Saturday Coffee: Maybe This Week We Should Have Tea with Honey

Grab a cup of coffee (or whatever your beverage of choice is right now)  and let's talk! 

Despite all of my efforts, I ended up catching whatever the Man of the House and the Male Offspring had last week.  I won't say that all the things I was doing to boost my immune system were a waste though.  While they were both sick for the better part of a week, my symptoms peaked and started feeling better after a couple of days.  And I don't think I ever felt as bad as they seemed to.  So... whether they had some minor flu that my shot helped protect me from, or all the Airborne and Vitamin C helped is unknown, or maybe it was just a nasty cold.  I'm just glad I didn't have it worse!

This flu year has been a bad one.  No doubt about it.  My own mother is still dealing with residual effects from an especially nasty case after 2 weeks!.  However, I also think that the media is doing a bang up job of scaring the daylights out of us and sharing all the very worst of the stories. 

I'm not surprised that emergency rooms are flooded.  I think people are so scared by what they're seeing on the TV every evening that they are rushing to the ER with the flu when they would usually go to their primary Dr.  It's important to be aware, take precautions like getting a flu shot, hand washing, and knowing when to seek medical treatment.  Just don't allow yourself to be controlled by fear.

The weather we've been having around here probably doesn't help much either.  One weekend it's cold and icy.  A few days later it's pouring rain.  And a few days after that it's 60 degrees.  Mother Nature is on a meteorological roller coaster!

I hope all of you are staying healthy.  If you should happen to get sick - I hope you have someone in your life like my wonderful hubby.  The Man of the House stopped on his way home from work to pick up ginger ale, cough drops, and some sherbet for me.  He's a keeper!

Have a great weekend and a wonderful week.


With Love,

Saturday Coffee: The First Cup

Imagine if we were able to sit down over coffee and chat face to face.  What would we talk about? 

We'd probably discuss our weeks.  What we did.  What we didn't get a chance to do.  The highs and lows.  The good.  The bad.  The funny.  The sad.

We'd talk about things we had seen and experienced recently.  You'd tell me about something that made you think.  I'd tell you about something that made me laugh.  Or something that surprised me.

We'd share how we're feeling about things going on in our lives and the world.

That's what I'm hoping will happen in this space in the foreseeable future.

So grab a cup of coffee (or whatever your beverage of choice is right now)  and let's talk!  No set topic - just me chatting with you about... well, what ever!  Just sharing my general thoughts on whatever has been going on during the week.

For example:

The Man of the House was in Connecticut on business at the beginning of the week.   He wasn't feeling very well before he left, and while there he was sick.  When he got home, he was feeling bad enough that he took the next two days off work.  He hardly ever takes sick days, so when he does you know he really doesn't feel well!

The male offspring has also been sick.  Both of them seem to have the same thing -  coughs, body aches  and fevers.  I have been washing my hands, taking Airborne, drinking OJ and sucking on Vitamin C immune support in a desperate attempt to avoid catching this nastiness myself.  So far, so good!

Over at the home of the female offspring, the grand kid apparently has the same thing. While his poor mom has been recuperating after catching the pink eye he had last week!

My poor mom had a horrible case of the flu.  Come to think of it - I'm about the only person in my family NOT sick in one form or another right now!  (** takes more Airborne...

Last weekend the Man of the House and I got a new mattress set.  King size.  It's huge!  I'm still getting used to it.  Right now it's still kind of like sleeping in a hotel bed - nice, but doesn't feel like my bed.  Do you know what I mean?

I have been craving lemon bars lately. Since I wasn't really feeling up to all that is involved in making those from scratch.  I picked up a Krusteaz boxed mix to try.  I think I'll make those this weekend.  They'll make a yummy dessert for Super Bowl Sunday.

Speaking of the Super Bowl.  We're keeping it low key and simple here this year.  The Man of the House is going to make his favorite chili, while I have the makings for a veggie tray and some cheese and crackers for game time nibbles.  Will you be watching the big game?  What are you serving?

If there's anything you'd like me to talk about or any questions you want me to answer in weeks to come - just leave me a comment.

What's new with you this week?


With Love,

A Hike A Day

I hope each and every one of you had a delightful weekend.  I'm happy to share that we did.  This weekend we got to keep the grand kid for an over night.  Which we made the most of.

First things first, we took out (almost) weekly hike.  (Which meant I got the chance to try out the new back pack the Man of the House gave me for my birthday!)  We got a late start, it looked as if it might rain, and we had the grand kid along - so, we kept it easy and short this week.  We went back to Bent Creek to try a different path off the Hard Times trail head.  This time we walked up the Homestead Trail which follows the creek up to Lake Powhatan.

We saw some pretty cool things along our journey.  A snail hanging out on the trail marker...

Some fungi that reminded me of  sea shells or barnacles...

And some mushrooms growing on a moss covered log which looked as if fairies should live there...

The grand kid did fall on the trail and scraped up his elbow.  But he's fine.

Afterward, we took the grand kid to Toys R Us, and then to dinner at American Burger Company.  We spent the evening enjoying some ice cream cake and introducing the grand kid to E.T.  

Sunday was a day of catching up on laundry, crochet, and football.  Quiet and productive.  Always  a nice combination!

All it all, it was another wonderful weekend!    How was yours?

What A Weekend!

This past weekend was - for lack of a better word - Amazing! 

On Friday evening, the Man of the House, the Male Offspring and I went out for some Mexican food.  And it was oh-so-yummy!  Not much wrong with a delicious bean and cheese burrito and a frozen margarita.

Saturday was a BIG day for our family.  Our beautiful daughter officially graduated from college!!  She was technically done back in December, but this weekend was the graduation ceremony. 
We are so proud of her.  There were a few bumps in the road - like having a baby.  But she kept at it and is now our very own computer engineer.  Now she's considering going back to take the few classes she would need to also complete her electrical engineering degree. 

After the ceremony, we took her and her fellas out for dinner to celebrate. 

Sunday was - of course - Mother's Day.  And my family made me feel extra special. 

The Man of the House made me a lovely brunch of breakfast sandwiches, bacon, strawberries, orange juice, and coffee.  There were lovely cards, gift cards to some of my favorite stores, and some chocolate. 

The female offspring and the grand kid dropped by and brought me a beautiful peppermint and lavender scented soy candle which she made, a card drawn special for me by the grand kid, and a Starbuck's Frappuccino! 

The Male Offspring made my requested dinner of blue cheese burgers and steak fries.  Yummy!

After dinner I took a relaxing bath with the candle from the Female Offspring, and some bath products handcrafted by Southern Belle Soaps and Bath - located right here in North Carolina.  Her soaps are my new obsession! 

Yes, it was a grand weekend.  Although I did eat entirely too much food.  But... worth it! 

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend also.  Did you do anything fun?

Weekend Wrap-up

The first weekend of Autumn came and went in the barest blink of an eye.  At least the calendar says it was the first weekend of fall.  Someone forgot to tell the weather, which apparently thought it was still August and gave us temperatures near 90.  Ugh!  Despite the toasty temps, it was a beautiful and fun weekend.

Friday night was all about homemade pizza and hanging out with the family. Nice and quiet and relaxing!

Saturday, the Man of the House and I ran some errands early in the afternoon, then headed to Biltmore for the evening.  We started with a wine tasting and picked up a couple of new bottles for the house. Then enjoyed a stroll through the barn areas.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner of roasted chicken, herbed potatoes, and blistered tomatoes at the Village Social (located in the hotel at Antler Hill Village)

I wish I had taken a picture of the seafood fondue we enjoyed as an appetizer, because it was YUM!!

Right now, on Fridy and Saturday evening there is live  music on the village green.  So, after dinner we settled into our camping chairs and enjoyed the sounds of "Flashback", the sunset, and each others company for the rest of the evening.

Sunday funday was amazingly lazy.  At least for me.  I did manage to package up two orders for the shop to ship out today.  And The Man of the House got in a round of golf in the morning.  Sunday afternoon was all about snacks and football.  (If you know us at all, you're thinking.. "of course").  Sadly, the Panthers lost.  Booooo... Hiss! Things just kind of fell apart in the second half.

A big pot of chili and the female offspring making gluten free cookie sandwiches made a nice finishing touch to the weekend.

I woke up today with a "Gettin' Things Done" attitude.  And a little sinus congestion, which is nothing new for me and my allergies.  Usually after being up for a little while the congestion improves.  Not today.  It continues to get worse, and is now accompanied by sneezing, stuffy feeling ears, a sinus headache, and a tickle in my throat.  Trying hard not to let that get me down and keep pecking away at my to do list.

Although I am going to attempt to convince the grandbaby that we should take a nap this afternoon.

How was your weekend?

A Good Weekend Was Had By All

Weekends are almost always a good thing.  Especially if you and/or your loved ones have that time off to catch up on chores and errands, or to just relax.  Some weekends, however, just seem a little better than others.  This felt like one of those weekends.

Saturday started with the Man of the House and I running some errands.  There was recycling to be dropped off.  Groceries to be bought.  But all that had to wait until right after a little sleeping in that needed to be done!

During the afternoon we took advantage of our annual passes to the Biltmore Estate.  They are offering the audio guides to the house tour for free this month.  Which is something we had never done. We learned a few things about the house we didn't know before.

Sunday dawned with a light dusting of snow.  Our first of the season!

There were pancakes for breakfast.  I made a sale in my Etsy shop.  The Panthers beat the Seahawks.  I made a perfect roux for the creamy tomato soup we had for dinner.  And the Man of the House offered to make the grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the soup.

Yep, Sunday was one good day!  A perfect close to the weekend and a wonderful start to the new week.

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The Reality of Weekend Softball Tournaments

This Man of the House was invited to go participate in a softball tournament in Cherokee, NC last weekend.  Well, ok - technically it was in Whittier.  But... 6 of one, half dozen of the other...

Knowing he had to be there pretty early and that games could run late into the evening we decided to make it a weekend getaway.   A little early anniversary gift to ourselves.

After digging around online we managed to find a good rate at a cute little bed and breakfast nearby - The Chalet Inn.  It was a very nice little place.  Personal attention.  Tucked away from the beaten path, but very conveniently located to Cherokee, Sylva and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

On a side note - if you ever decide to visit Cherokee in November you should be aware that, with the exception of the casino, apparently the entire town closes up shop and heads home at sundown.  We went looking for something to eat and quickly found our choices to be fast food or fast food.  We settled on Pizza Hut because that was the nicest restaurant we could find open at 8pm.  You have been warned.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, although a little bit cold.  I've never been to one of these tournaments before.  And clearly had no idea what to expect.  In all my glorious naiveté, I expected there to be some downtime between games while other teams played.  Time the Man and I could slip away for some brief sight seeing, shopping, or a quick pop into the casino to lose all my loose change in the slot machines.  (If you've ever actually BEEN to a tournament of this time you are now laughing like crazy.  Go ahead.  Take your time.  I'll wait.)  The reality of it was several back to back games, with an occasional break of about an hour - IF the current game didn't end earlier than scheduled.  So much for down time.

On the plus side:  have I ever mentioned how beautiful this part of the country is?  Well, it is.  Beautiful.  I mean, when you live somewhere that THIS is the view from the ballfields:

Yeh... that!

During the day the weather was cool, but not uncomfortably so.  The sun was shining.  (I ended up sporting a pink nose the next morning.  Oops!) I settled into a camp chair, relaxed, crocheted and watched my handsome man pitch game after game.

Which is not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Once the sun set behind the mountains things got ugly cold very quickly.  And as games continued on into the wee hours of the morning we found ourselves tired, hungry and frozen.  Which just isn't as much fun as it sounds.  Exactly.

But, their team did take second place in their division.  We got a day and 2 nights away from the grind.

And on the drive home we made much less softball-ish type plans to enjoy our actual anniversary this coming weekend.

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And Then It Was Friday ...

I can't quite remember the last time I was this happy to see a weekend beginning.  I mean, I always look forward to the weekend because it means I have the Man of the House at home for two whole days.  And this time of year, it means lazy Sunday afternoons in front of the television watching football.  But this past week was a real doozy  and I am especially glad to be leaving it in the rear view mirror.  Here are a few of the highlights and lowlights:

Lack of Sleep: 
Which I feel I covered rather thoroughly here. Leaving the only thing left to say to be how despite two good night's sleep I still find myself fighting the urge to nod off.  An afternoon nap this weekend will do me a world of good.

Downton Abbey:
Yes, I am several years behind trend on this one.  But when I pulled my all night work-fest I finally got around to watching most all of the first season.  And I find myself quite smitten with that family of snobby Brits and their servant type peoples.

A Mother's Worries:
Nothing quite sets a mother's heart racing like receiving a message from the local Sheriff's department that her child's school, as well as the middle school next door, is on lock down with one suspect in custody.  Can you say "freaking out"?  Fortunately I was able to text with the male offspring and get his assurance that all was well.  They weren't even sure what was going on except that they were on "hard lockdown" and it was not a drill.  Apparently an emergency call was made to the authorities because of a woman on campus with a gun.  The lockdown was initiated and school resource officers apprehended her in the parking lot.  The lockdown could not be lifted until they did a full safety sweep of the schools and both parking lots. By noon the male offspring sent me a text to let me know it had been lifted.

All's Well That Ends Well:
I have to give credit to the school staff, the resource officers, and the local Sheriff's office who responded quickly and kept our children safe.

Creamy Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup:
Since I discovered this recipe on the Pinterest last year and made it for my family it has been one of our favorites.  In fact, several family members have declared it to be the best soup they have ever eaten. ( one of those members might be me) It is creamy, flavorful and de-li-cious!  Best of all, it's made in the Crockpot with minimal fuss.  A perfect meal for a cool, rainy autumn evening!

And that about covers it.  Another week in the record books (or something like that).

Right now, I believe I will take advantage of this rainy afternoon by making a cup of tea and seeing what the Dowager Countess has to say about her family's latest shenanigans.

Have a great weekend y'all!

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Friday Favorites - Labor Day Weekend

We made it to another weekend, y'all!

Not just any weekend, either.  A Three Day weekend! And I know you gotta love that!  Well, OK,  sure - it's not required that you like it or anything.  But, I mean... c'mon!  An extra weekend day.  That's all good!

Labor Day weekend means the unofficial end of summer.  Which, for me, means the start of Boot season!  That's right, as of this weekend this gal will be pulling the boots out of the back of the closet and gearing up to rock them for the next 7 months or so.  I adore boots, and would own a closet full of them if money were no object.

Around these parts, Labor Day weekend means the North Carolina Apple Festival.  We'll usually head downtown to check out the booths, munch on some candied apples and funnel cake, and head home with a selection of fruit from local growers.

http://www.ncapplefestival.org/

It has been another crazy week for me.  And I'm still not feeling 100% great.  This time last week I was sure it was a cold.  Now I think it must be allergies; because since when does a cold last two weeks??  Or maybe it started as allergies and is now trying to decide if it's going to blow up into a sinus infection or not?  All I know for sure is that I wish it would just end, already.

Because of this, I am not sure if I am personally feeling up to being all apple festive this year.  Honestly, I am just looking forward to a quiet weekend.  Going to bed early.  Maybe sneaking in a nap or two.  That sort of anti-excitement.

What are your weekend plans?

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A Weekly Reality Rewind

I started this week thinking I was experiencing a hard core allergy flare up.  Perhaps enhanced from being tired; as I was not ready for the school day schedule to start back up on Monday.  But after a solid week I feel pretty sure what I am actually dealing with is a late summer cold.

Sounds like a big negative.  But on the bright side - since I didn't feel like doing much, I did a lot of sitting on the couch and getting plenty of work done for my Etsy shop.  So, that's a big win!

The female offspring went back to work and school this week.  Which means lots of grand baby time for this Oma!  That kid is exhausting!  And while my living room looks very much like a toy box threw up all over the floor, he makes me laugh everyday.  And hearing him say "thank you Oma for making me pancakes" one morning just made my whole week!

I signed up for a new Proverbs 31 Online Bible Study which begins September 8th. It's "Taming The To Do List", and y'all know me and my To Do lists!!  I've already started my master list for September.

I also registered to attend two events next month being sponsored by our local  community colleges small business center.

Our weather has been giving us the tiniest preview of fall.  While Temps are still right around 80 degrees, it is much less humid and breezy.  Much more bearable to this gal!  I say, "Bring on the Autumn"!

And, that's pretty much my week in a nutshell.

I'm looking forward to a weekend filled with a trip to the farmer's market, watching some NFL preseason football, and plenty of resting.

Have a good one!

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Week's End

I'd say something about how it's finally Friday, but truthfully it feels as if this week went by very quickly.

pubicdomainpictures.net

Most of them (the weeks - days - months) seem to whiz right by these days.  I think it might be a symptom of getting older.

Another possible sign - feeling like I could use a nap almost every afternoon. And being ready for bed by 9 at night.

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Because It's Friday

This week has flown by!  I can't believe it's already Friday!  I am looking forward to a weekend filled with painting in the master bedroom. And hopefully being ready very soon to start putting in the new flooring.  (yah!)

But today, simply because it's Friday...

• I'm going to have one more cup of coffee.  With chocolate caramel flavored creamer and plenty of sugar. 
  
• Tonight's dinner is going to involve bacon somehow.  Because... bacon! (maybe in some sort of salad, so we can pretend it's healthy)
• I think I might stay up late tonight. (late being anything past 9:30 or 10:00 - I am such an old lady about my bedtime!) 
  
• If I get a few chores done this morning, I might spend the whole afternoon playing with the grand baby and crocheting!
• I'm spending too much time online looking at hotel deals so the Man of the House and I can plan a night or two away soon.

What are your big plans today... just because it's Friday? 

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 You can find me connecting at these Blog Hops and Link Ups

Missional Women: Faith Filled Friday
Christian Mommy Blogger: Fellowship Fridays
Essential Thing Devotions: Essential Fridays
Serenity Now: Weekend Bloggy Reading
Womanhood With Purpose: Heart-filled Fridays 

Birthday Road Trip

Earlier this month, the family went up to Pigeon Forge for the day to celebrate my birthday.  It was such a nice way to spend a Saturday, I had to just share a little with you.

Normally, I dread a drive up I-40 through the Pigeon River Gorge.  The big trucks, the curvy road, and lane barriers and the mountains just make for one crazy, claustrophobic, scary ride.  Fortunately it was a lovely day, the traffic was light (with oddly very few semis) and the fall colors were just on the downside of peak.  It was beautiful!

The morning started with a stop I knew the male offspring would enjoy - the Smokey Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville.  After that we did some shopping at the outlets in Pigeon Forge, and then grabbed a light lunch.

Next up was my very favorite spot in Pigeon Forge... The Christmas Place!

I managed to talk the family into posing for some silly pictures.

I really love this store!  I could spend hours just looking at all the decorations and trees.  It's like getting to hang out in Santa's workshop!

From there we went down to the Old Mill.  Where we browsed in the shops... and bought far too much candy!

The day ended with dinner at my favorite restaurant in Pigeon Forge: Mama's Farmhouse. (you can read my previous rave review of it HERE) Seriously... if you like country cooking and are ever in Pigeon Forge you have GOT to eat here!

It was a wonderful day with the family.  Part of the perfect birthday weekend.  Which I don't think I thank the Man of the House enough for putting together for me!