Moms & Muffins

Hayes had a function at her school this week so I drove up to spend 45 minutes with her enjoying the Moms and Muffins program. She is so pretty.

 Later, I got Cort at school and we spent a few hours together having lunch and playing games.

It was a very short visit but worthwhile to see those faces! We talked about our next visit over Mother's Day weekend and our plans for that. Stay tuned!

Biltmore Estate

My Uncle Dean was scheduled to speak at a conference in North Carolina and he and his wife Melinda planned to drive down to South Carolina to see my grandmother. Well, we kind of took over the trip and told them we would meet them in Asheville so Dean could show Melinda the Biltmore Estate because she'd always wanted to see it.

Before we met them, my grandmother and my Aunt Susan and I walked around Asheville where my grandmother had worked at a radio station and met my grandfather, who was an Asheville native. As we were walking, we came upon The Flat Iron Building, which housed the first radio station my grandfather ever worked. How cool was that?

 The next day, we met Dean and Melinda to tour the Biltmore house. I don't know how many times I've been to Biltmore but I learn something about it every time. At present, I'm reading "The Lady on the Hill" about how the estate was opened to the public to try and help the town during the Depression and help pay taxes on the behemoth. It is a very interesting read!

 What is more amazing is we got this family photo where all of us look pretty decent and not one person has their eyes closed!

 I love the mountains. What I don't love is how I look like a Muppet in this picture.

 Here's my MawMaw!

 In the greenhouse, we came upon this topiary:

 And I found this hat in a size I thought I would always love to have but I couldn't SEE so it stayed at the store.

For some more amazing shots of Biltmore, visit Dean and Melinda's blog: http:theketelsens.blogspot.com.

Steeplechases: Camden & Atlanta

My annual rite of spring is the steeplechase. It is all the more poignant this year as I'm writing a book about the history of women in steeplechasing and would be "working" at the races.

As I love to do, enjoying the morning gallops is my favorite thing to do:

My pre-race interview was with timber trainer, Alicia Murphy. We went back to the barn where she let me photograph her featured horse of the day, Nondo, whom Hayes really liked back in the fall. So I got his picture to message to Hayes and let her know how much I missed her at the races.

 Here's Nondo saddled before the race with, from left, Alicia, her assistant Tiffany and jockey Mark Beecher. Unfortunately, Nondo pulled a muscle during the race and was pulled up. Alicia texted me that if Hayes were around, Nondo would love her company as long as she came bearing sweet potatoes! Ah, an opportunity missed!

One of my interviews was with trainer, Kate Dalton, who operates a small stable with her jockey husband. Kate is one of those people you like immediately. Nigel, Camden's track announcer, asked Kate to handicap the feature race and she did so well, I said she had another career ahead of her!

 Mid-April came Atlanta's steeplechase and pre-race entertainment were the Budweiser Clydesdales. I couldn't figure out the racecourse to go hang around with them, which is a pity.

 And just a random shot from the races. Usually, I am spot-on picking winners during steeplechase. This day I went 0-7!

Thank you, Bruce!

Bruce was very gracious to have us to his house for the weekend and we had a great time on a too-short visit!

 We had to have a Victory Dance before we left as the night before we'd played rounds of card games and Bruce introduced the kids to the Victory Dance!

Thank you, Bruce, for such a fun time!

Happy early 12th birthday!

The Daisy turns 12 on Feb. 21 and her birthday request was to go see our friend Bruce in Tennessee. So after a creek walk, we opened presents and she got a couple of Breyer horses she's been wanting:

 And Bruce made this really cool sculpture of the river stones The Daisy had collected for him and some he'd found.

 What is it?

 Bruce then made The Daisy a light table for tracing drawings and she LOVES it! It was a super cool present.

12 years ago, this was The Daisy's best friend: Zane. 

Happy early birthday, my baby girl. I love you!

Tennessee creek walk at Bruce's

The Daisy requested a visit to our old friend Bruce's for her birthday. Bruce was our neighbor when we lived in Tennessee and he was gracious enough to allow us to bust in on him for a weekend night! After being in the car for many hours, we walked to the creek. See The Boo still in his Super Hero costume?

 We found some saplings chewed by beavers but did not find a dam anywhere nearby.

 So The Daisy grabbed a couple of chewed pieces to take back to her school to show off.

 I'd issued an edict prior to our trip that NO ipods, iphones or computers were to be brought out while we were at Bruce's. And after we were down at the creek for just a little bit, I heard,"This is way more fun than my ipod!"

 The Boo made a collection of old clam shells and his pocket was FULL!

 A lovely waterfall near Bruce's portion of the creek.

 The Daisy with her collection of beaver-stripped sticks!

The kids told me they were disappointed they never go outside like that anymore and enjoyed it far more than playing games on the phone and ipod. It warmed my heart!

Super hero!

One of the gifts I got The Boo for his birthday didn't work so, as a replacement, he wanted a Robin costume and talked my ear off about it for a week! So here he models it, wore it in the car and got himself a Tennessee state pin from the Welcome Center because an honest-to-goodness Super Hero came in!