A happy New Year!

Grant that I may bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
                                 Edgar A. Guest

 

 

 

Taking Time To Enjoy the Season

 

 

 

 

May Your Days Be Merry and Bright!

 

~ I Give Thanks With
                           A Grateful Heart~

            For......

 ........my sweet husband, who doesn't

blink an eye when I suggest a

day trip to take in an arts and crafts fair.

 

  .....or a vacation at a cabin in the
beautiful Georgia mountains.

 



.......my precious daughter and son-in-law,

who are so much fun to vacation with.

They love the outdoors

and are always ready to explore.

 

 



.....good health and the best friends

 and co-workers....ever.....

who joined us in support,

walking the 5k Race for the Cure

...in the rain!

.....family near
 

This picture was taken on Easter a couple

of years ago. My sweet mother-in-law

has since gone to be with the Lord, but

we shared many happy family times together

over the years. There is a new baby boy
to add to the family photo this year.
 

.....family far

 



The fourth generation

extended family in Mississippi.

This was taken last Thanksgiving
and this year, there will be another
little boy added to this picture as well!
 

 

.......our cozy little log cabin by
the Cypress Knee swamp, that has
provided shelter and comfort and
a place to call home.
(Oops, I forgot to hang the ferns back up!)

.......the beauty of the State I call home.

.......and for so much more......
my heart is grateful and
humbled to be so blessed.


Happy Thanksgiving Holiday!

                 Aunt C
 



~ TGIF ~

 

 

It has been a multicolored

kind of week.

Mixed thoughts and emotions.

 

 

 

 

For me, there is nothing like

a dose of nature to restore balance.

 

God is still in His heaven! 

 

Have a beautiful weekend.

 

C

 



 

 

~ Color My World ~

 

 

What I see when I turn into my driveway.

 

 

We finally had weather cool enough

for the trees to begin to color....

 

 

Closer to the house the color is

more golden.....

Like my "See Rock City"birdhouse?

I saw that advertisement on

barns all over northern Arkansas growing up.

 



How beautifully leaves grow old. 

How full of light and color are their last days.

  ~John Burroughs~

I do love this time of the year!

(except, I wish I could keep Daylight Savings Time)

Til next time,

C

 

 

 

~ Beautiful Biltmore Estate ~

 

 

 

I promised a few pictures from our visit to the

beautiful Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.

 

It was built by George Vanderbilt

in the late 1800's and  the present estate

covers around 8000 acres.

It is still owned by the Vanderbilt family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos are not allowed inside the house,

so I am sharing a few of the amazing

grounds that surround it.

 

 

 

 

Of course, flowers are always my

favorite anyway.

 

 

 

 

Wildflower gardens........

 

 

Formal garden....water gardens....

 this estate has it all.

In the background (with the sun glinting in

the roof) is the greenhouse area.

 

 

All the plants used in the home

are grown here in the greenhouses

on the grounds. Can you imagine having

access to all this to decorate your house?

 Be still my heart!

 

 

 

It is hard to choose a few pictures

to share. It was a perfect day for

a visit and every view was a

perfect picture.

I just love it when that happens!

 

 

 

Shannon & Scott in front of one of the

many lovely trees found on the grounds,

and below, a bloom from the

water gardens near the house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a three hour drive from our

cabin to Asheville but we didn't mind.

This is the sunrise over the

mountains we were so blessed

to see to start us on our way.

 

Hope you enjoyed this little mini tour.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit

the Biltmore Estate, don't miss it!

 

Til next time...

                Carolyn

 

 

 

 



 

 

~ Afternoon Drive ~ 

 

 

 

 

The weather was perfect that day.

A cool and crisp autumn afternoon

with a beautiful blue sky.

 

 

When I got home from work, I asked

David to park the lawn mower and

go for a drive and he readily agreed.

 

 

Aren't these clouds just the

prettiest? This is a marina

on Cross Lake.

 

 

 We drove up north a ways to

a little town named Oil City.

It was formed during the oil boom

days has this nice little park

on the edge of town on Caddo Lake.

 

 

Such a peaceful place to spend

an afternoon.

 

 

Kool Point once boasted the

best fish resturant in the area.

It burned several years ago and

has never been rebuilt.

We spent many Friday nights

eating at that place. I am

glad they left the sign as a reminder

of a good thing from the past.

 

 

We are blessed to live so close to

these beautiful lakes.

 We stopped at the DQ for a

chicken basket on the way

 home for supper.

Thanks to my sweet hubbie for

dropping everything to go for a drive

with me. It was pretty much a

perfect afternoon.

'til next time....

           Carolyn

 

(still planning to share our trip to Biltmore in the near future)

~ Blue Ridge, Ga. ~

 

We recently spent a week in

a cabin near Blue Ridge, Ga.

 

The directions to the cabin

were a little daunting, with

the final turn to be made "where

you see the home made name signs on a tree."

 

You just knew it had to be a great place

with "Ole King Coe" and the "Loonie Bin"

 as neighbors.

 

 

  

The cabin was perfect with porches

that looked over Blue Ridge Lake.

 

 Cool mornings greeted us with a view

of mist rising above the water below.

 

 

We spent most of our time outdoors, doing

some hiking and taking a couple of day trips.

Shannon wanted to see Rock City near Chattanooga.

We had taken her years ago and

our son-in-law had never

been .... so off we went.

 

 

It is a fun place with lots of walking paths beautifully landscaped.

 

Here is Shannon & Scott bravely headed

into Goblins underpass.

 

 

 

One of the most photographed

spots - aptly named lovers leap.

As you can imagine, the view is

amazing.

 

 

A view of the swinging bridge from

below. The leaves were just beginning

to color and were so pretty against the sky.

 

 

Beauty everywhere we looked.

 

 

And near the end of our walk,

this rock called the"witch with pipe".

Hmmm.... the face I see...I think they

should loose the pipe.

I'd rather use my imagination. 

 

 

We had a great day, the weather was perfect

and we enjoyed visiting Rock City with

our "little girl" and her hubby once again :))

 

 

The Biltmore estate was also

on our list of places to revisit.

 I will share some of those pics

later.

 

 

Til next time....

           Carolyn

 

 



 

 

~ REMEMBERING ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This picture was taken in September, 2006 while

visiting my sweet Aunt back home in Arkansas.

 You can read about that visit here if you like,

Home Again.

 

Much has changed since that visit.

 

My dear Aunt has since lost most

of her eyesight and is in an assisted

living facility.

 

Little did I know that day, waiting for me

when we returned home would be a message

from the radiologist asking me to come in

for another look at a recent mammogram.

 

To make a very long story short, I had a

needle biopsy... the results were not good.

 I had surgery, followed by six months

of chemotherapy.

 

At that time, I couldn't imagine

ever feeling well enough to

walk a mile, much less a 5k race!

 

This weekend, three friends and I

walked the Susan G. Komen 5k

Race for the Cure held in Bossier City.

 

 

 

The two of us who are survivors

and our two precious

friends & supporters joined with

 about four thousand

other folks seeking a cure.

 

We never know what tomorrow

will bring, but God does and

walks through that day with us.

 

 I've learned to cherish the time spent

with family and friends, knowing

we may never pass this "same way" again.

 

I am thankful for each morning and for

sweet friends who bless me just by

their presence. We had a blast!

 

I didn't make it to the cotton patch

last week....still on my list of things to do.

 

'til next time............

                       Carolyn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Weather Report ~ 

 

Sun Sep 9

87^°

60^°

Sunny

 

Mon Sep 10

88^°

63^°

Sunny

 

 

This is so welcome after a week of

100+ temps.

 

 

 

 

Planning a little trip to "smell the cotton" this week.

 Hopefully, I will have

some new "cotton" pictures to share.

 

 

Looking forward to Fall.

 

                  Carolyn