Mackenzie Turns THREE

Can you believe it? MacKenzie is three. She brings so much joy to my life. She was so fun during her party. I had my family over and cooked burgers. It was so good to see my mother. I've missed her so much. She is doing a great job recovering from her surgery. Sara was able to stay up during the whole party. I know she was pushing herself and I was proud of her.

Steve gave MacKenzie a pink Barbie fishing pole. MacKenzie and I went outside and fished in the pool. Then we climbed up onto the boat and fished from there. She had more fun driving the boat than fishing from it. I gave her a pink princess big wheel. The look on her face was priceless.

She fills me with so much love. What will I do with a second grandchild? I think I'll burst from happiness.

Dale Hollow Lake

We're home. Our last few days were interesting, filled with ups and downs. First, we met a neighter camper who took us out in the boat in the picture (those are his sons, not the camper). We were doing 60 miles an hour over the lake and it felt like we were floating. What a boat ride. They were sweet people from Ohio. I love meeting new people when we travel. There are so many interesting people out there.

We spent one day in Pall Mall, TN. This is where Sgt. Alvin C. York grew up. If you're not familiar with him, google him. He's a war hero from world war II, and quite a man. The first picture is of me and Sgt. York's son. It was cool meeting him. We bought the movie about Sgt. York and watched it that night. He talked a lot about his father. We ate lunch at a little cafe that had just opened up for the 127 corridor yard sale. We just missed it. It's 617 miles long.

Steve finally got the boat fixed. I don't know if I mentioned the holes in the pontoons. He assured me it wouldn't sink, but I sure am relieved the holes are fixed. I didn't know I have a water dog. I knew Nana liked to walk in the edge of the water. She did this a lot in the ocean and trout fishing. But, she got on the boat with us and loved it.

I'm glad to be home for a while. After I left, I found out they put my mother in the special care unit in St. Thomas. They had to put a tube down her throat and monitor her heart. She does have heart problems and the surgery caused even more problems. I spent several days on hold, waiting to see if I needed to come home. My sister kept in close touch. She stayed in there four days. Cassie has a couple of school friends that worked in the hospital, one was her nurse and one watched her heart monitor. She also had her heart doctor from Vanderbilt (who doesn't have priviledges there) calling every day to check on her. Her heart doctor went to school with her surgeon and my niece teaches dance to the daughter of the head anesthesiologist. I felt like she was being looked after pretty well. She was finally put in a regular room, but was in the hospital eleven days before she went home. I was pretty worried.

Then, on Friday before we left, Keith called and had to take Sara to the emergency room. She was incoherent. I waited with keys in hand ready to leave. The doctors said it was a combination of her sleep apnea and fibromyalgia that caused it. She is still in bed, but she is more coherent now. I remember being like that when I was bedridden. I wouldn't wish it on my enemys, much less my daughter. I was pretty worried.

The last day at Dale Hollow Lake, Saturday, we put Cleo in the lake and watched the sunset. I really needed that. So, I'm home, everyone is all right, and I'm ready to leave again. We have a busy traveling schedule planned, so I won't be home a long time. I'm not even moving back into the house. I'm staying in the motorhome until we leave again.

Diana the ready to leave again

Birthdays at Dale Hollow Lake

I spent my birthday reading a book, then off to a sunset cruise on Cleo. I think I'll collect sunsets.

Steve spent his birthday working on the boat. He found a hole coroded in the pontoon. He was moving the boat so he could work on it and a trailer tire blew out. It sounded like a gunshot. There is a ghost story here about three confederate soldiers who were deserters and their friends chased them down and shot them right in this campground. People have heard shots ring out in the campground. So, the whole campground went wild trying to find the ghosts. All I found was Steve kicking the trailer of the boat, and he wasn't white, he was red.

After he fixed the tire, and we ate dinner. We were invited by some neighbors for a sunset cruise in their 22 ft. searay. We zipped across the lake to Kentucky in about 15 minutes. It would have taken us three hours in Cleo. It was very, very fast. But steady. I was never frighted. I just can't believe they ski behind it.

Yesterday I met a fellow writer who has written history books about the area. He is called the gravedigger and does ghost walks in the campground. He gave me some books, one of which is his ghost stories for Dale Hollow Lake. Right below us is the old town of Willow Grove. It was flooded when the corp made the dam. The Corp says they moved all of the graves, but there is no record of some of the people being moved. the swimming area below the campground used to be the backyard of the Christ Church for Willow Grove, and it's cemetary. Kind of creepy swimming there now.

So, today I'm off to cruise on the lake, and maybe, do a little swimming. (oooohhhh).

We are at Willow Grove Campground overlooking the lake. We spent Saturday on Cleo (Cleopatra's barge). Sara and Keith came up for the day. They are planning to come again this Saturday. I think I could live here. The temperature is about 15 degrees cooler than in Nashville. The lake water is so clear you can see about 12 feet down. The water temperature is 80 degrees on the surface. I jumped in and felt nothing but cool, clean water. Getting out was another problem. Steve forgot to put a ladder on the boat. He was thinking fishing, not swimming. Keith made a rope ladder I put my feet in, then they both pulled me on board. How embarrassing. Of course, Keith just jumped right into the boat. Needless to say, Steve ordered a ladder yesterday for me.

We floated around the lake and did a little fishing. The lake is 120 ft in some spots. Today we bought a contour map to find shallower water for fishing. We haven't been back out again, yet. Steve is doing a little more work on the boat. We may drive to Sergeant York's birthplace tomorrow. It's close to here and I love history stuff. Although, it's hard to leave the campsite, the view is heavenly. There is also a beach area for swimming. That sounds good for tomorrow.

We've had some showers here, a few thunderstorms, but mostly beautiful weather. I think I could live here. Did I say that already?

The evening mist of the Obee River greeted our arrival. Standing on a fishing pier we watched the clear, cool water flow swiftly under our feet. Small trout from the fish hatchery swam in the swirls of the shallow water as if caught in a hurricane. The campground is quiet, except for the symphany of birds and crickets. The art pallette is filled with shades of yellow, brown, and black from butterfly that landed near my chair. When we seek it, we can find perfection.

Mississippi again

July 6th. I decided I should start dating my entries. This made sense as I started looking back and couldn't remember when things happened.

Steve fixed up an old laptop for Melanie in Mississippi. We're trying to update Waverly to the computer age. For those of you who don't know what Waverly is, it's a pre-civil war mansion that my friend lives in and gives tours in. so, we mailed the computer to Melanie and she had so much trouble with it that Steve decided to drive down there and fix it. We took of on the 6th, it's only a six hour drive in the car. We stayed in the mansion in the master bedroom. While there I wrote an article for Melanie about the mansion to send to newspapers. Then I took some pictures for her, and I'm redoing some of her brochures. I also redid the stationary for her. Mr. Robert, her father, was so excited he broke out a bottle of his best wine and went for the wine glasses.

"Oh, no" Melanie said, "He's getting the $2500 a piece wine glasses." He poured wine and insisted we toast. Steve and I held our breath as we clinked the $2500 a piece wine glasses against each other. I insisted on a picture in the dining room in front of the portrait of Melanie's mother. It sets the atmosphere of the mansion.

Melanie tells us stories of the little ghost girl that lives in the house. She said her mother used to put pennie on the floor in the ghost room in tic-tac-toe configurations. They next morning the pennies would be in different places. She would also find indentations on the bed as if a small child had laid on it. The ghost girl would call to her mother during the day when she was alone. Melanie was sleeping in the ghost room one night and saw the girl float across the room. We went upstairs to the ghost room and found an indentation on the bed. Steve decided to leave three dimes (he said they have copper in them now) on the table next to the bed. He placed them in a triangle with tail sides up and we left. We forgot about them the next morning when we left. Halfway home we called Melanie to check them. The dimes were no where to be found. There had been no tourists yet that day. Mr. Robert always goes upstairs in the morning to check all the rooms making sure they are ready for the tourists. He said there were no dimes on the table. They looked all over the room and the mansion and they were never found. I think the ghost girl likes Steve. They are still looking and Mr. Robert said he is never going in the ghost room again.

We ended up bringing her computer back because it crashed, but Steve can fix it. I swear, he could fix a rainy day. I've never been around a man that can fix things. We stayed two nights but had to leave. There is no air conditioning in the mansion, only a window unit in the small ached kitchen. At night all the windows and doors are left open for the natural cirulation. It was still hot. During the hottest part of the day we stayed in the kitchen. In the evening we would sit on the back porch.

I always have a good time in Mississippi. They feed me well, fresh eggs from their hens, pear preserves, homemade buscuits, ham, Jimmy Dean sausage (Jimmy Dean came to Waverly and Mr. Robert told him he made the best sausage ever), and Melanie's strawberry cheesecake. I always eat too much there.

Center Hill Lake

I promise to keep my blog updated. I have been at home too long. When I'm home, I get manic about keeping my house clean. It's hard sometimes. Four dogs and four cats can wreck a house. So, Steve and I took a few days and explored Center Hill Lake. What a fun trip. We stayed at Long Branch Campground. It sat just below the dam. We would go down a concrete stairway to fish on the river. Every five hours the dam would generate power, which meant the water on the river rose about six feet and the current was really fast. These are the times you do not want to fish. Yes, I'm learning to fish. I'm learning how to cast for trout. There were a couple of young boys hanging out with us while we fished. Every time I would bring my rod back to cast they would back up all the way to the stairs. They had seen me cast. I caught a couple of trees, moss, and a few sticks, "fish sticks" Steve calls them.

We drove down river to "Betty's Island" to fish some more. We waded out into the water with the fly fishermen. After about an hour I CAUGHT A TROUT!!!!! I heard a fly fisherman close to me say "You got to be kidding" as he was still casting for fish.

Overall it was a very relaxing trip. I always seem to write better when I'm traveling. I think it's because I don't have to worry about cleaning the house.