Chives And Things

At the same time every year, the grass in our yard is suddenly full of patches of chives that grow ferociously throughout the winter.  It must be a Tennessee thing because I never noticed any in our yards anywhere else we've lived in the States.  The only chives in Scotland are in your herb garden (pronounced HERB in the UK, not URB), and every now and then you go snip some off to use in your soup or such.  I don't think I'd want to snip some from my yard here - dog pee and all that, but I do find it strange that chives are so rampant at this time of year.  Not even weedkiller seems to work.  The smell in the air after you cut your grass just now definitely isn't the most pleasant of aromas.

St Patricks Day is celebrated here in the States with much gusto.  But did you know that St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and that we celebrate St Andrews Day on the 30th of November each year as our official national day?   St Andrew is also the patron saint of Poland, Greece, Romania and Ukraine.  The saltire (St Andrews cross), the flag of Scotland is hung from all Scottish flagpoles on this day - the exception being Edinburgh Castle where the Union Jack is flown because of the presence of the British Army.  While we don't normally do too much to celebrate St Andrews Day, there are usually parades and ceilidhs, and Scottish food is eaten just to celebrate being Scottish - which is, of course, the best nationality in the world ;)  

I was surprised to see that the UK seems to have adopted the American Black Friday sales shopping frenzy.  I do embrace most things American, but have never EVER gone Black Friday shopping.  I'm not a fan of shopping on a normal day,  never mind having to fight my way into a store and then fight with someone over some deal on something I don't need.  I did, however, get some good deals online whilst sipping on a mimosa, which was rather more enjoyable, although mimosas do make most things enjoyable :) 

Going to the doctor here in the States is so different from back home.  When I was in recently for my annual physical, I joked that the change of season was making me permanently hungry for junk food.  While I do like my doctor, I was shocked that she immediately asked me if I wanted medication for that!  What??!!  I was just kidding, and anyway who knew there was medication for plain old lack of willpower?   

So, today is the 1st of December, and it's actually nice and warm here in Tennessee.  Long may this last, although I know the chances are pretty minimal.  Wishing you all a good week with temperatures as pleasant as they are here.  Perhaps there's a medication for that...!

A Tennessee Sunday

Most Sundays we like to load everyone (including the dog) into the van, drive someplace new, do some hiking and then reward ourselves with some good food and drinkies afterwards.  Because we're not from here, we still feel like tourists because there's always somewhere new to go!  This past Sunday we drove to Edwin Warner State Park near Nashville.  We were originally headed to Percy Warner State Park but we couldn't find the entrance (bloody GPS), so Edwin had to do.  Rain was forecast so we'd picked this place mostly for the tree cover, just in case.  It was a scenic and easy drive up there and the sun was shining.  We parked at the huge nature center, headed into the woods and hiked on some great trails for around 4 miles, stopping to mess around in the river and climb some rocks.  Happy kids and happy hund!   

We planned on going to the Loveless Cafe afterwards, just a few miles further up Hwy 100 and close to the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway.   It was almost 3pm when we got there and we knew it was likely going to be busy, but there was already a 1 hr 30 min wait!  We messed around outside, tried out the rocking chairs, played some cornhole and bought some bbq rub in the store to kill time.  The Loveless Cafe has been serving food since 1951 and is mostly famous for it's biscuits, preserves, ham and red-eye gravy.  It has won many awards and has even been visited by fellow Brit, Princess Anne :)  There are lots of signed photos of many of the celebrities who have visited in the entryway. 

 

The time passed quickly and we were led to our table.

The husband and me had been before for breakfast, so we were looking forward to trying the supper options this time.  I was excited to see Mimosa in a Mason Jar on the drinks menu, I can't say no to some champers whatever time of day it is and a mason jar isn't exactly small :)  Thanks to the husband who volunteered to drive home!  

We were brought our plate of free biscuits (kind of like salty, moist Scottish scones) and homemade preserves as soon as we sat down. The kids demolished those, the husband and me hardly got a look in. 

They were really excited to watch the chefs out back in the kitchen make the biscuits, they're served up all day long and absolutely delicious.

They sure don't get that excited watching me cooking at home of course!   I ordered the bbq turkey breast with corn pancakes, hash brown casserole and coleslaw

and the husband had the bbq pork chops with fries and coleslaw, it couldn't have been better.   A nice touch on the kids menu was that after they colored the pictures and turned them in to the gift store, they got a piece of candy.   Molly got some leftover pork and turkey, so she wasn't left out :) 

I'm going to head back to this Park to run the trails when I start training for my next Ragnar which is a Trail Relay in AZ.  I'd recommend today's day out to anybody with kids and dogs, Tennessee is beautiful, but even more so when the sun is shining!  So grateful that the forecast rain didn't appear.  Looking forward to continuing our Sunday tradition of hiking and eating our way round Middle Tennessee :)