Antiques and Sodas

A few months ago, we were in Bell Buckle for the Webb School Art and Craft Show. While there, we stopped in a number of antique stores, including this one that combines antiques and a soda fountain. This guy (my husband) is checking out the used books.

Painting by Jasonwonderful

For Christmas, our son, Jason, fave us this painting that he did of us. He used acrylics on canvas, and he cut the stencils he used for the background. The photo from which he painted us is at left. We think he did a great job!

Holiday Lights V

Holiday Lights IV

Holiday Lights III

Holiday Lights II

Every year, Nashville holds a Holiday Lights contest and announces winners in five or six different regions.  I don't usually get to see them as I have no idea where most of them are, but the other night, we drove past one of the regional winners when we got off the freeway in an attempt to avoid a big traffic jam.  What luck!  I want to know how long it took them to put all these lights up!

By the way, the house I showed on Christmas Eve was another of the regional winners.

Happy Holidays

Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
~ Oren Arnold

To each and everyone, may the blessings,
peace and joy of this holiday season,
be with you today and ever more.

Holiday Lights I

Three Wise Men

More Cows

Peace On Earth

Is there anything more peaceful than a baby cow?

Star Light . . .Star White. . . .

Nativity

I saw this beautiful Nativity at St. Mary's Bookstore on West End Blvd. recently.

The Big 3-0

"Mommy."  Quite possibly the 

first word a little boy will say . . . 

the beginning of a lifelong conversation 

with his mother.  In between childhood and 

adulthood, many words will pass between 

a mother and a son, some in love, 

some in anger, some in sadness, 

and others in joy. . . It's in a mother's 

eyes that a son will remain 

forever young . . . and forever cherished.

                                         ~ Jill Morgan

Today is my son's 30th birthday.  I have no

 idea where the past 30 years have gone.   (I also can't figure out how I can be old enough to have a child who is 30-years old!)

It seems like only yesterday that we brought him home from The Ohio State University Hospital.   He was born five weeks late (It was not a counting mistake.), and even during delivery, we had a few problems and could have lost him.  Through the good care of my doctor (Donald K Bryan), Jason safely entered this world at 4:23 PM EST on 12/15/78.  He has always been a precious jewel to us (That's not something one normally says about a male!).  He has always been very smart and creative and fun and funny and sensitive and intuitive and responsible.  He is an artist.  He loves dogs.  He loves music and plays guitar.  He was a great kid and is an even greater man.

He thinks he is very different from us, but he doesn't realize how similar he is.  That's okay.  As he ages, he'll see the similarities.  I know that we always thought we were very different from our parents, but as we got older, we saw how much we are our parents.

Like every mother, I wish he were still a baby and that 

I could hold him in my arms for a few more minutes.  Like every mother, I wish he lived closer.  Like every mother, I could never put in words the depth of the love that I feel for my child.

So, Jason, HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  In our eyes, you will remain forever young and forever cherished.  We love you.

(Photos:  Top - Jason opened his birthday present when we were in Florida last week.  Top left - The day we brought him home from the hospital.  Top right - Jason at one month.  Bottom left - Jason and Dad on Christmas, 1979.  Bottom right - Jason and us after his induction in National Honor Society.)

Snow is a 4-letter word

We had snow in the Middle Tennessee area Thursday evening/Friday morning, causing slowdowns in traffic, accidents and school districts to cancel Friday classes.

We live in a low area and usually get rain and snow around here when other areas don't. This snow was different, however, as we didn't see a drop of the white stuff in this neighborhood. I thought I would post a snow photo, however, in honor of the icky white stuff. I just took it months ago!

ENCORE!

Encore, a 20-story condominium tower, sits behind the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in downtown Nashville. The building features one- and two-bedroom condos ranging in size from 584 to 1184 square feet. Like most urban condo towers, Encore offers a bunch of amenities, ranging from plasma TVs in common areas, game and media rooms, meeting rooms, grills, pools and more. Eventually, there will be retail establishments on the ground floor.

I'm still trying to figure out who's going to inhabit all of the condo towers in this city (and others for that matter).

State Capitol at Night

I took this shot of the Capitol Building from the north side of Bicentennial Mall earlier this year. The green lights in the foreground of the photo light the mall's walking path and grassy area.

HOW MUCH?

I HAD to take a photo of this gas pump in St. John, Antigua when I saw that diesel costs $11.95 per gallon there. Of course, that's 11.95 EAST CARIBBEAN dollars, which translates to about $4.62 US dollars per gallon. That's still quite high considering the cost of diesel in the Nashville area is about $2.50-2.60 per gallon. Regular gas in the southern Caribbean is still running over $4 US per gallon . . . and going up instead of down.

Happy Birthday, Decker!

Today is Decker's 13th birthday. YIKES!

He's spending the day on my recliner. Sigh.

Happy Birthday to his sister, Steffi, too. She lives in Indianapolis.

Time for Another Cute Dog Photo

Sorry to be featuring an old photo of Kasey and Decker (left and right respectively), but we just got home after a 14-hour drive from Ft. Myers, and I'm under the weather after the trip.

When I owned the store, K&D used to help me with ordering. Since they are older dogs, they needed reading glasses since their eyes are getting worse. :-)

Nashville Visits St. Thomas USVI

Sigh. We are on our way back to Nashville after a week of blue skies, bluer seas, emerald islands and warm weather.

Dr's Peppers

Spicy Leaves

NDP Visits Barbados

NewsHound sends greetings from Barbados!

NDP VIsits St. Lucia

NewsHound's wondering why our lens fogged up when St. Lucia is so warm. . . .

NDP Visits Antigua

NewsHound sends greetings from St. John, Antigua.

Dandelion

NDP Visits St. Thomas

NewsHound sends greetings from St. Thomas, USVI

A Jug of Wine. . .

A loaf of bread. . . .

NDP is on break, enjoying a little sunshine this week. . . . . .

On the library walls

This quote is on the wall in the Civil Rights Room of the Nashville Public Library.

We are gone for the next several days and will have the posts on autopilot.

Have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving Bounry

Ah, sweet potatoes! The staple of many Thanksgiving dinners, sweet potatoes and yams are good cooked so many different ways. Here's one of my favorite recipes:

Sugar-free Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Wash, peel and cube 2 pounds of sweet potatoes
Place them in cold water and cook over medium heat until tender.
Drain water.
To sweet potatoes add: 2 tablespoons butter, 1/4-1/3 c. milk or cream, 1/8 c. Splenda, 1 tablespoon Amaretto
Beat with mixer until smooth.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

In this time that we face so many challenges in this country, we still have so many things for which we can be thankful.

Where Is Everyone?

This was the scene at Nashville International Airport last Tuesday evening when I picked my husband up on his return from Washington, DC.

For some reason, I think that the place will be a little more crowded over the next few days.

She Keeps Getting More Adorable. . . .

Remember Uno, the cute puppy I showed you a couple of weeks ago (Click here to see her then.)? My son tells me she is growing quickly, and from what I see, she's also getting more adorable all the time.

We're going to visit Jason for Thanksgiving, so hopefully we'll get to meet Uno in person.

Thanks to Jason for emailing me this photo.

Rear Window

This is a view of the downtown skyline from a building on West End Avenue. Centennial Park is about a block away from where I shot the photo - in front of those condos directly east of our building. Note the "Batman Building" in the middle of the skyline.

Tye-Dye

If you look at this a little too long, you'll get dizzy.

When I was little, tye-dyed clothes were the big rage. I think they're pretty popular again.

The Opry House is Festive These Days

Night Reflection

The lights of downtown reflect on the water of the Cumberland River.

BMI

Have you ever wondered what some of the Music Row buildings look like?

This one is BMI (Broadcast Music Inc). Founded in 1939, BMI collects royalty fees for its songwriters, composers and publishers when their works have been performed. BMI issues licenses to radio and television stations, orchestras, current media (iPods, satellite radio, etc), bars, movies, concerts, jukeboxes, etc. When you hear a particular song, whether it be on the radio, during a television show, or even in a jukebox, the venue pays a licensing fee to either BMI or ASCAP. My husband told me that if a song played during their newscasts, they had to pay a fee for it. . . and it wasn't cheap.

For more information on BMI, click here.

What A Difference a Month Makes

For the first time in over 5 weeks, I had to fill the gas tank of my Mini Cooper. The last time I filled it, I paid about $3.69 per gallon - over $50 total. Last night, I paid $1.85 per gallon, and my total bill came to $24.20 for 13+ gallons.

On September 20, gas was $3.89/gallon ($3.86 with a Kroger card) for regular (left). It eventually peaked at more than $4/gallon before it started coming down. I never thought we'd see gas go

below $3/gallon. To be honest, I never thought it would go below $2/gallon.

How much is gas in your neighborhood?

P.S. We're closing in on our 500th CDP post!

More Market Bounty

I like gourds. When I owned the store, we did get some dried ones that customers stamped and decorated. I, however, never buy them for myself.

Now Selling At The Farmers' Market

The fastest selling items at the Farmers' Market this weekend were greens of all kinds. . . .turnip greens . . . collard greens . . . kale . . . mustard greens . . . and these greens which I didn't recognize but are, according to the sign on the box, "purple-edged greens."

A Little Jack

Obviously a float, this bottle is a replica of the actual Jack Daniel's Whiskey produced in Lynchburg, TN.   Jack Daniel's, a sour mash whiskey (NOT bourbon ) is filtered through sugar maple charcoal and aged in large wooden vats.

If you get to the Nashville area, be sure to check out the Jack Daniel's Distillery tour.  It's very interesting, especially when they lift the lid of one of the wooden vats.  I think your blood alcohol probably goes up just from the vapors.

FYI:  You won't be able to buy much JD's while on the tour.  Lynchburg is located in Moore County, a dry county in Tennessee.  Except for one commemorative product, the distillery is not permitted to sell the whiskey.

Fall on the Farm