Peachtree United Methodist Church

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While Jeep and I were on vacation in Maggie Valley, NC, we attended Sunday morning worship services at Peachtree United Methodist Church.

The members and the  pastor, Rev. Tim McConnell and his wife, Debbie, made us feel very much at home.

The picture above is behind the pulpit.   I highly reccomend this church as a wonderful place to worship when you are in the Smoky Mountains.   You can click on the title of the post and it will take you to the pastors blog.
 

Above, is a collage of the beautiful stained glass windows on the sides of the sanctuary.

This is a view of the front of the church.   It looked very pretty in its mountain setting with the colorful trees all around.   "Thank You" to all of you who made us feel so welcome!  

Skywatch Friday

We found lots of small trees with clusters of bright red berries (or fruits) at the higher elevations in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  My sister helped us identify these as Mountain Ash.   I asked a young man who was standing close to one of these trees  if he knew what they were.   I had to laugh when he said, "I think it's a Weeping Willow"!

Check out the skies around the world by clicking  HERE or on the Title of this post.

Abbey Inn

We've been on a little trip and made hundreds of pictures.  I hardly know where to start, so I'll start at the beginning, with the charming motel where we stayed.  Of all Maggie Valley lodgings, this Smoky Mountains  motel is the only one on the side of a mountain.  We enjoyed staying  here in a clean, comfortable room.  Abbey Inn  is located 1200' above the rest of Maggie Valley NC, and 2000' above Cherokee, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. The air is always cool and fresh, and the scenery guaranteed to be outstanding.  The owners/operators, Mike and Natalie, made us feel at home and talked with us like we were old friends.  Jeep stayed at this motel in the fall of 2005 and he visited with them at lot on that trip because he was alone.  He must have made quite an impression because Natalie said, "You stayed in # 5 when you were here before"!   I wish I had a memory like that!

I think the foliage must have been at its peak while we were there. 

Every morning when we got up and looked out, this is what we saw.   The building on the left is the home and office for the motel.  The road is on the other side of this building.

This is a very quiet place and at night we never heard a sound.   I walked up a long, steep driveway that goes around behind the motel to a summer home back up on the mountain.   The Mountaineer Restaurant is within walking distance of this motel and they serve a great breakfast while you enjoy the great views from the dining room.   We used this as 'home base' and made day trips from here for the five nights we spent here.
They close for the winter at the end of October, but open up in April.  I know it is lovely when the dogwood and mountain laurel are blooming!   Click HERE to go to their web site.  No charge for this 'ad', Natalie;-)

A to Z on Monday (backwards) K is for.....

KATYDID
I have to confess, even though I'm a country girl, I don't know the names of all these insects.  I just call all of them Katydids!
This first one was on a light pole and I just turned the picture to the right so you could see him better. 

This is another picture of the same kind of insect.  I called it a Katydid and one person corrected me and said it was a Leaf Hopper, and after I made the correction, another said, no, it's a Katydid!!  You just can't please some people!

I think this one is really a Grasshopper, but you can call it whatever you want!

This last one is probably not a Katydid, but it was so tiny,

(about an inch long) and cute, I didn't want to leave him out!

Now Hop on over and check out Jen's sidebar at Unglazed to see what others are posting for the letter K.

Maggie Valley, NC

A to Z (backwards) L is for...........

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Many ideas for the letter L are spinning through my mind! Here are a few I'll share with you.

Leaves

"How silently they tumble down

And come to rest upon the ground

To lay a carpet, rich and rare,

Beneath the trees without a care,

Content to sleep, their work well done,

Colors gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly

Until they nearly reach the sky.

Twisting, turning through the air

Till all the trees stand stark and bare.

Exhausted, drop to earth below

To wait, like children, for the snow."

By Elsie N. Brady

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L is for Love
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Every day with Jeep is sweeter than the day before,

Every day with Jeep, I Love him more and more!!

(to paraphrase an old song)

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L is for Lover's Leap

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This waterfall under lovers leap is one of the primary attractions of Rock City, the only place in the United States where on a clear day provides a "view of 7 states" from the top of the cliff.

Lover's Leap is named "According to folklore, a young brave named Sautee fell deeply in love with Nacoochee, a beautiful Cherokee maiden. Nacoochee loved Sautee as well, but their tribes were engaged in a bitter feud. The two finally ran off together, but Sautee was soon captured and thrown from from the tip of Lovers' Leap. The dispairing Nacoochee quickly followed her lover, leaping to her own death far below". (from Internet)

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L is for Looking Glass Falls

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This is Looking Glass Falls in Pisgah National Forest in the Smoky Mountains. It's right beside the road, (I'm not into hiking as far as Betsy does) but you do have several steps to go down to see it up close.

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I'd like to end this post with something sweet.........one of our favorite desserts.

L is for Lemonade Pie.

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(this photo is from the Internet)

Lemonade Pie

2 cans sweetened condensed milk (like Eagle Brand)
16 oz. carton of Cool Whip- (thaw in Ref. overnight)
12 oz. container of Frozen Lemonade concentrate

Mix milk and lemonade concentrate together, gently fold in Cool Whip and pour into two prepared Graham cracker crumb crusts.

This freezes well, and we like it served while it is still frozen. You may garnish as you like or serve with fruit of your choice. In the unlikely event that you have some left over, store it in the refrigerator or freeze :)

Visit Jen at http://unglazed.blogspot.com/to join in this meme or just to see what others are posting.

Last Fall Remembered....

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Dreaming about seeing pretty foliage like this pretty soon!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Skywatch Friday

It has been a while since we have seen clear skies, so I dug these out of the archives. These pictures were made either in NM or TX.

To visit skies around the world click HERE or on the title of this post. Thanks to you guys who sponsor this meme!

M is for Music ~ A to Z on Monday,backwards

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The picture above is Jennifer and Jeff at our wedding. I wish everybody could have heard them as they sang, "Walk Thouugh This World With Me". There's nothing like the close harmony of siblings! I think everybody in the Pepper family plays a musical instrument and sings except me! I can't do either, but I love music and I can pat my foot while they are playing and singing. I know I left out some people (please forgive me) but I couldn't find the pictures I wanted.

Above is our grand-daughter-in-law, Johanna. She was a music major in college and is now studying for her Masters degree. Johanna played the piano at our wedding reception.


Our daughter-in-law, Laura (in black) sang the Lord's Prayer so beautifully at our wedding and my cousin played the piano.

Jeep, his two sons and his grandson are making a joyful noise!

Here they are on the back porch trying a new song.

Jeep and Jeff playing.

Grandson, Wesley and Jeep.

Wesley is going to seminary in Memphis and also pastors three churches in north MS.

Daughter, Jennifer, loves to sing and play the guitar and piano. I think her husband plays and sings, too.

Jeep is playing at a personal care home where we attended a wedding anniversary celebration.

Here Jeep is entertaining a group of senior citizens at a church near here.

Jeep's favorite thing these days is practicing on the fiddle. I think he getting better!

Click Here to visit Jen's blog and check out her sidebar to play or to see what others are posting for the letter M as we travel backwards.

P.S. Sorry I couldn't locate a picture of Jeep's oldest son, Doug! However, he does a great job with his playing the piano and singing and I know there must be a picture here somewhere.