July 4th

The crew came to Blackberry Ridge from Birmingham to go to the Forth of July parade at midnight in Gatlinburg.  Unfortunately we are all fair weather fans and decided to skip the parade this year with all the rain.  We did enjoy the day as we spent day in Gatlinburg going to the aquarium and the weekend at Dollywood.  The rain cooperated with our plans during the remainder of the weekend.

Jillian enjoying her first 4th of July and waiting for fireworks in Southaven, MS

Stella and Conley making their own parade in downtown Gatlinburg on July 4th.

Enjoying the penguins at the aquarium.

Dipping candles in Dollywood.

Conley enjoys meeting some characters at Dollywood.

Stella enjoying some ice cream.

Tommy and Brent having some fun at Dollywood.

Lifeway in Southaven, MS

Since the last posting we have not done much work at The Ridge.  We still have the following to finish in the stairwell.  Stain the handrail. purchase and install the iron ballasters and touch up the paint and the risers and trim.

Jillian did come by with her parents and we had a great mother's day weekend.  Since then we have gone up to Louisville, where Greg is doing his management training.  During his second week of training he did interview with a regional district manager and on June 4th, it was announced within in Lifeway, that Greg would be managing the Lifeway store in Southaven, MS, which  is a suburb of Memphis, TN, starting on July 1, 2013.  Greg and Renee are very excited about the move and the opportunity.  They will be going on a house hunting trip this weekend (June 14-16).

We continue to have daily bear sightings at the Ridge.  There are a total of seven (7) black bears that make a daily appearance at The Ridge.

Close the Door

It sure is nice to drive over to Gatlinburg from Buford without having to go through the gorge on I-40.  Our arrival at Blackbearry Ridge on Friday is one of those items that will be remembered and the story will grow each time it is told.

While unloading the car and carrying the items up to the house, Brent told Jo Lynn to "close the door" (the back hatch on the Pilot) before heading up the stairs.  Well after a few minutes up at the house and upon heading back down to get the remainder of our items, two (2) bears had climbed into the car under the watchful eye of their mom.  One of the large bear cubs had obtained a bag of candy and made his way out of the vehicle to enjoy his picnic on the side of the driveway while the other one looked for goodies.  Not finding anything else, this bear was tossing out clothes and baby related items from the vehicle in his search.

Upon seeing the items being tossed and items on the ground, Jo Lynn had made her way down the stairs to the driveway where the last bear had exited the vehicle and all three (3) where on the opposite side of the Pilot from where Jo Lynn approached.  She got inside the car and crawled to the rear and closed the back hatch.  Now she had "closed the door" and prevented the bears from getting inside, but after obtaining the candy, the bears did not want to leave but instead wanted back inside the vehicle for more goodies.  

After about 10 minutes and countless blowing the horn and making noise from the house, the mother retreated up the hill and the cubs soon followed.  Needless to say forgetting to "close the door" will not be a problem anytime soon.

Jo Lynn is staying all week at Blackbearry Ridge as Jillian will make her first visit on Thursday.  Oh yea, Renee and Greg are coming too.

The two (2) large cubs that went inside the Pilot.  All three (3) bears returned to the side yard about 30 minutes  after leaving the Pilot.  Jo Lynn has new friends.

US 441 Open

We went to Birmingham this weekend instead of heading over to Blackbearry Ridge.  In speaking with the girls this weekend, the bears are making their presence know at The Ridge.  This has been the first sighting of bears this year.

We did have a surprise on the drive over to Blackbearry Ridge the weekend of April 19th.  US 441 through the park is now open.  The repair to the road caused by the landslide has been finished and this save us about 40 minutes drive time each way.

Work on Stairway Continues

The last few weeks have been slow but steady as Brent is working on the handrail for the stairs.  We were able to get the 16 foot long piece of red oak handrail into the house by threading the handrail through an upstairs window.  Brent has mitered two (2) joints at each end to customized the handrail.  This has caused a lot of time as he as pieced the rail together but the results look great.  The handrail has been installed and removed several times during this process but this weekend we will perform a final sanding and stain the handrail.  The handrail installation nears the end.

The only major item standing in the way of completing the stairway now is the installation of the iron ballasters on the open side.  The installation of the ballasters should begin this weekend and the renovation of the stairway will near completion.

The Last Goodbye

This weekend we made a round about way to Blackbearry Ridge.  We left the Atlanta area Saturday morning with a U-Haul trailer in tow and headed to Zelda.  With the closing date scheduled for April 4th, we cleared out the furniture we had stored there.

We loaded up our island, hall tree, Maw Maw Conley's dining room table and chairs and a few nick knacks, tools and ladders.  We checked out the storage building and confirmed that all our items had already been cleared out.  In all we spent just over an hour at Zelda for what we think is the last time.

In taking our last trip around the house it brought back a flood of memories both good and bad, but mainly good ones.  We took one last picture against the refurbished stairwell before we locked up the house and headed out, without looking back.

The Last Goodbye

Trial and Error

We were back in Gatlinburg this past weekend and mainly worked on trim items with the stairway.  A couple of pieces of wood that will be on the side of the stairs, that were stained a few weeks ago did not match the existing stair tread color.  This meant sanding and re-staining to match.

No pictures as the work performed was precise and progress was slow.  There was alot of trial and error with an emphasis on error.

Jo Lynn arrived in Evansville yesterday to help out Renee and Greg with Jillian.  Jennifer and Jessica will drive up to Evansville on Wednesday to meet Jillian for the first time.  Looks like the barrel has been cracked for the girls.  Depending on how long Jo Lynn is up in Indiana, Brent will most likely use that as an excuse to go to Evansville for a long weekend.

Jillian Grace Arrives

At 8:47 pm CST, on March 1st, Jillian Grace arrived weighing 7 lbs-13 oz with a length of 20.5 inches.  She is a beautiful red head and already the pride and joy of Gram and Pappy.

Arriving late on February 28th

Saying goodbye to the expected parents as they prepare for the long day ahead.

The first time Greg holds Jillian as the doctor looks on.

Gram is excited to hold Jillian.

Jillian recognizes Gram

Jillian is ready to go to Walt Disney World with Pappy.

After a long day, the new family is ready for their first night together.

Caps Required

The work this weekend included capping the newel post, baseboard and trimming out the stairs.  Brent is fabricating all our trim work with a router which is time consuming but does save quite a bit on cost.  Now we will need to touch up the paint on the trim work and certain places on the wall which required 'modification'.  It turned cold on Friday and we had a light snow all day which continued into the night.  The high on Saturday and Sunday did not get out of the 30's and our lows were in the teens.  It sure was nice to have a fire going all day.

Jillian decided not to arrive this weekend so we are currently on pins and needles waiting on the call to head north to Evansville.

The cap on the newel post.

The stringer was capped.

Some modification to the wall where the stringer cap meets the bottom stair tread.

Ok, some caulking will be required.

It began lightly snowing on Friday morning and lasted all day.  If you ventured outside you needed to wear a cap.

Once the clouds broke on Saturday, you could see LeConte was covered in snow.

 

Door Trim Installed

This weekend Brent worked on the door trim for the two (2) bedroom doors downstairs.  He purchased two (2) 8 foot long 1"x 12" and fabricated the trim.  We decided on a craftsman style and hopefully we will get the based boards installed next weekend.  This is all dependent upon when Jillian decides to arrive as we are now in def con 5 and awaiting news from Evansville.  Once the labor begins, we drop everything and head north.

Need to install one (1) more coat to cover the nail holes.  Brent finished installing just before we left and the wood filler was not dry.

It will look a lot better once the crown molding and baseboards are installed.

The snow line is receding on Mt. LeConte.  The earliest estimate for the reopening of the US 441 to Cherokee is May 2013.

Interior Painting in the Cold

This weekend at The Ridge was all about painting.  The ceiling in the hall, the posts, the doors and the walls were all painted.  As he was painting the posts, Brent decided to paint the two (2) downstairs bedroom doors the same color.  The crown molding and baseboards will also be painted the same off-white color.

The green color from the upstairs wall and the stairwell was continued into the hall downstairs.  This upcoming weekend we plan to install the craftsman style door casing and maybe the crown molding.

We woke up to a surprise snow shower on Sunday.  The sun came out around 10:30 am which was about the time the snow plow made its round in our hollow.  The girls shoveled the driveway and we had no problems leaving in the late afternoon.

Painting the downstairs interior doors.

Applied about three (3) coats over the previous stain.

The finished product.  We still need to perform some cutting and touch up paint.

The new door trim needs to be installed along with the crown molding and baseboard.

Need to re-install a face plate.

The caps on the sides will be red oak and stained to match the stair treads.

We already have cut and fit the handrail and will install the same iron ballasters as up stairs.

The surprise on Sunday morning.

A view of our dogwood along with the driveway and road.

Cookie loves to play in the snow.

Baby Shower for Jillian

On Saturday, the temperature rose enough to melt the ice such that Jennifer and Jessica headed up to Evansville, IN in the VW Beetle.  The church Renee and Greg attend were holding a shower for Renee on Sunday at 2:00 pm and Jennifer and Jessica braved the weather with the motto of  "neither snow nor ice nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these two from attending the shower".

Not that it was rigged or anything but Jennifer won the door prize and Jessica won the game contest, so with Renee getting all the gifts, the Conley's took home all the loot.  In fact even Cookie sent a gift to the shower for Jillian.  Needless to say the girls had a great time at the shower and their time with Renee and Greg in Evansville.  They safely returned on Monday.

We are now down to less than one (1) month before the arrival of Jillian Grace and we become Gram and Pappy.

Opening gifts.

Ok I am ready to open the next gift.

"Winner Winner Chicken Dinner".

I really like the blanket that Cookie picked out.

Back from the shower and ready to go to Menards.

The grateful couple display their gifts from the shower.

Ice on The Ridge

We arrived last night (Thursday) at The Ridge just ahead of the winter storm warning.  Turns out it was not warning but we have been hit at The Ridge by ice.  It is sort of strange as it is falling as rain and then freezing on the ground.  The sun has not been seen today and the roads are glazed with ice which is not a good combination with the mountains.  Looks like Gatlinburg is not getting hit as hard as Knoxville.

Jennifer and Jessica were scheduled to leave today for Evansville, IN, but had to delay and hopefully will be able to leave tomorrow morning.  They are going to the baby shower for Renee on Sunday.

The top lamp has icicles.

The dogwood tree is coated in ice.

Rhododendron on the side yard.

Ice is everywhere.

This rhododendron is curling and prepared for the winter storm.

The dogwood tree.

Landslide on US 441

As mentioned in our previous posting yesterday the road we normally travel each week to and from The Ridge had a landslide on January 16, 2013.  Instead of heading through Cherokee and GSMNP to Gatlinburg from Dillsboro, we now head to I-40 through Waynesville.  This detour adds about 30 minutes to our drive.  

Below is a link and official statement from the GSMNP:

Newfound Gap Road (US-441) between Gatlinburg, TN and Cherokee, NC is closed to through traffic due to a landslide at Mile Marker 22 on the North Carolina side of the park. 

At this time, access to Newfound Gap from the Gatlinburg entrance in Tennessee is closed to all traffic due to ice and snow. Access to Smokemont campground is permitted from the Cherokee entrance in North Carolina.

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/temproadclose.htm

This link will show a video of the slide.
http://www.wbir.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=2107918666001

The wash-out on 441.

The road is now in the river.

Glad we were not driving to or from Gatlinburg in the dark and run into this situation.  I doubt we would have had time to stop.