To clarify the title, the dogs did not actually speak words. Their owners brought us a gift for having walked the three dogs for a week. Neighbor Logan had a wonderful lake experience with his brother’s family, while his parents spent time in another state with Bob’s siblings. After the dust settled, they asked to come over when all of us were home. We were stunned and thrilled when they presented us a painting of grazing elk in Cataloochee. That area of the Smoky Mountains is near our home, and it’s one of the spots where we take our visitors. We are going to enjoy it for the rest of our lives.
Although not artistic ourselves, we have relatives that are, and we know the special value of original art. To add to our excitement, we know Courtney, having met her socially a number of times. Her Etsy link is https://www.etsy.com/shop/CourtneyHuntFineArt
Below is a closeup of the painting. The lighting does not show it to advantage.
Logan amused himself as we talked, finishing the jigsaw puzzle we had on the table.
Logan’s good manners were on display as he stood near us, silently willing Nathaniel to play checkers with him.
Later in the evening, Nathaniel finished the cake he baked for the owner’s son where he works. He was able to bring home a sliver for three of us to divide. I grudgingly admit it was better for our health that we had three bites and not a third of the whole cake.
Mehrling Muse 
That was a nice surprise!
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How lovely! The painting is almost like a window to an outside scene – no mater the real weather, it’s beautiful!
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We love the scene. It changes a bit as the light shifts in the room.
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How thouhtful and the cake look pretty good too.
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We did not expect a gift for taking care of the dogs, but now that we have the painting, we are going to enjoy it to the hilt.
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What a wonderful gift! The artistry is just gorgeous! The cake looks so wonderful!!
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I suspect we live in a superlative mode here. You would understand artistry more than the majority of bloggers I know.
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To own an original painting is like a bucket list wish come true ! congratulations.
Having one third of the sliver of that beautiful cake is worth more than not having any at all. Have you actually seen elk grazing ?
Susie
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We have seen elk grazing many times. When our Austrian friends were here, the animals walked right beside our car! They are impressive animals.
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Yes, we have seen grazing elk. Sometimes they come closer than other times.
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How thoughtful of both your neighbors to bring you such a beautiful painting and of Nathaniel to bake a cake for the owner’s son (plus to bring home pieces to sample).
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We were overwhelmed with the painting. I am feasting my eyes on it whenever I go through the room. Nathaniel’s cake was for the staff at the restaurant in honor of the owner’s son’s birthday.
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I don’t blame you Anne – it was a thoughtful gift and you will find a good spot to put it to admire it many more years. Does Nathaniel plan to live in NY or near where he will go to school? If I were him, I’d opt for opening a bakery in the South, near his grandparents since you are so close.
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Nathaniel will be going to college in Charlotte, two or three hours away. He enjoys this area, and naturally, we hope he stays.
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I remember you said that and that’s why I thought he might want to live in the area permanently – hope he does. I would if I were him.
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We’ll see what happens. John and I think his college may find restaurant jobs for many of its culinary students during the college years. The campus is in the center of the downtown area, surrounded by restaurants.
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That’s good – will Nathaniel work during the school year, or only if it compulsory as part of his culinary program?
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The school will help him get a job while he is there, I think.
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That’s good Anne – did your school assist you in placing you in job post-graduation? After the Watergate incident, the market was flooded with investigative reporters … everyone wanted to be the next Woodward and Bernstein. When I was in my last year of school, we were supposed to be placed in an internship at a local newspaper for 13 weeks. There were so many students, and not enough newspapers, even counting the local ones, so they placed us wherever an entity would accommodate us. I was placed with a small P.R. firm writing “wire shorts” … I had to write paragraph-long stories promoting Detroit – hard to promote Detroit quite frankly, but that is what I did for 13 weeks – they used maybe one or two. That was during school and after school they were no help at all. The community college I went to were much more helpful, even placing kids on co-op jobs while still in school.
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I’m not aware that there was any program for job placement after graduation at our college. John already had a job lined up in NY, and we married two weeks after graduation. There was no way they could have helped me that far away. I wonder if colleges help place students now.
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The community college I went to was helpful for aligning kids from the healthcare field and engineering students with jobs in the Dearborn, Michigan area. The school was in Dearborn which is a very big city. I went on to Wayne State so could not take advantage of it. They also had businesses and non-profits in the area post their available part-time jobs through the school in an effort to help the students pursuing an AA degree to eventually stay at their company/business. I would hope they do more now – all WSU did for me was ask for money, once a month to help provide scholarships.
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Sometimes we feel used by our schools.
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We do – I did with Wayne State, Henry Ford Community College not so much as they went out of their way to accommodate students – they have become much larger now and are spread out over many different campuses, night classes take place in other venues now. They never did that before.
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The painting is beautiful Anne! And that cake looks amazing too!
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The painting has already outlasted the cake.
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What a beautiful gift!
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I understand the value of known artists work, how special it is and how you will treasure it forever! Nathaniel’s Cake is gorgeous!
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A wonderful and thoughtful gift from your neighbours. Nathaniel’s cake was never destined to last long, just as well he managed to smuggle a sliver out. Well done Logan for his patience.
xxx Gigantic Hugs xxx
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We have marvelous neighbors.
xxx Patient Hugs xxx
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What a lovely gift. Your life is full of so many blessings and good people. I enjoy reading your neighborly day to day life. I still wish you lived next door.
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Wouldn’t it be fun to be neighbors?
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Yes…I would love that. 🙂
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Wonderful painting. You do have some great neighbors. That cake has my mouth watering. Michelle has been talking about baking one lately, I wish she would stop talking and do it. I love chocolate cake!
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That cake had some marvelous ingredients. Nathaniel bought some kind of special stout for it, as well as dark chocolate candy and special cocoa. Having had only three bites of that cake, I’d settle for one made with a mix and thrown-together icing. Shall we prolong the torture even more? Nathaniel had a fluffy filling that was half an inch thick and frosting that tasted like fudge. Sorry, Ron. I shouldn’t have done that. I hope you get some chocolate cake within a week.
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What a lovely gift and that cake really looks yummy!
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Lovely painting!!
I wonder what it would cost to airmail that cake up to Montreal…
😀
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$40 to $50 dollars might get a cake to Montreal overnight. Why don’t you and John plan to meet here? Nathaniel might not be here, but I could easily overload you with sugar.
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