What have we been up to?

The April A to Z Blog Challenge is winding down with the final letter, Z, being posted tomorrow. I had intended to post a personal update last Sunday but ran out of energy. I've been fighting a cold with a lingering cough. Ugh!

Winter has FINALLY left the area...there were days we thought it would be here forever. Of course, then the spring rains moved in. This weekend has been delightful, though. Reasonable temps (in the sun) made for a big smile for both of us.

We had company two weekends this month. The weather cooperated both times. The first was a long-time friend of mine (think it's been over twenty years?) who was headed to Knoxville for a wedding. She spent two nights here and we got to take her to Muddy Pond Community one day. Nice outing.

Then along came the day I kicked Stu out of the house and sent him on a motorcycle ride...finally! He was in hog heaven (pun intended).

The other company was our good friends from Maryland. Stu has known them for over twenty-five years and I met them in 2008. They moved to Tennessee ahead of us (other than owning our property in Jamestown) and are now less than ninety minutes away. They came over to do some vacation planning for our joint vacation next October as well as visit The Wall That Heals in Cookeville (the only stop it made in Tennessee).

Saturday we headed off to Cookeville to see The Wall That Heals (aka The Moving Wall). Our friend Pauline had two names she wanted to find. The volunteers were tremendously helpful and were doing a wonderful job. She found both names, one was for a good friend and the other was her distant cousin that she'd never met. The crowd was steady, lots of motorcycle groups riding in (they had designated parking, a nice touch), the mood somber and respectful.

Here are a few photos, you can see them all in our SmugMug album.

This is a panoramic shot that Stu took with his iPhone. I think if you click it, you will be able to scroll left and right (can't try it myself until this post publishes).



After that we drove down to Sparta, where I lived with my late husband, to see visit the first 2018 Cruise-in. NICE turn out and we got to visit with our friend (and realtor) who helped us find our house here. You can see all the photos in our SmugMug album.

We have been doing a lo carb diet since we returned from our cruise - Feb 13th was the first day. Stu has lost twenty-five pounds and just bought size 34 jeans! You can see the difference in the photo above, at the car show. He'd like to lose another 10-15#. I'm down seventeen pounds and back into my size 12s. I'd like to lose another 10-15# as well. Here are some photos I've taken of me along the way.

Stu loves the chocolate peanut butter fat bombs I made for him...says they taste like fudge. They do look good, don't they!

We recently got a good deal on an air fryer and decided to try it. Well, we liked it so much we decided to upgrade (we'll use the original one in the RV) to a Cuisinart Combination Toaster Oven, Convection Oven and Air Fryer!! It sits where our old toaster oven and air fryer sat (the air fryer having taken over for the original old fashioned - snicker - toaster).

First meal? Bacon wrapped hotdogs...

They were DELICIOUS and on our diet!

The #2Doods are doing great. They both got shorter trims and now we have a hard time telling them apart unless we can see the face or collar. LOL!

They have discovered mice and moles...who needs a barn cat? They're decreasing the population daily!! LOL!

Ciao for now!