Weird plus Food plus Beauty

It’s been kind of quiet around here…warm laid back late spring days with a lot of rain.  Lots of ‘social events’ if we count medically related appointments plus occasional restaurant forays and ‘real’ social get-togethers. 

In this relatively short and less than usual verbose post to my blog site, I’m starting with ‘weird’, then food, (with at least one breakfast item which was weird), all followed by flowers and nature.

We are fans of Roadside America, which is described as “an offbeat guide to offbeat tourist attractions… It was time for us to revisit and take a couple of pictures of “The Bone Yard” near Loudon Tennessee.  This unusual front yard display keeps on growing.  In November of 2022 one tourist reported that there were about 70 skeletons on display.

The homeowner who has created this offbeat attraction has now significantly surpassed that count.  This photo actually cuts off a large section of the display.  It is now too big to include everything in any detail.

This close-up view of The Bone Yard near its center provides a good look at the detail that has gone into this weird attraction.  Included in the display are skeletons riding bicycles, a skeleton horse pulling a hearse, a horse-drawn wagon complete with a family, skeleton dogs, a graveyard and a giant skeleton.  We didn’t talk to the owner (Ronnie) but he has been known to come out and chat with visitors.

When I took a closer look at the photos I noticed that lights have been places all along the procession.  An after dark visit will be forthcoming!

The Bone Yard is located at 9378 Vonore Road in Loudon Tennessee.  Roadside America rates this attraction as “worth a detour”.  To learn more about Roadside America, (which includes weird attractions across the USA as well as in Canada), just go to Roadside America - Guide to Uniquely Odd Tourist Attractions.

Now for a little food…

I do love a nice steak and egg breakfast but this one was just not perfect.  The problems relate to the price of quality steak these days and my attempt to find reasonable or acceptable beef options. 

I had grilled a couple of “rib eye chuck steaks” for dinner a couple of days earlier.  While they had looked nicely marbled and had been seasoned and ‘resting’ in the fridge for 24 hours, it still ended up not only a bit tough but also lacking that nice beefy flavor.  I’d bought this cut of beef before and it had been fine but, as I’ve learned even when buying more expensive cuts, they are not always created equal.

Knowing the issues with this hunk of leftover steak I sliced it and then reheated it in butter to accompany my over-easy eggs and toast.  It didn’t help much...   

Yes, this too was a breakfast!  We’d purchased some Braunschweiger for sandwiches a few days earlier…something we have an urge to do once or twice a year.  When trying to figure out what to have for breakfast one morning, I improvised.  So I toasted an asiago bagel, added butter and then plastered the Braunschweiger on both halves, then adding Country Dijon Mustard. 

My conclusion was that while my breakfast was OK, I’d have enjoyed it more on a plain roll with a little mayo on one half and the mustard on the other half…and eating like a normal sandwich.

The last time we shopped at The Fresh Market in Farragut, we’d decided to try one of their small batch pastas, in this cast the Parmesan and Prosciutto with artisan sacchetti pasta.  We’re always looking for easy quick meals and while The Fresh Market is pricy, they do offer easy dining options not available elsewhere.  Note: This is not a store for basic food items, at least for us.  It’s where we purchase special or upscale items for a treat.

This is the finished product on my plate.  Our servings were about equal and since this is a ‘small batch’ item there was no temptation to load up on another helping.  Any sauce could be used with this pasta but we decided to keep it simple.  Laurie made up a butter and garlic sauce using Amish butter and sliced dried garlic.  Added a bit more parmesan to our servings, this was a really nice meal.

…now to the ‘beauty’ segment of this post.  

Despite the shrinking wooded area around us as new home have been built, our little patch or strip of forest is home to an increasing number of ferns occurring naturally…and from certain viewpoints one can imagine actually living in the woods vs our new reality.

On the 17^th I’d posted Laurie’s new pots and flowers that now grace our front entrance and porch.  Since then, with ample rain and enough sunlight, the mixed planters and flowers have really ‘popped’ and the colors are really eye-catching.  Even the yellow purslane flowers have filled out in an impressive fashion.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave