Hello Monday On Tuesday

Hi friends. It's June. Can you believe it? May was choc-a-block full and June will be the same. We have a daughter's birthday, a grandson's birthday, an anniversary, Father's Day, a week with daughter2 and her littles at the lake, Vacation Bible School, various appointments, my brother and sister-in-law in town for a visit, two wine dinners, and whew. It will be fun. 

Now if only the weather would get the message.

I didn't get my weekend recap written as we had company Sunday evening, then I had an appointment that required me to leave the house before 8 AM on Monday so here it is almost 3 PM and I'm finally sitting down to blog. 

Backing up to Thursday because it feels like the start of the weekend. I volunteer from about 9-1 every Thursday, then went to run a quick errand for a friend before heading to the salon for a mani/pedi. So nice. Hubs and I had already decided we'd go out for dinner which added to the enjoyment of the salon treatment. 

I got home and changed and we went to the local distillery for dinner and to hear some live music. I ordered a brisket sandwich and it was delicious but super rich. I only ate half and hubs helped with the rest. After we ate we went outside to hear a local band play. 

We ran into some friends there who introduced us to a couple they were with, neighbors of theirs, and in the course of chatting we discovered they're friends with some of our very best lifelong friends. We snapped a picture and texted our friends who live far from here and in the moment it all felt like such a small world. 

Friday hubs had an appointment to get his haircut in the nearby city and we decided to make a day of it. I tagged along so we could visit my mom afterwards, and we had the most delicious lunch in between these two events. We ate downtown at a small seafood restaurant where I could have ordered one of everything on the menu. 

We opted for a half order of their famous cheddar hushpuppies-

 A sampling of their fish dip which was so good I could have eaten as an entree...

A half dozen oysters from different east coast waters with varying salinity...

And then a lobster roll for good measure...

We got the Maine roll (cold) as opposed to the Connecticut roll (warm), but this place does both. We were full but we did get an order of their banana pudding to go so we could take that to my momma. She loved it. 

We left downtown and headed to her residence next, which is about 20 minutes from the city. We had a nice time chatting outside and hubs had her laughing which makes me smile too. These lilies in bloom in the garden there were beautiful. 

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We made a couple of stops on the way home to drop off and pick up various things so didn't get home until about 4:30. We relaxed that evening and skipped dinner since we were still full from lunch. 

Saturday I ran to the store first thing to get a few last minute party items and hubs ran to the rock place to get filler for a spot beside the patio. I'm sure the place has a name but he bought two buckets of rocks there so I call it the rock shop. We were both home by 11 and then headed out to watch the boys play in a travel baseball game about 40 minutes from here. 

This is how it went down-

We drove forty minutes to a very nice sports field complex. I mean really nice. 

We paid $20 to get in. Yes. $10 per adult. Does anyone else think that's a lot? And y'all. There were hundreds of cars coming and going all day long as there were games played by kids of different ages on multiple fields. I wonder if there are families with a child playing where only one parent attends the three day tournament because they can't afford the entry fee? 

My daughter says probably not because these travel teams are a different level and parents are spending crazy sums on the bats and other gear so paying the $10 to get on the field is nothing. I saw a meme where a mom said 'here I am wearing the same bra I've owned since 2018 while my 8- year old is on the field with a $500 bat'.  Ha! But also kinda true. 

I will stop now because I sound old, plus the facilities are super nice so the money it seems is at least going back into that community. Also, most people don't have a husband who hits the snack bar and spends another $50 on junk food. Not naming names, but it does happen. ahem. 

We came home and worked on getting everything ready for the next day's festivities. 

I cleaned bathrooms and hubs got the outdoor dining furniture wiped down and back in place, the grill set up, the cornhole boards out, etc. 

Saturday night he prepped the pork butt and shoulder. Somehow I bought one of each which I didn't think was a huge deal, because they weighed about the same, but apparently it was a bit of a deal because one had a bone and one didn't and blah blah blah. 

It was all delicious. 

Hubs put them on the green egg sometime between 11 and midnight on Saturday and they smoked happily all night long. There's nothing like the scent of BBQ with your morning coffee.

I'm not joking. 

The weather on Sunday was nuts. It looked like it was going to pour rain all day but it never rained a drop. It was chilly. Then it was warm, then chilly again. But not raining so we'll take it. 

We had BBQ with beans and slaw and then all the other yummy sides plus two desserts people brought.

 We played cornhole and fun fact-we've owned boards for ten years and I still am not great at this game. 

Here we are trying to do math. If you play cornhole you get it. It's all friendly and we had a great time chatting, eating, tossing the bean bags, and celebrating the start of summer. 

Also, this turtle lives here now. What should we name him?

Linking today with Holly and Sarah's yesterday hop Hello Monday and Joanne's 

Talking About It Tuesday

Merry Monday

Good morning friends. Recapping a fun weekend here today and linking it all with Holly (Pink Lady) and Sarah's (Sunshine and Books)  Hello Monday blog hop. Here's how ours looked-

Many months ago I saw that a band I love was going to be in Knoxville in December, and somewhat spontaneously we bought tickets and invited hubs and his brother and sister-in-law to join us. In hindsight, spending a weekend away in the month of December might have added to the busy-ness of the season, but it also added to the fun festive feel we long for this time of year. 

Hubs and I drove over the mountain and through the construction woods to his brother's lake house on Friday. The ride through Asheville and also through the ongoing construction on the Tennessee border went pretty smoothly and we made it to their house early afternoon. The little brown dog is always so excited to see one of his favorite people, aka my sister-in-law. 

We chatted and caught up, then headed into town to meet a college friend for dinner. It was a fun night in a festive venue and we were seated just beside one of their pretty trees. 

Saturday morning we watched some College Game Day, then made our way to a Christmas market being held at Maryville College. Such a lovely campus and we enjoyed browsing the stalls there. This little hot chocolate truck, a remodeled horse wagon, was adorable-

We bought a couple of stocking stuffers then stopped in to see the RT Lodge we've heard so much about. It's stunning! I've added it to my list of places I need to spend a night. R.T. Lodge has an interesting history dating back to 1932 when Susan Wiley Cooper Walker, the widow of Andrew Carnegie's business associate John Walker moved to Maryville. 

She fell in love with the wooded grounds surrounding the campus and persuaded the administration to allow the building of a residence in those woods if she agreed to will the home to the College upon her death. 

She passed away in 1950 and the college President lived in the home for a time. In 1997 Ruby Tuesday leased with the university to develop the property as a training facility and retreat center. 

They restored the main lodge, carriage house, and grounds and added two additional buildings to the property. 

Insert sidebar here-we need these super long skewers and the containers for our firepit. Carry on. 

SANTA!! I KNOW HIM!!

The Lodge operation has expanded to become a hotel, restaurant, spa, and special event center and it is an absolutely beautiful facility. We tried to book dinner there for this weekend quite a while back, but there wasn't availability. Definitely going to do that another time though. 

We came home and watched some football before picking up hubs mom for dinner in another great spot in town-The Walnut Kitchen. 

They seated us beside the tree here too which made it feel very Christmasy. Sunday morning we went to church with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and then Sunday night was show time. 

SHOW TIME! 

Also Episode 9 in our dating chronicles. 

We saw Needtobreathe at the Tennessee Theatre and they were, as always, fantastic. It was actually a double date, but that counts too. Hubs brother and sister-in-law went with us, and we all had a great time. 

The band has roots in our neck of the woods, and my girls saw them play at fraternity parties on their college campus long before they became well known. 

In a funny small world sort of thing, we ran into a couple who are neighbors of ours in SC. Turns out they're good friends with the parents of the band's bass player and he's leaving the band, so they came over to TN with his parents to see this last show. I love when these kind of unexpected connections happen. The venue is beautiful and I don't think there's a bad seat in the house. 

Also, the band is so good. 

We'll head home this morning so we're back in time to regroup before our Monday evening event. 'Tis the season! 

What kind of fun did you get into this weekend?

Farewell March and Hello Monday

Good Monday morning friends. Joining  Holly and Sarah on this last day of March, for their weekend recap blog hop. 

We had a nice weekend with sunny skies and pleasant temps. You know I always need to report the weather before diving in to any other topics. 

Friday kicked off with a trip to the donut shop. Until recently this particular donut baker operated out of a food truck, but they were so popular they opened an actual store. We hadn't been since they set up shop so Daughter1 and all her little chicks, plus the hubs and I gave it a try Friday morning. 

Their donuts are ginormous and so good. They're also known for their soft pretzels, but we didn't try those on Friday. 

We made a stop at a little shop I like that sells miscellaneous goodies like Adirondack chairs, lake signs, candles, soaps, etc. but didn't buy anything. Then it was off to a nearby park to burn some energy. The kids, not us. I can't afford to burn any energy these days. I need every drop. 

A pretty place to swing and play. 

The calendar is getting ready to turn so after lunch I started right in on baking the Southern Living cake of the month for March.  Hubs and daughter1 had to run out to the potential new house to meet a painter for an estimate which means there are no photos of the cake baking process. Making a three layer cake with homemade lemon curd, three little people underfoot,  and a meringue icing requires every ounce of concentration I can muster. 

The March cake is a lemon meringue cake which we declared a winner. The cake itself is delicious and filled with a homemade lemon curd, then topped with a meringue icing. In true to me fashion, I didn't realize I needed three 8-inch round pans (I only had two) so I went ahead and used my three 9-inch pans. It turned out fine, but next time I'll make more meringue so I end up with better height. Pretty and tasty nonetheless. 

It took me the rest of the afternoon to clean the kitchen. Hi hubs! He's not a fan of my kitchen messes, but does love the finished product. 

The cake baking episode wore me out so we opted to go to a local Mexican place for dinner. No more cooking. Plus it was Friday and I try not to cook dinner on Friday nights. My son-in-law had a late surgery so he settled for the to-go box we brought home. 

Saturday I drove an hour and a half to have lunch with a friend. She's in Georgia and I'm in SC so we met in the middle, in the town of Gainesville (GA). Neither of us were too familiar with the town so I read some reviews online and reserved a table at a restaurant called The Stag. The food was good and the restaurant was quiet which made it easy to talk. They also had appropriate decor-

I arrived back at the lake late afternoon and started packing for our Sunday morning road trip. Hubs grilled steaks for dinner and I made baked potatoes and salad and then we all had cake, much to the grands delight. The adults had sampled it the night before, but this was their first taste and they gave it two thumbs up. 

Sunday morning hubs and I loaded both cars for our trek to Daughter2's house in Tennessee. Eons ago we told her we'd stay with her littles while she and her hubs have a vacay so yes, we are leaving three grands and their parents in our house while we go to our other daughter's house to watch her two. 

Hubs and I agree we should be the ones going on vacation. 

They'll be home on Friday, but hubs has an event to attend starting very early Saturday morning and the parents won't be home until late Friday, thus the need for two cars. 

We're supposed to finally have some rain at home this week and for that we're grateful.  We are very very near the fires burning in SC and rain is most definitely needed. Authorities have arrested four teenagers for starting the fires which have burned more than 12,000 acres of beautiful forest, threatened homes and businesses, and forced people to evacuate to stay safe. The firefighters have done an amazing job and were not helped by the fact that there are still so many dead trees on the ground, remnants of Helene which the surrounding area is still recovering from. 

Finally, if you didn't see my Saturday post...I've signed up to participate in the April A-Z blog challenge this year. Bloggers post every day but Sunday in the month of April, using the alphabet as their guide. You can read more about the challenge in my Saturday post (The ABC's of April). The challenge starts tomorrow with the letter A so stay tuned. 

Happy Monday everyone!  

Oh The Grand Old Duke Of York...

 'He had ten thousand men, he marched them up to the top of the hill and marched them down again...' 

Who remembers this nursery rhyme? We used to sing it as a song at summer camp way back when, and as you sang the word up you had to jump up from your seat, and when you sang down everyone sat back down. 

We might not have marched to the top of the hill but we definitely climbed some serious steps on our recent visit to the city of York. We spent two nights in York so rather than my usual way of blogging I will resist jamming all the doings into a single post, and make this a two-parter. 

Hubs and I knew we wanted a little mid-trip getaway while visiting our daughter. We had gobs of visitors when we lived in the UK, and it was always nice when those staying more than a few days took a little side trip somewhere in the middle and allowed us to regroup at home. 

Also, we viewed this trip as an anniversary celebration even though our anniversary was in the middle of June. 40 years needs more than a passing mention and we knew we wanted to do something a little bit special. We decided to go to York for a couple of days because a) it's a reasonable drive from Cambridge (less than three hours), b) it's a city we never got to when we lived here, and c) it's dubbed the most romantic city in England so happy anniversary to us. 

We left Cambridge in the pouring rain Monday morning and made it to York around noon. We were unfamiliar with the city geography and it took a minute to figure out which car park made sense, how to get to that car park, and then how to pay at that car park. 

Once parking was sorted we headed straight for York Minster, one of the world's most beautiful cathedrals. 

If you read the cathedral's own website it tells you this place was 'built for the glory of God'. That every aspect of this ancient building 'from the handcrafted stone to the collection of medieval stained glass tells the story of Jesus Christ'. 

Do we build for that reason anymore? 

Not on the scale of York Minster, that's for certain. 

One thought that lodges in your mind when you wander in and out of so many ancient castles and cathedrals is the care and sheer effort that went into the design and construction. Most times these cathedrals took decades to complete, centuries even, so the original architect, stone masons, glass glaziers, etc. were long gone by the time the church was actually finished. Still they took that care because they knew what they were building was for the glory of God. 

I will never get over the beautiful architecture in this country. 

You can climb the central tower in the cathedral here, once you sign off on the medical waiver and take a few deep breaths and look around and think to yourself if that man with a bit of a beer belly can do it so can you, and then you're off. 

Up. And slowly because it's 275 steps on a medieval stone spiral staircase that is 24 inches wide most of the way up. 

Deep breaths. 

You climb something like 150 steps to start and then you come out into the glorious daylight to walk across a narrow path that feels a lot like scaffolding, and then on into the second staircase for the remaining 125 steps to the top. 

Freedom! 

Deep breaths. 

Hubs enjoyed the climb but wasn't crazy about the sensation up top. It was really windy and it felt like you could topple right over the edge. I was just happy to be breathing fresh air. 

The views from up top are amazing and it was worth the climb. 

You repeat the journey back down and then you go find yourselves a pub for a pint and a shared plate of Yorkshire sausages.

We wandered around the quaint cobbled streets and peeked in some shops before making our way back to the carpark and on to our hotel. 

Our hotel-

Swoon! 

We stayed in Middlethorpe Hall and Spa, a William the III country house set on 20 gorgeous acres about three miles outside the York city centre. 

It was built in 1699 and is one of only three Historic House Hotels of the National Trust. 

We rested for a while then headed to the dining room. First though, a cocktail in the lounge...

I'm a fan of all the little touches like silver spoons and cocktail picks, fine china, a garden view, old paintings, and old English houses in general. 

We were escorted in to dinner and enjoyed a three course meal. The food was so beautiful and we savored every bite. I very discreetly snapped some pictures. 

We were first served an 'amuse-bouche'...a zucchini arancini and a crab spread. Next we had the halibut with a coconut lemongrass bisque that was so delicious I wanted to pick up the bowl and drink every last drop.

 I didn't but I wanted to. 

For the main I had salmon with watercress, horseradish, and yuzu which was super scrumptious, and hubs had the Yorkshire duck with plum, pistachio, honey and daikon. 

Dessert was Annabel's strawberries with champagne, elderflower, and verbena. 

This was served chilled and it was wonderful. Annabel's is a Yorkshire strawberry farm so a true farm to table dish. 

After dinner we walked back to our room and called it a night. Come back tomorrow so I can tell you all about breakfast lol. Other stuff too, but breakfast deserves a mention. 

And yes, this was me not jamming everything in to a single post.