The weather has finally settled into fall and we watch as the days fly by. One glance at the calendar reminds me that the moments of my life slip by without capture, my blog posts are becoming further and further apart. I am still working out the kinks of being married, working full time and doing all the other stuff I use to do. I have been mostly successful at the important stuff and mostly unsuccessful at the rest. You’ll have to ask John which is which 🙂
The following is the month of October in quick review…


On Sunday, October 3, we took our annual trip to Carver’s Apple Barn in Cosby, TN. It was a cool, grey day. Low hanging clouds and light rain made for dramatic scenery.

We have been to Cosby for apples almost every year since we started dating (in 2000). We take a picture at the same pull off every year. In a few years, we will have a pictorial essay of our aging!
In the early days, we purchased 1/2 bushels of our favorite apples. I spent days coring, peeling and dehydrating apples to enjoy on various backpacks during the upcoming year. These days we aren’t backpacking as much so we sample from the many baskets of apples, choose a few favorites and buy small bags to take home and dehydrate. This year we also picked up some blueberry jam and honey.
Saturday, October 9th found us at the Hola Festival. Our favorite festival moved from Market Square to the 100 block of Gay Street, which provided all 27 participating countries more space.
Did I say this is our favorite festival??!!! Lots of good food and music…
Sunday, October 10, we were still in the festival mood so we headed to Maryville for the Fall Foothills Festival. The usual crafty booths, banjo music, hot dogs and funnel cake stuff left us a little disappointed. Typical East Tennessee festival atmosphere. We have marked this festival off our “must repeat” list!!
Sunday, October 17, we decided to take a walk. We didn’t want to do the usual walk around the block so we ended up taking a walking tour of Mead’s Quarry and Ijams Nature Center. The “walk” extended much longer than expected and by the time we walked home, we had logged six miles. Summer flowers were still blooming wildly even amongst the changing autumn leaves.
Us at Mead’s Quarry
The weekend of October 22-24 rolled around pretty quickly and we found ourselves hosting John’s sister Laura and her husband Richard for the Tennessee-Alabama game. They drove their Harley up from Tuscaloosa, AL Friday night and joined us and John’s son Lee for dinner at the new Brazilian restaurant Brazeiros Steakhouse. It was a bad experience for all, long wait (even with reservations), questionable service etc. We won’t repeat the experience.
Saturday morning the four of us went to Market Square for breakfast at the Market Square Kitchen. The place was packed with football fans from both teams. Slow service again but tolerable because we weren’t paying the grande bucks. After breakfast, Laura and Richard hopped on the motorcycle and headed to the Maryville Harley shop while John and I strolled through the Farmer’s Market. Saturday evening we shuttled Laura and Richard to and from the game. It was a late night for us and we enjoyed sleeping in Sunday morning.
Sunday morning, October 24, we decided to do a Fall 2010 Colors Tour. The Foothills Parkway, which rolls through the the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Parkway is only 35 minutes from the house and is less traveled by leaf peepers which makes it the perfect choice.
The colors were great, the traffic light and we had a lot of fun driving through the foothills and Happy Valley.
Beautiful…
October is a special time of year for us because we celebrate my Dad’s birthday, 87 years this year. We had our first celebration on his official birthday, October 26 at Shannondale Nursing Home, so my Mother could participate. Dinner included her favorite food, Kentucky Fried Chicken and cupcakes from The Cupcakery.
Today, Sunday, October 31, we had our big birthday celebration at my house. We grilled steak, roasted potatoes and asparagus. Getting the family together is always a good time though we missed Mother’s presence.
Me, Daddy and Carol (Leslie and Mike were not here yet, John is behind the camera). Below, the birthday boy!
