Tuesday, May 14, 2024 Cloudy Slight breeze Rain expected 69 Degrees 1:46 p.m.

A calm day, so far. The weather lady said that we might get rain this afternoon and we might also experience strong thunderstorms, hail, and high winds. Power outages possible. Thursday is supposed to be a pretty day, the rest of the week rain is predicted. This is spring in East Tennessee, and all over the USA.

With the thought of possible power outages I decided to do the laundry and get that all done this morning. Then, I had a case of small water bottles to take upstairs and divided between Tina’s room and mine, and put away. Now, the laundry is done and I am considering what to fix for dinner. I am considering either chicken fried rice or chicken chow mien. Trader Joe’s makes both very well.

Tina is still excited over the new car. She was looking for the button to open the glove compartment this morning. She had to find it on the monitor, then touch that button. She said it just magically opened. Yesterday, when she was coming home, it rained a little and the windshield wipers came on automatically. At the correct speed. I believe that car is going to spoil her rotten. She will come home, turn on the TV or go to the computer and look for the screen that tells her what to press for whatever she wants…. A glass of ice water, her slippers, etc.

Nothing more exciting going on in the neighborhood today. Shadow has walked his person twice, Sierra has been carefully keeping tabs on the chipmunk that finally made an appearance. It has been running between the Dogwood tree and the front door area. I am not sure where its home is, but I think under the house closer to Bill’s front door. It is sure cute. I think it comes and gets birdseed that has been dropped by the birds.

Quote of the day: “The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, The figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes. Because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.” Audrey Hepburn 1929 – 1993. Belgian Actor. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. 1Peter 3:4 The Message

Have a great rest of your Tuesday. Make it a day filled with kindness, patience, accomplishments, and fun.

Blessings

Monday, May 13, 2024 Cloudy Slight breeze Cool 56 Degrees 9:01 a.m.

A cloudy Monday morning, cool, but nice. The birds are out singing and having several conversations among themselves. So far I haven’t seen the squirrel or the chipmunk this morning. The may have been up early and collected their food for the day, or haven’t gotten around to “shopping” for the days meals as yet. They are as busy as the birds, and fun to watch.

The weekend was full and interesting, educational, busy, and fun. Tina and I tried out the “Hole In The Wall” cafe. The waitress said that it had been open for 4 weeks. Julie’s husband mentioned it to Julie as some of his coworkers said that it had pretty good food. It is nice to have another breakfast place in Oak Ridge as there aren’t many here.

From there we went to Knoxville and found a place to get our hair cut. Normally Dottie cuts our hair but she is recuperating from her broken ankle. She said that she could do it as she has the boot on that foot and can stand. We prefer that she not stand to cut our hair until her ankle heals completely. I know that life is hard when one can’t do all the things one wants to do, and is use to doing. She has her car but can’t drive because of the boot. So many things we take for granted that throw us for a loop when we can’t do them.

Next we went to the Tesla dealership as Jerry kept saying that we should make an appointment to see and test the car. So we were close to where the dealership is and thought we might as well check it out and see for ourselves what it was. Neither of us were to enthused as we have heard so many people being held up by the batteries needing charging when on a trip or just when driving around. Plus having to install a special charging station at home, etc.

WE didn’t need to make an appointment. The sales person was very pleasant, kind, informative, and helpful. We test drove one, then asked a million more questions, He showed us so many features that were on the positive side and very few on the negative side. After several more questions and instructions, Tina signed on the dotted line. WE now have a Tesla Y. Four door and comfortable. I am very pleased as the safety features are many and good. Tina can now, with the help of all the cameras, see any car approaching from either side, coming up behind, and how close she is to the car in front of her. The monitoring screen is large enough to show her everything she needs to see and know. The car has a great many features that help with being aware of what is going on around the car including cars entering from a side street or an animal approaching out of the forest (we have many here all over the place), It shows when the signal light are red, green or yellow, gently slows to a stop when approaching the lights, and has warning signals, tones, beeps, or something in between when it senses a problem ahead. She can now back up with no problem as the backup camera has lines that she is to stay in and shows her the distance between anything on the right, left or behind. And, I believe it can do that automatically and even park automatically. It is very safety oriented which makes me happy.

That car is like a SUV in that it has plenty of room for legs both in the back seat and front seat. The storage spaces in that car are awesome. The seats are adjustable, bit front and back, with heated seat ability in all as well as the steering wheel. You have air conditioning controls in the back as well as the front and each can control how they want to temperature to be. From what I can determine, they have taken ideas from all cars dating back to at least the 1950’s to the present, added new technology and made a car that is appropriate for everyone. Yes, the battery is a bit of a concern, but as it is right now, we can plug it in , in the carport at the outlet there and let it charge overnight. It will be ready to go in the morning. She won’t have to do that every night as the charge will go for about 320 miles. If traveling, we can out in our destination and the cat will tell us where every charging station is that we need to stop at to recharge. Those charging stations are fast charge places. Not bad, I don’t think.

Mother’s Day was wonderful. We enjoyed a relaxing morning with our coffee and watching the birds, playing with Sierra and chatting. Sierra gave Tina the fingertip-less copper infused gloves and a small ceramic white cat with a fake plant in ti. Tina gave me an electric Elliptical Trainer. So nice. Of course, it is for both of us to use. Then shower and dressed and off to church. Church was great, as usual, with a message about Hannah, in the book of Samuel, and her desire to have a child. So good. It is amazing that back in her day things were a lot like in our day….different but the same. The Mom’s in attendance received a prettily decorated cupcake, choice of chocolate, lemon or white. So very nice and thoughtful. And good! A way to a woman’s waistline.

After church we headed for Knoxville to pick up Dottie. I got in the back seat so she could experience riding in the front seat and see all the things on the monitor . She enjoyed it a lot, I think. Very new and different for all of us. From her place we headed for Jerry and Tammy’s. We were greeted warmly by five happy and welcoming dogs. The the two humans that share the home greeted us. We received flowers, so pretty, and a surprise. Jerry and Tammy announced that they had won the lottery! We, Dottie, Tina and I stood their with our mouths open! Jerry proceeded to tel us to open our Mother’s day cards, as they wanted to share their win with us. Every year at this time The Great Smoky Mountains holds a Firefly Viewing Lottery, with just so many winners. Jerry and Tammy entered the Lottery and won a place . We go to the Smoky Mountain Firefly Viewing on Friday, June 7th. That is so exciting as the event is said to be breathtaking. More on that after the event.

Dinner was ribs, pulled pork, rolls, a to die for broccoli salad, baked beans and for desert a lemon pie/cake that was so very good. A filling and cheerful meal with great company. One couldn’t ask for more. It was such a fun and blessed day.

Today is back to normal. Tina is at work, I am doing the daily chores and enjoying the sun that just peeked out. My Echo is saying possible rain. The plants can use the watering. God is good to keep his plants going.

Quote of the day: “In a world where there is so much to be done, I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do.” Dorothea Dix, 1802-1887, American Humanitarian and reformer.

Have a great Monday. Make it a productive, Positive, Peaceful, and fun day.

Blessings

Friday, May 10th, 2024 Mostly Cloudy Windy Cool Dry 67 Degrees 5:16 p.m.

We had a sunny morning, then the clouds slowly moved in and hid the sun. Now the wind is blowing and it is cool. We might get a stray shower or tow, but it won’t be like the last rain. Everything and everywhere the color is green. There are mushrooms growing here and there, but not the eatable kind I am told. These are big and a tanish color. The grass is so high and the dandy lions are popping up all over the lawns. It is hard to believe that a week ago the trees were just starting to get their leaves.

Tina said that tomorrow we are going to “try on cars”. We are thinking the Hyundai, the Kai, or ? Jerry wants us to make an appointment to try the Tetras, but I don’t know. I think we should just do it and see what all it is about. There are some good points and some not so good points. I think we should go and see which is good and which is bad and see which one out does the other. More on this subject next week.

Sunday we are going to Tammy and Jerry’s for Mother’s Day dinner. It should be fun and nice and good food. The day is supposed to be sunny, warm and nice. That will be great. Las Mother’s day is was cold and windy and I think rainy. We went on a picnic to the park and nearly froze to death. I think that was last year. Maybe the year before. Time flies when you are having fun.

Time to think about dinner.

Quote of the day: “For whatever life holds for you and your family in the coming days, weave the unfailing fabric of God’s Word through your heart and mind. It will hold strong, even if the rest of life unravels.” Gigi Graham Tchividjian, 1945…, American Writer, Speaker. D Billy Graham

Have a great rest of your Friday and a fantastic, safe, healthy, enjoyable, kind, and fun weekend. Give Thanks to your Mothers, wherever they are.

Blessings

Dinner time is here

Thursday, May 9, 2024 Cloudy Still Wet Green Nice 66 Degrees 10:58 a.m.

The storms have passed and we are all fine. The day was rainy, then cleared for a bit, then back to thunder and lightening and rain. No one had a good nights sleep due to the tornado warnings, the loud thunder and bright lightening. And the Wind. Now, all seems to have calmed down in our area including the flood alert. We might have another shower or two but it won’t be as vivacious as last night and yesterday.

We lost power for a bit last night, but I doubt that it was out very long. I guess there are some places in Tennessee that still don’t have power and that the storms were very strong creating tons of damage. Columbus Tennessee had a tornado that killed two people and destroyed several buildings and homes. Another town has the roof blown off their elementary school gym and lunchroom, oak Ridge did have some trees blown over but that is all I have heard about damage in this area.

This morning, we are very thankful for both lives and property not being severely damaged. Tina said driving to work this morning was very slow. She figured that everyone was to tired to go the speed limit. Of course water and puddles on the road might have had something to do with it. There are still a lot of places that are a bit flooded, water covering the roads and creeks, streams and rivers filled to overflowing. It will take time for all the water to dissipate,

The rain was welcomed by the trees, grass, flowers and shrubs. And the weeds. All the trees are now in full summer dress and beautiful. The one in Julie’s yard is in bloom and so pretty. It wasn’t even starting to bloom on Monday. Our grass that was cut a week ago needs mowing again and the weeds are pocking their heads up, so time to get them pulled and or sprayed. However, it is very pretty outside after all that rain. Everything is washed and clean and shiny.

Quote of the day: “May your life become one of glad and unending praise to the Lord as you journey through this world, and the world that is to come!” Teresa of Avila, 1515 -1582, Spanish Christian Writer. You’ve always been great towards me-what love!…You, O God, are both tender and kind, not easily angered, immense in love, and You never, never quit. Psalm 86:19, 15. The Message.

Have a wonderful day. Make it a productive, pleasant, adventurous and fun day.

Blessings