geezer in the geyser

My sister Grace and I were leaving the Andrews Geyser in Old Fort, NC. last week when we saw this guy climb into the geyser and get soaked. It happened right after Grace's granddaughter Cadence's birthday party.

Garden Highlights

Here's a few pictures of my garden at present from different vantage points. It has been a labor of love.

Progress Update

Hello world! My garden is moving right along. There is a spot right in the center of things which is not cooperating and it seems like the Bachelor Buttons are taking forever to show their colors but other things are falling right into place.

My son's wedding went off with only one hitch and everything was beautiful. Brittany was gorgeous in her dress and her hair looked like spun gold. I had such a good time but am feeling a little sheepish now. Why? Well as I was looking back through the pictures of the people dancing, I noticed that at the end of the evening, I was about the only person in my age group still dancing. Everyone else was less than 40 and looked cool dancing. But I love music and I hate to sit around. So what could I do but DANCE!?!

A Work in Progress

Hello Blog fans! It has been a while since I wrote. I haven't dropped off the end of the Earth. I am trapped on a vicious treadmill and can't get off! Yes, I am still working on the Nichol house. I have been working on repairing 13 windows and am down to my last 3. The truth is I am not a trained carpenter. My Dad was a carpenter and two of my brothers are as well. I have seen carpentry in action. I know that things should be on the level when it comes to building. It helps when they are square too. The Nichol House windows are neither. So it has been a bit trying. I will soon post a few pictures of my work.

I have also started a wedding garden as my son is getting married in July. The above picture is the general layout. You can see that I like trails to walk on and explore the plants. I believe it is known as a stroll garden in the gardening world.

I have also been on the look out for funny things. That is my latest project. First off, I have to tell you that I saw a kid with droopy drawers the other day as I was driving through Anderson. I burst out laughing. He must have been 13 or 14 years old and was walking down the street holding onto the front of "his" shorts as tight as he could. It looked like he was wearing his fat uncle's gym shorts as they about drug the street behind him. I couldn't help it, I laughed and I think he saw me laugh and I am not sure but I may have pointed at him like ..."kiddo, you are so funny!" I drove on down the street and looked in my rear view mirror and noticed that he was looking over his shoulder at me. It was a weird interchange. Now, I am thinking that I need to start taking pictures of this lunacy because future generations will find it hard to believe that we actually did this.

Finally, my sister Marlene came for a visit a week ago. We went by to see Harrison's house then went on to Knightstown as Harrison wanted his aunt to see the gym where the movie "Hoosiers" was filmed. We walked around looking at the old gym and shot some baskets. The guy working there offered to take the 4 of us to the locker rooms. He was a talkative sort so I kind of dreaded going down stairs to listen to him expound on the biggest moment of his life. Anyway, as we were going downstairs, my husband -Philip- says "I like your court (they had just refinished the floor) and I like your balls too." I hear a snort from behind me and there at the top of the stairs stood my sister doubled over - holding back the laughs. She was snickering and then I was too. The men just went on ahead of us oblivious of this comic moment!

This week in spring!

Hello blog fans! The Earth has gone wacky crazy over the past 10 days. Flowers everywhere!And of course weird weather. One day we had sun, rain, hail and snow flurries - all before lunch. The street pictured is Nichol Avenue. All down the lane - both sides are Bradford pears in full, popcorn bloom. I took the pictures over several days because they were so beautiful! Also, you'll notice the horses - mama and baby. I noticed them one day as I was travelling to Kora's house. I actually turned around and went back for the picture. They did me a favor and posed so nicely for the photo. And check out the Ajuga blooming across the street from out farm in the fallow field. The corner of the American flag was caught in the tree limbs and presented a flag in perment unfurldness on the moon effect And the rest pretty much speak for them selves. Ah, sweet spring!

After my last blog entry, I decided that I want to just write about funny things. Well, I've been waiting for weeks for a funny story and nothing funny has happened. Except for little funny things....like... one morning I was aggravated at Phil for some reason and was kinda fussing at him. So as I cleaned the kitchen and got ready for work, he was eaating his breakfast and telling me something irritating. I walked over to the cabinet to get a dish cloth. I opened the door and a handful of dish towels fell out of the cabinet onto the floor. I bent over to pick them up and Phil says " look at how messy it is in that cabinet." I just glared at him and started to put the fallen dish towels back inside the cabinet. Just as I started to close the door, more dish towels fell out, proving his point and he burst out laughing! Under my breath I said"Not funny, God." And then I had to laugh too. Hope you're enjoying the spring you're having as much as I am enjoying mine.

P.S. I have to tell you that today I actually framed in the first of about 14 windows in the Nichol house. It looked good and I just amazed myself. So I take this opportunity to pat myself on my back.

"Oh no you dit ent!"

Ok, on April 1st something happened that made me wonder why I ever gave up birth control pills, namely, two of my sons . I was at the Nichol house spackling away on the never ending walls of that 2 story art project. My cell phone rings just as I was taking a little coffee break. It was Barnaby on the line.

"Hey Mom" he says.

"Hey Barnaby, what's going on?" I ask.

"Not much, what's happening with you?" he asks.

"Oh, just spackling, trying to get these walls in shape" I reply.

"I was just thinking about you" I added.

"Bout anything in particular?" he asks.

"No, just wondering if anything has been happening with you" I said.

"Hmmm, well Mom, I was just calling to let you know that Saco Cabinets will be delivering a truckload of cabinets at your store today" he said.

"Oh really, what time?" I asked.

"Probably around 1 or 2 oclock" he said.

I paused to think how I would work around this disruption in my work progress.

"OK, no problem" I said.

"Mom, there's some money owed on the cabinets, so you'll need to collect it when the guy shows up to pick up the cabinets. He owes $849.32. He's gonna bring cash so make sure you get the right amount" he urged.

I was thinking at this point that maybe I should be writing this down.

"OK, that's no problem" I said in a kinda half hearted way.

And it felt like the conversation was over and this is when Barnaby said

"Let me give you his name. His name is Mr Poo Poo Pants. That's Poo Poo Pants!" he chortled.

In the background I could hear him and his brother Harrison roaring with laughter.

"April fools" he added.

I confess, when he first said Poo Poo Pants, I was actually thinking that the name sounded French. And when I realized that this was all just a big April fools ruse, I thought to myself that Barnaby had pulled this same kind of deal on me last April fools. Man, I am so gullible.

And I would have written all of this in my blog on April 1st but I stayed off my computer to avoid the well hyped Conficker computer virus. When I opened my computer this morning it still worked without any problem but who knows my computer may have been infiltrated and is now a secret compubot for some sinister poo poo pants a world away.

Signs and Wonders

I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. Just before the midnight hour, I believe I witnessed a sign from the other side. Allow me to explain. Yesterday, March 23 was my Mama's birthday. I remembered it when I woke up and was making the bed. I did the math and figured that if she were still alive, "today she would be 85 years old." I smiled.
Later in the day, my baby sister called to chat and mentioned it was mom's birthday. I told her that I had been thinking of Mama this morning and we started to talk about how we miss her. At about this time a customer came into the cabinet store that I run so I had to go.
I tried to call my sister back after the customer left but she had gotten to class and did not answer.
Then late last night, my husband and I were laying in bed watching television. I hate to admit it but I have a love / hate relationship with the show The Family Guy. That raunchy show cracks me up, then they hit a nerve and I swear that I wonder if I should even be watching this mess. The jury is still out. So I'm watching the show and as many of you may know they oftentimes cut away to some side story. The cut aways knock me out! Hilarious! So last night at the end of the show, they cut away to an actual recorded tape of Conway Twitty. I have seen them do this before - they run a clip of Conway Twitty for about a minute or less. And it is very rare that they cut to Conway Twitty - maybe twice a season. So my husband mentions that he had never seen them cut to actual tape instead of a cartoon. I said that I've seen them do it a few times. And then I mention that Conway Twitty was my Mama's favorite singer. And it occured to me that it seemed a strange coincidence that Conway Twitty would be on television on my Mama's birthday. And maybe it's a sign. And what was he singing:

Hello Darlin, nice to see you.
It's been a long time.
You're as lovely as you used to be.
How's your new love? Are you happy?
Hope you're doin fine.
Just to know means so much to me.

End of cut away....and I noticed that as he was singing these lines, the camera slowly closed in on his face to add punch to his lyrics....like this was her personal message to me. I'm taking it as a sign. Hello to you too!

P.S. My Mama loved Conway Twitty so much she named a dog after him! Now, that's devotion.