Roan Mt. and Roan Mt. State Park

This is still a continuation of the trip from last month. In reality it was only 4.5 days but I took a ton of pictures at each destination.

Roan Mountain is one of my favorite places in Tennessee. This is the second year that we have been able to spend some time in this beautiful place as a family. My lucky husband has been traveling here several times a month for some of his job sites.

Tennessee Life

Just a few pictures of a beautiful overlook we found as we traveled into East Tennessee last month.

This is the Veterans Overlook at historic Bean Station (one of Tennessee's earliest settlements.)

I love this beautiful state we live in and love that the children are exposed to so much American history here.
~ Norma
blog.petitdesignco.com

Museum of Appalachia

One of our favorite places we visited in June was the Museum of Appalachia. My husband had a 3 hour meeting to go to so we were lucky to find this amazing place. There are lots of old buildings, old artifacts and farm animals running about. It's my kind of place. I could have spent hours going through each of the buildings but he kiddos wanted to move through faster than I could read. 

If you are in the Clinton TN area it is worth a visit. They have an awesome gift shop, a yummy restaurant and plenty of quilt related eye candy to look at.

These are just a few of the many photos I snapped.
~ Norma
blog.petitdesignco.com

Norris Dam State Park (part 2)

Before we left Norris State Park we made sure to stop by and visit the Rice Grist Mill and the Crosby Threshing Barn. It was a great way for the kids to get a peek at how life used to be and the worked involved in processing food. I may have gone a little photo crazy.

I couldn't resit the beautiful weathered patinas of the wood.
~ Norma
blog.petitdesignco.com

Norris Dam State Park

My husband has an awesome job. He is a construction manager. The company he currently works for is doing the work at many of the Tennessee state parks. He gets to travel to several of the parks throughout our beautiful state. Lucky for us it just happens to be summer vacation which means we get to tag along.

We kicked off our adventures last month when we went to Norris Dam State Park in east Tennessee. The kids and I got to play while my husband has to go to meetings and job sites. A storm had rolled through the night before. When we got up it was a lovely overcast day.

~ Norma
blog.petitdesignco.com

Dairy Days

Last month our city hosted "Dairy Days" at the local farmer's market. The kids had so much fun and especially enjoyed visiting with all the dairy cows.

These adorable doe eyed Jersey calves really make me want a farm!

~ Norma
blog.petitdesignco.com

March Photo a Day: 3/11-3/13

This is a close up of my favorite chicken, Pepper. She is a Barred Rock. I love her striking coloration and she made it to the top of my list on looks alone. From afar she looks like salt and pepper and up close her plumage is very graphic and almost striped in appearance.

March Photo a Day: 3/8-3/10

March Photo a Day: 3/5-3/7

I’ve been keeping up with my photo taking, but not so much with the photo posting. Here are days 5-7. Enjoy!

I always have a basket of quilt in the living room for the kids to cuddle with while watching TV or during Family Home Evening. Right now it gets to sit next to the newly acquired antique dresser.

March Photo a Day 3/4 : Where I Work

For today I took  picture of my kitchen sink. It seems like I spend a lot of time doing dishes, washing eggs, or cleaning up after projects in this very spot.

March Photo a Day 3/3 : My View

The kids had a snow day. It was nice to observe them playing and doing things they like. While they kept themselves busy I tried out a recipe for Old Fashioned Custard Pie and made potato soup in the crock pot.

March Photo a Day 3/2 : Button

…umm, how about “cute as a button”? Yeah, I know… I’m really stretching it with that one! I really could not think of any photograph I could take for today’s word. I know I could pull out my buttons and take stage a picture, but I really want my photo of the day to relate to something already going on in my life that day.

March Photo a Day 3/1 : Fruit

TN State Fair

One thing I have come to love since moving to the south are the fantastic county and state fairs. I had no idea such things existed while growing up in the Bay Area, CA. I don’t know if we just never paid attention, or if it wasn’t advertised as well… the point is I had never been to a state or county fair until I moved to the south. We did have those traveling carnivals with rides though. We don’t really go to the fair for the rides (I had a bad experience with one of those) but we do go to see all of the neat exhibits and free entertainment. The kids love seeing the farm animals. I love seeing the creative arts exhibits, people watching, and of course all the neat photo opportunities:

Who doesn't love Ferris Wheels? Ok maybe not everybody likes to ride them but I"m pretty sure everyone loves to look at them, especially when they’re all lit up:

Here are a few of my favorite quilts. I just noticed they’re all ribbon winners, and for good reason too!

Even sheep love stylish fabric. Where can I find that fabric for my next quilt?

 

I also think it’s fun to see neat products and crafty wares. It’s also fun to watch salesmen try and sell my husband their wares. My husband will listen politely and let them go on for quite a while, yet the answer is always no! He can’t help it, he loves to ask questions when he sees something that interests him. He loves to figure out how things work and how they’re made. I can see the seller’s hopes rise the more they talk to my husband…

Like these really cool pendant lamps made of a plastic composite that you can assemble yourself into different configurations depending on the number of pieces you buy. The ones shown here were about $30

It’s fun to see pumpkins bigger than my kids

Do you like going to your local fair?
~ Norma

Too Much Fun?

This morning Mr. PD had to go in to work (very rarely does he have to work weekends) so left up to my own devices I had a little bit too much fun with the new light box I built.
First I pulled out my vintage Pyrex and the super delicious cherries I got from the grocery store yesterday. Delicious!




Then I pulled out my cute red polka dot planter and some of my favorite red and aqua prints.



Then I moved on to bananas, mangoes, and summer squash! I need to edit those pics first though. Let me know if you have any interest in learning about using/making a light box and I'll write up a post if anyone wants to know.

Have a great weekend!
~ Norma