Thankful Thursday - Mountain Vacation

I promised to share about our October trip to the mountains, so here ya go:

First stop was, of course, Jacksonville to visit my happy place.  On the way, we go over a bridge that has a beauty-full view of downtown.  This happy bridge makes me happy because it means I'm almost to my happy place.

which is, you guessed it, the Chamblin Book Mine.  Just look at that -- books from floor to ceiling, as far as the eye can see.  See why that makes me happy?

 See how happy I am?

Next stop was to visit Mama and Daddy's grave in Lakeland, GA and put some new flowers for them in honor of their anniversary.  They would have been married 69 years.

I have a lot of relatives in this cemetery.  As we were cleaning up around the plot, I was attacked by ants and got some awful bites.  Next time, I'll be prepared and bring some bug spray and some clippers.  Pulling at the grass got the ants all aggravated.  Lesson learned.

Then we headed for Hiawassee to visit my friend, Linda.  We've been friends for over 50 years. On the way, I saw this lovely tree.  I wish I knew what kind it is.

 As we got close to Hiawassee, I saw my first glimpse of the mountains.  I was so excited!

Linda and her husband live in an idyllic spot in Hiawassee.  The house sits near a creek and we sat on the porch, chatting, listening to the birds, and drinking hot coffee.  So lovely and peace-full.

I was having a wonder-full time, but I was freezing to death.  This Florida girl gets chills and stays inside when it gets below seventy degrees.  So my kind hostess brought me a blanket.  Note that she's wearing capris and flip-flops . . .

We visited a local diner, and I saw these signs on the wall.  Had to take pictures 'cause I agree with this one:

fits me to a "T"

This one is kind of fuzzy, but I like it.  "Farm living is the life for me" is part of a song that was played on the old TV show, Green Acres.  When I moved to central Florida, I felt like Lisa when her husband moved her to the Green Acres farm.  My first thought was, "Where are the shopping malls?"  The country lacks the artistic and cultural experiences of life in the big city, but I grew to love it much more than city life.  I don't even like to visit the city unless it's absolutely necessary. . .like when I need more books.  

I just had to take a pic of this one because . . . well, I know a few drama queens. (You know who you are . . .)

Here are a few more pics of Linda's pretty yard.  I'm so glad we stopped by to see her because we had a great time.

Linda owns and operates a wonderful gift shop in Hiawassee called Creekside General Store.  I bought some very nice gifts there, and I highly recommend it if you're ever near Hiawassee or Helen, GA.  Tell her Gail Golden sent you.  Here's a pic of a lovely scarf clip that I love, love, love. I've been looking for something like this for ages.  It's perfect.

We spent one night with them and I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had a lot of miles to cover during this one week vacation. I'll write more about it next week.

My birthday was last month, and I was so thankful to celebrate it with Linda.  Also visited with my friend Carlleen in Myrtle Beach, and my daughter, Melissa, on our way back to Florida. I'll write more about that later, too.  But, I have to show you my favorite birthday present, given to me by my sweet husband.  I've been wanting a Yeti cup for a long, long time, but hated to spend the big bucks.  It's wonderful because it keeps beverages hot or cold for hours.  I (big, puffy heart) LOVE it.  The cup holds a big thirty ounces, and I drink it full of water every day.

We went to our favorite waterside restaurant to celebrate and saw a beauty-full rainbow.  I was so thankful for my birthday rainbow.

Some other things I'm thankful for:

 Birthday flowers.

 And for friends who make me laugh.  LaVonne sent me this pic of mop that has a bad attitude.

And for this wonder-ful dog who made me feel so happy.  We had to catch up with him so we could take pics.

I'll have to stop for today, but I'll share more about our trip and some other happenings over the past month.  My dream-come-true office is almost finished, so I'll be sharing about that soon.

What are you thank-full for this week, Gail-Friends.  I'd love to hear about it.

I sometimes share my posts with these friends:
  Spiritual Sundays  GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays

 Hearth and Soul Link Party
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    Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday 
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 OVER THE MOON LINKY PARTY!

My Favorite Things at Biltmore

Because I love music, and enjoy playing the piano, I loved seeing them in the home.  The one above is in the sitting room adjacent to the library - also called the tapestry room.  You can see one of the lovely tapestries on the wall behind the piano.

This piano is in the upstairs family living room, adjacent to the master bedrooms.

This piano is in the music room.  I love the harp design.

I believe this piano was in the basement.  My first piano was an upright, so I felt deep affection for this one.

I love art, and the home is chock-full of priceless treasures by famous painters.  My favorite is this one of Mrs. Vanderbilt because I love, love, love wearing hats.  Flamboyant, right? 

I also loved this ceiling treatment, and I'm planning on using it in my home.

This ceiling treatment is in the music room.  Very unique.

There were many, many fireplaces, which I love.  This sitting area in the tapestry room, with the tea set up, was so inviting. I love the colors.  Wouldnt you love to sit here for a while and enjoy a cuppa?

After visiting the upper floors, we toured the basement area.  This floor includes the indoor pool, billiard room, men's smoking room, trophy room (with many taxidermied animals on the wall), gymnasium, kitchen, pantries, and . . . and the IRONING ROOM. The only thing I dread more than sewing is ironing.  I'm so thankful for permanent press.  Because I reared two daughters, ironing was a big part of my life for many years.  I cannot imagine the heavy, laborious work involved in cleaning and then ironing the clothes worn in the late 1800's and early 1900's. . . and in North Carolina . . .  in the summer. . .  with no air conditioning, it had to be miserable.

Just think of all of the clothing, plus the linens
 

Doing laundry was no small task back then.  Seeing all of this made me so grateful for the modern-day conveniences I enjoy.

When we first came into the basement, we saw this painting on the walls.  Because I love birds, I liked it:

There were other paintings on the walls that had dark themes.  The whole room gave me a bad feeling.  I found out later, it was painted for Halloween, and that explains my aversion to it.

I found the basement area to be the most interesting, especially the kitchen.  My shots did not turn out well, but thankfully this one did.  The two round objects on the table are butter molds.  I have one of these that belonged to my paternal grandmother, and I treasure it.

Now, on to my absolute favorite part of the tour - the gardens and the garden gift shop.

Unfortunately, my shots of the gardens did not turn out well because we were in a time crunch.  I took them quickly and wound up with blurry shots.  Here are a couple that turned out okay:

We didn't walk through the garden.  There is a driveway around the garden and the photos were taken from our car.

The greenhouse was gorgeous. 

We parked the car at the entrance to the garden, and I was enthralled by the things I saw:

I've never seen this plant before, but isn't is amazing?  Every time I look at plants and flowers, I'm in awe of Adonai's creativity.

This swing really made me swoon:

My grandson would have loved this cute train a few years back when he was enamored with Thomas the Train.  It was for sale . . . only about $3,000.  Yikes!

But here is where I fell into a swoon.  I love birds and garden art.

Birdhouses, bird paintings. bird cages . . . lots of bird everything.  

We have to build an archway like this.  Our yard has lots of branches and grapevines, so I know we could do it.    I can just see it at the entrance to Golden Pond, with my beautiful purple passion flowers growing on it.

I got ahold of myself and only bought one thing -- a rusty, little sparrow to put in my kitchen window.  I'd seen them elsewhere for $15.99, and I got this one for only $6.50. I love a bargain! Happy dance!!!  Doesn't she look happy to be at Golden Cottage?  She sure makes me happy!

Well, Gail-Friends, that's the end of my post about Biltmore.  I really enjoyed it while we were there.  After we finished the tour, my historian husband told me about the Vanderbilts. The history he shared, and the fact that the Vanderbilts were anti-semites, made me sick and sad.  If I'd known that, I'd never have paid good money to go through their house.  But because my husband loves me, and he knew a visit to Biltmore had been a long-time bucket list item, he never said a word about it beforehand.  You can look it up and study the history of the family for yourself.


My next post will be about our visit to some historic sites related to the Civil War.  Jem is writing a book about the history of the 7th Louisiana regiment, in which his great-great grandfather served.  I'll also share a bit more of the beautiful fall color we saw on the trip.

I'm happy to tell you that I'm putting the finishing touches on my book, titled Golden Moments.  It will be published through Create Space by the end of the year.  

Blessings and shalom to y'all, dear Gail-Friends.  

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I sometimes share my posts with these friends: 

Spiritual Sundays     GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays
   BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS LINK PARTYTitus 2 Tuesday       TITUS TUESDAYS @CORNERSTONE CONFESSIONS    Share Your Cup Wednesday Wordless Wednesdays    Classical Homemaking Link-Up        Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday