Hello Monday, Goodbye July

Well here we are again at the end of another month. This month seemed to pass both fast and slow. My brother in law passed away on the 10th, my little mother in law fell and had to have 12 staples in her head, she also spent a couple of nights in the hospital. We did a quick overnight to Nashville for a doctors appointment for hubs. And then when you work in tourism, like I do, July is usually one of the busiest months of the year. I am a bit tired of this month and ready to say goodbye to it.

The weekend was just what I needed though. It was long and lazy. It was also really hot with some of the hottest days we have had all year. Temperatures reached well into the nineties and the humidity was terrible. This caused a few late afternoon thunder storms. We stayed safely in the house and watched the lightning show.

I decided to bring out some cross stitch that I hadn’t worked on in a while. This particular pattern is one I tried to finish last year for Halloween. But I had gotten a late start on it and didn’t finish in time. I got it out on Saturday and worked on it for awhile. Maybe I will have it finished and framed by Halloween this year. I have also been working on a crocheted afghan. Don’t ask me what I will do with it. I have plenty but I just love making them. And I love giving them to people so maybe that is what I will do.

I am loving the colors in this afghan. I am using a few different rolls of self striping yarn. Who know what it will turn out to look like. That’s part of the fun I guess.

I am itching to start a knitting project. I still have those socks to finish and I know I shouldn’t start anything else until I finish them but you know I will.

I also started a new book by Jennifer Hillier. This is the third book by her that I have read in the last couple of months. I started “Creep” on Sunday when it became available on my Libby App. I should have known I wouldn’t get anything done that day. When you start one of her books you just can’t put it down. Be prepared to settle in and take the time it takes to finish. Her books are grisly I am telling you the truth. But there is always such a great story and there’s always a mystery. I read an interview she had given and she told the interviewer her husband asked how she could come up with such gruesome stories? I never read these books at night I always switch to lighter reading before bedtime.

We noticed a couple of weeks ago that something had gotten into our tomato plant. It had eaten a good chunk out of a couple of tomatoes. I thought maybe it could have been a deer, or possum or some other critter like that. Then I noticed these strange droppings around the plant they almost looked like tiny green grenades. But not that tiny. I told a friend at work and we googled different kinds of critter poop. Sometimes we need a little break from the craziness at work and I was really wanting to know what had been in my tomatoes. Well it turns out it wasn’t a critter at all well it sort of was. It was a horn worm. Of course if you are familiar with growing tomatoes I am sure this was not news to you. I would never have thought a worm could leave something like that behind. I think my tomatoes are pretty much finished for this year. We did get quite a few off of this one plant.

I found a couple of things from the Old Farmers Almanac that I thought was interesting. The first is how to tell a good watermelon when you see one

And the other thing: Have you ever said Rabbit Rabbit first thing in the morning on the first day of the month? It has to be the first thing you say, first thing in the morning. This is supposed to bring good luck for the month. Is this an English tradition? southern? southern Appalachian? Northern? I’m not sure just where it originated. I’ve heard a lot of tales of people who say this first thing in the morning on the first day of every month. I only heard about this a few years ago. I sometimes say it and sometimes I forget. It’s all in fun I don’t believe that saying anything like this one way or the other will bring good luck but I think it is a funny little tradition. And tomorrow is the first day of the month.

And I must leave you with a picture of my precious boy Gus. He was looking at me with this sweet face this morning, making it very hard to leave him and go to work.

So what was your month like? I for one am looking forward to cooler temps in the upcoming months. Of course this is East Tennessee and it has been over 100 degrees F in October so that is nothing you can count on. Have a wonderful week.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Happy Tuesday & A Quick Trip to Nashville

Hello friends and happy Tuesday. I didn’t post anything yesterday my husband and I had an overnight In Nashville. I may have mentioned a few times that since having the kidney transplant several years ago, my husband has to return to Vanderbillt Medical Center three times a year. This is so that he can visit with his nephrologist and get blood work and make sure everything is still going well with the kidney. It is about a four hour drive each way for us. However traffic in the mornings going into downtown Nashville has become unbearable. Last time we had the visit it took over five hours to get there. We almost missed the appointment. We have spent the night in Nashville a few times but with all the kitty and dog babies it was hard getting them farmed out and taken care of. Sadly we no longer have our doggos and you know cats require little care for just the twenty four hours we are gone.

After the last fiasco we said never again. We were in the road for over nine hours that day and we were exhausted. We decided to do the overnight again. My husband was so set on not doing the entire drive in one day that he made all the arrangements himself!!! What? We have stayed at this hotel before. It is only about five minutes from the hospital. It is also the hotel we stayed in many years ago with some of our family after the transplant. So lots of good memories. It was a little pricey for an overnight but totally worth it.

We drove over yesterday after I had worked half a day. We arrived around 5:00 PM central time which is 6:00 PM for us. Traffic was not bad at all. We checked in, had some dinner at a nearby restaurant that also featured live music every night. It was so nice not having to worry about getting up at 3:00 AM and driving over. We always prefer early morning appointments even when we drive over. That way we get back home at a decent hour. Also we have found that the later in the day we schedule the appointment the longer it seems to take getting seen by the doctor and getting blood work.

Vanderbilt Stadium, if you look closely you can see Vanderbilt hospital just beyond the stadium. We were probably within walking distance.
A great view from the balcony. We were on the 14th floor.

Dinner was amazing.
The band was good. Local song writers are featured every night. I love to hear the lyrics this is quite a talent all it’s own.
And on the way home we always stop at DQ and get an ice cream. After a great check up we feel the need to have a little treat. Or a big treat.

Last week we received a large dish garden at my brother in law’s funeral. I took it home and proceeded to take all the different plants out of it. This one had about seven different species of plants. You can’t keep them all together because they all require different things to grow and thrive. So I took this apart and repotted all the individual plants. Then before I placed them in the house I checked to see if they were kitty friendly. They were not. Well one of them was ok to have around the kitties. I have been given some additional office space at work and one of the rooms has two large windows. I hauled all of those plants to work with me and they look great!! Now I can have my plants around me at work. I will have to stick to the orchids at home. They are safe for the babies. I think that may also mean I am ready for another orchid. Yes I definitely think that sounds like a great idea.

I had so much fun repotting all of those plants. And the large pot they were in I will keep for something else. It is absolutely beautiful. I think it will look great for something “fallish”

So that is what has been going on with me. How was your weekend?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

My Summer Bucket List

Yes summer is quickly passing us by. Here it is nearing the end of July and school will be starting soon. It’s crazy how fast that happens. We’re starting to see all the back to school items in our local Walmart. I can still smell pencils from first grade every time I walk down the school supply isle. In tourism we are in the heart of summer but we know it is slowly winding down. Labor Day is on the horizon and that usually ends the especially larger crowds for us. I am always ready for the slow down.

I wanted to share with you some things I still have on my summer bucket list, as well as some summer fun that I have had so far. I think the summer flies by so fast we have to make it count. First off are some things I have done this summer. It’s not a lot because I don’t get a lot of time off in the summer so I have to make every weekend count.

1. I went to the Lavender Festival in Oak Ridge. I would love to find more festivals like this. They are so much fun. Here is a recap of the Lavender Festival of you missed my post.

2. Go to the beach. We did get to go to the beach last month and we had a great time. The weather was good all week and the crowds were not bad at all. We love to go to Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington NC. Here is a recap of that.

3.Plant and grow beautiful flowers or ummmm pretty flowers. I love flowers and I love to have them inside and outside. Marigolds are my favorite but sadly my marigolds didn’t do very well this year. It could be because of all the rain we have had. It has been the rainiest summer I can remember in a very long time.

4. Growing fresh tomatoes. I myself do not eat tomatoes but I love to grow them and give them away. We had several tomatoes from our one little container pot. They didn’t get really big but Mark said they were delicious. We also had plenty to give away. Something has been eating our tomatoes and I’m not sure if it is a deer or some other critter. We have a lot of them hanging around.

5. Eat Ice Cream. What can I say. It screams summer time. I try not to buy too much or I will eat it every day. Sweetwater Creamery in local downtown Sweetwater makes ice cream daily and it is delicious. I will work my way through every flavor this summer and give you an update. If you are local head on down there and get you some ice cream.

6. I also love cooking and eating lots of fresh vegetables. We have a Mennonite community close to us and they grow the best vegetables. The vegetables are so fresh and very reasonably priced. That’s where I got my tomato plant.

7. Cherries!!!! I love them so much!!! This is the best time of the year for them. I’m not fond of cherry pie, I just eat them one by one.

Here are a few things I haven’t done this summer that I would love to do. Most of them are quite simple but that’s how I role. I will give you an update on some of those things hopefully before summer is over.

8. Go on a picnic. Picnics are the best The food always tastes so much yummier when you are eating it outside. When I was a little girl we would take picnics to a local lake or the mountains. And it was sooooo good. We always had special treats when we were on a picnic and I guess that’s what made it even more special

9. Visit a sunflower field. We have one close by and I want to do that maybe this weekend. The flowers are beautiful right now and sunflowers are some of my favorite flowers. You can actually pick the flowers, and there is also zinnias which is another favorite of mine.


10. Lay on a blanket in the backyard and watch the clouds. Maybe take some pictures of them. Just another thing we did when I was a kid.

I guess I’m seeing a pattern of wanting to go back and do simpler things, fun things that don’t require a lot of thought, time or money. You just do them. When the world gets a little crazy I think simple is the best. Take a break.

What are some things you are doing this summer? or maybe have on your summer bucket list?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!