Americaunas or the Crazy Eyed Girl!

When Are Eggs a Work of Art?

Or Just Food, or Just Work? Jake Molina starting young...

When is food less about what we put in our mouths and more about a work of art?  In a third world country there is no doubt about the answer, but here in the States, for some people, the answer is harder to discern.  It's not only how we present our food, but increasingly, where we buy it and where they bought it!  (Think egg recall...) My mom, one of the world’s best cooks, can take a pot off the stove and plunk it on the table.  God bless her, she did it for three meals a day for 25 years, and I am proof that we never went hungry.  I, on the other hand, think first about what flowers I can pick from the garden, what china they go with, then what food would look good on that china!  I’m glad I have the luxury of being able to think that way.

As the world becomes more and more aware of the origins of our food, I'm happy to say at age 11, Jake Molina, the nephew of my friend and Gracehill Wizard Extraordinaire, Julie, has started raising chickens.  We are the grateful recipients of the product thereof!  Jake’s mom Dawn says, “I don't know if ours could be called free range chickens because they are not always free to range. We have lots of coyotes and neighborhood dogs that want to eat them. They have their big  yard to roam and scratch in, but we only let them range when we are outside. They definitely could be called cage free though!”  Beside the Americaunas, Jake also has Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Reds, Silver Laced Wyandottes and Golden Comets.  They hope to get some Black Copper Marans that are prized by French chefs. Ooh la la!  (Americanized version.  My sister the French major says they would say, Oh la la la!)

In little ways, with our herb garden, veggies, and fruit we pick locally, we are trying to bring fresher food to the table.  You all know my love affair with blueberries. I'm lucky the three couples who checked in a few days ago for four nights liked them also. I made a new recipe, Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast in a 9X13 pan which I posted on my recipe page with a photo.  This year we've put about a 100# in the freezer, but will continue using fresh for another couple of weeks. In the past two weeks, my five attempts to make a decent blueberry cobbler have been dismal.  It's nice that I have wonderful friends, who tell me otherwise, but alas, they are lying through their teeth, and I am moving on to try other things...  blessings, mizkathleen@ Gracehill Bed and Breakfast

Rear Patio Gracehill Bed and Breakfast

It's been a heck of a year; the worst winter we have experienced since building Gracehill and the hottest, driest summer on record since... who knows, it keeps going further back with each week that passes.  Our elevation gives us a little relief with temps 5 to 10 degrees cooler than what is happening in Townsend, Gatlinburg, or Knoxville plus the usual breezes.  The dry weather has also made the zinnias look especially beautiful because we aren’t fighting powdery mildew this year, but the Peegee hydrangea bushes are not as lush as in years past, and we lost the marigolds.  It’s a trade off.  I’d rather fight the mildew than haul buckets of water.  We should have hauled more often for the marigolds...

I bought a Flip Video Camera, and it took three months to get it out of the box.  You know me with anything electronic.   Click on the link for a video taken in the backyard of the dozens of butterflies that are hanging around.  Don’t be concerned that I have developed palsy; I just need to get the hang of this moving camera business!

Since the main topic here is the weather, I’ve come up with a lovely excuse for not blogging more frequently this year.  We were struck by lightning on Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  It was a direct hit, and as bad as it was with all our electronic low voltage systems, we are extremely grateful the house didn’t catch on fire.  Guests were coming up the hill 20 minutes after the fire trucks rolled down.  Our guests were amazing, and I couldn’t have asked for a nicer bunch of people.  That weekend TV’s were out and they had to use my laptop with the Verizon air card to check emails, but other than that, guest services were not really affected.  It has taken me three months to get everything else replaced like the intercom, doorbells, phones, TV’s, alarm system, satellites, my computer, electronics for our water system, motors on a couple of the whirlpool tubs, etc…

I have been a little more regular with my posts on Twitter (theinnkeeper) or Facebook (Gracehill Bed and Breakfast) and our bi-monthly newsletter.  You can sign up for any of these on the home page of our website.  Blessings, mizkathleen@ Gracehill Bed and Breakfast

Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in early spring

A Winter's Snow at Gracehill

Local Channel 10 WBIR TV held a contest to determine the top five bed and breakfasts in East Tennessee.  Any one logging onto WBIR’s website could cast a vote for the several days the contest ran.  By Friday at noon, Gracehill B&B was at the top of the list with four of the five winners belonging to the Smoky Mountain Bed and Breakfast Association. 

This February, your not so intrepid innkeeper, moi, elected to take some vacation time, and for the first time in ten years, enjoyed the winter snowfall instead of obsessing about keeping the road open for guests and us to get up and down the mountain safely.  It was a tough call because the month of February brings us Valentine’s traffic every weekend.  By choosing to take some time off and let Mother Nature take her course, the up shot was, Mom and I were snowed in for nine days.  Beautiful, absolutely, but as the level in the propane tank dropped by the eighth day, I decided it was time to start shoveling.  Hans, our gardener, played a big part in this little 6/10^th of a mile endeavor.  I started at the top, he at the bottom, and thankfully the twain did meet!  Besides, there was only one scoop of ice cream left in the freezer and we had eaten enough out of the pantry to see that I should probably repaint the shelves…

Twenty-four hours after getting the road opened back up I decided to ease on down the road into Maryville to run some errands.  My phone rang while there with the news of the contest and asking if WBIR reporter Josh West could meet me at Gracehill for some photos.  You might ask yourself just how fast can an old lady drive?  I beat him with just enough time to pull the car in the garage and fluff my hair!

I was asked why did I think we won?  My answers were bouncing all over as my mouth flapped, but to be honest??? Cause Gracehill has always been blessed with the very best of guests any innkeeper could ask for.  Thanks from the bottom of this transplanted Yankee to Southern heart to ya’ll who took the time to vote.  mizkathleen @Gracehill

Gracehill Bed and Breakfast Living Room

Gracehill Bed and Breakfast Hallway and Snack Bar Area

October 2009 brought Gracehill B&B its busiest month since opening at Thanksgiving in 2000.  As the pace eased in November and December, while most folks got ready for the holidays, I decided to jump in with both feet and do two projects that had been on my TO DO LIST for ten years.

Neighbor and friend extraordinaire, Jim Maness of Century 21 in Maryville, TN, moonlighted and painted the 16 foot dome ceiling in the living room a warm beautiful yellow and the hallway off  three of the guest rooms a light taupe.  Moving all the scaffolding was a chore in itself that was further complicated by two different Christmas parties!  We were rolling out the scaffolding an hour before the appetizers were going in the oven.  Once Jim was done, Lisa Haggerty Palmer came in and opened the skies for us on the living room ceiling and painted a beautiful sunset, sunrise??? Your pick.  Lisa had been a guest of ours at Gracehill in the past, and we became reacquainted when she painted the backdrop for the altar at St. Francis in Townsend.

I tackled the downstairs hallway.  I had always wanted to paint the words of a song, as a border, where the wall meets the ceiling.  I’d had ten years to pick the song so you’d have thought I wouldn’t still be agonizing over the choice… It also needed to fit in 68 feet of linear space using an 8” font.  Finally decided on the second verse of "How Great Thou Art."  Hope you like it as much as I do.  mizkathleen@ Gracehill

When thru the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Art Work of Lisa Haggerty Palmer

Scott and Jessica

This must be Gracehill's favorite rock, see the blog of July 8th, and, one of my favorite photos of the season,  took it  in August.  My office overlooks the back patio area and waterfall.  Every once in a while, I glance outside and see either guests or wildlife.  Suppose the wildlife would consider us the guests.

I am more of a flop in bed with a book at night, or an easy chair during the day, type of  reader, but Scott and Jessica were soaking up some rays sitting on the rocks before the long trek home.

I wonder how many readers marry non-readers? I'm not talking about what you have to read for work, but readers who carry a book with them in case they get stuck somewhere.  Surely a compatibility study has been done on this topic.   I think it really comes down to those folks who can sit together comfortably in a room for hours without talking to each other versus those whose vocal cords would freeze up with five minutes of silence. A reader friend of mine is married to a non-reader.  She says after 45 years of marriage they not only can but do sit in silence for hours on end. 

Wildlife  likes warm rocks also.  In retrospect, I wonder if there was anything lurking.  Looks peaceful enough, but my guests could have been living on the edge for the hour they were there, and never knew how close they came to a critter encounter.  Music of the  "Twilight Zone" grows louder.

6 30 AM on a November Morning

Shifting gears,  it's November and the green is gone replaced with lots of brown.  Splashes of red and yellow are here and there.   I took this second photo a few mornings ago.  Was on my way to the kitchen at 6:30 AM.   Looked out front and the moon was huge, glowing and just perfect.  Swung into my office to grab my camera and made the mistake of clicking on  my inbox.  In the two minutes  it took me to answer one short email , the moon all but disappeared.    Seems like life goes just as fast.  I attended a seminar in September, where the computer guru told  us innkeepers that if we didn't have a photo of ourselves posted on our websites, we were missing the boat.  "Guests want to see who will be flipping their eggs."   I went to my web page today to plunk a photo in and read the "Gracehill Story" for the first time in years.  Made me realize how much has happened since that first breakfast ten years ago.  I had a family of six.  At my first official breakfast, I made waffles for the main course.  By the time I got done making six waffles, the  first person who had eaten was ready for lunch!  Music from the "Twilight Zone" fades, and the jingle "You've Come a Long Way Baby" floats through my head.  By the way, if the urge hits to scope out my first time ever, newly released photo, please realize I have never flipped a fried egg in my life.  There's still time I guess...  mizkathleen@ Gracehill

The Frog Hunt

Fourth of July Week was our time for the Air Force, past and present.  We had one couple here for five days, a third grade teacher, Lois, and her husband John who is a dentist and retired Air Force.  They spent their days running the roads, seeing all they could, got in a few hikes, and were back at the B&B every evening in time for sunset.  John is an avid photographer and set up his tripod and snapped away each night. For two of those same nights we had another couple; she also taught, and he was a retired pilot from the Air Force who went on to fly for the airlines.

Sunset 1, 07-05-09

Fast-forward, they all check out and the same day Frank and Janice check in to celebrate their first anniversary.  She worked for the State Department and he is an F-16 pilot and instructor.  Where am I going with all this?  Don't know.  Wish they could have all been here at the same time, along with another F-16 pilot that stayed here last month.  None of them know each other but it would have made for interesting conversation!

Sunset 2, 07-05-09

The evening of the same day Lois, John, and his camera checked out, and Frank and Janice were holed up in Gatlinburg waiting out a monsoon that dropped a couple of inches of rain in an hour, I had the most incredible sunset I've had in while.  I was sitting in the living room when I realized the lighting was really eerie and the room was glowing.  I managed to snap these photos between cloudbursts, spaced about 10 minutes apart.  Too bad it was just me.

The next morning Frank and Janice are telling me about this frog that re-visited the same rock on the waterfall outside their room.  After breakfast they went on a frog hunt in the back yard by the other waterfall.  I have never really paid attention to what plops around in the pond as long as it is not slithering.  Maybe I should start.  There was a tiny little thing, about an inch long on the flagstone.  I looked it up in my reptile and amphibian book and I’m dipped if I can tell if it was a baby green frog, or a baby common toad.  The body looked a little like a toad and the head like the frog.

Sunset 3, 07-05-09

I had repeat guests here about a year ago and the first thing out of their mouth was, “Is the frog still here?”  I said sure, we have a variety of noisemakers in the back yard.  They said, “NO, THE FROG!”  I said, “What frog?”  They said, “The one whose picture has been on our fridge the past two years.  He was sitting on a lotus pad.”  I said, “Jeepers, I am a complete and utter failure as an innkeeper cause I don’t have a clue if it is the same one or not, and furthermore I don’t know where he/she might be at this very moment!”  At least as far as I know, Janice didn’t take any photographs of the little leapers so I don’t have to go through this again.  Hopefully.  (Although, she did name the baby Lil’ Kermit….)  Mizkathleen @Gracehill

We put up a bat house.  Bats (five or six) had started roosting under the eave on the front of the house in an area that wasn't ideal.  They showed up last year in the same spot and we ran them off.  This year I decided I wanted them as permanent tenants, just not in that spot.  They appear to have found the bat house.  We rubbed a little bat guano on the house hoping that might help them find it.  It can take up to a year or longer for them to find a house, could I be so lucky to have the bats find it that soon?

On a personal note, I woke up one morning ten days ago and decided I needed to start painting again.  I mean right then, like, serve breakfast, clear the table, and pick up a  paint brush.  Don't know where the urge came from.   I haven't done much in the way of art these ten years I have been inn-keeping.  A dear guest who has become a good friend shamed me into a little painting last summer but it is  always easier for me to find work to do around the  B&B.  I finished one painting, worked on another, and started two others in the last ten days.  Today is my first day without guests in a while and I thought I would paint all day.  Thank the Lord common sense prevailed and I have been a good girl working through the piles on my desk today.

I have been trying to submit/claim my blog on www.Technorati.com for the last three weeks and today it took me one step further than before.  I need to post the following number- ynvcjgiqrd, for it to find me.  We'll see if it works.  mizkathleen @Gracehill

Brandy and the Gracehill Rose Garden

Have been busy these last ten days  doing catch up on lots of small jobs, mostly in the office, but outside also.  On Thursday Brandy, Hans, and I got in 3.5 hours each, outside, before the heavens opened back up with one heck of a storm.  For as small as the rose garden is (80 bushes?) I don't know where the time went between dead heading, spraying, & tying a few of them up.

Hans has continued to put in some time on Friday and today.  For some reason, this year has been a constant battle against the forces of nature in the form of small critters.  We always have the occasional bear, boar, turkey, and deer, but have never really had many squirrels and such.  This year the rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks  have made a tossed salad out of everything we've planted. The birds tore up the moss garden for nest building so we put netting over what was left of the moss to anchor it down.  You don't really see it unless it is raining and the water beads up on it.

"Double Delight" has always been one of my favorite roses.

I tried sprinkling this rabbit/deer away stuff around.  It has worked some.  It is supposed to irritate their noses so they stay away.  I could deal with the tops being eaten off the zinnias, but Mom went out one morning and all the parsley was eaten down to the ground.  I'm surprised that the shriek that came out of her mouth didn't scare them off permanently.  We tried using a small trap to relocate them but they didn't like Kroger brand carrots, I guess.   I've tried a liquid that you spray on the foliage and it killed the May Night Salvia.  So option four-  I went to Pet Smart and asked them for all their dog fur out of their vacuum.  Hans spread that around in and out of the plants and we'll see if that works.  Anybody have any suggestions other than expediting their trip to heaven I'm open to suggestions!  mizkathleen @Gracehill

Gracehill- Townsend, Tennessee
by Sharon Sweetser Pound
in Arrington's Inn Traveler

Gracehill Bed and Breakfast

 One glance into the guest book at Gracehill in Townsend, Tennessee hints at this bed and breakfast's distinct character.  Comments include "a magical place," "a wonderful refuge," "couldn't resist one more night," "a little piece of heaven," and "where we renew our spirits and restore our souls." 

Gracehill is tucked into the top of Little Round Top Mountain at an elevation of 2,500 feet on 11 acres that border the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The inn's 360-degree view over the national park and the foothills that surround it is inspiring and ever-changing. 

The most popular spot is the covered veranda that faces west, reports Kathy Janke, innkeeper.  On warm mornings, she usually serves breakfast on this deck overlooking wispy clouds in the valleys and miles upon miles of mountains. 

Gracehill recently won Arrington's Bed and Breakfast Journal's 2003 Book of Lists award for the "B&B/Inn with the most scenic view."  The B&B received an award in the "B&B/Inn with the best mountain view" category in 2002.

June Barnett and her husband recently visited Gracehill after what she called a particularly stressful year.  They hiked in the national park, they dined on the veranda, and they particularly enjoyed the formal rose garden with dozens of varieties in bloom during their stay.  June Barnett says that one evening on that veranda, with a glass of wine, "and by bedtime I was a new person." 

"Gracehill was just perfect for what we needed," Barnett recalls.  "On some vacations, we want to be busy.  Gracehill, with its beautiful scenery and serenity, was the ideal place to come and relax, to reflect, and to spend uninterrupted time together." 

Barnett says that Janke's attention to detail was evident throughout their visit.  "Even my husband noticed that the dishes at breakfast were different every day," she offers as an example.  "It was like a fairy had come in and made everything right, it was so unobtrusive," she recalls.

Gracehill opened in the fall of 2000, after Janke's three-year search for the perfect property.  Her goal, she says, was to build "something that looks like it grew out of the ground." 

Outside, the B&B features acres of natural landscaping, gardens in front and in back, waterfalls and ponds, tumbled marble patios, walkways cedar shake siding and massive, stacked stonewalls.

Inside, the B&B features three well-appointed bedrooms with an eclectic mix of antiques, floor-to-ceiling windows, an elegant living room with a massive fireplace, a cozy morning room for breakfasts by a roaring fire, and the enormous kitchen for serving up breakfast treats lovingly prepared for each guest. 

Every morning, Janke serves up a three-course breakfast complete with juice, freshly ground coffee and an assortment of teas.  She easily accommodates all dietary restrictions, and she often lets her guest choose from many gourmet and home-style selections.

The typical fare includes fresh pastries like her famous raspberry and white chocolate coffee cake and fresh fruit like baked pears or stuffed apples.  Her mount-watering entrees carry intriguing titles like peach puff pancakes, brunch enchiladas, apple pork teatime pie, and bountiful tomato harvest quiche.

Janke and her mother, Marilyn, are careful to identify their guests' individual needs while also respecting many guests' strong desire for solitude and simple peace and quiet.  For those who want suggestions about things to do in the area, they'll direct them to various trails I the Smokies, to day outings in Gatlinburg and Townsend, and to some of the area's finest restaurants, like the Foothills Milling Company just a few miles away. 

Some guests enjoy following the ridgeline just behind Gracehill to hook up with the national park's Roundtop Trail.

Whether exploring the mountains or simply sitting back and enjoying the view, guests at Gracehill say they feel lucky to have discovered this bed-and-breakfast atop the mountains.

Dan Cherry said his wife, Rhea, had very high expectations for their visit.  "She found it was even better than she expected," he says, recalling how they took their meals on the deck and enjoyed the hot tub on the downstairs deck at night. 

"I've traveled a lot, and this place ranks at the top," he asserts, noting that he expect to return and possibly add a few more thoughts to the Gracehill guest book.  

Gracehill,  866-448-3070,  www.GracehillBandB.com  info@GracehillBandB.com

Flowering Dogwood, (Cornus florida)

In between the rains the weather has been glorious.  Native dogwood blooming all up and down the road.  This photo was taken about 100' from the front entrance.  Guest's over the weekend, Kevin and Elizabeth, stretched the smile on my face.  We were talking about a few of the things I carry in my "gift shop" (total space a 3' X 4' table,) one of which are the "Gracehill" coffee cups.  They spent their wedding night here and were back for their anniversary.  Said they only use their "Gracehill mugs" while they are drinking their coffee together!

I should get ready for check-ins.  Jim and Beth from FL are bringing friends from NC with them for a couple of nights.  They stayed here last year a couple of times and fell in love with the area.  They just bought a house in Louisville, same county, and closed on their retirement home this morning.  mizkathleen @Gracehill

Flowering Thyme in the herb garden

I was picking some fresh herbs this morning to include in one of the B&B breakfast dishes and couldn't help snapping a shot of the thyme in bloom next to the backyard pond.  Mom is itching to get the annual herbs in the ground, basil, etc., but I think we should hold off for a couple of more weeks.  Our weather has been at the extremes, either very warm during the day or too cold at night for tender plants.  mizkathleen @Gracehill

Crested Dward Iris, (Iris cristata and Iris verna)

The approach to the bed and breakfast starts a mile down at Highway 321, change in elevation a 1000ft.  The first 4/10^th of a mile is "subdivision" road.  The last 6/10ths of a mile is a private drive. I have planted a lot on the right and left the left side natural, for the most part.  It is a clay bank, from where we cut the road in, which is filled with indigenous things like ferns and wildflowers.  One thing I did plant on that side, were about 4 shoe boxes full of native Crested Dwarf Iris, both Iris Cristata and Iris Verna.  (Verna, the leaf is a little narrower, and it lacks the crest on the sepal.) 

The story behind that--  In 1990, while the owner/operator of Little River Village Campground in Townsend,  I bought a cabin in Wears Valley on top of Cove Mountain.  I went out in the woods one day and dug up a shoebox full miniature iris and planted them in my garden.  Sending good thoughts their way along with a little fertilizer, fast forward 3 years, and I had several fair size patches blooming.  A couple of  years I dug from that garden and sent some home some with friends, another year I dug up some and planted them at Mom's house.  When I started building Gracehill, I dug up from the same garden the 4 shoeboxes full I planted here.  They are scattered along a 300-foot stretch of driveway.  If you clumped them all together it would probably be about 15 feet square that is covered!  Ya gotta love em.  mizkathleen @Gracehill

Bird's Foot Violet, (Viola pedata)

Ran a few errands today, and on the way back to Gracehill I noticed the banks along our driveway are covered with blooming Bird's Foot Violets (Viola pedata).  We hosted the Townsend Business Association meeting this evening at the B&B and had a number of business owners from town who had not been here before.  At the last meeting they thought it would be lovely to have a cheese and wine tasting party at this meeting.  In typical Southern fashion, there were two wine drinkers and everyone else had ice tea.  I'm sure getting off the mountain when the meeting was over didn't enter into the decision on what to drink!  Cloudy, rainy, misty weather all day till 15 minutes before the meeting, then it broke and the clear crisp sunset was lovely.  Mizkathleen @Gracehill

Three White Tailed Deer Just Waking Up

Wow, about 6:45 this morning, as I rolled up the window treatments overlooking the side yard, I saw three blobs on the ground.  Took me a minute to realize the blobs were three sleeping deer.  I have seen deer out there before, but I don't think I've ever seen a deer lying on the ground except in Cades Cove.  I did a few chores looking out every five minutes and about 7:15, they decided to get up for the day. Not much of a picture.  I had to take it through the screen, window and with no flash.  Mizkathleen @Gracehill

Candytuff and Phlox

It's been a week since our April 6 snow and freezing temps at Gracehill.  The wisteria and redbud tree lost their blooms.  What a shame, it's what I see from my office window.    The candy tuff and phlox made it, as you can see by the picture I took today.  After Inn guests checked out yesterday, I ran some errands including getting some hostas for the backyard rock garden.  Will get them in the ground tomorrow.  Mizkathleen @Gracehill

Kane, innkeeper trainee, and the Key Lime Cheesecake he decorated for Easter!

Easter was lovely!  Mom and I went to Easter Vigil Mass Saturday evening.  I had four out-of-town friends arrive that evening to stay at the B&B from Illinois and Indiana.  For brunch on Sunday, we  had mini sticky buns, fresh pineapple and our award winning  Lemon Goat Cheese Blueberry Pancakes with sausage and roasted red peppers on the side for the main course.  Friends took off for Cades Cove, and Mom and I hunkered down in the kitchen.  Guests from Townsend, Maryville, and Knoxville arrived around five-ish along with our Cove trekkers.   Had a great time and lots of help in the kitchen for clean up.

On Friday Kane had taken the foil coating off of 16 chocolate eggs and dipped them in white chocolate.  When they were dry, he decorated them with icing to look like little Easter eggs.  Auntie Kathy put them on the cheesecake a little too soon, and as they slowly melted they kind of looked like a pregnant chicken dropped her egg before she and not the egg made it across the road!  Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right?  Mizkathleen @Gracehill

My nephew Kane and my mom, Marilyn

I had guests checking out today, Good Friday, and none checking in till Monday which is a little unusual.   My six-year-old nephew Kane was out of school, so my sister-in-law dropped him off  for the day.  He was just in time to collect guest keys and swipe a credit card through the machine as our guests were leaving.  I told him he was the innkeeper for the day, put an apron on him and headed to the kitchen.  After clearing the breakfast table, we got down to work, and Kane made from scratch a key lime cheesecake and an amaretto cake for Easter on Sunday.  We had invited 17 friends and family.

I asked him if he had ever cracked an egg before.  He said, "YES!"  I said, " You did???" and he said, "Yes, when I dropped it on the floor!"  We practiced cracking them into a separate bowl before dumping them in the mixing bowl.  I was a little worried about Kane getting the spatula caught up in the beaters, but he did a great job.  The only thing I did besides checking the measurements was zesting the limes and seperating yolks from whites when we needed them.    We colored Easter eggs, did flower arrangements for church and the Inn, and helped clean up the backyard and parking lot when the last of the mulch was spread.  I don't know who had a better time, Kane or Auntie Kathy!  Again, one heck of storm (tornado warnings) blew in the last hour we were working outside.  Grandma took Kane home, and I contemplated the timing of the storm and the Crucifixion of our Lord.  Mizkathleen @Gracehill