YIPPEE for Family!!!

Because when family comes to visit we get the excuse to play, play, play alll weekend long. Rick's sisters and families came out to pay us a welcome visit. We had SUCH a good time!


We had tea parties,





And chess pie, corn fritters and other yummy tasting things at Puckett's,



We had lots of eats at home,



A trip to Maridee's after the Pumpkin Fest in downtown Franklin,



And hikes in the woods,

Lots of pictures,

A trip to the pumpkin patch at Gentry Farms,

Lots of loving for the kittens,

More yummy eats at home,




A little bit of shooting,

And a little bit of riding,

You all make our lives a blessing and a joy!!

Come back and see us soon ya'll!!

New Day

Morning has broken,
Like the first morning


Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing praise for the morning


Praise for the springing fresh from the word
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven



Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,



Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning


Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning

God's recreation of the new day

As Sung by Cat Stevens
lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon

CA Weather vs. TN Weather

This about sums it up.

This is the type of Autumn weather I had to deal with in California:




And here is my Autumn in Tennessee. Don't mind that the clip primarily states the north east because if you look at the big weather map, it totally shows that Nashville is going to get hammered with the system (eventually):

I Miss...

I miss my van! Who would have ever thought I'd say such a thing 20 years ago when I was out racing our little Honda CRX up and down the Cajon Pass every day? But now, I miss my van.

My van is ultra-cool. It's nicer than my house! It has leather heated seats, triple climate control and dual DVD screens! It also has a navigation system and XM Radio.

But my van is away from me now because I went deer hunting with it and bagged me a nice deer. I mean really, look at how dead on I was!



Is that a hit or not? Niiiice!



I have another van now while my mean red hunting machine gets some new paint. The interim van is fine and all, drives nice. But it's not the same.

Hurry home van!

Because It's Funny and I Know You Like to Laugh

OK I came across these videos and I just thought I'd like to share. I mean they're 2 of my favorite songs and videos from the '80's, EVER and I love clever and cheesy remixes. So get out your Aqua Net, Member's Only jackets, Izod shirts and join in the fun!!

Friends of Gold

I headed out to CA this passed weekend to be with friends and family that I left behind in California. It was a visit that was good for the soul; where a few words could set me to laughter until I was in tears.

So in the words of Carol King....

....Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there...

....To brighten up even your darkest nights...

...You just call out my name, and you know whereever I am

I'll come running, oh yeah baby....

....to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer or fall...

All you have to do is call. And I'll be there.

Yeah...

...yeah, yeah.

You've got a friend.

Drizzly Daydreams

When Smokey Mountain mists
Fill the hollow with the sound
Of quiet rains on hallowed ground,



And the banks of springs
Themselves have found
That their bounty spills all around,




And roses heavy with drops
Of more than dew
Bend their sweetness toward the ground,




Then the darling of the sunlight
Has sought her muse
And surely cannot be found.

'Dem Bones

One thing I have learned about the South is that it is OLD.

People have been living here in the south for a long time. And dying too. Last year I purchased a book about the history of the area. On our mile and half stretch of road there are 3 known cemeteries. I think I know where 1 of them is and even though the book maps out where the other 2 are, I cannot figure out where they could be. Key words here are "known" and "cemeteries."

Here in the south it is legal to bury people in your yard if the zoning allows it. Before zoning laws, people just buried other people where ever. Probably somewhere near their family homes.

When we went to Cades Cove over the summer, I wanted to find my relatives' cemetery. The only two graves that could be found were in church cemeteries. The family did have a plot, but that plot has been "lost through time," meaning the grave markers have been overgrown to the point where they are unrecognizable as such.

One of my neighbors, Old Uncle Lester who has lived here his entire life and whose family owned most of the land on our road at one time, tells me that there used to be cabin up on the back of our property. There was no running water or electricity, but people lived there none the less. I have found no evidence of this cabin as of yet, but there is an old logging road, which now has saplings growing up in the middle of the ruts.

I guess bottom line is, I'm afraid I'm going to dig up some bones when I plant my roses. I'll cross my fingers that they are deer bones.

Because there are plenty of bones out here.

This little beauty washed down our creek after a heavy rain.



These things are on the hill, about 10' from our barn.



This is our gravel driveway. Nice. Let's look closer, shall we?




Just as one can expect.....more bones!



As long as they keep to themselves, I guess it's alright.