Arabia Mountain- November 29, 2015

 

 

If you visit Arabia Mountain, you need to pay attention.  If you hike there, try to look carefully at everything around you.  And it would be good also to maintain silence so you won't disturb the wildlife.  We saw a flock of cedar waxwings feeding on...you guessed it, the cedar trees!  The diamorpha (the red stuff!) is growing in the sand pits on the mountain.  And as we walked along, we were pleased to see a flutter of a yellow butterfly.  It hovered over my head and almost landed on me.  I think that this butterfly is a cloudless sulphur. 



The cedar waxwings were very high in the trees but trust me, they were cedar waxwings, I promise! We heard the flutter of their wings before we saw them.  I have the photo below to show you what they look like.  Once you see one, you will never forget it.  They are magnificent birds.

With thin, lisping cries, flocks of Cedar Waxwings descend on berry-laden trees and hedges, to flutter among the branches as they feast.   

The above is from the Audubon Society website, so you see, you really do need to use not just your eyes but your ears when you want to view wildlife! There were a lot of people hiking on Arabia Mountain on Sunday but I wonder how many saw as much as we did?

And even though this is about Arabia Mountain, I think my advice would also be fine for anyplace else in the world.  Shhh....be quiet and listen! You don't want to scare anything off that you might want to see!

 

Leather Britches/Blue Jeans-THANKSGIVING!

 

 

My father is now 88 years old and is and always has been a hard working man. He has been retired for many years now but he still works very hard.  Look at that photo above...those are green beans that he grew in his own garden and he has picked them and strung them up to dry.  They are called leather britches.  I believe that this was done in the days before it was economically feasible to use glass jars to preserve vegetables. (My Dad just did it to see if he still could, I suppose, and also to show us and his grandkids what they are like.) 

And yes, my Dad is amazing!

Speaking of glass jars, he canned over 500 jars this summer...yes, that 500 figure is correct!

(And you know, my Daddy shares some of that homegrown food with me!)

 

We enjoyed a beautiful Thanksgiving on Thursday!  Funny thing, I noticed that I wore the same blue jeans to our Thanksgiving dinner that I wore on this walk in November from two years ago!  I didn't need the pink jacket this year, but I had it in the car just in case I did.  (The jacket is a terry clothed lined jacket, made in England, that I bought on the Eastbourne seafront years ago.  To my English readers, do they still make those? I love that jacket!)  So you see, that photo above is just what I wore to my Thanksgiving dinner with my family, even the same navy blue top!  One more thing was added to this, my brother had had some fun with a tie dye kit that he had bought at a craft store...he had tie dyed the bandana that he was wearing with HIS navy blue shirt. When I admired it, he took it off his neck and GAVE it to me.   "Here", he said, "if you like it, you can have it, I can make another one.".  Isn't that wonderful?  Talk about a guy who will give you the shirt off his back!  Thanks, Scott!!  I love the colors!

Looks like everyone decided to copy me and pose beside their white cars! That's my Dad's golf cart at the far right, it's white also, but it is a hard working vehicle like my Dad so it is not as clean as the cars!  (And look at that sky! It was a beautiful day!)  We had our Thanksgiving at my brother's this year, which is just across the street from my Dad, so it was just a hop, skip and a jump away for him!
Thanks, Dale & Ellen!

Steve -my niece's fiancé, Kyle-my nephew, Daddy, Christopher, my son, and Dale, my brother...showing off their beards! (Brother Scott missed the photo.)

 



I think Christopher wins for best beard!  Don't you?

 

Jan, Pam and Kay...the three Stooges, I mean sisters!  HA!  See my tie dyed bandana? I love it!

Christopher rescued these frogs that were trapped in the filter in my brother's swimming pool. He released them into a small pond.  Hope they are okay now!  Good for you, son!

You don't want to see us act like the Rockettes, but I will show you anyway! HA!
 

Thanksgiving was brilliant!  Only thing, my sister in law, Ellen, asked me to say the blessing, the prayer before our Thanksgiving meal.   It was only short but I became choked with emotion and almost started crying. You know me, it was from the heart!  I am thankful for everything.

 

P.S.   I somehow got the photo of my son and my Dad on here twice, but I think I will leave it.  I love them so much and perhaps it was meant to be here twice to show you that!

Now Thank We All Our God (Nun danket alle Gott)

Now thank we all our God

With hearts and hands and voices;

Who wondrous things hath done,

In whom this world rejoices.

I saw this today from MA on one of the wonderful blogs that I like to read. (On The Bright Side.) I recognized the words from a hymn. She had the name of Johann Cruger after the words, but it made me look it up since I thought while he might have written the music, the words could be by someone else.
Sure enough, the lyrics to this are by Martin Rinkart, a German Lutheran clergyman who lived from 1586 to 1649.  He wrote the words to "Now Thank We All Our God" (Nun danket alle Gott) in 1636. It was set to music by Johann Cruger about 1647.   It was translated into English by Catherine Winkworth but not until the 19th century.

Now, you might think that someone who wrote this must have had a very pleasant, uneventful life, just praising God and looking at the world through rose colored glasses.  You know...la, dee,dah....everything is wonderful, no problems here...but just look at that time period and realize that he lived through the horrors of war, the Thirty Years War. This was from 1618-1648 in Eilenburg, and because it was a walled town, many people crowded into it for refuge.   Many died from hunger and disease.  1637 became known as the year of the Great Pestilence and in that year, Pastor Rinkart conducted funeral services for as many as forty to fifty people per day. In May of that year, his wife died, and yet, surrounded by so much death, he wrote these words for his children as an offering to God.

Now thank we all our God

With hearts and hands and voices;

Who wondrous things hath done,

In whom this world rejoices.

Who, from our mother's arms,

Hath led us on our way,

With countless gifts of love,

And still is ours today.

Now, I MUST tell you, I also looked up the information on the man who wrote the music, Johann Cruger, and I found his story to be fascinating also!  Look him up, I don't have any more time, I must go to my Thanksgiving dinner at my Dad's!  Take care everyone, and to all my American friends, Happy Thanksgiving and to all my friends around the world, Happy Thursday!!  Love you all and am thankful for each one of you.

Thankful for new babies being born! I LOVED making these!  :-)

"When I Was A Boy" for My Boy, Christopher

 

Our son will be celebrating a birthday this week.  It is always close to Thanksgiving day, so I will be happy to send your best wishes to him!  He has always loved music. We were thrilled to see him in a band a few years ago, playing guitar and singing songs that he had written himself!  When I heard this song by Jeff Lynne, "When I Was A Boy", I knew I had to share it with you and have it in honor of our son.  

(Note: New album "Alone In The Universe" from Jeff Lynne's ELO.)

That's C. in the middle, front and center...lead singer and spokesman!

Darth Vader In A Revolving Door

 

 

   
Hello, my friends! Once again, I have to tell you that I have had very little time for the internet lately and have not been able to read your blogs! Does life get that way for you too? Like you are in a revolving door or something?  So busy it has been crazy!

Yes, that is yours truly in a revolving door at the Hydro Hotel in Eastbourne.  It is a bit sad to be excited about going through a revolving door and you ask your husband to take a photo.  I don't get out much.
Now, go back up and look at that first photo...that is also me in the balcony with the sun going down in the background.  This was in Bexhill.   When I showed this photo to our son, he laughed and said that I looked like Darth Vader.  Say WHAT! What woman wants to look like that?  (HA, of course, I had to laugh and say, "You are my SON!")  Well, it could be worse...at least he didn't compare me to Jabba the Hutt!  Sorry guys, I hope you all remember your STAR WARS characters!

In the news from my Dad, Sunshine just had a calf yesterday!  Cows carry their young for nine months, just like humans. Interesting that, isn't it?

Sunshine with her calf in December from last year.

How about a little ELO?  Yes, that sounds just right.

 

   
             

Talking With My Dad

Daddy's winter garden of cabbages, lettuces, broccoli, and cauliflower!

As I was speaking with my Dad on the phone, I told him that I had spoken today with a co worker that he had met before, he had seen him perform at his church in a band, he had been the drummer.
Of course, that brought back memories for my Dad.  Listen, you should hear what he has to say....

"Our school was the Big A School in Eastanollee (which is in Stephens County, near Toccoa) and it had three rooms and a stage.  On the stage, we could do plays and play music. I played the drums.  Big A School had no electricity, no running water, and no bathrooms. We had two outhouses, one for boys and for girls. And as a boy you were not allowed nowhere NEAR the one for the girls! 
 
Daddy, did you have a place to play?
 "We had one spot, a basketball goal and it was just over dirt, not paved.
 
What did you eat for lunch?
We had cathead biscuits with a piece of ham, or any piece of meat that you might 've killed.
(Note: Cat head biscuits...biscuits in the South are a light, soft bread, and if you say cat head, it means that it is big, like a cat going under a fence where the head of the cat flattens out? Cat head biscuit!)

Do you remember your teacher?
Our teacher was Roy Lee Sayers, and he would take the boys down to the woods and we would smoke cigarettes.  I remember smoking with Bert Certain and L.T.
WHAT! He would smoke cigarettes with children? How old were you?
Oh yes, we were about 9 or 10 years old. We rolled our own cigarettes. Smoking tobacco  was 5 cents a pack and we would take brown paper bags and cut them into pieces for cigarette papers. You could use newspaper but newspaper STUNK!

And I know that you walked to school.
Yes, we walked about 3 , it might have been closer to 3 1/2 miles to school, in all weathers.

And I know that in the winter, it was your job to build the fire in the fireplace when you got to school!
Hee, hee, yes, not everybody could do it, but I could, so it became my job.


I just had this conversation tonight with my Dad, and I thought I would share his memories with you. My Dad was born in April of 1927, so these school memories are from the 1930's when the country was in a deep Depression. I think it made those who lived through those times very tough and strong. Louis Zamperini, who is from the same generation called it "hardy" and if you look it up, that is exactly correct.   I think we should all strive to be hardy.

"Hardy | Definition of hardy by Merriam-Webster http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hardyable to live through difficult conditions (such as a cold winter or a drought). : strong and able to accept difficult or unpleasant conditions.

Peace Path/La Mer



Beachy Head Peace Path, Eastbourne

LET PEACE FILL OUR HEART, OUR WORLD, OUR UNIVERSE.

PEACE.

You may read the story behind the Peace Path at Beachy Head just here.

Claude Debussy began writing this while in Paris but completed "La Mer" at The Grand Hotel In Eastbourne.

Looking Out Over the English Channel, towards France.

Mexican Sunflower

Mexican sunflower!  Isn't it beautiful? At a festival at the Monastery a couple of years ago, a local nursery owner was selling flowers and plants. AS USUAL, I didn't have any money but that does not stop me looking! She had a bowl on her display table that said, "FREE SEEDS".  I didn't want to take any, after all I felt those should be for those who had bought something from her but sweet lady that she was (and is, I am sure!)  I walked away with the seeds!  The nursery is Pixie's Gardens in Conyers, Ga. but since my computer is slow today, I am unable to link to it!
I planted my seeds in May into a small container and it grew very well. Richard transplanted them into another pot and they grew more. He transplanted them into ANOTHER pot and they grew even taller! (I was thinking I would hear, "Fee Fi Fo Fum" any minute!)  AND when the plant bloomed, it was a fairly small bud for such a huge plant! HOWEVER, the deep orange of this flower is really pretty and the butterflies love it!  Interesting thing, the orange part is really the bracts, much like the red on a poinsettia...the flowers, just like the poinsettia, are the middle yellow part.  Can you see in the photo below where the orange has fallen away and you are left with the flowers? Those will be become the seeds for future plants!

Now, here's the thing...I was amazed to see the Mexican sunflower while we were in England!  Yes, it is was in a beautiful garden area at Lewes Castle.  Kay, I am sure you are thinking, you visited a castle and didn't tell us?  I know! I still have so much to tell you!

 

 

There! See the Mexican sunflower above? That is at Lewes Castle!

Thanks everyone for all your comments on my last post for our dear friend, Henry! I appreciate you all!  You would not believe how busy I have been lately, but it means that I have not had much time on the computer! 
 Today is November 11th and it is Veteran's Day...I am remembering Louis Zamperini, W. S. Connor and Col. Ben Purcell today and all other veterans.  Much respect and honor to them all. 

Happy 60th Birthday to Henry In England!

Hello my friends!  By the time most of you read this, it will be Sunday, November 8th, but will you please wish a happy 60th birthday to Henry? (His birthday is today 11-7, but you know, they put it as 7-11 in England, they always have the day first and the month second!)  Richard and Henry have been friends since they were at John Ruskin Grammar School together! And he has been my friend too since I met him in the 1980's!  

In October, we were able to spend a great day in Bexhill with Henry.  We walked along the seafront and had a cup of tea at the Sovereign Light Cafe!  Does that sound familiar?  Keane wrote a song about it and they also recorded a video which I LOVE! I can recognize everything in the background! Remember my post about the lighthouse at Beachy Head? The Sovereign Light Tower is what is used as a lighthouse now. It is about 8 miles from shore and  is fully automated to keep the ships safe along the coastline, As you sit at the Sovereign Light Cafe, you can look straight out to sea...and there is the Sovereign Light!

Look at Richard smile!  He is happy that Henry has turned 60 just like him! HA!  Richard saw on his Facebook page that Henry celebrated his birthday at the Old Polegate Station Restaurant.  We were with you in spirit, Henry!  
We also were able to visit with Henry's parents, Joy and Henry and I will tell you about that in another post, but for now...wish Henry a happy birthday, will you? We somehow forgot to send him the 60th birthday card that we have for him so I am hoping he will forgive me if he receives birthday wishes from all of you! 
OH!  And you know I have to have the video by Keane for you, The Sovereign Light Cafe!   
  Happy Birthday, Henry!!  Cheers!

American Woman/Stay Away From Me!

When we visited England recently, I think that there was at least ONE who might not have been thrilled with our visit... look at the photo here, and see what you think.

Get this American woman away from me, PLEASE!


Now. PeTe, you know you are crazy about me!! Ha!
Guess who goes to England and takes a cowboy hat for a dog? Yep, that would be me! 

Stay tuned for more fascinating stories of our trip to England! I know, you can hardly wait!

Sports! (The Haka from New Zealand)

Sports!  At times, there is so much happening that you just cannot keep up with all the games!  On Saturday, there was a Georgia/Florida game (which Georgia lost) AND they actually televised the Rugby World Cup final from London between New Zealand and Australia!  The All Blacks from New Zealand won!  I wasn't at home but I remembered to record it.   Wait, I thought, when I was searching for this on my list of recorded things...isn't it New Zealand that does that intimidating chant/dance before their opponents? YES!, it is called the "Haka" and it is really something to see!  I found a video of the meaning behind it and I hope you like this as much as I do!
On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons lost to Tampa Bay in overtime AND the Kansas City Royals won the World Series beating the New York Met in extra innings!  How can anyone have time to watch all of this? No one can...that is why you have the great Sports TV channels AND the internet!
 "Keep up, Kay", I remember my teachers saying to me...that is what I am trying to do! AND I have to keep up with my home and my family and my friends and my blogging world...you get the idea? !!! At least we gained that hour this weekend!

 

Hey! We have to walk too!  These are photos from years past, our leaves are not the same this year, too much rain!