Hello Monday

Hello and happy Memorial Day. How was your week and weekend? Hopefully it was a nice long one for you. I am so humbled and awe stricken to think of the men and women who have served our country and gave everything in doing so. Let us never forget the reason we observe Memorial Day.

Have you ever had a week that felt like it was a month long? Well that is how work was for me last week. It seems like all I did was come home, eat some dinner and go to bed.

On Wednesday we noticed a dog running around the yard. We saw it on our blink security camera. We thought he belonged to someone visiting one of the neighbors. We kept seeing him and then when Mark came home on Wednesday he, turns out it was a she, followed his truck down the driveway and proceeded to make herself at home. She looked half starved. My husband said that was just the hound in her. We weren’t sure how she would do with the cats so we put the outside kitties in the garage.

***She came right up on my deck while we were gone.*** ***Sorry for the bad pic it was from the blink camera.***

The dog, I named her Sally, and was already figuring out which day I could get her to the vet, did not have a tag on her collar. She was big and goofy and so sweet. We gave her some food and water. During the night it rained and I was so worried about her. By morning she had gone back home. Turns out some people were camping down the lake and she was just wandering around. I was a little disappointed and a little relieved. Although I would never let my babies wander like this alone.

On Friday, I again went with some friends to Iron Works Grill on the river. They do karaoke every Friday night. It is so much fun. Plus the views are spectacular. Aren’t those mountains beautiful?

A couple of weekends ago I went to an estate sale. The people having the sale had actually had it for a couple of weekends so they were ready to get rid of some things. Well everything actually. This is what I got:

***This blue Buddha for $2.00. I think it will go great in one of our bathrooms.***

***I cannot pass up a nice cake stand. And this one doubles as a bowl $2.00***

Look at this purse. It is a little worn and I am going to redo the lining. I love it. It reminds me of the purses my mama carried when I was a little girl. I may try a little diluted bleach water to whiten it back up. $2.00.

I just couldn’t pass those things up. I know my husband rolls his eyes when I drag pieces into the house but I always find use for them eventually.

The pollen here has been crazy. So many people are having sinus and allergy problems, fortunately I am not. My poor husband has allergies and this time of year for him is really hard. We have also had a lot of rain. It seems like it has rained almost every day for a couple of weeks. I guess that helps the pollen a little.

***The roads near my house were almost flooded this morning.***

I leave you with the best thing I have received in a long time. A friend from work found out I like to sew and that I had a sewing machine. He told me that his mother or grandmother had an old tackle box that was full of sewing supplies. He asked if I would like to have it. He said he had no use for it. I told him I would love to have it. He brought it in today. It was full of all kinds of goodies. Threads, bobbins, needles, buttons, sewing machine tools, pins etc etc. I was in heaven. I offered to pay him for it but he said giving it to someone that could use it was enough. I was really touched.

I have been knitting like crazy with every spare minute. I worked on a shawl and almost have it finished. I guess you could say it is more of a wrap. I made another one exactly like it last year but it was my first one and I wasn’t too happy with the way it turned out. Hopefully I will have it finished and blocked by the end of the week. I also started another pair of socks. Pink.

That’s it for me tonight.

Always remember

Love your day your way!

Visiting Churchill Downs

A few weeks ago the Kentucky Derby celebrated its 150th anniversary race. The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May. I have never been to the race, but two weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Churchill Downs with an attraction group that our company is a part of. Churchill Downs is where the Kentucky Derby takes place.

One of the perks of my job is getting to visit other tourism attractions. When we do, we get to meet with a lot of their front line people. It is a great way to share information and experience the different ways in which different places do things. If you missed my post about spending a few days in Louisville Kentucky check it out here

The Kentucky Derby was held on May 4th of this year. As I mentioned this was the 150th anniversary of this very special race. I hadn’t really thought much about the race but now that I have been to the track I would love to see an actual race.

Our group got into town on Sunday May 5th. There was still lots of decorations and festivities going on but most were starting to die down by Sunday afternoon. Tuesday May 7th was our day to explore several places and get a behind the scenes tour. Churchill Downs was first on the agenda.

We arrived at Churchill Downs and went through a gate leading us to one of the training areas. We were met by an older gentlemen who told us that, first of all we weren’t supposed to get in the way, so we didn’t. Second, watch out for the horses and respect the trainers and our surroundings, we did. We felt so fortunate to have this opportunity I think we would have walked on our hands if he had told us to. Of course I knew we weren’t going to be able to see any of the thoroughbreds. What we were able to see was some of the up and coming future hopefuls of the Kentucky Derby maybe 2025, 2026, 2027.

Even though we arrived by 9:00 AM the stables were already hopping. Our guide, who was amazing, told us that the trainers arrive around 5:00 AM to start working the horses. They work them for hours and then do a 45 minute to 1 hour cool-down. Most of the trainers live onsite for several months out of each year.

When I closed my eyes I could almost hear the thundering of the hooves and the cheering of the crowd. These horses are trained for this moment, it can be an awesome, exciting and heart breaking moment for many.

***Watching one of the trainers walk his horse. Beautiful!!***

The Kentucky Derby winner for this year was Mystic Dan. He won by a nose!! He barely beat out Sierra Leone and Forever Young. This is the 26th time that the Kentucky Derby has been decided by the length of a neck or less. The Kentucky Derby is commonly referred to as the “most exciting two minutes in sports’ because that’s normally how long it lasts. It is 1& 1/4 miles long or 2,200 yards. Mystic Dan came out of stall number 3.

We were able to stand in the stalls. It was very exciting thinking about Mystic Dan being there just 48 hours or so before and getting ready to run the race of a life time.

Of course I had to stand in the stall where Mystic Dan stood it was very exciting!!!!

We also visited the Derby Museum. I learned so much about the Derby. Check out their website ***http://www.derbymuseum.org***

Some of the information in the Museum:

We were also able to watch a clip of the derby. I have to tell you that our tour guide was the most amazing man. He truly loved horses. He told us that when he was a young boy he would come to the stables early in the morning and watch the horses being led through their daily training routines. He would muck out the stalls or do whatever he could just to be around them. He said that when he came to the Derby he liked to stay behind the scenes and watch the horses come out. He said he had only sat in the stands one time.

What an exciting visit. I never thought much about the Derby but now I think I would like to go and experience the race. Maybe I should add that to my bucket list.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

Hello Tuesday!!! Let’s Catch Up

Hello friends and happy Tuesday. I feel like I haven’t checked in with you for a while. Let’s catch up. How have you been? Last week was an unusual week for me. It was full of different things. First of all we had to have a tree cut out of an electrical transformer on our driveway. That put me late for work one day because the driveway was blocked. Then I got a nail in my tire and had to have it patched. A little late for work another day. It was just a week where a lot of crazy things happened, nothing bad just unusual.

I will have to say living in a small rural area has lots of advantages. First of all the power board came to cut the tree out of the transformer, they also cut some extra limbs hanging over the driveway. These were limbs we could not reach without a bucket truck. Thank you guys. When my tire started to lose air I was able to stop at the little country store on my road and air it up a few times, no charge. Maybe you don’t have to pay to put air in your tires but most of the places around us charge for that. When I went to get my tire patched at our local co-op they got me right in and patched my tire and didn’t charge me a thing. So nice. It is nice to see that good things still happen in the world, even small things mean so much to me.

So after a lot of crazy things happening during the week I spent a lovely Friday evening at a local restaurant with a couple of friends having appetizers and drinks and listening to karaoke. The restaurant was right on the river and it was nice and relaxing and so good to be hanging with friends.

On Saturday my sister and I had a short shopping trip and lunch. I bought a new purse and some sandals. I had made a promise to myself not to buy any purses or shoes this year because I have plenty. But I have discovered as I have gotten older I prefer sandals with a strap on the back. And I needed a pair of those. I found a great pair that I love. The purse, well what can I say I saw it and I liked it and I bought it. Sometimes you just break the promises you make to yourself.

***Look at this pillow I found. I love the colors and it would be so easy to make. And a lot cheaper too. I didn’t buy it I think I will try to make it.***

Are the Cicadas in your area? They are here and they are loud. We first noticed them about two weeks ago. Since then we have found their shells and listened to their constant drone daily. They are everywhere!!!! Even our kitties don’t like to be outside during the day because it is so loud. I jokingly said I was going to string the shells together to make a necklace.

I finally finished knitting this pair of socks in my WIP pile (Work in progress) I am trying to finish some of my projects that I have neglected for months. These socks were in a small bag that I had put up and forgotten about. I had one sock finished and had started the second one. I knew immediately the stripes and colors were not going to match. That’s probably why I lost interest. But I decided to get them out and finish the pair. I’m okay with the mismatched look of the socks. They will still be warm and cozy.

I am leaving you with a short video of the sound of the cicadas at my house. I am told they will be around for another month or so.

Have a wonderful week

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

The Five Winters of East Tennessee

Hello friends. We are smack in the middle of Blackberry Winter. I know you are probably getting tired of hearing me talk about these winters but they really are a thing that has been happening for many many years. Some people call them “cold snaps” but I call them winters. The funny thing about these “winters” is that they all happen after spring arrives. Each winter usually lasts for a few days to a week or so. As I have told you my husband poo-poos them and tells me the cold snap that we are having has nothing to do with:

Redbud winter in late March or early April
Dogwood Winter in late April
Locust Winter in early May
Blackberry Winter in mid May
Whippoorwill Winter in late May (this one has also been called Woolen Britches Winter)

Let me tell you a little more about them.

Redbud Winter happens in late March or early April. The Redbuds bloom out beautifully. They actually look purple once they have bloomed out but the tiny bud is actually red, giving it the name of Redbud.

Dogwood Winter happens in late April. Although, it can happen at different times in different parts of the area. We had Dogwood Winter this year in early April. The temps had been really warm in early April and then plunged and we knew we were in Dogwood Winter. Also the Dogwood trees were blooming like crazy.

Locust Winter. In early May the Locust bloom and we have a temporary cooling of the weather. For us this year, in East Tennessee, this one came along around the end of April. The Locust blossoms look very similar to blackberry blooms. But the Locust blossoms are usually on a larger bush and the blackberry bushes are more spread out and usually grow together with several small to the ground bushes.

Blackberry Winter, which is what we are experiencing here in East Tennessee now, is around the second week of May and almost always around Mother’s Day. The temps today and the last few days have been wonderful and cool. I even wore a jacket this morning. Now just because the Blackberries are blooming does not mean we have blackberries ready to eat. Those won’t become ripe enough until around late June and early July.

Whippoorwill Winter. When you hear the song of the Whippoorwill in the early mornings and late evenings you know that summer is truly on the way. This is usually the last of the cool weather. It is also called Woolen Britches winter because years ago, just when people put away all their winter clothes, the temps would turn cold again and they would still need a sweater or something warmer.

I recorded this last year out on my driveway. The Whippoorwill can be very loud.

The Whippoorwill is actually a very small nocturnal bird. You never hear it during the day. In the daylight it sits in the trees and on the wooded paths. It is hard to believe such a sound comes from such a small bird.

Check out my previous posts about Redbud Winter And Dogwood Winter

Many years ago early settlers did not have the weather channel or google to let them know when the last frost would happen. When would it be safe to plant their crops? They relied heavily on these different signs to let them know about planting their fruits and vegetables. I remember hearing my parents talk about the best time to plant certain things in the garden. If the Dogwood had bloomed then the last frost was over. There is a lot of folklore and legend around these winters. I cherish all of them.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!