Tour, Show, Game, Parade

Saturday we had a fun, full day! First we went to the Japanese-owned Yutaka plant in Cullman, where Johnny's brother, Keith, works. They manufacture exhaust and brake components for Honda. It's a very interesting process, and we were able to watch several robots at work! The place was so clean and neat for a factory, I asked Keith if it was always like that, or if they'd had a major clean-up for the Open House, and he said it is ALWAYS like that. There was wide colored tape on the floor to distinguish where various things were to go, such as trash cans, bins for discarded metal, etc. He said they retape all the lines at least once a month.

Then we went over to the civic center to see the Christmas Arts & Crafts Fair. We'd never been, and next time I think we'll allow more time. There were a LOT of vendors; it always amazes me what people can make!! My favorite was a man who makes fabulous purses from used leather cowboy/cowgirl boots. I was really wanting a red one I saw...til I noticed the price tag! BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT, it takes him 2 days to make one purse, so I guess I can understand! He did tell me that if I'll give him some boots to make a purse PLUS 4-5 other pairs of leather boots as payment, he'll make my purse for free! He gets most of the leather boots from thrift stores, but he said it's hard to get them...as real leather ones get snatched up pretty quickly. Sorry I don't have a picture of the boot-purses. Johnny was talking to another vendor, and the camera on his phone is all I have right now. (My camera has died after several years of good service.)

Then there was another old man (89) who makes beautiful pottery. He happens to live here in Crane Hill, so we asked if we might come and watch him work sometime, but he said he was "past that". Oh well. There were lots of interesting things, but we didn't buy a single one...amazingly!! :)

This is the one "overall picture" Johnny took for my blog, after I suddenly turned around and said, "OH, be sure to take a picture for the blog!!" LOL!

Then we met several other families to watch the SEC Championship football game because AL was playing. After several years of less-than-desirable seasons, they got a new coach and have had an undefeated season. They lost this game to FL, but played really well, and it was a good, close game to watch. The food everyone brought was wonderful, and the children all had a great time playing together!

By then it was dark, so we went to Big Bridge over Smith Lake and watched the Christmas Boat Parade...another event we'd never attended before. It was beautiful!!! Some of the boats had music playing and their lights twinkled in synchronization w/ the music! Not all those pics turned out well, but this shows a little of how pretty the boats were.

In case some of you are wondering why our blog posts have dwindled considerably in the last few weeks, it is mainly due to our specialty chocolate business that keeps us hopping this time of year! :) Good problem, but journaling may suffer!