BUSY WEEKEND, BUSY TIMES FOR ME

First of all let me say that my blogging friend, Balisha, is at home and doing well. Thanks again for all your prayers and concern.

I spent the weekend with my daughter, Anne, on the farm in Georgetown. (Leigh was out of town) We had a great time.

On Saturday morning, I went with her to get a load of hay for the horses and was able to help load some of it. Next, we road the backroads around Georgetown, Lexington, and Midway. It is beautiful here this time of the year with all the horse farms, board fences, and fall colors. We had lunch at a little place called Wallace Station where you can eat outside at picnic tables and enjoy the wonderful weather we are having.

That's Anne feeding hay to the horses on the left.

Later in the day, we went to the Peddlers Mall and Big Lots and then ordered a big pizza from

Fat Kats for dinner.

We stayed up real late and looked at old pictures of the farm the kids grew up on. The photo below is of me and a friend in 1978. It was 4 months after my twins were born. The girl with me in the photo is Cassie Durham. She is on the left and I am on the right.

For all you gardeners out there, the photo on the left below is our just plowed garden back then. We used to grow, can, and freeze all our vegetables on the farm.

On Sunday morning, my son, Rob, his wife, Sarah, and TW, Anne, Bob and I met at the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. The food was great and we all enjoyed seeing each other.

Thomas Wyatt came to spend the night with me on Monday. We watched videos, ate oats (his favorite thing to eat), and played with cars and trucks. Oh yes, we had to play hide-in-seek.

The picture below is TW hiding. He thinks I can't see him when he gets behind the shutters!

Look at his toes in this picture. I do the same thing!

He is getting sleepy when he lies down, wants his blanket and gathers all his toys, and cup around him. He is watching a Mishee Mouse video. He can't pronouce Mickey yet.

Today, was grocery shopping and a haircut. I am worn out! Now, to get around to all the blogs and make comments, finally! Hope everyone had a good weekend and is having a good week.

KENTUCKY'S COUNTRY QUEEN, LORETTA LYNN

Those of you that read my blog all the time know that I like to write about famous Kentuckians. This lady is Kentucky's most well known country music artist, Loretta Lynn.

I plan to write about several of our songwriters and musicians in the future and if you want to hear the music of each person, it will be playing in the background while you read the post. If you don't want to hear the music, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and turn it off!

Loretta Lynn was born in Butcher Holler, Kentucky on April 14, 1935. She was the second of 8 children. That part of Kentucky is known for its coal mines and a lot of poverty.

Loretta married Oliver Vanetta Lynn at the ripe old age of 13 in 1948. Oliver's nickname was Doolittle or Mooney. Mooney was from his early career of running moonshine. Loretta had her first child at the age of fourteen and four by the age of seventeen. She was a grandmother at thirty two. They were married for almost 50 years and had 6 children all together, including a set of twins, Peggy and Patsy. Peggy was named for her mother and Patsy was named after the great Patsy Cline.

I am sure most of you have seen the movie, Coal Miners Daughter or read the book by the same name. If not, they are both worth your time.

Loretta has written over 160 songs, released 17 number one albums, and had 16 number one singles on the country charts. She was the first woman named, Entertainer of the Year, by the Country Music Association and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She ruled country music during the 60s and 70s.

Loretta and Doo bought the entire town of Hurricane Mills, Tennessee and their 1817 plantation home there is billed as the 7th largest attraction in Tennessee. She filmed her famous Crisco commercials from the kitchen of the big house.


The Lynns had a son, Jack Benny, that drowned in 1984.

Doo died in 1996 and Loretta moved to a smaller house behind the big one where she resides today. The big house is open for tours.

I heard Marie Osmond say once that she started out singing country music because Loretta was one of her idols.


A favorite saying is supposed to be, "Honey, life flies by so you have to make every day count!"

A few years back, I made a trip to Butcher Holler to see her childhood home. It was an experience!


Finding the place was like looking for a needle in a haystack. We went to Paintsville, Kentucky and began asking directions. Everyone knew where it was but there was no roadside signs or anything at this time. The first thing we finally found was a rock with an arrow pointing down a country road.



Finally, we came upon a country store that was run by her brother, Herman. He told us he would lead us up to the old house and it cost $5 per person to enter and look around.

We followed him up a gravel road to the house. His dog ran along beside his car all the way up the road. The house sits on top of a hill and was worth the $5 to have a look around. There was an old wishing well in the yard and a lot of the furniture, according to Herman, was the original furnishings during the time they grew up. He said the wood cooking stove was original, too. There was lots of family pictures and photos around the place and pictures of her after she got famous.




This lady has endured poverty to become a major star and is a staunch survivor today.


I am proud she is from my home state of Kentucky!

A SHORT TRIP TO VIVAY!

Bob and I decided to take a short trip this week just to get away for a few days. The weather here has been beautiful and in the high 70s and low 80s. We decided to drive up to Vevay, Indiana. Vevay is a small town that is trying to build up its tourist trade. It sits right on the river and the whole town is a mile long with only one stoplight. The drive is about an hour and a half from my house. I was ready to go somewhere after two straight weeks of rain, rain, rain!

We had breakfast in a small restaurant on Main Street where everyone knew everyone else in there and a full breakfast cost all of $3.50. There was one waitress and the lady cooking looked to be in her 80s. The food was great.

After breakfast, we ventured out to walk around the town and see the sights.

The Mercantile Shop carried all handmade items from the local people.

There was a sidewalk cafe for lunch and the local radio station pipes music onto Main Street all day.

The Amish Shop featured their goods and antiques. That's Bob under the sign. The puppet in the picture was looking for a good home.

The architecture of some of the buildings was awesome and the court house was built during Civil War Days. A rose garden and Farmer's Market surround the old court house.I saw this sign posted on the side of a shop in Vevay. I could not resist taking a picture. The owners must not be fans of the Clintons! The sign says, "Hillary and Bill belong in the big house, not in the White House!" There is a wonderful Riverfront Park with a playground for children and picnic area and benches along the river where you can sit and watch the boats. I saw this race car on the playground and immediately thought of my 23 month old grandson, Thomas Wyatt. He loves the Disney movie, "Cars", and he would love playing in this one.
Bob and I watched the boats and this tugboat came down the river pushing a barge loaded with coal.

This is such a laid back little town that I felt like I was in Mayberry and Andy and Barney might appear any minute. It was the perfect place to relax, talk to local people and shop keepers and enjoy the wonderful weather.

We have decided to take several short trips or day trips in the near future. I enjoy working in the yard at home and usually if I go on a big vacation I am ready to come home in a few days so this works well for us.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy three day weekend.

LET'S GO TO THE DRIVE-IN MOVIES

Every spring when I was young brought the opening of the "Starlight Drive-In Theater" in our town. We could not wait for the weather to get warm enough so that mom and dad would load up the car with blankets, pillows, iced tea, popcorn, and all kinds of goodies to eat. My sister and I was allowed one trip to the concession stand during intermission to buy stuff. Mom even took our dinner in a picnic basket once in a while and we spread out a tablecloth on the hood of the car to eat before the movie.

Sis and I ran straight to the playground as soon as we arrived to swing and play until the cartoons and previews started.

My dad used to love Tarzan movies and I think I saw them all.

I distinctly remember a very scary movie at the drive-in and my sister and I scared to death in the back seat of dads old car. Some man got the wrong car and jumped in the back seat with us.
We jumped towards each other and almost knocked ourselves out when we bumped our heads together.

Once I got older and started dating, we would get as many in one car as possible and take off to the drive-in. I remember one time when a boy I was dating went to the concession stand during intermission and we moved the car while he was gone to the other side of the movie lot. It was hilarious watching him wander around trying to find the car. I don't remember trying to sneak anyone into the movie in the trunk of the car though.

Remember how those old speakers would squawk and have static and sometimes even go out right in the middle of the movie. Then, you would have to drive around and find another space with a good speaker. Sometimes, people even drove off with the speaker hanging on their window.

My daughters have never been to a drive-in theater! Most of them had closed by the time they were old enough to go. We used to take my son when he was a little guy and he would watch the cartoons and then go to sleep when the movie started.

I read somewhere recently that the drive-in was making a comeback in some places.

I am sure we all have some very special memories of those warm, summer nights spent with friends, family or a special guy at our favorite drive-in.

Annual Trip To Amish Country

On Saturday, Anne and Leigh, Anne's boyfriend, Josh, and I made our annual trip to Liberty, Kentucky in Casey County to visit Amish Country. We have been doing this for years. The girls were two or three years old when we started going and they are now thirty.

We left from my house after having coffee and blueberry muffins to hold us until lunch. Anne drove with Josh as her co-pilot while Leigh and I sat in the back seat. I was good and did very little back seat driving!

Our first stop was the Dutchmon's Market where I bought a pint of blackberry jam and we looked at all the hand tools, Amish hats, canned foods and bakery items. It started to pour rain just as we were leaving and one of the older Amish men asked Leigh, "Afraid to go into the rain, are ye?" and laughed like he had made some big joke!

Next, we traveled down South Fork Creek Road past the furniture store to Nolt's Bulk Food Store. The girls bought some cheese and spices, and I bought apples, a pint of sorghum, cumin, celery seeds, bay leaves, and candy. Then, we went to the produce market! I go crazy in these places with all the fresh fruit and veggies. I bought fresh green beans, new potatoes, tomatoes, green onions, peaches, a cantaloupe, and a quart of fresh blackberries for a cobbler. The girls loaded up on produce, also, so they would not have to go to the grocery when they got home. The back of Anne's car was loaded with goodies.




We headed for the Bread of Life Cafe because we were all starving by now. They have a great salad bar there and always have about three meats on the buffet.




Saturday, they had fried fish and chicken and some kind of steak with green beans, potatoes, corn, pinto beans, mac and cheese, cornbread, biscuits, and the best yeast rolls with cinnamon butter you ever ate. The dessert bar had pineapple cake, chocolate cake, bread pudding and soft serve ice cream. Josh cannot eat gluten so we were worried there would not be anything he could eat but I think he made out fine with the salad bar.

They also have a gift shop here and sell candy, bread, candles, jellies, and goodies of all sorts and kinds.

Feeling like four little pigs, we posed for pictures outside on the porch of the cafe.




Don't you think Anne and Josh make a cute couple? This is me in the middle with Anne on the left and Leigh on my right. Can you tell they are twins?



Last stop was the Antique Flea Market in Harrodsburg on our way home to buy used books in their "book nook" that has hundreds of books.

Leigh is enjoying a rest and doing a little reading while the rest of us are looking at all the books and trying to make our choices to bring home.

My son, Rob, his wife, Sarah, and TW were supposed to go with us but Rob got called into work. We missed them this year!

We arrived back at my house tired from a full day of activities but it was a "good" tired.

It was another wonderful day. I am glad that Josh could join us this year. This one will be added to the great memories along with all the rest.

Note: Click on each picture to view larger version.

Saturday in Kentucky's State Capital of Frankfort

Bob and I went to Chili's for lunch on Saturday and it was such a pretty day, we drove down to the capital grounds to look at the flowers. The rose garden was not in full bloom and did not look as good as I have seen it in previous years. Probably, due to all the wet, cold weather we are having here.

The floral clock looked beautiful as did all the hanging baskets placed around the grounds.

From 1792 to 1830, Kentucky had two buildings serve as the capitol. Both burned down.
In 1830, a new capitol was built and was in use until 1910. A bitterly contested 1899 state governor election came to a climax when Democratic claimant William Goebel was assassinated at the capitol on his way to be inaugurated. The building was replaced due to the need for a larger building for a growing state government. Today, that capitol building is a museum.
In 1904, the Kentucky General Assembly chose Frankfort (over Lexington and Louisville) as the location for the state capital and appropriated $1 million for the construction of a permanent state capitol building, to be located in southern Frankfort.
The capitol was designed by Frank Mills Andrews, a distinguished and award-winning architect. He used the Beaux-Arts style and included many classical French interior designs. The staircases, for example, are a replicas of those that appear in the Opéra Garnier in Paris.

The basement of the capitol contains a small gift shop and an underground tunnel to the neighboring Capitol Annex building. I worked in the Capitol Annex for several years when I first started my employment in state government.

The Governor's Mansion is the current home of our Governor, Steve Beshear, and his wife, Jane.

Kentucky's Governor's Mansion is one of only a handful of executive residences in the United States to be open to the public for tours. Thousands of visitors from across the Commonwealth and around the world visit the Governor's Mansion every year. Contact the Capitol tour desk to schedule a visit soon.

I think Kentucky has a beautiful capitol building and grounds.

We walked around and took some pictures and enjoyed the warm sun for a change.

On the way home, we stopped at Sonic for ice cream. We both love ice cream and I got a hot fudge cake. Bob opted for some kind of banana and ice cream concoction. It was a very nice outing on a very nice day.

A Country Road, A Campground, and a Covered Bridge

Bob and I decided to go out on Tuesday and ended up at the local Chinese Restaurant for their lunch buffet. We love the shrimp and all the vegetables and, of course, the soft serve ice cream for dessert.

After lunch, we went for a drive in the country and headed out of Frankfort toward Georgetown.

The first place we came to was the campgrounds at the Forks of Elkhorn. If you like to go camping, this place sits right on the banks of the Elkhorn Creek. It is located about two miles out of Frankfort and has a general store, laundry mat, and a pavilion that seats 200. You can swim, relax, picnic, and fish. Check out their website at :

http://www.elkhorncampground.com/

We turned across a bridge and headed out into the country toward a little settlement known as Switzer, Kentucky. It was a beautiful day and nice to be out of the house and just riding around on country roads.

We turned right at the little fire station in Switzer and headed down to the old covered bridge.

The bridge was built around 1855 and is the official covered bridge of Kentucky. It was damaged in a flood in 1997 and had to have extensive repairs but is very sturdy now. You cannot drive through this bridge but you can walk across it and get a great view of the water.

People are always parking at the bridge and going fishing from the banks of the creek or picnicking off the rocks.

We spent some time walking around and reading about the bridge and continued on our journey to another little community called Woodlake. Woodlake consists mostly of a few houses. Many years ago, my father ran a country store in this little community but that was before I was born.

It was a nice way to spend a beautiful day and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

A Thursday Road Trip

Bob was feeling much better on Thursday and drove over from Lexington to visit. We decided to get out for a bit. The weather was beautiful except for the wind was blowing pretty hard but the sun was shining and it was in the 70's. I live about two miles off Highway 127, so we left my house and filled up with some very expensive gas, bought a lottery ticket at the little market for Saturday night since it is somewhere around one hundred, eighty million! (I could pass several hours just thinking about what I would do with that money.)



The first place we stopped was The Bread Basket. It is a very small store run by the Amish and they sell all kinds of fresh bread made daily. I bought a loaf of sourdough wheat bread to have for dinner from the young Amish girl in her white bonnet that waited on us. I could have bought one of each but I would have come home and "pigged out" since bread is one of my favorite foods.



Next, we stopped at another market just down the road about a mile and looked at all the flowers, bulk foods, and cheeses. I bought a nice tomato here and we both got a huge cone of soft serve ice cream. Their cones are $1.49 each and you make them yourself from the machine.
Bob says I really know how to pile that ice cream on the cone. He opted for chocolate but I love just plain, old vanilla.

Further on down the road, we passed a World War II army tank that is on display as you enter Harrodsburg. Everytime, I see this tank it reminds me of my son when he was a young boy. He used to beg to stop and look at it and read the names of the men from Mercer County that served during the war.



Harrodsburg is a small town but full of history. It was first explored by James and Samuel Harrod in 1767 and Fort Harrod was established in 1774 as one of the largest forts in Kentucky.

It is called the "Gateway to the West". I first visited Fort Harrod on a school trip when I was in the fifth grade. The outdoor drama, "The Legend of Daniel Boone" is performed each summer and worth your time to go see it. Another event, my son used to love when he was small. He loved seeing all the Indians and pioneer people.



We passed through Harrodsburg and stopped at a new Flea Market and Antique Mall that has opened on the outskirts of town. I love these places and can spend hours looking at all the items for sale. Bob gave out on me and went to find a place to rest. I looked at all the booths and ended up buying a book by Kentucky born writer, Robert Penn Warren. I especially love to read books by Kentucky authors. It is called "A Place to Come To" and is the story of Jed Tewksbury, born on a rundown farm in Dugton, Alabama at the end of the First World War.


Robert Penn Warren also wrote "All the Kings Men" that was made into a movie starring Sean Penn. It is a great movie. I am an avid reader and so are all my children. I think reading adds so much to one's life.


This is as far as we made it on our trip. By the time I finished looking in the flea market, Bob was tired and hungry. We stopped in Harrodsburg at McDonalds for a burger and headed back home. It was a good day! The sourdough bread was wonderful with dinner.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

It is a gorgeous day today! I love these warm spring days. I cannot make myself stay inside.

Bob came over last Thursday and we took up the rocks I had going to my outside shed and replaced them with square stones from Home Depot. I still have to dig out under them and make them flat with the ground so they can be run over with the lawnmower. I also planted more grass seed and still need more. There is so much shade in this yard and so many leaves on the ground during the winter that I have to replant grass seed every year. We made a rock flower bed out of the rocks we took up from the yard. I have hostas, some mint, and two different vines planted in the rock bed. I need more shade plants. Anything, that needs sun just has a hard time growing due to all the trees. I received some lilies of the valley I had ordered last week and planted them in another bed in the yard. They are supposed to be good shade plants and will multiply each year I hope.

Tony, my brother-in-law, cut the lawn for the first time this week. It was really beginning to need it in places. I have been picking up sticks for a month trying to get it in shape to mow.

On Friday, we went to Rising Sun, Indiana, so Bob could play in a poker tournament. I played the slots while he was in the tournament. We spent the night and had the buffet breakfast on Saturday before returning home. Bob has not felt well all weekend. He has an upset stomach that may be a virus or something but no fever and I have not caught it and hope I don't.

Yesterday, I spent the entire day just being lazy, making poppy seed cupcakes, reading and watching tv.

This morning, I talked to my niece, Vicky, on the phone, made a trip to the bank, checked out the consignment shop in town and stopped at Kroger for some nice fruit and a few other things.

I have been outside this afternoon checking out my flowers and seeds I have planted. "Hootie", my owl with the revolving head from Walmart, spends his days guarding the patio and keeping the blackbirds off the porch. Before I found him, I had to spray the patio off every day where they used it for a bathroom. He has been a lifesaver and a water saver, too! Bob even went back and got one for himself after he saw what a good job he does at my house.

Anne and Leigh will be leaving for Colorado on Wednesday and I may go over to their place that day and spend some time doing a few small things for them.