A Countryside Barn

Welcome Kittens & Dawgs! DH and I stayed close to our area since his eye surgery in March but the good thing living in a place like east Tennessee there is always something interesting to see for the first time or the first time in a long time.

One thing we enjoyed doing was driving along country roads which is as close as a few minutes away. Down one of the many twisty rural drives at a fork in the road sat this barn in a rural community near Lafollette Tennessee. I loved that I could see a rolled hay in the loft. Do you see it?

Here’s my photo-art fun using this countryside barn.

Distressed FX with these color and textured options, Lora, Nerities, and the bird overlay “Gaggle”
Brushstroke options applied Brush = Natural N5, Tones=Faded, Canvas=Hard Grain, Temperature =+70 (giving it image a warmer quality), Exposure = +52 (brightens image slightly), Signature color change and moved above the original copyright of photograph.
Waterlogue 1.3.1 (72) Preset Style = Vibrant Format = 8″ (Large) Format Margin = None Format Border = Straight Drawing = #2 Pencil Drawing Weight = Medium Drawing Detail = Medium Paint = Natural Paint Lightness = Lighter Paint Intensity = More Water = Tap Water Water Edges = Medium Water Bleed = Average Brush = Natural Detail Brush Focus = Everything Brush Spacing = Narrow Paper = Watercolor Paper Texture = Medium Paper Shading = Light Options Faces = Enhance Faces


I’m messaging my posts tenderly to find the right way to bring together daily memes in one spot. Joyce hosts the mid-week Q&A session, Wednesday Hodgepodge and I’m delighted to play along again. Here are my responses.

1. What’s surprised you most about your life or life in general? 
 
What surprised me most is just how wonderful husband DH is. I always thought while we were dating that he’d make a fine husband – loving, good, and kind but I never banked on how rich our relationship would become as we grew to be best friends. We not only have love but we like the other, too. It’s really nice having him for a buddy share everything in my life with!

2. Sweet potato fries, sweet potato casserole, a baked sweet potato, a bowl of butternut squash soup, a caramel apple or a slice of pumpkin pie…you have to order one thing on this list right now. Which one do you go for?

Pumpkin pie, yep the pie with a generous dollop of Reddi Wip.

3. What’s a famous book set in your home state? Have you read it? On a scale of 1-5 (5 is fantastic) how many stars does it rate?

Honestly, I do not know. I haven’t read a full length book in years. I read mostly blog contents and other Internet articles. That’s about all the attention I can devote to reading anymore. 🙂

4. There are 60 days until Christmas…have you started your shopping? How do you stay organized for the holidays?

DH & I already got each other early Christmas presents, so that’s done. I am beginning to think about what to do get others but honestly, we don’t do Christmas shopping big here. I like keeping things simple but letting those I love that I’m thinking of them.

5. October 26th is National Tennessee Day. Have you ever lived or spent any time in Tennessee? Is this a state you’d like to visit one day? The top rated tourist attractions in Tennessee are The Great Smoky Mountain National Park (Gatlinburg area), Elvis’s Graceland (Memphis), Birth of the Music Biz (Memphis and Nashville), Dollywood (Pigeon Forge), Tennessee’s Military Heritage (many battlefields), The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson’s home), The Parthenon (Nashville), Oak Ridge American Museum of Science and Energy, Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley Railroad, Downtown Knoxville, Lookout Mountain, The Titanic Museum (Pigeon Forge), The Museum of Appalachia (Clinton), and The Lost Sea Adventure (Sweetwater)  How many on this list have you seen? Which one on the list would you most like to see? 

We live in Knoxville so the Smoky’s are home to us. The mountains we visit frequently and most of my mountainscape photos such as Smoke on the Mountains, I capture in the Smoky’s (or the Blue Ridge Parkway). Most of the attractions in or around the park, we have not visited but I’d really like to visit Dollywood at Christmas. The theme park is really decked for the holidays. We visited Nashville twice recently which I shared in Cathy Chats and Friday Sillies posts. We have visited Andrew Jackson’s home on more than one occasion. Our more recent visits, I shared in A President’s Home and Inside a President’s Home.  Eons ago, we visited the American Museum of Science and Energy and The Museum of Appalachia with my in-laws. In fact, DH and I were talking about how we’d like to revisit the Appalachia museum again. It’s not very big but it’s a quaint pioneer community lots of log cabins, farm equipment, and it has a petting zoo. Sometimes they have live mewsic. Chattanooga we’re not strangers, too. In fact, DH worked in Chattanooga for 10-years making the drive daily. Somewhere on my blog I have photos taken from Lookout Mountain but because of improper tagging I can’t locate this post. The same goes with my photo archives. 🙁 We have not visited The Lost Sea but I used to want to back in the day when I was more adventurous and less of a scaredy-Cathy. Nowadays, you can’t drag me on a boat. Well…you can drag me on if you first tie me up otherwise, I’ll kick and bite you all the way. We are blessed to live in east Tennessee with all these places practically in our backyard and thank God for placing us here every day!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I’ll leave you with a look at our Smoky Mountains. 

I originally shared this photo November 7, 2015 with the WW community during DH’s unemployment period and we frequented the mountains more than we do now. We haven’t gotten a chance to see the colors this fall. I doubt there is much of show with the dry conditions but I do miss our day trips to the mountains.

Have a good day and I hope to see y’al tomorrow for Throw Back Thursday.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post. Pixelmator is my photo-editing software of choice and these others are fun cool apps I use on occasions with my iPad/iPhone. I have not been compensated in expressing my opinion or use of these products. I’m just telling you as one friend to another, so if you buy these or even click on the link then I won’t make one red cent. This is just one friend telling another.

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19 comments

  3. Smoky mountains is on my list for the past three years, I still did not get a chance to visit it in fall 🙄. Lovely barn photos Cathy.

  4. Way ta go, Girlfriend! I wish I lived near or had access too a old barn house… ahhhhhhhhhhh if the walls could talk. Well, I’m off to get myself ready for tomorrow. Having a stent put in my leg so my veins will act right. Right now they’re lost and the doc has to show them the way so the blood will start flowing correctly! Can’t wait to get it done so I can be normal again! Wish me luck! BIG HUGS

    1. Marie,

      Yes, of course dear I’ll be praying that all goes well. I hope the procedure is a success and you can get back to a “normal life” again. Hugs!

  5. You are so blessed to live in East Tennessee. I love that area of the country. Hubby and I have visited the Smoky’s many times over the years. Your pictures are beautiful. Love that old barn.

  7. Nice photo Cathy I like edit 1 best, an apt vid and song too heheh!

    Have a barnstormingtastic week and thanks for beaming by Cathy 🙂

  8. I love old barns, all these editing effects look great, especially waterlogged.
    Christmas is fast approaching and this year I have no ideas of what to get people other than my hubby. I remembered to link up this week 🙂

  11. Hi, Cathy!

    You did it again. You used your tool kit to turn a pleasing picture of a rural barn into a work of art. The second image (first enhancement) is my favorite because the color is boosted along with the contrast and you placed a formation of birds in the sky for added warmth and charm. It looks like a fine art oil painting! The effects you used on the second enhancement makes it seem like you were viewing the barn on a searing hot summer day or recalling the barn as a fading memory. Do you see those possibilities? The last version of the barn looks like a watercolor painting.

    I’m with you on the pumpkin pie. I’ve been begging Mrs. Shady to bake one ever since autumn began. She promises to make several in time for T-giving. I do love sweet potatoes and squash, however, and would enjoy some of those other listed choices like the sweet potato casserole, a baked sweet potato or a bowl of butternut squash soup.

    I also liked the promotional piece for Tennessee Tourism and the pretty picture you took on a drive through the Smoky Mountains.

    Enjoy your day and the rest of your week, dear friend Cathy!

    1. Tom,

      I’m pleased you liked my photo-edits. I feared with these series it might get boring but I felt compelled to stick with it which will end soon. I think my last one is scheduled for the first Wednesday in November, then after that, I’m not sure which direction I’ll go.

      When I was a kid, I didn’t care too much for pumpkin pie. It was a taste that I acquired over the years. I began making my own pumpkin pies several years ago to DH’s satisfaction and delight. I will make at least one for us for Thanksgiving as well as a pecan pie and an apple stack cake. I keep the desserts in the freezer for long storage with just the two of us, so whenever DH gets a sweet tooth then I can pull one something out for him. Thanks for stopping by today, dear friend. Enjoy the rest of the week and hopefully, Y’all are getting a bit of a cool down. We certainly are!

  12. Barns are my sentimental favorite things to see on a drive out in the country. Your Smokey Mountains are lovely, it’s been years since i’ve been up that way, but not for lack of wanting to go.

    1. Mimi,

      We get many visitors near and far to our Smoky Mountains, every person always marvel at its beauty. It’s something one can take for granted but we learned years ago to not ever let this happen as we almost lost it. Thanks for visiting!

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