This and That Right Around Here

…taking a break from my travelogue as regarded our short family trip to North Georgia and Southwestern North Carolina.

Here are a few happenings from close to or at our home in East Tennessee.

Another day and the deforestation in our neighborhood continued… In this photo, a load of gravel has been dumped at the lot right across the street and a piece of heavy equipment has begun clearing the next lot as well.  The gravel is roughly where the concrete for the driveway of the house right across the street will be poured.

While we obviously knew that change would come as our community was built out, thanks to Covid-19 with its early retirements, the high cost of living in states like California, New York and Illinois and our relatively low cost of living…we are acquiring new neighbors sooner rather than later. L

Just a day later, the local deer herd decided to take advantage of the browse available along the edge of the cleared lot across the street from our house.  The herd consisted of between 12 – 14 deer and the photo was taken by Laurie from one of our second story windows.

Laurie also captured this cute photo.  She was on the front porch with her phone when she noticed this little face appearing in the ‘doorway’ of one of our birdhouses.  This baby bluebird didn’t care who or what might bring it food…but it’s clearly saying ‘feed me’!

On a recent day, Laurie and I decided to try a new restaurant (actually relocated) that we hadn’t dined at previously, but which had drawn a lot of positive feedback.  This is “The Café by LeeEllen” on Grove Street in Loudon Tennessee.  This business is so new in this location that there wasn’t any easily visible sign telling folks passing by just who is occupying the building.

Upon our arrival at about 1:30 PM on a weekday, the restaurant was quite busy.  The décor is simple with mismatched tables and chairs.  I asked Laurie to count the clientele when we finished our luncheon.  The ratio was 5:1, women vs. men.  LeeEllen is the gal taking an order who is wearing a baseball hat and a pink apron.  In the second photo, it was interesting to note that those 2 tables by the window were occupied by a group of ladies who were playing mahjong.

Laurie looked over the menu and decided to order something that wasn’t expected on a small town menu.  It was a curry chicken sandwich on a croissant with a fruit cup and chips on the side.  She loved this creation!

As for yours truly, I stayed with the familiar.  My selection was this large club sandwich with chips and the fruit cup.  FYI, those tall stacks actually separate into 4 sections that are manageable for the average diner.  Everything was fresh and I thought that it was a very competent club sandwich.

The Café by LeeEllen is located at 307 Grove Street in Loudon Tennessee.  The restaurant is open Wednesday through Friday from 11 AM until 8 PM and on Saturday and Sunday from 9 AM until 8 PM.  The Café is next to the old railway depot and just 3 blocks up Grove Street from US Hwy 11 and the Tic Toc Ice Cream Parlor.  Phone: 865-224-9888.

At this point, I couldn’t find either a website or Facebook link for The Café by LeeEllen.

Once a week on Wednesdays, Tellico Village features a farmer’s market event located behind the welcome/information center, at the only stoplight just off TN Hwy 444.  Our booty for the week was minimal but memorable.  We bought a bag of Memoirs Coffee from a local roaster, a honeywort for Laurie’s deck based plantings and a big bunch of terrific…and very large fresh radishes.  They were big enough that most took 4 or 5 bites to finish.

No…those flowers did not come from the local farmer’s market.  Instead, once again I’d visited the endodontist.  Laurie had accompanied me this time and the endodontist’s overly happy staff presented her with these Alstroemerias…aka Peruvian lilies.  Hopefully, this was my last appointment for quite a while!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave