Home Again, Home Again

Hello friends. As I mentioned in my last post I had to be gone from the family for a few days earlier this week. Our attraction was hosting the attractions association that we belong to. It was a very nice but tiring few days. I was so glad to get back home.

I got home late Wednesday evening. Scruffy was so happy to see me. He did his little frantic running in circles dance around me that he always does when he is happy and excited. Even Molly came over to nudge against me. Of course all the kitties were very aloof because that’s just the way kitties are. And of course hubs was glad to see me. Although that could have been because he knew I would be relieving him of some of his animal tending duties. Hee hee.

What a great time we had on the trip. Lots of information to exchange with the other attractions, great ideas about how to deal with the ever changing times that we are dealing with right now. I always come back from these meetings feeling energized and ready to tackle whatever comes along. It’s good and bad knowing that our attraction faces the same issues as lots of others and we are not alone.

Monday afternoon was all meetings with a special guest speaker from the Tennessee Department of Tourism. Monday night we went to the Iron Works Grill that I mentioned a few weeks ago. This is where I had the amazing rainbow trout, mashed potatoes and fried okra. We had given the grill our menu almost a month ago. They ran out of the rainbow trout after only six people ordered it. They had no mash potatoes and they ran out of several of the desserts. I was really disappointed. The poor waitresses apologized profusely and it wasn’t their fault but I felt like someone sort of dropped the ball there. Especially since we had given them our choices a month before. I had the pulled pork barbecue this time and it was delicious. No matter what you eat there even if it isn’t the trout it is delicious. The setting is on Tellico river and it is beautiful. So this with a glass of wine made things a lot easier. Our group was great with all of it and they had a great time anyway. That’s what I love about this group.

Be sure to check out all the links I have listed below.

I wanted to share with you some of the places we visited. We started out the second morning with an all day itinerary. Some of the highlights were Lost Sea, we did a cavern tour and underground boat ride. http://www.thelostsea.com

Tsali Notch Vineyard in Madisonville. http://www.tsalinotch.com This is a muscadine vineyard. We were able to taste the wines and juices and then do a tour of the vineyard and even pick muscadines from the vine and taste them.

***Part of this vineyard is used for weddings. It is a beautiful setting.***

***I bought some of the wine and jell***y.

Next we traveled to The Fort Loudoun State Historic Area. This is an old reconstructed British Fort http://www.fortLoudoun.com. You can actually see what the soldiers barracks and hospital looked like. It is a very interesting historical place. It reverted to the state parks in 1977. Along with touring the fort there is a museum, trails, picnic areas, fishing sites and places to launch your boat, kayak or canoe. It’s absolutely beautiful and one of my favorite places.

Next we visited The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum. When you visit this Cherokee Indian Museum you will learn about the man Sequoyah and creator of the Cherokee writing system. The museum is small but has so much history within it. http://www.Sequoyahmuseum.org

The last stop of the day was in Townsend where we had dinner at the Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro. The appetizers, and drinks and meal was superb. I had the salmon and I tore into it before I got a picture. We also had a wonderful band that played for us. It was a beautiful setting in the woods with a fire pit and s’mores fixings at the fire pit. What a night and day!!! http://www.dancingbearlodge.com.

We got back to the hotel at 10:30 PM that night and we were exhausted. A fun but tiring day. The next day was meetings and then home. Well actually I did another Hobby Lobby stop on my way home to search for fall decorations. I found a few things and yes some more yarn.

It was so good to get back home. I think it’s good to venture out every now and then because it makes you realize just how special home is. I’m sitting here writing this and Scruffy is lying at my feet. Molly is in the living room cozied up next to Mark and Kitty Kitty has retired upstairs to find anywhere soft to sleep, she has a multitude of places. The outside kitties, well they are all curled up together outside on their blankies in the garage. It looks like one big fur ball out there. Ahhhhh my little family they are everything to me.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Wordless Wednesday 9-15-21

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Decisions Decisions

Hello friends, Do you know what absolutely bogs me down, stops me in my tracks and causes me to second guess every little thing I do? Decisions. Maybe you’re like that maybe you’re not.

During the course of my work day I have to make hundreds if not thousands of decisions. No I am not a doctor and no one’s life is hanging in the balance but yet decisions must be made. Little things that you don’t even think about. That’s a decision. It can be exhausting: Deep in your brain thousands of decisions are being made.

Some decisions will require more thought than others. Some will make you stop in your tracks and consult with someone else. God? Your spouse? A co-worker? I always turn my decisions over to God unless I forget and arrogantly think I can handle them on my own.

Did I make the right decision?
Did I make a mistake?
Did I give the decision enough thought?
Should I hold onto the decision and nurture it and pet it and name it George?
Will someone’s life be affected by my decision? Not life threatening but you know what I mean.
Will this decision lead to, GOD FORBID, another decision!!!!

You see where I coming from here, right? Case in point. My husband and I are trying to plan a beach vacation for maybe a week. What month?, Which days?, who will stay with the fur babies? the fur baby decision is a biggie. We either have to have someone come and stay at the house for most or all of the time. Molly has gotten so old and feeble we have to have someone here at our house just to get her in out of the heat in the middle of the day. And she stays in all the time now. We can’t take a chance on her being outside especially at night because of the C word. Coyotes, shhhhhhh. And now we have all the new kitties. What days can we both be off together?should we drive or fly? How many days?

WHEW!!!!! I am tired just thinking about it. Is it worth a few days on a sandy beach watching the ocean waves crash gently against the shore and if your lucky gently lapping against your toes? HECK YES!!!!! So I plug on.

I was never a parent, except to my fur babies. So I think when you are parenting you deal with about a million issues and decisions a day. That is what I have observed from my loved ones who are parents. So maybe I didn’t go through all of that and now decisions seem to overwhelm me. Yes I think that is it. Or maybe as I have gotten older I just don’t give a frack about what I do or what happens most of the time. Yes I think that is it. Or maybe it isn’t really important at all these decisions I think I “must” make. Yes I think that is it. Maybe. I don’t know. I can’t decide. And on that. I don’t have to because it doesn’t really matter.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!

In The Blink of an Eye

Hello friends and happy Sunday. In the blink of an eye is how fast last week went flying by. I wonder if there will ever be a time when I say “wow, this week has lasted forever”. Probably not. I secretly hope not because what would that mean? I don’t really even want to go there.

I am preparing for a meeting with our Southern Highlands group. We try to meet three times a year and this time it is our attraction’s time to host. We have a lot of fun things planned for them. The meeting will start tomorrow and go through Wednesday. I have been stressed making sure that all of the places we will visit will be something that everyone will like. Plus making food arrangements for three days. We will have about twenty five to thirty people at the meeting.I know it will all go fine but I will breath a lot easier when it is all over. This is a great group of people and I have become good friends with many of them so it will also be great to see them again.

I had to work late Tuesday night and once I got home Mark was very worried that Molly wasn’t getting around very well. When I got home I gave her a pain pill. Her arthritis is so bad and it makes her old legs really stiff and weak. By the next day she was back up and going on the walks with us and back to her old self. I know there will be a time when she doesn’t rally back. She is such an old girl with a lot of problems. We refuse to let her suffer. For now she has a bad day here and there but then she is back to her old self. For that I am thankful.

On Wednesday I had to go to nearby Townsend for a quick meeting to make food arrangements for our upcoming meeting. I went to work, went to Sister Lunch and then ran by my house to feed babies because I wasn’t sure how long I would be in Townsend and it was Mark’s late night. I will have more on the restaurants after all the festivities so that I can add pictures. Townsend is about an hour drive for me and it was at the worst possible time of day for traffic. After the meeting I decided a quick trip to Hobby Lobby was needed. I did buy a little yarn and have already started a soft squishy scarf. Knitting therapy is the best.

***Look at that big size 18 circular needle. I can’t wait to try that out on some chunky yarn.***

***This is some of they yarn I got at Hobby Lobby and the needles. I didn’t really need another set of size 8 bamboo needles but look at those adorable green ends.***

Thursday, another long work day then going to the assisted living center with the hearing aid tech to adjust my mother in law’s hearing aid, home, taking care of the babies and then crashing in front of the T.V. with Scruffy by my side and knitting on my lap. I am currently re-watching Grey’s Anatomy. I am on season seven. I am pretty sure I can now diagnose just about any medical issue that comes up. I am also watching a new season on Netflix called On The Verge. It is about four women who are good friends but lead different and sometimes strange lives. So far there is only one season of that.

Friday was a day full of details. Fortunately I had slept well on Thursday night and I was ready for it. I think that was the night I dreamed that we hired Jason Aldean at work. I don’t know why Jason Aldean would leave his multi million dollar country singing career to work with me but hey!!! a girl can dream. I can tell such a difference when I don’t get good sleep the night before a big day. Like I said the day was full of details for our upcoming meeting. Lots of things had to be finalized with about a million phone calls, messages and emails.

Saturday was grocery day and cleaning house. I wanted to go to a nearby quilt show but I just didn’t make it. I also did some work in my flower beds. With all the rain we have had the weeds are going crazy. I cooked spaghetti for dinner. I think my husband could eat spaghetti every day of the week.

The kitties continue to be a source of great entertainment. They are the funniest things. We are so worried that mama cat will get pregnant again. We are going to have her spayed very soon. If you have ever seen the production of CATS you know just how well the performers imitate real cats. They are such interesting animals. They have very special personalities. I have had Kitty Kitty for three years and she was actually my first experience ever owning a cat. I have always had dogs. It is hard to believe we now have six cats and two dogs. I told Mark we need a few more dogs to even things up. He does not agree. We are still planning to give two of the kitties away but we would like for them to go together.

Today was a quieter day. Scruffy and I did spend some time out on the deck this morning. I took my knitting and coffee and it was quite nice. I did laundry and I will pack for the meeting we have this week. It is being held about thirty minutes from where I live but, because I will be spending a lot of time both night and day with our group I will stay at the hotel with them. So it is always hectic getting ready to be gone for a few days. Mark will be in charge of all the babies, lord help us. Just kidding, he is very good with them but he can’t always make Molly take her meds like I do and he can’t seem to get her to eat as much.

So yes a busy full week. I don’t think it will slow down for me for a couple of weeks but that is o.k. I am off to pack and then get some sleep. Who knows maybe Jason Aldean will make another appearance.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!