Ten Things On Tuesday…

(1) No, I haven’t died or dropped off the face of the earth.  I’ve just been trying to get through the days, one at a time.  Some days are better than others, but there haven’t been any good days [with my back] for about a week.  I’m assuming it’s because the Prednisone has completely worn off. Bummer.

(2) After going for weeks without any rain, we’ve been experiencing afternoon thunder showers every day–including on the Fourth of July.  Fortunately, I’d planned to have our family ‘picnic’ indoors.  Eventually, before the end of the day, the kids managed to steal a few minutes to play in the rain, and in the swimming pool, but Ed got sprinkled on while doing the grilling.

(3) Some folks in our area got a lot more than a thunder shower on July 4th.  They lost their electricity, for part of the day, and some of the streets, in nearby Savannah, were flooded.  Facebook’s feed was filled with photos of folks floating down the flooded streets on tubes!  I guess that could be classified as “making the best of a bad situation.”

(4) Ed discovered that our one-and-only convenience store was closed on July 4th, when we needed to buy a bag of ice.  So much for convenience…  He had to drive another six miles  just to buy some ice.  You’d think all convenience stores would be open on July 4th, wouldn’t you?

(5) Our youngest son was baptized on the Friday morning before the Fourth of July.  He didn’t let anybody know he was going to do this, other than his wife, and the pastor, of course.  He chose to be baptized the old-fashioned way, in the river. This mother was a little bit disappointed that she missed this special moment in her youngest son’s life, but is happy for him, none-the-less.

(6) Speaking of special moments in one’s life–that same youngest son will turn “30” on this coming Saturday.  Where has the time gone?  It seems like only yesterday he wasn’t much bigger than his son, Evan, who will soon turn two!

Last year’s birthday celebration

A lot of things have changed since last year’s birthday celebration.  In addition to everyone being another year older, Ed’s retired, both Brad and Jennifer have new jobs, and Brad and Jennifer have moved out of their home in the city and back to our hometown.  None of these changes were expected, last year, with the exception of everyone growing older.

(7) Speaking of special moments and milestones, today is my daughter and her husband’s wedding anniversary!  They were married on a very hot July evening, fourteen years ago.  All anniversaries are special, but, I think, this one just might have a little more meaning to them than some in the past. I wish the two of them many more happy years ahead!

July 7, 2001

(8) I received my packet of ‘new patient forms’ [for my neurologist appointment, in two weeks], yesterday.  They’re a bit overwhelming, and it may take me the next two weeks just to get them filled out.  I’ve never had to ‘bubble in’ ovals (with a #2 pencil, no less) on patient information forms before!  I’m both looking forward to and dreading this appointment, all at the same time.

(9) Lately, we’ve been letting our newer flock of hens out to ‘free range’ late in the afternoons.  We give them about an hour, at the end of  each day, to roam out of their pen.  They seem to enjoy this time, and look forward to it very  much.  The two older red hens [who free range all the time] tried to act like bullies, at first, but things seem to be getting better now that it’s been a few days.

(10) It’s been three days since Ed’s seen “Trouble” the cat.  For three days in a row,  she’s been a ‘no show’ at feeding time.  We were sure something had happened to her because, normally, she’s always at the house, waiting to be fed.  Yesterday, we found out that she’s been visiting with our oldest son and his family, again!  He said that his little boys have been feeding her and trying to get her to stay. I hope she does, but I won’t hold my breath!  “Trouble” has a mind of her own.

A Firecracker Of A Hodgepodge…

Another month has come and gone, and today marks the beginning of a brand new one.  What better way to celebrate than with The Wednesday Hodgepodge?!  Take off your shoes, grab a cold drink, and stay a while, won’t you?

This fun ‘escape from reality’ wouldn’t be possible without our hostess, Joyce, so I’m eternally grateful for her, as well as The Hodgepodge, today.

Here are today’s questions:

1. On Saturday July 4th America celebrates her Independence. (If you’re not American,  feel free to answer in terms of a national holiday in your own country)

I used to look forward to the fireworks displays, the most, but, these days, my favorite thing about the fourth is being with family.  The grilled food is an added bonus.

Your favorite food on the 4th?

My favorite food, on the 4th, is bar-b-q chicken or ribs, with all of the trimmings, of course.

Do you fly a flag at your house? 

We don’t fly an actual flag, at our house, but I have lots of patriotic decorations, including a couple of small flags sticking out of the top of my ‘year round’ tree.

Any special plans this year?

We’re keeping our Fourth of July celebration small, this year, and just planning to grill some burgers/hot dogs, late in the afternoon.

The celebration of Independence Day has lost some of its luster for me, these days.  We’ve lost so many of the freedoms we once enjoyed, I’m just not feeling as ‘free’ as I once did.

Fireworks-yay or nay?

Nay. Ed and I stopped attending fireworks displays, several years ago.  The last fireworks we saw were back in 2010–on St. Simon’s Island. We don’t care much for the traffic or the crowds that go along with the fireworks.

What is your favorite thing about the day?

Food and family, but not necessarily in that order!

2. What’s something you recently got for free?

I received some free gifts from Shutterfly, a while back– a photo magnet, and a couple of 8×10 enlargements.  Of course, I had to pay for shipping, so they weren’t totally free.

3.  The Statue of Liberty, The Liberty Bell, The Washington Monument, or Mount Rushmore…how many on the list have you seen? What is your favorite historical American monument, and why?

I haven’t seen any of these, but I’d like to see them all.  The Statue of Liberty has always fascinated me, so I guess it would be my favorite.

4. When it comes to the news are you more ostrich (stick my head in the sand) or hog (they have room to take a whole lot in)? How much attention have you given the recent news reports regarding ISIS and the acts of terror they’ve perpetrated against those who do not share their beliefs or support their cause?

For a long time, I was ‘a news hog’, but, eventually, things changed.  I found myself growing more and more anxious and a bit depressed about the direction our country is headed.  I could literally feel my body growing tense, and my blood pressure rising every time I watched the evening news.  Eventually, I made the decision to become more like an ostrich!  We still keep up with the news via the internet, but current events no longer dominate our lives like they once did.

5. We’re talking plain ice cream…vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry? Choose one.

Chocolate!

6. Share a song you love containing the word ‘stars’ in the lyrics or title?

Tracy Byrd’s “Keeper of the Stars”.  Our daughter and her husband had someone sing this song at their wedding, almost 14 years ago.

7. Describe and/or say goodbye to June with an acrostic.

J- Just celebrated 43 years of marriage on the 18th

U– Unbearable heat, for days on end

N– New challenges every day

E-Excited to see the month end

Random:

In honor of the upcoming holiday, I thought I’d share some of my favorite patriotic pics of some of the “grands” when they were much smaller.  Oh, the days pass so quickly!  Where have our babies gone?

granddaughter, Madison (2007)

grandson, Caden with his mom (2009)

an older Caden, with his little brother, Chase (2011, I think)

~~~~~~~~~~

Have a safe and happy 4th everyone!

one of the views from my chair on SSI

It’s Monday–And I’m Tired!

Me, 2 weeks ago, standing in our garden

It Monday, and it’s also another wet, overcast, gloomy type of day.  It’s rained so much lately, this has become a way of life–and it sure doesn’t get my day off to a good start.  I need my morning sunshine like most people need their first cup of coffee in the morning!  I depend on sunshine to get me up and movin’!

It’s also the first day of July, which means 2013 is officially one-half over.  Where in the world has the time gone?  I can’t speak for anyone else, but the last four months of my life have been largely spent in a  plot of dirt, also know as “our garden”!  It’s hard to believe I’ve been gardening since March 1st!

Our garden has been a labor of love (and sometimes hate), but it’s drawing to a close.  The rainy season has cut the summer growing season a bit shorter than normal, this year.  Too much rain is actually worse than not enough rain, and our plants are dying.  I can’t complain, though.  Our freezer is filled to capacity, as well as my mother-in-law’s side-by-side refrigerator freezer!  We’ve shared with others, too.  We didn’t make as many peas or butter beans as we had planned to, but we did okay.  We’ll probably plant a small fall garden, if the weather cooperates.

On Friday, I asked our oldest son to bring home pizza for the entire family.  He works in a nearby city, and they have a Little Caesar’s pizza place there.  I love Little Caesar’s pizza–and the price is right for feeding a crowd!  You can’t beat feeding a family of nine for sixteen dollars.  It’s always fun to begin the weekend with a family gathering.  Our youngest son, Brad, and his wife weren’t there to join us, but he happened to call.  They were on their anniversary trip to Helen, Ga.

Fortunately, the rain held off all day on Saturday!  Ed spent most of the day mowing–in the yard and in the garden!  Ed actually had to run the weed eater down the middles of the garden rows, so we can get through them!  That’s what all of this rain has done for our garden–made the weeds and grass go CRAZY!  Ed’s new 4 cycle weed eater passed the ultimate test, and did some MAJOR weed eating!!!

While Ed was mowing and weed eating, on Saturday, I was in the kitchen canning…ALL DAY!  I canned ALL DAY on Friday, too!  In fact, I canned peas, beans, and tomatoes every day last week.  That’s why our freezer is now full!  I froze over 125 ears of corn-on-the-cob over the weekend.  I could probably do that much more, if I wanted to–but I don’t!

On Sunday, suddenly, I felt very tired.  In fact, I took three naps, and still went to bed at 9:30!  Now that’s tired!  I’m tired today, as well, but, thankfully, the majority of my work is done.  Hallelujah!  At least, the canning work is almost done.  Only a few peas remain to be dealt with.  Next comes catching up with my neglected housework!

We’ve had quite a time with “our girls”, the chickens, since Father’s Day weekend.  I haven’t said much about them because I was waiting to see how it all played out.  I’ll be posting about the saga of the sick hens tomorrow.

Ed’s working a short week, this week.  He’s off for the Fourth of July, and he took Friday off, as well.  We have no plans for any of those days.  We learned, a long time ago, not to travel near the Fourth of July, so I guess we’ll be chillin’ at home, with a grilled burger.  How about you, what are your plans for this week?

Happy Monday, everyone!  Have a great week 🙂

So, How Was Your Fourth?

Ed and I spent a quiet day at home yesterday–thinking it was Saturday all day.  Did you happen to do that, too?

Ed and I began our day with a trip to Wal-mart for pet supplies.  Can I just say how amazed I was at the people who were out shopping at 10 a.m. on the Fourth of July?!  Apparently, everyone waited until the last minute to buy their cookout supplies.  I hate shopping at Wal-mart, so we left there after buying pet food.  We stopped by a grocery store to pick  up a few more items.  It was crazy at the grocery store, too!

Ed grilled hamburgers for us, which we followed with a slice of strawberry shortcake for dessert (from the grocery store).  You should have seen that cake when I got home with it!  The bag boy set the cake on it’s end in the seat section of the grocery cart, and I didn’t notice because Ed was pushing the cart.  Of course, placing the cake on it’s end caused some of the strawberry topping to run off the top of the cake and all down the side!  I was so mad when I got home and saw this!   If we didn’t live 30 miles away, I’d have promptly taken that cake back to the store!  What kind of person puts a cake on its end?

Later in the day, Ed felt the need  to go outside and spend a couple of hours with his “other girl” whom I refer to as “Alice”.  Ed’s “other girl” is his Allis Chalmers tractor, and he frequently enjoys spending time with her!  After mowing with “Alice” for a while, Ed came in and decided it was naptime, I agreed!   It may have been the highlight of the entire day!

That was pretty much the excitement of our holiday, with the exception of a surprise visit from a couple of our friends, at the end of the day.  We’ve known each other and been friends since high school–and that was a long time ago!  It’s always good to get together with old friends, even if it’s only for a brief time.

So, that was our exciting Fourth of July for 2012.  How was your holiday?

The Patriotic Wednesday Hodgepodge…

Here’s the weekly session of “The Hodgepodge”.  It’s volume # 83, can you believe it?  Here’s Joyce’s set of amazing questions, and my not-so-amazing answers:

1. What do the words ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ mean to you? Does your mind go more in the direction of not being persecuted or discriminated against or does it head in the direction of doing what you please?

When I think of freedom and liberty, I think of  living in a place where we’re not persecuted or discriminated against, and are able to do whatever we please (within reason), but so much of this seems to be changing.

Over the years, I’ve watched as we are losing more and more of our freedoms and liberties through government regulations,  and this saddens me and makes my heart heavy.  Many of these regulations have been directed toward Christians, concerning things like public prayer, displaying the ten commandments, or nativity scenes–to the point that it feels like persecution of Christians.   Our country is being regulated to death–with no end in sight!  (Obamacare jumps to the forefront of my mind.)

And if the president bypasses congress once more, and issues one more executive order–without any opposition from anyone, while certain people even clap and cheer–I’m going to scream!  Come to think of it, we all should be screaming about what’s going on in Washington…

2. Nathan’s sponsors a hot dog eating contest every 4th of July. Last year over 40,000 people attended the event and almost 2 million watched it on TV. The winner ate over 60 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. How do you like your hot dogs?

I like my hot dogs cooked on the grill, then covered with mustard, ketchup, and sometimes a little pickle relish.  I can’t  imagine eating 60 hot dogs though!

3. If you were going to enter an eating contest what would be on the menu?

I can’t think of anything that I’d want to eat an excessive amount of, but for fun I’ll say “ice cream”.

4. Do you run your house more as a dictatorship or a democracy?

I’d like to say it’s a democracy, but for some reason Ed leaves most of the household decisions to me, and he always has.

5. Where was your favorite summer place when you were a kid?

Some of my fondest childhood memories took place in my grandparent’s backyard.  Sometimes it’s the little things that mean the most!

6. Do you have a guest room? Would you want to stay there?

We actually don’t have a guest room,  but if we did, I’d want to stay there.

7. Next Wednesday America celebrates her independence. Do you have any special plans for the 4th of July? If you live outside the USA when and how does your country celebrate its own patriotic holiday?

We don’t have any special plans for the 4th of July.  We’ve tried “going off” for the 4th before, but the crowds were so ridiculous that we prefer to just stay home these days.  We’ll cook something on the grill, and just relax around the house.

Random:

Today I’d like to talk about a phenomenon that has begun to affect Ed and me.  It’s called having “Senior Moments” or “Brain Farts”.  If you’re over 50, you know the drill– suddenly you can’t remember a person’s name, or you go to a room to “do something”, but forget what it is you need to do,  by the time you get there…

The other day,  my friend, Linda,  from over at Retirement Daze, posted the following YouTube video on her blog.  I was reading her blog, and wearing ear buds while listening to the song because Ed was watching Fox News.  You should have seen the look that Ed gave me when I burst out laughing in the middle of the news!  We all know there’s nothing funny on the news these days, so his reaction was priceless–and so is this song.

So, How Did You Spend Your Long Weekend?

After spending last Fourth of July weekend fighting the crowds at St. Simon’s Island, we decided to spend the weekend at home this year.  No plans at all, just spending a four-day weekend at home, relaxing.

Our weekend began early on Friday, with an early morning trip to Wal-mart.  Oh-my-goodness!  I couldn’t believe the crowds–on a Friday morning!  Apparently, everyone else had the same idea–go early to beat the crowds!  So much for a relaxing morning…We grabbed what we needed and got out of there!

While we were out and about, we decided to check at the Big Lots store to see if we could find a couple of  patio chairs for our new back porch.  Sure enough, we found a set on sale, and decided to buy them–if they would fit in the back of the PT Cruiser!  They did, along with a small table, two matching, folding lawn chairs, and our groceries!!!    It never ceases to amaze me what we can fit into that little car!  We came home, put on a large pot of peanuts to boil, then sat in our new patio chairs.

On Saturday, my hubby decided to tackle a home project.   We’ve had a long counter with a pot cabinet underneath it, on one side of the kitchen, that didn’t have a middle shelf in it.  We’d bought the base cabinet 4 years ago, and never bothered to add a shelf.  All of that was about to change!  It took hubby most of the afternoon, but by Saturday evening we were stacking pots on the new shelf.  Why in the world didn’t we do that sooner?  Now I have twice as much storage space!

On Saturday night, about bedtime, my husband heard the sound of “rain” inside of the closet that holds our heating/air conditioning unit in the hallway.  Not a good thing!  Upon investigation, he discovered the condenser coils weren’t shedding water properly, and the result was a very wet closet area!  Water was literally falling like rain–inside of our house!  Hubby dried the floor the best he could, put down plastic, towels, and we went to bed.

Sunday morning we awoke to another flood inside of the closet!  Hubby mopped out a couple of gallons of water, then called the  A/C repairman.  For a mere ninety-eight dollars an hour, they would be glad to come out and check our problem!  We had no choice but to say “okay”.  It turns out that our condenser coils had developed a “film” on them which prevented the water from “sheeting off”  properly, and draining into the tray/pipes.  The repairman sprayed the condenser coils with something called  Electrasol, and the water began sheeting.  He told us he’d only seen this happen one other time.  Lucky us!  He also checked out our unit thoroughly, then left.  Just like that, problem solved–with a can of Electrasol.  So…ninety-eight dollars and a can of Electrasol later, we are now left with the chore of drying out our closet!  We are also left with a slightly unlevel floor area in the hallway…wood tends to buckle when wet!

Today is July Fourth, and hubby and I are spending it quietly at home, as planned.  We began the day by watching the prosecution’s “rebuttal” argument of the Casey Anthony trial.  I’ve watched the trial non-stop for the past three weeks, I certainly wasn’t going to miss watching it to the very end!  I’m still trying to get over the fact that court was held on Sunday and a holiday!

I’m about to take a nap.  It seems like a nice way to spend the second part of the afternoon.  I can hear the hum of hubby’s tractor, as he drags fallen trees out of the woods near our home.  That’s his idea of relaxation!

Late this afternoon, hubby will cook us a nice, meaty slab of ribs on the grill.  Umm…I’m excited about that.  That’s my idea of a great way to end a relaxing Fourth of July!  I hope you are enjoying your day, as well.  Happy Independence Day, everyone!

More Crowds On The Fourth…

One of the funniest moments of our recent Fourth of July trip was bedtime.  Everyone got their beds ready, and settled in for the night–with five people sleeping in each room.  My husband and I shared the bedroom with our daughter, Brandy, and her family.  Each couple had a double bed, while granddaughter, Madison, slept on the floor on a small mattress.  We were talking back and forth from our beds when suddenly Madison said, “OK, you guys cut it out!”  We all burst into laughter.  Within a few minutes, all was quiet…except for the snoring of the two men.  It was a back-and-forth  “snoring concert”… suddenly my daughter and I burst into laughter once again!

It turned out that our snoring concert from the bedroom disturbed some of those in the living room!  I snore, too, so apparently I joined in the “concert” at some point during the night.  All of the snoring woke Madison up, and she got scared!  My oldest son said he spent the night getting up and down,  turning the air conditioning lower to drown out the snoring noise from the bedroom.  When we all woke up, the condo felt like a freezer!

After cooking and eating breakfast, our family decided that we would, once again, try to take the children to the beach for a little while.  It was  a little after ten when we arrived at East Beach–all of us driving different cars.  Our daughter’s family found a parking place in the parking lot, while the other three carloads of us did not.  The police closed the lot because it was full.  We parked down the street a bit, and were unloading our cars when some lady began yelling at some of us that we couldn’t park there!  It wasn’t posted, and many other cars were parked there, but we moved anyway.  We decided to reload our cars, and go back to Massengale Park because it appeared to be less crowded.

the grandchildren playing at the beach

We finally made it onto the beach around 10:30!  It was already getting crowded, but not as bad as the day before.  However, by the time we left two hours later, people were still coming.  We gladly gave our spots to new people, and went back to the condo for a bite of lunch and another swim.

Later in the day, after lunch and a swim,  half of the family left to go back home, while half of us stayed.  Some had to go to work on Monday, while others insisted that they needed to go home and get some rest before returning to work on Tuesday. 

Those of us who remained,  planned to attend the fireworks in the Village, down by the ocean, that evening.  We had been warned not to try to drive our car down there, and to get there early.  We parked our cars some distance away, and walked down to the Village around 5 o’clock that afternoon–four hours before the fireworks were to begin.

the crowd at the Village--4 hours prior to the fireworks

  Once again, we saw crowds of people everywhere–some of whom appeared to have been there all day long!  We quickly decided that no fireworks were worth fighting that crowd to see, and we went back to the condo!  The rest of the afternoon we watched a steady stream of people walking down to the Village–just as we had watched crowds walking to the beach the day before!  I shudder to think how many people were down there by the time those fireworks began!!!

Later in the evening, my husband decided to walk out to the road in front of our condo,  to see if he could see any of the fireworks.  He noticed a few people in lawn chairs across from our condo, and came back to tell me.  Sure enough, once the fireworks began, we could see many of them–and we didn’t have to fight the crowd to do it! 

The next morning we left that crowded little island, for the uncrowded sanctity of our little country home… There truly is no place like home…Fortunately, all was well when we arrived at home shortly before lunch.  Bobs, the cat,  seemed to have endured my absence a lot better this time, but she was still very glad to see us!

I’ve already decided that our next Fourth of July will be spent at home.  I prefer a backyard bar-b-que and relaxing in the country–over fighting a crowd in the city anyday!  Life here is good, and very uncrowded–and we like it that way!

One Word Describes Our Fourth Of July…Crowded!

When I last blogged, I was getting ready to go on a two-day beach trip to celebrate the Fourth of July.  I  rented a small condo on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia for the weekend, and eventually invited all of our grown children to join us.  Saturday morning found four carloads of our family headed south to the beach!

Hubby and I were the first to leave, at about 7:45 that morning.  I woke up in a melancholy mood, because I hate leaving my animals unattended, especially Bobs the cat.  (After our trip last month, Bobs was so distraught that she threw up, then pulled out some of her fur.)  I was also reading the last chapters of the Nicholas Sparks novel, The Last Song, which is very sad–and I really “get into” books when I read them.

My mood peaked just fifteen miles down the highway when a coyote ran out the woods and onto the highway forcing my husband to run over him–despite Ed’s best effort to dodge him!  I hate that sickening “thud” sound!  I held my breath, as we stopped and checked the car for damage.  Fortunately, there was no damage to the car, but I cried  anyway, then we resumed our trip.  Strangely, I felt better after having my little cry. 

We arrived at Massengale Park shortly before 10:00 that morning…to find the picnic area already full!  Fortunately, we spotted one last table, over near the bath house area–and we quickly grabbed it!  Had we been five minutes later, I am sure we would’ve been out of luck.  From the time we arrived at the park, which is located in a beach access area, there was a steady stream of people headed down to the beach. 

Before long, most of our family safely arrived at the park–except for Brad and Jenn, who came later.  We were fortunate that our picnic table was shaded by large oak trees, and a cool breeze was blowing.  We unloaded the supplies for lunch, as well as the bean bag toss game that we purchased on our last beach trip.  Some played bean bag toss, while others got lunch ready.  We dined on grilled hotdogs, chips, and goodies that Christina and I baked and brought from home.

Our original plan was to take the children down to the beach after lunch, and let them play in the sand and surf…that was before some of us walked down to the beach and took a look at the crowd…This picture doesn’t do  justice…We saw wall-to-wall people– from the sand to the water– as far as we could see…It was impossible to walk without stepping on someone.  I’ve never seen anything like it in my life!  I was so glad that I had my camera with me so I could take a few pictures. 

We quickly decided to just skip the beach, and head for the condo!  By then, we were just a few minutes away from check-in time anyway…but wouldn’t you know, when we got to the condo, the cleaning lady wasn’t finished!  Some of us sat on the terrace of the condo, while others headed for the cool, inviting,  water of the pool…

That’s our little family group surrounding granddaughter, Madison, who is wearing the pink swimmies.  The rest of us were either on the terrace of the condo, or sitting around the pool.

We had a wonderful time at the condo.  The unit that I rented was located beside the pool, it’s actually in the (above) picture of the pool– the second one from the left.  In addition to the swimming pool,  a lake, a gym, tennis courts,  and a children’s playground are all located on the grounds of Ocean Walk Condominiums.

Even though it was only a one bedroom, the condo unit had two beds in the bedroom, as well as a futon, couch, and a loveseat in the living room.  We brought along a blow-up mattress, and a small children’s foam mattress so everyone would have a place to sleep.  Being in the condo continued the “crowded” theme of the weekend, but we all had a good time being together, and we managed “being crowded” quite well!   Stay tuned for part two of our crowd-filled adventure…there’s more!

Six Word Saturday…July 3

 

 

Thanks for stoppng by… I am posting a photograph of my “year round tree” decorated in a patriotic theme.  In addition to the photograph,  I have six special words just for you…

 

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