Beautiful Places, Interesting Faces, and Altered Art!

Hi Friends! Yesterday my hubby and I spent the day in the beautiful Smokey Mountains...it was sunny and 50 degrees...absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I got some FAB photos...AND a video. BEHOLD, listen...a mountain stream:

The water was unbelievably cold...brrrrr!

The air temperature was much cooler in higher elevations...we saw ice formed on the rocks:

And the views? Breathtaking!

We also discovered an old, abandoned Grist Mill in our travels:

It was really cool to see how things were assembled way back when...it made me realize a few things 1) we are incredibly spoiled in today's modern age and 2) it's a good thing I was born NOW and not THEN. I fear I'm too big a wimp to handle the day to day hardships of a pioneer! We also stumbled upon a village about 1.5 miles from Cherokee, North Carolina:

While the setting of this little village was idyllic...structures entitled, "Corn Crib", "Meat House" and "Stock Barn" leave me again with the reality that being a woman in the 1800s was NO PICNIC! And the nearest "mall"? A Trading Post in Cherokee, North Carolina where Native Americans and the locals bartered and haggled over food staples and other necessities.(As an aside: I couldn't have even survived the SHOPPING! The whole "haggling thing" puts me in an untold state of anxiety...I would probably STARVE TO DEATH in Mexico, the Caribbean...places where haggling is THE form of trade rather than a "bottom line sticker price.")

AND while we're discussing the historical (and hysterical) I was born on this day 50 years ago! I am 5 decades old...young! One half of a century. I can hardly fathom it...I don't FEEL 50. What does 50 FEEL like anyway? Will I be a "good" 50 year old? How will I know? Who decides these things? Why so many questions? At age 50 I THOUGHT I'd have more answers...but instead, STILL these infernal questions!

Meanwhile, back in the 21st century, I have found a few new Altered Art resources..WAY COOL!

Altered Chicks Perhaps THE most clever use of the term "chick" EVER!

Altered Art Creative Minds - An Altered Artist's amazing work...at VERY reasonable prices!

More soon! SMOOCHIES! xoxoxo