Quick Memorial Day trip to the mountains

We flew up to Asheville for a Memorial Day Picnic/Welcome home to Eddie & Brittany celebration at Mom's house.  A lovely day....Robert rode his motorcycle up Sunday night and stayed with Grandma and Frank.

Eddie and Trudi planned it all - but Trudi was very sick with a bug and couldn't come.

BTW, Mom found some TVP that Teresa had left - I made some yummy BBQ for my sandwich!

I wandered around making people pose for photos with me. 

I think you could tell we're kinfolk just by our tongues!

Better photo!

Mom didn't know what I was doing to start with!

Robert is obviously just tolerating his mom's silliness!

Connor is just a sweetie - and reminds me so much of little Eddie!

The pool was too chilly for me...but Eddie was in it later in the day!  64 degrees.  I'll pass until it's 85

Great-Grandma and Connor.

A big thunderstorm hit and everyone ran for cover.  Still a very nice visit!

We had to dodge a big storm on our way home....but otherwise it was uneventful....see the rainbow?

We stopped for fuel at Siler City.....on climb-out to go home, I was struck by how clear the air was just a few hundred miles away! 

Birthday!!

I always love to get a wrapped up package from my sweet sis!

Two fun-wrapped pressies!  (And our card that we've been passing back and forth for years now!)

Opened the small one first -  these are her "mystery project" socks....she's been cagey about talking about them on her blog....I suspected it might be something for me based on the timing!

Love the sailboat theme - and they're soooooo soft and fit perfectly!  (Of course she has a pretty good model using her own feet!!!)

The bigger package was a great surprise!!  It's a cake plate that she found that matches the "china" that I got when Nanny Gladys died.   It's "Halls Superior Autumn Leaf" from the 1940's.  It was sold by a traveling salesman that was probably referred to as the Jewel Man.

I pulled out my other pieces....fun to remember meals eaten at Nanny Gladys' on these plates over 40 years ago!!!  Thanks, sis for a wonderful gift!

Anniversary/Bday trip

Our original plans for a long weekend were to fly to Philadelphia....just because we had never been.  Planned to visit the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc.....

But, a nasty weather system was headed our way and it was going to make traveling in that direction difficult in the airplane.

So, we decided just to avoid all the stress and head to the NC mountains instead.

We buzzed out late in the evening - arriving at the Asheville Airport just at sunset with overcast skies.

We rented a car and rode up to Cherokee for a little gambling fix....didn't win anything much, so decided to go sightseeing instead.

Found some ducks - maybe wood ducks or mallard's?  

It was chilly and damp - beautiful greenery and spring flowers too.

Some elk in a field - there was Park Ranger nearby to make sure no one bothered them, I assume.

We drove for hours and hours - beautiful views at the Tennessee line.

We walked up to the observation tower at the top of Clingman's Dome - the highest point in Tennessee. (just  a few feet shy of Mt. Mitchell in height).

A nice couple asked us to take their photo - and I asked them to return the favor!  Very chilly up there - and we brought no jackets on the trip because we didn't really plan it well!

We walked a little on the Appalachian Trail....joked that now we've walked on the Trail in Maine and TN/NC, we'll have to connect the two someday....hmmm....no, probably not!

Drove on a very rough gravel road near Cades Cove....luckily one way 8 miles!  Signs warned that it was closed in winter and that limited emergency services available.  They weren't kidding - no cell coverage either!  We saw no-one else for the hour it took us to carefully drive the 8 miles.

I just loved the Park Services treatment of the many, many streams that crossed the road.

They just had concrete slabs at each crossing.  I'd hate to be there in a rainstorm though!

We made it around to the Fontana Dam....doesn't look too imposing here, but it really is huge!

A pretty view of Fontana Lake....then off to visit Granny for a little while as she's recovering from a very recent knee replacement surgery!

Metal recycle

Always am fascinated by the process of metal recycling....I took a load of "good stuff" and came away with $40 cash.  Glad it was just a few miles out of my way though!

Driveway repairs

The winter was tough on our "chipseal" driveway. There were areas that were starting to crack and disintegrate. We'd paid a contractor to do some repairs last year, but the results were not terrific. We decided we could do a better job ourselves. We tested a small area a few weeks ago with just 5 gallons of material, so we knew the basic process. But, we needed ALOT more of the "tack" tar material. Duane, of course, had a solution. We got a couple of 55 gallon drums and he welded a spout on each one.

Dick went to Sanford and picked up the 100 gallons of tar - we went the opposite direction and picked up the first of 6 loads of pea-sized stone. Here's the road crew - it was hot, hard work!!

And very messy work - I had tar all over me....

Lucky it washes off pretty well with mineral spirits....the shoes were sacrificed!

I had a Happy Mother's Day!

For those of you not on Facebook (I posted these photos there).....my kiddos met us at our favorite breakfast place (Virlie's) for a very nice visit.

We got to catch up on what they've been up to. All is well!!

Deer repellent working

I'm pleased with the results of my deer repellent - The Japanese maple that mom/Eddie gave me years ago is finally starting to be pretty. For several years, the deer munched on it so bad I was afraid it would be stunted or killed.

And I've got a bumper crop of iris's too!