Rock Hound Field Trip: Selenite

Himself and I recently joined a Nashville based 'rock hound' club.  We had our first trip recently.  We headed to west central Tennessee.  There is a site that is rich in selenite crystals.  It also contains some nice fossils.  We spent about 3 hours here before we got too hot and called it a day.  We have plans to go back this winter and try again.

This is a selenite star (2 pieces have already been picked up by Himself).  Stars are one of the 'trophy' finds here.

When we got home I printed the above photo to help me get the star back together.

And here is the star laid out on a piece of cloth.  I now have to figure out how to mount it for display in an upcoming project.

This is where we did our rock hounding.  As I understand it, the landscape is natural.

Here's a close-up of the side of one of those mounds.

Even with clouds, it was pretty warm that day... but not bad at all when you consider it was still summer in The South.  That is Himself in the middle of the photo.

Me... working on a mound.

In spite of the hook in my hand, you do not dig here.  I can't stand dirt under my finger nails so I use the hook instead.

Here's another piece of selenite in the shape called a 'bow tie'.

A few other keepers.  The ones in the bag I don't want and will take them back next time to scatter for other to find.

My other interesting find was this fossil bone.  I'm working on getting an ID for it.

We had a lot of fun with this group.  Can't wait for the next rock hounding trip!

Nashville Highland Games

 
I forgot to say anything about our anniversary excursion, probably because I didn't blog much in September.

The Nashville Highland Games are back!

He's the guy in the poster.

We wandered around a bit until I saw one of my clan tents!

MacFie!

Or McFee or MacFee or MacPhee or MacPhie or, or, or...

Anyway... there they were!

We sat and visited for a while, and when we went exploring we could leave our chairs and stuff there at the clan tent.

The games start with the "massed pipe bands" meaning everyone who plays comes together to play and lead in the clans.  All of the clan parade in together by clan.  It's so cool.

So you can imagine how excited I was in Jim asked if I'd like to walk with him in the clan parade!!

Ginger let me borrow her tartan rosette and pinned it on for me.

SO much fun!!

After the field was cleared and set up, the athletic games began.  There are some big men competing in these!

Then it was time for the not-so-big guys over on the small field...

The girls had other places to be...

... with the fabulous Merida (of Pixars "Brave").

There was dancing ...

...and sheep...

...and fun shops too!

Can't wait til this next September!

Out For a Spot of Tea - Burdett's Tea Shop in Springfield, TN

This week Himself and I went out with a group of friends to a local tea room.

It's a lovely little restaurant with a full menu to tempt your taste buds.  We were there over the lunch hour and it was quite busy.

We had the best waiter...he was so charming and very efficient too.

In the front and all along the wall are cute thing available for purchase.

It is a great place to get a unique gift.  I'll remember that for future gift giving.

But we were there for the food!

My choice:  Turkey-Ham Melt -Served open faced on Schlabach’s Bread with tomato, mushrooms, bacon crumbles & a rich cheese sauce.

Oh my goodness!  I actually scraped my plate...it was so wonderful.

For a my side: ham and cheese scone.

Himself had the 7th Ave. Chef Salad - Fresh mixed salad greens topped with ham, turkey, cheese, egg & crisp veggies. Served with crackers & your choice of dressing.

One of our friends had the Salad Jumble Plate - Scoop of Chicken salad, one ham & cheese scone & crackers with your choice of two side salads (she had the broccoli salad and the frozen strawberry salad).

A strawberry almond scone.

Everything was very very good...we will be going back!

Burdett's Tea Shop

http://www.burdettsteashop.com/  

Slice of America: The Street Fair

Street fairs, aren't they so much fun?  Last month we were making a WalMart run and decided to head south through little Ashland City instead of going into Clarksville.

It was a great decision because we came upon a detour  around the heart of Ashland City.  Main Street was now a destination of its own!

I love small town fairs.  You have all the local folks doing meet-and-greets; like the first responders who had special treats for the little ones.

The booths ran for blocks with any thing you would ever want or need!  And a few things you just thought "uh-huh" to yourself.

I think half of the BBQ places in the county were represented plus a few other tasty looking vendors.  I regretted having lunch before we left.

With the band rocking it out...country style... Main Street became a dance floor.  There was some real good boot scootin' boogie going on...

...but none did it better than this wonderful grandma!

Watch this video all the way through, it's worth it.  She may be slow and she may have to use a cane but she still knows how to move!

Volunteering For Franklin

On the 3rd of May, Himself and I were volunteers at the Tennessee stop of Franklin Graham's "Decision America Tour".  It was held at the 'Capitol Plaza' in front of the TN capitol building.  As you can see from the above photo, it made a nice background.

Here is what the area looked like the day before.

24 hours later.

Himself was selected to help with security right there at Franklin's bus!  He says that if the photo went just a bit more to the right, you'd probably be able to see him, or perhaps he was up next to the bus.

Me?  I was to the right of the photo, back next to the trees.

That's me the arrow is pointing to.  My job was to greet and answer questions.

Wasn't too bad of a spot.  Got to see Charlie Daniels and Michael W Smith perform.

And I saw the man of the hour.

(I saw Billy Graham at the Nashville Crusade in 2000, and heard Will - Franklin's son - in 2005.)

Franklin's message was one of civil responsibility and people's responsibility to get out and vote.  And if you are able, to serve in a leadership position in your community... be it in local or state government... or even on the school board.  

If you wish to hear the message, I have a video embedded at the bottom.

At the end of the event and after we volunteers had cleaned the plaza grounds, we gathered for a group photo.  Himself and I are top and center.

It was a great experience!