Strawberries

Strawberries
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Imp's blog had strawberries on it, and I took these yesterday so decided to post them in lieu of any other pretty photos.

Strawberries are nice now - sweet and gorgeous. Simian and I have been having them after dinner on the deck.

Today was cleaning and laundry day. Hanging clothes out to dry on the deck can be a pain, but (1) it saves electricity and (2) the clothes literally smell of sunshine :)

While working on the garden, I noticed little holes in the soil. Have been looking up what could have made them - possibly moles, shrews, chipmunks, voles or even rats. Simian and I saw something dark black run across the path this evening though, so it's unlikely to be a rat (WHEW!).

I went out with a torchlight and jumped out tonight to see what I could scare up. All I did was scare off the neighbour's orange and white cat.

Empanadas

Empanadas
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

For everyone who asked how the gardening went - it's still GOING. We spent the whole of yesterday weeding. Today we went to buy more black out cloth, and then laid out cardboard, blackout cloth, newspaper, etc, and THEN we mulched. By the end of the day, I was literally on all fours digging and tossing mulch with my hands. Even with gloves on, I still got dirt under my nails.

We're both exhausted, and still have the back to do but we finished the front and the side and I have to say they look really good.

We worked till it was dark and then realised we were super late for dinner with M & G. M made gorgeous empanadas.

Humming at window feeder

Humming at window feeder
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Lest you think the window is dirty, I actually did wipe it down - unfortunately the streak is between the two pieces of glass where I can't get to it.

The hummings are coming to the window feeder though, which is great!

Woodchuck

Woodchuck
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Simian and I spent the whole day gardening and then collapsed and fell asleep at 10.

We saw this animal running around - and shortly after found a burrow. Apparently it is a groundhog - or woodchuck. They're harmless but eat vegetation. Simian found they had eaten all the leaves off the dandelions, which is fine by us.

Hummingbird

Hummingbird
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

The hummingbirds seem a little more shy this time around - think will just need to sit on the deck more again. I did manage to get this shot. Hummingbirds are generally like the terriers of the bird world - they're small, but they think they're big and scary. You have to love them.

I just stuck a feeder up on our front door and the humming came right up. Will try and get shots tomorrow - only one seems to have found the new feeder so far.

Mulch

Mulch
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Simian and I have a fun day planned tomorrow - MULCHING!

Squirrel damage

Squirrel damage
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

This is what the squirrel did to the feeder.

Lilies

Lilies
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Back in Maryland, our lilies are flowering. Today was the first day I went out and took photos in the garden.

Gibson Cafe

Gibson Cafe
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Gibson is from Nashville - and this was the cafe in the airport.

Muscovy Duck

Muscovy Duck
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

We saw this extremely strange looking bird in Centennial Park as we were leaving. I looked it up and it's a muscovy duck.

Replica of Parthenon

Replica of Parthenon
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

There's something fitting about visiting a replica of the Parthenon the same week, the museum opened in Athens. Inside the Nashville replica, there is even a recreation of the original Athena statue. Alas, we did not have the opportunity to view it as the place was closed for a special function. I have to say the friezes look nothing like the Parthenon ones.

There is also apparently an art gallery inside.

Cedars of Lebanon state Park

 

Tuesday afternoon, we headed to the Cedars of Lebanon State Park. Interestingly, cedars are not true cedars but are junipers and are used to make pencils. Will suggested we rename it the Pencil Tree State Park.

Nashville skyline

Nashville skyline
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

A view of the Nashville skyline.

Orbison Building

Orbison Building
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Just off Broadway.

White Castle

 

We had lunch on Tuesday at White Castle - sort of a religious experience for Will I think :) I couldn't believe the hamburgers cost 69 cents each. They didn't have any veggie burgers, so Simian and I shared some sides.

Frank

Frank
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Frank has always been the quiet, shy cat, but at the apartment, he was the more outgoing one. Don, the braver one, spent almost the entire time under the bed.

Jelly belly

Jelly belly
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

M - not as wide a selection as the ones you had, but I did manage to get cotton candy and buttered popcorn mix. Jelly Belly rules.

Tootsie's Orchid Lounge

Tootsie's Orchid Lounge
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

We headed down to Tootsie's on Monday night, along the famous Broadway stretch. The first band I didn't quite like, the second was better. K had her first taste of country and western music in a bar - and she didn't quite like it.

BBQ

 

You can't stop in the south and not have BBQ - so we headed to Corky's, which turned out to be a chain restaurant. You can get everything fried in the South - and I do mean everything. I have for example, never had fried corn on the cob before, but it was yummy.

Also vegetarianism still seems a little bit of a foreign concept in some restaurants. I am pretty sure a few of these sides had meat in them.

Lynchburg

 

Just because you can't sell Jack Daniel's doesn't mean you can't put it in just about everything. Downtown Lynchburg has many stores selling related merchandise. We also had JD ice cream (which you could have with a JD sauce) and JD fudge. Both were good.

Drive a few miles down the road, and you can buy the green label JD - only available in Tenneesee. K and N also bought the special JD which comes with its own certificate - that they were able to buy at the distillery itself, apparently by a special act of legislature.

Sugar maple tree

Sugar maple tree
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

One of the sugar maple trees on the grounds. The water comes from a spring also on site, but apparently due to the fact that there are rocks coming loose, we couldn't go down to the spring.

Interestingly, the tour ends with a glass of lemonade. Moore County, where Lynchburg is, is a dry county so you can't sell or serve alcohol. Apparently they don't have enough people to vote to change the law - you need 5000 residents or something close, and they don't have enough people living there.

JD's mission statement

JD's mission statement
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Tour

 

It was a really interesting tour. For safety reasons, apparently because of the heat and pressure, we weren't allowed to take photos in a lot of the buildings. There's a lovely yeasty smell throughout the area.

The woman running the tour was thrilled that we were from far away Singapore - and scarily, she even knew what the alcohol content and bottle size of the JD's in Singapore is.

Every first Friday of the month, the employees all get a free bottle of Jack Daniel's. The tour guide joked that this is why no one ever leaves - they either retire or die on the job, and it did seem that everyone has worked there forever.

Jack Daniel's office

 

Legend is that Jack Daniel's kicked the safe in the office (still there) and that he ended up with gangrene, which didn't heal. He then died from the infection.

Rickyard

 

Here's the rickyard - where they burn the crates of sugar maple to produce charcoal through which the whiskey is filtered through. It takes 16 crates of sugar maple to produce one container of the charcoal, which you can see in the middle photo. This is also where they took a group photo of us which they posted online at the Jack Daniel's website.

Jack Daniel's distillery

Jack Daniel's distillery
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Next stop - the Jack Daniel's Distillery, in Lynchburg Tennessee.

Pancake Pantry

 

On Monday morning, we went to the Pancake Pantry for brunch. This is a Nashville institution - and it is packed every single day. N and Will waited for a table for twenty minutes. The pancakes were fantastic though - I had the chocolate sin. YUM.

Boscos

 

On Sunday, Simian, Will and N went to pick up K's washer and dryer. K and I stayed in the apartment and unpacked. We went to a little place called Bosco's nearby - the food was great. I had fried artichoke hearts and a fantastic mushroom soup. Everyone said their meals were good. They also homebrew their beers and Will and N tried their beer samplers.

Hillsboro

 

K lives in a charming area, Hillsboro. She has great stores, coffeeshops and supermarkets down the road. Not too far away is an area which also has all the international supermarkets - so she's pretty much set!

On the Road

 

Simian, K, Will, N and I drove down to Nashville on Saturday. K is moving there to start her residency. K, Will and N went in her car with her cats, while Simian and I went in the truck. Despite the fact that the cat carrier came apart three times (once in the hallway of the apartment, twice in the truck - and then they were moved to the car), everyone and everything was transported safely to Nashville.

Simian drove the truck the whole day. Will offered to take over but Simian said he had gotten into the groove. I was a little worried about my ability to handle a 17 foot truck so didn't drive at all.

After 14 hours on the road, we finally got to Nashville just before midnight.

Tennessee Welcomes you

Tennessee Welcomes you
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

Just back from a weekend in Nashville after helping K move. I didn't have Net access there - so will post the photos tomorrow. We unpacked on Sunday but got to do quite a lot of stuff yesterday and today, including a trip to Jack Daniel's - more on that when I post the photos! It's bed time now :)

All I can say is that the one hour and a half flight back was way better than the 14 hour drive up - and I wasn't even doing the driving!

Parthenon

Behold the parthenon - in Tennessee!

Tennessee

Busy day - packed this morning, then refilled bird seed and did stuff around the house. In the afternoon, headed to K's where we helped to pack and move her stuff. We had dinner, then Simian drove the truck back. We leave tomorrow at 6 am, so I have to go catch some shuteye :)

So far, Simian has busted his back and K sprained her ankle. Not a very auspicious start but I'm hoping it will only get better!

Tennessee here we come!

Arnold snuggling

Arnold snuggling
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

This is Will's new little friend - an adorable parrot named Arnold. Arnold is three months old and makes little cooing noises when you pet him - unlike our CooCoo who just bites you when you stop scratching his head.

Also I put up my new hummingbird feeder and the hummings are back in full force!

K's farewell dinner

 

K's farewell dinner was at Marie Louise's tonight. We had a room in the alcove and a large number of K's lab mates turned up.

Dinner was lovely. The table was a little cramped so I couldn't get a good shot of my summer vegetables. The desserts were from Patissiere Poupon, which I've always wanted to try and they were scrumptious!

We had drinks at Brewer's Art afterwards.

Nacho Mama's

 

It rained almost the whole day. I cleaned out the spare bathrooms and changed the shower curtain in the one upstairs (yes, the one you most recently used M!). The shower curtain is made of cloth, and even with a liner, I don't like the idea that it might get wet. The curtain was not put up by hooks - but was secured by strips of fabric secured by buttons!

I was short of two hooks and that was easily rectified when Simian and I went with K to Ikea this evening. K needed some stuff for her upcoming Tennessee move. Then we headed to PetCo and Walmart to get her a cat carrier and litter tray.

We had dinner at Nacho Mama's - I had the black bean con queso. Simian had the guacamole (fresh and delicious as always). K had the spinach and mushroom quesadilla and I had a strawberry margarita, while the two of them had Modelo Especial. Burp!

There's a Vaccaro's in Canton too so I got Simian's favourite marzipan cookie - which, btw M, are called almond cookies :) They certainly weren't cheap though.

Chocolate cookies

Chocolate cookies
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

I also made these chocolate cookies Mom likes. The difference in humidity makes these cookies drier and a lot less moist here. Simian likes them though!

Blueberry Crumble

Blueberry Crumble
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

I made blueberry crumble today and took it over to my neighbour's along with the bracelet that Mom made for R. D, my neighbour, loves this, and declares that they are his absolute favourite. I can't tell you the difference fresh berries make.

I also went and got the oil changed in my car and to Simian's horror, got the stuff they recommended done. I thought changing the coolant for $5 and the windshield wipers for $9.99 was a pretty good deal but Simian was groaning that the service is already over-priced ($35) because you don't have to wait.