Sunday - November 30

Rained during the night and Sunday morning was cold and drizzly.    Mark and I went to 9:00 Mass at St. Charles Borromeo,   Today marks the start of the Advent season and as always, St. Charles has the LARGEST Advent wreath we've ever seen.   It's fresh evergreens and the huge wreath stretches across the center aisle of church from extending from end pew to the other.   Several tall folks have to duck to avoid hitting their heads, but it's beautiful and we love that fresh scent.

Father Ken Whittington has been the priest at St. Charles for 32 years and baptized Luke and Maeve and they + Blair made their First Communion with Father.  He is 83 years old and today announced he is retiring after Christmas.    Father Ken is a convert to the Catholic faith and been very involved in the parish's musical ministry.   He started playing the piano at age 5 and traveled to Germany as a Fulbright scholar   He was ordained a priest at the age of 46.  And on and on his story goes....very impressive.    We wish him a long, healthy retirement - well deserved!

After Mass we went to Waterbean (favorite coffee shop in Morganton).    Philip, Annette and Maeve joined us after dropping Luke off for confirmation class.      Got some fuel in Ruby and on home.   

Started packing and getting all our stuff together - back on the road tomorrow heading south to warm sunshine!

Last night our grand girls and friends enjoyed the hot tub and then warm fireplace

 after decorating the big tree at the camp!

Anna, Aria, Blair, Olivia, Luna, Maeve

So Maeve apparently has a little business going cleaning wheels and spokes for $ of course.    Here she's working on Ruby and wow....they really did shine!

Euchre in the afternoon with Annette and I beating the guys 2 games.    Then the rubber match left from yesterday's 1-1 game between Mark and Annette and Philip and myself - they were the winners!    Lots of euchre this weekend but todays cards were much better.

After yummy leftovers for supper, Mark and I said our good byes to Philip and family....we sooo enjoyed staying in the carriage house and being close by AND our new cabinet which was built in 4 days and now loaded in Ruby!!!

The kiddos with their G and G

Philip, Maeve, Luke, Annette

Off to Michael and Brooke's with their Christmas gifts to put under the tree - after all their family was there for 4 days, today was busy with laundry and decorating the house - all looked great!   

Michael, Blair, Brooke, Millie

Blair and her G and G

Thankful that our grandsons all made it back to college safely.    Anne took Liam to Iowa City but no real problem with the roads.   Connor said 150 was not good but I74 was fine.   Brady had the biggest issue with the last hour very treacherous going into South Bend.

Only 7 on zoom but heard about everyone's Thanksgiving, all the snow in the Midwest, Joan's travels to FL, update on our brother-in-law, Mike settling into memory care, etc.

Enjoy your week ahead!

Bye bye November.....bring on the hustle and bustle of 

DECEMBER!

Saturday - November 29

 Another chilly day and mostly cloudy.      Day 4 of marathon family time/football/euchre/amd eating.    Today, Philip and Annette hosted the clan (19) for fried chicken +++ delicious sides provided by we gals....potato salad, pasta salad, cole slaw, deviled eggs and cowboy baked beans.

After this big lunch, some watched football, some took naps, some went to Michael's for more football and some continued with the euchre.

Annette and Maeve went to the camp to decorate the big Christmas tree late afternoon.    Keeping an eye on the weather and snowy Midwest.

I didn't take many pics this weekend but here's a few...

Ryan and Erin's tree

Annette and Maeve on a brisk morning walk

Camp Lake James

Mark, Annette, Maeve, Pat, Brady, Michael

We went to Michael's and said our good byes to Brady and Davis and the Bliss folks (Brooke's family).    Then to see Ryan and Erin and good bye hugs for them.   Played 2 games of euchre (Philip and I won the first and Mark and Annette, the 2nd).    BIG day....nighty night!

Safe travels to all tomorrow....Midwest snow storm is putting many folks in jeopardy.

Friday - November 28

 Sunny cold Black Friday here at Lake James....keeping an eye on the Midwest winter storm coming tomorrow and Sunday.

Annette and I worked in her kitchen - she made chili and "pig shots" for tonight (annual soup supper + appetizers) and I made a pasta salad for tomorrow's lunch.   Pig  shots are a piece of kielbasa wrapped in bacon and then a cream cheese/pepper jelly topping - very good!

Mark and Philip worked on "the table".   Annette, Maeve and I went for a very brisk walk - CHILLY out there!

We all went to Michael and Brooke's at 3ish for more cards, lots of football AND, of course, eating!    After all the appetizers, we had our annual soup supper (taco chili, Erin; corn chowder, Brooke; vegetable beef, Judy; chili, Annette; Zuppa, Leigh; and ham sliders, Pat)   And Erin  brought an assortment of mini Nothing Bundt Cakes

Another fun day of family, food, football and euchre!

Thanksgiving - 2025

 HAPPY   THANKSGIVING

It's a chilly holiday and very windy here in North Carolina.   Mark and Philip worked on our table for a bit this morning.

Michael picked us up and then we got Ryan and off to Keith and Kathryn's (their good friends) to see their new home being built - wow....a biggie and will be so beautiful.   Maybe done in March?

After the house tour, we went to where Keith and Kathryn are living temporarily and had Bloody Mary's, mimosas or bourbon hot cider.....DELISH!!!

Michael and Brooke entertained the Chamberlains and Blisses for turkey day and another bountiful feast.    Started with lots of appetizers and after several games of cards, we had turkey, ham and all the trimmings.   Mark's brother Tom and Beth entertained Anne and boys along with 2 Canadian members of Connor's golf team.  So much to be thankful for....

Hope you all had a blessed day!

Wednesday - November 26

Today started out very foggy, but by 10:30, the sun was shining and it warmed up in the 60's (much different than yesterday or what's to come starting tomorrow.)

Maeve came over and made her batch of Rolo treats.   I did the strawberry pretzel salad, sweet potato casserole and cheesy bubblies (appetizer).    What fun to work in Annette's kitchen and Ryan's former one is a dream, too.

My little treat maker

Philip, Annette, Luke and Maeve went for a 4-mile hike (camp and back)!  😊

Philip is working away on Flo's cabinet with Mark's assistance.   He amazes me with his talent and his workshop is over the top.

Our talented woodworking son!

Some of us went to the Camp in the afternoon - lots of fun visiting (our NC kiddos have great friends).    Brady arrived.........glad to have him here for the weekend.    Played Flip 7 - fun card game and the winners were Carrie and Kathryn.

Brady, Kathryn, Annette, Carrie

Mark and I went to Ryan and Erin's at 5 to see their new home and Erin opened her birthday gifts (belatedly) and then rest of the clan arrived later followed by Davis.  WOW....beautiful home!!!

Some of Erin's gifts were all about "Karen", her Golden Retriever!

We had a wonderful Mexican dinner - lots of good stuff  and so fun to be together enjoying a grand evening of family time - missing Anne, Liam, Connor, Drew and Tessa.

The sweet cousins

Luke hangin' out

The guys with 2 rousing games of euchre both won by Mark, Ryan and Davis

Pat and the girls - Annette, Erin and Brooke

Mark and our 3 boys - Philip, Michael and Ryan

The guys played cards, we girls yakked away and the littles did their thing!

On home and so looking forward to tomorrow!    Tonight was just the start of some marathon eating!  Oink Oink!

Tuesday - November 25

Saw Philip first thing this morning....glad to have him back after lots of work time!    He and Mark went to the lumber yard with plans for him to make a table for Flo between our recliners.

I did 2 loads of laundry, wrapped 3 more gifts. and worked on some Christmas cards.   The rain started at 10 and just a wet chilly dreary Tuesday!

Michael picked Brady up at the Charlotte airport. 

  Philip and Annette's friend Randy came for more euchre - this time 5-handed which Annette and Mark tied for. 

Maeve had her fiddle lesson after school.

Luke came over to our carriage house and made Rollo/pretzel/M 'n M treats)

A favorite holiday treat for our family

We played euchre with Philip and Annette - Mark and I won 2 of 3 games.    Enjoyed some yummy eggnog with nutmeg!😋

Monday - November 24

 I'm back from Asheville with beautiful memories of the "Biltmore by Candlelight"!    

Mark took me to Black Mountain yesterday and we met Karen and friend Kathi at Starbucks at 3.    Mark went back to the lake and K, K and I drove to Asheville.   They are staying at the Biltmore Hotel - VERY nice and so convenient with shuttle service to wherever!   Dropped off my stuff and then a late lunch at the hotel restaurant which was excellent (crab cakes for Karen; chicken panini for Kathi and fried green tomato BLT for me - all excellent).  We walked around the Antler Winery which had a long line for complimentary wine tasting, so no wine but a nice gift shop to browse and then waited for the shuttle to take us to the big house for our candlelight tour.  

Kathi and Karen outside the Antler Winery

Gorgeous tree on the lawn in front of the Biltmore

The Biltmore at night

 Our reservation was for 6:45.   LOTS and LOTS of people but oh my.......so magical and just in awe of so much beauty.    A middle school choir from Asheville sang Christmas carols in the garden room - very entertaining.    I've been to the Biltmore 2x previous at Christmas time, but never at night........whoaaa....very awesome!

Just a few of the incredible trees which were everywhere throughout the home.

Auntie Karen and Pat

 

 Took the 8:00 shuttle back to the hotel - we were all tired, got into our jammies and by 9, or soon after, nighty night time

Mark had dinner with Michael, Brooke and Blair (beef stew) and then zoom with just a few siblings tonight.

Monday - Karen and I went down to the lobby for lattes - all complimentary for guests!    We were in touch with Mark who was coming to Asheville to pick me up.   Karen needed a few things at Target so shopped there and met Mark at 10.   Said good bye to the K's - they were sooo accommodating and hospitable - I'm so thankful they asked me to share last night.   Kathi's sister was planning to be on this trip but had to cancel, so that's how my ticket came to be.   Lucky me and then to get to stay at the beautiful Biltmore Hotel.

Mark and I stopped at Dollar Tree and then to Black Mountain.   We had an 11:00 meeting with Carla, Marketing Director at Givens Highland Farms where we plan to live one day.   It was a great visit and learned more about which kind of housing we might want - just no idea "when" we'll be ready for this.    Left there with our heads spinning 😕

Drove downtown to meet Buddy and JoAnn at "My Father's Pizza" (favorite of Michael's).    We had never been but Buddy and JoAnn like it, too.   GREAT food (no one had pizza)😂  Buddy and JoAnn live across the street from us at CT but won't be arriving till late December.   Their home here is in Candler (Asheville suburb).    Really enjoyed our visit - great friends and neighbors!!!

Buddy, JoAnn, Pat, Mark

Next stop was Ingles to buy all the ingredients/groceries I need for the next several days...

Then finally back to the lake, unloaded our stuff and just chilled a bit.    Philip is back from Florida but was with Annette to pick up the kiddos.

Michael picked us up at 4:30 and off to Morganton - stopped at Lowe's for a few things and then to the 1st basketball game of the season for Blair's school (Liberty Middle).    The 7th and 8th grade boys won 42-18 but we were there to watch Blair cheer - she loves it and does great!    They have 20 cheerleaders!!!    Bob and Judy (Brooke's parents) were there and afterwards we all went to the Town Tavern for supper.   Good food and visiting!!!

Our favorite cheerleader

Cheering on the Knights

Blair, Michael, Mark, Judy (photographer was Brooke)

Bob and Pat

Sunday - November 23

 We went to 9:00 Mass at St. Charles Borromeo in Morganton with Michael, Annette, Luke and Maeve.    Luke and Blair are in confirmation class so had that session between masses (Brooke and Blair went to noon mass).    Michael, Mark and I went to Waterbean for coffee/breakfast, quick stop at Food Lion and on home.

  Last night Auntie Karen called and asked if I would like to go the "Biltmore Light" display tonight.   I knew she and her friend Kathy were visiting the Biltmore this weekend and somehow had an extra ticket for tonight.    "YES".....so Mark will take me to meet them later this afternoon, I'm spending the night with them at the Biltmore Village and Mark will pick me up tomorrow.   Two years ago when this had been the plan with 4 of my Monday Night Friends and then........the BAD fall, I've not seen the nighttime lights, so very excited.

Another gorgeous day at Lake James.    The deer were out big time last night - these guys were in Philip's backyard...

Friendly deer

View from our deck of the lake and mountains!

I will post this blog update early and follow up after my trip to Asheville.

Saturday - November 22

 More rain overnight and the air is so fresh and love that piney scent.

After breakfast, Mark and I went for a walk - been sitting too much the past few days!   

The mailbox gets some seasonal beauty

Woke up to this scenery today

The carriage house (our home during our Thanksgiving stay)!

Annette invited their friend Randy to come over for soup/salad and play some euchre.    Mark and I won 4 of 5 games!!!    And the soup/broccoli salad were sooo yummy.

Then we left for Michael's and saw his new dock (damaged from Helene) and newly finished room above garage - very nice.    Big football Saturday and they had some friends come in to watch the game - we visited with Keith and Kathryn.    Blair showed us her new room and and then we were on our way back home.    Brooke and Blair were going to see the movie "Wicked For Good" this afternoon.

Grandpa, Grandma, Blair

Wrapped some gifts and watched football...  HUGE win for Notre Dame against Syracuse and then Iowa eked out a win over Michigan State - exciting Saturday college football!

The plan tonight was for Erin, Annette, Luke, Maeve, Mark and I to have dinner at Bones Jones which is a very popular place here at the lake but we've never been.    We got there at 5:20 and it was going to be a 1-1.5 hour wait!   😞 So we went to the camp and enjoyed our meals and the seasonal ambiance.  Fun time with family - missing Philip and Ryan.

Erin, Annette, Mark

Maeve, Luke, Pat

 

Friday - November 21

 It rained during the night and was a cool, drizzly dreary day.    Davis and his mashed potatoes were out the door before 7:30 and off to work.    Mark and I got our stuff together and left the house at 8:40 heading to Marcella's Sweetery - delicious scones, danish and coffee.   Today we met Marcella and on the 28th they'll celebrate their 1st anniversary.    There are about 15 homes in Davis's subdivision (first ones were finished in August) but it will be huge when totally completed.  The lots are nice 'n big, too.   We sure enjoyed our visit (those 1-on-1 times are so special), seeing his new home and the warm hospitality.

After breakfast, we were on our way - instead of I40, Mark took some rural roads - we passed many many churches out in the country!   Had some fog here and there. We arrived at the lake around 11:30, unpacked and delivered Annette's items from Costco.   A good day for naps and that's what we did.   

Annette invited us for the tree trimming and I was very happy to help with that as I haven't decorated a big tree in 10 years.    Mark came over and we had delicious sausage/vegetable soup and then he came back to the carriage house and I went to the basement with Annette and the kiddos to start the decorating.    Thankfully, they have pre-lit trees as lights used to drive Mark and I CRAZY......string them on the tree and then they didn't all light up!    Arghhhh!    Sure don't miss those days or all that frustration!

So many laughs and memories from past Christmases

 

Tah day....beautifully decorated tree

Along with the Christmas tunes, Maeve entertained us with Jingle Bells on the fiddle - taking lessons!    Good job!

Mark joined us for some 3-handed euchre with Annette and me each winning a game.

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday - November 20

 Mark and I left at 9:30 for Morganton and "Waterbean" our favorite coffee shop here.   Enjoyed our coffees and Mark had a bagel.    Then drove onto Winston-Salem where we shopped at Hobby Lobby and Costco.    

And then another 20 minutes away we were in King, NC (suburb) where Davis just moved last week into his new home.    We dropped off some things for the fridge/freezer that Annette had wanted.   We stopped at Dairi-O for soup (chili for Mark and tomato basil for me) and then drove to downtown King (a community of 7,000+) that was established in 1983.   Cute little town....

Hailey's Bakery has all the coffees and other pastries/whoaaa....our kind of place.

Stopped at Marcella's Sweetery - neat coffee shop (again) with lots and lots of sweet treats.  Planning to have breakfast here tomorrow.   Davis has so many neat things very close to home (he doesn't care for coffee)😞

Time for dinner and Davis chose "The Mercantile Chophouse" which has a butcher shop next door.   This place with very neat decor renovated in an old building is downtown King was very nice and delicious.    We all had steaks, au gratin potatoes (AWESOME), brussel sprouts (YUMMY) and whipped cream potatoes (oh my gosh)!    We were very happy diners.  

We are spending the night and after we got home, Mark set to work assembling new nightstands that arrived today.   Davis is having a potluck at lunch tomorrow and he's bringing mashed potatoes so he got to work on those.   He really enjoys cooking.   Grandma sat at the island and worked on the blog!  😃   He had scotch for Mark and wine for me - what a grandson!!!  😊

Such a fun visit with Davis and his new home is beautiful!   So happy for him.

Davis - chef extraordinaire

Wednesday - November 19

 Another good day of travel with perfect weather and light traffic (we avoided I75 and took other roads thru Georgia.)   Before leaving Statesboro, we stopped at Sugar Magnolia for a hot latte and then back on the road.

Loved this sign at Sugar Magnolia, a really neat coffee shop

As we were traveling thru Georgia, we came across many cotton fields with these very large bales of cotton wrapped in colorful plastic (lime green, orange, yellow and blue.)  

BIG bale of cotton

And we saw many fields of peach trees in South Carolina

Bare peach trees

 

Mark remembered the very good restaurant in Rutherfordton "The Copper Penny Grill" where we ate 2 years ago at Michael's recommendation.   As we were driving into the parking lot, I texted our friend Meg and told her we were here and "Hi".    We met Meg and Seward many years ago in Brewerton, NY as they stayed at Ess-Kay Yards on their boat, "Butterfly" and we've seen them off and on when we've been back.    They are from Connecticut but their daughter Rebecca and family live in Rutherfordton, so we've always talked about how close our kids are to one another (45 minutes).    

Well, lo and behold, Meg texted right back that they would be over shortly - "WHAT?"   Thought they were in Connecticut and here they were just a few miles away.    We had finished lunch when they arrived - what a nice surprise.    We had a good 45-minute visit and then said our good byes.    Tomorrow they head home.   What a treat catching up....

Mark, Pat, Seward, Meg

We hope to see them this winter as they'll be in St. Pete for 3 months or so...

Then onto Lake James.    I texted Erin to see if she was free and would like to help us unload all our stuff (we re staying at Philip's carriage house - formerly Ryan's bachelor pad).   She quickly said "yes" and what a big help carrying load after load up the stairs.

We sat and chatted with her - so nice to get to know her better as we've only seen her 1 other time since they got married (Drew and Tessa's wedding).    What a fun visit with our new daughter-in-law.

Said our good byes and we set to unpack and settle in.

Annette and Brooke are with the kiddos for after-school activities.    Philip and Ryan are out of town working.

Annette had us over for a wonderful spaghetti dinner with salad, garlic toast and wine.   So fun to catch up and see the kiddos.

Celebrating Grandpa's birthday

After dinner we drove to Michael and Brooke's for more visiting.    Blair was her usual chatty self and Millie was running around in circles (missing Jinx).    Sooo fun to be back with our kiddos.    We are tired, so back to our "home" for the next 2 weeks and call it a day.

Another nice surprise was hearing from Beeb that she and Frank (boaters we met in NY several years ago) and now live in NC were in Asheville today - so close to us.    What a treat to hear from both Meg and Beeb on the same day.    Nighty night!

Tuesday - November 18

 A beautiful day for traveling with sunshine and upper 70s.    We left CT at 7:45 loaded down with clothes, Christmas and birthday gifts and lotsa other "stuff"!!!   Stopped at the new Starbucks on Palm Beach Blvd. to give us a boost and onto I75.   Other than the Sarasota/Bradenton area, traffic wasn't bad.

Stopped in Hawthorne, FL at Dianne's BBQ for lunch and then I drove for 1.5 hours.   Switched drivers in Folkston, GA and got some treats at DQ.   Mark had a chocolate dipped cone and I had a mini peppermint bark blizzard.   Folkston is where I started the blog way back in 2008.

Arrived just before 5 in Statesboro, GA and happy to be out of the car and stretch the legs.    Pete and Barb, former residents at CT moved away a few years ago and built a home here in Statesboro.   It's a very nice town of 33,000+ and our hotel is in a great new area of shops, restaurants and businesses.  

 We traveled 460 miles today and 282 more to go till we get to Lake James.

Took this pic of our first decorated tree (besides in the stores) here in our hotel lobby...9 days before Thanksgiving!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Just about every ethnic food place is within walking distance from our hotel.   We both thought Mexican sounded good, so off to El Maguey - very good choice.   

Excellent Mexican fare (and margarita)😄

Monday - November 17

 I did a load of laundry, a bit more packing and then went to play canasta which Nancy, Sandy and I lost to Vicki, Anita and Deb.   On home, had lunch and then loaded up the car!    We are jam packed and will put the last few items in tomorrow morning.

Tonight was "clean out ye ole fridge" and we had several items to get rid of - made for an interesting supper!

Went to Ladies Wine Night hosted by Brenda - 13 ladies tonight and we chatted about this, that and everything!    Came home and watched some of Father Doug's funeral mass on YouTube.    I plan to watch more tomorrow as we're traveling.

Big day tomorrow....."back on the road again" as Willie would sing!

Sunday - November 16

 9:30 Mass at St. Francis with Father Steve and then to Take Two Coffee.   They have wonderful cinnamon rolls - we always like to have our pastries warmed up, but this place does not have a microwave (just like Crafted in Bloomington)....so, still good but sure would like these just a tad warmer!  

On home - book work, another load of laundry and gathering "stuff" to take to NC.    And then we got out the bikes and had a nice ride thru the park - 1st time since August 21st we've been on the bikes.   Late afternoon we rode again and then Jim picked us up and off to downtown and Pincher's for yummy supper.    So pleasant sitting outside but breezy!    We all enjoyed our food and visiting.   Jim flies back to St. Louis next Saturday.

Zoom tonight with everyone accounted for.   Plenty of discussion - tomorrow Doris's 9-year old grandson Keegan is having surgery for a brain tumor (doctors are optimistic that it's benign).   Prayers big time for this little guy.    Keegan has a twin brother, Peyton.  Tom entertained Connor's golf team and coach for a yummy steak dinner tonight.   Sharon cut her hand using a potato slicer to make home-made French fries and needed 10 stitches.   

Enjoy the week ahead.

Saturday - November 15

HAPPY   BIRTHDAY   ERIN

Erin and Ryan

Can't wait to celebrate and spend more time together over the next 2 weeks

 We walked and had a good visit with Al and Jo who are back from Tennessee and Brenda from Ohio.   One of our residents, Dan from Maine suffered a heart attack or stroke yesterday morning and on life support.    His children are to arrive today....so very sad.   We do not know Jan and Dan but walked past their home many times.   Oh my, in an instant how lives can be turned upside down and changed forever.

Big work day around here....Mark cleaned out his tool chest drawer by drawer!!!   I did several loads of laundry and started packing for our 2 week trip to NC leaving Tuesday.

Mark cleaning out each drawer in tool chest

Last night Connor was at the Notre Dame vs Michigan State hockey game at Notre Dame - hanging out with cousin Brady and CCHS classmate, Jose who is a sophomore at ND.

Connor, Jose, Brady

Unfortunately Notre Dame lost 4-1 to Michigan State

Had a nice chat with Erin, went for another walk and so happy for the Irish win but Iowa lost after leading most of the game.