Little Bit of Everything

 We hiked the Porter's Creek Trail in the Smoky's today. 
Weather was glorious, 70s, with a breeze.
 We hiked to the Fern Branch Waterfall and back.
We were in luck . 
Many Wildflowers were in bloom. 
Here are some we learned and saw today:
Bishop's Cap
Trillium
Jack in the Pulpit
Squirrels Corn
Wild Iris 
and Phlox. 
The Squirrels' corn forms a white heart and I love hearts. The name has nothing to do with the heart.  Apparently squirrels dig the flower root up and snack on it, hence the name. 
The Jack in the Pulpit was dramatic and the wild Iris were just so pretty en masse as above. We saw photographers with huge lenses on the trail from time to time. 
 The stream was lovely to listen to and to see.
No bears, thank Goodness.
Over 1600 black bear make their home there. 
We laughed and made lots of noise just in case.
See we are in short sleeves!! Spring in Appalachia...what a wonderful delight.

 Loved the town of Townsend on the way back to Knoxville. 
Beautiful vistas of the Mountains, horses and lovely homes. 
I did finish one pedi sock today with yarn from Three Bags Full's recent sale. (Some Summer Sky colorway)   The other is  just cast on.

Allison wanted to share some favorite reads today after we read the Carole Knits prompt:

The Art of Fielding
The Inn at Lake Devine
The Night Circus
and 
Tell the Wolves I'm Home. 

I want to read Tell the Wolves next. 


A Lesson in Fireman's generosity: 
On our way to Knoxville, we stopped for gas. 
A man asked Fireman for some money for gas and Fireman gave him a five. 
I was in the bathroom.
When Fireman told me, I said, 
'We Don't give to homeless on the streets of Chicago who beg!'
Fireman just shrugged.
At the next fill up, I bought a scratch off lottery ticket and won 5 dollars.  There you go. 





Comments

Anonymous said…
Townsend is where we stay when we go to the Smokies. We have dear friends that live just down the way in Kinzel Springs.

Townsend is a little TOO quiet for our tastes full time, but we are considering a little further west in Maryville for our retirement.

Glad you are having such a great time in Tennessee.
Caffeine Girl said…
Wow, that lottery ticket story is almost spooky! When we were in Chicago a few weeks ago, my dad was giving tons of money to every single street person. It's a piece of his kindness that has survived dementia so far.

Betsy said…
Your hike looks like it was just lovely. Beautiful weather. We had nice warm temperatures for the weekend but cool, rainy spring weather has returned for now. I like the story of fireman's generosity. You hear of good things like that happening more often than not. I've found that kindness never goes unreturned in one way or another.
Blessings, Betsy
Teresa Kasner said…
What a wonderful place you visited! It's neat that you have the wild irises, too. We have them here and they amaze me. Gorgeous river you visited. Reminds me of here! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
karen said…
what a fun excursion!! I loved tell the wolves, a most excellent read :) Glad the bears left you alone :)
Vera said…
What a fun trip Kathy! Your hike looks like it was great. My husband will always give people money for gas when they ask...me? Not so much....
Bridget said…
It looks so beautiful, and you were lucky to have such wonderful weather.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home is one of the best books I've ever read. I hope you like it.

Fireman found out that what goes around comes around. What a lovely story.
Delighted Hands said…
Beautiful vista! I'm glad you had a great day for a hike with NO bears!
Kim in Oregon said…
I'm so excited there's another Elinor Lippman fan out there!
What a fun trip!!! Love the mountains!
AsKatKnits said…
That is a great story and you made me laugh! Perhaps if he gave more, you'd have won more?

I found some great books to add to my list from Carole's post too!
Tired Teacher said…
Karma = $5 : when you give you also receive.

Love the photos of your hike: the day looked perfect for enjoying the outdoors.
Katherine said…
You go Fireman!! An act of kindness will always be repaid in some way. You photos are beautiful. It looks like such a peaceful place to visit! I love the wildflowers. My mom used to grow Jack in the Pulpits.

Your sock is so cute. I love shorties and it really does look like a summer sky. It's beautiful.

Looks like a great trip--and with Al too! Wonderful!!
Araignee said…
I love Jack in the Pulpits. I go looking for them every spring and am always so excited when I see them. That's just crazy about the $5. Instant karma I suppose....
Anonymous said…
This was a lovely post to read. I miss "hiking" with the husband and girls. We're waiting for him to finish healing so outings like that are on the backburner.
Judy S. said…
Sounds like a lovely day! So, did you give the $5 to Fireman to complete the circle? That was a fun story. Love trilliums and bleeding hearts. Soak up that sunshine!
Mereknits said…
You trip and hike sound wonderful. I am a firm believe in giving gas money if someone asks, I know I have been taken advantage of but if I have helped someone in need then that makes up for all the others that have scammed me.
Have fun,
Meredith

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