It's Halloween

This is one of my most favorite times of year, even the trees are shouting out, look at me! Last week we carved pumpkins with my talented daughter and grand daughter at Greenlife. Today they had a costume party and made chocolate-dipped marshmallows and caramel apples. Yummy food for those crisp, cool autumn days. Going to Greenlife has provided me the opportunity to meet the most delightful people, today I met a terrific couple who are photojournalists, David LaBelle and his wonderful wife Erin. We instantly started sharing stories and I can't wait to read David's new book " I don't want to know all the technical stuff...I just want to shoot great pictures". Oh how many times I have thought those exact words. Also check out David's website: greatpicturehunt.com We are waiting for trick-or-treaters as I sit here blogging and chicken and rice casserole is bubbling in the oven....I love Halloween!

The Farmer's Daughter

While on our trip hubby and I found this great little gift shop, The Farmer's Daughter, in Wytheville. Every inch had darling displays, lots and lots of cute items and unique gifts. I love the purple pumpkin displays, reminded me a little of Mardi Gras. Hubby had as much fun looking as I did and the folks were so helpful. I love to discover "hidden treasures" when I am shopping and this was one of them!

Old Houses

On our trip we rode around looking and photographing old houses. Small towns often have a main street of those large, stately homes that families have worked hard to keep beautiful. Living in a home that was built in 1927, I completely understand the love of these old houses. They have so much character and are so unique, the porches on some of these homes are magnificent! We toured the towns of Marion, Wythville, and Rural Retreat Virginia. These are some of my favorite homes.

Virginia,Part 2

Hubby and Rueben trekking down the AT
My guys on the AT

Next stop we went east to Mt. Rogers in the Jefferson National Forest in search of lovely leaves and the AT, Appalachian Trail, one of the longest walking trail in the U.S. that runs from Maine to Georgia. We have a friend that is hiking the entire AT and he should reach the southern most terminus on October 24th and it's his birthday and he will be 24, isn't that so cool! Well anyway, Hubby and Rueben did their own little AT hike and we did see some lovely trees! It was so peaceful up in the mountains listening to the wind blowing through the trees, what do people in big cities do when they need their nature fix? I love the hustle and bustle of NYC and Chicago but I also need to be outside, what about you?

Virginia

Hubby and I hit the road yesterday morning to see the changing leaves in Virginia, they are not quite peeked here at home in Tennessee. He planned a wonderful trip and our first stop was Hungry Mother State Park outside of Marion. VA. What a lovely setting, there is a huge lake, fishing piers, walking and biking trails, campgrounds, and everything else that an excellent state park would have. We fed ducks and I even drew in the sand, an idea from another blogging buddy! We took over 200 pictures of our trip so I will blog about each part.

Summerville Flea Market

Hubby and I traveled the back of Lookout Mountain and went down to Summerville GA. to the flea market. The Ye Olde Trading Grounds Flea Market is considered to be "a really good one" so I was very excited to go, but I am sad to say it was not at all what I expected. The claim they have everything from tube socks to antiques was true but there were very few antiques and lots and lots of tube socks and other cheaply made items. We did see some interesting farm animals and Hubby and I bought some fresh produce, lots of sweet potatoes, freshly picked greens, sweet onions, and even some roasted peanuts. We also found a great book vendor that sold current hardback books for 2 dollars. Maybe we will try this flea market again, but I still think the one at the fairgrounds in Nashville is the best!

Apples

The only picture where Reuben was looking at the camera, the display outside of Wootens.

We went to one of our favorite apple farms to see what apples are "in". The place was a madhouse, with many folks waiting in line just to get an apple dumpling or my favorite, apple fritter. We got 2 kinds of apples, apple cider, some sweeties and left. Maybe someday I will have my own apple trees and all I have to do is go out to my tree and pick them. I can wait!

Gourds,Gourds, Gourds

Hubby and I went for a Sunday afternoon ride and ended up on Dayton Mountain. We went to see what was happening at a pumpkin stand we had visited before and most of the pumpkins are gone but do they have some strange gourds. These are gourds they have dried to sell to crafters who paint and carve them. They also have an annual gourd festival in April. Who knew that there was such a gourd following! I remember that in a book I read this summer, Same Sweet Girls, by Cassandra King ( Pat Conroy's wife) had a main character that grew and carved gourds. I googled gourd art and found that some of these art pieces sell for as much as 30,000 dollars. Wow, I guess this is what I learned today, about gourds and gourd art.

Varieties of Gourds

The Gardener's Network
Ornamental- As it's name implies, this type of gourd is for decorations and ornaments. These bright and colorful gourds brighten up your Halloween, Thanksgiving and other fall displays.
Hard-shelled- These are the larger and longer gourds that are used to create bird houses and other craft projects.
Luffa- This is also know as the sponge squash. It is actually grown for use as a sponge!

Miss V's Harry Potter Birthday Party

WOW! That's all I can say about the incredible job Jessica and Josh did for miss v's birthday party. She wanted a Harry Potter party and boy did she get one! They turned their little house into Hogwarts and it looks fantastic! There were different lessons the kids went to after they found out what house they were in. There was Professor Snape's edible potions, wand making, candy making, cupcake decorating, message writing with a quill, finding your fortune, and a casting spells contest. Miss V was spectacular as Hermione, cape and all, Jessica was Luna Lovegood, and Josh was Professor Snape, Jeff was his own version on Dumbledore and we had a really neat time. What great memories Miss V will have of her birthdays.