Chalk Art and Panoply

Octopus Chalk Art at Panoply 2017Katie Beth has been having a blast at Panoply. The various STEAM tents and their associated activities have been a lot of fun for her. The artist venders have been beautiful to see.

But, Katie Beth’s passion has been her chalk art. She started late last night as our day at Panoply was winding down. When we arrived this morning, she wanted to go directly to the art to check on it.  After seeing it, she went back to drawing. She loved blending the colors and her clothes, face, and hands showed it.

People would stop to watch her draw for a while and ask her questions. Some would even take photos of the chalk art.

She sure loves to draw.

Easter in Blue Ridge: Day 5

Us on Easter 2017

Happy Easter!

Katie Beth and her Easter BasketKatie Beth enjoyed her Easter Basket and searching for Easter Eggs.  We believe that we left some unfound Easter Eggs in the cabin for sure.

St. Anthony Catholic Church had a very enjoyable mass this morning and hosted a St Anthony Catholic Church Easter Egg Huntwonderful Easter Egg Hunt for all the children especially given the small size of the church community.  They even provided baskets for everyone.

After mass and the Easter Egg Hunt, we joined Hope at her cabin for lunch before they headed back to their home.  The children re-hid the Easter eggs outside to play some more while the adults chatted inside.

After saying our goodbyes,  we headed back to our cabin. For dinner, we had baked rabbit.  We thought the idea of rabbit on Easter would be kind of funny.  It tasted very good, but Katie Beth didn’t enjoy us calling it the Easter Bunny.

As the evening wound down, we played in the creek and thought about what we would do tomorrow for our last day.  We began to wonder why we were heading back so we decided to stay an extra day! Katie Beth was excited.

You can see more photos from today here. Remember, the username and password are “Friends” and “Photos”.

Easter in Blue Ridge: Day 3

Fire Pit in Blue Ridge Georgia The morning started with the ladies sleeping late and me making coffee and enjoying it by the fire pit. After breakfast, we headed out for an easy hike to Fall Branch Falls. The weather was great for the 30 minute hike into see the falls. The trail is surrounded by rhododendron.

After the hike, we headed into town for lunch at Blue Ridge Brewery.  I had the African Chicken Soup with Apple & Ham Panini, Katie Beth has Shrimp Mac & Cheese, and Karen had the Spinach and Apple salad.  With lunch finished, we went for another hike.

Old Homestead in Aska Trail AreaKeeping it easy, we hiked the Aska Trail: Long Branch Loop.  The trail has some ups and downs, but it is just a moderate trail.  This time we discovered the remains of an old homestead.  We have hiked and bicycled this trail before and never noticed the homestead.  We even found a snake hiding in the stones of the chimney warming itself.  We took Katie Beth to the Tocca River so she could play on her favorite rocks.  As rain was starting, we drove into town.

We decided to stop at Grumpy Old Men Brewery for some sampling.  Karen had some good adult time chatting with other guest.  Katie Beth enjoyed playing with all the dogs and she and I had a good game of checkers plus other games.

Dying Easter Eggs with CousinsAfter dinner at the cabin, we went to meet Hope and her family to dye eggs to finish off our evening.

You can see more photos from today here.  Remember, the username and password are “Friends” and “Photos”.

Easter in Blue Ridge: Day 2

Katie Beth with Fishing PoleAt morning break, Katie Beth was already heading to the creek with a fishing pole and had her line in the water by 7:30AM. Apparently, the low 50’s is too cold for Katie Beth.

After fishing and playing at the creek, we headed into town for a day of visiting thrift stores.  We scored all sorts of things including a set of dishes for Hope, a cool scientific calculator for Katie Beth, some fabric for sewing crafts, a Minecraft poster for Katie Beth’s room, and more.  We finally visited the hiking consignment store, which keeps odd hours making it hard to checkout.

Blue Ridge Oil CompanyAfter Karen had her fill of thrift store shopping, we visited downtown to see the shops, pickup some gifts, and a quick lunch.  We saw the Black Bear Bier Garten had a great selection of custom made sausages, which would be perfect for dinner at the cabin.  We picked a variety of sausages that included pheasant, venison, and bison.  We had lunch at Masseria Kitchen & Bar, which was great as always.  Next up, Blue Ridge Oil Company was our destination for a few gifts.  The ladies had fun sampling all the variety of oils and vinegars.

Corn shuck dollsAfter sampling and picking up items for dinner, we headed back to the cabin for dinner and relaxation.  Katie Beth played in the creek and Karen fished some.  As dinner time neared, Katie Beth shucked our corn and made corn shuck dolls while we sat in front of the fire pit enjoying the warmth and sounds of the creek.

Hot tub relaxationAfter dinner, the ladies relaxed in the hot tub while I tended to the fire and enjoyed some of the beers we picked up.

You can see more of today’s photos here. Remember, the username and password are “Friends” and “Photos”.

Growing Lady Bugs and Painted Ladies

Painted Lady CaterpillarLady Bug LarvaWe ordered a set of young larva of Lady Bugs and Painted Ladies.  This is our first year for Lady Bugs, which made for some work not having the right house for the larva to mature inside.  Karen is very resourceful and quickly came up with a Lady Bug house.  The caterpillars were less than a ¼ inch in length and quickly grew to about an 1½ in length.  The lady bugs were about the same length, but were much more active and quickly spread all about their little house.

Painted Lady ReleaseIn about 2 weeks, we had Painted Ladies and Lady Bugs ready for release.  The release was so quick that I didn’t get a photo of the Lady Bugs being let go.  Sadly, two of our Painted Ladies had a misshaped wing, but we put them on our flowers.

Christmas Morning and Snake!

Our Christmas could be summed up with one word and that word is “Snake!”  Katie Beth has been wanting a snake with every request given to Santa Claus in person or via letter.

This morning when Katie Beth came down stairs and assessed the Christmas tree and the spread of gifts, she didn’t see anything that jumped out at her. She proceeded to a gift that had been under the tree for many days. She asked if she could open it and with quick concurrence she was off to opening.

Meanwhile, Karen is videoing and I’m snapping photos. In the background, animal sounds are heard and Katie Beth moves onto the next present while asking can she continue. “Go ahead”, we concur.

The animal sounds continue, but louder without Katie Beth noticing anything. At this point, Karen is unable to hold the video camera steady due to giggling so much.
Katie Beth asks to proceed to the third gift all the while the animal noises are getting very loud. Finally, the light bulb of curiosity goes off in Katie Beth’s head.

She focuses her attention on the large covered gift in the corner. With a little delay, she uncovers the gift to see a pet carrier.  Her face lights up with a glowing smile that doesn’t stop.

She starts to open the carrier to have a kitten pop his head out the top.  From this moment on, the kitten is the focus even while other activities are proceeding. Katie Beth is beside herself and can’t stop smiling.

The rest of the morning is a almost a blur.

Ah, the snake. Here is how that came about?

Karen: “Is this what you asked for?”
Katie Beth said, “Yes.”
Karen: “It is? So, this is what?”
Katie Beth: “What I asked for.”
Karen: “What did you ask for?”
Katie Beth: “I asked for a pet, basically.”
Karen: “What kind of pet did you ask for?”
Katie Beth: “A cat or a snake.”
Karen: “I only heard one pet from Santa. Santa said you only asked for one pet.”
Katie Beth: “A snake.”
Karen: “So, this is? What you asked for? Did you get what you asked for? So, is this snake?”
Katie Beth: “Are you blind?”
Karen: laughs, “So, is this Snake? Is this what we are going to call this cat?”
Katie Beth: “Yes.”
Karen: “We are going to call this cat ‘Snake'”.
Katie Beth: “Yeah.”
Karen: “Because, you got what you asked for.”
Katie Beth: “uh, ah.”

This went on for a bit, but you get the idea.  So, our tabby is called “Snake.”