Fairlight's Free Things To Do In The Smokies #4

Don't miss the huge tree on the riverbank in front of the aquarium. For scale, there are two people standing on the rocks in the lower left corner of this pix. You may be able to see them better if you right click the pix and open it in a new tab or window. Walk across the bridge and look for the ducks in the water and on the bank.

While you are in this area, walk across the street to Mountain Mall and visit the teeny, tiny music shop called The Rhythm Section. It's on the ground floor. Notice the pond and fountain in the small lobby of the mall. Follow the fountain all the way to the top floor.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

I admit, I do not like to watch the news. I'm sure I am very behind in current world events, but I cannot believe that I hadn't heard of this! Dear husband listens to NPR almost every day and he had never heard of it, either. Switzerland Begins Big Bang Experiment I also heard this morning that there was an earthquake in Iran. I wonder if the atom smasher will be blamed for it?

Oldest dear son is on week three of living away from home in his little apartment. The drain pipes under his kitchen sink were leaking. Two men came to fix them. Dear son had to leave to go to school. Before he left, he explained that both sides of the sink were leaking and even pointed with his finger to the exact place they were leaking. The men said they would fix them and lock up when they left. He came home from class and found his front door unlocked and one side of the sink fixed.

He is working as a teaching assistant in an American History class. Friday, he graded quizzes. Two hundred and twenty quizzes to be exact. It took him 6 hours. This was just for one class.

It is still hard to get through the day without missing him. Youngest dear son and I are kind of lost until dear husband gets home from work. Oldest son calls often and emails, but it just is not the same. He calls every night before we go to bed and we put him on speaker phone. We all talk and laugh and I know he is in safely for the night.

I still have an empty, unsettled feeling most of the time. Like something is just not quite right. For 23 years, there were three of us. For fourteen of those years, there were four of us. Now we are back down to three. Four was better.

Fairlight's Free Things To Do In The Smokies #3

Look at all the huge tubes of candy in the lobby of the Candy Factory AND watch people on the monitors trying to find their way through the Mirror Maze.

Ripley's Marvelous Mirror Maze and Candy Factory

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Do you watch House? I had watched it once and really didn't care for it. For some reason this weekend, I decided to watch it again and now I am hooked. I did not want to like this show. House is hateful. The medical cases on the show are absurd. There is just something about it that I like.

Youngest dear son made his first bad test grade yesterday in English. I don't know what happened. He made a 66 which is a D on our grading scale. The test was over material that I know he knew. His blood sugars were good yesterday and the day before. I know he had studied. As a mommy, it was hard to record that grade. He also had a math test and made a 97 on it, so I don't think he was just having a bad day. After I graded his test he said he was going to have to take English more seriously.

I don't think I will ever be able to complain about childbirth again after watching a TV show about a woman giving birth in 2000 IN A TREE. When I read the description of the show, I could not for the life of me figure out why a woman would give birth in a tree. Was she in a tree house? Was she trying to set some sort of record for births in strange places. No. She was in a terrible flood in Mozambique. If I remember correctly, her mother-in-law was in a nearby tree and realized what was happening. She swam over and helped her deliver the baby right before they were rescued by helicopter. I found an article about it HERE.

Friday, August 22, 2008

The time I have been dreading is almost here. Sunday, we will load up the truck and move oldest dear son to his new apartment two and a half hours away and over two mountains. He will be attending graduate school two states away from home. I seem to be finding many different ways to measure the distance. I have measured it by time, mountains, and states. I have measured it in miles. What I can't measure is the ache in my heart. It is too large to measure.

July 16, 2008

On the first day of our vacation, dear husband and I decided to drive off without the boys to scout out a lake. It was going to be a long trip and the boys wanted to stay home. It was a good decision. We were going to visit Dale Hollow Lake which is on the KY-TN border and a long way from home. We decided to take a longer route to avoid a few narrow, curvy roads. I still ended up getting carsick twice. It was beautiful country, but boy were we back in the sticks. I thought we lived in the country. The little town we were in did not have cell phone towers. It did not have cable television. It did not have any place to eat! We finally asked around and found a little restaurant and had a so-so cheeseburger. We visited a couple of marinas which I have to say were nice and then we started back home. This is where it gets good.

Many years ago after watching Sergeant York, we looked up Pall Mall on the road atlas. I had mentioned this to dear husband before we left as we were going to be near there. We hit the backroads and our first stop was the cemetery where Alvin C. York is buried. It is across the street from the church he attended. Then we drove to the post office/general store that was owned and operated by York and his sons. The clerk there told us that they had a self-guided tour that began with a movie and asked if we would like to watch it. We watched it in a little section of the general store that resembled a small chapel. We sat in pews and watched the movie.

After browsing in the general store, we left and walked over to the York home. The home is fully furnished and open free of charge to the public. York's son, Andy, is a park ranger and was there the day we visited. The home is beautiful. The dining room was decorated for Christmas. I wondered if they left everything the way it was after York's wife, Gracie, died. We walked through the home looking at all the rooms. There was a very old sun bonnet that belonged to York's mother. After we came back downstairs we talked a long while with York's son. There was a piano in the parlor, but it had a sign that read Do Not Touch. He asked if either of us played the piano, and I told him I did, but that I was rusty. He told me to sit down and play. There I was, sitting in Alvin and Gracie York's parlor, playing You've Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley! If I had thought, I would have played Give Me That Old Time Religion. That is the song that is featured throughout Sergeant York. We didn't visit the grist mill. We are saving that for when we visit again with the boys in the fall. Here are some pix from our trip.



Alvin and Gracie York Gravesite



Gracie York Memorial



Alvin York Memorial



A small flag left by someone



Post Office and General Store



Typewriter and Memorabilia



York Family Dining Room



Tank

You can read about the Sergeant York Foundation HERE.
Alvin York Teacher's Guide and 5th Grade Lesson Plans can be found HERE.
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sergeant York And His People, by Sam Cowan

July 12, 2008

Joan of Arcadia is back on the air! The SciFi channel is airing first season episodes on Friday nights at 8 p.m. This is the show's old time slot. They aired the pilot last night. I have given up hope of the show ever being in production again. It only lasted two seasons before being canceled. Who knows? They may one day make a TV movie.

Oldest dear son and I saw two owls Thursday night. One was sitting on our fence and another was sitting on the neighbor's fence. They were calling to each other or to the mama owl. They were juveniles and very loud and noisy. They are barred owls or "hoot" owls. We have several hummingbirds now. Still, their numbers are down from last year. Many of the birds have found the "spa" and are using it to drink. I have yet to see one take a bath.




As you can see, Sweet Potato is alive and well. He hasn't changed a bit. I have tried in vain to fatten him up. Oldest dear son does not want to call him Sweet Potato. He thinks he needs a more masculine name. I told him he could call him "Brutus", but he would still be Sweet Potato. Sweet Potato had a digestive ailment that I won't discuss here to protect his privacy. I did some research on the internet and learned that Metamucil would sometimes help this problem, so I bought him a great big jar of Metamucil. I talk to the cat and naturally when I got home I went out and was telling him all about the Metamucil and how I hoped it would help him. Oldest dear son came out, heard me, and was mortified. Evidently, you are not supposed to say "Metamucil" out loud and in public. What if the neighbors heard!

May 20, 2008

I've been tagged by Elaine to list six quirky facts about me.

1. I didn't realize Elaine and I had so much in common until I read her list. I, too, do the purse touching thing! I had no idea that was common. I mainly do it with dear son's diabetic bag.

2. When I drive anywhere and get out of the car, I check to see if I have my keys over and over and over again. I will put them in my purse and I will know I put them in there and I still have to unzip my purse and look inside for my keys. I have learned to just keep them in my hand until I lock the car and then put them in my purse to save me from looking over and over again.

3. I sanitize my buggy when I go to trade and I sanitize my hands after being in public places. I make my family sanitize their hands, too. I am quite germ phobic. If I am walking down an aisle in the store and I see someone coughing and sneezing, I will turn around and go the other way. I don't like to touch door handles and I always try to open a public door using a part of the handle that is rarely touched. I will use my coat sleeve in the winter and I love to walk in after someone else has opened the door. I also love automatic doors that don't have to be touched. I will not touch items in a store that are "out of place". I also reach in the shelf or freezer and retrieve items that are not in the front.

4. I don't kill most insects and spiders when I find them in my house. I catch them and let them go outside. I can catch spiders, wasps, flies, and most any insect with my bug catching jar and index card. I do kill any mosquito I see, along with ticks and fleas. I also set out bait for ants that come in our home. Other insects that happen to wander in by mistake, I just catch them and let them go. I have never been bitten or stung.

5. I cannot stand for someone to sit on my feet if I am lying down. It smothers me. I know that is stupid and there is no logical basis for it, but you might as well put a pillow over my face. When my boys were little and would crawl all over me, I could handle anything but them sitting on my feet. After a while, I will literally panic and struggle to get free.

6. I hate pancakes. I am including this because I was discussing my quirks with my family and they insisted that this was not normal and should be listed.

May 16, 2008

I spent part of the day yesterday gathering online materials for our first try at summer school. I think I hit the jackpot. I found so many good resources that I decided to share them with you here.

Resources For Music Appreciation:

Ambleside Online Composer Schedule

Music of the Baroque

The Baroque Period From Capistrano School

Classics For Kids

Core Knowledge Lesson Plan: The Best of Baroque

Lesson Plans Page: Beethoven and Bach

National Core Knowledge Lesson Plans For Music

Core Knowledge Lesson Plan: Going for Baroque- a Study of Bach

Resources For Shakespeare:

Teachers First: The Plays of William Shakespeare

Folger Shakespeare Library Lesson Plans Archive

Core Knowledge Lesson Plan: Student Based Oral Reading & Presentation Study of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

Ambleside Online Shakespeare Rotation

Core Knowledge Lesson Plan: Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, and You!

Core Knowledge Lesson Plan: Twelfth Night, Or, What You Will...Learn!

May 15, 2008

We have a busy day here so I will just post a few pix.





I found this weed growing on the creek bank. Doesn't it look like a bouquet that a child has gathered? Actually, all those flowers were growing on one big stalk just as you see them in the pix.




Playing with the macro lens.





Rhododendrons. Another sign that spring is here.

May 14, 2008

Faith Is The Pierless Bridge

Faith -- is the Pierless Bridge
Supporting what We see
Unto the Scene that We do not --
Too slender for the eye

It bears the Soul as bold
As it were rocked in Steel
With Arms of Steel at either side --
It joins -- behind the Veil

To what, could We presume
The Bridge would cease to be
To Our far, vacillating Feet
A first Necessity.

By Emily Dickinson

I first heard this poem on an episode on Joan of Arcadia, my favorite show of all time. Evidently, so did several other people. I also learned in this episode that many of Emily Dickinson's poems can be sung to the tune of Yellow Rose of Texas, this one included.

I miss Jane.

May 13, 2008

This morning I want to write about all the activity going on in the backyard.

The chickadees are still in the bluebird nesting box, but were visited one morning this week by a bluebird! Mama Chickadee quickly ran off the intruder. I really wasn't expecting to see any more bluebirds this spring. I need to go buy another nesting box.

On Mother's Day, after the storm passed through, I took it upon myself to check on the Carolina wrens that are nesting in the basketball goal. I still wasn't sure if they were even in there. I had seen both male and female building the nest, but I hadn't seen any activity about the nest in a while. I thought it may have been a decoy nest. First, I tried looking from the ground, but I couldn't see anything. I climbed up on the picnic table and just as I was about to peek into the nest the mama flew out and almost flew right up my nose! She was mad as a wet hen! She flew up in a tree and scolded me over and over again. Dear husband was out working on the van and he said, "You had to do it, didn't you!"

Recently, the whole family was fortunate enough to see a mama robin feeding her fledgling. She only had one with her and I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the rest of them. Mama robin was busy pulling up earthworms from the ground. The fledgling had a voracious appetite and spent most of the time with its mouth open. The baby robin's breast was red, but was covered in black spots. The robins at my Mom's house fledged without her ever getting to see them.

Since May 5th we have been having a song sparrow sit and peck on the kitchen window. He wakes me up almost every morning. At first, I thought he was seeing a reflection, but he pecks on the window at all hours of the day whether the sun is out or not and even when the shutters are closed. He will hop back and forth from the window to the roof of the pump house, taking time to grab a bite of suet and then back over to the window to peck, peck, peck. It's a good thing I like birds so well.

My last bird story for this week is about a little chickadee that oldest dear son was observing and called for me to come watch. Oldest dear son is also an avid bird watcher and it is so nice to have an extra pair of eyes on the look out for birding activity. We have a metal strainer on the roof for seeds. Originally, I bought it for a honey strainer, but it was too small. It has an oblong metal strainer in which we pour the seeds. Around the rim of the strainer are two sides which pull out for you to hang the strainer over the sink. We leave these out for the birds to use as a perch. On this day a little chickadee was trying to hold a seed between his feet and crack it open. He kept slipping and falling backwards, but he would not turn lose of the perch or the seed so he ended up hanging upside down! One second he would be upright trying to open the seed and the next second he would fall backwards and briefly hang before righting himself. It was like something you would see in a cartoon.

And finally, here is the turtle that oldest dear son called me out to see the day he was mowing grass. I think this little fellow has star quality. He seemed to be posing for me and didn't retreat into his shell.

May 12, 2008

Dear husband and I went fishing last Monday. I caught three large mouth bass and dear husband caught two. He had two to get away; one right at the boat. I reached for my camera when I should have reached for the net! It was a beautiful day. Foggy and cold first, but then sunny and warm. I looked like I was dressed for the antarctic instead of the lake. I had on long johns, jeans, and then dear husband's coveralls. I was also wearing thick mittens that fold back so your fingers can stick out when you fish. My feet got cold, but I didn't open my mouth. I knew if I did, dear husband would make me wear his boots! :-)

I saw several Great Blue Herons and a beaver! In case you are wondering, I caught all my fish on a Yum Wooly Hawgtail (Green Pumpkin). I kid you not...wooly hawgtail. Here are some pix from our trip.



Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam! I always sing this when I see a sunbeam.




Sometimes the fog rolls off the water like a big cloud when the sun comes up.



And sometimes it hovers over the water in wisps and curls.




We found this little waterfall on the bank in a little cove.



I found this on the bank when I had to get out of the boat to stretch my legs. The blossoms were fragrant. I brought one back to the boat with me.



Beautiful purple-lined clover growing on the bank.

May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day. Except for the terrible storm this morning, I am having a wonderful Mother's Day. Oldest son did not have to work today, so all my guys are home. Dear husband took me to Walmart last night and let me pick out an indecent amount of flowers. I picked out some annuals for my flower pots and a few perennials for my small rock garden and another little clump of flowers for up on the hill near the bee hive. I bought my mom two hanging baskets for her porch.

This morning we were watching CBS Sunday Morning. It has been one of my favorite shows for years. I called the boys into the living room to watch a segment on Neil Diamond. Both of our boys are really good at impersonations and voices and they both do a mean Neil Diamond. Better, than Neil Diamond himself! While we were waiting for the Diamond segment there was a segment on Mother's Day by a photographer that had photographed mothers and their children. While the pix were being displayed, Baby Mine was playing in the background. Baby Mine has always been my favorite lullaby. Instead of seeing the pix on the screen, my mind's eye was flashing visions of my boys when they were precious babies. They are both taller than me now, and I am happy and content with our life where it is at this moment. As I type this they are in oldest dear son's bedroom admiring his new iPod dock. They have always got along, despite being nine years apart. I can hear them laughing and talking and it is one of the sweetest sounds in the world. Hope you are as blessed as I am this Mother's Day.


Baby Mine

Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine

Little one when you play
Don't you mind what you say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine

If they knew sweet little you
They'd end up loving you too
All those same people who scold you
What they'd give just for
The right to hold you

From your head to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine

Listen to melody here.

May 9, 2008

Youngest dear son and I are wrapping up our homeschooling for the regular year. We have decided to do a little summer school this year to catch up on some things that we never seem to have time for during the regular school year. This week, dear son finished his English and math book. I love the fact that we finish textbooks. I attended public school and except for readers, I don't think I ever finished a book...maybe a spelling book.

Regular gas here is $3.70 a gallon now, and groceries are going up every time I go trade. I was just looking at a couple of homeschooling catalogs. I have a winter sale catalog and a spring sale catalog and I couldn't believe how much they have raised. I have been trying to stock up when I catch things on sale, but it never dawned on me to go ahead and buy our books for next year.


I wanted to show you this little stool my mom made and gave to me. The top is made of men's neckties.

I guess that's it for this morning. I need to get my day started. Toodles.

May 8, 2008

We came home in time from the graduation to watch the Kentucky Derby. It's always fun to see the hats! Dear husband and I both knew that Big Brown would win. We had watched him in the Florida Derby and he was a joy to behold. You could tell by watching just that one race that he loved to run and he loved to win. Too bad I'm not a bettin' woman.

In this year's Derby, we saw two riders get thrown from their mounts. One before the race and the winning jockey after the race. I was amazed that they could hold on and even ride standing up going full speed without falling and then get bucked off when the horses were just walking. I guess they both were caught off guard. Maybe it's common. I am not a horse person. My sister is. She has always owned horses. I am sort of afraid of them.

There was tragedy at this year's Derby, too. Eight Belles broke both front ankles and had to be put down at the track. I don't think I have ever seen this happen before. Eight Belles finished second.

Here are a couple more pix of the azaleas and our redbud.




I love how the redbud blossoms grow right on the tree trunk.

The mountains are full and green now. I have a few bearded irises getting ready to bloom. That will be it for a while, except for some daisies and lilies I have up on the hill. I need to buy some annuals to set out now that the danger of frost is over. I should have a handful of strawberries pretty soon. I can't wait.

May 7, 2008

Well...I tried. I blogged twelve days in a row. I think that is a record for me. Life just got in the way and I couldn't get here to post. I now have a lot of catching up to do.

Let me back up to Saturday. We now have a college graduate in the family! Oldest dear son graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in History. It definitely was a proud mamma moment.

We really enjoyed the ceremony despite the rude people behind us who kept talking through the whole thing. The Processional was led by a bagpiper in full Scottish attire. Most of the graduations I have attended used a tape of Pomp and Circumstance, so this was such a pleasant surprise. The National Anthem was played on the French Horn. Very nicely done. The guest speaker gave a good speech and didn't drone on like some do. The Valedictorian's Address was from the book of Esther. Three hundred and thirty graduates received diplomas. The youngest was 20 and the oldest was 55.

Oldest dear son will now go on to get his Master's degree. He wants to teach college history. Both of our sons are history nuts. Watching oldest dear son graduate has made me want to hold on to youngest dear son. I know they won't be living with me forever and it is just something I don't allow myself to think about. I am sitting here thinking about the little poem about roots and wings:

For you, my child,
I wish two things,
To give you roots
And give you wings.

For me, growing roots is so much easier.

And now I have to go. Oldest dear son just came to get me. He found a turtle while mowing the grass and I never turn down a nature opportunity. Hope your day is a good one. Thanks for stopping by.

May 4, 2008

May 2, 2008

I saw a beautiful eastern cottontail rabbit in the back yard yesterday morning. I have seen a few squirrels this spring, but not many and most of them were young. We have been watching a young mourning dove at the feeders. He or she is much smaller than the other doves and has more spots. We now have a brown thrasher coming to the feeders. He is such a big bully. He has to run all the birds off before he can eat. He does this by running at them headfirst. Sometimes, it takes him a while to scare them all off and he will not eat until they are gone. We are waiting for the showdown between him and the mockingbird that always fans out his wings at all the birds before he can eat. In the past week, we have had two different birds sit on the kitchen window ledge and look in. One was a juvenile titmouse. It was flapping its wings like baby birds do when they are waiting on a parent to feed them. I suspect it was seeing its reflection in the glass and thought a parent was there. The same thing happened with a song sparrow. Mom has baby robins now on the nest over the downspout of the gutter. I have been watching a robin in our front yard, but I can't find a nest.

The azalea bushes are blooming now and I hope to have pix soon. I already have tiny strawberries forming on the plants that I have in two large pots. They had to go in the carport for two days this week because of frost! The lilac was pretty this year despite the squirrel's efforts to plant walnuts in its roots. I saw a sapling growing there yesterday that I need to pull up. It is one of their favorite places to hide their stash of nuts and seeds.


A not so great pix of the lilac. The wind was blowing.




Another not so great pix of the little bush in the front yard. Does anyone know the name of this? It was given to me years ago and I don't remember the name. It has tiny white blossoms in the spring, and sometimes again later in the summer. I have even seen it blooming in the winter, but not as full as spring. It branches will bow and weep like a forsythia, but it is much smaller.

May 1, 2008

Today is my birthday. I am 47. I found this card from my dear husband when I got up this morning.


...who still knocks my socks off! Those are little cloth socks attached to the card.




I used to be a babe!