October 2008 - Cades Cove

A weekend at Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park is always time well spent.

The leaves have just begun to change colors.
The low is supposed to be in the 20s this week,
so there should be some fantastic color next weekend.

A park director told us to cut through Rich Mountain Road.
This road is gravelled - sort of - is one way,
and is as crooked as a dog's hind leg!

Ray's top speed was 20 miles an hour
and, most of the time,
much slower.

I watched his speed carefully,
while I screamed for him to slow down.

It felt like he was running the Grand Prix!

The views were stunning!

Even for folks like us who live in the mountains.

The handsome Ray taking pictures.

I'm sure his photos are much better than mine,
but I can't find his camera.

We saw quite a few deer,
but were unable to get a close-up picture.

There's bars in them thar woods, too!

When you have the opportunity to visit East Tennessee,
head straight to the Smokies!

Cades Cove is perfect for driving, walking, and cycling.

When spending the night or the week,
stay in Townsend -
'The Quieter Side of the Smokies'.

Stay away from Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
They are nothing but tourist traps.

Sevierville (home to Dolly Parton)
used to be to a lovely small town.

Now, you can hardly tell when you leave
Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, or enter Gatlinburg,

What a shame our lovely country side is going commercial!

No place is lovelier than the Smoky Mountains!

Fall Recipe from Susan Branch

I thought maybe you would like the recipe for this, so here goes: While sweet potatoes are cooking (see further along in recipe) cut off the tops of the pumpkins, hollow out cleanly and smear insides with a little softened butter. Put them on a cookie sheet. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. With an electric mixer (not a food processor) you whip together 4 c. cooked (boil them) and mashed sweet potatoes, 8 oz softened cream cheese, 1/2 c. softened butter, 2 beaten eggs, 1/4 c. packed brown sugar, 2 1/2 Tbsp. dry sherry, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Whip until light. Stir in 3/4 c. chopped walnuts. Fill the pumpkins, sprinkle each with nutmeg, put on the tops, and bake 40 min. until pumpkins feel tender when lightly squeezed.

Freeform Fall

FREEFORM BRACELET FOR FALL

You may recognize this bracelet from an earlier photo when I made this bracelet.
I'm all excited that it's finally the time of year to wear my beautiful creation.
No, I'm certainly not modest about my bracelet!
It was my first freeform creation
and I'm very proud of it.

Being a blue-eyed blonde,
I don't wear browns except in the fall,
but I do love the autumnal colors!

I have so many bracelets made in shades of brown
that I'm tempted to wear them all at once
so that I'm sure each one gets seen before we turn to
the colors of Christmas!

Encouraging Autumn

I decided to create a touch of fall in the house today.
Poppett jumped right into the spirit of the season
and seems to be here to stay!