Make Up Your Mind Day!

Today is "Make Up Your Mind Day"!  

Now, how many of you are singing the song by The Lovin' Spoonful"?  What, you don't know it?  Now, you will...

"Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind"

Does everything remind me of a song?  Pretty much!  There's a lot of tunes in my brain, leaving no room for important information like passwords for computers, or if I have paid a bill or where I put the latest invitation to an important engagement...but tell me one little thing and I will have a song to go with it.  (Now, where did I put that bill....)
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Hey! Besides climbing up Stone Mountain, I also walk this way...

and THAT that way when I am at the top!

I do my best to keep "walking the walk" as my friend, Pat tells me to do from the Isle of Lewis!  Thanks, Pat for your encouragement and to you all for your kind words from this past year!  

Happy New Year!

Fats Domino/Amanda Davis

Look at this!  I searched for this on YouTube for you...please watch it!
Antoine "Fats" Domino, Jr. died in October of this year.  Elvis Presley was a huge fan and I was pleased to see that in the video, Fats Domino remembers him with great warmth and admiration.  Admire his skill at the piano along with that incredible voice! (Elvis called him "Mr. Blueberry Hill" and said that Fats was the REAL king of Rock and Roll!)

We have lost so many this year.  In Atlanta, one or our favorite news anchors, Amanda Davis, died yesterday.  Sadly, she was at the Atlanta airport on the way to her father's funeral and suffered a stroke.  She was 62 but looked years younger.  You can understand that when someone is on TV for 35 years, a familiar face and voice becomes like a part of your life, as if you know that person.  I really liked her.  (I loved the work she used to do with "Wednesday's Child", where she would interview a foster child who was searching for a "forever" family.) 

Just like Fats Domino...I didn't know him and I never saw him perform.  Yet, I was truly saddened to learn of his passing.  When you look at this video, you can see and hear his talent but I think you can also sense his great soul and spirit.

"Thank you ever so kindly".    

Hope all of you had a lovely Christmas and looking forward to a happy and peaceful new year.  God bless you all!

Merry Christmas To You All! (And To All A Good Night.)

I miss making Christmas cookies for my son, so here...I am going back in time to show you these! (The bird cookie cutter came free with an English magazine, don't you love it?)

When you have a live Christmas tree in a pot that is not really sold as a Christmas tree because the branches are so small, you have to be creative and make lightweight ornaments. Okay, problem solved! This tree started out small but it has grown over the years!

Here I am posing with Christopher from last year, we have it on our front porch now with lights.  It is  about one foot taller this year and fuller!  It seems to like it on our front porch!

Wishing you as much love and joy as will fit inside my Dad's stocking! (You know I had to give him this!)

Walk of Heroes VANDALIZED!

VANDAL:  

noun

noun: vandal; plural noun: vandals; noun: Vandal; plural noun: Vandals

1. 1.

   a person who deliberately destroys or damages public or private property.

   "the rear window of the car was smashed by vandals"

   synonyms:

   hoodlum, barbarian, thug, hooligan, delinquent, despoiler, desecrator, saboteur "vandals defaced the front steps of the church"

Walk of Heroes Veteran's War Memorial is a veteran's park in Rockdale County in Georgia.  It is a place of great natural beauty and this site was chosen as a park to honor all veterans.  My husband took a few photos of the bronze statues the last time we were there, which was on Nov. 11th, Veteran's Day.  The five statues holding up the world represent the five branches of the Armed Forces, the US Marine Corps, the US Army, the US Navy, and the US Coast Guard.  This past week, vandals broke into the park and stole the globe, two of the statues and also, a plaque.   The thugs left behind their tools that were used in the theft along with broken debris from their destruction. Of course, the police believe that it had to be a group of men due to the weight of the objects.  
It is absolutely sickening to think on this.  This park is considered a crown jewel of the county and rightly so.  This kind of thing is something that I just cannot understand at all.  It is thought that they will try to sell these objects for scrap.  Could they not have taken a look at them and thought..."Wait, maybe we shouldn't do this."   Could they not looked around and realized how very special a place this is for so many people and thought, "Hey, this is not right, this is almost like stealing from a graveyard."
No, I suppose someone who would steal something like this would not have thoughts like this.  I hope that if they try to have them melted down, that they will be turned in. 

I will let you know how this turns out!  Fingers crossed that the vandals will be caught and the globe, the two statues and the plaque will be returned. Rockdale County wants it all back!

They even managed to damage those beautiful words on the wall there behind the statue.  It is from the Bible, from the Book of John, I am sure you know it, John 15:13...

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends". 

The Wright Brothers

"Dear Friends, I have a wonderful story to tell you..."

 I wonder how many people think of the Wright brothers when they are on an airplane or when they see one in the sky? You would if you read this book: " The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough!
This past year has been a busy one for me and I have not had much time for reading but this is one book that I finished and I was very happy that I did.

Do you see that quote I gave you at the beginning of my post?  It is from the very first person who wrote about the Wright Brothers, a Mr. Amos Root, who wrote about them in his beekeeping magazine, "Gleanings In Bee Culture" in January of 1905.  (Of course, you know I had to read more about Mr. Root and his relationship with the Wrights,  you may do so just here.)
Bees? Yes, you see the Wright Brothers studied the flight of insects and birds...they observed them very carefully and applied what they learned to keep their airplanes in the air! 
  



The Wright brothers-  Orville and Wilbur Wright- were the sons of a minister, Milton Wright.   (Aside here, their father was fascinating in his own right I urge you to read more about him!)  Their mother died early but apparently, she was a big influence on them both-  she designed and built small appliances for herself and toys for her children. Were they wealthy college educated young men? No, they were not...they were hard working and intelligent and had great determination in their work.  When you read this book and learn of everything that they both endured,  you will shake your head in wonder.  Did they have great respect from all who heard of their experimental airplane?  No, they did not and to think that they rose above the ridicule and disbelief and went about their work...you will be filled with admiration for them.  (France plays a large role in their success...read the book!) 

This past Sunday, the power went out at the Atlanta airport due to a fire.  Thousands were stranded and flights were cancelled for the entire day.  Many were left stranded on the planes that were on the runways.  I wonder how many who saw this news on TV thought about the significance of the date on Sunday, which was Dec. 17th?
Orville and Wilbur Wright had their first successful flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on Dec. 17, 1903!

(By the way, from all accounts, the people who were stranded showed remarkable patience.  Good for them , I say!  I really liked the video where they show a man singing "Lean On Me" from one of the airplanes stuck on the tarmac!)


Goodness me! I have not told you that much about the marvelous book by David McCullough, but I hope you will read it! It is one of the books that I will treasure for always. I hope that you will read it too.
Just in case you don't read it...I simply must tell you the last little bit of information that the author shares with us...it is one of those kind of things that might not mean a thing to anyone else but to me, is just perfect...

On July 20, 1969 ,when Neil Armstrong, another American born and raised in Western Ohio, stepped onto the moon, he carried with him, in tribute to the Wright brothers. a small swatch of the muslin from a wing of their 1903 Flyer.

Happy 90th Birthday to Joan! Young At Heart!

This time last week, Richard was still not home from his trip.  He was flying home from England (and boy, were his arms tired! HA!) He believes that the whole trip from door to door, that is from his parents' home in Eastbourne to our home, took about 18 hours.  Thinking about it through, it was a good thing he didn't book his return flight for the Friday (Dec. 8th) as that was the big snow day and the Atlanta airport was a mess with tons of delays and cancellations.

Now, why in the world would I let him go to England without me?
It was his mother's 90th birthday celebration! I wasn't able to go and Richard couldn't get too much time off, but we were both glad that he could go!  Want to see some photos? Wait until you see her cake! Wow!

I asked Richard to take a few birthday decorations over from America. I sent the "Happy Birthday" banner along with some polka dot balloons. They were most likely all made in China, but hey, it 's the thought that counts, right?  Don't you love their solarium overlooking their pretty English garden? (They don't say "yard" in England, it is always the back "garden"!)

Joan got such pretty flowers...

The ones on the left are from her grandson, Christopher! And the ones on the right from her husband, Peter! (Richard got her orchids, he didn't get a photo of them, but they are lovely.)

Yay, there is one of my polka dot balloons! 

Of course, I had more that I wanted to send but Richard only took a few things.  I didn't want it to be too much over the top, not like Buddy decorated in "Elf"... but almost!  :-)

THE CAKE!  Isn't it exquisite?  It was made by a local bakery, The Cavendish Bakery, I think Richard told me.  What do you think, is it as gorgeous as I think it is?
Now, notice the color of the candles and the piping on the cake, do you think that Joan's dress will match?

Of course, it will!  Doesn't Joan look fantastic! That lace dress! It is lovely, isn't it?  And it looks so good on her! Look carefully at her necklace...that is one of the gifts that Richard and I gave her and I picked it out. Those are Mickey Mouse ears, in sparkly crystals! (Wish they could be diamonds, Joan!)  And guess what...Dec. 5th was Joan's birthday and she shares her birthday with Walt Disney! So, if any of you know how my mind works...you will see that this makes it more special!
Joan had on a different necklace but she wished she had something a bit brighter and then....Richard gave her the Mickey Mouse necklace!  I think it looks really pretty with the dress! 

Richard with his Mum and Dad...(I call them Joan and Peter.)  That is PeTe, the dog, looking on!

Richard is so sweet, he took another photo of the "Happy Birthday" banner that I sent over!  I hope it felt like a big hug when they looked at it!  
If you would like to leave belated birthday wishes for Joan, please do! I hope she will see this and know how good she looks! Joan is in good company, my Dad is 90 and hey, so is Queen Elizabeth!

Look! Here are my sweet in-laws posing with my giant hug that I sent to them.  They look like models! Pure elegance.

The Great Southeastern Snow Storm (From 1973 in Macon, Georgia)

What is the most snow you have ever seen? I was talking with my Dad about the snowfall totals in Georgia that fell on Friday.  When I wondered what was the deepest snow that he had seen in his lifetime, he reminded me of the snow that we had driven through in February of 1973.  We lived in St. Mary's, Georgia at the time and we were returning to Conyers, Georgia for a visit. (Of course, there was no mention of a major snow storm expected in middle Georgia!)  My Dad was driving the whole family and as we drove up I-75, it started to snow.   It snowed and snowed and snowed!
There was two lanes, but since the snow covered everything, we could only follow in the path of the big trucks that were still driving. Most people pulled over and tried to stay in hotels but not my Dad! We had to pull off one time to buy gas and my Dad realized that he would not be able to get back onto the highway, as the entrance ramp was uphill. What to do?  He BACKED UP the exit ramp.  Now, this was not easy...he would start to reverse, and then, see someone trying to exit off the highway. He would have to drive the car forward again, wait for the car to pass us, and then, reverse again, watching carefully.  Finally, we got back on the highway.  Now, I didn't tell you...but while we were at the gas station, we were only able to walk around a bit in amazement at the amount of snow. It was up to my knees! My siblings and I couldn't wait to get to Conyers so we could build a snowman.  As we drove closer to the Atlanta area, we kept seeing less and less snow...by the time we got to Conyers...the ground was completely dry.  It was cold but no snow.

You should have seen our car!  It was completely covered in snow. It looked like it had been dropped from the North Pole. No kidding.
Looking it up now, I see that this storm was called The Great Southeastern Snowstorm and from the statistics, I see that Macon had 16. 5 inches of snow! So, if someone asks me what is the largest amount of snow that you have experienced? My answer...16 and one half inches!  No one expected this in middle Georgia in 1973...there were a lot of people stranded but my Dad was determined to make it through.  You know he did!

Snow Mountain/No Mountain!

Due to the snowy conditions in the Atlanta area today, Snow Mountain at Stone Mountain closed today at 2PM.  Oh, lovely irony!  (Snow is produced from the water from Stone Mountain lake and they make 350 tons a day. It is projected onto this giant hill just in front of Stone Mountain...it is very popular.)

You should see the map of Georgia today on the TV weather radar.
The snow fell north of Atlanta but there is a line just east of Atlanta, and beyond that line, it was only rain with a mixture of snow.  So, no snow on the ground for me! Not YET anyway!  We will have to wait and see what happens!
  If it does snow tomorrow, as long as I have my Yorkshire tea, I will be OKAY!
(Note, this photo is from a few years ago!)

The snow fell from as far south as Louisiana all  the way up to Maine! That means from Mimi to Nan! (Mimi- my blogging friend in LA and Nan is my friend in ME.)   Those letters are the state abbreviations for the postal service!

What is the weather like where you are?

Christmas Is For Sharing

The Christmas advert for the British grocery Sainsbury's from 2014.  I wonder if my fellow Americans have ever seen any of the TV ads from England.  Now you have! Hope you will like this as much as I do.  It was made in cooperation with the Royal British Legion and was based on an actual event during World War I.   If you have time, there is an another video about the making of this "1914" ad and the Christmas truce. 

It would take a lot for me to give up my English chocolate! (Watch the video and you will know what I am talking about!)

"Leaning On The Everlasting Arms, that is the last song playing at the end of the video, I have written about this song before... it is a song that I really like.
Of course, you know the song that the soldiers are singing, "Silent Night" and it is "Stille Nacht" in German. (Original song was in German, as you know.)  As songs go, not just hymns, but of all songs, it is one of my favorites.

Hope you are all doing well these days, my friends!
Or are just doggone tired like me?
Take care!