Catching Up While I’m in California

I am waking up in California this morning. It is very early here about 5:30 AM. It is 8:30 AM at home. I still feel just a bit jet lagged. Yesterday was a very busy travel day for me. I started at 7:00 AM with a flight out of Knoxville and then to Chicago and then to San Francisco and then a short flight into Redding California. I am here for a Caves Association meeting. I will tell you more about that as the week progresses.

My weekend was great!!! I got home from our sister trip on Friday. If you didn’t catch that post you can read more about it here. On Saturday I had the usual groceries, checking on mother in law and laundry. My nephew, Tyler, had messaged me earlier in the week and wanted to go to the local Mennonite Farm Market near my house. He had never been but had heard a lot about it. So we did that early Saturday morning before all of my other errands started.

The fields around the market are just beautiful. I love the simplicity of the Mennonites. They use every field to raise vegetables. They have sheep and cattle and rabbits. They also bake some amazing breads and cookies. They make beautiful furniture. I have my eye on two Adirondack chairs that I would like to have. I may ask for those as an early Christmas gift. They usually close the market in late December and don’t open back up until early spring. Of course the seasons depend on what they are currently selling. Right now they have an abundance of squash and peppers. I bought okra, green peppers, chow chow, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and a cantaloupe all of this was about $17.00. Tyler bought several jars of honey, I think he was giving it to some of his friends. He loved the market and wants to go back. He was looking for corn but they told him it was a little late in the season for corn. Spring and early summer is the best time to buy corn there. I plan to go back and get some more okra to freeze so that we can have it all winter.

Isn’t this a beautiful scene. You can tell that winter is coming and colors are starting to change.

Many different types of squash.

I love this view looking out over the fields. This is molasses. I am not a big fan of molasses but they do sell a lot of it.

I bought some of these peppers. I planned to make my husband a nice meal on Sunday. Since I was going to be gone all week to California I knew he wouldn’t cook a lot for himself.

Muscadines, I do not like muscadines but my husband loves them. We have a couple of trees on our driveway that have quite an abundance of them.

The peppers were listed as to the severity of heat. Tyler bought some of the hottest peppers. He loves really spicy foods.
Isn’t this Indian Corn pretty? I think it makes a great decoration for fall. There were also some pumpkins but I didn’t get any.

On Sunday I didn’t do a lot except get my clothes ready to pack. I hate packing for an entire week. The temps in California are actually very similar to what East Tennessee is right now. Cool in the mornings and mid 70’s to low 80’s F later in the afternoon. Although I just looked at the weather here and now it is saying mid 90’s for most of the week!!!!

I did cook dinner on Sunday. We had quite a feast from all the vegetables I had gotten at the Farm Market on Saturday.

I love okra and I’m not sure how you cook your okra but I always do mine the way my mama made it. I like crunchy okra. I don’t want it do be soft and mushy. I start out by cutting it and then dredging it in cornmeal or flour. I didn’t have any cornmeal so I used flour. I salt and pepper it and fry it in a large skillet until it is starting to get brown on the edges. I then drain any oil, which is not a lot because I don’t use a lot of oil, and then I transfer it to a small baking pan and finish cooking it in the oven.

So you can see we had quite a feast. Stuffed Bell peppers, a baked sweet potato, okra and cucumbers. All from the Farmer’s Market.

I moved my suitcase into the little den I have upstairs. It’s easier to pack it here and bring clothes and put in it and it’s not in the way while I do this. Kitty Kitty kept watching me from her perch on the loveseat. I think she knew what this suitcase and clothes business meant. Her mom was leaving again. I caught her a couple of times trying to get into the suitcase.

She’s waiting to make her move.

And now I am in California for the week. It looks like a beautiful day here. I know we will be doing a lot of fun things this week and I will be sure to take lots of pictures.

Have a wonderful week.

Always remember

Love your day your way.

Friday Favorites: Sister Trip

Hello and happy Friday. I just got home from a three day sister trip to Gatlinburg Tennessee. Gatlinburg is about 70 miles from us and we have an annual Sister Trip every year. We tried to figure out how many years we have been doing this and the closest we can get to is about 30 years. We first started Sister Trip when my mama was alive. It was me, my mama and my sister Sandy. After a few years my two other sisters Pat and Carolyn joined us. Then my mama passed away. Several years later we lost my sister Carolyn and then last year we lost my sister Pat. We did add my niece Tammy, who is just like a sister to us. So we are back to three of us going. And we always have so much fun!!! We don’t always go to Gatlinburg we sometimes go to other places. Next year we are planning on a cruise.

We skipped Sister Trip last year because it was just too painful not having Pat with us. We bought a rose and took it with us this year and put it in the chair on our deck that she would have sat in. It was so hard not having her with us but we knew she would have wanted us to go.

This is a picture from our deck. The moon was beautiful and the weather was so nice. It was cool in the mornings and then warmer in the afternoon.

We had a lot of great food. We usually get breakfast items to take to the condo and eat one meal while we are out and then usually leftovers for dinner.

We always take a jigsaw puzzle to work. My sister Sandy and I love these. We bought two at T.J. Maxx on our way in and we picked this one to start with. It was a nice autumn scene.

The finished puzzle.

I always take knitting with me. I love these colors. I am making a scarf and some headbands to donate to the cancer office where my sister got chemo this year. They have a little collection table and I put several things out earlier in the year. Everyone loved the headbands. It covers their ears and part of their head and this is really helpful when the weather is chilly but not too cold. I will probably do some toboggans as well for colder weather.

We drove into Cherokee one day and went to the Casino. We didn’t spend a lot of time there but we did stop at Newfound Gap and got some pictures.

We visited Anakeesta it is in the heart of Gatlinburg. I have a ton of pictures of Anikeesta and I will do a separate post on that very soon. It is such a fun place. It is listed on their website as a mountaintop adventure, and it is!!! It is just the cutest place. They have it decorated for fall with lots of leaves and pumpkins. There are several overlooks to sit and enjoy the beautiful views. Check out their website here.

The only way to get to the top of the mountain is by chairlift, these red pods, or by bus going up a scary mountain road. We chose the pods.

Look at all the seating where you can just enjoy the beautiful mountain views.

O.K. now for some more favorites. We always stop at T.J. Maxx on our way into Gatlinburg. I found two jigsaw puzzles. We always work a puzzle on our trip and I had left the house without bringing one of mine. I bought these two and we worked the Autumn In The Neighborhood scene first. I will start on the pumpkins soon.

I have to tell you about this nail polish that I have discovered. I have always loved Sally Hansen nail polish. It is very affordable and it lasts. I came across this Insta-Dri at Walmart and decided to try it. I loved it!!! I did my nails Monday night and the polish still looks great!!! I will be buying more of this.

Turkeys in our yard!!! This is not all of them. I just happened to look out the window on Sunday and this is what I saw. Of course when I went out to get a picture they took off. But I love having them around.

This is the only book I have to report on this week. It was an audio book through my Libby App. It was good. It was a little long but it had a good story and a great ending. I have so many books to read, I mean actual books that you hold in your hands and turn the pages, I must quit downloading and buying books. At least until I read half of what I have on the shelf, shelves. A lady I follow on TikTok listed all of the books she had to read, and put all the titles in a jar, and when she finished one she would just draw out the next one. I love that idea. I may just do that. Sometimes the books I think I might not like turn out to be the best.

On our way home today I stopped at Joanne’s Fabrics and bought these two color wheels of yarn. Two years ago when we were in Sevierville I bought two of these but they were in multiple colors. They didn’t have any of those this time but I did find these on clearance. They will be great for the headbands I am going to make.

So what have you been enjoying this week?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Have You Ever Spent The Night In A Treehouse?

A couple of weeks ago when I was in Chattanooga our group visited Ruby Falls. Ruby Falls is a 145 foot waterfall inside Lookout Mountain. It is the tallest and deepest underground waterfall open to the public. You can read more about it on the Ruby Falls Website here. If you missed my post about Chattanooga and the few days I was there check it out here. Chattanooga Visit

Something very unique and innovative that Ruby Falls has added to their wonderful experience is the opportunity to stay in one of their new Treehouses. This is not a totally new concept in our area. It is one of the first times I was able to actually view them and go inside. They’re adorable!!!

Each of the treehouses are modernly furnished. The ones at Ruby Falls were decorated like you wouldn’t believe. Each one had some type of record player, yes I said record player with records and one of them even had a very old phonograph player with very old records.

Look at this hammock on the deck. It looked so peaceful it just made me want to take a nap under the trees.

I can just imagine sitting on this little porch and having coffee while I look out over the city of Chattanooga.
Some of the houses had a bedroom downstairs and the living area with a couch and desk upstairs. And some were just the opposite with the bedroom upstairs.

The treehouses are filled with windows offering you a view in every direction. The trees around are beautiful but can you imagine snow or rain gently falling while you are nestled in the treehouse, reading a good book. I can.

The stairs leading to the second level of the treehouse are a little steep but definitely doable.

Each treehouse had an outdoor sitting area, a fire pit and at least one hammock. The leaves on the trees were gently blowing and it was just like paradise.

This one had an outside tub with a privacy curtain and also an outdoor shower.

So peaceful!!

Once you get to the parking area for the treehouses you can look down on the tower at Ruby Falls and Chattanooga. Isn’t this a beautiful view?

This is the pathway leading to the cabins. It is lit so if you are out at night you would have no problem finding the path.

You can actually drive to an upper parking area and load your things in one of these little wagons to take to the treehouse.

The treehouse experience is not a cheap one. It is different. It is definitely an experience that you will never forget. A boutique treehouse retreat is what will be waiting for you. Check out the Ruby Falls website and then click Treehouses for lots of photos and availability.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!