The rain has brought about a spectacular May garden…
So gloomy today, fits my mood. Don’t know if it is the endless weekends of rain or my impending birthday but more (and heavy) rain is predicted for the next 3-4 days and my birthday gets closer with each, so I need to shake it off!
This morning was the first in the past few weekends we have not been shaken awake by a 5:30 AM alarm. Such luxury to be able to sleep late yet we still woke a bit past 7:00 AM. I guess the concept of sleeping late is relevant. John was out the door early for a bike ride, with plans to make it home in time to go to the Market Square Farmer’s Market with Sonya and me. He didn’t, the chance to get out for a longer ride was too tempting.
I met Sonya just west of the World’s Fair Park for a brisk 7-8 block walk to Market Square. The Farmer’s Market opened for the season this week though vendor participation is low at this time. It has been a cold spring and only lettuces, onions and some carrots are pick able.
I grabbed a nice head of red leaf lettuce, a few spring onions, some baked goods and a small miniature rose named “Sweet Diana” after Princess Diana. The smell is sweet and citrusy, similar to the scent of the magnolia. The flower is heavy on a petite plant so I am not sure how well it will hold up. I am going to plant the rose in a pot, leave it in a sunny spot in the garden and hope for the best!
After the market, we poked in and out of a few stores, lingering, because we could. We could have stopped for lunch but it was beginning to rain so we pulled up our hoods and made the wet trek back to our cars. We talked a lot about our upcoming trip to Abingdon and plans to ride the VA Creeper Trail. It will be a lot of fun for John and me to get out of our routine and spend some time with friends.
The afternoon has been spend running errands in the rain, things to return, other things to buy. We are helping the economy with our recent spending. Among our stops, Trader Joe’s for a bag of falafels and The Holy Lands Deli for an assortment of middle eastern salads, a container of kalamata olives and block of incredibly fresh feta cheese. We have been grocery store purchasers of olives and feta, but are now ruined by the heady flavor of the dark olives we dug out of buckets in the deli and the fresh, crumbly feta still dripping with brine from the deli frig. Dinner was delicious!
Weather around here is crazy, I guess it is everywhere. Average high temperature for April 9th is 69F, today it soared to 80F . The pollen numbers are to the sky. Not that I saw too much of the day. I took a sick day from work and stayed in bed until late afternoon. The sleep did me some good but I still have a scratchy throat and bad feeling. Tomorrow will be a work day regardless.
Sometime around 8:00 PM, I opened facebook and realized that the Sweet and Savory food truck was at Mead’s Quarry (an Appalachian Mt. Bike Club ride was in progress). On the menu, a blonde brownie with homemade ice cream. Mead’s Quarry is about half a mile from the house so I start thinking half a nice, warm blonde brownie with ice cream is within my reach. I am sure it will make me feel better, I know it will John.
He wasn't hard to convince. He grabbed his keys, and off we went. The sky appeared to be on fire with the sun setting behind the city. We can see some taller buildings from our yard although the leaves will soon obscure the view. And yes, our neighbors have an incredibly manicured yard… oh the life of retirement.
Always a bunch of cars in the parking lot at Mead’s on a warm evening but wow, mountain bikes and riders were everywhere. John pushed me out of the car to buy the brownie and it was clear, I, in my jeans and Tennessee T-shirt was clearly the only person not in bicycle spandex. I was also older than most of the folks by a good 30 years. Do old folks not mountain bike?
Sweet and Savory was one of the first food trucks in Knoxville and they are wildly successful. A husband and wife team own the truck and specialize in gourmet burritos, salsas, chips and other such foods popular with the outdoor set. Knoxville still has some laws to change before we are completely food truck friendly but we will get there.
BTW, the warm blonde brownie was worth dragging myself out!
Easter flowers stayed nice all week. Nothing says spring like a grocery store bouquet of brightly colored mixed flowers and a bundle of tulips. The candleholders are a gift from my parents, purchased during their year in Denmark (1973). We had Daniel and Lee over for dinner. They lingered, worked on Daniel’s bicycle and spent time with John, he was very happy.
Earlier in the week, when shopping for Easter dinner, we stumbled across Trader Joe’s spiral-cut ham. Wow, does Trader Joe’s sell anything that tastes bad (except their $1.99 milk and sushi)? I don’t think so.
After 4 weeks, our 2nd floor bathroom is almost done. A few finished touches need to be completed including refinishing the tub (circa 1942), rehanging the blinds, some type of artwork on the walls and a new shower curtain.
Hard to believe a 5’x8’ space could take so long. The bathroom was stripped down to the to studs, insulated, floors leveled and squeaks removed, new pipes and plumbing and a shower was added. The room went from spongy, blue linoleum to gray marble, plaster walls to subway tile and bead board. We are pleased with the results. It was a barely tolerable space before.
Yes, it is tiny. Built in the days when a bathroom was a functional space, not a place to “get away from the kids” or have some “me” time. But it has everything one needs in a bathroom.
Due to the pitch of the roof, we went with a European shower wand. The shower would otherwise be too crowded.
I love the modern vanity lights. We had a few discussions about them but in the end, the tall, cylinder shape worked best. ;-)
Work was hectic this past week, it always is at the first of the month. By Friday we were really looking forward to a low key evening at Chuy’s with our friends, Sonya and Mac. John was a good sport and left home early to secure our place in the usually 45+ minute line. Mac, Sonya and I arrived within minutes of each other and after a few minutes we were seated.
Dinner was good as always, but being with some of our favorite friends was even better. I have known Sonya for about 16 years, we have been couple friends for 13. We have a lot of dinners, hiking, backpacking, travel, cards, laughter and life between us. No matter how much time goes between getting together, we always pick up like it was just last week.
Saturday was a work morning for me, one of three this quarter. After work I spent a couple of hours dealing with issues related to getting my sister, Carol’s, condo on the market. I will be really happy when the condo is gone. Too much time and effort has passed between the decision for Carol to move into an apartment and getting the “For Sale” sign in the yard. Enough said…
All the while, my throat is scratchy and I am exhausted. I am usually anxious to get out on a nice day but I gladly spent the afternoon sleeping and watching TV with John. It was a perfect late Saturday afternoon.
This morning was marathon morning in Knoxville. Every year our neighborhood is one of several who pull out all stops to cheer on the runners. The race sponsors a “Best Neighborhood” contest as voted on by the runners and we usually win. How can we not, we fall at mile marker 22 and the runners are really excited to see and hear our encouragement.
We stood at the top of a little hill (killer at mile 21.5), listening to the band, the Natty Love Joys (locally famous), ringing some cowbell and clapping. We also had the chance to visit with a few neighbors, which was a plus. I must say, our neighborhood has some poorly behaved, no, poorly supervised children. Allowing your child and their bicycle/scooter in the midst of a group of runners is REALLY NOT a good idea.
We were done after a couple of hours of clapping. I was a energized by the runners so late this afternoon (after I was sure all runners were through the route), I laced on my running shoes and head out for a few miles. I have really struggled with running since my troubles a year ago with piriformis muscle pain. Hopefully I can get some structure back to a running program.
Some of our neighbors hand out fruit and gel. Water and Gatorade is available at the other end of the boulevard.
Loved this guy, he played his drum during the entire race (he was out for over 6 hours). He had all kinds of says to the beat of the drum. “You- can- do- it” was his favorite.
We buried my Uncle Joe on Thursday in a cemetery behind a small country church in Bethel Valley. The cancer he had fought against for so long finally won. Our family gathered at the graveside to say goodbye. Twelve of the 16 cousins stood beside the coffin as did Joe’s long estranged daughter, Angela. We will miss his stories, his laughter and his guidance. With love to you Uncle Joe….
Joseph Harris Whitesell was born in Staunton, VA on August 11, 1934. He was the 4th of 7 children, the second brother to my mother. He was raised on a farm and grew up under the strict hand of my grandparents, doing farm chores and going to school. It was not an easy life. He graduated from high school but never went to college. He was young, good looking and restless. A rebel without a cause.
He kicked around the Army for a bit then took a job at a GE factory in Staunton. He married the lovely Miss Thelma Ramsey, from Ramsey Draft, VA and had a daughter, Angela. But he had a demon that owned his soul, alcohol. Twice GE sent him through rehabilitation and twice he failed. Finally he lost his wife, his daughter and his job.
It is said that my grandmother would drive the country roads after dark and look for Joe. On a number of occasions, she pulled him out of a ditch and took him home to sober up. She never gave up on him and lived long enough to see him fight for sobriety and be rehired at GE, from where he proudly retired.
Joe never remarried. He was a ladies man and had some memorable romances through the years. Some of the ladies the family met (and became attached to), some we didn’t. When he died, one of my cousins found a stack of photos of Joe’s ladies labeled, “The Ladies Club”.
He respected the ladies he dated and maintained contact with many of them, helping with finances or family. It is a testament to him that his most recent and previous lady friends sat crying at the funeral, arms around each other for comfort.
Joe was an accomplished ballroom dancer, an avid gardener (in the country that is vegetable gardening) and bird hunter. His brown sugar cured country ham was legendary in Augusta county. He loved his family and stepped in as father/grandfather to brother Tom’s children when Tom passed away. He drove up and down the highway between TN and VA during my mother’s last years. She called out for him during her last days, I understand he called out to her during his…
Rest in peace Uncle Joe.
In January I had plans to update smithposts… weekly but time has once again slipped by and, well, it’s a month later almost to the day. Not sure whether that means life is so exciting that I don’t have time to update or life is boring and I don’t have much to write about. I think it is a little boring but I will let you decide.
So, late January, around the time we had fully recovered from our Holy Land trip, the fact that I had not sent out Christmas cards got the best of me. I love receiving Christmas cards and letters but the dirty little secret among the dwindling number of us who still practice the tradition is that “to receive you have to write!” This is a time consuming project in the middle of the busiest time of the year!!
I have held sacred the tradition of writing a Christmas letter and mailing cards since 1994, but in 2011, I broke the streak by sending only cards with a generic handwritten “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year’s” at the bottom. Oh dear! Then last year, nothing….
So over a couple of days I composed my letter, signed cards and addressed envelopes, Happy Valentine’s Day cards! I even got John into the act for his relatives. Two major trips with John’s cancer in the middle pretty much summed up our year. We bicycled and hiked but had no nights under the stars to write about (a first for me in 16 years). Not sure if we are getting old or lazy but we do hope to get out for some mini adventures this year!
While I will resume the Christmas card tradition this year, I enjoyed sending Valentine’s Day cards and letters. I received several back from friends and family, which really brightened up my Valentine’s Day.
Meanwhile, we have had several light winter snows as seen below through the windows on our front door…
And a string of beautiful winter sunrises and sunsets. The sunrise below was captured through our kitchen window a week or so ago. The low clouds in the middle of the picture are hovering above the Tennessee River.
Then came Valentine’s Day. John gave me the orchid I have been coveting at one of our local stores…
And this beautiful bouquet of tulips. I hope I don’t kill the orchid before the tulips fade. For some reason I, who has a relatively green thumb, am frightened to grow them.
We are out walking again and having a great time. Saturday we walked several miles at Victor Ashe Park. The loop is about .6-miles, we walked it 4 times. The day was breezy and cold but the sunshine fooled us when we left the house and we were woefully underdressed.
The sun came and went and the wind was unrelenting. John had a hat and light jacket, me, not so much. We were frozen by the time we got in the car!!
Sunday we headed to the riverfront greenway for an out and back walk. I don’t think John could bear the idea of walking in circles for a second day in a row. This time we were dressed for the cold but the sun stayed out and warmed us.
We had several opportunities to inspect the mess called the Henley Street Bridge, a major link to the part of town we live in. Closed already for a year and a half, the project will go on another 8 months. Don’t know if it is incompetence on TDOT’s part for selecting the repair company or total incompetence on the repair company’s part (or both probably) but it is an expensive disaster. Well that’s a blog post all it’s own, I will spare you my rants.
Thanks for reading!
-B
So glad we have another day before returning to our jobs. We will have been away from work for 2 full weeks, exactly enough time to relax completely! I am mostly recovered from the trip though I still find myself very sleepy by 9:00 PM and waking up at 5:00 AM.
Saturday we were up early (5:00 AM). With mugs of hot coffee in hand, John hit the couch and read for hours while I worked on the Israel trip outline. The process of notes, photos and Google searches has been time consuming. My notes are not as good as I had hoped and my spelling of Israeli historical sights is incredibly bad. Between Friday, Saturday and today, I have worked through the first 5 days of touring. I hope to finish the last 2 tomorrow while everything is still fresh in my mind. I will still have to put the pictures and notes together.
We went for a neighborhood walk mid-morning. Predictions of sunshine had not materialized, the temperature was still below freezing and the morning fog had not lifted. Nice to be out and moving. I have been such a slug since climbing on the plane Wednesday night.
Saturday afternoon and early evening was dedicated to a movie-dinner date. We had quietly celebrated 3 years of marriage on the 16th (while traveling) and wanted to recognize the event with an evening out. Our movie choice was Hyde Park on the Hudson with Bill Murray. We give the movie a C+, so-so. On the other hand, dinner at Chuy’s was an winner. We got there early enough for a 30 minute wait instead of the usual 1-1.5 hour. Yea for eating with the blue hairs…. oh, I guess we are blue hairs!!
Today has been another lazy day although John got out for his first bike ride in weeks. The temperature warmed to 53 and most of the snow has melted. Looking forward to one more day off…
-B
After 8 days, 7 nights in Israel, 15.5 hours of flight and 7 hours of airport sitting, we are finally home. Our flight from Charlotte was marked by rough and tumble turbulence; feet on the ground is always a comfort! It was snowing above the clouds but raining on the ground when we landed. Luckily the snow did not appear until after we had dragged ourselves from the airport to the grocery store and home.
We held up in the house all afternoon, watching the snow storm and trying to stay awake. The snow fell fast, the flakes were large and within 4 hours, we had almost 3 inches on the ground. Knoxville hasn’t had this level of snow for a few years.
Although we thought we felt okay, Thursday afternoon was a blur. By 8:00 PM we were getting ready for bed and asleep by 8:30 PM. We slept a full 12 hours, which is a record for us (at least for our adult years). Today has been a little more active, dry cleaner, grocery again and back home. Ah, the life of a recovering traveler. Happy to have a few more days off before the transition to work!
Above is the early part of the snow fall. Everything is gray and it is hard to see the flakes.
The pansies seems okay with the wet, cold blanket. They will bounce back as soon as the weather warms.
A snowy afternoon from the kitchen window.
-B
I just found this picture on my camera memory card, I had forgotten it was there. One morning this past fall, John surprised me with a heart shaped leaf on my windshield. The leaf is still banging around in my car somewhere, probably in pieces by now but the memory is sweet and I love the picture.
I am cleaning off the card in preparation for our upcoming trip. I don’t think I have sorted and filed pictures since our 2011 Christmas trip so the task is incredibly time consuming. As a result, I have added another New Year’s resolution to my list:
“Empty memory cards and file pictures on a regular basis!”
I worked yesterday, a full 8.5 hour day. We had plans to go to Will and Kim’s annual New Year’s Eve party but I was totally burned out. Instead we stayed home, ordered Papa Murphy’s pizza and went to bed around 11:30 PM. I was still watching TV at 12:00 AM and watched the ball drop at Time’s Square, John was asleep. It was a quiet, relaxing evening. Spending New Year’s Eve with just the two of us is the best!
Dreary, rainy start to the New Year. I can’t believe I lounged in my PJ’s until noon. John beat me and didn’t change until we went out for hot chocolate around 3:00 PM. He woke up with a queasy stomach (could have been the Papa Murphy’s) and I with a scratchy throat and hoarse voice. After hours of reading, sleeping and generally doing nothing, we are feeling a bit better.
I have a few New Year’s resolutions on my note pad. Among the usual items that appear yearly ( loose weight and increase physical fitness) is to learn to use our new SLR Cannon came and to blog more. Blogging has fallen off my priority list, it can take a huge amount of time. Facebook has somewhat replaced it but I frequently get bored by facebook and it does not provide the same “through the years” experience. One day at a time with blogging…
A few rainy day pictures from our outing for hot chocolate:
Happy 2013 to all!
-B
We are spending a quiet weekend at home, the last of the year. Yes, Christmas 2012 is winding to a close. We enjoyed several days of festivities with my family before John went to Alabama to celebrate with his. He is home after a whirlwind trip. His family’s celebration was a joyful one with four generations (17 people) around the dinner table to celebrate.
Our original weekend plans had us visiting friends tonight for a post Christmas dinner and a competitive game of Hearts (we always loose) but illness on their part has prompted a cancellation. We are okay with it, so much illness (both respiratory and stomach) going around right now. We are less that two weeks away from our departure date for Israel and concerned about catching something before we go. We had a big pot of homemade chicken and rice soup on the stove to take with us tonight when the cancellation text came through so we will enjoy the soup with a loaf of fresh bread for dinner.
The end of the holidays signal crunch time for trip preparations. This trip marks our first foray into the Middle East and will be, by far the most expensive trip we have taken. This will also be our first experience traveling with an organized group. I have been the chief planner and “travel agent” for our previous trips, which up till now have been self or privately guided. The lack of participation in the details has led to a certain detachment for me, a bit of “are we really traveling?”. The reality is that we are leaving soon and we have a few things to do to ready ourselves!
We took a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon. It was cold, misty, overcast and just plain dreary. I loved it, winter is its own special season. Tonight we are having light flurries. The windows of the cars are covered and there is a spotty dusting on the ground. Tomorrow is forecasted for clearing and cold.
Christmas 2012 has come and gone, too fast for my tastes. No Christmas letter composed, no cards addressed or mailed, too little time spent shopping and too much time at work. We had some memorable family gatherings accompanied by some wonderful food. “Food is love” my Uncle Tom always said, and he was right!
Here are some of my favorite pics from the holidays:
*(left) Quick flower arrangements for a family meal. Amazing what one can do with a few things from the yard and a cheap grocery bouquet of flowers.
*(right) The holiday cactus bloomed and bloomed until I relocated it in the hallway above the heat vent….
*(left) Pot of chicken and rice soup served with crusty bread and a salad before the Mannheim Steamroller concert. John’s mother was in town for the festive evening.
*(right) King crab and snow crab from Shrimp Dock. Served to my family the Sunday before Christmas. A few days later the leftover crab was transformed into a delicious crab bisque.
*(left) Beef tenderloin served on Christmas Day. John made the marinade, his sons Daniel and Lee cooked the meat to perfection! Melt in your mouth good!!!
*(right) Candle lantern from the 2011 Christmas markets in Munich, Germany! John, Daniel, Lee and I talked about what a great time we had last year on this trip and vowed to do another Christmas trip in 2013.
*(left) We channeled the Germany-Austria Christmas trip through the holiday decorations on our chandelier. Lots of red balls, ribbons and snowflakes in the windows and handing from light fixtures!
*(right) I love Santa. These are a few of my favorites including "The Grinch Santa", who was a gift from my mother and sister some 20+ years ago. I missed my mother a lot this Christmas, my 2nd Christmas without her.
Hope you had a very Merry Christmas, Best Wishes for a Happy, Happy New Year!!
-B
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