Gardens and Good & Plenty

What a great day.  I’m preparing for my three sisters to come visit me in Knoxville TOMORROW through Sunday.  Woo-hoo!   I ran some errands this morning and picked up some treats for the weekend, and couldn’t resist a bag of fresh popcorn and a bag of fresh Good & Plenty from Mast General Store downtown.  I had to sample some and yes, that was my lunch.

Spring has sprung here, and I should be doing housecleaning but I can’t stay inside.  It’s more fun to get outdoors and sweep a patio, spray paint an end table or throw some more mulch in a corner.  Yes, the laundry room is calling me, but I’m wiping down the porch furniture and watering the flowers.

This past month, I had garden inspiration from a couple of trips.  I went and watched Brian play for the University of Minnesota in Dallas at the national club volleyball tournament (awesome experience) and went on a field trip to Williamsburg, Virginia with Kevin’s 8th grade class.  Gorgeous gardens!

Pictures from the Dallas Farmers market, beautiful nurseries:

Pictures from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg:

I’ve been gardening away down south.  There was a dead corner in the back yard that needed some TLC.  Some old bushes and dead trees were removed, creating a blank slate.

A trip to the local nursery and Home Depot, along with some grasses from elsewhere in the yard that I divided and transplanted, resulted in an updated backyard corner.

It’s all a work in progress and not quite on the same standard of Monticello, but it’s coming along smashingly.  And, oh, so much more fun than laundry!

Hence, my lack of blogging.  The weather here is something else.  I’m sorry if I’m a broken record on that topic and hope none of you had damage from the heavy midwest rains.  For my friends in Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, hang in there.  As my sister Sue says, she is still optimistic about getting the snowed under outdoor Christmas decor down by 4th of July.

Here, the dogwoods and redbuds are in bloom, and the azaleas are just firing up.  Japenese maple pretty purple leaves are here.  Fifty shades of green are everywhere with lots of white, pink, purple and yellow sprinkled all around.

I may have mentioned earlier, about 50 years ago, a travel reporter declared Knoxville the ugliest city in the country.  City leaders went about a beautification project, with emphasis on planting blooming trees and public gardens.

Then came the annual April Dogwood Festival, where designated streets and neighborhoods are marked with dashed pink spray painted lines running down the middle of the street as you follow along the Dogwood Trail and enjoy lovely blooms and gardens.

OK, time to put away the snacks and head up to the laundry room.  Hope to be back next week with updates of some fun.

Laurel Falls on Valentines Day

Now I’m backtracking, but just realized I’d started a post about hiking on Valentines Day and never finished it.  Well, here you have it!

Knoxville had great weather for Valentine’s Day.  After a little breakfast of pink chocolate chip pancakes for Kevin and a short stack of “red” treats, it was off to school.

I had not been to the Smoky Mountains since our last visitors in November and was overdue for a visit.  I didn’t have a lot of time but drove to the park entrance near Townsend 45 minutes away and had a peaceful drive along Little River Road.   The park was very quiet, only passing occasional cars and a couple of bikers.  My destination was Laurel Falls, one of the most popular hikes in the park that was about 20 minutes from the entrance.

On past trips to the park, I noticed as I passed the Laurel Falls parking area it was packed with cars, and there were many cars parked alongside the road before and after the area.  This time, the lot was just full, with a few open spots.  Hikers were heading up and down the 1.3 mile walk to the falls at regular intervals, so I was comfortable walking solo (had mace in my pocket just in case.)  Unfortunately, I realized as I approached the area that the temperature was 40 degrees (versus the 54 degrees on my weather app which was scheduled for later in the afternoon) and I had left the house in just a t-shirt and red sweater.  No fleece.

I saw some folks in winter garb getting out of their car.  I figured I’d give it a shot, it was a beautiful clear, sunny day.  Once I got walking, there was no issue with the cold and with the sun at my back, I was sweating just a tad.  So glad I’d left the winter garb in the attic!

The walk was a smidge more uphill than I ‘d anticipated.  I read it was a good walk for families with strollers, since though there are over 800 miles of paths in the Smokies, Laurel Falls is one of only a limited number of miles that are paved.  It warns of steep drop offs though.

A path was paved back in the 1960′s when a fire lookout was built nearby and erosion was taking it’s toll on the path.  I was walking at a good pace and made it to the falls in 30 minutes.   A more relaxed hike would probably be 45 minutes or so.  Not saying I’m wonder woman, just saying I was not dawdling.

Beautiful Laurel Falls.

Along the way there were tons of rhododendren which I imagine will be gorgeous when they bloom in June.  I got corny and looked for heart shaped nature things and came across this rock.  How artistic!

Totally worth the walk! You can continue on for Cove something up to an 8 mile walk, but after 10 minutes of enjoying the falls, I headed back as I needed to be at the school by 2:30 for an event.  I was back in the car exactly one hour after I arrived, and while this was a quick trip, I loved it.

On the way back I stopped at a Country Store and saw an inscribed valentine frame that I jotted down to deliver in a homemade card to my sweetheart Tom who was stuck at work…while trying to keep a straight face…

“I know it is love when I can’t sleep because my reality is better than my wildest dreams.” 

Sounded like something my brother in law Randy would come up with, but it certainly was a lovely day in the Smoky Mountains!

March Madness

Sorry for delay in fresh content on smokymountainviews.  My advertisers have been starting to complain (kidding) so lets see if I can get back on the blogging track.  Last time we were all together I was talking about the Biltmore Estate and Downton Abbey.  Since then, we’ve enjoyed both snow days and some nice weather in Knoxville, hiked Laurel Falls on Valentines Day, hosted mother in law Jan, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Lynn for a visit, Kevin got his braces off and started playing with a competitive AAU basketball team, Tom and I did a mini-25th anniversary getaway to Nashville, I started playing in a USTA tennis league, Brian is home for spring break and I’m in the early stages of college basketball overload with a Noakes family NCAA bracket and a $100 prize at stake.  And I made a spring wreath for my front door.  How’s that for an update!?

Late February and early March we had visits from Tom’s family and had fun sight-seeing in Knoxville and the Smoky Mountains.  One of my new favorite things to do is hit the daily Blue Plate Special at the downtown Knoxville Visitor Center.

There is a daily live performance from two bands at noon at the WDVX radio station.  You can get a two-hour parking pass and enjoy live music then grab a bite to eat or shop a bit on Gay Street. We enjoyed some music then hit Mast General Store across the street and indulged in some popcorn and a bag of candy from their old-fashioned section of candy in a barrel (must have–bag of Good and Plenty, very fresh.)

Uncle Bruce got me fired up in the kitchen and shared a couple of traditional family favorites, crepes and fudge!  We went from this…..

to this in 30 minutes!  Delicious fudge.

We had to visit the Smokies while they were in town.  It was a sunny day but cold and as usual, the scenery was breathtaking.

We left for the park about 10am and did the usual…entered park at Metcalf Bottoms between Townsend and Gatlinburg, drove along gorgeous Little River Road (never disappoints, beautiful rushing water over huge boulders, lovely in every season especially when there is no traffic,) video at Sugarland Visitor Center (partially under construction now, small museum inside is closed but still nice video, gift shop and rest rooms,) then we drove up to the Rockefeller Memorial at the Newfound Gap Overlook, the gorgeous location where Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the park in September, 1940, saying:

“...It is good and right that we should conserve these mountain heights of the old frontier for the benefit of the American people. But in this hour we have to safeguard a greater thing: the right of the people of this country to live as free men. Our vital task of conservation is to preserve the freedom that our forefathers won in this land, and the liberties that were proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence and embodied in our Constitution…”

The Appalachian Trail weaves through the park and now Lynn and Jan can say they’ve hiked the Appalachian Trail.

We saw a couple of hikers warming up along the base of the Memorial and I joked we should give them some fudge.  Leave it to Bruce to hop out of the car and offer these guys a bit of our homemade sunshine.  They eagerly accepted and told him they’d been in 80 mile per hour wind and frigid cold the night before trying to keep their tents from blowing over.  Nothing a couple of pieces of Bruce’s fudge couldn’t cure!

We stopped for some pictures on the way up and down the road, including a frozen runoff waterfall

We also stopped at the 0.5 mile loop walk at Sugarlands Valley Self-Guiding Nature Trail and saw plenty of downed tree limbs and the impact of the recent heavy winds.  It’s a pretty walk and gives you a nice chance for a photo opportunity along the rushing river.

What wonderful guests that we hope come back again and again.  We’re thrilled that their daughter (cousin Kim) and family will be here for a few days on Monday.  I need to pull out the crepe pan.

After Bruce and Lynn left, Jan stayed on through the weekend so Tom and I could getaway to Nashville.  I’ll be back with more pictures and stories of that fun soon.  Until then, enjoy this morning’s sunrise, the rest of your weekend and may your favorite teams make it to the Sweet 16!

Biltmore Estate and Downton Abbey

I blame my sister Karen and her friend Donna Booshay (blogs at Quiet Life www.booshay.blogspot.com) for getting me hooked on watching the British TV drama on PBS, Downton Abbey.  I caught up watching episodes on Netflix, hulu and pbs.org.  They say the TV drama is addictive and I agree.

Watching the show, I feel like I’ve been in the estate featured on the show.  Because over the holidays, we visited Asheville, NC and toured the Biltmore Estate.  Before I knew anything about Downton Abbey, I learned about how the Vanderbilt family and their servants lived in the Biltmore Estate back in the early 1900’s.   The Biltmore took six years to build and was America’s largest home to George Vanderbilt.  He married Edith and had one daughter Cornelia that was raised in the home.

Photo Courtesy of the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina

We visited the Biltmore on a spur of the moment “what do you want to do today” weekend in December, and it was Tom’s suggestion (bravo, well done!)  We poked around downtown Asheville on Saturday (another story for another day, great city,) stayed overnight then visited the Biltmore on Sunday with a 10 a.m. reservation.

It’s quite a production.  We purchased tickets for the four of us at the hotel and popped for the extra $10 audio tour.  Driving into the estate includes miles of roads, and you end up parking and taking a bus to the actual estate.  The grounds sprawl over 8,000 acres and over the years they have expanded the property to include a wine village, shopping center, garden shops, antique car museum and more.  Bill Cecil is the great grandson of George and is president of the family run business.   We had exactly 4 hours to see what we needed to see before we had to hit the road to be back in Knoxville (2 hour gorgeous mountain drive) for must see football games.  Just enough time to complete the home tour and do a little wine tasting and exploring.  I must go back.

The estate is magnificent.  And I appreciate it so much more now that I’ve watched Downton Abbey.  May I say Biltmore is much grander than Downton Abbey; it must have something to do with the size of the Vanderbilt fortune.  From the Biltmore website (www.biltmore.com):

“The celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt modeled the house on three châteaux built in 16th-century France. It would feature 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The basement alone would house a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, bowling alley, servants’ quarters, kitchens, and more.”

The headset tour had you wear a little audio device around your neck and the accompanying brochure had corresponding numbers to enter for each room, to hear the history of the space and stories of the family’s life at the Biltmore.  What a treat!  It was a busy December weekend, so we followed a snaking line of tourists from room to room, but that was fine.  I had my chance in each room to step up to the cordon line and punch in the code to listen to stories from the early 1900’s, like in the master bedrooms, his and hers.

I observed the gorgeous home décor in each space, the colors, the textures, and yes, it was over the top but fabulous.

They would have loved having me as a guest I imagined, meeting in the gathering spaces for a before dinner drink, then retiring back to the library for an after dinner drink.  Oh, I could only imagine.

Tom and the boys were sports and seemed to enjoy the tour, though they moved a little quicker than me.  I really enjoyed seeing the servant quarters, which were also quite lovely, but very simple.

We wrapped up our visit by checking out the Antler Hill Village and Winery for some wine tasting.  We’re not big winos (like so many readers of this blog) but are wise enough not to pass up a free drink.

While the boys explored the large wine and food shop with samples of cheese, ciders and snacks, Tom and I waited in a short line to begin wine tasting.  Very nice, efficiently laid out form with various wines you could sample and make notes of.  We enjoyed a few varieties and then were on our way.  Last stop was a beautiful fishing hole on the property, of course we had to stop and take a look.

I’m looking forward to returning for another visit to the Biltmore Estate.  I imagine they are doing a bang up business with the popularity of Downton Abbey here in the states.  I expect Biltmore’s marketing department is working on tie-in promotions and exclusive rights to the Biltmore – Downton connection.  I can see busloads (and plane loads) of Downton fans traveling to Asheville for their very own royal experience.  My enterprising mind is running wild now.  Certainly all of my Knoxville guests will be encouraged to consider a Biltmore visit and a trip to Asheville.  You know I’ll join you!

p.s. after writing this, I found this link on Biltmore website with connection to Downton Abbey…off to read it now….http://www.biltmore.com/media/news-release.asp?id=127

Knoxville Snow

What a joyful day!  The novocaine is still working but I gleefully had a root canal this morning.  I bit on an avocado stem oh, about 5 months ago, while eating some homemade guacamole and chips when we first arrived in Knoxville.  I won’t bore you with the dental details involving multiple dentists, temporaries, crowns, and an endodontist, but it’s been a wait and see situation, and I got tired of eating advil and waiting.  The endodontist thinks he solved the problem with the root canal today.  Fingers crossed!

Lots of excitement around here last week…snow!  After 4 days of lots of rain, the forecast was for temps to drop and a winter snow storm (southern style.)  Tom made a Walmart run for salt for our (steep sled hill) driveway.  With 100% chance of snow starting at 3pm, school was let out early at 12:30pm.  Sure enough, snow came at 3pm and fell for about 4 hours.  Lovely.  Better yet, it only accumulated on my patio chairs, and did not stick on the driveway.  Boys were thrilled, no shoveling of the sled hill was required.

And, announcement came out that school was cancelled the next day, Friday, making it a 4+ day weekend (MLK holiday Monday.)  Woo-hoo!  Tom made it home with a long, slow drive.  Apparently downtown Knoxville did get 3-4″ accumulation, and there is NO snow removal equipment in town.  Not a single snow plow from what I hear.  I commented to Kevin as we drove home from school before the big snow, in Chicago we would have seen snow plows camping out on the side of the road or in lots revving their engines and waiting for action.  Here I was surprised the bags of salt weren’t all lined up by the exit at Walmart, you had to go back deep into the garden section to find it.

The next morning, Tom texted that he had just slid down our street and straight into the intersection, which was fortunately empty, though he caught one small patch of pavement and turned just in time to avoid ending up in a lawn.  We now know what they mean when they say everyone freaks out when driving in snow around here.  Everything is hilly and there is no snow removal or formal road salting plan.  No wonder people are a tad panicked, it’s like going down a tobaggan hill in a car.  Sort of gets you a little on edge.  I thought everyone was just going to be poor drivers, slamming on breaks without any consideration of snow conditions.  I had not anticipated the impact of driving slowly and just sliding on down icy hills.   And yes, we are still uncertain of our plans to put away the patio furniture and umbrellas.  May not happen.

That afternoon the sun was out and all the ice melted.  We ran some errands and Kevin smiled and said “and this is a snow day.”  Sure, all the snow was gone, but there was no way the school buses could have been out safely that morning.  By Saturday morning, the sun was rising and by Sunday, temps were in the high 50′s.

We enjoyed a Univ of Tenn basketball win at the stadium on Saturday night.  Then Sunday dropped Brian off at the airport for his return to college after a great relaxing break.  Despite heading back to single digit temps in MN, he was happy to head back to school which was a good feeling for all of us.

I’m crocheting away on the striped afghan I started in Chicago and am enjoying watching the random pattern emerge.

We all learned to crochet from my dad’s mom, Grandma Alice, and I’ve picked up and put down projects over the years.  My two older sisters are committed knitters (Karen also crochets and quilts) and I’m not sure about my youngest sisters yarn skills (she’s got many other talents though.)  When my sisters guided me on buying 20 different skeins of yarn and did the starter row on this for me, I planned to lay them all out and number them in a pleasing pattern before I began.  No way, Jose, they said the only way to go is a completely random pattern.  Wise elders!  So far, so good, I dig into the bag without peeking for my next color.  Though I won’t deny the “controller” in me was a bid uncomfortable with those two mustard and gold colors among the last in the bag, meaning they would be close together.  But, as they say, Let Go and Let God…in the big stuff and the small.  Have a good week to all.

Our Chicago Pit Crew

I read Anne Lamott’s “Help, Thanks, Wow: Three Essential Prayers” on my mom’s recommendation.  A quick read, she is a favorite author (witty and spiritual) and it was a great book.  I read it while cruising through Chicago for a holiday visit, and a passage jumped out at me:

” The circle of family and friends ― “the lifesaving gift that your pit crew of people has been for you” ― is often at the heart of the “thanks” prayer.  The marvel is only partly that somehow you lured them into your web 20 years ago, 40 years ago, and they totally stuck with you,” she writes. “The more astonishing thing is that these greatest of all possible people feel the same way about you ― horrible, grim, self-obsessed you.”

Wow, what a great theme for our trip back to Chicago.  It was as if we’d headed for Knoxville back in the summer, and were heading back to the Chicago “pit” for a quick change, refresher, refill, and reload.  Notice I did not say relax.  What a whirlwind trip, surrounded by family and friends we loved being with. People who filled our tanks both physically and spiritually.  And, for the record, we use “Chicago” loosely to describe Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Wheaton and the surrounding area.  Around Knoxville, we are from “Chicago” to keep things simple and not get into “suburbs about 25 miles northwest of Chicago.”

The family – loved seeing everyone, including a holiday gathering with Carol’s family on Saturday and a get together with Tom’s family on Sunday.   Inspired by sisters, we shopped for yarn for a lovely striped afghan I’m crocheting.  Played games and ate too much.  Watched football and connected with aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and then ate some more.  We sat in circles sharing stories and catching up.  Of course, everyone missed Tom who was back in Knoxville working hard.  While we were at the party at his mom’s house, Tom was clever to send us a couple pictures from his Sunday…first a picture of an attic shelving unit he assembled to organize all the boxes of stuff (nice surprise!) followed by a few pictures of him fishing that afternoon on a lovely lake.  We missed having him with us, but truth told, at the pace we were moving he would have had a hard time keeping up!

The friends –the boys and I started off with a neighbor brunch hosted at Mary’s.  Wow again, I got choked up driving down our old street and then the tears were on full force greeting my old chums.  I mumbled through my tears, “really, Knoxville isn’t that bad, we are enjoying it there, but I’m just realizing how much I’ve missed all of you!” Russell’s champagne toast was sweet (“…In the words of Kotter…Welcome Back.”)   This party was too cool…with make your own omelets in a baggie that had two mixed raw eggs, you add your toppings (cheese, onion, mushroom, sausage, bacon, peppers), then let out the air, seal the bag and 6 of them at a time go into a large pot of boiling water for 13 minutes, then voila, perfectly cooked custom individual omelets.  Fun!  For dessert, Sharon and I were surprised with feathered tiaras and a large birthday cake with the number candles “110,” our combined age.   All this and we’d been in town for less than 18 hours.

-          Boys hooked up with friends throughout the weekend, dropping by homes and fitting in a couple sleepovers.  I had the pleasure of catching up with a few of their moms.

-          Brian enjoyed watching sports and eating out with high school friends.

-          We met the SJS basketball team and parents at Sports Page for a great night of togetherness.   We really miss hanging with the parents in the stands and Kevin was in his glory, back in with his bunch.

-          Kevin dropped by SJS during the lunch hour on Friday to say hi and got the best greeting from teachers and students alike.  Not sure who missed who more…so nice to see so many familiar faces that helped shape who he is.

-          I went to a lovely Bunko party with my college girlfriends and spouses at Laura’s home.  This group always pick right back up where we left off and is a good source of laughs, feedback and encouragement.  Adding in the guys upped the laugh quotient, a clever bunch of spouses.

-          I had no time, but squeezed in a friend for coffee (and an oil change while we hung out at Starbuck’s…hmmmm…ties in with my theme) and dear Terry totally filled my tank.  We have a mutual admiration society going (if you don’t have one, I highly recommend it.) We laughed, traded lifestyle tips and quickly caught up on the goings on in our lives. So glad I found that time!

Finally, faith – we made a point to hit 10:30 mass at St. Edna and it was a treat to hear a favorite deacon’s sermon.  He spoke of Herod and the Magi (wise men), and asked people to think about who they identified with more.  He said invariably, people respond the Magi.  But when pressed a bit to consider that it was Herod that preferred to stay in his comfort zone and keep things the way they were, versus the Magi that were not afraid to shake things up, drop everything and travel to a new land to search for a King… most of us may really be more like Herod, resistant to change.  We discussed on our car ride after mass our family probably qualifies as having a touch of the Magi in us at this stage.  We left a comfortable surrounding that we loved, and embarked to a new land.  In many ways, we’ve had to adjust, rely on our wits, reach deep into our faith, and carry on.  While we’ve missed so many familiar faces and places, we’ve survived and maybe soon can say we’ve thrived.  The book is still being written. ( And man, this is quite a book I’m writing here, thanks for the encouragement to keep blogging by a bunch of you.)

Heading back to Knoxville was all good.  We were glad to be back home as a family, have new friendships developing, sports to play and good events ahead of us here.  Plus, it was nice to put away the suitcase and slooooooowwww back down to the southern pace of things.  My word, you all move a lot faster up north than we southerners are used to!  Wink-wink.   Thanks for being part of our pit crew.

70 Degrees in Knoxville

Whoah, it’s going to be 70 degrees in Knoxville today!

Picture above is from the pretty park just south of Market Square in downtown Knoxville.  Which I want to get to this weekend before oldest returns to college next Sunday.

Before I begin gloating, I had a thought.  If it is 70 in January, what is the weather going to be in June?  120 degrees in the shade?  Hey, I’ll take the mild temps.  Pansies are still blooming in gardens all around here, quite lovely.  It is rainy though, so not sure how much time we will spend out on the patio other than grilling some dinner.  I keep thinking I’m going to take down and store the umbrellas, but at this point not sure I will.  Ok, done gloating.  I can see my Chicago friends will have a mild weekend as well in the 50′s…enjoy!

I’ve had a bad cold and cough this week, so it’s been a very slow start to the new year.  I do want to share soon about a great (quick, whirlwind) visit to Chicago and will do that this week.

Happy Saturday!