A Day in Lynchburg, Tennessee...

Tennessee...

You are so gorgeous...

And so much there is about you to love...

Especially in the spring time, when you're dressed in emerald velvet and your hills are decorated with blooming trees...

This day we left Alabama in the morning to have our "adventure". Each time we go south to visit family, we try to set aside at least one day to go see something we've not seen before. We've seen a lot of wonderful things and some beautiful country this way.

Tennessee is long (or wide?) and narrow. But packed in there is so much beauty. From East to West, it's simply GORGEOUS.

The drive up to Lynchburg from Alabama was beautiful! It was a perfect spring day, not too hot, but sunny and beautiful and we enjoyed the blooming countryside!

Is there anyone who can not be cheered by the beauty of spring in those hills? I know a certain winter-weary Midwesterner who is thrilled with open car windows and balmy breezes and scenery to feast her eyes and aim her camera upon.

Lynchburg is snuggled in the "holler" of mountains there, and built around the Jack Daniels Distillery.

I got to know Jack a little.

(I don't like Jack! At all! It's a man thing, I guess, but Jack's place is really pretty!)

Before Lynchburg, I "didn't know Jack"!

The town is old, tiny, quaint and very beautiful. And did I mention tiny?

That's the simple charm of it.

You can't get lost.

You don't see weirdos.

You don't get run over by bicycles or taxis.

My kind of place.

Oh..

And friendly, very friendly.

That's what brings people back, Jack.

This was a gorgeous building (courthouse? town hall?) and I particularly loved the stars built into the brickwork and the paint colors.

Soon, I'll take you on a little tour of the distillery.

It was velly intellesting.

And smelly.

Velly, velly smelly.

And we ate some goooooood bbq. You know, don't you, that all across the south, there's a ton of different kinds of bbq and I want to taste them all? I could really get behind that show "Good Eats" or whatever it is where they chase categories of food around the country? I would do the bbq category, free.

This was classic "red" bbq.

Vood smoked, velly velly goot.

For now, I'm hoping you have a wonderful day and a great weekend.

I VILL be back! Have to tell you about how dey make da stinky viskey.

There's more to explore in those thar hills!

***********
I am going on Saturday with a friend to an 84-mile-long garage sale! There is a state highway nearby that runs a garage sale from Bay City south to Clarkston and it's my first time going.

I am gassing up and taking the Suburban (choke, choke, have you seen the price of GAS lately?!?! I think a Congressional hearing is in order!) so in case we find extra big goodies, we can pack them in! The weather, fortunately, looks PERFECT!

(And no, I DO NOT plan to make all 84 miles, I'm not that crazy!)

What do YOU have planned this weekend?

All Aboard for a Baby Shower!

The Freight House C. 1915

It seems like major events in Jamie's life have taken place in historical buildings, surrounded by OLD. We like OLD.

Jamie's wedding, was in a beautiful old plantation home, and because of that, memories of her wedding are just extra special because of more than the wedding: we remember the place, and how special it felt to be there.

For this baby shower, there was a restaurant in a small nearby town in a neat old building by the railroad tracks, called the Freight House. It stands just across the street from the historical old Depot, above.

I didn't even have to step inside to know I'd LOVE it. Jamie had visited and eaten here before and told me it was really neat, and a plus? The food was GOOD!

The attention to detail in the restoration shows even on the outside. The beautiful old lamps...

The porch, the gigantic wrought iron brackets, the brickwork.

Inside was an even bigger treat. The inside still looked much the same as it probably did back then, and lots of detail from the days of moving freight around is still here! Here's an old scale.

These I imagine were "dock" numbers, and they were all the way around the big room the made up the main dining room of the restaurant.

I was dazzled by the big old clock and the old, worn bench for waiting customers.

I loved the creative seating areas, made with aged wood, colorfully and cleverly done.

Here you can see the huge old doors, and chains for loading/unloading.

I loved this old trunk and the old railroad arrows/directional signals?

The clock sat above the hostess desk, what a great piece of furniture!

This is the part of the dining room where you can sit to be able to watch the trains roll by. During Jamie's shower at least three went rumbling by, much to the delight of my little two-year-old great nephew! He kept saying "It's THOMAS!" If you're brave, you can even step out onto a porch for the full-blown sound, smell and feel!

This was the private dining area where Jamie's shower was held. I loved the stained concrete floors.

And yes, I was even enthralled with the restroom. It was gorgeous, and just from looking at the door and the hardware, I knew it was going to be something, and it was!

I was just using Jamie's small purse camera, so the quality of the pics isn't that great but what a room! The little sink was something everyone who came out exclaimed over! It was glittery and gold!

This is the "mirror" in the bathroom, and old four-pane window that had the glass replaced with mirror, so clever! This framed photo of a girl's basketball team from the 1920's sat there in the extra deep sill.

These were the exteriors of the stalls, bead board galore and six-pane windows overhead.

Some gorgeous tiles....

A look out into the Alabama sunshine.

A beautiful afternoon, spent with a small gathering of family and friends to celebrate this new baby boy...

Jamie's cousin Laura and her little guy, Aiden, her Aunt Lisa, her grandma, and a family friend Judy.

I remember Thad's mom saying to me that day "This is a big deal, this is something I thought might never happen for them. I'm so glad we got to see this happen." Indeed. Thank God and the doctors at the infertility clinic for this little miracle.

There was a lot of stress, and lots of medication taken that had to be remembered and taken at just the right time, a lot of testing, more testing, lots to go through for the possibility of a pregnancy, and this outcome could not be more welcome! I just have to say that I'm glad Jamie's a go-getter because that's the attitude you've got to have to be able to get through fertility treatments. Synthetic hormones are awful to live through and I'm sure some of you know what I mean!

Jamie was pretty excited about the chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting...

Can you see why? Actually, all the food at the Freight House was really good! (It's the best way to throw a shower, not worrying about the food!)

We played a couple games, this one was cute, our estimate of the size around Jamie's middle, lots of laughing. One person was really close, most of us estimated wayyy too big!

And Amber checks the size (remember her? She stood up for Jamie in her wedding and Jamie stood for Amber last fall when she got married).

32 weeks along...

Little mama looks so cute. I thought she looked great, she's had many laughs over her "cankles"...something every pregnant mom just cannot believe happens to them!

It was lots of fun opening the gifts, especially the cowboy themed ones!

The moms...Thad's mom is just the tiniest thing you've ever seen.

Jamie shows a "kerchief" quilt that her Aunt Lisa (my husband's sister) made for the baby, so western! The backing and the trim are retro cowboy flannel. Just as cute as can be...

Even after the shower, and we went and did some antique shopping for the baby's nursery, we fit all that stuff into the Suburban and got it home all in one trip! YAY for Suburbans! (Jamie could do commercials for Chevy Suburbans if they'd let her!)

And now...we just wait and it won't be long until we get to see this little guy! Can't wait to meet this little cowboy, and kiss and hug and squeeeeeeeze 'im!

Sunshine Sheets

It's that time of year again,
when I torture you,
my captive audience,
with my photos of sheets
flappin' in the wind
against the blue spring skies
and freshly born leaves
on the awakening trees.


As I was taking these, my husband walked up on me and said:
"Are you totally whacked?!"
(Whacked means downright crazy according to him.)
"Well, yes, yes I am!"


He would even think it was weirder yet
if he knew what I was thinking
as I lay on the ground to get this shot.

But do you?

Would you think I was strange
if I told you that I've always secretly wanted to ...

Choose a sunny, yet cool spring day that is breezy...
Lay a soft and cozy quilt underneath the laundry lines
loaded with FRESHLY WASHED SHEETS,
and just lay my head on a pillow,
cover up,
close my eyes,
and take a nap
and camp out
underneath the flapping fabric
and stay there until they were all dry?

Something about the sound of it seems to be so soothing,
such a lullaby of its own,
that I've wished at times
I was little teensy and could lay in the fold of the sheet
and use it for my giant hammock
as it gently blew in the wind.
That I would be rocked to sleep by the motion.

But to sleep underneath the lines
on the fresh spring green grass
and listen to the


"flap
flap
flap
flutter
(still...)
flap
(still...)
flap
flap
flutter
flutter"
...

would

be

so

dreamy!

Line dried sheets
are a pleasure
reserved for
only those willing
to go to the trouble.

(We are greatly rewarded for our efforts.)

And...

A little story that will make you smile, it's so sweet!

I know someone that is six feet four inches tall
A manly man who has gone on a drive through Iraq
in gigantic Bradley tank wrecker
with his Army battalion and
is a mechanic who now that's he's home again
works on logging equipment
and lifts wrenches the length of a shovel
only many, many, many tens of pounds heavier
every single day.

You would never guess it,
but...
he loves to have his sheets dried on the line
and he invented a term for the heavenly smell
he lays on that night
when he pulls back the covers
and goes to bed
and I think it's the dearest thing
to know that a big, burly, manly man
calls them

"SUNSHINE
SHEETS"!


It's a term I'm going to borrow and it makes me SMILE.

So, do you like
SUNSHINE SHEETS?