HALLOWEEN

In the subdivision (in California we just said “neighborhood” but in Tennessee they are referred to as a subdivision and each subdivision has a name like Maplewood or something like that) where we live, there is a tradition just before Halloween that is called Boo Bags. This is the “Boo Bag” that we received. Inside the Boo Bag are two sheets of paper, a paper that simply says “We’ve been Booed”

and another piece of paper that has the following information on it:

You Have Been “Boo”-ed

SPREAD THE FUN

Deliver treats to 2 homes in the neighborhood. A copy of this letter and the “Boo” sign must accompany each treat! Secretly deliver it to a home that does not have a BOO sign posted. You have 48 hours – don’t delay!

Post the enclosed BOO sign on your door or window until Halloween arrives. This will tell others that you have been “BOO-ED!”

Remember, you must not be seen! Have fun and enjoy the Harvest Season.

This is what was in the BOO BAG that we received:

Now that we’ve been “Boo-ed”, it’s our turn to put together 2 little bags of goodies and we pick out 2 neighbors that do not have the “We’ve been boo-ed!” sign up and secretly leave a Boo Bag on their door step!

Tonight is Halloween and Craig decided to carve a pumpkin!

We sat on our front porch and waited for the trick or treaters and they came.

Snickers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Play Dough!  Michael told us that they were going to give out Play Dough this year and so we decided to do the same.  The Play Dough was a hit and we ran out of it first.

Cutest little monkey!

The one on the left is a sumo wrestler!

Happy Halloween!

Remembering…

Trick or Treat…

“Ewwww, pumpkin guts…”

We would drink hot apple cider on the night that we carved pumpkins. Each of us would carve our own pumpkin, so we all were seated around the table busy working and carving. I always made a happy face and sometimes Craig would make a kitty face. After the carving, we would put little candles in the pumpkins and then see what they looked like in the dark! Sometimes I would roast the pumpkin seeds in the oven.

Leave me a comment and tell me of any special things you remember about Halloween…

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GEESE

Make the time to play!

GRAVE

Here we are at a very Old Cemetery in Franklin, Tennessee.

Did you catch that? There are 4 Revolutionary War soldiers buried in this cemetery. Col. Guilford Dudley Sr., David Squier, Miles Priest and Moses Priest. The Revolutionary War! That’s George Washington and his soldiers fighting for the independence of our country…the fourth of July!

There is just one big tree in the center of the cemetery…I think it looks so cool.

The graves are so old that they are all broken up! And what IS that coming out of the grave on the left?!

I can’t believe that this grave is completely open!

There was a time when someone’s body was lying in there.

This is not a tree…this is made of stone.

Here is a new tombstone next to an old one. It looks like James H. Boehms family bought him a new tombstone and replaced the old one.

The cemetery is surrounded by this stone wall. This is an original wall that has been here for a long time. This wall is called a “Slave Wall” because slaves built it by hand…stone by stone. This wall does NOT have any mortar holding it together. It is just stones stacked up…but this wall is strong and sturdy. It does not move even if you try to push it.

Ok, so like for a second, I thought that maybe this was where the Mouseketeers were buried…no wait, that can’t be right.

PUCKETT’S

We found out that the original Puckett’s Grocery Store and Restaurant is located in Leiper’s Fork. So we went out there to try it out.

These seats are out in front of the restaurant/grocery store for people to just hang out.

There’s Craig on what looks like an old church pew!

Check out the menu…catfish sandwich, fried bologna and sweet potato fries!

Or you can have breakfast.

See…it’s a restaurant and a grocery store. Leiper’s Fork is so small that this is the main place to be at…infact, I think this is the only grocery store in Leiper’s Fork!

You order your food and then sit down and eat it…and then you pay at the cash register next to the door on your way out.

Coke in glass bottles…

being chilled with blocks of ice! Is this Mayberry and am I going to see Opie and Aunt B walk through the door any minute!?

Biscuits and gravy!

OK, we don’t eat like this all the time…but you can’t go to Mayberry and eat tofu, right?

Puckett’s is a great place. It is so full of small town country charm and the food is great! Puckett’s is the real thing and we love coming here when we want to feel all country!

BARN

When we first moved here, I was fascinated by the barns. In fact, I think I still am fascinated by barns.

I was not used to barns in San Diego and I think for me they symbolized being in the country.

Whenever I see this barn, I always think of the song Love Shack by the B52’s…”Tinnnnnn rooooooof rusting”.

I think this one is my favorite! Look at the dog by the door…and I LOVE the Christmas wreath!

WOOD

Our neighbor owns a field next door. He was kind enough to welcome us to cut our firewood from the fallen trees on his field.

We really like cutting our own firewood, instead of just buying it already cut from the store.

We use a lot of firewood in the fall and winter months. You may think we do because it is cold, but the real reason we do is because it is so cozy to have a fire in the fireplace. We just love it!

So, while Craig is cutting firewood, I just hang out on the truck bed listening to music and watching Craig. My job comes later…I help load the truck with the cut firewood.

This little guy landed on my boot while I was on the truck bed.

After Craig cuts the wood, he then chops it into fireplace size.

This guy crawled out of the firewood while Craig was chopping it…it grossed us out.

BIRD

One of my favorite things is to watch the birds outside my house. We are fortunate enough to have a front seat view of many bluebird houses and along with that come the bluebird shows!

I will show you what is inside this bluebird house…

baby bluebirds!

Berries grow along the wire fence on the side of our house. It’s fun to watch the birds eat the berries.

The first spring we lived here, a bird made a nest out of mud in the corner of our front porch. Everyday we could sit on our front porch and watch the birds lay on the eggs. It was so exciting when the baby birds finally hatched! Here they are, waiting for their momma to bring them food.

We named this bird, Boaz. Here he is hanging out on our front porch ceiling fan. This spring we had birds on our porch nest again, but the poppa bird had an accident and died. This bird, Boaz, attached himself to this bird family and seemed to take over where the poppa bird left off.

It’s fun to watch all the activity on our front porch. Rosanna sometimes runs to her car in the mornings because they dive for her head and she says “attack” her. It’s pretty funny! The birds are just trying to protect the nest and the eggs.

This bird was in our backyard.

We put a bird bath on the side of our house and the birds love it!

When our house was being built and the windows were not up yet, we came across this little bird nesting in the light switch box on the wall, by the front door. It was a stormy night and this little guy found shelter in our home. Since then, we named our house “Sparrows Rest”.

I have never seen so many different colored birds.

This crow is for Michael Darius…at least, I think it’s a crow.