Double R Farms Festival

I visited the Double R Farms for the festival Saturday. It was the first one and they had a good turn out. I thought I would share some pictures with you today. It was a gorgeous fall day in East Tennessee and the atmosphere was just right for a festival.

Just how old am I...

Well, let's see now. I am old enough to remember when you took typing classes in high school and you learned to type on a manual typewriter....not in first grade on a computer.

I'm old enough to remember taking three years of Gregg shorthand and learning all about brief forms and transcription. And by the way, I still use my shorthand on occasion and remember a lot of it really good.



I am old enough to remember the cartridge style fountain pens. I still like to use them once in awhile.

I'm old enough to remember when you could actually count by doing math...not by using a calculator.

I'm old enough that I remember the old rotary dial phones and the private, semi-private and party lines. And your phone number may have started with numbers, but you said it as a code....we were Regent 6 which was RE6 or 736.

I'm old enough that I remember we had a green formica kitchen table with chairs.



I'm old enough that I remember Mom having to wash clothes in a wringer washer



I'm old enough to remember starting every school day with The Pledge of Allegiance...



....and bowing our heads while they prayed over the intercom before school started.



I am getting old and I am loving every memory of it. I wouldn't trade my life for anybody's.

A busy day planned

I am very excited about the First Annual Craft Fair and Festival at Double R Farms in Kodak, TN. There will be craft booths, bluegrass music, barbecue, and much more. Come out and join them today if you get the chance. I will be heading over there this morning to check out the festivities. 

Can't wait to try out my new wristlet. It just arrived yesterday. I'm going to some antique stores as well today so the wristlet is going to come in very handy.

I tested my memory yesterday. I have been wanting to learn to crochet. I can do a chain stitch, but I want to learn how to turn around and actually make something. I have a vague memory from my early teen years of Mamaw Eden trying to teach me. Neither one of us had a lot of patience with it and everything I tried ended up looking like the finger of a glove. But I got brave yesterday and tried to turn around and go back the other direction, using what little bit of knowledge I could recall. I actually managed a couple of row. Not very neat, plenty of gaps, and the tension was all over the place. But considering it has been over 40 years since she tried to show me, not a bad start. I have my friend Sandy coming to teach me on Tuesday, so at least now she knows what she is facing. 

When I come home later this evening, I want to start working on some crafts. I bought this new material at Walmart (just $4.44 a yard) to make another no-sew table runner as per the instructions from my niece Amy. Amy did a fall one with scarecrows in a similar design to this so I was thrilled to find the pattern in Santa. I saw some no sews online yesterday and they had add trim around the edges using hot glue gun. Something to consider for a smaller runner, but I wouldn't want to take a chance on messing up my new material.

My oldest niece, Christy, mentioned to Mom she needed some new coasters so I checked with her yesterday on her colors. She has mostly browns and tans because she's (in her words) "gotta match the 3 deer heads hanging on the wall, poor things." So I found some yarns I thought she would like. If you have deer heads, you can bring in some greens for a pop of color (thinking about the camo theme).

Speaking of camo, I'm going to make her hubby a couple in camo yarn. It makes gorgeous coasters.

I got the first one done last night. I love this pattern. I hope she likes it. I will probably rearrange the color scheme on each one so that no two are just alike. 

By the way, to all my vintage collectors. Have you ever heard of a china company called Warwick. I found this restaurant style platter at a yard sale the other day. On the bottom it is stamped Warwick 1935. I did find a few other pieces with that stamp on E-bay, but not very many. Don't know if that is because it is very rare or if it is because there are so many pieces flow around nobody cares. Have you heard of it? It has a black band and an in the band is little tulip type flowers. The flowers are a coral color.

 Well, I guess I had better get busy so I can head out for the day. Still hoping that I can come home with the white mixing bowl on my list.

Ober Gatlinburg Field Trip

My grandson, Caleb, had a field trip with his class yesterday to Ober Gatlinburg. My daughter had to work so she couldn't chaperone. Caleb was a little leery about riding the aerial tram to the top of the mountain so she asked me to go in her place. 

Caleb was so excited when we boarded the tram. The motion on the way up kind of gave him a little scare and he got pretty upset. He was insistent that he was not riding it back down, but he had no choice. 

The mountains were beautiful. We were at 2700 feet elevation. 

We visited the Wildlife Encounter section on Ober Gatlinburg and got to see several bears. 

Mama and her two babies seemed to be the ones most photographed. 

We stopped on the way to our lunch to watch some ice skaters from the Ukraine practicing. I decided the other day to start a bucket list. I think I will put ice skating on it. 

One of the indoor animal exhibits had an aquarium inside a wall. You could see the aquarium on both sides of the wall. Caleb and his buddy thought it would be cute to act like they were trapped in the aquarium. 

He decided that going back down the mountain, he would stand by the driver and ask questions so he wouldn't think so much about the bumps and sways over the towers. We boarded and there was an older gentlemen with a cane setting there. Caleb was scared about going back down and the man was talking to him about how it wasn't so bad going back down. We had Caleb nice and calm and then the gentleman said "There is nothing to be afraid of. What's the worst that can happen? We could die and go to heaven and that wouldn't be a bad thing." Why in the world would you tell a child that was petrified of something that he could die in it. I wanted to smack that old man. The driver boarded about that time and heard the conversation and she took Caleb under her wing and kept him calm. By the time we got to the bottom, he was talking about working there when he grew up. 

The view going down was full of color. Check out the house high on the mountain. 

There was the road winding through the mountains. 

When we got to the bottom, the driver told Caleb to check out the machinery and gears that ran the trams. So we stopped down there and one of the employees spent about 15 minutes with Caleb answering his bazillion questions. That child is fascinated with equipment and machinery and can ask more questions than any kid I have ever seen. This employee was so nice and patient with him. Made up for the old man that almost scared Caleb to death. 

We watched the next tram come in because the rest of his class was on it. 

All in all, it was a great field trip. 

A little update on the week....

Sunday.....

It started off with Sunday School and Church. Then we headed to my son's house for Colby birthday party.

Monday.....

It was dreary and cold all day Monday. I had a relaxing evening at home with one of my favorite meals. I keep Schwan's pizza in the freezer at all times for nights just like Monday was.

Tuesday.....

I did some cleaning on Monday. I'm so tired of having to gather up all my cleaning supplies when I do major cleaning. So I decided to see how things would fit in one of my Thirty-One totes. Loved it. Now when I'm ready to clean, I just get my bag from under the closet and can carry it from room to room. Afterwards, I just toss the cleaning rags into the washer and put them back in the bag, ready for my next cleaning binge.

Wednesday.....

I got an order in from Thirty-One yesterday. I love looking at all the goodies my customers purchase. It gives me ideas for things I want myself. I have a new brown purse that is supposed to ship on Friday. I can't wait to receive it. I believe I may have to order this mini zipper pouch for my makeup. The purple is lovely.

This is the black parisian pop soft wallet. I ordered the brown quilted pick me plaid pattern for myself. It should be shipping with my purse. 

On yesterday's order, I have added a few little things I wanted. I am addicted to their key fobs. I love changing them out to match my purse and it makes my keys so easy to find. I just got the new black pick me plaid.

I also ordered a couple of the manicure files. I love the little owls. 

Today.....

My daughter has to work this weekend and she is getting ready for a big event so I get to take her place on a field trip for my grandson Caleb today. We are going to the wildlife encounter up at Ober Gatlinburg. There were two cubs that were born in May that we will get to see. I haven't been up on Ober for several years so this will be fun.



I have to drive up to meet the bus at the aerial tramway, but I get to ride the tram to the top of the mountain. I am afraid of heights, won't climb past 4th rung of a ladder, but yet I love the thrill of riding the tram. I am not sure how Caleb will react to the height, but knowing him he will be more interested in the mechanics of how the operator works the tram then he will be of the view.



It has been cool here this week and up on top the mountain we will be even cooler. I live in Kodak, where the elevation is 896 feet. By the time we get to the top of the mountain, we will be at 2700 feet. So I'm sure we will notice extreme temperature differences. I'm dragging out a warm jacket. I can't wait to try out these new knee socks my daughter bought me this past weekend. They look good and warm.

I feel sure I will have a lot to report tomorrow. I just hope I remember to take lots of pictures.