Tufty And Mrs. C.

We love our birds and one of our favorites is the tufted titmouse or as we like to say "Tufty".  Richard has taken some nice close up shots of this bird in our very expensive birdbath on our tiny patio.  (Our  birdbath is a plastic bottom to a flowerpot.)    Here is our bathing beauty! Well, two bathing beauties actually, a female Cardinal decided to have a bath too.  (We call her Mrs. C.)  Do you notice that these birds keep a very close eye on Richard as he is taking these photos.   You don't have to worry about us, little guys, we are the ones putting this fresh water out for you everyday! The most wonderful thing that I just discovered about the tufted titmouse, he will stay with the parents and help to raise the next brood! In other words,  a responsible teenager! YAY!  Recently,  one of my blogging friends, Martha (www.plowingthroughlife.blogspot.com)  said that this bird was so sweet and so dear that she wanted to kiss the top of its little head!  And I so agree, just look at it!

Good Samaritan

I hope everyone knows the story of the Good Samaritan.  It is a parable from the Gospel of Luke but the phrase has now come to mean anyone who helps a stranger.  We had our own Good Samaritan story right here in Conyers.  This happened very close to where I work and happened at about 4 o'clock during a busy week day.  A woman left a store called Hobby Lobby with her grandchild and after she strapped the child in the carseat, a man came up to her, put a knife to her throat and told her to start driving. What happened next was truly amazing.  She immediately started screaming at the top of her lungs and then, people came running  to help her.  One man, Nharu Wright, chased the man with the knife and followed him in his car and let the police know where the suspect was headed so that the police were able to catch him.   Since this has been reported, we now know that this man had already done the same crime at a nearby mall, and gotten away with it, he made a woman drive to an ATM and demanded that she withdraw money.
http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/news/2012/mar/21/woman-thwarts-kidnap-attempt-hobby-lobby-parking-l/
http://conyers.11alive.com/news/news/107986-conyers-woman-fights-knife-wielding-attacker

I have two links here, if you would like to know more about it.   The first one is from our local newspaper, The Rockdale Citizen and the second one is from one of the TV reports from an Atlanta station.

Today, I read a comment from the Citizen that said this about one of the heroes in the story, Nharu Wright... "Good work, Good work, Good work.  That fella needs a reward. Put his name in the paper and I will make him my good poundcake."  Now, that just really made me smile...    I hope that someone will honor this man for coming to the aid of this woman and I am grateful that she very quickly understood what she needed to do in order to get out of this horrible situation.

English Spring In My Step

Nothing like a nice phone call from England to remind you of how much you love all things English!
My wonderful in-laws said that I have their permission to show their photos on here.  So, say hello to Joan and Peter!  You can also see Betty, their good friend and neighbor who always places the American flag over the door to greet us upon our arrival.  (She is hopping out of her snazzy red car and Richard took this photo of her on the move!)  She is also the one who places the Union Jacks in the milk bottle! Thank you, Betty!
There are so many photos that we made at the Hydro Hotel that I need to do a separate post on that alone, but I couldn't resist the photo of the  chocolate eclair that our son enjoyed and the big grin of anticipation to go with it!  Joan and Peter celebrated their anniversary while we were there, and I took a good photo of them cutting the cake. (It's hard to take a bad photo of them!

Our handsome son is posing with his grandparents in one of the photos with the lovely ceanothus in the background. The intense blue is just incredible. Do you see how Joan & Peter match the blue in their clothing? They should be models!  Speaking of blue, the bluebell walk was amazing, we usually just miss them blooming, but we finally got to see them. (I have written a post "England At Her Best" if you would like to go back and see more bluebell photos!)  
 
   All of these photos are from Eastbourne in England. (Joan and Peter, I hope you can see from these photos how very good looking you are!  Thanks for calling today, lovely to speak with you both.)  And for your enjoyment, Yo Yo Ma playing Bach.  Hope you enjoy this, Peter!  And for anyone else who wants to listen!   (A man comes on at the end of it talking about something, but since the music has finished, I ignore him.)  Hope everyone has a lovely week ahead!

Something So Right

Something so right, that is what my blog is for me.  (Please listen to the song from Paul Simon that I have here for you, I have always loved this song, but when I think of it in connection with my blog, it means even more to me.) Often when I type my post , I feel as if I am back in piano class and I am on stage here, all alone and I am so nervous that I run off the stage.   I think that I might be more relaxed and more myself in my comments to others.  Recently, P. from his blog, Life Ordinary www.lifeordinary-p.blogspot.com  wrote of flying on KLM.    (And please go to his blog and read his post, it is so funny!)

  This is what I wrote and left as a comment...

 Ladies and gentlemen, we are now cruising at an altitude of misery unknown in previous generations. You have been packed into this aircraft meant for many fewer passengers so as we can maximize our profits. You will be served a meal, but this is only for legal reasons and we suggest, for your health, that you ignore this gesture from a bygone time. You are advised to keep your sense of humor, and your love of mankind at all times. This flight will be over at some point but we make no claims as to the time itself.  ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT!

Also, on this blog www.thechubbychatterbox.blogspot.com, Stephen asked his readers what was the wildest animal that they had ever seen.  The comment that I left was this... "I once touched an elephant and posed with a lion...but not at the same time."  Now, that is a true statement.  It's not as exciting as it sounds.  The elephant was at Zoo Atlanta, and during a children's program, we were asked if we wanted to touch the elephant. (You know I said yes.).  And once, years ago, at MGM Grand at Lake Tahoe, they still had a real lion there that you could pose with for your photo.  I didn't really want to do it, since the poor animal looked very drugged, but I did and even though the lion looked quite old, he still had a very powerful roar that just shook me right down to my bones!
Thanks to everyone who reads my blog and then, takes the time to leave a comment.  I really appreciate it and I am grateful for each and every one.  Meike, thank you so much for your great encouragement, you KNOW I would not have done this without you.  www.librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.com is Meike's blog.  Also, thanks to Nan from www.lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com
. You have such a lovely blog and have been so kind and helpful to me!

 I hope everyone is having a lovely Spring, in whatever part of the world that you are in!  We went to Stone Mountain on Tuesday (we had the day off), to Arabia Mountain on Thursday and then, we hope to go back to Stone Mountain tomorrow!  This photo is of a very large tree on one of the trails at Stone Mountain and I just love it, even though I don't know what kind it is.
And the white flower is Mountain Laurel, and it was beautiful on the trail, it was beside a little stream, deep in the woods.  Thanks again for reading my blog, time for me to curtsey and exit the stage!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Baseball!  I love it!   I really like to watch baseball and talk with my Daddy on the phone at the same time.  What?  Does that sound funny?  Here's what we do... if the game starts to get exciting, we call each other (sometimes I call him, sometimes he calls me) and this is what it sounds like...."Are you watching the Braves?  Did you see that play at first base, did you think he was out?  What do you think about that catch against the fence?  This man at base now, do you think he'll swing at that next pitch?"
These are some of the things you will hear us say...  And it is funny, when I am on the phone with my Dad, my husband and son say that it sounds as if I am speaking another language...I go into my southern drawl, which I have to tone down with my English husband and English/American son! (Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do in order to be understood!)   Sometimes, if I call my Daddy when a game is going on, he won't even say hello when he picks up, he will just say whatever the Braves score is,  "ONE TO NOTHING!"  might be the greeting!

In the middle of the seventh inning of a baseball game, they always have the seventh inning stretch and everyone stands up and sings "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", which is a great tune and a very old one, written in 1908.  Now, I found a lot of examples of folks at a real ballgame singing this song, but I really like this being played by Harpo Marx on the TV show, "I Love Lucy".   This is so beautiful and I love the expression on the faces of the actresses as they are listening to him.  The joy and delight that they show looks very genuine.  Listen and see if if you don't agree...

And tonight's  baseball game is the home opener for the Atlanta Braves and you know at 7:30PM, I will get a phone call from my Dad, "You got the game on?"  What do you think about Chipper Jones, think he'll stay healthy?"  It's so much fun, we will sit and watch the game together, as we are on the phone! Baseball, I love it!    UPDATE: The Braves won, 10-8 and it was a great game.  GO BRAVES!

Children's Poems-Pass The Love Along

 Jan, my older sister by just over 2 years, had to memorize a poem when she was a little girl. (Do children even memorize poems anymore?)  I remember with great fondness the way she would recite this poem. I could only remember the beginning and ending lines of the poem and always liked the sound of it.  Thanks to the search engines, I was able to find it, which for some unknown reason has pleased me greatly.  Do you know this poem too?

Grandpa dropped his glasses
in a pot of dye,
And when he put them on again
He saw a purple sky.
Purple fires were rising up
From a purple hill.
Men were grinding
purple cider at a purple mill.
Purple Adeline
was playing with
a purple doll,
LIttle purple dragonflies
were climbing up the wall.
And at the supper table,
He got crazy as a loon,
From eating purple apple dumplings
With a purple spoon.

This poem was by Leroy F. Jackson and he was born in Canada but moved to North Dakota as a child and later, moved to Asheville, North Carolina and taught at a university there.  There is something about the rhythm of poetry, especially for children that I truly love.  My son remembers how much I would read to him, Dr. Seuss being one of my favorites, and hopefully, his too!  (As a child, I would read to my younger brother and sister, all the Dr. Seuss and Beatrix Potter books that I could.)

Pretty poppies, Pretty trees,
Pretty little lettuce leaves,
Pretty pebbles, red and brown,
Pretty floating thistledown,
Pretty baby, curly head,
Standing in a pansy bed.
Pretty clouds all white and curled,
Oh, the great big pretty world!

This poem is also by the same poet and it reminded me so much of Audrey when she wrote recently of her family and her baby standing up with no hands!  www.audreygoeslocal.blogspot.com

That is Audrey's blog name.  Audrey, I hope you will read these to your girls! And for anyone reading this, please read to your children.  I am sure that anyone who reads my blog also are great lovers of books but we need to make sure that we pass that love along.  Feel the love and beauty of words and pass it on!

Our Funny Dad

Daddy had to have eye surgery on Monday in downtown Atlanta.  When I told him that I  planned on taking the day off and offered to have a home-cooked meal waiting for him when he got home, he said that he would need to eat in Atlanta, as soon as he finished the surgery. (Hmm...funny how everyone always wants to eat out when I mention to them I will cook for them...I wonder why that is?) My sister, Jan, offered to drive Daddy and Dale (our wonderful step-mother) and I offered to come along with them and that we would make a party out of it. Without missing a beat, Daddy said, "I'll bring the beer and wine".  Now, he will turn 85 at the end of this month, and I only wish that I could be as quick and as funny as he is!
I hope you will like these photos! That first one was from his birthday party last year, and that was a birthday card that someone had given him and when I asked him to pose with it, that was his idea to pose just like the monkey.  It really captures his playful nature.
 Daddy has had some wonderful dogs in his life.  The dog pictured with him is Hershey and she became very ill and had to be put to sleep a few weeks ago. Can you tell how devoted she was to Daddy? I miss Hershey.  ( I am glad for every pat on the head I gave her and every little piece of meat that I would sneak to her!)  The next photo is from the family reunion in September and that is his nephew, Edward with him and Daddy is joking about the big bottle of Diet Coke and pretending that they will get drunk on that!
What happened at the surgery?  When we got there, he kept saying, "When we get out of here, we are going the the Varsity to get a chili-dog!"  (The Varsity in Atlanta is well-known in Atlanta, it has been there since 1928 and when we were kids, Daddy would take us there and got a kick out of the antics of the young men who would wait on you in your car...sometimes on roller skates!)  After his surgery, we were allowed to go back to see him, and then we all walked out together.  As we came  through the lobby (where the others were waiting for their surgery) he walked slowly past them, solemnly shaking his head, saying quietly..."Don't do it, don't do it".  I saw a man's eyes widen at this and then Daddy breaks out into a big smile and claps his hands and points at the man, saying the same thing but then, the man knows he is "kidding" and you can feel his tension ease.  That is what laughter is all about, isn't it? 
I have written about Daddy before.  If you look in my search engine at the upper right of my blog, you can find and read some of my earlier posts about him.  I think he is the funniest man that I know, even though my husband comes very close!  Time magazine, a few years ago, did a story on aging and studied people from around the world who had lived to a great age and they had two things in common: There wasn't a fat one in the group or a GROUCHY one! (I turned to my husband and said, "Oh no, that counts me out!)

 One other thing, besides being very funny...Daddy will just drop everything to help people and since he loves country music , I have chosen this song for you since it could have been written with him in mind.