Renewing friendships

I took the cake to work today but not the ice cream. I worked collecting money from the drive through again. We ordered three pizzas and ate most of them. I brought three pieces of the sausage, onion, and bell pepper home for Evelyn. The staff also ate most of the cake but I left all for the night shift. We came home and I took a nap and then we ate soup for dinner. We went to Stonebridge where we found the Salmons and Bill and Pat Smith. We will invite Bill and Pat next week. In the meantime, we will be with Ron, Mary Lou and our family for the 4th. We took the Salmons up to Casterline’s cabin so they could see a real mountain hide-a-way. We spent some time with them planning some outings while enjoying wine and green tea in a bottle (for Evelyn). We will have them come for dinner tomorrow evening and then plan to find some pickin’ around the area.

Headed for and arriving at 68

Monday was a day of more rain. We did go shopping in the evening at Lowe’s. We are looking for border bricks that will contain our projected flower garden. We will come back tomorrow to take them home. We need 64 and will have to borrow a truck from a neighbor to get them there.
Tuesday was work followed by golf with Shirley. We started at 3:20 after my work. We came home and looked for the neighbor whose truck we will use, but he was not home. We just laid around the rest of the evening. Did you notice I didn’t provide a golf score? I will say that I have more golf balls than at any other time of my life yet did not lose one ball during the entire 9 holes.
Wednesday is the 29th anniversary of my 39th birthday. We had planned to take cake and ice cream to Taco Bell to share with the workers. Last week one of the girls had ordered a pizza. I thought that the tradition was to buy pizza or cake for the crew. Evelyn was gracious enough to bake the cake and bring it and ice cream to the store at 2:00 when things slow down. Just at that time a bus full of kids from Florida came in to order so we had to postpone the party until tomorrow. As it turns out, it was Taco Bell that provides either cake or pizza on an employee’s birthday. We will have pizza from them and cake and ice cream from us tomorrow, Lord willing. We went home and intended to get the border bricks but encountered more problems. First, the car literally locked itself with the keys and the phone inside. I called OnStar from the neighbor’s phone and they unlocked it. We then talked with the builder who thinks they will have to dig up some of the yard to stop what she thinks is a leak in the sewer line, causing water to accumulate under our house. The flower garden will be in the way of the digging so we will wait until mid July to make it.

Blessings inside and out

The chef with the "finished" products. I (not pictured) did all the chopping.


Another blessed day of worship and rain. We were ushers at church again this week. We were a bit late and when we gathered the offering, I forgot to count. A dear brother in Christ had the number for us. He counts everything everywhere. He is a retired police officer from Florida. He is also an avid golfer and gave me several dozen more balls. I won’t be able to carry my golf bag to the cart. We returned home for lunch and then went to walk before it rained. It did rain before we left there. It was a wonderful all day gentle rain. I have been a bit puzzled about the results of the rain. It had been quite some time before it rained yesterday, and I expected the roadways to be slick from the exhaust build up but they weren’t. It would have been a disaster on the hills, so I thank God that they weren’t. Shirley came to invite us to the Folkmoot open house but we had to come home to make salsa, no-nothing soup, strawberry pie and started an apple cake that I will take to work Wednesday to share with the crew on my birthday. I do all the chopping of the ingredients, but Evelyn makes the product. We must still add ingredients to the salsa. I made popcorn and took it and the pie to Casterline’s for the evening to play Yahtzee. We had a good time with them and stayed until 11:00.

Welcome rain

Friday was a blessed day. We slept until almost 9 and then went to walk. The men delivering the mattress called to say they would be here before noon, so I worked on the computer while Evelyn walked. We got home and planned to wash windows until noon, but the delivery truck came around 11. They removed the old mattress and wrapped it in the plastic the new one came in. We then washed the windows that were still in the shade. We then had lunch and made the new pillow top bed. The sheets don’t fit very well because of the pillow top itself. We were unable to finish the windows because we finally had a rainstorm. Praise God! We have not had rain for nearly all the time we have been here. We then got ready for the evening out. We went to the Rexal lighting and ordered a light to install under the kitchen cupboard. We then went to the Wildfire restaurant and overate. After that we went to the street dance downtown. We went to many of them last year. We enjoy the music, the large round dance, and the cloggers. It is fun to get into a large circle and follow the caller’s directions. The street is covered with ground corn meal and couples from the audience come out to dance. Many of the people in this area are amateur cloggers, so they clog during the dance. Most of us former Yankees just pretend. During the third round dance, lightning flashed, and we ran for the car. The rains came soon after while we were in the grocery. We got home about the time that the street dance usually ends.
Saturday was the men’s breakfast at church. We always watch a Max Lucado video called He Chose the Nails. I was blessed to be able to share some experiences with them. I came home to find Evelyn sewing on the canopy for the Beeli girl’s bed. She will be on it for weeks. We finished wasing the windows because it was still threatening rain and storms. We certainly appreciate the rain. We finished and then had lunch. We got ready and went to the Maggie Valley Trout Festival, which was a disappointment. We stayed until Paul came and we sat with him a while. He and Evelyn then went to Asheville’s farmer’s market. They returned and we went to the worst Chinese restaurant I have ever known. This is the second time since starting a “diet” that we have gone out to overeat. Go figure. We spent the evening at home. We had wanted to go to some festival somewhere, but the weather was too iffy. We want to get out and explore more of the area this year. I must express my frustration. We should have nearly $15,000 on its way to us from Texas, but it has still not arrived I thought sure it would be here yesterday or today. We are beginning to feel the need for this money for some of our major bills that will be due soon. I hope it comes Monday.

Local events

We slept late this morning and then went to walk. We had dwandled around so long that we had to go directly to the Open Door after finishing. We just deliver food and drinks and clean up after. Some people spend at least a couple of hours in preparing the food. There is always a devotion prior to the lunch and today’s sweet lady went for nearly half an hour, longer than she should. When she finished, there must have been more than 50 people coming to eat. And they came right up until closing time of 1:30. We left there and went to the library for computer work and then came home so I could barbecue hamburgers for dinner. They were delicious. Shirley called and invited us to their cabin for cake and ice cream at 7:00. I called Rexhall about the bi-fold we should have by now. They claimed to have mailed the shipping label to Decatur but Decatur says they never received it. Another one is supposed to be mailed out today. We went to Paul and Shirley’s for the cake and ice cream. They have Direct TV, and I think we will switch to it from Dish during the next week because our contract is up around July 4. I need to contact them soon.
I went back to work today, payday. I worked until 2:45 because Evelyn was late from her trip to Asheville with Shirley. I got my check for $78+ but nothing had been removed for the shoes I was required to buy. That was supposed to happen during my first two checks. I guess it will start with the next one. We went to the doctor in an attempt to rectify a bill we received. They had us connected with the wrong carrier. They will contact the correct company for us. We also went to Lowe’s to see what we could get for sides to the flower garden we want to build around an area in our yard that won’t grow grass. I don’t really want to buy things at Lowe’s because they won’t cut our blinds. We then came home for soup and some hummus. We forced ourselves to finish the cake we had brought home last night with some ice cream we had bought for the final potluck last Tuesday.

Thursday it was to work and collect money at the drive through window. I enjoy that because I get to joke with the customers. Afterward we went shopping for a queen sized mattress and box spring. We bought one at a local furniture store which is what I wanted to do. Had we not found one we wanted, we would have gone to Black Mountain tomorrow. We want to get rid of the full sized mattress we have, so I called back to Taco Bell to see if any of the working divorced mothers there might want it free. The manager said he would check but indicated he would buy it if no one did. We came home and Evelyn made a lovely dinner. We then went to an association meeting where we discussed some concerns of the homeowners in Cypress Meadows. We will likely get a sign made denoting our group. We also planned a barbecue for sometime in July. We brought Kathy the lighting expert down to see what to do with our rope light in the kitchen. She recommended that we get a different light for underneath the cupboard. We will go to see it tomorrow. We will put the rope light on the deck as we did on the porch in Texas.

Are we 50 years older?

Off to work again. Taco Bell does not serve coffee so I take mine with me from home. I learned that the manager had been called to the Cherokee store and the supply truck arrives on Wednesdays, so I had to do the clean up all alone. The man who usually helps me had to shelve the items unloaded from the delivery truck. It was not too bad but I barely got done by opening time: 10. I was assigned to the job of collecting money from the drive through customers by the manager before he left, but today was another slow day so we didn’t need to open the extra window. I just did the normal things of frying chalupa, wiping tables, cleaning trays, and emptying the trash. Evelyn had spent the morning looking for a queen size bed. She wants a larger bed, and I prefer to buy it locally. She has checked only one so far. I hope she can find what she wants next week. We went to the lake after she picked me up and she walked with me even though she had walked earlier. We came home after my computer work and had dinner. We ate soup and finished off the strawberry pie she had made for last night’s potluck. It was still good. After dinner, she worked on sewing a fringe onto the tablecloth. The fringe was four inches too short despite both she and the clerk measured. She may take it back tomorrow. We finished packing for Friday’s trip and went for a short walk around our loop before retiring for the night. Work tomorrow. I certainly get tired from the job. I have laid around too long and have a low energy level.
Again to work. Leroy, my trainer, was off today so I had to do all the clean up. I cleaned the deep fryer, lined the trash bags, swept up the butts and scraps from the outside, sprayed with degreaser, washed the spots with the scalding water made at the restaurant, checked the bathrooms, and washed the windows. I had a lunch of the crunch wrap earlier than usual because I had to collect the money at the drive up window. It is more difficult for me to remember everything than it used to be, but I did all right. During my shift, I got a nose bleed and bled on several bills and quarters. I think I scared the lady paying to death. I finally located the manager who took over until I brought things under control. We worked with two teenage boys I had never seen here before. I tried to be friendly with the one I saw the most but he appears to be a smart alec. I will find out if we ever work together again. I will try to talk with him personally, then go to the manager if necessary. If that does no good, I will quit. I don’t have to work, especially with people I don’t like. I have already questioned some of the language used by others, but it hasn’t been too bad yet. We came home and rested today and then walked. It was a much better plan than yesterday’s. We came home for dinner and packed a lunch for tomorrow’s trip. We watched some television before going to bed early.
We quickly loaded the car and left home by 7:30 and, after stopping several times, arrived in Portland around 6:30. We brought a Pizza King pizza back to my friend Sam’s house. We retired around 11. Saturday Evelyn went to talk with her brother while Sam and I went to the golf course where he watched me hit some balls. He coached golf for years and gave me some tips that seemed to help me. We met Evelyn at a local restaurant for lunch and went beck to his home to rest up for the evening. We went to the local middle school, the site for the alumni banquet. It was truly good to see many of my classmates from 50 years ago. What a blessing it is for the Lord to have allowed me to live such a long time. Sam asked me to deliver the benediction at the end of the banquet so I did. I chuckle to think what those who knew me back then must be thinking when I represent Christ anywhere. I hope they realize that if I can be saved, Christ will accept anyone. After the banquet, our class went to the Elks club for a party, giving us a chance to talk with anyone we may have missed at the school. I was most blessed to talk with a brother in Christ who was as wild as I was back then until Jesus tracked us both down at “Cursillo” type events. We didn’t stay late and went back to Sam’s. The class committee had planned a brunch for our class at 8 but, though we had planned to attend, we decided to go to worship with Sam instead. We came back, ate cereal, and left for NC. We had planned to eat at the “shrine” in Corbin, KY. This is where Colonel Sanders developed KFC, Evelyn’s favorite food. The problem was that we couldn’t get there at a mealtime so we traveled and ate at a different KFC and got back to our home at 9:00, just before dark. We unpacked and put things away. We have a busy day planned for tomorrow. Tune in for the details.

One couple potluck

I was up and off to work at 8. I had Leroy to help me do the clean up so it went quickly. When the rush began, I helped make the food. There was always one of the “pros” getting the item started and then telling me what to add. I shoved things on to the next regular worker who wrapped the meal and gave it to the purchaser. After work I went home and took a nap. At 6, we returned to pick up the items I had ordered earlier to take to our potluck. The things were not ready but took only a few minutes to prepare. The manager kept his word and only charged us half price. Evelyn wanted 15 burritos and 15 tacos. I thought the latter would be in corn tortillas, but the workers made soft tacos. The attendees had been called and told that we would provide all the food. Evelyn made a strawberry pie and I bought a chocolate cake and two half gallons of ice cream. As it turned out, many people brought things anyway so we had a good meal and plenty of Taco Bell left over. This was Pastor Greene’s final evening Bible study. He is resigning from the ministry to become a public school teacher. He is one of the finest pastors I have ever met. I am sorry he is leaving the pulpit, but he really feels led by God to do this. Who am I to argue. We came home and went to bed early again.

days in mid June

The morning found us walking early. It was Evelyn’s third trip and my second in about 15 hours. It was warm enough that we were moving slowly. On the way home we went to run some errands and go to Lowe’s to see if they would cut our blinds. They wouldn’t. I was disgusted. We came home for lunch and then I decided to go to the driving range that is near here to see if I could hit the ball well enough to invest in playing a round. I think I could play at least as badly as before. It was even hotter there and when I returned home I was wiped out. I sat in my Lazy-boy and went to sleep for an hour. We then had some strawberries for dinner and went to Canton for the “Picken in the Park.” It was a cool evening and the band was not too good but there were three clogging groups, two of which were children. They were cute and a few showed some real promise for the future. We had invited one of the neighbors to go along but they did not arrive home until we were ready to go so they wanted to wait until another day.
Saturday was the day the church held a rummage sale to help support the young couple attending seminary in St. Louis. We helped from 7:50 to 10:30 and then went off to walk. We had taken sandwiches with us so we just ate at the lake so I could do my computer work. We then came home and I slept for a while before getting ready to go to Franklin to visit our friends the Joneses. They had invited us for a shrimp boil with several other friends. The boil had shrimp, sausage and spring potatoes. It was not too spicy by design but there were many bottles of hot sauces available. We took them some two buck Chuck (wine from CA) because they had never tasted any. We also took them a jar of humus that we had found at Big Lots. It was quite delicious--a surprise when we first tasted it. The trouble with Big Lots is that we want to taste things we buy there. Unfortunately, when we decide whether we like it, it might be too late to get any more. This time we found many left and decided to share it with them. We left there just before dark and came home around 10.
We were blessed to worship this morning. We practiced with the choir and then went upstairs to be ushers. One job is to hand out worship folders and collect the offering. We did the first job and went to the choir loft where I remembered that the offering is taken during the offering. And the choir also sang during the offering. We took the offering. After church there was a voter’s meeting and a sandwich lunch. We came home and rested because we were still tired from last night. We walked in the early evening and came home for popcorn and humus. Paul and Shirley Casterline called. They were at Bogart’s restaurant so we invited them to come to visit. We talked late and decided to go to Asheville tomorrow to do some shopping.
Monday, we walked early and went to Taco Bell to inquire about the cost of items for the potluck tomorrow evening. They will let me have things at half price. We came home and left with Paul and Shirley. We drove because we have a new, more comfortable car than we had last year when we always went with them. We went to a quaint restaurant, The Hot Shot, that I had introduced them to last summer. They have fallen in love with it. We had lunch and then went to the Hancock Fabric store for some fringe material for the table cloth and others for the canopy she will make for the Beeli girl’s bed. We also made the traditional trip to the Farmer’s market and bought some tomatoes and more large sweet strawberries. We were home by 3 and rested during the afternoon. We had dinner and they I hung a birdhouse in one of our trees and gave the picnic table a coat of polyurethane. I called Tom Crouch in Texas to ask advice on what to use as a preservative on the top of Mom’s smoker. He suggested polyurethane. I forgot to ask him about my uncle’s trunk from WWI. We went to bed a bit early because I have to work Tuesday.

The first day

It was up at 6:30 Thursday and ready for work. Evelyn dropped me and went to church to help in marking the items offered for Saturday’s garage sale. Before that she walked the lake. Meanwhile, I was cleaning the outside of Taco Bell. I degreased the areas where cars sit to give orders and pick them up. I cleaned the outdoor picnic area, washed the windows, swept up cigarette butts, emptied the trash cans and supplied the rest rooms. When the rush started I cleaned the eating area, wiping the tables and keeping the condiment area supplied. I also helped some with the food prep in that I deep fried the chalupa shells and helped in almost every other way when needed. I worked until 2:30 and Evelyn picked me up. I was tired as was she so we took a nap. We then got up and walked the lake (her second trip around). We also stopped at the Kern Cafe where the wireless is now working. We met Dean Draper, the young man who tried to help me with my computer last summer. He is a very nice young man. We came home and invited Marty, the neighbor that shares our roof, to come over for a piece of strawberry pie. She accepted and came after we had eaten our dinner. We had a good visit with her. She once owned a farm and knew about the barn swallows that had made nests above our entry door. We had torn down two nests this afternoon because they were empty and the birds were making a real mess on the porch. She and others have said that they will return to build nests again soon. We will have to probably tear more down before we discourage them--if indeed we can. They are persistent birds. We watched a movie Troublesome Creek in the evening. It was about a farm family in Iowa that has to sell a farm they have owned for more than a hundred years. We went to bed after the movie.

Preparing for a new venture

We arose and walked early so I could go for my orientation with Taco Bell. This took about two hours. Evelyn left me and ran some errands in the car, one of which was to take our blood work results from Texas to our local doctor. She returned and we had lunch at home. We then had some more errands to run in, we thought, Canton. We went there looking for a Home Depot where we had hoped to get the Venetian blinds. It wasn’t there but we went to the lamp factory outlet (what a joke) and bought a floor lamp at a decent price as well as a finial for a table lamp we brought from Ft. Wayne. We went on to a general store called Fred’s to get a step stool they had advertised and for the second time the store didn’t have any. Later at choir practice at church I called the toll free number and left a complaint. We finally went to the Home Depot nearer to Asheville, where I didn’t want to go today. They would not cut the blinds because we hadn’t bought them there. We continued to Asheville to look for a fabric shop but found none. We did go to a Goody’s and bought me a pair of black pants for work. We also went to the Farmer’s Market and bought a bucket of delicious strawberries, some bell peppers of various colors and a delicious cantaloupe. We came home and enjoyed blackened tilapia for dinner and the delicious fruit for dessert. I have to begin retiring earlier or taking naps because I will be going to work at 8:00 AM three days per week. I am not sure that I will be able to remember some of the things I am supposed to do because I have to work at the counter taking orders during some of the day. I may be too old to function well in this role. I will learn within three days of work, I think.

Looking for work

It was cold this morning--50+. We enjoyed the extra sleep. I went to the local Taco Bell at 10 to apply for a job while Evelyn made a pasta salad to take to the women’s club luncheon at Lake Junaluska. I spent more than an hour completing the application and a questionnaire of 80 questions. I really believe it to be a replica of the one I completed at Wal-Mart last summer. I returned home and took Evelyn to the luncheon. She joined the club and learned of its purpose of trying to keep things around the lake in better repair. They also give scholarships for college students. I went to the hotel and worked on the computer. Strangely, the power failed twice during the hour and a half. I didn’t know it would adversely affect the wireless but it did. We came home, rested and then walked the lake. Afterward we went to a nursery to buy a peony and some other flowers to plant. We also went to Lowe’s especially to see if they would cut the Venetian blinds Tom and Stacy gave us last year. We want to put them up in our bedroom. We came home for dinner and an evening of recording items for next year’s taxes. We received about 50 pieces of mail forwarded from Texas today. I don’t know what took it so long but there may be more coming. I called a friend we met in Texas that lives in Milwaukee during the summer and Nancy Springer, a friend from IN called us. She plans to come for a visit in October.
We got up and went to walk. I had to go for my interview at the local Taco Bell at 10. Since she was along, Evelyn waited in the car. I have to buy some special non slip shoes and black pants and spend two hours of orientation. I believe it will be indoctrination into the wonderful world of fast food. I think I will do it tomorrow. We spent some time going to look for a sweatshirt top that Evelyn left somewhere. We didn’t find it. We came home for lunch and prepared the pasta salad for the potluck tonight. I had to do the chopping of the veggies. We also planted the flowers we bought yesterday. I had to dig a hole in this concrete type earth that we have here. We nearly filled the hole with potting soil and hoped that the roots can fight their way through this soil that iw made of steel. We did not have to take Frances to church tonight because she thought she could get back to her home before dark. When we got home, we called Janice who told us of the death of Don’s brother Walt. She also told that they had nearly 5 inches of rain in their part of the Valley. We then called Emily to learn about Ursula’s brain tumor. She is having radiation but will have a review with her doctor on Thursday. Andrew may read A Tale of Two Cities with me so we can discuss it together. We may use e-mail so he can get more practice in writing.

new friends, old friends

We had to wait to walk this morning because Evelyn wanted to go to the women’s Bible study at church. We took her to the church and then went to the local strip mall to distribute the Folkmoot brochures. Olivia was happy and very cooperative. We had a good time together. We also went to some nearby doctor’s offices and the Haywood county hospital. We ran out of them and came home around noon. Evelyn wasn’t there so we had a lunch of leftovers. When she came home we played some protestant poker. Evelyn had not eaten at the church so she had to make lunch for herself. I thought she would have eaten or we would have waited for her. Olivia had made an appointment with a little girl she met at the pool yesterday. She wanted to meet her at the library at 3:30 so we left her around 3. I dropped them off and went to the Folkmoot center to get more brochures. I returned to work on the computer. We left at 5 and went to walk the lake. It was nice and cool but soon became humid and uncomfortable. We came home and had more leftovers for dinner. We also enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies the girls had made in mid afternoon. After dinner we tried to get the fishing rods ready to go fishing but had too much trouble and discovered that the crank on my old reel is missing. Perhaps I can find it in the motor home. We finally came in and watched Brother Bear, a video from the library. We returned the other three this afternoon. Anna called to see if Olivia had a Pokeman card of hers from this afternoon. We thought she might be calling to confirm a swimming date for tomorrow afternoon but we have wait until she calls tomorrow.
This morning I wakened at 5:00 AM worrying about finishing Sunday’s sermon. I got up and worked until 6:30 and finished it. Naturally I didn’t get up until late after returning to bed. I arose to a surprise: Evelyn was frying eggs and bacon. Olivia and I enjoyed them while E ate cereal. Afterward I got a haircut. I then showered for the day because we had made arrangements to meet Annah [sic] and her mother at the recreation center for a swim. We went to Pizza Hut for the noon buffet. We made it to the pool right on time. Annah’s mother was there and the wives talked while I went to do internet work. I could not get on-line at the Kern Cafe and could not find a place to park at the Terrace Hotel, so I just delivered Folkmoot brochures to the Sunset Inn, the Junaluska bookstore, the Sunset Cafe, and Granny’s Chicken Palace. I stopped at Big Lots on the way to the pool and found Rotel for $.25 per can. While there, Annah’s mother invited us to a hamburger cook out-birthday party for Annah tomorrow evening. It is a surprise party so we can’t tell Olivia. We had thought of going fishing but rain came down. Evelyn went to get her nails refreshed but couldn’t get in. She will go again tomorrow morning. Olivia and I watched a DVD about Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora. We thought we never want to return there after last year’s visit, but the content made me want to go back. We won’t though. We had thought Olivia would want to go to the neighbor’s to ride his horse but she didn’t seem interested. After dinner, she changed her mind and we went but no one was home. We stayed home the rest of the evening because of the threatening weather except for another trip to the horse barn at 8:30!
We got up and O. And I took E to get her nails done and went to the library. O played on the computer while I worked on mine. We went back to get E and went to a horse tack ship that was giving out free hamburgers and hot dogs. E bought O a blouse and hat, and found out some information about some stables that give riding lessons. While they were shopping, I went to the nearby Taco Bell which advertised for help. I am supposed to go in for an interview Monday at 10; I will also go to the Food Lion. I washed the car in the afternoon while we waited until time to hunt for Annah’s house. We arrived there right on time and I brought two bottles of wine, thinking we could take one to Franklin tomorrow. Wrong! We all drank more than I thought we would. We had hamburgers and met her father. He used to run in many long distance races and raced against Frank Shorter among other famous names. Her mother was a professional singer who had sung at Carolina Nights, Pheasant Hill and Towne Square. We had a good time but were puzzled as to their spiritual Christianity. We will likely have to entertain them here sometime and learn more about them.
We arose early Sunday, loaded the car and left for Franklin. We bought a breakfast sandwich for O and E. On the way I coasted down a hill and attracted the attention of a state trooper who gave me a ticket for speeding. My court date is July 28. The trooper thinks that the DA will allow me to plead to a lesser fine. We went on and had a wonderful worship. We went on the Clayton, GA and met the Georges family for lunch at a small Bohemian restaurant. We delivered Olivia and then returned to spend the afternoon with Tom and LuAnn Jones. We really enjoy their company, They served us a delicious shrimp casserole and several types of wines. We returned home (Evelyn drove) by 9 and watched some TV before bed. The day was bright and beautiful and we discovered that it had rained here while we were gone. There had been a brief storm while we were having dinner,

Our granddaughter, Olivia, with us

We arose with the alarm and gave Olivia her medicine. I called Sharon about the air conditioner and she said she would be out in the late afternoon. We moved around slowly and finally got to the lake around 10. We found the roses were being cut and got some. I went up to the hotel lobby to see if anyone had turned my hat in to the lost and found but I found it right where I had left it Sunday. Evelyn and I walked the lake while Olivia played with 40 other kids on the playground. We all came home and had lunch before I took O to the horse farm. I returned home and stopped on the way to see if I could find a red peony and a grape holly type tree. I can’t remember the name but I found both. I wanted to take Evelyn with me to get O. but she was too tired. I took the trash so I had room to load the items we wanted to take to the church rummage sale. I also picked up the elderly lady we take to the Bible study. We all left for the study which was really not of much interest to those of us who haven’t been here very long. We took a tank sweeper, a propane grill and several sweaters I don’t wear anymore. Evelyn also took some clothes too. I took Frances home and Evelyn took Olivia to the grocery. I picked them up, we bought some gasoline and came home.
Wednesday brought a threat of rain and cooler temperatures. We had some errands to run so we didn’t get to walk early. On our way, we saw the man who owns the horses in the pasture across from us and Olivia wanted to talk to him. In the end he had invited her to come to his barn near to here and help him with his horses there. We went to the Folkmoot center to get some brochures that we are supposed to place around the Lake Junaluska area. We also mailed our tax return and went to library so I could work and they could find some books and videos to use. We left there and came home for lunch Poor Olivia called the Queen Farm and was told she could not come anymore. The owner had evidently said no. She was heart broken. She cried a long time but finally settled down. We ate lunch and then went to walk the lake. Olivia went swimming in the Junaluska pool while we walked and I worked on the wireless some more. After two hours we returned home and she watched one of the movies from the library: Flubber. We had dinner and she could hardly wait to get to the barn. Evelyn took her and had a hard time finding the place but stayed for nearly two hours. Olivia had a good time but was not given a ride. She did seem satisfied though. They returned home and watched another movie.