Car dealerships

If you have ever been to a car dealership in South Florida, you know they can leave a bad taste in your mouth. As soon as you get into the parking lot someone is waiting, clipboard in hand, wanting your name, phone number and bank balance. Before you know it, there is a salesman shackled to your ankle and you drag him along wherever you go. The only way to get rid of him is to kick and scream and run like hell. You won't be able to get far as he will be calling you....

What a difference buying a car in the smoky mountains!! Chris wanted to buy himself a new truck. We got to the dealership and mossied around some. A slow talking salesman came by to see if we needed any help. Chris showed some interest in this beautiful red truck. The slow talker asked if he wanted to test it out. He wrote down his name and number and handed him the keys and a $5.00 bill and told him to run by the gas station and put some gas in it.

Needless to say, that beauty is sitting in the driveway.

There's nothing like homemade bread

I have found one of the easiest bread recipes that you don't have to knead. Start with 1 1/2 T of kosher salt and yeast. Mix with 3 cups warm water. Add 61/2 cups unbleached flour. Put in covered container, but do not put the cover on tight. Let sit for 2 hours until it doubles in size.

At this point you can put it away in the refrigerator or make a loaf. Sprinkle flour on dough and lift out a grapefruit size piece. Pull some of the dough around to the back of the ball, do this four times turning the ball as you go. Set dough on a cutting board sprinkled with corn meal. Leave alone for 20 minutes. Put a baking stone, pizza stone or flat pan on middle rack in oven.

Put the bottom half of a broiler pan on the lower shelf of oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees for 45 minutes. Sprinkle flour on top of dough and make 4 slices with serrated knife. Slide dough onto baking stone, and pour one cup of hot water into the broiler pan. It will steam up. Close the oven door and wait 30 minutes for this:

One of the tastiest loaves of bread you have ever eaten. The outside is hard and crusty and the inside is soft and moist. Mmmm Mmmm.

For more terrific bread recipes get this book

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

We woke up this morning and headed to the farmers market in downtown West Jefferson. There was about 30 vendors there selling veggies, fruits, meats, eggs, flowers, plants, baked goods and home crafted items. All items must be made or grown locally. We went home with a basket of small bright red strawberries, grape and strawberry jelly, orange cranberry goat cheese, an Italian Cream Cake for fathers day (and hubby's birthday) and a kohlrabi.

I don't remember ever seeing a kohlrabi before. I took it home, washed it, cut off the stems and peeled it. I tried it raw-it was like a combination pear and cucumber. I sliced it and steamed it in the microwave. It was tasty. I thought it was better cooked than raw.

Our last stop of the day was to a clock shop. We went inside this shop that was filled with junk and had clocks hanging from the walls. There were cuckoo clocks, grandfather clocks, mantel clocks, antique clocks and clocks that have seen a better day. The owner of the store must have been 75 years old. I asked him if the cuckoo clocks worked. He told me no, he no longer worked on cuckoo clocks ever since he had a run-in with one of his customers. She came to his shop to have a clock repaired. She kept bring the clock back, claiming it would work for a while

and then stop. He ended up going to her home to see what the problem was. He sat there for a while watching the clock when a cat came around the corner and started to play with the chain. Ever since, he refuses to work on the cuckoo.

Time to create dinner...

We are here!

When I woke up this morning it was 49 degrees out.

Here is the view from our backyard.

It has been quite a week. Saturday we started loading the trailer at

6 AM. I must have made 75 trips up and down the stairs carrying boxes. After the trailer was full, hubby turned around and said "The trailer needs new tires". Why did he wait until then? It had been sitting in the garage for 8 months. After a quick call to Tire Kingdom we were off. The great folks at Tire Kingdom had the new tires on before we had even finished our

breakfast at the Sandalfoot Deli. They even did it fully loaded. Then we headed across the parking lot to pick up the Penske truck.

By then Andrew and Nadia were awake and Chad came over to help. It took 5 hours to load up all of the furniture and the boxes that wouldn't fit in the trailer.

The most relaxing part of the day was the 4 hour drive to Daytona Beach! We got there about 8 PM. Andrew and Nadia

arrived 3 hours later. We slept on air beds.

Sunday we woke up and traveled to Kissimmee to visit with my family. My dad, who is 84 years old, has recently found out he needs triple by-pass surgery. We will know more this week

after he sees the surgeon. It looks like I will be heading back to Florida a lot sooner than planned. It was great seeing my mom, sister and brother-in-law. We haven't seen them since Christmas.

We arrived in Jefferson Tuesday night after a 10 hour car ride. The dog was sure happy to get out of the car.

Wednesday I went to Blowing Rock with the kids for a little sight seeing. Blowing Rock is only 3 square miles with over 100 shops, two dozen restaurants and 20 hotels and inns. Many of the shops feature home crafted items such as candles, jewelry, furniture and textiles. It is a great way to spend the afternoon. Follow it up with a stop at Kilwens for an ice cream cone. The town was just named the "Prettiest Small Town in North Carolina".

I need to get back to unpacking.

Last day of school

Yesterday was the last day of school for me. It was really hard saying good-bye to everyone and walking out the door for the final time. What kept me going was this thought "Spending time with my hubby is more important to me than work". Yeah right... No really it is.

Today we packed and went to lunch with some old friends from our Cub Scout days. Next week is filled with doctor appointments and more good-byes.