Old Mill Square

The Old Mill Square is a shopping area that surrounds the Old Mill Restaurant that is a mill that was built in 1830 and has been in operation since then.  The Old Mill has demonstrations daily as to what and how the mill works along with candy making demonstrations and pottery making demonstrations.  The Old Mill is a big restaurant that serves homemade foods like your grandmother use to make.  Around the Old Mill are more shops and restaurants that also feature items made at the mill and lot of other merchandise too.  There is the Farmhouse Kitchen store, the Farmhouse Candy store, a huge pottery store, along with jewelry, clothing, soaps, metal sculptures, blacksmithing, and wood working stores. There is even a distillery and much more.  It is a nice area to spend some time shopping at but make sure you go hungry so you can enjoy a meal at the Old Mill.  We did not get a chance to but we will be returning to do just that especially since the cross stitch store I like is located a block away from the Old Mill.  If you are visiting the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area make sure you take time to visit the Old Mill and Old Mill Square.

Girls Day Out

While the guys were off golfing and since Kaitlyn (Lisa & George's daughter) was still in town we decided to have a girls day out.  We headed to Pigeon Forge and to the Old Mill Square (more on that tomorrow) then headed to the Apple Barn for lunch.  After lunch we went to Old Time Pottery where we walked the entire store and down every aisle.  We then headed to Joann's and then Hobby Lobby before heading back to the farm.  We had a great time and I enjoyed spending the day with Lisa and Kaitlyn.  Thanks ladies!

We Have More Baby Birds

We have more baby birds!  The second batch of eggs in the wren nest has hatched and it looks like they are all doing well.  Lisa got some pictures yesterday and the birds are bigger that we thought.  They are probably not far from fleeing the nest.  The next question is will that be it or will our mama wren have one more batch?  There is still time to do so which means we will be doing an egg check of the nest for a little while longer.  Welcome to the world little birdies.

A Twine Holder

I was able to purchase several rolls of baker's twine in several colors but storing them so I would not forget them was troublesome.  So I came up with a storage idea and I had the items needed to make it so I did.  I used a wood plaque, a wooden dowel ( cut into two pieces), a drill and some wood glue.  Tim and I assembled the twine holder together by drilling two holes into the plaque, cutting the dowel in two and placing them into the holes filled with wood glue.  It took all of 5 minutes from start to finish.  Thanks Tim for helping and now I have a great storage area for my baker's twine!

A Gadget That Works

My daughter Carrie gave me one of the best kitchen gadgets that actually works really well.  It is a watermelon slicer that will cut a watermelon in slices easily and almost no mess.  It is a simple tool that has a strange look to it but it slices through watermelon with ease and literally only took me maybe 30 seconds to slice up a quarter of a watermelon.  I will be using this tool going forward.  The best thing each slice is the same size too!  Thanks Carrie, I love it!

Wonder Woman

I have never been a fan of comic books, with the exception of Archie when I was a little girl, but now that Marvel and DC Comics are bringing out movies I am becoming a fan.  I do like the Avenger movies along with Thor, Captain America, Ironman and Guardians of the Galaxy.  We went and saw Wonder Wonan and it was great.  So now I am looking forward to DC Comics Justice League.  Wonder Woman tells a story I never knew and it was well done.  The movie is action packed and the special effects are really good.  If you are looking for a fun and action packed movie with a good story then go see Wonder Woman!

Ober Gatlinburg

Ober Gatlinburg is an amusement park and snow ski area located in the mountains overlooking Gatlinburg, TN.  It was built in 1962 and it has a large mall with indoor amusements, a skating rink, restaurants and stores.  Outside there are ski runs, an alpine slide, a mountain roller coaster, some kiddie rides, a maze, miniature golf, a wildlife encounter and a scenic chairlift to the top of Mount Harrison (elevation 3590 ft). In the winter there are ten ski runs, a terrain park, three chairlifts and a multi lane tubing area.  To get to Ober Gatlinburg an aerial tram is taken from downtown Gatlinburg up to Ober Gatlinburg that is a 2mile ride and takes about 10 minutes.  The ride has some spectacular views especially if you get by a window. During the fires last fall in Gatlinburg it was reported that Ober Gatlinburg was totally destroyed but I am happy to say that is false.  The fires did surround the area but Ober Gatlinburg was safe and is in full operation.  The scenic chair lift to the top of Mount Harrison is a relaxing ride that leads to some spectacular views of the Smokey Mountains.  An added touch at the top, live music that is played all day. Ober Gatlinburg has so much to do in any season and is very family friendly.  This was our first time (Tim and I) and we will return.  It was a great day and a great place to spend anywhere from a couple of hours to all day.  If you are in Gatlinburg for a few day then visit Ober Gatlinburg and have fun!    To see more of our Gatlinburg visit please visit my Travels With Ruth blog.  travelswithruth-ruth.blogspot.com