Mother’s Day Plus Two

Uncategorized 2 Minutes

Good things come in threes, not just bad things. I had three days in a row of being with special people and doing fun things. On Mother’s Day, son John $ came for dinner and had a couple of four-legs with him. The dogs belonged to a friend who went to Cherokee for a few hours and picked up the dogs on her way home. She brought $ to us, since he has been without wheels after my car Snot was hit by a falling tree. This sounds like falling Dominoes – $’s Mazda was scrapped, and we loaned him the Sonata until he could get another vehicle. Snot is getting new windshields and a new roof. The first car happy ending is below. Meanwhile, John grilled brats, chicken-apple sausages, squash, and Bavarian sausages for our dinner. We ate on the porch and kept the dogs company. Most appropriately, we had a dark chocolate cake that John bought for dessert. Anything that ends with chocolate is excellent.

John $ with Dolly and Dandelion
Dandelion and Dolly

 

Three neighbors and I had a ladies’ day out to shop at Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community. Around 1937, the artists who had worked in Gatlinburg gravitated to an area called the Glades. The studios and shops are on an eight-mile loop out from the town. All of the items for sale are handmade in the US, many of them on site. Our mission was to replace a pottery chicken roaster. Connie and Marla had lived near this area before moving to our neighborhood. We stopped at a traffic light, and Marla recognized friends in the car stopped beside us. We went first to Treasures in Earthen Vessels where David Howard creates pottery. They were old friends, so they got their roaster and had a nice visit while Shawn and I looked at everything in the shop. The ladies posed, and we had David step in the picture. His son is getting married in a month, and he is very busy making a mug for each wedding guest.

051517 Connie Marla Shawn David the potter.jpg

A basket of plastic toy soldiers was near the counter. The sign urged everyone to take a free soldier home and pray for all the men and women in our military. I popped one in the bag with my purchase and didn’t think about it again until he fell out at home. The more I thought about it, the more I was impressed. In an unobtrusive way, David was supporting something that is close to his heart. His shop is Treasures in Earthen Vessels, 170 Glades Road #32, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. dhowardpottery.net

Shawn with big doll outside shop

We went to other shops along the road, seeing wooden items, jewelry, baskets, and decorative items for the home. For lunch we went to Carver’s Orchard where the restaurant looks out over the apple orchard. The photo is dark, but the point was for you to see the background. Nice excuse for a bad picture, right?

051517 Shawn Marla Connie at Carver's Orchard.jpg

While I was out gallivanting with my friends, husband and son were looking at cars. They were gone longer than I was, after a very successful day. They put a deposit on a 2010 Subaru Forester, and the next day we took $ there to pick it up. I know he despises having his picture taken, but he agreed to a quick one, probably as payment for our help. You’ll realize $ is a very good driver when you learn that he chose a stick shift to drive in the mountains.

051617 $ with Subaru.jpg

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

24 thoughts on “Mother’s Day Plus Two”

    1. I hope son $ is brave and not foolhardy. His last vehicle was an automatic, which was fortunate when he broke his left ankle. He could drive, even when walking with crutches. Of course, he didn’t drive and walk at the same time, but you are smart enough to know that.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

    1. I wish I could remember $’s story about teaching himself to drive a clutch. It was hilarious. He has done it for years and had no hesitation choosing that car. I wouldn’t mind driving it around here, because we mostly stay in the valley. Driving up high would be frightening.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  6. Mmmm… chocolate cake AGAINNNNN!!!
    I would’ve liked the arts & crafts fair too!
    So what you’re saying is, you didn’t just have Mother’s Day. You had Mother’s WEEK. 😀

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. You are right, Ellie. I am having Mother’s week. The weather is nice, too — warm in the day and cool at night. I am going to have the last two pieces of that chocolate cake, because John bought a gallon of strawberries, his favorite. He much prefers the strawberries and will be content to leave the rest of the cake to me.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  8. Anne,
    I loved seeing your friends. I missed seeing you in the pictures though.
    Glad $ got the car of his choice. I used to drive the clutch one till I came here, where it has been automatic. It would be scary to go back to a manual one again.
    $ looks shy.
    Happy Mother’s Week to you all !
    Susie

    Like

    Reply

    1. You’d soon be comfortable with a clutch again. I learned on a Jeep when I was 15 and didn’t drive a standard shift until I had the use of my grandmother’s car in college for a year. Many years later my brother gave me his car, and I was back to shifting. It’s going from one to the other that gets you discombobulated.

      $ is reserved, but not shy. When he is relaxed and in a silly mood, he makes me laugh and laugh. He’s a very good story-teller. With strangers, though, he tends to be quiet.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. I’m partial to those green plastic soldiers. I unearth one now and then in my gardens, leftovers from my boys, and once in a while I will find one on the beach, half buried in the sand. I’d love to look around the Glades. Cute friends and cute dogs…your food sounds good too.

    Like

    Reply

    1. It’s fun to find recent relics underfoot. We are only the second couple to live in our present house, and their children were grown while they were here. No relics! It’s a good thing. We understand this was a pig farm before that.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Do you have a comment? I'd love to hear from you.