Sunday, August 11, 2013

Rutledge Falls,Tennessee


It has been a busy few weeks for the Shupe family.  I thought life would slow down once baseball finished.  Instead the Shupe family bus just sort of careened through the intersection of chaos and bedlam and found ourselves smack in the midst of kitchen remodeling. 

I emptied the kitchen as John was finishing his baseball tournament.  We left for the farm the morning after his last game.  Kitchen guys arrived to refinish my kitchen cabinets while we were away.  What was supposed to take one week ended up taking two weeks plus several extra trips the following two weeks to get things right.  They are still working out a few issues, but most of it is now finished.

We have finished most of the gardening for the year.  Beans are still blooming, but I am threatening to mow them off.  I am tired of picking beans!!  Carrots and onions are dug.  Cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes and broccoli and cauliflower are still going.  Corn and peas are finished.  I put some corn in the freezer.

The week we returned was spent cleaning out the sawdust and cleaning off everything that came out of the kitchen before it went back into the kitchen.  Not fun.

Interspersed with the cleaning and sorting were several trips to the pool. The water has been SO COLD!!  The kids are loving the pool.  I am not.

In addition to kitchens and gardens and pools, we have been acquiring school supplies and uniforms for all four scholars.  John and Emily are now registered for high school.  We have been to school for orientation and tours two different times.  They have lockers assigned and stocked ready for the first day.  Grace and Grant have also registered and seen their classrooms for the new year.  We are ready.

So what else have we been up to?  A lot, actually.  We made a trip to Illinois to see family.  We celebrated Snickers' one year birthday.  We are awaiting the arrival of baby ducklings that our momma duck is sitting on faithfully.  We added goats to the zoo.  We are preparing for the arrival of a bull to see to the needs of many lonely cows.

See?  Busy, I tell you!

Anyway.  I have neglected blogging.  No excuses. 

Here are the latest pictures from this weekend.  We took the camper to Manchester, Tennessee, for the weekend.  It was a beautiful area.  We hung out at the campground and at a waterfall nearby.  Here are a few shots from the waterfall.

The falls were located on private property, but the owners allow access to the public.
I am so glad they do.  It is a beautiful place.
 
 



While we were there, many people came and went.  Most were hiking or swimming, but some were even doing photo shoots in the water along the stream.


A few brave souls climbed the falls.
If you look closely, John is in a green shirt standing at the center of the falls.


I did not seem him doing it, but David took a picture of John climbing to the top of the falls.  I was too busy helping Grace across the stream and falling down on the slippery rocks.
Here is one of John almost at the top.

 




 Hopefully, I can catch up on blogging as summer vacation winds down this week.  More pictures and stories about our summer adventures coming soon.

 
 
Goodnight!




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