Lavender Festival & a Visit from Painter of the Past ~ updated

Thanks for checking back in ~ I thought I'd better get this post taken care of before I forget how everything went! I am now in my 40s, you know, and I've discovered that the memory of a 41 year old is not quite the same as the memory of a 31 year old.

My family and I thoroughly enjoyed having Suzanne / Painter of the Past here for a visit. I didn't want to wear her out, but at the same time, didn't want her to be bored! Besides all the chatting we did while she was here, I took her to see some of the sights in the area.

First on the list were several thrift / junk / antique shops. We spent the whole day junking! I actually was quite proud of myself. I didn't buy a lot that day, but did find a couple Trixie Belden books. I read the series as a girl and would LOVE to put a set together a set again.

Another day I took Suzanne to Rugby where we browsed the 2 story Commissary, and drove around the village where I showed her homes from the 1880's as well as several new homes that my husband and his brothers built. Pictured below is the church in Rugby and one of the old homes.

Saturday, the day of the Lavender Festival we were up before the chickens! It's about an hour's drive to Oak Ridge and we had to leave in time to get everything set up and move the car before people started arriving. When we were leaving the house at about 5:15 am, we stepped out on the porch and heard a loud whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!! The turkey decided to fly down from his roost as we were leaving!

The photos below are taken at the festival. The first one is looking from my booth out onto the parking lot where it was packed with vendors getting ready for the crowd.

Next, is a photo of my booth. This year we were asked to scrunch up to an 8x8 space instead of the usual 10x10. It worked out fine and I had great sales!

A fellow blogger came by to visit ~ Donna of Cottage Days & Journeys and her husband stopped to say hello. Both of them were such nice people! Another lady, Karen, came by to say hello too. She doesn't have a blog, but has visited mine... and she was a vendor at the festival. Karen had some really pretty cottage style painted items in her booth.

Betsy of Foothill Primitives and her husband, Tim, came by to see Suzanne and me! She brought both of us a bag of her handmade wax ornaments that smell soooo good! We were hoping to see a few more ladies from online groups, but they couldn't make it. Maybe next year! This is Betsy and me...

Sunday after church, we went to Pall Mall, TN in Fentress County (my home county where I was born and raised). We visited Sgt. Alvin C. York's home, and the old store and the gristmill. It was a nice relaxing day ~ which was needed after the busy day at the festival. Below s a photo of Sgt. York's homeplace.

This last photo was taken the day we took Suzanne back to the airport. That's me on the left (Rachael ~ you're right! Jess cut my hair), my daughter Jessica in the middle, and Suzanne on the right. We didn't take any goodbye photos at the airport, which was just as well, since I did start to get a little teary and that wouldn't have made a good photo!

On the way to the airport, we were already planning another visit, so...... I'm sure we'll have more trips to share with you someday.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit Suzanne's blog for more photos.

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UPDATE! Suzanne brought me some beautiful gifts when she came to visit.

First is a watercolor painting she did of a mourning dove. I love these birds and enjoy watching them on my back porch. They were always in abundance at my parents' home and Mama and Daddy always made sure that the doves had plenty of food. They enjoyed sitting on the porch and watching the birds, too.

Suzanne and I have a mutual friend, Patti, who does exceptional needlework! Several months ago, Patti surprised me with a Simple Joys stitched heart. It's perfect! For this piece, she used a Stacy Nash pattern. Then, when Suzanne was here, besides the beautiful watercolor, she gave me the silhouette pillow that she purchased from Patti. Isn't is gorgeous? I have a collection of bird prints and rescued nests and eggs (or parts of egg shells) and this goes perfectly with them. Patti also has a blog so be sure to go say hello.

Now, unless I rememeber something else that I previously forgot... I'll move on to something else in the next post. Smokey is growing, the garden is coming in, and the turkey is still around... I'm sure I'll have something to talk about!

Have a safe, happy, and blessed 4th of July!

Lana of Honeysuckle Lane

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