A Glorious Fall Sunday

This past Sunday was a glorious fall day in northern Georgia! And of course fall in north GA means APPLES!!! Ellijay, Georgia is home to the Georgia Apple Festival, and any number of apple orchards and 'apple houses' where you go to buy fresh, local grown apples, produce and treats such as jams, jellies, apple bread and fried pies!



Hubby and I ran by and picked up my mom and headed for the hills . . . the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains! We stopped in Ellijay for apples and sweet potatoes, drove up through Dahlonega and Cleveland, Clarkesville, Batesville, and on to Clayton, then up to Dillard, GA where my mom bought collards, mountain cabbage (regular green cabbage grown in the mountains and picked after a frost that supposedly makes it sweeter and crisper) and onions. Next, up to just north of the NC line to the Spring Creek Creamery where we got ice cream - it was so good and creamy! I got coconut, and it was very coco-nutty and just scrumptious!



After that, we headed home where we had a slow cooker dinner waiting for us. It was a great day, lots of fun and LOTS of driving! We also made a few stops along the way where I took pics of some of the most colorful trees. Enjoy! Becky

Modern Day Power, and a Bit of History!

This past Sunday my sweet hubby wanted to get me out of the house for a while. In the past week and a half, I'd spent two days caring for my parents while my dad was in the hospital, been in bed sick with a sinus infection, and went to my doctor's office to visit the nurse practitioner to get antibiotics. From Friday before last until Sunday I had been out of the yard once - period. So we decided to go riding.

A few months ago we stumbled across an interesting area we wanted to explore, but they were deluged with torrential rains that day, so we didn't even get out of the car. So, we headed back to that little out of the way corner of the world.

First up, Plant Bowen - a Georgia Power coal powered electricity plant. It's really odd to see those huge smokestacks and cooling towers so close to the road. Close enough you could hear the water running through the cooling towers!

Look below. Do you see those brown triangles above the green hedges? Inside the 'cage', behind the triangles, that is water running down the inside of the cooling tower. It sounded like a flood of water!

The train engines that pulled in the coal that powers the plant.

The coal - a mountain of it - that powers the plant. As a matter of fact, as we were leaving the area, we saw another train of around 105 cars full of coal heading to the plant.

This huge pipe was sitting right on the side of the road. It looked to be probably 2-3 stories tall.

We're not sure, but we think that the huge pipe will be attached right there. I'd love to see that juggling act!

Another, closer view of one of the cooling towers.

Now, I said the plant, cooling towers and all were right on the side of the road, and I meant it! The sign in the picture above was probably 75 feet or so from where we were. You just don't expect to find something like that out in the middle of Georgia farmland! I tried to copy and paste info from a website to share with you, but for some reason couldn't get it to work. SO! Since I couldn't get it to work, you can find out more about Plant Bowen, you can check HERE.

From Plant Bowen, you follow the same road, take a pretty sharp left hand curve, and in about . . . oh, probably 1 1/2 to 2 miles, you'll come upon Euharlee. Yep that's pronounced U-harlee. It's a tiny old town on Euharlee Creek.

For me, the highlight of the tiny town is the old covered bridge > > >

Look at those wooden pegs >>>

Of course in addition to the bridge there is a small history museum, an exhibit with an old civil war kettle and the cannon ball below. There's also an old grocery store, granary (below) and the travelers well.

It's a neat place for picnics and family reunions, and a cool place to play in the creek. To find out more, please check out the Cartersville, GA Convention and Visitors Bureau website. Thanks for going on our little trip with us!

I probably will not do a Tasty Thursday this week as I have a Dr. appointment and some errands with my dad on Thursday. (He had 'an episode' this morning in the wee hours, but he seemed to be fine the rest of the day.) But I will be sharing Blazing Star and pink hardy Hibiscus blooms with you on Friday.

Blessings friends! Becky

Day Two at A43

On our second day of vacation we . . .

ate breakfast . . .

paddled in the canoe . . .

played dominoes . . .

ate lunch . . .

played skip-bo . . .

ate snacks . . .

played dominoes again . . .

went out to dinner . . .

played Triple Yahtzee . . .

ate watermelon . . .

took showers . . .

crashed in the camper!!!

Oh, and we watched the wildlife, too! There were crazy people on jet skis, wave runners, boogie boards and skis out on the water, and on land there were birds, squirrels, geese and a pair of groundhogs. Fun!

(See that canoe? That's 'Red' our mid-life crisis little red convertible!)

Muskrat Love - scratch that, Ground Hog Love!!!

We're going out riding and exploring tomorrow - maybe I'll have more pictures next time! Blessings friends! Becky

This and That and the Other Thing

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! It was such lovely weather here the last few days. It's getting hotter, and forecasts say we'll get to around 90 today! But the humidity is bearable, and out here on my back deck, with the umbrella blocking the sun as it goes down in the west, and the fan and mosquito coil keeping the bugs at bay, it's really very nice.

Saturday afternoon and evening were very nice. I just kind of played around in the kitchen, sat out here on the deck and read a bit, and then made our dinner. The London Broil was very good! I was afraid I would burn it before the center got done enough (a little pink in the center) but it ended up really nice. A while after dinner we cut another watermelon for dessert. This time of the year we almost live on watermelon and peaches - we love them both . . . a lot!

Oh, and before I forget, I wanted to share a picture of 'my girls' with you from last Thursday. On Monday - Memorial Day - we noticed Bailey was limping a bit, and when I got to investigating, I found one of her back claws had curved under and was biting into her foot. So, I took her to the vet, and they clipped and filed and clipped and filed some more, and got it short so it wasn't going into her foot any more.

The vet (Dr. Sue) wants me to bring her back in a few weeks so she can work on it some more, and hopefully keep it from curling back up like that again. Anyway, it was bleeding a bit, so they put some gauze on it and wrapped that in that stretchy, stick to itself gauzy stuff in a brilliant neon pink. Dr. Sue said I could take it off in a while, but most likely Bailey would take it off before I would have a chance. But not my little Bailey Sue! Dainty little diva that she is, didn't even attempt to take it off. As a treat, I put both Bailey and Bessie in one of the rockers on the front porch with new rawhide bones and let them sit out there with me for a while, and of course I had to take pictures!

Yesterday (Sunday) we packed up a picnic and hit the road! We wanted to ride up into North Carolina and check out the campground we had planned on spending out week's vacation at beginning 6/13. Trailer Life Directory had given it pretty good ratings, but we were going riding anyway, and decided to go see how it stacked up.

It didn't! It was awful! The campsites were right on top of each other, there was absolutely zero private space or even a place for a canopy and picnic table, nowhere to really walk the dogs, and worst of all, even though I'd told her the size of our camper, the campsite was barely long enough for it, with no space for our truck. In a word, it was a dump!

(Note: I won't tell the name on here, but if you are planning a camping trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the western half of NC, e-mail me and I'll tell you the name in private.)

So, we headed out to look for another place to camp - in less than two weeks - in June. We rode and rode and rode! We got on the Blue Ridge Parkway and thought maybe one of the campgrounds right on the parkway would work, but none of the ones we saw had water and electric service, and I can live without all the other frills, but I want my water and electric right at my camper! We ended up going east of Asheville to Mount Mitchell's pinnacle. Mount Mitchell is the highest peak in the eastern United States at just over 6,600 feet. The views from up there were amazing!

On the way to Mount Mitchell, I kept asking hubby if he was sure he wanted to go that far, because it was a really long way. And he kept saying sure, let's go. So we went. We were away from home approximately 13 hours 15 minutes. We drove 475 miles. We got home a little after ten pm, and I for one was exhausted! And in that whole trip, I took 9 pictures! Because we didn't stop anywhere much where I could take pictures.

But the day was a lot of fun, and relaxing for the most part. It's amazing how comfortable it is to be with one you love, and talking when you want to, but being quiet when you don't have anything to say, and just enjoying being together.

This morning we had a Doctor's appointment for my dad, so before I left I looked up on the hill on the 'front 40' and saw this lovely sight . . .

I'm just loving these heavenly blue morning glories!!!

And when I got home this afternoon I got online and found us another place to camp. It's much closer to home, which isn't a bad thing considering the state of mind my dad was in today, and we go a week later than we had planned, but that's just because I'd rather wait a week than share the campground with a Goldwing motorcycle rally - yikes! But it's on a pretty lake where we can take the canoe and paddle to our hearts content, and there's lots to do in the area surrounding it. And a special treat is that they have free WiFi, so I'll be able to take y'all along on the trip to Hiawassee, Georgia!

And that's my few things I wanted to share today. Blessings friends, Becky

Wordless Wednesday - January 28, 2008

Wordless Wednesday Courtesy of French Lique, Texas

Theme - Garden

{Taken May 20, 2007 Butchart Gardens, Victoria, British Columbia}

Wordless Wednesday - January 21, 2009

Wordless Wednesday Courtesy of French Lique, Texas

Theme - Winter

{Okay, so this is almost Wordless Wednesday. This pic was taken on May 17th, 2007 in the Yukon while we were on a tour from our Alaskan Cruise. That was the latest they still had that much snow in recent memory, and only 5 days before we were there they had 14 inches of fresh snow.}

My Needlework Bed!

I know that sounds weird, but that's kind of what my latest project looks like, lol! First, though, some history. For probably 20 years now I've kept a big tote bag filled with felt and embroidery stuff that I can take with me when I'm sitting with someone in the hospital, or in the car when we're on a road trip for something to do. I just get bored to death if I don't have something for my hands to do!

Then, I got this neat little fiberboard tray a while back when I ordered some Prima flowers from QVC. It's really cute, about 11"x14"x3" deep, with cutout handles. A few weeks ago when we headed out for a Sunday afternoon road trip, I grabbed my bag so I'd have something to do, and went looking for something to put in my lap to catch buttons or needles if I dropped them. Well, I came upon this raw, unfinished tray and took it along. That was the best thing! I just loved having something to lay my scissors and project on if I needed to get out of the car, and I could use buttons, beads, etc. and not worry about spilling them all over the car.

That got me thinking about how I could make it better, and sometimes I just have to give things time to 'marinate' in my brain before I come up with a solution. I also knew I didn't want to go buy any 'stuff' because money is tight and I've got tons of 'stuff' that might work just as well, so this gave me time to get what I would need gathered together. Here's my solution, I call it my needlework bed!


Steps:

1. sanded the tray
2. painted it with white satin spray paint as a primer and let that dry
3. painted it a couple of coats inside and out with white indoor/outdoor gloss enamel paint and letting it dry completely in beween
4. while the coats were drying, work on the 'liner'
5. I used an old piece of 1/2 inch thick foam core board, cut slightly smaller than the inside of the tray
6. I didn't have any quilt batting, but I had some old black fleece that I cut to size and wrapped it around the foam core board, pulling tight and stapling as I went
7. next I took a piece of black and white gingham fabric (oops, guess I won't get that tote bag made any time soon!) and did the same with that, pulling it tight as I went
8. Lastly I used some clear vinyl and wrapped it tightly around the gingham and stapled it with 1/2 inch staples. (Gotta love that electric staple gun!) So, I had the bottom of my tray, but I wasn't finished! I wanted a pin cushion that I could stick needles, safety pins, quilters pins, etc. into as I was working on a project. Sometimes I'll have several colors of embroidery floss on one project, and I hate having to dig every time I want to change.
9. I took a piece of the gingham, measured it to fit along one end of the tray, sewed it together on 2 sides (using the fold for the other side), turned it right side out and filled it fairly tightly with poly-fill. Once that was done I turned the end under and stitched it on the sewing machine. I did NOT cover the pin cushion in vinyl, lol!
10. Once the tray was completely dry, I took another piece of the black fleece and cut it to size and glued it to the bottom (underside) of the tray so it will sit comfy in my lap if I've got on shorts or want to sit on a table.
11. I put the finished liner into the tray, used some self adhesive velcro dots to attach the pin cushion to the vinyl, and I was done. Here are a couple more pictures.

I just love how it turned out, and am looking forward to using it. I can hold it in my lap whether I'm sitting in a car, in my bed, on my sofa, or in the camper, and it'll keep everything I need right at hand.

Thanks for looking folks, and have a great day!!!

A Cake for Traveling!

Hi There! It's another cool, misty day here in northern Georgia, the kind of day we've had way too few of in recent months, so I'm enjoying it.

I'm all about planning and packing today, as we are leaving tomorrow morning to go to a GA state park about 100 miles from here. It's Richard B. Russell State Park, a 2500 plus acre state park on the banks of 26,500 acre Lake Russell near Elberton, Georgia. We love this state park for many reasons, but the main one is that it's a large park, with only 28 campsites. A cozy little campground with it's own boat ramp, docks and fishing dock. We'll be there all week, returning on the 18th, so this will be my last post for a while.

I wanted to leave you with a new recipe! My friend Linda from Brooklyn, who I met on Scrapbook.com, gave me this recipe and it's delicious, and only 3 ingredients, so it's very easy!

Pineapple Coconut Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease
a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

1 box Angel Food Cake Mix
1 15 ounce can crushed pineapple - with juice
1/2 cup (or more) shredded coconut

Blend cake mix and pineapple well, then add coconut and mix until it's well blended. Pour into cake pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. It took me less than 40 minutes, but my oven runs a little hot.

Linda says this cake is nice with cool whip and toasted coconut as a garnish, but as you can see, we're doing just fine with nothing but the cake!

The cake definitely tasts like angel food, but with the added tang of pineapple and the sweetness of the coconut. And it rises up nicely, too.

I sure hope you enjoy this recipe! And I hope you have a great week next week. I'll check back in with you on the 18th or 19th. Blessings friends! Becky

Welcome to Camellia Cottage

Hello, and welcome to Camellia Cottage, our small cottage home in north Georgia. I share this home with my husband of more than 20 years and our two 'girls', Bailey and Bessie, who, although they are miniature Dachshunds, tend to think they are human.


We moved here just five years ago from our home in Gwinnett County, Georgia. I had been retired for just about a year after working for a large corporation for 30 years, and hubby was (and still is) working at his job of more than 30 years. We fell in love with the area months before we actually found our home, but once we found this house, we knew it was the right one for us. It's not very large - only about 1300 square feet, but it's just right for us.


The house has a steeply pitched roof and surrounded by the hardwoods native to Georgia. Oaks, maples, sweet gum, hickory and poplar, among others. Our fenced back yard we have left natural, and it is filled with pitcher plants, solomon's seal and hearts a bursting. This year we had a couple of mulberry trees come up volunteer, and I hope to leave at least one of them.


The front yard we have changed drastically, adding a stone patio and large rock border around the flower beds. Together we laid almost 8000 pounds of stone! We removed the staid hedges and planted lilacs, buddleias, roses, Chinese snowballs, hydrangeas and many smaller perennials such as lilies, iris, lavender, columbine, dicentra (bleeding heart), peonies, foxgloves, and many more varieties.


One thing that was here when we moved in has remained. A rather large and unruly red blooming camellia bush right in front of the house. The house has been named for that bush, but not just because it's a camellia. You see, in the Victorian language of flowers, one meaning for the camellia is contentment, and we feel so happy and content here that we knew that was the perfect name for our home - Camellia Cottage.

My purpose for this blog is to share my love of home and all the things that are included in that, from cooking and meal planning, decorating, gardening, hobbies, pets, and anything else that should come up. Maybe it's food storage, or cleaning tips. Or how about products I've found that work for me. I don't work for anyone, and none of the products I tell you about have ever paid me a penny. I just like sharing information with people that may make their lives a little easier.

Well, that's all from me for right now, but I'll be back! Until next time, have a great day! Blessings, Becky