Yes once again I have WON! Last week the tool box, this week free lunch for my co-workers. Yes I am retired, but when I entered in the drawing way back in February I was still employed there. Believe me, the linemen always enjoy free food.
I had entered via email at KAT country radio 94.3. I put on the email, I was employed part-time and should I not answer, call my co-worker Julie. So Monday she got the call!
Today Hilley showed up with smoked pulled pork, BBQ Ribs, BBQ brisket, slaw, baked beans, the best homemade chips (4 different flavors), cookies, ice cold tea and all the necessary serving things, compliments of Lutz's BBQ!
For some reason they made me go first!
Look at the awesome food. Check out those chips!
Lunch with old friends!
Since it was Halloween they included some beautiful treats courtesy of cold Stone Creamery. These apples were to die for! Gotta go now . . .I'm off to buy a lottery ticket! Hopefully the third time is a charm!
The next part of our vacation took us to Branson, Missouri. There we spent 4 nights, just us and our little Casita. However this park had lots of RV's, some even looked pretty permanent. Rates were $18 a night, including cable, if we had only taken a TV.
We arrived on Monday about mid-day. After getting all settled in, we went for a little dinner. It was then to the Presley's music show. It was a grand show, but my pictures weren't. :(
On Tuesday we checked out a bunch of antique shops, and the Branson Landing. I also stopped by the Quilts & Quilts shop for a couple pieces of fabric.
Wednesday morning we were up before the crack of dawn! It would be our first trip to Silver Dollar City in over 30 years.
We even dressed the part. You see the blacksmith was lucky enough to hang out with another blacksmith, Pat McCarty, for the day.
It was so much fun watching him hammer for the crowds of people.
I spent the biggest part of the day watching my friend, Mary Jo McCarty, weave baskets. Of course in the end I had to buy one.
See the scare crow? He's a real person! He stood at attention at the entrance, that is until he found a likely candidate. I laughed so hard. It was hilarious seeing grown men scream!
It was the Craftsman's Festival. Here we watched the wood carver/master painter.
A wooden rolling pin was being turned here.
Skillet dinners were everywhere, and each one was different. Now this is one large skillet of fried potatoes.
On the square there was music almost every hour, each group performed 4 times through out the day. I could listen to these cowboys singers all day long.
This group told stories and sang too.
It was a wonderful day. A little chilly, but thanks to Mary Jo for lending me her wool shawl and Pat's hand forged shawl pin I kept warm. Just before closing we paused for a group picture.
On Thursday we went just south of Branson to Hollister. There I ran into a childhood friend and had a nice visit. They were in the area fishing. While in an antique store, the clerk was eating her lunch. We asked if she had enough for us because it smelled so good. She told us we could get it next door in the hotel.
So this is where we went.
This is what I had! The best chicken and dumplings!
More vacation stories with lots of music, next time!
We took off for an eleven day trip. Let me tell you about our first stop in Perry/Pawnee Oklahoma.
I won the grand prize at the Oklahoma Blacksmith conference! This quilter doesn't know how to use the tools, so I gave them to my blacksmith. However I am keeping the tool box. It's beautiful! I can see all kinds of fabric, quilting magazines, and patterns in it.
This quilt in the making, was on display at the blacksmith conference. It is on the cover of the John C. Campbell Folk school catalog.
We found a camp ground finally . . . seems oil workers and pipeline contractors had filled all RV parks to capacity. We had to back track 30 miles to Pawnee. On a tip from an RV park manager, a call to the local police department secured a sight for us at the city park.
It wasn't known until the last day, when we visited City hall, what our fees would be. $12 a night was the cost. What a bargain. It was then on to Branson. More on that next time.
We left the house at 7 AM , drove 124 miles, to what what billed as Missouri's oldest largest consecutive flea market. It was mostly a disappointment. The shacks, abandoned trailers stuffed full of junk, and stands that had been in the elements for years ,were mainly not our type of stuff. There would be a vendor and then 3 or 4 empty spaces, falling down tables, or tarped covered tables flapping in the breeze.
I spied this ball churn which was pretty awesome, just out of my budget.
Same way with this coffee jar, original lid and all.
I saw these traps and thought my son would want them. Come to find out they were over priced, very common ones. He wasn't interested in them either.
A shed full of tools. Good luck if you wanted one on the bottom.
Rows of grinders made a nice picture. The rest of that shed wouldn't!
Rows of what had been nice post vises, rusting in the elements.
Neglected and broken anvils also rusting away.
This made my heart ache.
Then I found all these wringer washers and they were under roof. CrAzY!
Such a tiny little machine, it was whining to go home with some one. If only we could have gotten it out.
Seeing all these bicycles, reminded me of my Dad. He repaired them for years. This month he would have been 100 years old.
So we left the flea market, not wanting to eat any of the food there. We found a local cafe in Edina, Missouri, "Lucky's". You should have seen the look on the blacksmith's face when they delivered this tenderloin sandwich!!!!!! All for $6.50.
This was our last stop on the way home when we arrived in Jefferson City. You see on our way to the flea market a dump truck threw a rock. It did a double hit on our windshield. We suffered two chips on the windshield. The truck only has 7400 miles on it, almost new! The good news of the day, our insurance company was called, and because we were getting it repaired, they covered it all. Life is good, regardless!
We had our last show of the year. Rain came and went during the day. It did not dampen the spirits at the Munichburg Festival. It's always fun to do a local show.
I never tire of photographs like this one.
The day we did the show, a lot of the Blacksmith's cousins from Iowa were in town for a wedding. Almost all of them came by to see him in action. One even brought us a bag of nice big tomatoes. So the next morning, nothing doing but we had BLT's for breakfast!
Oh, I did get a new TV. The blacksmith installed it on the wall between my machines. So now I can see it while sewing at any machine. Not that I have that many!
I will end this with Tiramisu! So delicious. We were in St. Louis Saturday for a blacksmith get together. We ate at Viviano's. OMG, to die for! Until you hear from me next time, where ever I might be, I just want to say, Life is Good!
