The Smoky Mountains This Week

Smoky Mountains Are Closed!

When I started this blog a couple of weeks ago, my intent was to give those of you who may be thinking about moving here to The Smoky Mountains an idea of what it’s really like to live here. We love living here!! We love the mountains, we love the vibe here – everyone is on vacation and happy! And then COVID-19 went and shut it all down. For all intents and purposes, The Smoky Mountains are closed!

I have never seen it like this – even after the fires a couple of years ago. After the fires, Gatlinburg was closed down for maybe 3 days while restaurants cleaned up and restocked. This is like nothing I have ever seen before.

So What To Do When The Smoky Mountains Are Closed?

My little family have been keeping ourselves very busy while The Smoky Mountains Are Closed. My husband and our grandson Kaison have been working very hard on some yard projects. Jim built me a raised garden bed for my vegetables to grow in soon (stay tuned for later blog posts on this!)

Jim and grandson Kaison have also been removing my old dead shrubs up front and building and installing garden boxes. The front of the house will be so pretty when it’s all done!! See The Smoky Mountains in the distance? That’s my view from my home here in Sevierville! I love it!!!

Granddaughter Willow and I have been enjoying fresh strawberries from the strawberry plant that I’m growing.

And enjoying my Azaleas, which are CRAZY right now in full bloom!

I’ve been busy planting flowers and herbs, enjoying the many birds that like to come hang out in my yard (I have 4 feeders up), and of course cooking dinner every damn night – LOL. We are definitely missing being able to go out to eat every once in a while!! Hopefully these area restaurants can open back up soon!!

Foothills Parkway Is Open

At one point we just had to get out of the house and go for a drive, so we drove to The Foothills Parkway, which is just outside The Smoky Mountains. We packed a picnic lunch which we ate on the tailgate of my Jeep, and just enjoyed the beautiful views of The Smoky Mountains in the distance. The Foothills Parkway is the only part of The Smoky Mountains that is not presently closed.

I have also been doing some crafting and photography. I am learning how to sew – something I have always wanted to learn! So I made Willow a little dress – my very first project!! It’s her favorite color – pink! And it twirls really nicely too!

As you can see, we’ve been keeping very busy here in The Smoky Mountains, despite the fact that it’s all closed down. Since it’s Springtime here in The Smoky Mountains, there is so much to do! And the fact that we just moved into this house in November gives us even more to do! The people that owned this home before us didn’t live here – it was a vacation home for them for many many years. So the landscaping is all overgrown and neglected and in need of a LOT of work!! On top of the outside of the house, the inside will be getting a lot of work done too. In the future I’ll be blogging about our kitchen remodel, among lots of other DIY projects. I also hope to be able to give you all a feel for what it’s REALLY like to live here in The Smoky Mountains, as soon as everything opens back up. Stay well!!! <3