Golf Cart Drive -In Movies

We have started a new monthly entertainment plan. It is very social here in Tellico Village and we wanted to come up with something totally different for our friends and neighbors.

So we decided on showing outdoor movies  on a monthly or bimonthly basis. Rog loves the hunt of purchasing equipment (or toys such as golf carts)…but this time it was for movie equipment. He researched  what was needed for a nice outdoor theater set up. We found a fantastic projector on Craigslist that was used at a church. He bought a new speaker that could be heard for miles away and a new outdoor movie screen. We went with a 10 footer. It has an easy set up frame and a stretchy slide on screen that stores away in it’s bag. It is made for outdoor viewing. He made a holder that stores the frame on the garage wall when not in use. The next step was to make a spread sheet…he loves spread sheets… so he compiled a list of friends and neighbors. I left this job up to him and just made sure he included a few he may have missed.

So we planned the first one and figured a Sunday night would be good since no one has to go to work the next day… aaahhhhh retirement.

We chose “Bucket List” for the first movie. Everyone was to come BYOB and snacks if they wanted.  Bring chairs or sit in their cart. We placed Citronella torches and candles all around.  Did I tell you that he invited 102 people?  I was nervous to say the least.

This is the screen. Rog mounted the projector on a tripod we already owned. It works perfect for setting the projector at the right angle.

We have a very large front lot with wooded lots on each side of us. We used the driveway and parking pad for carts and the front patio for chairs. Some put the chairs in front of their carts.

This picture is very early in the night. The show started at sunset.

We really had a nice night. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I think it was a big hit. We have had people stop to give us their email so they could be included.

Could be a busy one next month.

I can’t believe it , but a neighbor just called with movie ideas for the next time.  How nice! I think they liked it. 🙂

Family Fest Over The Fourth!

Whew, I’m finally recovered from one of the best times in a while.  Seventeen of us were together here in Tennessee for the 4th of July. Everyone of our immediate family was here except my brother Steve and his fiance, Bridgett. We’ll see them next month at their wedding. We had both guest rooms filled, my mom had guests and my sister, Jody and Ed and their four kids stayed at a local hotel. There were no rentals available this year in Tellico Village. We’ll get on that earlier next time.

I really wanted this family gathering to go slick without me exhausted…ending in a company coma. I listened to Lindsey’s advice and assigned each family a night of providing dinner in whatever way they wanted. I highly recommend this option. It worked out wonderfully. I kept up on dishes, ran the dishwasher frequently and kept lunch stuff out everyday with the help of my sister, Jody. I did use the ever popular red solo cups and heavy paper plates as much as possible. We had leftovers everyday from the previous dinner which made lunches easy. Lots of salads of course. I also made some nasty good desserts so we always had something sweet. My sister-in-law, Kathy and brother, David provided a big candy bowl throughout the whole visit. We had drinks in a huge cooler in the mudroom and iced tea kept in the fridge. No one went hungry. Ed and Jody did burgers the first night with corn on the cob.

Grandpa Huntley made the corn cleaning fun. He is getting help from Abbie, Patrick and Andy.

Roger spent months planning for this visit. We were both very excited. We purchased an outdoor movie screen, projector and sound system. He even came home from our neighborhood yard sale with a Karaoke machine…which I wasn’t too excited about, but it was fun! People started arriving Wednesday, then Thursday and finally Lindsey and Chad and baby Oliver on Friday afternoon.  Wednesday night was “Despicable Me” and was our trial streamed movie.

We were very lucky with the weather. It was cool and the humidity was practically gone. We watched “How To Train Your Dragon” the next night. I loved those animated films. So good.

Finally Lindsey and Chad and Oliver arrived. Great grandma and grandpa couldn’t wait to see him for the first time.

He was the best baby the whole time.

We did so much that I”m going to stop talking and just let the pics tell the story.

Me and my sis.

The newlyweds, David and Kathy. We celebrated with a little wedding cake. They went to Vegas last Nov. and had a beautiful wedding.

The newly engaged, Jon and Kenya! Sounds like another gathering in the spring.

I forgot to mention…2 grand dogs. Thats Alivia and Andy with Ollie and Anna. You can’t see Anna there…but she is. Ollie is an old girl and thinks 7 month old Anna is a pain. She put her in her place a few times. Ollie preferred to stay here.

Other times were spent at the beach, the lake on the pontoon… in shifts of course. Oliver was well suited up for his first lake excursion.

Love those baby legs!

He was a little surprised at first and then was very happy. Grandma is out there in the wings, but Chad was on it. No worries.

Then he needed an after swim nap.

Grandpa time.

Alivia and Abbie with Oliver.

We also had S’mores…gheesh…I’m getting tired again just reminiscing.

Last but not least. the whole family.

It was all so much fun and I hope it can become a tradition. Family traditions set wonderful memories for the kids that they will hopefully pass on.

I’m going back to bed now. Toodles.

 

Our First Kayak Trip To Abrams Creek

Our neighbors , Barry and Jan, who got us interested in Kayaking, invited us to go  with them on Sat. We went to Abrams Creek about 45 min. from our house. We started on the river and paddled to get to the creek. We were hoping the Mountain Laurel was blooming when we got there…and it was. By the way, we drove our cars the 45 min to get to the river.This is Mountain Laurel and it is so pretty. Every bud looks a bit like a pie scored into pieces. You can see them floating on the creek like little cups.

We paddled for about 1/2 hour before we got to the creek. Kayaking is such a zen sport. It gives you such a  peaceful, happy feeling. Roger hopes I don’t start hugging trees. I do love nature though. It gives me all my ideas for my quilts.

That is Barry on the left, then Roger and Jan to the right. We couldn’t of had a more perfect day. We are entering the creek here.

This was the first time I took my Nikon with me. I kept it in a Ziploc bag and I have this great storage compartment behind me that stays dry. I was a little nervous about dropping it into the drink…but I didn’t. I really feel stable in my boat. I am surprised how confident I feel in it. Hope that doesn’t come back to bite me. The water is so shallow in the creek that you can see all the huge rocks on the bottom. The water is so clear.

 We kept paddling and looking at flowers and all the beautiful scenery as we went along.

Rog in his snazzy new boat.

Here started a little rapid area that we went through to get to still water and get out for a bit. Jan was first to go through.  Unfortunately I was the only one that couldn’t quite get through the current , so Barry gave me a little pull. It’s amazing how strong that current is and how hard you have to paddle against it to get through it. You also have to aim your boat right , but the current just didn’t let me. You have to aim through the huge rocks. Very fun.

Jan on the other side. You go girl!

Roger going through successfully. Anyway we all made it.

So we all turned around and came out. I got stuck on a few rocks, but got off without a problem.

So we paddled to a little shady spot and got out for lunch. Rog ate all the sandwiches in the boat, so I had an apple and power bars. He did leave me a few bites. He was a hungry man!

Here we are! This is one of the best things we have taken up and probably the most affordable! He really found us some nice kayaks. We are very happy with the equipment.  Barry and Jan are kayak and camping animals, we will be kayak and hotel wussy’s.

So back in the boats we go and start our paddle home.

We did a 5 mile kayak trip when all was said and done and we felt pretty proud. Let me tell you, we slept like logs last night. Monday we are planning to go to Lake Fontana. Talk about beauty. August we will have a 3 day overnight with the club at Lake Fontana. Tomorrow we will just go for the day if the weather is good. I LOVE KAYAKING!

New Adventure for the Retirees

Well Lindsey is back to work and has entered the everyday hub- bub of getting everything orchestrated with baby and all, so she probably won’t be posting for a bit. However , Rog and I have a new hobby and we are pumped about it. We or I have wanted to kayak for the past 3 years. We have a neighbor who is head of the Tellico Village club The Soggy Bottoms. So they have inspired us. Roger loves the hunt for the right thing when he is on a mission. So he has been combing the internet from here to North Carolina for the perfect used kayaks. And they have both been found and purchased. We took our maiden voyage out in them yesterday and loved it. We did attend a trial day a few weeks ago where a local store brought out all the different styles of kayaks for people to try. I highly recommend you do that if you intend to take up the hobby. Like any sport, there are so many things to learn. The club travels all over to various lakes , quarry and rivers. So we needed boats that we could easily travel for miles. So we both ended up with Wilderness System boats and both are 14 feet.  Roger got the Carolina and mine is the Tsunami. We paddled for a bit on our lake yesterday and really loved our choices. In fact we are heading out in a few hours again to enjoy this beautiful Tennessee day. Here are the boats loaded. I’m too afraid to take my camera along until I’m more comfortable.

 

This is Rogers boat.

And the orange one is mine. For my friends that know me so well…yes I bought orange water sandals.

This coming weekend we plan to go with our friends to a place in the Smokey’s. More later.

Fall Decor On The New Patio

I was reading the Graphic Fairy’s Fall Home Tour and began to drool over all the loveliness. It has many homes that are decorated for fall and a different one is shown each day. This is the link to see these homes. homes. So I went back up to my storage loft and began to pull out whatever I could find to make the front patio cozy. I have these corn stalks that look like the real ones without the mess, so I tied them together and propped them in the corner behind the love seat.I added my rusty bucket that I talked my mom out of, and filled it with a pumpkin and scattered some gourds around the base of the bucket. I added 2 stars that used to hang in the house and placed one of those black crows in my tall planter. ( I set him more up right after seeing this picture. Whoops) Nature is dropping some leaves for an added touch.

I hung an Oak leaf wreath on the door and put my old pottery crock in the corner next to the front door. I then filled it with fall silk flowers that I have had forever I always place candle lanterns on my steps and burn them frequently. It all looks good outside and I will probably be shopping for more Fall goodies for the future.

I love Fall!

Send some pics of your Fall decos and we’ll post them.

Day 2 Front Yard Patio

This is a really neat process. I can see why contractors like to do this. I have a quilt patio. We actually started looking for concrete stampers and we were not able to find someone that did patios in the Knoxville area. We are glad we went the paver route. It so much prettier. You can add so much interest with patterns and colors of the different paver options.

  This is the patio in completed layout. Now tomorrow they will put a sand type mixture that will sort of fuse the joints. That is not what they call it , but after wetting the sand , it binds to itself and the bricks.

We are already so happy with the look and the size. Clean , clean, clean. No more dirt at the entryway. I LOVE IT! I can’t wait to get the furniture out there and I already have decorating ideas for the various holidays.

Now we wait for them to return to finish it all up today. Yesterday got delayed by some other job problem. But they promise it will be done today. After they fill the joints with the sand mixture they will build the dirt bed up to the edge of the patio and put our decorative rock wall back up to finish it off. Then I need to plant…maybe spring. We’ll see. We are definitely getting this yard trimmed down to low maintenance. We are also taking out the front HUGE garden weed bed that had all the beautiful flowers blooming this last spring. Now it looks dry and weedy and I would rather be quilting or making jewelry. I sound cranky don’t I ? 😦  Like I said before, retirement is all about doing what you love. I have lost the love for weeding. I think I will put my effort into beautiful potted flowers instead. I still love flowers! 🙂