Long Overdue!

One of our favorite places to go on vacation has always been the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. In the early to mid '90's, we went as many as two or three times a year, mostly camping or cabin rentals. Since getting heavily involved in horses, moving to the farm, and with the ever increasing demands of B's sports, our visits have been few and far between at best. It has been a couple of years since we have been, even though we have Timeshare property there. This past week we decided to bite the bullet and make the trip. It was great! B took a friend which kept her boredom factor to a minimum. The visit to Dollywood for the first time in quite a few years was super. Lots of park additions since we were there last. The traditional (for us) visit to Granny Ogle's in the park for ham-n-beans, greens and cornbread was good, as always. With schools being in session and the fall colors not yet near peak, the traffic/crowds were as sparse as we have ever seen it. Virtually no waiting for rides and the parkway backups normally seen, were non-existant. Part of any trip to the Smokies is the culinary delights. Dinner on Monday at Johnny Carino's and lunch on Thursday at The Old Mill Restaurant were tops. Not to mention the fact that we walked straight into the Old Mill at noon with no waiting. Unheard of.... Our mandatory trip to Cades Cove yielded minimal traffic, a bear sighting, the always present deer and wild turkey as well as two obnoxious bikers. As always, we hated to leave and could have stayed forever. I think we have promised ourselves it won't be nearly so long before we are back again.

Temporary Boarders

B and I were working outside this past weekend when we heard a strange and loud noise coming from the shed. Upon investigation we found two very young kittens that appeared to have gotten trapped in a deep storage box and seemed to have been abandoned by the mother. As I guess is the case with most rural farm areas, we have any number of cats that come and go as they please. This is certainly far from the first litter of kittens to have been brought into this world on our property, but they are the first that have required our assistance. They were very tiny and as best we could guess were not more than a couple of weeks old. As a result, we are working as a team to provide baby bottle feedings every few hours. They are certainly living the life of a king compared to the dirty heat and humidity of the shed. Our newest Boxer, Cricket, thinks she wants to be their mommy and has turned out to be very protective of them when the other dogs start sniffing around them. At this point we are unsure what their future holds since we really don't need additional critters. All we can do in the meantime is provide them with the opprotunity live and grow and hopefully move on with their lives. Keyword....move on.

Peace College Visit

B had her second college visit this past weekend. As a result of her recruiting service, she had been communicating with the basketball coach there for some time and had recieved an invitation to make a visit to meet the coaches, tour the campus and attend a women's basketball game. The campus was beautiful, with many historic buildings. It is located in the heart of downtown Raleigh which could raise a number of concerns but it does have a Krispy Kreme located right on the edge of the campus. As we were running ahead of schedule for our visit, we stopped in to check it out. It was an extremley busy place. We had a good visit with admissions, a thorough tour, lunch with the head coach and enjoyed watching the game. B really enjoyed the day and indicated she could see herself going there. I think she most liked hearing from our tour guide that the main building on campus, which served as a hospital during the Civil War, is said to be haunted.....

First College Visit

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B has been using a college recruiting service for quite some time. One of the very first colleges to show interest in her was Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. This week, while on a family vacation to Massanutten, Va. we got a request from the head coach at Hollins to come out and take a tour. It was just a wild coincidence for us to be less than two hours away at the time. We had a very enjoyable tour with the coach. B got to meet several of his players. The campus was absolutely gorgious and the athletic facilities were first class. We also toured their equestrian facility which is world class. B has had routine communications with the coach for some time and we think this is a location where she could enjoy her college years

Another Milestone

Our youngest is growing up fast and it seems the milestones of her young life just keep coming faster and faster. This week she got her first car. Her dream from just about day one was to have a Mustang. We stumbled across a nice one that she really liked at a local lot one evening when she was headed to basketball practice. When we went the next day to check into it, it turned out someone else was interested in it as well. As it turned out we were literally in a race with this unknown party. It was simply a matter of whomevers bank could get the cash into their hands first. In the end, we came in under the wire which made for one happy young lady.

Sick of it

Having been here for over 5 years, we have still not done much to renovate the water system for the barn or pastures. As a result, the winters have been taxing with frozen lines and troughs, but manageable. Last winter was the worst so far, but this winter has finally reached the point of being unbearable. We have been constantly busting ice, thawing lines and carrying water. Since it appears as though this global warming is going to freeze us to death, it's time to make some changes. At this point there is not much I can do until warmer weather, but I can install a water hydrant inside the barn so that we are assured of having water available where we most need it, when we need it.

Pretty, But....

Our newest storm has come and gone, leaving behind some beautiful scenery. What was originally supposed to be 2 to 3 inches off to our west, turned into just a tad under 8 inches here. It was a dry, powdery snow. Not at all like the wet, heavy stuff we usually get when do get any snow at all. Only problem was, late Monday and most of that night we had light freezing rain that compacted the snow and left an 1/8th inch of ice over everything. It has now been three days and we are just now seeing the normal drab, brown grass starting to return to view. The horses have not been happy with the crusty mess at all. Our Boxers loved playing in the snow, but once in crusted over and re-froze, they quickly became obviously tired of having to negotiate through it. As for us, it was pretty, but we are tired of frozen pipes and transporting water. I promise to be a little bit more tolerant of this coming summer's heat.