Tennessee

Yesterday at a little after 10 we arrived back from Tennessee. It was so nice to have time to visit with my grandparents, talk over some of the issues I'm facing, visit 6 thrift stores, and enjoy a few treats. I went to all those thrift stores to try and save some money on cloths; Africa is VERY hard on cloths, and I wanted to stock up so to speak. I found 9 nice tops to add to the shopping I've already done, but sadly I didn't find any skirts that fit the bill. I think I'm going to have to do some sewing... Another highlight of the trip was visiting Mary and Jordan and their kitties at their apartment. We had supper with them last week, and breakfast with them yesterday. I love how their place reflects both of them, and of course getting to stop and play with kittens is a really great thing to do! Here are a few pictures; most of them are on my other blog, but I'm posting them anyway!

On Saturday my mom and I indulged in these cute sand bucket sundays at the lake. My only complaint was that it was almost too cool to enjoy ice cream properly!

Though small, Lake Tansi is a lovely place to visit. The water was nice and warm, and though the lake was shallow it was lovely to be in the water again. I had to laugh when I remembered that time my uncles tried to teach me to water ski there...it didn't go so well!

My grandparents deck was a great place to visit with Mary and Jordan when they came and spent the day with us on Friday, and I got a lot of amusement from watching the golfers come up to and leave the 8th hole. I would like to play golf one day just to say I did--but I'm pretty sure I won't be good at it!

Grandma decided that she wanted to make fruit cake while some fresh young muscle was around to stir it for her, so on Saturday afternoon I mixed the goodness up, Grandpa licked all the bowls, beaters and spatulas we used, and these beautiful cakes came out of the oven. There may have been some fruitcake testing going on that evening...

One thing that I will always associate with my most ladylike of grandmothers, are hydrangeas. They are the theme of her kitchen and dining room, the colors she often wears, and just a great symbol for my lovely southern grandma. They had some lovely ones outside their house, so I took a picture.

These next few days will be crazy as I try to get things sorted, planned, and in motion before heading up to St. Louis this Thursday. I'll be gone most of August, so timing is going to be everything. I'm excited about all this travel, but sort of wish I had a Tardis right now...

Parting shot: