On The Way Home

These are some barns I passed on my way home. Wish I could stop and take photos of every barn I see. They each are so unique in their construction and style but they are all beautiful. 

A Beautiful Spring East Tennessee Day

How do you make a two year old understand that just because it is beautiful and sunny outside doesn't mean its warm and he can play outdoors? Last Friday was a beautiful warm sunny spring day. Warm enough to coax a few spring flowers to show their blooms and the grass to start turning green again. It was the kind of day that makes one yearn to be outdoors and renews our hope that winter is behind us once more and more sunny days are on the way. Because his daddy had a meeting out of town which required leaving extra early for the three plus hour commute to Nashville and his mommy is struggling through road construction that creates a hour plus drive to work each morning the grandson had a very welcome sleepover with mamaw and papaw on Thursday night. After falling asleep while papaw read him a bedtime story he had a peaceful nights sleep and slept in until 10:30 Friday morning. While eating a quick breakfast he noticed the sunny bluebird skies as he was looking out the patio door. "It's Summer, Mamaw!" he exclaimed with all the excitement a two year old could muster. Outside? I replied not summer yet, it's Spring. He quickly repeated Spring, outside Mamaw?  Warm? I told him yes we can go outside when he finished his breakfast to which he immediately said "I'm finished."  
                                                                                  

We put his jacket on, grabbed his ball and bat and headed to the back yard toward the swings. He loves to swing and slide but he loves baseball too so we started with the ball and bat. We discovered last summer he has a natural talent for batting and hitting his baseball. I pitched and he hit until I was worn out and then he was ready to hit the swings. Higher Mamaw, push me higher! He giggled with glee with every push. I thought I could listen to that sweet sound forever without tiring of it. When his daddy picked him up around 6:00 we were still playing in the back yard. Of course he wouldn't leave until he played ball with dad and made a reluctant daddy push him higher and higher. I am sure he must have slept well Friday night because he played harder than I have ever seen him play.
                                                    


Today as I mentioned is another beautiful sunny day with bluebird skies. The only difference is today's high is 20° colder. So instead we played indoors, watched a couple movies, Candyland and the Marvel Superheros Lego movie. He ate "IceFlavors" (really called Fla-Vor-Ice), had an ice cream cone and pa-cakes (pancakes) for breakfast.


He loves Fla-Vor-Ice. As you can see by the photo there are no green ones. I can't believe it but green are his favorite. Green is my favorite color but my least favorite flavor, right behind orange.  I loved these cold treats when I was growing up as did my children. Remembering this I was curious how long they have actually been around. They were introduced in 1969 by the Jel Sert company and has  since then become the company's top seller. They now come packaged in four varieties: Original, Light, Tropical, and Sport. Original includes six flavors - Lemon Lime (green) my grandson's favorite, Grape (purple), Tropical Punch (pink), Orange (orange), Berry Punch (blue), and Strawberry (red). Funny, I always thought the red was Cherry. Tropical also includes six flavors, two of which are also included in the Original variety (Berry Punch and Tropical Punch) as well as four other flavors - Summer Punch (red), Citrus Punch (green), Pineapple (dark yellow), and Banana (light yellow). The Light variety includes four of the original flavors (Lemon Lime, Grape, Berry Punch, and Strawberry) but they are sugar-free and low calorie. The Sport variety which is Jel Serts newest addition also has four flavors - Tropical (pink), Grape (purple), Orange (orange), and Blue Raspberry (blue).

It's pretty amazing that this simple treat has been around for 45 years bringing smiles to children's happy little faces              .

Brenda's East Tennessee Homes Blog: Old Barns

I love barns. There are so many different styles and each is unique. This is a post from a few years ago that has been one of my most popular post. Follow the link to the original post.

Brenda's East Tennessee Homes Blog: Old Barns

The Weather Sunny and 70° With a Chance of Snow

Tuesday was a beautiful sunny day. Almost 70° degrees. People were out and about like it was a summer day. It was hard to believe the weatherman was predicting sleet and snow for yesterday. Impossible! Guess again..... I awoke to hear the wind fiercely howling and the sound of wind chimes making their beautiful sounds with the wind. I went to the patio door to take our Boston Terrier, Molly out and the wind pulled the door shut with a slam. The cold frigid air made me want to run back to the bedroom and crawl back in my warm bed with flannel sheets and fleecy blanket.  Yep, this is East Tennessee where you never know from day to day what the weather will bring. The weathermen were right. By the evening the strong winds had pushed out all the warm temperatures from Tuesday and replaced them with cold temperatures, blustery winds and icy cold rain.
 I was going to the camper in Dandridge and wanted to make it before dark. Barely made it. Shortly after dark I heard icy snowflakes hitting the roof and windows. Temperatures had dropped to the low 30's and the strong winds made it feel even colder as it continued to whip against the camper making it shake. Throughout the night I awoke several times at the sounds of sleet coming down and the wind beating against the side of camper.  This morning I was up by 7 o'clock. I took Molly out and she was as reluctant as I was to step out on the snow and sleet covered deck. It was cold all morning but by noon the sun was out and it was shaping up to be a beautiful but cool day.  Our high was 44° today around 5:00 PM while Molly and I took a long walk around the campground and down by the lake which brings me to the photo for this post.

Looking over the lake you can see that the Smokies are covered with snow on the mountain tops. God has provided us with such a beautiful world to live in.

My Home State

Even though I haven't traveled a lot I cannot imagine living anywhere else and enjoying it as much as I do East Tennessee. In fact I've traveled very little. I have been to the beach several times, Myrtle and Panama City Beaches.  I have been to a handful of places on business, Orlando Florida, a very busy place, Pennsylvania, I thought the countryside was gorgeous there, Indiana
and I remember nothing about Indy. I lived in western North Carolina for about a year and while it is certainly beautiful there it isn't East Tennessee. A few years ago my husband and I went to Atlanta Georgia for a few days and I enjoyed that visit very much and would like to go again. We've also visited Nashville in middle Tennessee a few times and while it is an exciting place to visit, I'll still prefer to stay on this side of the plateau. Not only is East Tennessee a beautiful place to live it is also more economical. Of course I have traveled through other states to these destinations.

When I am out traveling either while running errands, working or for pleasure I like to take pictures if I see something that I like. Whether it be a place, a structure or just whatever might catch my eye. That is what this blog is about . Anything that I see and take a photo of to remember just because.

Douglas Lake with Smokey Mountains in background 

Museum of Appalachia Norris, TN

Museum of Appalachia , Grist Mill

 Cantilever  Barn Museum of Appalachia