This is the front yard of our friend's cabin in the mountains.


This picture has a message that is hard to read, but should be studied and read by our friends who own the cabin in the mountains

These are some onions we left at our friend's cabin in the mountains.


Part of this road has washed out. The pilings of the gurad rails are hanging in midair.


This is the lane to a cabin at the top of the road that is partly washed out.


Peachtree United Methodist Church near Maggie Valley, NC

pictures

This is our deck displaying my new rope light enhancement.


This is a snapshot of the pieces of ice that were on the tarp we covered the gardenias with. It could have killed the gardenias.

This our excellent choir director, Rosalind Kraus, a former professional opera singer, as we rehearse prior to singing in our worship service.


This is the majority of our choir rehearsing.

These pictures have nothing to do with today's blog although we did have choir rehearsal this evening.

Wednesday the temperature at 8:30 was 32. It had no doubt been colder during the night. We got up and had our oatmeal before I took Evelyn to get her nails refilled. I dropped her off and went to the Food Lion next door to get mesquite charcoal (for future meat smoking) and diet Pepsi. I drove on to Clyde to deposit money and talked to a Hispanic family selling strawberries. They were $9 per gallon. I know the price will come down in June but couldn’t buy any regardless because we have some in the refrigerator and will be gone some of this weekend. They will be back next week. I went back to get Evelyn, and we went to Casterline’s cabin to deliver Kahlua and onions. I will try to publish some pictures with the blog. We had intended to eat pizza at Snappy’s restaurant but learned they don’t open until 4 each day. We went back to Waynesville and enjoyed personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. We had a 2 for 1 coupon in our entertainment book. We came home and Evelyn finished some of the laundry she had started this morning. We don’t run the dryer while we are gone so she had just washed. She dried them and started another load. We folded the tarp covering the gardenias and put it away--I hope for the last time this spring. I wanted to go walk the golf course at Junaluska, but Evelyn didn’t want to go. On this gorgeous crisp day, I had to go alone. Let me talk about my game here. One might ask, “how did you do?” That is a difficult question because evaluation is very difficult. How does one rank bad golf games? As soon as one says, “That was the worst round I ever played.”, he remembers another round that was as bad or worse. The score, however, is a measurable mathematical event. So I can say, “I scored higher than ever before.” But I might have played worse games, garnering a lower score because of a friendly bounce here or there. I came home and relaxed with a beer and we finished the delicious corn chowder before going to choir practice. We came home and watched the Cubs/Brewers game. I published this at the hotel, hoping to be able to publish some pictures.

ice and wind

Tuesday was another cold morning. The temperature was 36 when I looked at the thermometer. We were ready for our oatmeal when I heard the lawn care guy drive up with his equipment. I went out and removed the tarp from the gardenias so he could mow the grass in front of them. There was water and ICE on the tarp. We gave him a banana muffin we shouldn’t eat and he shared it with his worker. I put some anchors down for the rope lights to keep them in place and took some mighty putty to the trailer. Evelyn went to the hospital to try to get a mammogram but was given the runaround and never got it. She went to Dr. Lafata and talked with the nurse who said she might call back but didn’t. I went to the neighbor’s to call VSI about our viatical settlement account but I couldn’t talk with anyone. They were supposed to call back but didn’t. I also called Texas Trader and learned that the people who sold the trailer to us had never come to sign the title over. We don’t have a plate for it. I asked that TT mail us another temporary plate, although we probably won’t need it. They will still try to get the previous owners to come in. We had a sandwich for lunch and then took a rest. Around 4 we went to walk the lake for probably the last time. Evelyn hates the walk and will likely opt for paying for a membership at the fitness center near the hospital. It was a bright but cool day. We are amused to hear how strong the wind is--15-20 mph. This is a calm day in Weslaco. We often have winds of 30-35 and think nothing of it. We returned for the sports shows and supper of the delicious corn chowder again. We watched a program about the battle of Saratoga during the Revolutionary War. We won’t get to go that far north on our trip but were interested in the history.

chilly soup weather

Monday was cold and rainy in the morning only cold in the afternoon. We slept late after going to bed early. We went to walk the lake but got only less than halfway around. It was raining but not hard. The problem was that we needed to get Evelyn downtown for the WW weigh-in at 10. We made it and she is still “alive” but not by much. We went to a lawyer’s and learned that we have constructed our by laws wrong. We went to Kathy’s work and got the fern we had left with her last fall. We had forgotten what we had done with it. It was lunch time when we got home and Evelyn made a salmon burrito for lunch after we had eaten our steel cut oatmeal. The burrito was a strange item but fairly good. We then went through our freezer to take inventory. We certainly have a lot of meat and ice cream. We have steaks from last summer and will have to eat them soon. Evelyn spent a couple of hours working on a “use what you have” soup that we had this evening. It was a corn chowder loosely based on a recipe from Paula Deen. It was delicious. We will likely have it for the next two days. I think the high today will be only 60 and there are predictions of frost both tonight and tomorrow night, making it good hot soup weather. We napped a bit in the afternoon so we thought it beneficial to continue our walk around the lake. We went and made it all the way around this time. We returned home and relaxed. Evelyn watched “Dancing with the Stars” while I worked on securing our rope lights on the deck. I called the man in Texas that has a set of Ping golf clubs that he will give away to some school group. I offered him $50 but he wants $200. He says he can deduct $1200 from his taxes if he gives them away, apparently translating to $200 in his pocket. I don’t play well enough to invest that much money. We stayed up late tonight because “Its Monday night. Time for Headlines.”

Welcomed rain

Sunday brought the blessing of rain from our Lord. We went to church a bit early to rehearse with the choir. I will try to publish some pictures. We sang as a choir and then had a congregational meeting to file a motion to incorporate in order to close on a loan from LCEF for the addition to the church. We had planned to go to Snappy’s for pizza and had invited others to go with us but called to find no answering the phone. We just stayed here and ate. Evelyn took a nap and then we went to a community gathering to support the local hospital. They have been rejected by Medicare and many other insurance companies due to malfeasance by former upper echelon staff. Everyone hopes that it will pass and inspection, making it possible for the facility to reopen soon. We then came back and dropped in on Jim and Kathy. It was nice to visit with them, but they just don’t seem as friendly as they were this past summer. We came home and had our usual supper of popcorn. Since it rained most of the day--off and on--we didn’t take a chance on walking around the lake and getting drenched. Perhaps tomorrow, although it is supposed to rain more. I am surprised that the weather forecast was right today.

errands and work for the Lord

Saturday we both wakened earlier than the alarm was set--6:30. I took Evelyn to meet the ladies at the church for their trip to clean the cabin at the church camp. I took the recyclables to the drop off place and went home to get the credit card I had forgotten. I returned to Food Lion to get some things on a list Evelyn had made for me. I also took my prescription to the pharmacy and then went back to the church for the monthly men’s breakfast and Bible study. I then went down town to the Open Door. I took them some clothes and talked with Perry about leading a worship on Saturday night sometime. I planned to return for tonight’s service so I could see how things ran. It turned out that it was just like the ones at noon. I went to the library and took some of our books to their book sale later in the summer. I also went in with my computer to publish some pictures on my blog. It seems that things go much smoother with wifi than with my air card. I returned to Ingall’s grocery and found some French vanilla Cool Whip and some steel cut oatmeal. I also took our trash to a different collection point and came home for awhile. I ate no lunch because of the big breakfast of biscuits and gravy at the church. I thought I might need to take a nap so I hung around the house a while but never got sleepy. I went back to the Terrace Hotel at the lake to publish more pictures on their wifi. When I came out of the hotel, I found it had rained. I came home and found little evidence of it here. Evelyn was here and was making salmon patties for supper. I had wanted to go for pizza, but she was too far along in her cooking. Perhaps we can go tomorrow. We went back to the Open Door for the service and then went to the lake and walked around. We came home and watched the Grand Ole Opry and some other shows. We sing in the choir tomorrow. The church secretary found our pledge card so now I know how much we pledged. I will likely give it all at once because we have the money now and our precious Savior may want the money somewhere else tomorrow. If he does and we don’t pay now, we will still owe our pledge with no money to pay it. This is why it is dangerous to carry debt.

Up Utah Mountain. Normally we can't see this high for the trees.



Here is the well with corrected horseshoes. Now the boiler's "luck" won't run out.

This is a photo up Utah Mountain where we live during the summer in NC.



Here is a view of our street from our house facing north.

More beautiful spring pictures. This is outside of our church from the parking lot.

This is the Boilermaker well that we brought from Texas in our trailer. Click on it to read the placard. I don't know why the horseshoes are upside down. I plan to turn them.

These are pictures of the beautiful spring in the mountains. They are around Lake Junaluska where we walk. We are not here this early in a normal year but here we are in 2008 and loving the spring colors.

More miserable golf

Friday morning we went out to do some selective pruning of our gardenias. We tried to pull off the dead leaves and cut out some of the dead branches. I also mixed some “blue water” (Miracle Grow) to put on the plants and the dogwood tree and some on the fern in our Purdue well. We had lunch, finishing off the delicious gumbo and some of the sausage from Texas. We rested for our big walk on the golf course. We played Junaluska for $10 because it was after 3 and we walked. We met a black man from Canton on the first T and played the front 9 with him. He was nice and quite accomplished at playing. He said he has read books by Jack Nicklaus and other videos. He was a real student of the game. I played my usual terrible game and didn’t choose to play more although the green fees are really for all day. We went to Lowe’s looking for some ferns and hanging geraniums but found none acceptable. We came home and ate dinner. I barbecued two of the small filets we had bought last year. They were large enough for a serving instead of a mega serving like we had last night. We received a letter concerning a viatical settlement we own. We received a check for more than $400 and a bill for more than $900 in the same letter. I tried to call the company to learn what was going on but never talked with anyone. We stayed in tonight. I composed an e-mail to send to the boys and their mothers proposing an itinerary for our revolutionary war trip. We also made a plan for our trip to Roswell next weekend. We reserved a room at a motel near Martin’s Landing. It became more and more cloudy and even sprinkled slightly near the end of our golf game. Rain and storms are predicted for the next couple of days.

sad day but happy night

What a day. Evelyn was up and off to the hair dresser by 7:30. I couldn’t sleep either so I got up too. I had some Grape Nuts and worked on printing some pictures from the computer that she wants. I take a long time because I can’t remember how I did something on the computer for more than an hour. Phil came at 10 and we were off to play at Iron Tree. It was a lovely day but that didn’t help my game much. I just have too many 8s to score under 50. We play the senior Ts and still can’t score well. Phil played a marvelous round in the 80s but not me. We got back here around 3 and had a light turkey sandwich and a couple of beers. Phil had not had lunch but I didn’t want to eat too much because of the barbecue tonight. I finally got the pictures to print for Evelyn and then it was time to go to the dinner. The announced starting time was 5:30 but we wanted to deliver a silent auction dinner to the soap factory. The pastor’s younger daughter has tremendous health problem and is under 2. They have had monumental medical expenses so the soap factory owner is having a silent auction to help raise money. We are offering a Cajun dinner of crawfish etouffee for at least $40. We dropped off the flyer explaining the offer and went on to the barn dance held at Laurel Ridge Country Club. This is a bit more exclusive than the Iron Tree course. The dinner, it turned out, was not until 7 but there were many items for a silent auction there. The idea was to get people there to mill around and bid on the items, the proceeds going to help fund Folkmoot. We bid on several items but bought only one--a necklace for Evelyn. There were door prizes and I won some sort of hook to replace tongs used for outdoor cooking. The meal was catered by one of the more upscale local restaurants called J Arthur’s. I featured barbecue pork, fried chicken, a tossed salad, hush puppies, macaroni salad and ice cream topped with crushed M&Ms for dessert. There was a great bluegrass band--Whitewater Bluegrass Band, that played and led round dances after the meal. I think their fiddler is one of the best I have ever heard. We had a very good time dancing and visiting with friends we are getting to know around Waynesville. Our choir director, Rosalind Kraus, her husband Herb, a young friend of theirs that had just flown in from Germany, and Jo Wooten, a woman from our church that is involved in many volunteer activities around town. We came home and I called Shirley Casterline in IN to see how things are going. They will not be coming here until the end of May. She has my beer and I may suffer debeerdration before she brings it. I have leverage, however, since I am sitting on 7 bottles of Kahlua for her.

Shakespeare's birthday

Wednesday was not the day to walk the lake. We had to wait around the house until Luke McCracken, our landscaper, came to look at our plants. He had planted them last year and was taking his time about coming to look at the nearly if not totally dead ones. He came about 9:30 and talked a while. We agreed to keep some of the plants as an experiment to see if they could recover. It is questionable whether this strain of gardenia is hardy enough for the climate here. He agreed to replace 3 of the dead plants with whatever Evelyn chooses. I then took him to Jim Rogers to find out what we were paying our lawn care guy who quit. He might make a bid on our job. He will be considered at tonight’s meeting. Instead of walking the lake, we walked the front 9 at the Lake Junaluska golf course. I played a lousy game but we got exercise. The hills here are quite challenging. We looked for some hanging plants for the deck but couldn’t find the color Evelyn wanted. We decided to wait until later. We came home and I heated the next to last container of the delicious turkey gumbo Evelyn had made and then rested until supper time. We ate and then I went to choir practice while Evelyn went to the association meeting. The practice went well but we learned that there is a problem with the loan for the church expansion so the ground breaking may be postponed. I came home and joined the meeting already in progress. They had heard two bids for lawn care and were working on the bylaws. They planned to meet again tomorrow night to see if there are other things to add. We can’t go because we have tickets to a benefit barn dance for Folkmoot USA.

Evelyn walking on the new paved path around Lake Junaluska.

new bylaws

Tuesday morning was very foggy. We stalled around until 9 and then went to walk. By the time we were half way around, it was clear. On the way home we stopped again at the landscaper who had planted some gardenias for us last summer. They look completely or mostly dead. He promised to come tomorrow morning to look at them. We came home and got ready for lunch. We had delicious gumbo again. I suggested Evelyn enter a contest with a recipe. I doubt she will. At 1 our two neighbors came to work on rewriting the bylaws for our “association”. What a nuisance! By making everyone own individual property, everyone will have to pay a lawyer $75 for deeds and another undetermined sum to make our bylaws legally binding. It took us more than two yours to make recommendations to the group that will meet tomorrow night. I watched my sports shows at 5 and we ate at 6. After that we walked around our loop twice. We had hoped to see Kathy out smoking but didn’t. We are puzzled at her not contacting us. She has been hurt but has been going to work. She knows we are here. We were very close friends with them last summer and we wonder shat is wrong. We watched some TV--Evelyn “American Idol” and I CSI and NBA playoff basketball. I also spent a great deal of time trying to register an account on line and straighten out my Juno account. We went to bed after the news.

working outside

Monday we got up a bit later and dressed to go walk. We expected it to be a bit colder than it was. We were still a bit tired from walking last evening, so we didn’t try to walk fast. We normally try to increase the speed a bit each day. We finished and went to Wal-Mart to get my medicine. The Texas doctor’s office had called the prescription in on Saturday. We decided it was too near lunch time to eat breakfast, so I just worked on small things while Evelyn made hot turkey sandwiches for lunch. I then showered and we both lay down to rest. We then went outside to work. Evelyn chopped off the dead parts of our monkey grass lining the walk while I tried to reconstruct the “well” we had brought from Weslaco. It is old and the bottom is rotted. I should have mostly rebuilt it but just added one piece of wood to the bottom and renailed the roof. We carried it to the fern I had placed on Saturday. It is in the mulch and proudly proclaims our street to be “Boilermaker Boulevard”. We came in for pancakes and some of the spicey sausage given to us by David, the young man who works security at the hospital in Texas. Evelyn made the pancakes from Bisquick and the syrup from scratch. We then happened to notice the Cubs were on Monday night baseball and were able to watch it. The Cubs won again. Could it be that...? I registered us for the LLL convention July 24 in Lexington. Tom and Janet will be there but we can’t stay in the same hotel. They are in the Hyatt, we are in the Radisson. We went to bed to watch the news and Jay Leno’s Headlines. We still haven’t heard from Stacy or Tom about what date we have tickets for Olivia’s play. We hope to hear by Wednesday.

trouble in the neighborhood

We really slept late this morning because the Presbyterian church didn’t begin until 11. We went and were blessed by a great message about God’s never abandoning us. It was based on II Samuel 12:15-31. If it weren’t for being in the choir at OSLC, I think we would worship there. We came home and Evelyn made rice and added it to the turkey “gumbo” she had made last night. It was really delicious. I asked the last couple I could think of to go to Mars Hill College to hear Rhonda Vincent but couldn’t get anyone to go so we went to the concert led by our choir director, Rosalind. It was composed of older women but was very enjoyable. We saw many people from OSLC and then came home to watch the Cubs beat the Pirates before going to walk around the lake. We made a little better time than previously so we must be getting in better shape. We came home and had our popcorn as usual on Sunday. Frieda, our association president, came to tell us of an emergency meeting to be held Wednesday. Our lawn care person has quit. Some of the other members here have complained too much, and he was finally fed up. He said he didn’t need this trouble. We need to get a new service. She also asked if we could get something together for our by laws (we are on the committee) before Wednesday so we went to the other two homeowners and agreed to meet at our house on Tuesday at 1. We have to have an attorney prepare the new laws to make things binding. I am somewhat disgusted with the in fighting that has been going on. People make things much harder than they need to be. We Came home and watched “Walk the Line”, the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter while I recorded a program called “Cubs Forever”, about the Cubs since they have been on WGN TV. It has been 50 years. We are able to watch different things while in NC because we have two television sets.

great bluegrass

We were up early Saturday so Evelyn could be at the church by 8 to go to Tryon for an LWML meeting. I came home in a light rain and began on small jobs. I took the fern out of the wishing well we brought from Texas and put it in the yard. I also removed the water pan from the smoker and cleaned it of grease residue from the smoking event of yesterday. I had to pour the ashes around our foundation. There are gaps between the ground and the foundation that I fill with ash. I cleaned out the water pan that goes into the smoker because many of the grease drippings get into the water. I don’t ever remember cleaning the pan before. I called Bollingers to see if they might want to go to see Rhonda Vincent at Mars Hill tomorrow. They said they would call back. I had lunch of venison and finished the left over sausage casserole from this past week. I also vacuumed the car. The doctor’s office from TX called and agreed to call the local Wal-Mart with my prescription for hydrochlorothiazide. I finished the egg casserole and had a venison sausage patty for lunch. I cut the venison too thick and couldn’t finish it. It seems that there is a great deal of tallow in a meat that is supposed to be so lean. I cleaned up the dishes that have been gathering for a couple of days and decided to drive to Lowe’s. I wanted some planting soil to put the aloe plants into that I had brought from Texas and a piece of lumber to repair the wishing well that is old and a bit rotted. I tried to charge things at Lowe’s but couldn’t find my credit card. I called Ingalls Grocery to see if someone might have turned it in last night, had I lost it there. Evelyn came home about 3, found the card in the car and took a nap so we might be able to go to the Methodist Church for a bluegrass concert tonight. I transplanted the aloe plants, hoping they will grow. I think we will go to a Presbyterian Church tomorrow morning. I sliced the turkey smoked breast for supper and Evelyn began to cook the carcass for soup. We think it will be cold again and it will be good. I watched some of the Spurs/Suns playoff game until supper was ready. We ate and then went to a benefit concert for some people from Long’s Chapel who are raising money to go on a mission trip to Kenya. There was a local group who sang with tapes and a wonderful blue grass band we had heard before with the Grotrians in Asheville last summer. They are Balsam Range and have picked up a Grammy winning banjo player named Mark Pruitt. They were great and played quite a long time. We met our friends the Bollingers at this concert and sat with them. We came home and sampled some of the soup Evelyn had made with the turkey breast carcass.

smoking, golfing, and dancing

Friday was another gorgeous day, a gift from God. We went for our morning walk and were very comfortable even though somewhat overdressed in jeans. This “dogwood winter” (the cold spell after the dogwood trees bloom) must be over. The locals say that there will be one more: blackberry winter. We had to come home so Evelyn could change into lighter clothing and I changed to a short sleeve shirt and shorts then off to the golf course. They don’t charge for her to ride along. I didn’t play as well today as yesterday but the weather, the scenery and company made it fun. We finished and came home at 3 because I had started the smoker before we walked and wanted to make sure things were not overdone. We had found a deal on country style ribs (my favorite smoking meat) last week and had bought a turkey breast and 4 rock Cornish hens and smoked them all at once. They looked perfect when we took them off. We packaged them to freeze and went to Wal-Mart to get some diapers for Evelyn to donate to charity tomorrow morning and ask for medicine for me. Unfortunately my prescription had expired. We also went to Lowes to get some fertilizer and charcoal since I had used all of mine in the smoking process. I tried once again to contact Kara about work at Taco Bell but didn’t. We returned home for a snack lunch/supper before resting. We then went to the ballroom dance at the armory and had a good time dancing although the people we wanted to visit with weren’t there. We returned home and got ready for Evelyn’s LWML trip tomorrow.

planting a church

I was up and ready for Barry to arrive. He was on time and off we went to Asheville. We were going to a workshop on church planting. We arrived at the same time as pastor Crume and Gene Folkers. I had not called him because I thought he had more riding with him and Barry had to leave at 3 but the workshop was over at 5. We were served a lunch of cold meat and I ate with a young girl from our church. She had recently joined and we had just been back for one Sunday. Barry and I left at 3 and on the way home he made clear that he would be unable to use me to fill his pulpit this summer. I understand because I have been released by the LCMS and he might be reprimanded if he used me. He brought me home and we parted planning to meet for lunch sometime in the future. Evelyn and I jumped into the car and went to Staples to buy a new GPS system. I bought one and she bought a CD rack for the kitchen. We went downtown to deliver an onion to Laurie and inquire about our payment for a comforter we had left with a consignment shop for sale. We then went to walk the lake and came home for supper of the remaining venison burgers. I also went to Jim’s to pay our association dues for the rest of the year. We then came home and watched John Wayne’s final film, “The Shootist”.

Wonderful day for golf

It was cold again and the prediction for tonight is the same: 28. It was a glorious day--65, clear, windless--just right for golf. We got up and Evelyn made an egg and sausage casserole for breakfast after which we walked around the lake. We weren’t as fast as yesterday because it had not been even 24 hours since our last tour. We were going to go downtown Waynesville but didn’t have time to get to the golf course by 12:50, the time I was to meet Phil. I had worn a long sleeved shirt and jeans to walk the lake but took them off and replaced them with a short sleeve sweater and shorts. Evelyn took me to Iron Tree and then left to see if she could get an appointment to have a haircut in Clyde. Phil and I took our cart and off we went. The back 9 is closed down for reconstruction so we played the front 9 twice (the geezer rate is $20 for 18). I began very badly but improved vastly after the first hole 8 and finished the 18 with 103. I was very satisfied. One blessing I had on the course was that, while sitting in our cart, a drive from the next T came through the front of the cart and hit me in the leg. It really hurt but I thank Jesus that it didn't hit me in the head or chest. We were both sure that the man didn't even know that I had been hit and we didn't tell him. Phil has a sick dog and had to get home so he wouldn’t even come in for a beer. We had a hot ham and cheese sandwich before going to choir practice. One of the members brought an entertainment book I had bought so we have discount coupons for some things in the area. We came home and watched TV. I called David, the security guard at the hospital in Texas who gave us the venison, and thanked him, telling how we had served some of it yesterday. I then called Direct TV and had our local channels changed from Texas to North Carolina on the main receiver. I also complained about the poor reception we were getting in Texas and was promised a $5 reduction in our bill for 3 months. I told the young man that was quite lame. I went to bed a bit early because I have to get up earlier tomorrow to go to Asheville.

A beautiful, crisp day

It was cold last night. It was a good thing we wrapped the tree in a tarp. We didn’t sleep as late because we had things to do before our friends arrived for lunch. I vacuumed the floor while Evelyn set the table and prepared the venison sausage and boudin. I went outside, set up the grill and barbecued the venison patties David had given us. Venison is quite dry and I had to watch carefully to avoid burning them. It turned out that we had 6 patties rather than the 4 I thought were in the packages. We enjoyed the appetizers and the meal. We drank plenty of wine too. I worked out a deal to trade Tom our Q-grill for a covered grill he has. Ours folds to a thinness that will fit into their trailer compartment and his has a closing top that I like when cooking. We won’t make the trade until May when they return from their cruise to Greece. He also got our Direct TV in the living room to work. I had it hooked up wrong. This saved me $40 because the promised techs had never come to hook it up. Tom and LuAnn stayed until 3 and then we cleaned up the kitchen and Evelyn rested. We went to walk around the lake. It was crisp and brisk but comfortable when the clouds passed from the sun. We drove up to the Iron Tree Golf Course to see if it was open. It was so I called Phil tonight and made a date to meet him tomorrow afternoon to play. We went to an association meeting and learned about our being deeded our property so we will pay individual taxes from now on instead of paying as a group. We need to rewrite our bylaws and I volunteered to work on the committee to get things started. I figure if we are to have any say in the status of the association, we had better do it while we are here. We came home, had a light snack for supper and watched TV until bedtime.

light snow in the mountains

Evelyn didn’t sleep well last night so I let her sleep a bit later. We arose to absolutely no snow that was predicted. We left for the shopping plaza near us so I could talk with the Satellite people again. They said no one was available Friday but would send someone tomorrow--even this afternoon if they could get someone. Evelyn went to have her fingernails filled so I went downtown to deliver the soaps, etc. we collected on our trip north to the Open Door soup kitchen. The directors were not there but I left a note saying we would be available to volunteer again this summer. I went to see the Casterline’s daughter, Laurie, to see if she had any eggs. I took a dozen home and later in the day tried to take her an onion but she was gone for the day. I went to Ingalls grocery to get some potato salad for tomorrow and then returned to get Evelyn. We came home for a light lunch and a nap. We had planned to walk but didn’t because snow flurries had begun and was like a light rain. We didn’t want to be soaked. When we wakened, we were met with another flurry. We covered the dogwood tree in our front yard and then went to K-Mart to get some jeans on sale since I had not brought as many from Texas as I had thought. We stopped at another grocery to see if they had French Vanilla Cool Whip (they didn’t) and then went to walk a while. We were less than half way around when the snow began again so we retraced our steps. We went to Maggie Valley to use a $7 coupon at Snappy’s restaurant. We shared Italian chicken and a salad that was delicious. We came home and I tried in vain for the 4th time to download Juno to my computer. My files had become corrupted, and I was told to uninstall then reinstall. I did the first part but can’t do the second. As a result, I can’t access my address book. I can’t send any message to anyone unless they send me one so I can get their e-mail. For example, we want to thank Stacy for the T-shirts she sent on our trip and tell her how much we missed her but can’t without her address. I have written some nasty stuff to Juno tech support but, of course, will get nowhere with them.

Back in the groove

We went to Our Savior Lutheran Church to worship today. We were blessed by the message and by the many people who warmly welcomed us back. It was not as cold as expected, but we were dressed warmly. The choir sang as usual and I would have joined them (despite not knowing the song) but was made to stay in the sanctuary. We stopped at Wal Mart on the way home to get some printer ink and an electric outlet splitter so I could plug in my sleep machine, the clock and the lamp near my bed. Evelyn pan fried the steaks we had put out to thaw, I sliced a large onion, sliced mushrooms, halved a potato and we had lunch. We also enjoyed the leftover cobbler from last night. Evelyn rested a bit and I tried to get our Juno account to work, following the instructions I had received. I failed. We got dressed in warm clothing and walked around Lake Junaluska for the first time this season. It was strange to see the many houses that are concealed by the many leafy trees in the summer. We made many calls to people since it weekend days. We also went up to Casterline’s cabin to see if there is room out of their way to park our trailer. There was plenty. We will take the trailer up sometime next week. While there we noticed just a sprinkling of snow flakes. Snow is predicted for this area tonight and tomorrow. Of course it was predicted for Saturday and Sunday too but never happened. We made a plan to have Tom and LuAnn for lunch Tuesday, and I will go to Asheville with Barry Conover on Thursday while Evelyn goes to a Bible study. We tried to get someone to come over for popcorn this evening but couldn’t. We got to talk with Joe Winston for a while, learning that Bonny is in Maryland with some of their many grandchildren. I plan to harass the people at the Satellite/Cellular store tomorrow to see if they can install the Direct TV. We have a busy week planned.

Marriage Encounter

We slept late again Saturday but not until 10. We had to get some groceries and went to the local Food Lion. We had agreed to take a dessert to the spiral and had to get some ingredients. We also needed milk and eggs plus some other things. We found Pepsi on special and bought some of that too. I went to the place where we bought the TV set two years ago to see if someone would come to get our Direct TV to work. One guy said he would call and send someone in the afternoon. No one ever did either. We shared a can of soup for lunch, anticipating a large meal this evening. After cleaning the kitchen, we took a nap. I don’t know why I am so tired. I will use my sleep machine tonight and see if that helps. We wakened and got ready to meet another couple from Marriage Encounter at church and drive them to the spiral in Hendersonville. They are both elderly and in marginal health so it was a blessing for them that I would drive. We arrived early at the home of the people we will rent the motor home from in July. They hosted the meal after we did the 10/10 sharing. They had two kinds of “chili”, one with chicken and one without. One couple brought Mexican cornbread muffins, another brought a layered salad and we brought blueberry/pineapple cobbler with ice cream. We didn’t think much of the chili but it was ok. We were home by 9 and I tried to get the tech support from Direct TV to fix our problem. They couldn’t and wanted to sign me up for an expensive tech support program. I will try the local guys instead. Spring is just beginning here. We were supposed to have temperature in the 40s and snow but nothing has happened yet. In fact it has been very temperate all day. Our dogwood tree is just beginning to bud as are many other trees. We pray there is not another late freeze like the one that killed the apple crop last year.

unloading the trailer

We slept until 10 this morning. We were really tired from all that riding. I had called the water department last night and left a message asking that they turn the water on early this morning and they did. We had to wait to shower because the water heater was off, but it heated by the time we were ready to eat. The first thing I had done last night was put the meat we had brought frozen solid from the hotel. It was still hard. It was nearly 11:30 so we decided to skip breakfast and eat my leftover catfish for lunch. There was a lot of it, and we were both stuffed. I caught the mail babe and asked her to bring the mail she had collected tomorrow. We worked all afternoon unloading the trailer. We found many things we thought had been forgotten or misplaced. I finally got to the onions in the front of the trailer and, as I feared, they had not been ventilated enough and some had begun to spoil. We worked at cleaning them but didn’t finish. We will dip them in Clorox to kill any mold that might have developed and then wrap them in panty hose to keep them from each other. It began to rain tonight and there is a prediction of snow and 40 degree temperatures for Sunday. We should have returned to TX from AL where it is still warm. We will have to tough it out in this weather. We plan to go to a marriage encounter “spiral” tomorrow evening so we have to go to the grocery to get something to make into dessert for the meal before the spiral. I called another local couple and we will drive or follow them at 3:00 tomorrow. I also called Shirley Casterline and asked to park our trailer at their cabin for the summer. She thinks there is room. Evelyn talked with the Beelis for a while and I tried to find the phone number to talk to Juno about the problem with corrupt files. I also have to call Direct TV again. I called last night and they fixed the problem with our bedroom receiver, but, when I hooked the one up in the living room, I get no picture. I have to call them when we have more minutes on our cell phone.

A long travel mistake

The Juno account will still not function. I have to go into Internet Explorer and can’t download my e-mail to my account. I will have to get some technical support. We ate the cereal provided by the motel and then left by 9:30. We drove to the GA welcome center to get a map and decided to go around south of Atlanta to avoid the traffic. We did and were sorry. First we hit a traffic jam on a two lane road due to an accident. One victim was taken away by helicopter. We had at least a half hour delay but did pray for the victims even though we never really saw him/her. We went into Griffith and stopped at the worst Church’s Chicken restaurant on the face of the planet. The one in Weslaco is elegant by comparison. We continued on and on until reaching Winder, GA. I spotted a Dairy Queen in the distance and drove there for a Tin Roof Blizzard for supper. Unfortunately, while looking down the road I missed our highway turn. After finishing our Blizzard we drove 5 miles out of the way and back to continue on the correct path. We continued on and on finally reaching Gainesville. There we lost track of the highway again and had to ask at a fire department for directions. We got excellent ones and were on the way again. It was a blessing that DST had started because it was just dark when we reached Franklin. We drove on and arrived at our home at 9:30. We were tired but glad to have arrived. For some reason we began to unload some things we needed in the morning and worked until midnight, accomplishing much.

computer problems

Today was pack up day. The list of charges was under our door, and I immediately went to the desk to dispute some. The room charges were $186 per night, but we had been quoted $169. The desk clerk checked and found the confirmation with that number and reduced the charges. I also told her that we had been comped the valet parking and she removed them. I was quite impressed with the fairness and promptness of the service. The family came over for cereal and goodbyes. They left shortly after 10 to make sure they caught their flight. We spent more than an hour carrying things to the car and the trailer. We finished about 11:30 and Evelyn had to lie down for a while. She then went to the exercise room to walk while I talked with the woman in charge of the concierge services. I told her of the trouble in getting accurate information on the telephone: no refrigerators in the room, no eating or cooking in the room, not ever receiving the information about the hotel although promised to us, etc. She really appreciated the information. I then went to get
Evelyn and the cooler full of venison, crawfish and boudin that was being kept in the freezer for us. We packed it and then hooked up the trailer, leaving the hotel around 1:30. We drove to a nearby restaurant named Randy’s and had lunch of shrimp and Pacific whitefish. It was delicious. We then drove through Fairhope and on to I-10 for a short distance, took U.S. 59 to I-65 and on to Montgomery for the night. We found a very nice, spacious EconoLodge there. We heated a pork chop from yesterday’s lunch at Lambert’s. We also drove around to look for a book for Evelyn to read but found no place and returned to watch “You, Me, and DuPree before retiring. Our last leg is tomorrow. Before retiring I tried to publis the blog but something is wrong with my Juno account. The young man at the motel desk tried to help me but couldn't. I will have to take it to some computer repair man.

busy day

We slept late again and then showered. By this time it was 10. We called and asked them to bring the milk and come here for breakfast. Before they came Evelyn went to the spa to walk. When they came, we all shared breakfast of more of the cold cereal. We are running out and may break even if they eat more tomorrow. Evelyn returned and ate while I consolidated the macaroni, cereal and rice crispy bars into one box. Tom worked some on work projects because someone wanted help. We thought he and Peter would go sailing so I walked to the golf course to hit some balls. It was over half a mile so I got a walking workout too. I borrowed some clubs and went to the driving range. When I arrived, I noticed the clubs were for left handed golfers. I drove the cart back and exchanged them. I returned and hit a few drives (40% were good) and some chips (30% were good). For some reason this activity makes me tired, especially my hands. I am not used to gripping the clubs for that long. I walked back to the hotel and went looking for the others. They were just coming to get me to drive to Fairhope. We piled into the PT Cruiser and off we went. We walked down the main street, looking at shops. By now it was 2:30 so people were hungry. We went to a small sandwich shop for lunch. We drove back to the hotel for the canon ceremony and the high tea. The adults enjoyed both events. Olivia came at the end and had some coffee and a cookie. Evelyn and I came to our room while they went to theirs. We rested and then called them to come over for snacks and games. Olivia came and tore the bed apart looking for the “blanket” she had lost two days ago. She was grieved at not being able to find it and left to be alone. Tom and Peter came, and we ate and drank some. When Olivia didn’t return in a timely manner, Tom and Evelyn went looking for her. She finally returned so Evelyn called off the valet crew who were ready to lock down the resort. She went to their room while the rest of us played Yahtzee. We stopped at 10 and they went to their room. We went to ours but left and went to the bar to hear the music. We liked it and called Tom to come down. We all listened to the pianist until 11 and then went to bed. We did dance three or four numbers and had a great time.

Fairhope and high tea

Tom and Olivia in front of one of the many beautiful flower displays in Fairhope


Oivia talking with an naturalist artist working at balancing natural items


Tom and Evelyn at high tea which included macadamia nut cookies and scones


The little foreign sweethearts who serve the tea. They are from Ukraine, Russia and Fairhope

Redneck Riviera

The canon ceremony held at 4 each afternoon. I got the smoke. It is difficult to take a level picture while plugging the ears with fingers!


Evelyn reading while seated on our ground floor balcony


Grandma, Pop Pop, and Peter ready to start the beautiful sunny day.


A picture of a beautiful pond and fountains at the "Riviera


Picture of us wearing the "Redneck Riviera" shirts Stacy made for all 11 of us who intended to come. Only 5 of us made it.

Fun at the resort

The Georges in the bike surrey and a bicycle.


Peter with two national soccer players from Jamaica. The left one is famous there: Marvin Stewardson.


Olivia sewing a cloth of shoe mitts to replace her sleeping blanket


Our group at Lambert's restaurant, the Home of Throwed Rolls

We awoke after 8 because we were both up for a while during the night. We showered and then called the Georges and took breakfast to their room. We had taken orders for cereal and muffins. We bought some milk and ate in their room. We made a plan for the day. First Tom and Peter rode the bike cart together while Olivia rode an independent one. Then Evelyn and Olivia played croquette. I went and made reservations for an extra day. Then we came to our room so Tom could use my computer to download music for Peter and show us some pictures of the Fiddler on the Roof rehearsal. We really enjoyed them because we saw Olivia in them. We then drove to Foley for lunch at Lambert’s, “Home of Throwed Rolls”. We wanted to treat them to that restaurant, but I guess we liked it better than they did. Tom had accidentally smacked himself in the head while putting the hatch down on the PT Cruiser so he was a bit uncomfortable. We all had a different entree and took some home in a carry out box. Evelyn and I took home a pork chop and catfish with some other sides. Tom and Olivia went to the Gulf again while Evelyn, Peter and I came back to the hotel. We played a game of croquette and then took naps. We met again around 6 and Peter and I putted on the green for a while before returning to the room for MacNcheese. We were still full from lunch so we only snacked. We watched a bit of “My Dad is Better than Your Dad” and then went to a small lobby to play cards until the NCAA men’s basketball game came on. Tom called at 9:30 and drove back from their building to take Peter back for the night. We will see them in the morning.

Marriot Grand Hotel

This is the bike cart. This thing is heavy and hard to peddle!


Tom and Peter preparing to go swimming.


A picture of the three fountains in the pond at the Grand Hotel.

Worship and the Resort

On bicycles following the march to the canon.



This the lecture about the canon before the firing.


We shared breakfast together this morning in our room. We have many types of cereal in plastic bowls. Olivia slept with us in our room so she dressed here. We found the LCMS church in Fairhope and attended the highest liturgical mass in the Lutheran church I have ever attended. The pastor chanted everything but the scriptures and the sermon. The gospel was read from a gold covered Bible in the center aisle. He knelt when he consecrated the elements and served the host to each person making the sign of the cross with it. Tom said at least it was not in Latin. I was uplifted and blessed by it but wouldn’t want to have that every Sunday. We were also blessed by how well behaved the kids were at church. They seemed to be in an attitude of worship much of the time. We returned to the resort and had a sandwich by the pool. The kids swam some, and then, after changing, Tom took Olivia to the gulf of Mexico to play on the beach. We have one outside our room on the Mobile Bay but she wanted to go to a bigger beach that had more people. Peter, Evelyn and I took advantage of the bicycles for use and rode to the golf course to see how we could hit balls. The driving range was closed today but should open tomorrow. An attendant said we could borrow some clubs to use. We also went to the firing of the canon. Each day at 4 a group marches around the grounds and goes to a canon for a lecture on the Grand Hotel's part in the civil war and a canon firing. We rode back and traded our three bicycles for a bicycle cart. Two people peddle this one and it is hard work. Evelyn and I peddled some and then Peter and I did. We really wore ourselves out. Peter went to their room, changed into his swim suit and went swimming. The water was not warm enough for us. We went to our room and he to his to change. We waited for him to come to play some cards until Tom and Olivia returned. He didn’t show up so Evelyn went to his room and brought him back. We never did play any games together because he turned on the TV while Evelyn made some MacNcheese in our slow cooker. Tom and Olivia came back (by this time it was 8), and we walked Peter to their room and returned to ours. I hope we get to play some games with the kids because we enjoy playing with them. We had a good time with Peter. It is interesting to hear how much he knows about so many different things. We will try to hit some golf balls and play croquette tomorrow. We may also go to Foley tomorrow to have our “Throwed Rolls” dinner.

Arrival of some of the family

We slept a bit late and then I went to the restaurant to get some milk for Evelyn’s cereal. I heated my boudin in the slow cooker for my breakfast. We looked around and found the spa. Evelyn walked on a treadmill while I walked back to the room to get my jacket. It was a cool day and had stormed and rained during the night and until mid morning. I went back and took Evelyn to the poolside restaurant where we ordered a Cajun chicken wrap to share. We took it back to the room so we could have some of our drinks, a beer for me and diet Pepsi for Evelyn. We enjoyed it and were full. We waited for Tom and Stacy for a while and Evelyn drifted off to sleep. I went to the trailer and found her black sweatshirt. I also went to alert the gate that the family would be coming. On my way, I saw our car being driven out of the lot. I stopped the valet driver and made him realize he had made a mistake. I only wanted to know where it was being relocated. I returned and had a series of phone conversations with Tom who was lost in finding the hotel. He finally arrived but without Stacy. She had misplaced her driver license and couldn’t clear security to get on the plane. We went to the desk to check in while Evelyn and Olivia went to enjoy the afternoon high tea. Peter and Tom went to their room to pack in while Olivia came with us. She walked around on the beach until Tom and Peter came. We decided to drive to Fairhope for dinner at Gambino’s, an Italian restaurant recommended by Connie at the Alabama welcome center. We had hoped Stacy could fly to Mobile tomorrow but learned it would cost $847. After searching for deals and finding one for $355, Stacy decided not to come because of the inconvenient flight times. We will miss her these next days but will see her when we go to Atlanta to see Tom and Olivia in a play at their church. They will be in Fiddler on the Roof at the end of April.

arrival at the Marriot Grand Hotel

Here is the newest astronaut after a space walk.

This is a space shuttle sleeping bag. In weightless space, one can sleep anywhere in any position if he is secured somehow.

This is one of the engines that powered one of the space shuttles. It was tested at the Stennis center.
We were wakened at 7 and began packing. We went to the breakfast room but ate our cereal and boudin instead of their waffles. We were able to leave by 9, an hour earlier than I had expected. We drove east without any trouble. I was hoping we would be caught by some rain but weren’t. We stopped at the Mississippi welcome center for lunch. We ate some of the things we had brought in our cooler. We finished the Texas caviar and had a somewhat soggy ham and cheese sandwich. The blessing was that we had not put the bread into the cooler therefore the somewhat. We also decided to take the tour of the John C. Stennis Space Test Center. Here is where the engines for the space shuttle are tested here. We were taken by bus to the grounds because it is an isolated site because of the loud noise during the tests. There was a very impressive museum too. We spent about 45 minutes there but could have spent another hour. We pressed on and arrived at the Marriot Grand Hotel around 5:30. It was amazing to see that there were no places for us to park our car. There are some conventions here, I guess. It is an extremely service oriented place and the man in charge of parking gave us free valet parking because we had no place to park. We drove back up the road a couple of miles and shared a dinner of shrimp and flounder at a seafood restaurant. It was delicious and much less expensive than the hotel. The menu ranged from 14.95 to 49.95 for entrees. No wonder Emily could not afford to bring her family. The sad truth is that, although she was told otherwise, there is a refrigerator in our room and a coffee maker. We brought boxes of food in that Evelyn had bought at Sam’s Club and even brought a slow cooker that we plan to use sometimes. We are really disappointed that the Beelis didn’t come but plan to have a great time with the Georges. Everything here is very plush.

final day in Acadiana

We were up earlier than I wanted, but Evelyn was finished sleeping. We dressed and went to the sorry breakfast offered by this motel. The only things edible were toaster waffles and bagels. We did enjoy the orange juice. We took a walk to a grocery--about a mile and a half round trip and then went to get our friend Roland Simon. We took him to a small cafe in Maurice for some Cajun seafood. Evelyn and I shared a crawfish platter featuring etouffee, fried crawfish, boulette, crawfish au gratin, bisque, stuffed bell pepper and a bowl of seafood gumbo. It was less expensive and tastier than the one we had last night, but there was no dancing. We drove from there to New Iberia to a K-Mart so I could buy some tennis shoes on sale. I left mine in Texas. I bought two pairs and we got some after shave, toothpaste, and Pepsi for Evelyn. We dropped Simon and went to a place that sold dry ice. We learned it would not last much longer than the regular ice so we didn’t buy any. We will buy some crawfish tails and boudin that is already frozen, continuing to pack it in ice as we travel. It will be messier but we would have to look for places that sell dry ice every two days. There are few places that sell dry ice and sometimes are hard to find. We accidentally found this one. We returned to the motel and rested until time to get some of the frozen food. We picked up some boudin and crawfish tails and brought it back to the motel to put into the cooler. We then went to a restaurant new to us--the Lafayette--and had a spinach salad and a crawfish enchilada. Evelyn loved them but I thought they were just OK. We went on to Randols to dance for a couple of hours. We met a real Cajun women (they are all over the place J) who is a tour guide sometimes. We got some gasoline on the way home. We talked to a couple from Winnipeg who followed us to our motel. They were looking for a place and decided to stay at the Econolodge.

Renewing friendships

Wednesday we slept until 8. We had both wakened during the night but were able to go back to sleep. We ate some cereal blended with a small amount of ice cream we had brought with us. It had melted a bit and was just right for the raisin bran. We packed up and I searched for a metal “bellman” to help us carry our many items to the car. We are carrying two coolers with us: one with drinks and one with venison. We loaded up and drove to Lafayette to meet Betty and Jimmy Trahan for lunch at Dwyer’s Cafeteria. We stopped at an Econolodge we had stayed at last fall and got a room. We also dropped the trailer so we wouldn’t have to drag it downtown. We had our favorite meal of fried catfish, rice dressing, sweet potatoes, corn bread muffin and bread pudding. For 6.95 we don’t see how they can serve so much. We shared the meal and were quite satisfied. We talked with our friends for more than an hour and then went to see what had happened to our other Cajun buddy, Roland Simon. We had tried to call him several times the past week but had no answer. He was there but had changed his telephone number. We made a plan to meet him for lunch tomorrow and then go to a K-Mart. Those are difficult to find anymore. We came back to the motel and napped during the afternoon before going to Mulate’s in Breaux Bridge for dinner and dancing. We shared a crawfish etouffee/fried crawfish platter and danced many times. We came home around 9. Traveling is exhausting!




Janice Waters, her granddaughter Morgan, and Evelyn in front of their flowers outside their home.


Don Waters and his son Bruce at Don's home after our seafood botana dinner on Sunday. They are natives of the Valley, good friends but not related to us.

On the way north.

Tuesday we got up at 7 but didn’t leave until 9:30. We had to pack some of the last minute items: computer, toiletries, etc. and close up the house by turning off the water, setting off some insect bombs and turning off the electricity. We hope we remembered everything. We had a good trip north, stopping for breakfast at McDonald’s to get Evelyn a parfait. We were blessed to see the earth waking from the winter hibernation. There were beautiful blooms on the cacti and blue bonnets in the medians. It was quite warm all day so we thank God for the air conditioning in the car. We got to Houston at 4:10 and made it though by 5:10. Praise God. We stopped in Baytown at a Red Lobster for our second meal. We drove on to Orange where gas was only $3.14 at a Shell station. Our 5% discount made it around $3.00. I knew gas would be much higher the farther north we drove. I saw one sign of $3.49. That is something we aren’t used to in the Valley. We drove on until 8 because I made a mistake in where the casino hotel was. We unpacked our things, got ice for the coolers, walked to the casino and looked around. We needed to walk some because Evelyn’s back hurt from riding all day. She was in bed by 9:15 and asleep by 10. I followed after the news.

Goodbye to dear friends

Monday was hot and quiet. Evelyn went to exercise, and I was quickly off to change oil. I went to Georges and had a nice visit while working. I stopped at Juan’s, and he agreed to work on repacking the bearings as soon as I could get the trailer there. I took it back and he said to return at 2 to get it. I went home and we continued to organize bits and pieces to pack. I also brought more things in from outdoors for protection against things becoming missiles during a hurricane. We had lunch of some leftover fish from yesterday’s botana. It was not very good. Evelyn took a nap after cleaning more of the things out of the cupboards. I went back and got the trailer, but thought, as I was going, that the license expired on the trailer today. I called the Texas Trader and was met at a local Valero station with a temporary plate. They will mail the regular one to NC. I have been arrested twice before for an expired license on a trailer and didn’t want to go through that again. Janice called and wanted to bring some pictures for us. We talked while I watched the Cubs season opener. I went to Crouches and took him to the hall to get the ice cream from the freezer. I learned he will have a large melanoma spot removed from his head tomorrow morning. I then unhooked the trailer so we could go to Joe and Bonny’s for supper. We took many items to them that were opened but not worth taking with us. We had spaghetti and some Irish Creme floats for dessert. They are such lovely friends, and we always miss them during the summer. They keep saying they might come to NC if he can get away from the engineering projects for a length of time. We came home to a quiet house because I had taken the Direct TV receiver to the trailer before we left for supper. We will sleep well tonight--I hope. It will be a long drive tomorrow.