Hootenanny - an informal gathering with folk music and sometimes dancing.
Hoedown - is a community social event featuring organized square dancing.
Shindig - is a noisy party or festivity.
Jamboree - a large celebration or party, typically a lavish and boisterous one.
This week started with a great music event at the Grove (where they also have the Mirror Lake Blast every Monday night). There are so many music venues around here, I love it. Tuesday nights there is an outdoor concert at Lake Tansi. Friday's at The Grove and also the Amp in Crossville also have music. Any Thursday - Saturday you can go to Karaoke at a few different bars. And several other establishments also have bands of one kind or another.
Saturday 8/28 - I always love getting our Ava updates and cute baby fixes each week (and if it happens more often, all the better). Dan sent this silly (video) of Ava laughing at him because of his crazy hair. 
I woke up feeling much better than the night before and the wasp stings no longer hurt. The bump on my forehead was still sore to the touch and looked a little bruised. I was feeling a little lazy like Monita here, but had to keep moving, with plans to meet Patty out at the ranch.
I took Maggie to the ranch with me, and Patty arrived just after I did. We had both brought some supplies for ranch house living and to do more cleaning. Before putting things away in the kitchen and bathrooms, I washed out all of the drawers and cupboards. Patty washed new plastic ware she had bought and cooking utensils she also brought. She also replaced an outlet cover that was missing in the master bedroom.
I wanted to get this sign hung on the wall right away, to 'set the stage' for our rustic/modern family Air B&B. It is on the wall by the kitchen island (peninsula actually) to greet all our guests.
Shirley 'nailed it' when gifting this to us.
Patty and I took several measurements for furniture placement, looked over and discussed some other repair options, and were soon on our way because I had to work.
Many customers had planned to go to the Hootenanny at The Grove, so the pool cleared out by 5:30. I was able to get all my cleaning done and clock out at 6pm.
Utopia, a party and professional show band was playing. And true to their website, they were the ultimate classy, charismatic, soulful, funky, jazzy, versatile, smooth and sexy music performers.
I and many of my dancing lady friends had a blast dancing and singing along to most of the songs. Seen below are Micki, Elaine, and Mary having a good time. (Also a random resort couple that danced all night.)
Meanwhile, Joe was with Greg in Nashville, at a Tennessee Titans vs Chicago Bears football game.
Utopia played longer than most bands do, and much of the crowd stuck around until the end.
Once home, I puttered here at my computer and was just going to bed at 10:30, when Joe arrived home. I think I was asleep before he got back from walking the dog.
Sunday 8/29 - Joe and I unpacked from the shipping box the new queen mattress for our bed. It needed to expand for a few days before sleeping on it.
After some laundry and other little chores, we went to the ranch. Patty was just a few minutes behind us. First we unloaded the bedroom set we had bought from Courtney, because it was too big for her guest room.
While reassembling it, we quickly realized that we were missing a key piece. One of the metal brackets had fallen off sometime/somewhere from when Joe took it apart at Courtney's to when we had it in the new ranch house. We searched the SUV and called Courtney, who searched her house. No luck. Who knows where it ended up. 
This is all the farther we got with the master bedroom set up. Next we re-directed our efforts in the kitchen.
We were messing with the refrigerator ice and water dispenser to see if we could get them working. We got the water to work but not the ice maker. In the process of pulling the refrigerator out from the wall, we did a lot of cleaning of the space behind and all of the sides and top of the refrigerator.
Karen arrived bringing a little squeaky ball for Maggie, who had a ball with it. Maggie is learning the rules and boundaries of the ranch, and really liking the time out there.
Joe had gone down to the machine shed to remove screws from all of the fencing boards we had taken down weeks ago. We are preparing to rebuild it at the new property line. Of course we don't have enough wood, so more will need to be bought. Once Joe got done, he came up and jumped in the pool.
Patty worked at removing glue from the back of a board (transition floor strip) we will try re-gluing. I washed closet shelves and Karen washed walls where needed. Then we took a break to look around the ranch at changes we have had done so far.
This is a very cool big rock bench that has been sitting here, for who knows how long.
I collected all the trash from the cans in all the buildings, and locked up, as I was the last to leave. I stopped in at the barn to give Amiga her supplement and got home to feed the cats and dog for a late dinner. Joe and I slept in the guest bedroom since our new mattress was not ready to be tried out.
Monday 8/30 - It doesn't take much to make me smile. Joe and I ran to the ranch to grab the trailer and some of the recycling like the long fluorescent light bulbs. Then off to Walmart, my favorite place (not), but I did enjoy the duckies in the window of this truck parked in the lot. Joe dropped me off and went to get 28 fence posts at Lowe's. When I was ready to check out, none of the self check out was open, but they did have six regular checkout lines open, so it moved fairly quickly.
This Ava up-date came while I was waiting in line at Walmart. She is just so darn stinkin' cute, and of course I had to share this on Facebook.
Joe picked me and my Walmart stash up and then he dropped me at the Bed Store to get the box springs we had priced last week. He went on to the recycling center. The Bed Store was closed, so I went next door to Big Lots with the long list of stuff I needed.
Later in the day Dan added this photo to my Facebook post. And I saw tons of comments including: What a Cutie Patootie! Adorable! Precious! and She is a doll!
Oh, and here is another cute (video) of her.
At Big Lots, I priced their box springs, and with the 15% off deal Patty had, Joe and I decided it was worth getting (two of) them there. We had the trailer in town which was part of our reasoning to buy today. Patty had arrived and helped me with the list. We were very disappointed that the horse picture we had both seen was no longer available. Joe waited patiently. We had to put everything on one ticket to get the one time deal of 15% off.
Joe headed home and Patty and I back to Walmart to get
more household supplies I had thought of, and things that Big Lots
didn't have. We also hit Ace Hardware for floor glue (liquid nails was recommended) before going to the ranch.
Patty unloaded our purchases while I went to help Joe. I drove while he took fence posts off the trailer every seven plus feet apart. 
It is going to take a lot of work to put these 46 posts in the ground. The electric fence is Terry and Billy's (which is turned off because Terry's horses are now at a new barn near Knoxville, where they are building their new house). Their fence (when off) might not hold our horses in and we want to go with wood fence that looks nicer and will match what we have at the other end of this field. It will also match what they have around the other house.
Once finished outside, I went in to help Patty with our continued task of 'setting up house.' I want the kitchen fully functional for when we (or our guests) stay out there. Joe and Patty both had printed part of the owner's manual for the fridge and we got the ice maker working. But it wasn't filling completely. We thought maybe the water line needed to be primed.
Patty treated Joe and I to leftover goulash she brought for lunch. Joe left and we girls hung a wall clock, I put down some more little rugs, Patty hung the shower curtain, and then we discussed again, how to rearrange furniture. I want the sectional in the living room, but see now why it isn't in there. It is too big to fit. I even thought about switching it with what we have at home, but it is even too big for our living room. I need to sleep on it more, but these thoughts are partly what keep me up at night.
Just before leaving, Patty and I glued down this transition strip that covers the space between the kitchen tile and the wood hallway floors. The tip of one floor board was not screwed down, and 'popping' up a little, which might be what caused the transition strip to come loose. We screwed a hole and nailed down the floor board (first photo). After cleaning all the contact surfaces, including the crack, we applied the liquid nail adhesive and 'glued' the wood strip down.
Then we piled the bricks on top to hold the strip down. And home we went.
I actually took a nap, having been short on sleep from the night before. After feeding all the critters here at home, I went out to the barn to feed Amiga her supplement and check her hay and water.
Carol was out at the barn, like she is almost every night, taking care of Spud. He did not cooperate for this photo, so we got a better one of him. LOL
It started thundering in the distance and the rain started shortly after I got home.
Joe was at poker and I had decided not to go to Mirror Lake Blast because it was a single blues singer and not going to be a hootenanny. I could hear the music while walking Maggie. I imagined everyone taking cover and the concert stopping early because of the rain. My quiet evening at home was spent here at my computer.
Tuesday 8/31 - Hurricane Ida dumped rain on us all night and all day long. It was heavy at times with strong winds, but other times just a gentle, steady rain.
I had cut holes in the mattress box, and the cats were enjoying this new 'toy.' This is Monita waiting to cause trouble.
I finally made it to the gym for the first time in 24 days. I cut both my weights and my reps back a little on every machine because I have already loss muscle strength. Also the tweak in my back still hurt when in a certain position.
I hit two dollar stores for more ranch house supplies and then Food City for much needed perishables that we were just about completely out of.
Once unloaded and re-organized, I went to the barn to pay board and give Amiga her supplement. Everyone was gone for the day. Carol showed up just as I was leaving.
On to the ranch to leave more stuff (cleaning supplies, food, kitchen things, and a few decorations) out there. This little barn (which has a history in some Secrete Santa gift exchanges) I put on the fireplace mantle. Several of my Saddle Sisters may recognize it.
I checked the ice maker and it seemed it was finally working better but both it and the cold water dispenser are very low pressure. At least there is no leaking anywhere. 👍
A horse friend sent this photo. We had both made it into the September issue of Sidelines Magazine. (Sidelines Facebook page describes - Sidelines is devoted to the people and personalities that make the horse world exciting.) I guess me dancing at Mirror Lake Blast and wearing the Hope Rescue shirt caught Jan Westmark's eye. She is the editor and an acquaintance of mine.
No matter how much I get done in a day, I am still overwhelmed with how much more there is to do. At least Joe and I were able to sleep on our new mattress.
Wednesday 9/1 - So September has arrived. Ida lingered through the night, but fizzled out with a drizzle all morning. We had five inches in the rain gauge.
The game plan was to take all of Britney's furniture to the ranch. I planned to use her bed in the little bed room, and would use some of the other stuff where needed. The rest would go to Habitat For Humanity.
The cats are always interested in the going ons around the house, especially if it involves any change in furnishings. So they watched as I came and went, taking some things downstairs to go to the ranch.
And after... just the queen box springs and mattress. I am still 'shopping' for a small headboard and frame to go in here. Then more furnishings will be added.
Meanwhile, everything was stacked in the garage while we waited on the drizzly weather.
It looked like it was finally going to stop drizzling, so Joe went to the ranch to get the trailer. We also borrowed Shirley's heavy duty two wheel dolly.
In no time, we were loaded and ready to go to the ranch. I stopped in at Wildwood but again no one was there to take my board.
We unloaded everything in the two car unattached garage, except the bed. It went into the house. We got the frame set up (didn't lose any parts) and I cleaned it with the hand vacuum.
The mattress cover, mattress pad, and bed linens were in the laundry at home.
I removed the bricks from the floor strip and vacuumed up some debris. It held well and looks good.
Finally, I went out to look around the ranch a bit. There was a lot of standing water. 
Check out the new light switch the electrician had put in the barn for the new barn light. He had to move the one sign over, but I liked how it looked. Now the barn light doesn't have to be on when the tack room light is. 
The same is true for the loafing shed. In addition to the electrical box for fans or heated water buckets, depending on the weather, it also has a new light and and it's own light switch. Can you see the three in this photo?
I also noticed that the meadow mix seed I had planted in the pasture has started to germinate.
I
was out of time, and headed to work at the pool. Nancy hadn't had any
customers during her whole shift. The skies had tried to clear after the
morning drizzle, but the sun didn't come out until after 3pm, but still, no one
came to swim. I closed an hour early and was home by 5:20.
A photo I took earlier of our 'helpers' as we carried furniture out of Britney's old room.
I didn't have the energy to clean (vacuum and wash walls) in Britney's room. I did fold the laundry and do the usual evening chores before calling it quits. My back was feeling sore (it had already been tweaked) so I took ibuprofen at bedtime.
Later the kitten came to eat and we got photos of her to send to Toni.
It was a beautiful day. However, the air had cooled, as had the water, so we did not have a huge crowd at the pool.
I stopped at the barn (on the way to the ranch) to pay our board (for the last month we will be at Wildwood). Chester gave me some lovin' when I arrived.
Joe was finishing up mowing when I pulled in at the ranch with Patty right behind me.
Patty and I did some more organizing in the kitchen and Joe got busy removing all the sticks and debris from the roof.
Patty and I tried to figure out how to take apart the sectional so it can be moved, but we didn't have much luck. I think we need Daniel, who has similar furnishings and experience with a variety of furniture. I went out to take things to my car, the garage, machine shed, barn and burn pile while Patty set to work washing more stuff we had both brought for the kitchen. Then she cleaned ceiling fans. After that, she removed the closet door that wouldn't shut, to fix it, but saw that it had been too badly damaged by an earlier (and incorrect) fix-it-job. We will need to get a new door.
Patty came down to join me at the barn and was checking out the locking mechanism of the outlet covers. Each of the four stalls now has it's own outlet.
I gave Patty a quick lesson on driving the UTV. It was fun riding around together (video).
Patty headed home and I went looking for Joe.
I dropped by the barn to see if Amiga had finished her 'dinner' that I am now having the girls put the supplement back in. She had. Yipppee! Carol and Sharon were checking out Traveler, the new mule.
On my way out of the barn, I caught Kitty sitting in the Ice Cream truck.
I made a hamburger stew using potatoes from Joe's garden. It wasn't bad, but needed a little more flavor.
I went to bed with the list of things to do cycling through my head. I also had great concern and prayed for my Mom (who has been sick since Tuesday) and for sister Jean (who has been caring for her).
I napped from 6-7 and then got word from Jean that Mom (and she) had had a really rough night. She said she would update when time.
Joe, Patty, and I all got to the ranch about the same time. Joe and I wanted to set three fence posts before he left for his five day weekend. We put supplies in the tractor and headed up to the field by the house. Notice my arm reflected in the mirror of the UTV where I was sitting.
We got off to a bad start. We couldn't drill a hole by our cinder block wall because we immediately hit a concrete skirt. Looking to see how Billy had attached the wood post holding his electric fence, we decided that was how we would need to do our post also.
The other two holes went much easier and quicker. We were putting a post at each end of the fence line and this one in the middle where the line made about a 130° angle. We cemented the other two in and I was just finishing up when I got a call from sister Carol.
Joe left for his five day weekend in Illinois and Patty had to make a trip into town, so I then made phone calls. I got teary eyed talking to Jean but needed to hear how Mom's final hours and death went. It was comforting to know that Jean was holding Mom's hand and telling her how much we all loved her. Mom had a great life and a good death.
These photos are from her 90th Birthday party. Here she is with her six children who she loved and raised quite well, if I don't say so myself. And below she is with ten of her twelve grandchildren, who she adored and also spent quality time with when possible.
I had talked with Courtney and Daniel to give them the news about their grandma, and finally got a hold of Britney just before bed.
This last photo of me with Mom is the four generations with her Grandson Daniel and Great granddaughter Ava. I am so thankful we made this trip to Florida in June to enable Mom to meet Ava, rather than waiting till Christmas time. Rest in peace Mama. We know you are watching us all from above.
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