On the way to my parent’s house in NC, we stopped along the Ocoee River in Tennessee to take a few pics at the dam. The scenery was just beautiful, a perfect photo op spot.
The dam is pretty spectacular in itself. 
Powerful and beautiful. 
And the stream rushing by the rocks with all that pretty foam is outstanding. 
I’ve always been fascinated with streams, creeks and rivers. And NC and TN is full of such scenes as this. 
I posed for the river in the background and then we were on our way. 
One afternoon, after our lunch, we headed over to Lake Chatuge, which is not far from my parents house. A beautiful man-made lake, the mountains are in the background and it makes for a spectacular view. 
Pretty, pretty, it certainly is. 
I did enhance these pics just a bit, but the water really was a pretty blue.
NOTE on photos: If you haven’t tried out some photo editing software, give it a try to enhance and improve your photographs. I’m using Photoscape (thanks to my friend, Pat for the tip) and Photofiltre for the most part, but Picasa and Piknik are also great. Photoscape has a feature called Bloom that I’m just now trying out and it is fun to play around with. It adds a bit of shimmer and light on a certain spot in your photo (you can pick and choose with it). I also use the Contrast feature, as well as resize my photos to fit on my blog. You can also play around with the colors and hues to give your pics a little boost. Most of the big-gun blogs use Photoshop, but that one’s expensive. These I mentioned are freebies, you gotta love that!
Here’s a pic below and you can see what I did with it in Photoscape, Before and After. I used the Color Enhance and the Bloom feature to add extra light on the haybale. Now, keep in mind, I’m totally a novice at this, so I’m playing around with it until it looks good to me. I could get carried away though, so just be aware of that too. 🙂
It’s amazing what these photo programs can do!
More of pretty Lake Chatuge.
A couple of kayakers were out getting some exercise. It was so hot, I don’t know how they stood it. 
On the way back home, we saw some pretty haybales in a pasture. NC really has some beautiful scenery, from mountains, to lakes and streams. 
As well as pretty and rustic barns. 
Back at my parents house, I just took a few snapshots around the house. My mom has had these canisters since the 70’s. I think my sister gave them to her back then. Frogs might be back in again. 
My sister and her hubby were there for a couple of days and brought their dogs, Holly….
And Buster. They kept us entertained too. 
Dad’s house has board and batten. Before board and batten was cool. 🙂 
Fresh ‘maters!
Blueberries.
Homemade ice cream.
Peach cobbler
And loads of fresh veggies. Are you ready to kill me yet, with all these food pics? I’m so sorry.
Squash, steamed okra, peas.
My plate was full once again. 
But I managed to eat it all. How do I do that? Ha-ha, I’m telling you, I couldn’t eat like that all the time. 
Mom made blueberry pancakes one morning.
Yum! 
Along with bacon, fresh fruit and a hashbrown/egg dish.
Oh my goodness, was it all good. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it all again.
I do hope you all enjoyed our trip to NC with my family. It’s a priceless and special time for all of us!
I love the NC pictures!! I left there after 9 years and still get nostalgic even though it’s been a year! Great photos!
Anne
I love North Carolina mountains! I was born in Tennessee but in the western part of the state. Living in the Birmingham area now gives me a little bit of the mountains with our hills but I love getting back to them as often as possible. I could live the rest of my life near Ashville!
p.s. Do you have the hasbrown casserole recipe that your mom served you?
Carol, I’ll see if I can get that. I think it’s a basic hash brown on the bottom, eggs and cheese & whatever else poured on top and baked. She didn’t put any meat in this one.
Hey, Rhoda!
So many comments, so little time.
We spent my parents-in-laws’ 50th wedding anniversary in one of those huge cabins outside Pigeon Forge last July. White water rafting on the Pigeon River was AWESOME – and beautiful!
(I was thinking of your parents’ home and that song “I was country, when country wasn’t cool.)
I almost couldn’t get past the homemade ice cream…YUM. That repast was truly southern – black-eyed peas and all!!!
Cheers!
Laura
Rhoda, nothing like going home for a visit is there? All the dishes look so familiar to me. My family is not from NC, but had some origins in Tenn. Your pictures just scream HOME! Glad you had a wonderful time and got to visit with your parents!
Hey, Rhoda. Great pics! I use Picasa for my photo editing, but I’ll have to check out the one you mentioned. By the way, you were traveling through my neck of the woods. I LOVE my east Tennessee rivers and mountains!
Okay Rhoda, remind me not to read your blog before bed. I am now starving! The scenery looked so beautiful and the food looked delicious.
Rhoda, your pictures are fabulous! I am from Tennessee and miss my mountains and creeks so much! I love the picture of the food. That is what Sunday lunch looked like at my Granny’s every week after church except they called lunch dinner and dinner was supper. Do your parents do that? Thanks for the photo tips. I am contemplating buying Photoshop. I may have to play with the freebies first!!! So glad you had a lovely visit and thank you for sharing with us!
Hey, Kathryn, yes, growing up it was breakfast, dinner, and supper. We’ve sort of gotten away from that now.
I think I gained weight just looking at your pictures. The river in Tennessee looked so spectacular.
Thanks for the tip on the photo processing programs. I’ve been looking at Photoshop and just haven’t been able to bring myself to spend the money. I will definitely check out the programs you suggested.
Have a great week! La
a lovely sense of time and place.
Hi Rhoda-
Love the lake photos and those pancakes look yummy. I lived in NC for 3 years while my hubby got his Masters and taught at Duke, UNC, and NCState. We want to move back someday. Two summers ago we rented a house for a week on Lake Lure – brought our girls and their friends – we had a great time kayaking everywhere, relaxing, eating, and reading lots of good books.
My best- Diane
I am a NC girl who no longer lives there and I attended college in western NC….so I really enjoyed your pictures and had to comment. As for the food…oh, my!….wish I had some of those great vegetables.
Glad you enjoyed visiting my beautiful state when you came to see your Mom and Dad. I do think NC is a gorgeous state and the mountains are so beautiful!!! Those pictures taken around the water look so refreshing! And your Mother’s cooking is to die for! I love food like that. Especially summer veggies right out of the garden. YUM! If you were ever here long enough, it would be fun to have a visit up near your Mom’s with NC bloggers. Glad you and your husband had a wonderful trip. Love & blessings from NC!
Malinda, that would be a lot of fun to meet up with some of you in NC. Maybe we can do that sometime.
Beautiful photos, and right here in my backyard, lol! We are also enjoying fresh veggies from the garden here in Western NC. Glad you enjoyed your trip! I’m so happy that after growing up here, I was able to move back here with my husband to raise our children. It is beautiful.
You don’t have to post at my blog……………..I just wanted to ask, don’t you LOVE being southern?!?!?!
Angela, a big fat YES to that one! 🙂
Loved the photos, Rhoda. We love that part of the country. Absolutely beautiful!
Oh my the food photos. It all looks so good!
Thanks so much for the mention!:-)
Note to self: Do not read Rhoda’s blog when hungry!
These pictures are all so beautiful and relaxing. And the food- oh my word!
Absolutely beautiful pics of the TN lakes and dam. =) There are just too many simply gorgeous lakes around here!! (I live in East TN and I’m never moving EVER again!!) I totally enjoyed you pictures and I’m a big fan of picnik and picasa, but I’m going to check out photoscape now. Thanks for the tip! I LOVE reading you blog! And now thanks to your mama’s good southern cooking I’m craving some home grown tomatoes and okra!!! =)
How exciting!
You are established for a summer’s break in Murphy, and my husband’s family has a cottage in Robbinsville, N.C.!
Your pictures have brought back such good memories of when my husband’s grand-parents were alive. They were the ones that built the cottage…and we miss them so deeply! Your pictures reminded me of those blessed days we had with them…your Dad’s garden, your Mom’s way in the kitchen, and the beautiful photo’s you’ve taken from the area! It’s all been a wonderful blast from the past!
I so adored and enjoyed the video clip of your Mom cooking Okra!
She reminds me so much of the wonderful Mamaw that my husband once had!
Plus….the iron clad deep sided frying pan your Mom was frying the Okra in is to be much admired. I’ve never seen one with the high and deep sides to fry in as the one she had on her stove!!!
I’m joyfully on the hunt now for this new addition to my kitchen!
Anyway, all of this to say…”THANK-YOU” for sharing your life with us!!!!
I went white water rafting there. It is a beautiful river.
You captured some wonderful pictures!