I am very excited today. I had a coffee shop in Alabama contact me this week. The shop wants to display and sell my creations. What really made me proud is that they said they only carry unique items from artists. They consider me an "artist". No one has ever said that to me. I am putting together a list of the items I feel will sell. A variety of prices will be important as some people will be looking for more economic products while others will be interested in products in a little higher price range. Now the work begins. I have a list of new designs that I am planning to add to my inventory. I am sooooo excited about this new step in my life. I will keep you updated as to how everything progresses in the next few weeks. Yea for me!!!!!!!!!

It's a Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

It feels like fall is slowing arriving here in TN. It has been so hot and humid this summer. Has been quite dry so we are grateful for any rain we get. This time of year we get in the mood to start cleaning out the items we no longer need or want. We have been busy posting and selling on ebay for the last month or so. Good way to help declutter the house. Hope the sales continue. Have also listed items on Craig's List and the local TN trader (local shopper that has free ad listings for non business people) that are too large and heavy to ship. I'm sure it will get to the point when we will donate items to Salvation Army and/or Goodwill. Maybe, just maybe, we will actually be able to get the Chevy Blazer in the single car garage.
It has been a good morning so far. The internet did not crashed this a.m. like it usually does at 8:08 EDT. Cable company says it is our eguipment. Funny it is at the same time of day. "You can almost set your watch by it" as the old saying goes. Very frustrating sometimes.
Mornings are cool now (yea) with the day heating up to lower 90s later in the afternoon. I have a large potroast that I browned and put in the crockpot along with potatoes and veggies. Yummm!
Soooo, to end on a good note, "It is a wonderful day in the neighborhood".
Hope you enjoy my posts and please feel free to comment. Have a great day and stop back again.

Cades Cove and Great Smoky Mtns National Park

I was at the Cleveland Public Library the other day to read some magazines (to get out of the house for awhile that afternoon). Since it was in the upper 90s with very high humidity it sounded like a good idea. The newly remodeled library has a nice reading area on the second floor with big comfortable chairs and short sofas to sit on while you read. After sitting there for over an hour I decided to see if I could find a good book to check out before I headed home. As I strolled through the rows of books I found a display of paperback books that the FOLA (Friends of the library Assoc.) group had read as the book of the month. I decided to take it home. It is titled "Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different" by a local TN author by the name of Kristin O'Donnell Tubb. I didn't notice until I got home and started to read that it is actually a children's book. It is full of humor and is based on historical facts. The heading for Chapter one reads "I do things different. It helps to remind yourself of that when you're attending your own funeral". Or Chapter 7 "I do things different. It helps to remind yourself of that when you're filching explosives from the United States government." I truly enjoyed the book. If you get a chance to read it, it is worth your time. Since it is by a local author I don't know how available it is outside of this area. It is a Yearling book which publishes books for kids. Autumn is a fictional character that is based on people that were real residents of the Cades Cove town and area. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the only national park formed from privately owned land. It was a very interesting book that melds together fact and fiction. A person would think that Cades Cove became a part of the Great Smoky Mtn. National Park but after reading this very interesting book. It is more like The Great Smoky Mtn. National Park became a part of Cades Cove. Therefore, preserving the character of the mountain families in Cades Cove and throughout the Smoky Mountains that had lived there for generations. It is now the most-visited national park in the U.S. And the section of the park that is visited the most is Cades Cove.

That Old Rundown Shed

As I sit on my back patio I look out onto the pasture behind our house. My husband and I grew up on a farm so we enjoy having a pasture and occasionally some cattle back there to watch. It is a beautiful sunny day. Rather warm and humid but still a nice day. In that pasture there are no cattle right now. The last three that we there have long since been taken to market. There is a brand new storage shed there now that was built in May. Larger than the one it replaced and certainly more useful. It is good to have progress and renewal. As I gaze at that new shinny shed, I realize that I miss that old shed. It had part of its roof missing. Very small so it wasn't very useful. But, there is just something that I miss about that old shed. It reminds me of the farm I grew up on back in IA. I have happy memories of that time on the farm. Glad that we took some pictures of it last winter. We have a chance to look back at that picture now and keep the memory of that old rundown shed alive.

No More Excuses

As I sit at my computer this morning, I realized that it has been more than two weeks since I posted my first blog. My original intention was to post a blog at least once every week. So far I have not been able to get myself out of the rut that I have been in since finishing my cancer treatments. Telling myself that tomorrow things will be different. Then before I know it the day is just about gone and then it is "I am definitely going to start tomorrow". I have so many things I want and need to do in the next couple of weeks.
Our granddaughter Jess and Matt are getting married in July so need to decide about our clothes we will wear at the wedding, gift, buy a card, etc. What we decide to give as a gift will set a precedent for all our grandchildren as she is the first to get married. Definitely need to put some thought into our decision. We have decided on the day we will leave and the first campground we will stop on the first night so that is a start. We want to arrive a day or two ahead so are not too tired.
I need to start a list of everything that has to be done the next couple of weeks and start working on getting things done. Now that it is in writing for everyone to see-No more excuses! So wish me luck. And of course, have a great day.

"My First Blogging Post"

This is a first for me. I have never done any blogging but have read several of them and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. I hope to share ideas and some thoughts. You are sure to find a wide variety of ideas and info here. Some very serious and some funny and light hearted. After all a person can't be serious all of the time. Your comments are always welcome so don't be afraid to say what you think. I sincerely hope that you enjoy my blogs and will give me your thoughts in return.