Spatter

Tea Is Served

Tea Is Served
bydamanti

This is how my tea was served at Chateau Morisette Winery when Judy took me there for my birthday last month.  We're going back there today with our weekend house guests and hoping for good weather so we can sit on the patio and look out at the mountains again.   Since the forecast is 70 percent chance of rain, I'm not counting on it.  Bad timing,  the rain...but I ain't complaining!

Father's Day

This is a photo of me and my dad when I visited him and his wife in Arkansas. The year was 1983.

We had recently made amends...I had pretty much abandoned wanting any relationship with him in 1966 when he and my mom divorced.  I was in eighth grade at the time and I couldn't see much more than my mother's pain.

Time and space never healed the relationship entirely, but I'm grateful that I had matured enough to understand that in life, these things happened...that causes and consequences are seldom black and white.  I'm grateful to think that we had this moment and some others like it before he died in 1994.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!


 

BBR Storm Cloud

This ominous cloud hung over us at Blackberry Ridge the other day.  Remarkably, no rain came from it.  That came the next day without the drama. 

Looking Good, Feeling Good

I'm sitting here with a glass of merlot, sipping it slowly as I look out at the fruits of the past week's labor.  It's been a week filled with pick-axing holes to plant trees, hauling water, and the like...but not once did I feel like I was doing chores.  Everything looks good.  The challenge now is to keep it that way.  The weather's turned very hot and very dry.  I wonder if this is the start of another summer where rain is sparse.



Post Note
In addition to the satisfaction I'm feeling, there's been an added bonus to all this sweat equity:  I dropped 5 pounds since getting here. 

Comparison Shopping

My car's 30,000 mile service is due.  Now I generally get my oil changes somewhere other than dealerships, but at the "major" milestones, I think about going to the birth-parent... Toyota.  So today I made a call to set up an appointment. 

I looked up the nearest Toyota dealer's website and saw that they charged $270 for the 30K service.  Above it was the 15K service at $70.  From what I could see there wasn't much difference between them, so I called to get clear. Surely they'd tell me something that would make sense of it.  But they didn't.  First I spoke with a young woman  who obviously was just there to answer the phone.  When I asked what was done at 30K that isn't done at 15K to warrant paying an additional $200 I could hear her ask a guy who told her: "we do a lot more stuff".  I laughed and said "I figured that...but what is the extra stuff?"  I get passed to the man who tells me that the only difference between the two are that (1) they change my air filter and (2) they balance my tires.  What???  They're kidding right? I mean, for $200 shouldn't they take apart my engine and put it back together or something? Nope.  They weren't kidding. That was just the way it was.

I hung up and called Toyota about this price gouging.  While voicing my complaint I was assured that the only thing that's required to be done to keep the warranty good was changing the oil and rotating the tires.  The rest is up to me and, of course, can be done anywhere.  Imagine that.  I knew I could do it anywhere, but thought it had to be done as called for. 

I ended up taking my car to the local Chrysler dealership here in Floyd and found out they'd do everything on the 30K list for less than $65.  Let's see: $270 plus tax at Toyota vs $65 including tax at the Floyd dealer?  Hmm. I'll never, ever go to Toyota service again...unless it's work done under warranty!



Post Note
Here's a similar story: Judy needs to get her car's headliner replaced. She got a price to do it in Florida: $850. Needless to say she's still driving around with it duct-taped up.  She thought to see what it would cost to have it done up here.  Anybody wanna guess?  $250.  We're going Wednesday.

This 'n That

The deer have already been tasting our raspberries.  A neighbor suggested we put dead deer bones around the beds to keep them out.  They have a bone graveyard where they throw the bones that their dog brings back from the woods and they offered to give us some.  Judy decided to give it a try. I can barely stand to go down there now because one is particularly gruesome.

My preferred blog theme is still out of commission. Typepad promises it'll be back soon.  In the meantime I'm not liking what the purple-ish cast is doing to my photos. 

Rain was promised, but did not come.  Is this going to be a repeat of last year?

My friend Carla gave me a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc before leaving Chattanooga last weekend telling me that it's a white wine I might like: not as sweet as Pinot Grigio and not as heavy as Chardonnay.  After drinking it this week, I've decided I prefer Chardonnay to it and I prefer most any red to Chardonnay.

And last, but not least...

I'm so ready to not have to see my president doing this: 

 

  

Berries To Be

Our first joint project since my return to Floyd took place the other day: we planted eleven raspberry vine-twigs that Judy's daughter took from her mature vines.  Here's a picture of the babies as they look now:

Jody and Tom will be putting in supports as they start to grow, so it'll eventually have some height to it.  They'll be a nice addition to our wild blackberries...I wish this year, but at least by next.  In the meantime, our down the hill neighbors have planted blueberries. It looks like we're going to have all berry bases covered...not a bad setup given the price of berries lately.

 

Post Note
You can see some of our wild blackberries blooming in the background of the top picture.

Chattanooga Weekend

It's taken me a few days to get settled in enough to put this post up about my weekend in Chattanooga. I've been busy unloading, catching up on correspondence and bills, and most importantly, taking time to soak in all the beauty around me.  Understandable distractions!

Saturday
My Chattanooga weekend began Saturday morning when I left Decatur (had been visiting an old friend of almost 40 years) to meet my other "old" friend Carla in Kennesaw. We had agreed to follow each other to Chattanooga from that point. 

We arrived after an easy two hour drive and went directly to Back Inn Cafe where we met fellow blogger and now tangible friend Bonnie.  There were so many delicious sounding choices on the menu, but in the end, all three of us had the same thing:  grilled salmon with fried green tomatoes, a tomato-cucumber salad, and asparagus with lemon emulsion.  It was yummy!  Our conversation came so easily that lunch stretched to two hours.  It didn't take five minutes to feel like Bonnie was an old friend.  Sometimes it just happens like that. 

Carla, Bonnie, June

When we finally decided to leave the restaurant, we took a first look at Coolidge Park where people come to frolic. It has an old fashioned carousel housed in that blue roofed building on the far right. We took a ride, of course!

Then it was on to see Frazier Avenue on the North Shore, and Manufacturer's Row, home of a great big Greenlife Grocery Store. Carla and I were so taken by its food court offerings that we ended up having lunch there the next day.  Next, to the hotel for check in and a bit more good conversation as we regrouped.  

Later, after Bonnie left us and after another fine meal at Porter's Steakhouse (we splurged), Carla and I took the CARTA electric shuttle down to the riverfront for a walk across the Walnut Street Bridge.  The bridge was built in 1890 to connect Chattanooga's downtown with the North Shore.  It closed to motor vehicles in 1978 and sat in disuse for nearly a decade until the city decided to convert it to a pedestrian bridge.  It's almost 1/2 mile long and is now one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the world. 

Our destination:  Clumpie's Ice Cream Parlor.  I had a chocolate-raspberry concoction that was to die for! 

Sunday
After a good night's rest we woke Sunday for another full day.  First was breakfast at the City Cafe Diner. Then it was out to Lookout Mountain and Rock City.  I'd seen signs for Rock City on the sides of barns and birdhouses, but had never been there. 

After lunch, we went out to take a look at Chester Frost Park in nearby Hixon and then, had another delicious dinner on the patio at The Boathouse where we watched the Tennessee River go by as we ate.  We walked it all off by another last visit to the riverfront where we found more frolicking.  

Monday
Monday came too fast, but came it did.   I had six hours of driving ahead of me and wanted to get to Floyd before sundown so I could drive in and see the landscaping we put in, so we didn't linger.  Just a last breakfast and then we said our good-byes.   It's always hard to leave good friends and good times with them, but at least I had Blackberry Ridge to look forward to! 

In case you're wondering, Blackberry Ridge looks wonderful.  It's finally starting take on a bit of maturity and so, has a settled in sense to it that feels good.  We've got finches galore, and I've seen cardinals and indigo buntings, but the hummers are just beginning to appear. But, wait...that's all for another post or two or more!

Fifteen Years

I'm at a Gainesville Panera's just back from my visit to Kanapaha Botanical Gardens.  It was a lovely walk and I think I got some good shots.  I'll tell more about it in another post.  For now, I just wanted to document that today is the fifteenth anniversary of my mother's death.  Hard to believe. 

It's sort of fitting that I'm traveling...she loved to go and see new places...and would have done so much more of it had her life's circumstances allowed.  She certainly passed along the trait to me and it brings a smile to my face to think she's now traveling with me. 

Love you Mom!

On The Road

The day has come: I'm heading north.  Not to the North, but north from Florida.  As you read this I'm working my way to  Blackberry Ridge on an almost week-long journey.   

My first stop will be Gainesville, Florida and a visit to Kanapaha Botanical Gardens .  Then, on Thursday, it's on to Atlanta for a few days visiting a long time, dear friend...and then...it's on to Chattanooga where I'll be spending the weekend with another good friend.  She also lives in Atlanta but happens to love Chattanooga and she jumped on the chance to show it to me. Among the many things planned while there is a lunch with blogger friend Bonnie.  Come Monday, my friend will head back to Atlanta and I'll drive on to Floyd. Yes, I know...I'll be driving on Memorial Day.