Weekend Glimpses!!

Bright and early Sunday morning while the dew was still on the ground I set out with Goldie & Maggie to collect some wildflowers from along side the road.  To some people these are weeds, but to me they are wildflowers.  As they say...beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  With a bouquet in hand we started for home.  I added a few flowers from the yard to add to the arrangement.  This was a beautiful start to a beautiful day.

Picking blueberries was another highlight to the day.  It takes

a lot of little blueberries to fill the basket up.  The sun was warm

on our face, but the breeze helped to keep the temperature

down.  Blueberry fritters topped the afternoon off!

The rest of the weekend was spent decorating for the

4th of July holiday.

 Bow tie American flag quilt that I made several

years ago hangs from the mantel.

***looking forward to another fun filled week***

Granddad's Visit

Gail and Kitty visited for a few days.  We enjoyed spending

time with them talking about old times...remembering when. 

Listening to old stories from our parents is so interesting. 

There is a wealth of information to be gained from our elders.

Sitting on the deck watching the moon dance with the clouds

was a favorite evening pass time.  It doesn't take much to

entertain seniors!

Scottish Festival And Highland Games

The Scottish Festival and Highland Games were in town this past weekend.  Having never been to anything like this before we thought we'd check it out and see what it was all about.  It was a warm sunny day...a little hot for being outside from 11:00 am until 5:00 pm.  We took respite in the shade by the creek to cool off, but relief didn't last too long once we were back out in the sun.
The Caekic word clan means family or tribe.  Each clan has its own tartan which is worn in a kilt or scarf.   We looked and looked, but Lane was not found as a member of a clan.  So evidently Lane is not from Scottish decent.
We enjoyed the athletic games, ceremonies, parade of bagpipes and drums, Scottish dancing...(I even participated in Scottish dancing!), live music and of course the food.
A great day of fun!

                    

Alone Time

Tonight I actually had some quiet alone time.  Greg went to a bicycle club meeting and I choose to stay home and relax.  We seem to be busier than ever since retiring.  Always running here there and every where.  We never seem to want for anything to do.  I am thankful that our retirement days are full of fun things to do, but...

 tonight I needed to chill.

I walked the girls to check out the creek

water flowing quickly...rushing over rocks

kind of symbolizes my life...

the water is very clear and rocks are quite visible

noted the wildflowers growing along side the road

listened to the birds

listened to the crickets

heard the frogs croaking at the water's edge

feasted on some wild black berries...yum

{a reminder that I need to go out in the woods and pick some}

I loved my quiet time!

Cherry Pickin...

We had a great time when we went to Mercier's Orchard and picked cherries.  I think we ate as many as we picked!  This orchard has a variety of fruit that you can pick...apples, peaches, blueberries and cherries. Or you can choose to buy fruit that has already been picked.  But half the fun is picking yourself especially when you can enjoy the fruits of your labor right in the field. 

To top it off we had homemade cherry ice cream when

we came in from the field.  What a delightful way

to spend a Sunday afternoon.

National Trails Day

American Hiking Society's signature trail awareness program, National Trails Day® (NTD), inspires the public and trail enthusiasts nationwide to seek out their favorite trails to discover, learn about, and celebrate trails while participating in educational exhibits, trail dedications, gear demonstrations, instructional workshops and trail work projects.
Our local hiking club joined the Benton MacKaye Trail Association at the Ocoee White Water Center for day hikes and a pot luck lunch.  The Ocoee White Water Center is where the 1996 Summer Olympics were held for the white water kayaking portion of the Olympics.
The Ocoee is usually a sleepy river set in a lush, rock river gorge.  It was carefully modified into a channel to enhance its rapids for the Olympics.  The river is controlled by the Tennessee Valley Authority.  Starting at 9am on the weekends the dam releases water through the canyon for white water enthusiasts.  It's quite a site to watch the water gradually increase and a once sleepy little river turns into a white water mica.  You know when the water is ready to be released because a very loud siren sounds with lights flashing warning you of the rising water level.

A once sleepy river with pools of water to play in...

...turns in to a white water playground

when water is released

After our hike along the river we enjoyed watching the rafters

and kayakers maneuver through the white water.

Day Lilies Are Blooming

The hill on the side of our driveway is a sea of day lilies.  They will be blooming all summer into the fall.  The best thing about day lilies are they are virtually maintenance free!  Just sit back and enjoy the colorful show.

I couldn't resist taking a photo with

 the girls in front of the day lilies