{Not} Living Vicariously

Honeysuckle Hill Farm: Scream Creek

It takes a lot to impress me when it comes to "haunted houses" at Halloween. This is probably because I've been to scare events put on by some real experts -- such as Universal Studios. With their talents and budgets, they do a pretty amazing job. However this past weekend we went to Scream Creek located at HHF. It was extremely well done and I'm so glad I went. Four of us braved the obnoxious teenagers to go through the event and I definitely screamed once or twice (I hate the chain saws). Friend B. cracked me up though. She is a Southern girl through and through yet sounds like she comes from Minnesota when she gets nervous. Boy did she ever get nervous!

I also have to say the rest of the activities available at HHF were lots of fun as well. We went through 2 corn mazes, did the petting farm, got pumpkins, and jumped on the "corn popper" a gigantic trampoline pillow that was a true workout. There were slides and swings and a twister tunnel. We tried them all. Lots of good clean fun . . .

Friday Night Freezing

Wow it got cold fast! We'd been having summer temperatures long into Autumn, then all of a sudden we dropped 15 degrees overnight. And of course all my warm clothes have been packed away in the storage unit. We did pull them out a few days earlier, however they were still packed away and wrinkly. So I wasn't exactly prepared to go to a football game Friday night. But our nephew Clayton's high school traveled up to a local high school for a game and since he is in the marching band we went to see the half time show. Well, we did actually go for the whole game -- which was homecoming for the local school -- and SMHS tromped them thoroughly (go Eagles!). I enjoyed watching both schools' color guards perform even if no actual marching was done due to the muddiness of the field. Did I mention it was also raining for most of the game? And they ran out of hot water for making hot chocolate. Yet this game was so much fun! I would totally go again (I just want my gloves next time).

Flea dog!

Okay, so we brought home a few guests from our trip to the farm. Lindy had never had a problem with fleas in the past (lots of ticks up in Antioch, but no fleas) and then we started going to the farm in KY. Never found a tick on her there, but we would have flea issues. However due to her frontline and not having fleas in Antioch . . . they would usually go away in a day or two of our return.

Then we moved to M'boro. No more ticks and yet we now have an issue with fleas. We decided it might be that she brings the fleas into the house and then they become friends with cat who has not been on any medication and those fleas have babies that reinfect the dog and it is a vicious cycle. So a few weeks ago the cat got her first dose of frontline. That did not go well, however with practice we hope to improve.

However, after this past trip to the farm it was almost like we had no medication on the dog at all and she had received a treatment only a week earlier. We did talk to a vet tech about options and were given some ideas, plus the reassurance that fleas have been really bad this season for everyone and we are not suffering alone. So Lindy got a lovely bath Monday night and we've been combing her with flea combs every night, plus tomorrow she will be able to have another dose of medicine. Lucky dog? Hopefully she will no longer be a flea dog!

As for the cat . . . well she is also being treated as prevention.

Farm dog?

Lindy is definitely a city girl. While she loves to track and sniff and smell animal trails, she likes to do this with me or F.P. in sight. So on weekend at the farm, even while all the other dogs are out playing at being a pack, Lindy stays inside with the people It doesn't help that she thinks she is people. I do try to encourage her to go off by herself, especially as luckily she is not interested in chasing the chickens thus she does not require being kept on a lead. Usually doesn't work so well. Until this trip.

This time she seems to have found her "farm legs". Not only was she much more comfortable with all the commotion, she even went off exploring the farm on her own. We were walking back down the driveway (the really long driveway!)

and she decided to go explore on her own. I went back to the house and about 15 minutes later she showed up. Long enough that she got some good explores in, not so long that I would get worried about her first solo expedition. We'll see what happens the next time we head up there.

Minimalist

Normally I am not a minimalist when it comes to holiday decorating. While I don't quite want to say it looks like the decorating fairy tripped and spilled her entire bag of holiday decor in my living room . . . I definitely tend to go a bit overboard. However, this year is a bit different. With all of my supplies in a storage unit, and not wanting to spend a lot of money on new supplies (at least not until the after sales) I was not planning on any Halloween decoration at all. Then I saw an adorable photo posted on a friend's blog that came from a Good Housekeeping magazine. So for very little money and taking very little time, I do have my minimalist Halloween display.

And since I don't foresee being in a bigger place or unpacking the storage unit any time soon . . . I expect Christmas to be similarly minimalist.

Christmas in FL

Guess where I’m going to be for Christmas??? WDW!!! I can’t wait. I haven’t been in years . . . however used to go every other year and spend about 10 days. I won’t be there that long this time, working adult does not have the same free time as college student did, but will thoroughly enjoy every moment there. Plus get to show it off to F.P. who has not been since high school. This was my brother’s idea and we will be meeting brother and parents there for the holidays. We will be staying on property as well (which I think is a no-brainer in terms of convenience and theming). Now I get to spend the next 10 weeks planning out every fun bit. I will keep you posted as the plans get made -- Deb, thanks for the ODC plan!

Wedding Dress Fiasco

There is a happy ending. However I’ve had a bit of a wedding dress fiasco. Back in July I dropped my dress off for preservation. There was an extremely reputable place in the Franklin area that handled dress preservations. Right before I dropped it off, the business was sold however the process was still in place and I viewed some returned dresses in their box with the window so you knew it was yours, etc. I’d researched them and found no negative reviews. Plus, my dress was handmade, not a designer label, so I wasn’t worried about it being stolen and sold. I was comfortable with this. Last week I started to wonder why I hadn’t been called to pick up my dress. Well, turns out the store went out of business and two local news channels did stories on how brides who were days from their weddings didn’t have dresses due to poor business practices by the new owners. Hmmm. My dress was taken to another bridal store so that I could pick it up, however not yet preserved. Back to the research to find a way to store it safely.  

Mad Skills

F.P. has been taking a blacksmithing class for about a month now. We joke about how he will have an applicable skill after the zombies take over the world and our economy falls apart. However, kidding aside, he is learning some really fascinating stuff. The program is project based and you work at your own speed. Skills learned creating the first project (S hooks)

are then used for the next one (wall hooks)

and then moving on to the next (spade hook). I'm very proud of him.

Rhinestone Cowboy!

Our Pops Symphony series started up again this past weekend. We got to see Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell live with the Nashville Orchestra. This is always a treat for us, we’ve enjoyed concerts with singers that we would never go see otherwise. And I was raised on country music so knew many of the songs they sang/played. However I always find it difficult to understand the singers on the stage that are country. Something about the acoustics? Very odd! I did have to laugh, I was disappointed in no Rhinestone Cowboy, until they came out for the encore and I got to sing along . . .