More volunteering

After worship Sunday, we came home for lunch.  I had promised Evelyn that I didn’t want her to have to prepare lunch after church, but she wanted to have some precooked food.  We rested until 5:30 when we went to Stuart Auditorium to take tickets for Folkmoot.  This was the candlelight closing that wraps up the Folkmoot for the year.  The dancers leave Waynesville tomorrow.  I was able to take a picture for a couple from Mexico on her smart phone and asked her to send it to me, but it never arrived even though I saw her send it.  One group added this year was a group of local Cherokee indians who did some dances.  It was one of the best groups of the night.  The group included 2 young girls who saw themselves on the jumbo screens and entertained the crowd by waving at themselves.  We left after the performances terminated and came home.  I made popcorn and we watched TV until 11.

Monday we went to exercise late, worked our machines, and went to part of the Sumba gold class at 11.  We didn’t stay for the full 45 minutes.  From there we went for our weekly trip to the grocery.  We needed some few items but bought twice as much.  We had lunch on our deck.  We have been able to eat out of doors several times since it has been somewhat cooler due to the excessive rain this year.  We rested a bit and then Evelyn made a cake she wanted to serve to our group after we eat out together at a local restaurant.  I went to the church to help with the VBS planning.  The leader brought a baked spaghetti dish in her crock pot for our dinner.  We moved some tables and tried to mock up a mountain using ladders to fit the theme, “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”  While I was gone, Evelyn put the product to baking and went to walk with Joetta.  While walking, they smelled the cake burning.  It wasn’t bad, but she decided to not serve it.  She was not to blame but can’t stand to serve anything less than perfect.  We watched 2 episodes of Major Crimes and went to bed.

Tuesday we went to Silver Sneakers at 9, came home to shower at 10, and went to the hospital for lunch and our volunteer work.  I had a slow day except for 2 events. First thing I noticed was that the cart was nearly out of gas.  I thought the center had a tank somewhere, but I had to take my car to Clyde to fill the plastic gas can.  I had to spend a lot of time looking for a working pump.  I decided to give myself half a gallon for using my car and used the rest of the $25 I had been given and took the change and receipt back to the center.  When I tried to pour the fuel into the cart, I couldn’t get the fuel to come though the short nozzle.  The manager had to come to help me figure out what to do.  It took both of us to lift the can and fill the tank.  Next, a man from Asheville came to visit his sister in hospice and asked me where it was.  I didn’t know but asked some workers inside the Fitness center.  They directed me and I went with him in his car to find it in another building.  We had to drive around asking receptionists in other offices but finally found it.  He returned me to the center so I could continue waiting for people to transport.  To pass the time, I take a small portable radio and listen to Rush Limbaugh until 3.  Then I finished a book by Louis L’Amour that I had started nearly a month ago.  I picked up Evelyn a bit late and brought her to get our car.  This week the director wanted me to leave the cart in front so he could use it for an evening meeting.  We came home to rest a short time before taking Marty and Joetta to Hurley’s restaurant for dinner.  We shared a meal and met with the others from Cypress Meadows.  We came home, and Evelyn worked on her Bible study for Thursday.

An entire day with friends

We were up and off to Asheville around 9:30.  I had some recyclables to take on our way to meet Gary, Linda, Jimmy and Janet at Frankie Bones.  We all had coupons for BOGO coupons for their Saturday brunch.  Everyone seemed to like their choices.  I had crawfish cakes and Evelyn had pork fritter.  We left and went to Belk to look for a top for Evelyn.  She found one.  We went on to Joanne’s Fabric to scout for some material Olivia can use to make a dress if she comes to help with our VBS.  We went to look at garden gates that we don’t need again.  I don’t know what gets into her with some of her ideas.  We came home and rested for half an hour before going to Gary and Linda’s to join up with Jimmy and Janet again for supper.  We had some good appetizers and a great salad.  Jimmy and Janet made some homemade ice cream that was a clone of Wendy’s smoothie.  All the food for today was delicious.  We had a great time after dinner visiting, reminiscing, and joking.  We don’t sing as a choir in church tomorrow, so we will be able to be blessed that we can stay for the entire Bible class.

More volunteering

Wednesday we went to work out on the machines.  I don’t like the routine that is led in the class, so we just stick to the machines.  We took a nap in the afternoon knowing we would be up late tonight.  We went to choir and sang while it poured down outside.  I really enjoy the choir rehearsal even though I don’t like going.  I have to miss Special Report, my favorite news show on Fox, but do enjoy the people in the choir and the director.  She is quite talented as both a singer and director and tries to keep things light and humorous.  She has the gift of being complimentary and patient with us while getting us to do the dynamics correctly.  We came home to relax a while, left to get some chewy granola bars for the VBS, and went on to the Folkmoot center where we worked in the kitchen serving food and cleaning pans, etc.  It was not as much fun as we expected, but the dancers all came together and danced while the host country, Martinique, played Caribbean music.  Theirs is very sensual, and the girls from other countries were especially involved with some pretty lewd movements as they danced.  We were able to do an old guy’s version of the salsa but couldn’t keep up.  We stayed until 1 AM and then came home even though not everything was cleaned up.  I t happened that their were too many volunteers there anyway.  One couple was working their 5th late nighter.

Thursday we slept until nearly 10.   I went outside to work in the shade with Doris.  She has wanted to show us how to cut “suckers” out of our tomato plants so the plant energy can go to producing fruit.  It didn’t take long but was informative.  We have grown tomatoes for years without ever completing this task.  We normally had some wonderful crops, so I wonder about the efficacy of the project.  I wanted to get rid of some bush trimmings and get some dirt, so I drove up Crabtree Road to a site where someone is dumping dirt.  I put the clippings to one side and took 2 1/2 gallons of dirt to use at home.  It had some rocks in it but nothing that would ruin my purpose for it.  After lunch we rested some more and dressed to go to HART to usher for the musical comedy, “Brigadoon”.  We really enjoyed the play which featured some drama students from Western Carolina University and some actor imported from New York for this performance and another running at the same time.  The sets were very attractive as usual.

Friday we went to work the machines until 11 when the Zumba gold class began. This is supposed to be a vigorous workout toned down for old people. While it is vigorous, it is much the same as the Silver Sneaker classes without the use of the stretch bands, weights and balls. The major difference is the Latin music which does work up more of a sweat. We didn’t stay for the entire 45 minutes and went off to the grocery where we seem to spend much of our time. Actually we have avoided visiting there all week but have run out of milk and juice. While Evelyn rested,  I worked at leveling the area where our Brinkman smoker sits.  I had used wooden sticks and even an old satellite TV arm for years.  Since our neighbor, Gene, had sold us a slightly used one, I decided to make it look better.  I had gone to a site that had some dirt yesterday and taken a 2 1/2 gallon bucket of it home.  I had a square piece of plywood to set it on.  I removed all the aforementioned items, poured the dirt in their place, leveled it, and placed the plywood there and the smoker on top.  It looks better and hopefully will withstand the continuing torrential rain.  I also made a mound of dirt around the crepe myrtle tree in the front yard to hopefully prevent damage from the weed wacker used to cut the grass around it.  It was still early so I took some Armoral and applied it to the vynal interior of the car.  That took a long time.  We watched another of the many movies I had recorded during the free Stars/HBO season offered by DirectTV a few weeks ago.  I don’t know if we will finish watching them before we leave in October!

Volunteer invitation.

Tuesday we went to work out in the morning.  Doris went with us and we talked to the trainer who helps instruct on the weight machines.  We came home for lunch and stayed indoors because it rained hard in the mid afternoon.  Evelyn worked on her Bible study and making a blackberry/blueberry cobbler.  When it stopped raining, I picked up the branches I had trimmed yesterday and took them to our neighbor Wanda’s and burned them.  While they burned, I took our old smoker to the trailer so I could take it to Texas to leave there.  Our smoker there doesn’t work nearly as well as this one.  Doris brought some peach cobbler for us to eat after our supper.  She is a sweetheart and we trade food back and forth often. We also called Stacy to see if Olivia might be interested in coming here to help with our VBS.  She said she would ask but seemed to think she would be delighted to do it.  We hope she calls tomorrow saying yes.

Beginning another week

Sunday was a virtual whirlwind.  We went to the early Bible class at church before worship.  We always leave early because we have to practice for the final time before we sing.  We do this each time we sing.  We had Holy Communion and sang a moving song to reflect the joy of the occasion.  We planned to go to brunch with the Szcymanskis at the Herren House bed and breakfast.  We had gone with them earlier in the spring.  Evelyn found something she really liked: French toast with blueberries.  I had an omelet with too many mushrooms.  We finished there and came home to change before going to Lake Junaluska to take tickets for the Folkmoot Sunday performance.  5 of the 8 groups performed.  During the show we had 3 very hard rains.  I contact the man from Chicago with the group representing Poland.  I had hoped he would call this morning and ask to go to church.  I went out to buy some extra beer in case they want to come here, but I will await his call.  Perhaps he and his friend don’t want to come.  We left there, went to Bo Jangles for a sandwich, and went to Maggie Valley for the monthly band concert.  It was a patriotic theme and the concert was very good as usual.  Paul and Shirley area visiting their daughter Laurie and came to the concert.  We were able to talk with them a few minutes.  We came home and I asked Doris to come over for popcorn.  She did and we had a visit with her for about 2 hours.  Evelyn is still coughing and fighting the mucus in her throat.  These bouts of cold like symptoms always hang on to her for a long time.

Monday we slept very late.  I guess the day overfilled with activity wore us out.  We ate a late brunch I made and then went to town.  Evelyn stopped at a consignment store to look for a shirt and returned some books at the library.  I also returned the broken tablet to the post office.  We then went to CVS and bought some Mucinex for Evelyn’s cough.  From there we went to the Rec center to work out for the first time in a week.  We met a new couple from Gulf Shores, AL who spend some of the summer at Pride Resort RV park.  I gave them a card with our email address.  I hope they contact us because we might have a good relationship with them.  We came home and I got the long handled tree trimmer from Gary to trim some branches that were able to cause damage to our roof and gutter spouting.  They were over 15 feet high and nearly fell on my head.  Evelyn walked with the other ladies in the loop before another bout of rain.  It has been a taxing summer.

Folkmoot takes over our lives for a while

Tuesday is our day at the hospital.  Evelyn wheeled 4 people out in wheelchairs while I drove some people from their cars to the fitness center.  It was hot and muggy causing everyone to expect rain that never came until late evening.  I have begun to work on sermons for the coming Advent season so I won’t have to rush so much when we return to Texas.  I have 2 finished and am working on the 3rd.  Advent has 4 Sundays.

Wednesday was Open Door day.  We serve the 2nd and 3rd Wednesdays.  It was quite warm in the building as usual.  We had eaten a late breakfast and weren’t hungry.  The cooks are surprisingly good most days.  They can’t really plan what they will serve until they arrive to see what food is available.  Many of the groceries donate meat, vegetables and desserts but not much in advance of the serving date.  Therefore, the cooks come it to surprises most days.  This season is a bit more expectant because crops come in to prevent huge amounts of waste.  Since they are locally grown and are perishable, they spoil more quickly and more plentiful this time of year.  Being from the Midwest, we are not accustomed to fruits and veggies being ripe this early.  Peaches are coming now but won’t be available until mid to late August farther north.  We went to choir practice in the evening and left there in the rain.  It seems to have rained each Wednesday when we rehearse.  Of course it seems to have rained every day.  Actually it has!  At least for the past month. 

Thursday was the beginning of Folkmoot in the evening.  First, however, Gary, Marty and I played 18 holes of golf.  It was dryer on the course than it was Monday, but I didn’t play much better.  I have been driving well off the Tee but not today.  We were home by noon and beat Evelyn from her Bible study.  We both rested in the afternoon but drove off to the Stompin’ grounds for the Folkmoot Gala.  There are groups representing 8 countries this year.  I say representing because the polish group is from Chicago and the Scottish group is from Winnipeg, Canada.  They were all good but not as good as in past years.  The hit of the show was the group from France who dance on stilts.  They do some moves that cause the audience to make oooooh sounds.  There is always a beer and hors d’oerves party afterward, and this is the 30th year of the festival.  I went for the beer as usual, and struck up a conversation with one of the dancers from Chicago representing Poland.  He was very nice, and I determined to invite him to our house for beer.  I had talked with him and his friend, causing them to miss a beer because the keg misfired before they could get to it.  We left for home a bit early.

Friday was the day for the international parade through downtown Waynesville.  It was a hot day, and the groups dress in costume to parade and perform.  The group from Martinique were likely comfortable, but those from Slovakia, dressed in wool uniforms, must have been miserable.  We left immediately after the final group went past us and came home.  We had taken a lunch made at home.  We rested in the afternoon again and dressed for the ballroom dance in Clyde.  I had been having some aching in my left leg and was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to dance much.  I was able to dance plenty but had to be careful to not do much twisting.  We had a good time with Dallas and Karen who will be leaving for Pittsburg this coming week.  They love the Pirates and have to make a visit each year to see them play.  I guess I understand why since it is closer than a trip to see the Cubs.

Saturday was the Arts council day on which the main street is shut down and booths are set up displaying crafts.  The Folkmoot dancers participate in performing.  It was another rainy day but not enough to affect the party.  Evelyn didn’t want to go, but I wanted to invite a couple of the Polish group to church and also beer sometime this week.  After the short rain, the humidity began to heat up again.  I walked the 3 blocks in town to find the Baptist church where the groups were served lunch and waited for my group.  When I saw Paul, expecting he would not recognize me, I was surprised that he called me by name.  We chatted briefly, and I gave him my calling card and asked him to call when he knew his final schedule so we could get together.  I also hoped he would call today so we could make arrangements for us to pick him up for church.  He didn’t call, but they will be here next Sunday.  He is Roman Catholic, but he didn’t seem hesitant to attend a different denomination.  E and I had slept late, eaten a late breakfast and planned to eat a late lunch.  We ate when I returned home about 3, planning this would be our only meal for the day.  We finished a movie we had begun and watched another film of 99% black actors called “The Brothers”.  It had some funny parts but was mostly full of terrible language.  I doubt most blacks talk this way and thought the film was an insult to normal black people.  Both our daughters called and talked with Evelyn during the evening the evening and we walked around our loop between calls.  E watched another movie on the Hallmark channel and I watched the Cubs before retiring.  I have been trying to give away some tickets to the Folkmoot performance tomorrow without much success.

Take me out to the ballgame

Sunday after worship we came home to have some salmon for lunch.  We decided that we would not eat Sunday dinner if Evelyn had to make it after church.  We will go out for dinner.  We were both tired and took a nap.  I called Gary and Linda, and they came down here to play hand and foot until 8 when Linda goes to bed.  She and I eat tons of popcorn and I always make 2 poppers full when they come.  We made a plan to go to Frankie Bones with them Saturday the 27th. 

Monday I went to play golf with Marty at Iron Tree.  It was a beautiful morning, overcast but brighter during mid morning.  We played better the first 9 but less well the second.  This is not unusual.  We were home shortly afternoon because Marty wanted to show me the farm/horse ranch/arena she used to own.  It was a lovely property.  Evelyn had gone to exercise and stayed for the 11 0’clock zumba class.  We had lunch and then she rested in bed reading while I dealt with the computer.  I had ordered a tablet from Amazon.com, and it arrived.  I charged it up and then opened it to find that the pixel screen was broken just like the screen in Evelyn’s computer.  I am trying to navigate the website to find out where to return it.  The seller seems quite honest and willing to take it back if I can find her address.  We dressed and met Dallas and Karen at Fudruckers for supper and then went to the Tourists baseball game.  We had a good time with them as always.  Karen had brought some “dreamsicle” cupcakes she had made for our dessert.  We were home a bit after 10.

End of the week fun.

Thursday was a big golf day.  Gary, Jimmy and I drove to High Vista course and played 18 holes.  I was suspicious about whether the course would be open due to the excessive rain we have had.  It was but there was much potential water damage.  In fact part of one cart path was broken up from water flowing under it.  This has been a trend everywhere around here.  One house is unlivable because it slowly slides down a hill.  This is only one example.  Back to golf.  I had a Groupon that allowed 2 to play for $25 each, but there were 3 of us.  I had called and asked if the 3rd could receive the same rate.  The manager said that would be fine, but he forgot what he had agreed to until I reminded him.  He was gracious on both counts.  As usual, I hit a few good shots but far too many ungood ones.  The other 2 didn’t play well either.  We had fun, however, and were blessed with only 1 brief sprinkle.  We were home by 4, but Evelyn wasn’t.  She had gone to a ladies carry in lunch and then to get a pedicure.  She wasn’t home until after 5.  This was no matter except the bus left for the baseball game at 5:30.  We barely made it.  The new driver for the Rec center is quite a clown and we had a good time.  We like to go with him on Thursday because that is dollar beer night, and he is our designated driver.  We shared a taco salad during the first game that was rained out last night and then moved to the first row behind the plate for the second game.  The Tourists won them both.  We were home by 11.

Friday drew us to the Rec center to work out.  We had slept late and decided to go to the Zumba session at 11.  We had quite an aerobic workout but left there early.  We were hungry and still  tired from last night.  We cleaned up and rested during the afternoon.  We went to the Friday night street dance in Waynesville after a light pasta salad supper.  Rain had been predicted all day (as it had been all this month) but none came until just half way through the dance.  We danced in the first big round dance before the deluge hit.  We were home by 9 and went to bed early.

Saturday is fleamarket day and we went.  We brought home a bluebird house and a metal butterfly for the lawn.  We then went to the Rec center to work out and were home around 11:30.  After lunch we took a nap and then drove to Asheville to look at a large antique store in an old tobacco warehouse.  We were looking for a garden gate.  We found 2 Evelyn liked but were reluctant to pay their price—especially since we don’t have any use for one.  We took a picture and and sent it to Bonny, asking her to check into the price we might pay for one that a wrought iron worker might charge.  We then took our lawn chairs to the site of the Shindig on the Green in Asheville.  We chose a spot and went to a local restaurant for supper.  I had a coupon for the meal which was very good.  It wasn’t far from the Shindig and we walked back.  We stayed for about half of the performance but left early because Evelyn wanted to drive in the dark.  She is now the driver when we are together because she is too critical of my driving for me to enjoy the process.  We got gas and were home for the 10 o’clock news.

This is the gate Evelyn would like to have made for less than $245.

This is a group of children clogging for the audience at the Shindig.

There is always a large round dance.  In the far middle is a group of around 100 people trying to dance in a space large enough for 40.  It is a lot of fun because we have done it in the past.  We didn’t this evening because we had danced in Waynesville last night.

Many groups of amateurs gather in small groups to just pick together.  They may have duplicate instruments and may sing together.  Regardless some of these groups are as good or better than those performing on the stage.

Serving the Lord, feeding the hungry.

Wednesday was our day at the Open Door.  It was not raining but was quite warm.  I hesitate to say hot when I think of the temperature in Texas and the southwest.  We found to our dismay that we were the only servers there and the cooking staff was under staffed as well.  This was accompanied by the largest crowd I can remember.  The new method was better for us in that we could never have delivered meals to all the people there in a reasonable time.  Now we just stand beside the drink carts and wait for them to come to us.  We weren’t covered up as I had expected.  Evelyn said that a woman near her vomited into her plate.  This made her to declare she was never going back to serve.  I feel the same for a different reason: many of the people there are just freeloaders, but I try to keep in mind that Jesus loves them too and I am serving Him, not the people there.  We were finished at 2 and still no rain.  We came home to clean up (Evelyn has to shower when returning from there) and rest.  The rain did return for the 9th out of 10 times.  This occurred when we were at choir practice.  The rain has really hurt the farmers who can’t cultivate or weed.  It has also cause many sink holes in the area and caused many trees to just fall over.

Rain and more rain

Monday Marty and I went to play golf.  In retrospect I am ashamed that we went to play.  The ground was overly saturated from all the rain we have had including that we had last night.  We made a few trench tracks in some of the fairways but tried to stay away from the green.  I also drove slowly when we went uphill.  I played as usual, but Marty was way off her game.  We picked up many of the recyclables and took them to the center on the way home.  We were home after 1.  Evelyn had been doing cleaning and resting.  After I showered, we had some errands to run.  We got a hose repair kit, took my prescriptions to the pharmacy, cancelled our ushering assignment with Folkmoot, got a toothbrush at CVS, and made an appointment with Terminex.  We came home and Evelyn walked around our loop with one of the neighbors.  We watched “Major Crimes” and the news.

Tuesday we got up early and went to the grocery to buy some things Evelyn needs to make a salad for LWML on Thursday.  We went from there to Silver Sneakers.  We had a good workout and returned home to shower before going to volunteer at the hospital.  We picked up my medicine and our church before going to the hospital for lunch and work.  I was blessed that today the menu included gumbo.  I had been hoping since our first day to serve it would be served again.  It was delicious.  We both had slow days as usual and came home to prepare for our date with the Surfus’ and Cookes at Pisquales restaurant for supper.  We shared a meal of trout.  It was delicious but when I was almost finished I had an attack.  We then went to Surfus’ for a delicious strawberry dessert.  They live up a mountain but in town.  It was a very interesting house, and Jack had to back our up to the top of his driveway so we could go home.  During our dessert and visit we had a violent rain and thunderstorm.  We were home by 9:30.

Slow Sunday

We went to church early Sunday because we had missed choir practice Wednesday and didn’t know the version of “America” we were to sing this morning.  We practiced early after the first session of the new Bible study.  We got through it all right both before and after the service.  We thank the Lord for the early rehearsal.  After the choir sang, Evelyn developed severe gas in her stomach so we went home before Communion.  She went to bed after the relief and slept for 3 hours.  She got up and functioned during the afternoon but only at half strength.  We watched a classic movie, “Key Largo” in the evening.  I don’t see why the actors were so highly acclaimed.  Bogart, Becall, Robinson and Barrymore were somewhat stoic, although Robinson was the best.  We prayed that Evelyn would continue to improve.  We talked briefly with Stacy and Emily.  Stacy had just arrived home from her 4 day job and Emily was taking Noah to his Eagle scout ceremony.  The entire family went with him.  Noah called back around 10, and we talked scouting and theology.  It is a blessing to know he worked at a Christian camp for kids and shared the Gospel with 2 of the campers.

Evelyn is sick.

Friday morning I fixed omelets for our breakfast (I had made pancakes yesterday).  We had a parting visit until 10:30 when the kids were ready to run home.  After they left we began putting the bedding away or into the laundry.  We needed to get rid of some garbage and get Evelyn some medicine for her sore throat that she has had all week.  We bought some Cepacol and then returned  home.  We had not slept well last night so we took a nap in the afternoon.  We watched another movie I had DVRed.

Saturday we slept late hoping Evelyn would heal faster.  She felt somewhat better.  We ate brunch at 11 and waited until 3:30 to go to Phil and Joan’s for Paea, a Spanish dish with shrimp, chicken, saffron rice and other vegetables.  We enjoyed a 3 hour visit.  I kept waiting for Phil to ask about golf, but he didn’t.  I am not going to ask him.  Earlier I made a tee time for Thursday at High Vista.  I also called Tom Tabor to see if he would be going to play at Bear Lake Monday, but he is recovering from surgery to reattach a retina.  I tried to find a female 1/2 inch hose repair kit at Lowe’s and Tractor Supply, but no one seems to have anything for 1/2 hoses.  We watched a Turner classic movie, “Key Largo” before bed.  We pray thanksgiving for the few that died in the plane crash in San Francisco, although living through a fire is probably worse than dying in one.  We also pray that Evelyn heals a bit faster.

Independence Day visitors

Tuesday began with exercise and continued with our service at the hospital.  It was a slow humid day for me on the cart.  Evelyn had a day in which she wheeled 2 patients out.  It didn’t rain during the afternoon but began in the evening.

Wednesday Evelyn did a great deal of cooking for the Independence Day party.  We were shopping for items when we received a call from Tom asking if he, Peter and Olivia could come to visit for the holiday.  We were very happy that they would consider a visit.  Stacy had contracted a job a few weeks ago, so she couldn’t come along.  The rain that began last night continued all day with a few short periods of abatement.  They had to drive in rain all the way here while we prepared supper for them.  They didn’t arrive until after 6:30, the time that we should have been attending choir practice.  We didn’t even think of it until Thursday evening.  After supper of smoked turkey breast, we watched a movie together.

Independence Day featured continuing rain.  We did have periods of abatement long enough to take tables and chairs to Tollefson’s for our party.  Gary had borrowed a portable beach type pergola placed in front of their garage (there are only 2 in our development.  We were blessed to have it because it began raining when the party began.  We were blessed because it stopped when the party ended.  Nearly everyone we had invited came including our guests and one other couple.  We read the Declaration of Independence aloud to help remind us of the purpose of the holiday.  The young couple across from us came to be introduced to the group and even read some of the Declaration.  They are Ryan and Casey Aker.  It is rumored that his parents want to buy their rented house when the kids leave.  We came home and watched another movie.

75th birthday party.

Linda and Gary threw a birthday party for me featuring Pizza from Papa John’s.  We had to rush home from Gatlinburg to get there by 6.  They are wonderful neighbors just down the street.

Linda is cutting the cake she made.  It is an angel food cake with a pineapple cream filling.  She had sliced the cake into 3rds and put the filling between each layer as well as on top.  It was unique and delicious.  I really appreciated their preparing the party.

An Appalachian Trail Hostel

This is the Standing Bear Farm. 

This the bunkhouse that must house about 30 on each side of this aisle.  The charge is $15 per person per night.  Most hikers carry their own bed gear among other things.

I am not sure exactly what this building was, but the sign implied it was a laundry.  We learned that it wasn’t.  The following picture will illustrate this fact.

This is the the manager of the hostel standing in the laundry area.  I don’t think the hikers have to use the dryer.  There is an old fashion ringer like our mother’s used to employ just as the wash tubs in the corner.

This is a separate building that provides double beds.  There is another bed behind where I am standing.  The charge for this room is $20 per person per, but I don’t know if this is just for married or not.  The manager told me that a group could pitch a tent in back and sleep as many as desired for $15 per night.  He also said this was probably one of the most rustic hostels along the trail.

Roaring Fork road

Two shots in the same location along the road.

Photos beside the creek that ran from the mountain to just below the Brookside Resort where we spent last night. 

Evelyn beside one of the many bridges that allowed the creek to continue flowing down.  This was quite a bit of whitewater.  One man stood on the rock below for a picture.  I am thankful he didn’t slip and fall in.  Notice the road is narrow and is one way.  It is 5 miles long, and we missed something at the end but would have been forced to drive back to the beginning to return to them.

This is one of the 3 homesteads that were farmed in the 1800s.  This belonged to Emert and Minerva.  These were the “good ol’ days” we often hear about.  No thanks!

One overlook that offered a view of a few settlements below.  These are places people live now. 

More of the theme park

The indoor ice skating rink at Ober-Gatlinburg.  Few of these people could skate any better than I could years ago.

Another view of the many games and activities at the theme park.  This is a nice place to bring families.

Up that hill and down

This is the chairlift we rode to the top of the mountain.

The water tank at the top of Mt. Harrison.

Unfortunately the view was very overcast all day.

This is the blue grass trio that played every 15 minutes for 15 minutes on top of the mountain.

This is the beautiful ride down to the theme park.

Ober-Gatlinburg

This is the dining room at the Ober-Gatlinburg.  The dance floor and stage are used in the Octoberfest season during September and October.

The view from Ober-Gatlingurg parking lot.

This is  at the one of the 2 water rides at the ski/tubing park.  There are many other rides for children there.

A second water ride on the far right.  Below it are 2 sled trays that draw many to race down the mountain.

We thought the restaurant was at the top but were wrong.  We took the chair lift way up there.

Hot day near the water

Snacking between races

Here is a little guy I helped find his way at the meet.  It was sweltering all day and he needed some cooling help.

3 little mermaids

Olivia and 2 friends at the swim meet we drove over 100 miles to see.  It was the day before we left for Gatlinburg.

The 3 girls getting ready to swim the relay.  We learned later that they had won.  We had to leave to get home for the night.

Granddaughter Olivia

Olivia showing the front and back of the dress Grandma had bought for her in the Caribbean last fall.  We hadn’t seen her since then.

Musicians at the Plottfest

Balsam Range appeared twice during the afternoon.

Darren McPherson has formed an additional band.  He is in the white shirt and plays with Balsam Range all the time.

Plottfest

These are Plotthounds featured in the festival I won the tickets for.

Lovely trimmed trees

Monday I broke down and asked Marty to play golf.  I would have gone to the Jackson County Club’s group at Smokey Mountain, but the weather service reported a 60% chance of rain.  It is a long way to drive to take that chance, but Iron Tree is only about 4 miles away.  We went and were the first there.  We played fairly well—I broke 100—and never saw any rain.  I picked up some of the recyclables and dropped them at the center on the way home.  I often do this but worry about dirtying and stinking up the car.  Evelyn went to exercise and stayed for yoga class though she doesn’t really like it.  A friend from exercise class talked her into it.  She also mailed Noah’s gift and card.  He is supposed to open the gift first and then the card.  I am not saying what the gift is in case he reads this blog.  We were all home by noon, and I arrived to see most of our River Birch trees trimmed up to at least 8 feet from the ground.  Susan, our neighbor, had called to have hers trimmed, and Evelyn had suggested we have ours done as well.  The total charge for 4 trees was $350.  She asked us for half—$187.50—but hoped the association would pay for the project.  I know we don’t have the money right now but may have it later.  If the residents don’t vote to pay, we will not go to the poor house if we have to absorb the cost.  Evelyn made a large salad for lunch, and we ate on our deck looking at the lovely mountain.  There was no rain until late in the evening but much all night.  We are supposed to have rain all week.n  We just stayed in and watched “Major Crimes” in the evening.