Thanksgiving Photo

I'm crazy about this cat.  He is cantankerous sometimes, he drives me crazy wanting me to scratch his ears, and Lord knows how many times I have stepped on his tail.  But then he lets me take a photo of him like this ...  

and I remember how sweet he really is.

This photo was taken on Thanksgiving morning before our 25 guest showed up.  He stayed under the bed for most of the festivities, only making one mad dash through the living room as he headed out to his bachelor pad for a call of nature.  He was so stealthy about it, I don't think anyone else noticed.

Sweetvalley In The Fall

Went by Sweetvalley the other day.   It was gorgeous!



Sweetvalley is owned by my little brother.  He used to live there all the time but work took him away.  Now he rents it out to folks who like to get away to quiet places with great views and see nature at it's best. 

He always has a flag flying.  And that big white, round rock in the front yard is an old gris mill stone.  It traveled a long way to get here - all the way from Henderson, Tennessee where our grandparents had a farm.  When John was just a little boy, he would stand on this old stone to get on his horse. 

This is an art print I did of the road in front of his house.  I titled it "Lake Cove" which is the name of the road.  I really love it this time of year with all the leaves on the road.  I like to drive through there with the windows down.  There's just something really neat about driving through all those leaves. 

I like this friendly sign over the front door. 

And this gorgeous wreath.

And the decorated mailbox ... which is a dead give-a-way that my sister,

Anne has been over there decorating.

And I really love the kitchen window.  Don't know why I haven't noticed this before.  Couldn't resist creating another art print - "Sweetvalley Window." 

To learn more about Sweetvalley, go to  http://sweetvalleykentuckylake.com/default.aspx

 



Murphy's Bachelor Pad

Murphy is a pretty lucky cat.  In addition to having the run of the house and a screened in porch, he also has his own private fenced in yard with a cat door so he can come and go as he pleases.

The textured fiberglass steps are one of his favorite features. 

They have a nice rough texture that is especially nice for back scratching.

And head rolling.

This is Murphy's Exorcist impersonation.

It's not a very large yard. 

The see-through fence allows plenty of entertainment.   Murphy can watch for hours - kind of like watching TV.  In addition to human entertainment from across the road, Murphy has many night time visitors -deer, wild turkey, raccoons, opposums, the occasional mole or baby rabbit, lunar moths, and of course neighborhood cats. 

Another favorite feature for Murphy (and for Lee and Eric) is this outdoor sand/litter box and scratching post combination. The landscape timber holding back the sand is Murphy's favorite scratching spot. 

All in all, it's not a bad deal.

Rocky Beach

Two of my nephews were here a few weeks ago - Caleb & Justin. I'm terrible about remembering ages but I think they’re around 3 and 5 - little fellas - and close to the ground. The reason I mention their height is because of Rocky Beach.

This is a close up of what we always called "Rocky Beach."  Can't imagine how we came up with that name.  Do you see anything fascinating there?   Well - neither do I… now.   I think you have to be really short, close to the ground so you can see it better and of course be young and open minded enough to let your imagination run wild.

Here are few other views.
 

 
There’s a beach down that way that has no rocks, just sand. And yes, we always called it “Sandy Beach.”
 
 

 
Another view. I love TVA but hate these big towers they plopped down right in the middle of this beautiful scene. So …. I usually do my magic trick and ….
 
 

 
Poof!!!! The towers are gone!
 
Back to the rocks.
 

 
 
When we were kids, Rocky Beach was where we hung out. Shoes were required, even when we swam. My sister Anne reminded me the other day that we thought if we picked up all the rocks, we would have a sandy beach.  That would have been a lot of work for two little girls.
 
 

 
My grandma lived just up the hill from Rocky Beach. Over the years we hauled several tons of rocks up to her house one bucket at a time because we were always finding fascinating rocks that looked like turtles, or bowls, or birds, or ashtrays, or that had shell patterns imprinted in them, or had holes all the way through them.  These rocks were just too unique and wonderful to leave laying around on the beach to get lost among the other rocks.
 
 

 
Justin and Caleb hauled several buckets of these fascinating rocks over to Gammie Anne’s house the other week.   I wonder where she stashes them?  I wonder what Grandma did with all those rocks we hauled to her house?