Friday Foto Friends

I've been waiting to share my Christmas decorations and I thought Friday Foto Friends would be a great opportunity to do that. So here it goes. 

The Santa on this end table was normally our tree topper, but he is a little too big for the smaller tree I am using this year.

The water in the snow globe is starting to turn yellow, but this thing holds a wealth of memories. We bought it 15 years ago when the first grandchild was just 2. Papaw would set and wind it and Garret would be mesmerized by the train that runs around the outside. It became a tradition and every Christmas eve, the grandkids would gather around him while he would wind the train. I thought it was fitting to set my Santa with all my Grands listed on his list in front of that.

My Home Interior Santa bank that's about 35+ years old.

One of my Christmas tea miniatures that I got at a yard sale for $1.

One of my favorite miniature tea sets. I love the cardinals on it.

My candle Christmas trees that I have had since 1989. Hubby made them when he worked at Melanie's Candles in Gatlinburg. I picked up the two little carolers at a local antique store for $1.95 each.

I love Santa's and little tins to decorate with at Christmas. I've had the little rocking horse tin for about 30 years and the bear one I found at a yard sale for a quarter a few years back.

More of my Santa's. I love pencil Santa's. I need to find some more.

Some of my fave Christmas items. The big deer was made in ceramic class by my mother. The little tree was painted by my oldest grandson when he was about 4. The Santa was one my hubby bought me many years ago. The three vintage dear and the vintage sleigh are things I found on Ebay that we had when I was a little girl. But my favorite Christmas thing I have is the little plastic basket of poinsettias. Mamaw Eden took me to town on the bus when I was 5 and she bought me this for .10 cents at McCroy's Five & Dime. That makes it almost 55 years old. It is one of the first things I set out every Christmas.

More Santa's on a runner my mom made for me.

The pillows in Papaw's chair were made by my sister-in-law over 30 years ago.

Some of my bears.

My $1.95 special from Hobby Lobby last year.

My mother made me this about 3 or 4 years ago. She is 86 years old and still works on her crafts whenever she can. 

One of my whimsical wreaths that has always been my favorite.

My baker's rack decor.

My candles like we had when I was a child and my Home Interior angels from over 30 years ago along with a big Santa that Mom painted in ceramics many years ago.

My little peppermint trees. I love these and anytime I find a new size or different pattern, I pick it up. Stuck some sparkly pipe cleaners in my Santa cup till I can get me some candy canes.

My coffee table. I have had the cat plate for so many years I don't know where I got it. But it says Franklin Mint on the back. Teapot was $2 at a yard sale and the Santa plate was .50 at a yard sale. Mom made me the runner.

My Home Interior Nativity.

More of my Nativities.

My cardinal corner. The little sign has a tiny cardinal dotting the i in the word winter.

My train afghan.

And my tree. It's the smallest one I have ever had, but I am really loving it.

So there you go, from my house to yours, Merry Christmas to you all!

Our mountain updates...

The rain has helped a lot but as of yesterday, we were still hearing fire trucks and emergency vehicle siren's as they headed back into Gatlinburg for any continuing hot spots and flare ups. While the rain was a godsend, it wasn't nearly enough and the winds continue to be high. But even once all the fire is out, the clean up efforts will last for a very long time. My son and many others that are involved in clearing roads, repairing power lines and just basically doing whatever needs to be done shared some photos on Facebook that are just the tip of the iceberg with the devastation left behind.

Local residents and businesses are coming to care and the outpouring of love and support is amazing. Many not only lost their homes and their vehicles, many have lost their jobs with businesses destroyed or temporarily can't work because they can't get back into Gatlinburg because of the clean up required. 

Dolly Parton has always believed in giving back to her community in Sevier County. She has opened a funding effort where donations can be made to the Dollywood Foundation. Through the efforts of her foundation and her companies, Dollywood, DreamMore, Dixie Stampede and Lumberjack Adventure you can see so much effort being done. The Dollywood Foundation will be providing $1000.00 per month to any family that has been effected by the fires until they can get on their feet again. You can learn more about it at www.DollywoodFoundation.org 

Where I work at Dixie Stampede, we have opened up hiring to offer jobs to anyone who needs work until their jobs become available again or if they no longer have a job.

The love in our community is something to be very proud of.

Rain, glorious rain...

I was awakened at 2:15 this morning by an emergeny alert on my phone urging people in Sevier County to take cover as their was a tornado warning. Not a good way to wake up. We were having thunder & lightning and surrounding areas were showing some hail. But the best thing I ever heard in my life was the pouring rain. It was a torrential downpour.

From the way they talked on the news channel, it had not made it to Gatlinburg and several new fires had erupted so our firefighters were still battling these dangerous storms. 

We had about 3 or 4 bands of bad weather that is going to move through today and from what I understood, the 2nd or 3rd band would be going over Gatlinburg. I think that is the band moving through right now. I am hoping it is because it is absolutely pouring so hard it sounds like it is going to be a hole in our roof.

My Facebook was full of stories last night of people bonding together to help those who have been evacuated, those who continue to fight the fires and most importantly those who have lost their homes. The first three fatalities were reported yesterday so please keep those families in your prayers. Last I heard there are 14 injuries, but no report on if they are minor or major injuries. 

Even though the much needed rain should have arrived by now, we are also having high winds so this is not going to be a good day for the firefighters and men & women who are out assisting with this devastation.

Continued prayers are needed for our beloved mountains and surrounding areas.

A heavy heart....

Everyone in our beloved Great Smoky Mountains is waking up with a heavy heart this morning...if they ever went to sleep last night. I was up till around 2:00 a.m. and sheer exhaustion took over. Been back up since 4:00 a.m. worrying about what news will bring of our precious county.

The fire started six days ago in the Chimney's outside of Gatlinburg, TN once you start into the mountains. Overnight that first day it raged to cover 500 acres. They have been fight it every since. 

But yesterday, things took a devastating turn. We have been in a severe drought and as a band of rain was heading this way, it was preceded by winds up to 60 miles an hour. By late afternoon, the smoke was blowing down into Pigeon Forge and we were getting reports of fire spreading down into Gatlinburg and surrounding areas. We began to see a lot of smoke and soot. Our whole afternoon and evening was punctuated by sirens after sirens as new fire crews arrived to help fight off the fire in our sister city. By 8:00 when we closed, they had evacuated Gatlinburg. We had just received the news that the fire had jumped the tunnel and the spur (stretch of road between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge) was on fire. We are located about four miles from that fire. When I made it home, I heard that they had evacuated the stretch of Pigeon Forge that Dixie Stampede is located on. 

Throughout the night and into the early morning, reports kept coming in about new fires and more evacuations as it spread into the smaller communities surrounding us. Dollywood and Dolly's new resort DreamMore had fires all around them, but last I heard they were contained and no damage was done. Here is a picture of the fire around DreamMore.

My heart broke all night. Even though I wasn't born here, this has been my home for 28 years. My daughter-in-law was born and raised and attended high school in these very mountains and I know she has to be devastated to watch all this. Not to mention, I worried about them all night because fires were breaking out closer and closer to where she lived. She was home with the kids because my son works for the city and he was called into work to keep trees cut and roads cleared. He took some amazing videos as he was riding around on the job. I worried all night about him and about Jamie and my grandbabies. I haven't seen any updates since about 2 or 3 this morning so I am going on faith that no news is good news. I don't want to call and wake anyone in case they did manage to get any sleep last night.

CNN, USA Today and CBSnews.com are all reporting the fire and the evacuations. It is all over national news, but for those who haven't seen any of that, here are some of the pictures that have been posted on Facebook by those who are near the fire and got pictures before they got out. 

 

This is Ripley's Aquarium in downtown Gatlinburg. Downtown was surrounded, but by all reports the Aquarium and the strip survived without major damages. Not sure how accurate that is, but praying it is true. I do know that the Park Vista Hotel up on the hill overlooking Gatlinburg caught fire and for a while guests were trapped in there, but I have heard of no injuries or deaths so I believe they got out. It is also believed that all the animals in the Aquarium are safe.

We did get some rain last night and again at 2:00 this morning and it was raining when I woke up at 4:00. It's tapered off now but a large band of rain which would be very helpful should arrive tomorrow. We have many fire departments from other areas in the state heading this wait to assist. The National Guard has been sent in and Red Cross and many locals have set up shelters for those who lost their homes. There were 30 structure fires in and around Gatlinburg but it is not known if those were homes or businesses. Our mountains are full of rental cabins so I am sure it will be days before everything and everyone will be accounted for. One of my friends at work has received word her mother's house did burn down last night so prayers for them.

 

This is someone driving through the fire to evacuate.

 Please pray that God watches over the firefighters who are tirelessly devoted to making sure they get as much of this out as they can. And pray to God that he send rain and keeps these winds away. The winds were so bad that helicopters couldn't assist in dumping anything on the fires to try to get them out. Praying for a better day today.

Weekend wrap up...

It was a fantastic weekend. On Thursday, I did have to work that evening but we had a big Thanksgiving feast with lots of great food. I munched and ate most of the evening. I had some fantastic lemon creme pound cake and ate some of the chocolate chip cookies I took. But the highlight was the mashed potatoes Debbie Couch made. I couldn't get enough of those. Best mashed potatoes ever. I made myself a few slices of ham, some baked beans potato salad and deviled eggs. I had my own Thanksgiving dinner before heading out to work and it was delicious.

Friday, I went Black Friday shopping. I didn't see a lot in the ads that I wanted, but there were a few things that I did want and I was able to get everything I had on my list. But I can't show you because family reads my blog. I had a great lunch at Cracker Barrel with my daughter-in-law and we talked throughout the day comparing shopping notes and ended up together at Target before lunch. Saturday, I got up and heading out shopping again with my daughter and granddaughter. We mostly went to places to look for some Christmas decor she saw in the ads and then of course ended up at Walmart. 

Friday afternoon and Saturday evening I did most of my decorating. I will share those pics tomorrow, but today I wanted to show you the amazing tree transformation. First thing I got Friday was the $15 unlit tree from K-mart that I wanted. Wasn't sure how much room I had for a tree so I didn't want to go crazy with an expensive tree, get it set up and find out it didn't fit and have to take it back. So I just decided this year to get the cheapest I could find, buy a few packs of lights and see how it worked. I will get a better one on the after Christmas sales. 

I took it out of the box and put it together. Just three pieces to slip together. I knew I would have to fluff it to get some shape to it, but I was appalled when I saw what it looked like. A million thoughts ran through my head. I thought a Charlie Brown tree would be better. No amount of fluffing was going to fix this disaster. 

But it was Friday night and I had all evening with nothing to do so I decided to at least attempt to shape it and fluff it. The more I fluffed and shaped and worked with it, the better it started looking. I am the queen of fluffing trees. I did 6 of them at work this year and some were 7 and 8 feet tall. So I was up for the challenge. After the fluffing, it didn't look nearly as hideous. Then, I thought well I'll string the lights and see. Looked even better with the lights on so I added the tinsel. Looking better with each steps. Finally the ornaments and my favorite the old fashioned silver icicles (you can cover a multitude of flaws with icicles. When all was said and done, I just had to step back and admire the transformation. I am now in love with my little tree and don't plan to get a new one after all. It is the perfect size. Just goes to show you what a little love and a lot of patience can do.

Can you believe that's the same tree? I was so amazed. I'll take pics of everything else today and post them for your tomorrow. I still have a few areas to makes some last minute touches to, which I plan to finish today. Have a great Monday!