Goodbye

For several months my little mother in law, Winona, has been slipping away from us. She broke her hip in February for the second time, yep same hip. While she was still in the hospital she developed Covid and wound up being in the hospital for two weeks. This would be a lot for anyone but for a ninety year old it was too much.

She never fully recovered. She was released to a full care nursing facility. She had some minimal therapy but she just didn’t want to do it. It was like she had given up. Those were the words we kept hearing over and over.

We knew the time was getting close. And as always, you expect it, but it still hits you like a ton of bricks when it happens. Monday night we got the call that she had slipped away. My husband had been with her earlier that evening and I’m glad he got to be there with her near the end.

If you could have known her you would know that she loved spending time cooking for her family and having us gather at her house. There was only a few of us, but she loved it. I had some of my best meals at her house.

She retired as a state healthcare worker after more than thirty years of service. She played the piano and organ like you wouldn’t believe. She played at church and for a local organization that she belonged to. She often traveled to different cities to play the piano. She told me that she was so happy her mother made her take piano lessons. She started playing as a child and played well into her eighties. She often told me that playing the piano was becoming a lost art.

When she was only nineteen years old she rode a Greyhound bus two hours each way to go into Knoxville to take business classes. She told me she did her homework on the bus and that the bus driver always flirted with her. She was a beauty.

She loved to entertain and she still has just about every serving dish you can imagine. She also loved jewelry and she has given me lots of vintage jewelry through the years.

When my husband and I were first married we lived next door to her. I would walk our dogs to her house every day and we would talk and talk.

In 2018 she fell and broke her hip for the first time. She was eighty four and still constantly on the go. She developed an infection while she was in the hospital and had to have three surgeries within two weeks. After being released she went to an assisted living village for rehab. She then moved to an assisted living facility closer to home. The goal was for her to be there for additional therapy until she could return to her home, where she lived alone. It never happened. She wouldn’t do her therapy. And because of that lack of therapy, she was never able to walk again. She was in a wheelchair. She occasionally used a walker but was very unsteady with it.

She adapted to every situation amazingly well. In the beginning I would take her to her house to stay during the day or for several hours and then she would return to the village. As time went by she cared less and less about doing that. She grew to feel more comfortable at the assisted living village. It became her home. We went for long drives and out to eat at drive-in restaurants, so she wouldn’t have to get out of the car. She then became less and less interested in doing that.

As time went by dementia took over. She often didn’t recognize me when I would first walk into her room. She thought I was one of the workers. She loved white chocolate and I combed the stores looking for her favorites. I recorded videos of our babies and let her watch them over and over. She loved seeing them.

***Enjoying some ice cream at the Village***

She was feisty and never cared to tell you exactly what she was thinking. She would draw herself up to her full 4 feet and 11 inches and tell you like it was. It was just the way she was.

So for several years and then especially the last couple of months she has been slipping away. On Monday night she went to heaven to be with her loved ones who had gone before her. I feel like she is finally at peace and happy again.

I feel lost, almost not knowing what to do with myself. I should be going to see her, talking with her nurses, or taking her some supplies, or going through the mounds of paper work we have been dealing with concerning her long term care. It feels weird and I have lots of memories swirling through my head.

***Valentines’ Day lunch and just a few days before she broke her hip for the second time.***

We had her funeral Friday morning. The thing I heard over and over was how welcoming she made people feel whenever they visited her, and how much she loved to laugh. I think that is a wonderful way to make people feel.

We say goodbye for now and look back on memories and experiences we have shared with her. And never forget.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!