Winter has come back for what I hope is its last hurrah before spring settles in. We’ve had freeze warnings, but thankfully no icy precipitation. Meanwhile, it’s time to pause once again with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to look back at the highlights of the last week.
1. A Saturday outing. During the early part of the pandemic, Jason, Mittu, and Timothy went to explore Fort Loudoun. The visitor’s center was closed, but people could walk around the grounds. They wanted to go back and visit last week and invited us along. We ate a picnic lunch of egg salad sandwiches Mittu made and some chips. There were several picnic tables where we had a nice view of the Little Tennessee River and the mountains in the distance.
The weather was just a bit too cold–I had brought both my hoodie and jacket, not sure which would be best. I ended up wearing both and was still cold. But we warmed up when we started walking around.
The fort was originally built by the British during the French and Indian War in 1756. It was reconstructed in the 1920s and later made into a historical site. The visitor’s center was open this time.
We missed a live reenactment by a week. But we didn’t want to make the hour drive again so soon, so we’re not planning to go back tomorrow. Though it might have been fun to see, I enjoyed having the place almost to ourselves during our visit.
Due to missing our turn into the park area, we went past it and discovered the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum. We went and explored that after visiting the fort. I’m sorry to say that at first I thought Sequoyah referred to a tribe. Jim said no, Sequoyah was the Cherokee who developed a system of writing for his tribe. He was right (I didn’t feel so bad when my brother-in-law had the same thought I did).
This was a small museum, but exceedingly well done. The murals on several walls and life-like figures in places as well as the video presentations were really good quality and informative. I enjoyed learning about Sequoyah. It was fascinating that he not only worked for years to develop his system, but then had to convince the rest in the tribe that reading and writing would be valuable. But once he did, his system took off.
All in all, it was a fun day.
2. A serendipitous coupon. I got an email from Audible giving me a $10 coupon. I looked at their sale section and found two books I’d been wanting to read, one at $4.99 and the other at $5.99. With tax and the coupon, I only paid a little over a dollar for two audiobooks.
3. Bay leaves. We seem to get an invasion of ants once or twice a year. When Timothy was little, I didn’t want to use insecticides in the house. So I looked for natural ways to repel ants, and one site suggested bay leaves. We keep a few spread around in our cabinets now, and don’t have any problems with ants in them any more. I have to replace them with fresh leaves about once a year. This week, though, the little nuisances have been on our kitchen counter. So I spread a few bay leaves there for a few days. (As a side note, it’s not good for kids or pets to chew on bay leaves. When Timothy was young, we placed them where he couldn’t reach them. Now, of course, he knows better than to put them in his mouth). I’m thankful not only for a safe method of discouraging ants, but also that the leaves are not as messy as some of the other natural methods I read about.
4. Chocolate drizzled popcorn. Jason and Mittu brought a couple of types over last week. One even had peanut butter along with the chocolate. The sweet and salty combination was just right, and the calorie content wasn’t very high. I didn’t find the same brand they had when I went to the store, but the brand I found was just as good.
5. Brazi Bites Brazilian Cheese Bread. I can’t remember which store I found these in, but they were gluten-free, so I thought we’d give them a try for those in the family that have gluten issues. The flavor I got was Garlic Asiago. We warmed them up last night, and they were so good. I will definitely be looking for them again.
Bonus: It’s been another light cooking week.Jim was out of town most of the week, and I got take-out one night and then just made easy stuff the other nights.
We missed Pi Day (where we eat pie on 3.14) partly because Jim was away and partly because I was working on a project. But Mittu offered to make a belated Pi Day dinner tonight, so we’re looking forward to that.
That was our week. How was yours?
Stray Thoughts 
Sounds like you all had a really fun day out. No pi day here – as we work in days, months rather than months, days but interesting idea. We haven’t had any problems with ants in this house but good to know about bay leaves. Never heard that before. Have a good weekend.
Pi day is just a fun day and an excuse to eat pie, not an official holiday. 🙂 Since March 14–3.14–is the same number as pi in math, some use a play on words for pie.
I never need an excuse to eat pie lol
Bay leaves! Who knew! I’ll have to keep that in mind. The Ft. Loudon trip sounds interesting. I enjoy learning anything about Revolutionary War history.
The Smoky Mountain Heritage Museum has an exhibit about Sequoyah so I knew a bit about him. It’s amazing to have a whole museum about him.
The chocolate drizzle popcorn makes my mouth water! With just a drizzle of chocolate, it should add very many carbs. I’m glad you found some in the store. As well as the Brazi Bites. I’m looking for things that I can eat as snacks and don’t affect my blood sugar very much.
How wonderful about the Audible coupon! I’m thinking of rejoining again. After I got all my Mitford books on audible, I quit.
Have a great weekend. And stay warm!
Sounds like you had a nice outing. Good that you were able to warm up. I hope you were able to enjoy some pie!
That fort looks interesting. Not being from that area, I know next to nothing about it. I need to Google it and read more. So glad you could go. The audible coupon sounds great. I find myself enjoying audiobooks more and more. Light cooking weeks are always a plus. Sounds like you had a good week. Now, enjoy the weekend. See you again soon!
Sounds like a good week! I would have thought the same as you on Sequoyah — isn’t there a tribe named that too?? Anyway, the fort sounds interesting. Living in “Fort Wayne,” we have a local reconstructed fort. I have been when the girls were younger but not recently. It would be fun to visit when there’s a reenactment going on. That’s interesting about bay leaves. Hopefully I can remember it … Have a good week and yes, stay warm! My youngest and I go to an outdoor soil-making meeting tomorrow. It’s supposed to be in the low 20s with a windchill of 7 degrees. Heaven help us!
That sounds like a fun outing. I did know that about Sequoyah. He did so much linguistic work for the Cherokee.
Thanks for the reminder about the bay leaves. (a note: if you put them in a soup or sauce to cook, be sure to take them out before serving; they’re not good for anyone’s gut)
Love easy cooking weeks!
Have a good weekend with lots of family time.
Sounds like a fun family day out. I love historical trips. The discovery of the Sequoyah museum was a fun bonus. I didn’t know that about bay leaves and ants. Our ant problem is more so outside and I put corn meal down in the worst spots. Seems to really help. I love sweet salty combo.
We also missed Pi Day but only because my husband said he wants to cut out sweets (although we do eat very dark chocolate a couple times a week) and I’m starting to cut back on them as well. He told me “stop baking so much?” hahah.
That popcorn sounds wonderful! we love to eat it when we watch hulu or netflix movies.
Yay for a light cooking week!!
That is a historical site I’d never heard of BUT it’s in a state (TN) that i long to visit one day. I’ve never been to the Smokey Mts and I long to hike there. We also LOVE exploring National Historical Sites and have been to MANY in NY and New England states. Looks like a great outing and the picnic foods sound yummy.
I hope you have a restful weekend.
How fun that you got to visit Fort Loudoun basically to yourself. We took our grandson to McWane Center in Birmingham last Friday and it was packed with kids. We still had fun though. Chocolate drizzled popcorn sounds delicious!
Ooh, I like that ant solution. I’d tried cinnamon oil which works great, house smells great. But it can leave a sticky mess that stains grout and caulking.
Glad to hear you were warmed up enough (eventually) to enjoy the outing to Ft Loudoun.
I used to work at a multinational company that celebrated Pi Day in a big way — employees across the world would post photos of potlucks featuring round food. It was a lot of fun.
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