How Bout Some Teppanyaki?!

We dined at Yuimaru Kitchen, a Japanese restaurant here in Johnson City back on February 22. It was a birthday gathering and celebration.

The food was tasty but I was a little disappointed in the chef.  He fine and he cooked the food perfectly fine, however, he just wasn't into it.  Part of being a Japanese restaurant chef, behind that grill and with the audience gathered, they really need to get into it and be more vocal and more of a showman.  The chef we had, although he kinda tried, he missed the mark in my book.

But yes, I'd go back.

Drill Baby Drill, UGH!

My view this morning, from the oral surgeon's chair -

Tools of the trade and ready to be used on me, GULP - 

I didn't notice the gross ceiling stain until looking at this picture.  This is the work area and table behind where I was sitting -

Step 2 has been completed as of 10:45ish this morning.  The novocaine is now wearing off and I'm starting to feel the throbbing and some pain, which thankfully I did NOT have during the procedure.  Hoping the bleeding stops soon.

They did prescribe antibiotics, a strong ibuprofen and a strong pain-killer, an opioid I believe, which I have no plans to take but have at the ready if needed.

Now we wait; (4) more months of waiting for this post and graft to set properly before proceeding to step 3 - good times! 

Going Once... Going Twice II...

On our way home from the farm, we stopped at the WJ animal auction to see what they had for animals and we were NOT disappointed!  Oodles of crates with mostly chickens of all shapes, sizes and colors but also quail and rabbit and guinea pig, geese, guinea hens and peafowl!

Here are some handsome bantam roosters - 

Some white guinea fowl -

A beautiful trio of Lavender Orpingtons, my favorites -

A pair of peafowl - 

Two Appenzeller Spitzhauben roosters -

Some content white geese -

So many animals up for adoption and all SO tempting too!

House Delivery Collateral Damage

Above is a new brush burn pile.

All the limbs and branches in this pile were cut from trees along Oakdale and Pritchard, so our house would safely make it's way along those roads with damaging the house.

It's quite a BIG pile too.  A bit deceiving how much there was until we started lumping it from the driveway to where we intend to burn it all.

You Can't Contain Us!

We spent yesterday and today out on our farm mending a section of barbed wire fencing that was damaged when we had a number of trees removed.

We installed (12) new 5' tbar metal posts along a section of fencing about ~600 feet long, then we installed (4) new stands of barbed wire the entire same length.

It's difficult to see the fencing in the below pic but hoping the video link below does a better job illustrating and showing the Frye brothers handy work -

Click the link below to see a quick video showing the fence line and our handy work at installed barbed wire -

Repaired property line\fence line video

We're making progress and enjoying our time working on our land!

With All The Little Pieces!

The heart knows what the heart wants 💗

Courts In Session

We stopped in at the Jonesborough court house the other afternoon to take care of a little business -

The Ten Commandments posted at the entrance to the court house - 

Flags a fluttering -

A nice old, historic East Tennessee town.

How Bout Some ETSU Hoops!

We took in an ETSU men's basketball game against Wofford college, at Freedom Hall, this past Wednesday night.

Although, ESTU fell to Wofford 69-72 it was a great take -

Gotta be honest, the ETSU mascot was kinda lame. He was obscure and really didn't get out there to rile the crowd.  Rather he remained more in the background and was just blah -

The highlight of the night was the Honda Small Dog Race that was held on the court during the half time. Eight small dogs (under 20 pounds); defending champion Jubel, marketing icon Poppy, and six newcomers: Remi, Oscar, Oliver, Molly, Fenrir, and Dobby, competed for a $1,000 PetSmart gift card -

Only one of the dogs new what to do and what direction to head in out of the gate, see below, and won easily -

The fan favorite was a three-legged dog but he came up a leg short, DOH -

Another fun East Tennessee event!

This Ain't NO Door Dash Delivery

A new meaning to "home delivery"!

Hark what's that up in the road ahead? Could it be?

Will wonders never cease?! Yes, it's our house finally being delivered! It arrived in two pieces; the back half and the front half.

The delivery crew literally blocked both the North and South bound lanes of Rt 11E in order to back down Oakdale -

The Front half -

Each piece barely made it down Oakdale. The crew was cautious to guide the drivers to stay centered on the road and to ensure they had enough clearance from all wires as they made their way backwards toward Pritchard -

The left turn from Oakdale to Pritchard is extreme. There would have been no way either of those trucks would have been able to take that left, which is why they backed down.  It allowed them to back far enough and then pull onto Pritchard.  However, tree limbs and branched needed to be cut, using a chainsaw, from the roof of the house in order to make the turn without damaging the house -

Both turned and working their way towards our easement and onto our property -

The back half of the house being pulled up our driveway -

They turned the unit around so it was facing the proper direction -

Then put it in place overtop the footers and in it's finally resting place -

We were allowed inside the back half and here is our view looking out the kitchen slider -

The front half making it's way up and being turned -

Before being placed in it's spot a atop the footings - 

The delivery team is also the crew that will be installing the supports atop the concrete footers. They planned to get the supports for the rear section in place and finalized that afternoon with plans to return next week, depending on the weather to set the front half and then connect and seal both half together!

Progress!

Snow Cover Mountain Views

We went back roads to our farm the other morning and instead of jumping on Rt 11E in the Jonesborough area and instead took Old State Road 34, which is a windy, narrower road with oodles of farms and cattle and land all along.

Although, these pic doesn't do justice to seeing the snow covered mountains off in the distance, suffice to say it was beautiful - 

Beautiful East Tennessee!

The 11E Diner

Finally stopped in for lunch at the 11E diner on W Jackson Blvd in Jonesborough.

I've had my eye on this place for a while now.  The parking lot is typically full around noontime, which led me to believe that the locals know it as a good place.

Went with the Philly steak sandwich and fried, which wasn't too bad, although a bit greasy.  Should have gone with the biscuits and gravy, which is really what I had a hanker'n for, especially after seeing someone at a neighboring table have biscuits and gravy delivered -

Perhaps, a better breakfast spot and rest assured we'll be stopping in one of these mornings to try the biscuits and gravy!

IM Spy Something Yellow...

These miniature daffodils don't know whether to keep blooming or pause with this crazy East Tennessee weather... 

Soon, very soon, these lovelies will be popping, as the temps are predicted to warm up considerably in the coming week.

Daffodils are one of the first signs that winter is losing its grip...

Find The Critter

Can you find the critters in the below pic -

These ladies we're hiding out along the fence line of our farm this morning.

Guessing they're a bit confused as to what's happening to their once private and untouched area.

Hoping we can all coexist.  It's nice to see and watch them and I'm looking forward to doing more of it from our front porch, once we're in and settled -

However, consider yourself warned that you all need to mind your Ps and Qs and stay out of our gardens, when eventually planted...

"Shell" Shocked Perhaps

I don't think our pond turtle know what to do with this crazy East Tennessee weather.

We're down into the twenties yesterday and today but a week earlier, when I took the above pic, it was nearing sixty.

Shoot, I don't know what to do with this weather...

However, that being said, I certainly picked the right time to move from Boston!  They just got hammered with over twenty inches of snow!  On top of the twenty of so that was already on the ground.

Kudos to small victories.

We Went To "Flight" School

We stopped in at the Johnson City Brewing Co., on Walnut street, yesterday afternoon and took flight!

We've driven by this past a dozen times or so and it's always been, or looked to have been, closed. However, it was open when we drive by yesterday, so we popped in.

They had quite the variety of beers to choose from -

Therefore, we opted for a beer flight, so we could try several different types - 

The bartender was super friendly. He knew all the beers being offered, made some suggestions and let us try several samples too.

My only critic, which seems to be typical of most smaller breweries, is they don't offer a food menu. Rather they offer, for a fee, snacks, like small bags of chips and pretzels.

Another nice experience.