Under Way

The Christmas closet doors have been opened!  And, the easiest boxes to get out were the ones that held what I like to put out first—the Precious Moments nativity.  The two boxes that hold all the boxes these figurines go in have been packed up with empty boxes and are ready to go upstairs. One is on the stairs and the second is ready to follow close behind.  

I have worked at unpacking, too.  I just brought up the last clothes that were on one side of the suitcase…and not many left on the other side.  I decided that it was easier to make a couple of trips up and down the stairs than to carry the heavy suitcase up the stairs…will bring it up when it is empty.  I charged batteries for my cameras and got the lenses all put back where they go.  I have been using the card table to get things organized and at the moment it is the closest to being cleared than it has been in some time.  

This afternoon, Joy came over and we spent a couple of hours sewing.  I serged edges and she ironed and sewed some of the pieces together on the sewing machine that she uses when she is over here.  I think she was pleased with her progress.  She is coming right along with this dress that she designed…no pattern…she just cuts and sews…my brain doesn't work that way!  I need a pattern…now once in a while I will modify a pattern piece or two…but can’t start out without some tangible crutch to get me going and keep me on the right path!  She's a designer…I just see what others design!

I realized that one of my clocks, that I turned back last weekend, was a day ahead. It is one that shows day, date, and time.  I guess that when I made the time fall back, I forgot to move the day back, too.  I was happy that we weren't as far into the month as the clock stated! The fact that the day gets dark so early is still confusing me…I think that it is much later in the day than it is.  The afternoons and evenings seem much longer than they did last week.

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Getting Back to Reality

Today I have attempted to get back to reality after being away…back to routine…sort of…My first piece of business was to go to the Credit Union and get a new card.  That was accomplished quite easily, then it was off to Kroger.  I got items that have been requested for our White Christmas boxes at church.  Each year we pack several hundred boxes of food to distribute to those in need.  This year they have asked us to purchase certain items for the boxes so found those and added them to my cart.  I also picked up some sale items that I will use for my holiday baking and cooking.  Checked out the sales…found several good ones on things that I use in my cooking.  I have noticed lately that more and more of the sale items are often not the best for us. When bargain shopping, I try to not impulse buy…but buy things that I use in recipes.  Once in a while I do give in to a treat or two…if they are part of a sale…all the better! I came home and got the food put away.  

Getting unpacked has been slow…more fun to pack than unpack!  It will happen.  I did get photos uploaded to my iPad.  Tonight's photo is one of them…taken in North Carolina on our way home…looking out over a valley.

I did start a task…with trepidation…changing from one season (Fall) to another (Christmas) inside my house.  Gulp!  Not sure I am ready…but it is less than three weeks till Thanksgiving and I need to have the Christmas decorating mess out of the way before I have the family Thanksgiving here.  It takes me a while to decorate and I need to be able to set a pace that is comfortable for my back!  Time will tell how far I get before it is time for me to cook my part of the Thanksgiving dinner.

I think that I will open the Christmas closet door tomorrow and it will all begin…again.  All I can say is: How can it be this time of the year already!  

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Raging Waters!

It rained around 8 inches over night and the waters rose in the area where we were in Northern GA…might have made the National news.  Lots of flooding and road closing in the area…we wondered if we would get out…well, not really as Marie is very familiar with the area and she was sure that she could find us another route home.  The first car in our party left early this morning and sent photos of the raging Ocoee river…the road was clear at that time.  By the time we were ready to pull out there were rumors that there had been road closings in that area that we usually travel and that the water was rising.  We decided to go for breakfast and figure out our "escape" route!  We left and traveled in a direction taking us away from our Ocoee River route.  We were following a map app on Marie's phone…one that was recommended to her…Waze…well, we started out following it…but we had trouble convincing it to take us a different way than our usual route.  We did travel around a bit and stopped to take a few pictures.  We stopped at a gas station in the area that we had gotten to and found out the current conditions…and that the road along the Ocoee River was now open.  So we headed to our familiar route.  The Ocoee River is the one that the Olympics in 1996 used for thrir white water rafting…it would have been quite a challenge today to the Olympians!  It was raging.  My pictures don't do it justice…but perhaps you can sort of see the force that it was running and the height to which it had risen.  Tonight's two photos were taken at almost the same spot…one I tried to get a closer view of the extreme turbulence.  The second one gives a reference to the height it had risen in comparison the parking area next to it…it had at one time come over the banks and covered that area.  Plus you can see the road next to it. 

We were glad to get past the waterway and on our way without being turned back…or awash in water!! We pulled into my driveway about 4:30pm…good to be home safely.  We had such a good time plus a little weather excitement.  

Weather excitement seems to go along with this trip. The first year we went to this spot, Hurricane Helen chased us back home early.  Last year the weather was delightful.  And, this year torrential rain and flooding!  Great adventures?!?

I will say that we heard about rescue teams coming into the area…people having to be rescued from rooftops, and lots of damage to homes, businesses and properties.  The gas station store had a rack with sandwiches, etc. for free for the rescue teams.  

Good to be home safe and sound! Oh, my rain gauge says we had almost three inches of rain here.  And, when I got out of the car, I noticed that a couple of my gerber daisies have new blooms on them!  Is it really November 5th?!?!

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Last Day/Night

This is where we have been sitting for the last hour or more…so nice and cozy.  We have been doing our last catching up session for this trip.  Some are getting up early in the morning to get back home.  We plan to leave 9ish and the others plan to leave sometime before checkout which is noon.  There is a cold front passing through so we have been seeing the sky light up through the large picture windows in the lobby.  I think we will hear more of the thunder now that we are back in our rooms.  The crackling fire and all the talking amongst us and others in the room sort of acted as sound proofing down in the lobby!  It has rained off and on throughout the day.  We went out for breakfast this morning…then broke up and each car went where the driver directed it.  Four of us did end up at the handcraft store at the same time.  Then Marie and I wended our way back taking several different roads in search of barns and did take a few photos despite it raining fairly hard part of the time.  We all spent time in the lobby and/or our rooms in the afternoon.  Then met down in the lobby about an hour before dinner and then ate at the grill restaurant here in the hotel.  We talked some more while we ate and then went to the lobby to talk some more.  The smaller of the puzzles that we started did get finished. The 1000 piece puzzle that had been already been started before we got here got more pieces placed in the center of it.  A rainy day well spent and enjoyed!  

Tomorrow at this time we should all be back in our homes in our various states.  It has been fun and refreshing time away.

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A Little Late Tonight

We have had a busy day.  We went to a nearby town, Helen, Georgia…got there via very curvy roads…beautiful Fall color along the way. Helen is a beautiful, touristy Bavarian-style town.  I’ll show photos another time…am late so I won't mess with photos taken today.  We walked around the town and ate lunch there.  We came back and sat around the lobby with a roaring fire going and talked and worked on jigsaw puzzles that are on various tables around the lobby.  Looks like we all enjoy jugsaw puzzles…everyone put several pieces in and we got the border together of the two that our group has worked on.  It has been another pretty day.  Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy.  I’m sitting in my hotel room with one of those electric fireplaces glowing and warming up this end of the room.  Tomorrow is our last full day…we'll see what that day holds!  

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

We Made It!

We made it to north Georgia and spotted a barn or two along the way!  It has been an interesting trip to this point.  First we came upon a turned over semi that slowed up traffic for miles and miles so that was a major slow down.  Once we cleared that it was fairly smooth sailing and we enjoyed the beautiful leaves along the way.  I hope I have captured some of the beauty that we saw today.  We also took a side road to find a few barns.  I chose to show two of those in tonight's blog…good to be back to taking barns! 

I had a major snafu when we got to the hotel and I was registering.  My card wouldn't clear…and I had taken the time and trouble to stop at the Credit Union and tell them I was going on this trip so they wouldn't question charges from out of state.  Well…come to find out someone had attempted to charge something to my card in the last couple of days and the Credit Union had out a stop on my card for fraud.  Glad they stopped it before it caused a problem…but not the best time to find out.  I will say that I had gotten an email a few days ago from the Credit Union…about the same time that I got the scam call from the supposed Credit Union…so I had ignored it since the other had never happened.  So partially my fault…and, then these SCAMMERS! No words!  I did call the 800 number and they approved it to be used for one charge for the hotel…so I am not having to sleep in a car!!! Not that that would have happened.  All my friends said that they would help!  And, thankfully I got plenty of cash to use for other things on the trip!  I will say as an aside that I almost didn't get much cash and was going to rely on my card…so glad that I couldn't quite give up my use of cash!

Hopefully from this point on, it will be smooth sailing?!?

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A Sunday Favorite Photo