A Place Like This......

Happy Halloween

Today's posting is dedicated to Erica, my trainer.  She is the one who has embraced the challenge of keeping gravity from showing on my body .  This morning was truly an intense and scary workout.  2 hours after the workout has finished I still can't feel my quads or hamstrings, and let me just say that I can definately feel my abs.  I will have abs of steel in no time.  So my moto for this week is ," More of Erica means less of me."  Thanks Erica for all you do.

Tonight is the big Halloween party at the Orr's.  We've been going there for a family potluck,trick or treating gathering for 11 years now.  This will be the first year that all of our older children are away at college. This just means more chili and candy for us.  Be sure to check back tomorrow for pictures from our Halloween tradition.  Thanks for stopping by.

Smoky Mountain Fall

                            

   Is there anything greater than cool , crisp, autumn air?  We had our first frost last night and have enjoyed a few days of cool weather after a summer of intense heat.  Tomorrow night is halloween but we started celebrating early.

A great big thank-you to Tina and Lee for having a bunch of us friends over to the farm for a cookout.  It was perfect in everyway.  Good food,friends,fire, hayrides, and happy music provided by miriam ( my daughter) and our really good friend Ethan.

Tomorrow is a big day in our house.  We start planning and thinking about our costumes in August. This year I've decided to be a Fandango bag puppet.  So watch out for some stunning pictures of a different sort of bag lady.

Take a look at the photo album of our night at Tina and Lee's.

Rain & Music

It is finally raining.  After many months of zero rain it is really pouring.  This is the worst drought in Tennessee history. We are down 1 1/2 feet of rainfall for the year.  As I sit enjoying the rain I'm listening to a new album called, " Raising Sand".  It is the efforts of Robert Plant of Led Zepplin fame and Alison Krauss, Blue Grass legend.  When I first saw it I thought you must be kidding? Isn't this a bit of a stretch?  Oh but it's not.

So I went to Amazon to listen to a clip.  Before the clip , however, there was a video of them talking about why and how they made this album. The music is wonderful.  It is the best of two worlds.  My favorite songs so far are: Gone,Gone,Gone; Please Read the Letter, and Your Long Journey.  You can download this album from Amazon but personally , I love the hard copy.

                                  So as I listen to the rain and this album please enjoy the new blog.  I'm still finding my way around.  Soon I will have a place where you can sign-up for updates.  Please leave your comments and say hi . Until next time,Valli                                 

Greetings

Greetings Friends,

This is my new blog. So many of you have been asking what I've been up to ?  So I've created this blog so you can keep up with our comings and goings.  While I'm still constructing this site I've added a photo album of our Paradise Garden for you to look at.  There are also book, music, and movie lists.

Coming soon highlights from my trip to Sweden.

Enjoy ,

Valarie