Sunday

Happy Sunday, everybody!!!

We're still getting back into the swing of "normal life" after the activities of the past couple of weeks and devoting quite a bit of time to our responsibilities surrounding the events of last weekend. I've spent several evenings this week scanning old Anderson family pictures that Jack very much wants to have stored digitally before all the photographs get divvied up amongst him and his siblings. The process has gone more quickly than I anticipated, and I've made quite a good start.

We're planning to have a yard/estate sale sometime in the next few weeks before the house in McTown goes on the market, so if any of you are interested in attending, please drop me an e-mail, and I'll make sure you get all the details. Tentatively it will be the July 4th weekend, but we haven't settled on that yet.

Jack has spent the majority of today trying to restore our phone service after a cat-related incident earlier this weekend that has left us largely disconnected with the outside world. Sometime yesterday we realized that although our internet was working most of the time, there was no dial-tone on the telephone. Closer inspection of our connections revealed what we can only assume was a problem that involved Venus-Kitty...

Since this morning Jack has run new phone wire from the box to the outlet in the wall, connected and reconnected several times without success -- we're still without phone, but at least the internet connection seems to be consistently hot at the moment. Jack suspects he'll have to make a trip to Lowe's tomorrow for additional supplies before making another run at it.

Our friend Jeff claims that cats were put on the planet to put humans through hell, and today I have to agree with him.

Mom e-mailed some new pictures of Lucia to share -- these were taken with her new camera, which does a great job based on what I've seen so far. Her old camera is one that Jack and I gave her and Dad as a Christmas present some years ago and is the type that has to be charged on a special base. It takes nice pictures, but if you happen to run out of "juice" away from home, you're out of luck without a functioning camera.

This new one of Mom's is actually the same camera I thought about getting last year as a "purse-sized" alternative to my regular camera, which is a bit large to carry some places. It has a lot of great features, and she got a "steal of a deal" on it. As you can see, it's perfect for taking baby pictures - GO MOM!!

On a different note, if anyone has tried the new Off! Clip-On mosquito repellant, please drop me an e-mail to let me know how well it works. I am absolute mosquito bait whenever I go outside at dusk and they're buzzing about. This year, with all the rain we've had, they're absolutely horrible and have given both Jack and I a bad time. Jack and I don't like using the spray, because it leaves such residue behind and smells so badly. I'm hoping to hear that this clip-on thing really works to drive the mosquitos away, so please let me know.

Well, a load of laundry and end-of-the-weekend stuff beckons, so I'm calling it a wrap.

Have a good week!!

First of all, I apologize for not posting anything new in over a week, but as some of you are aware, the memorial service for Jack's father and final "goodbyes" for both of his parents, who were interred together, was this past Sunday. Jack and I have been busy with arrangements and preparations and family stuff for the past couple of weeks, but things seem to be returning to normal, though we're exhausted.

The memorial service was beautiful and touching and an appropriate tribute to Joan and JW and their devotion to one another. All of their friends - whether they're friends from fifty years ago or their friends from Florida they've known for twenty years or their neighbor from the assisted living that only knew them "as a couple" for a few months after Jack's mother was already very ill - speak of their love and dedication, which was very clear by the words spoken by their minister from years and years ago and Jack's brother during the service.

Jack's oldest sister made arrangements for the music during the memorial and did a perfect job choosing the selections that were played.

The chance of rain and some threatening-looking clouds worried us a bit before things got underway, but by the time the service started, the sun came out, and we experienced a pleasant breeze.

After the service, friends and family gathered at the family home for snacks and visiting.

I always enjoy meeting people that are special to Jack and hearing their stories of the days when he and his siblings were little children.

One of my favorite stories from Sunday was told by the lady who was Jack's grandmother's secretary at her insurance office. She started her job the year Jack was born and seems to have a special kind of affection for my husband, who learned early in life that Sue kept snacks under her desk. Apparently Jack and one of his best little buddies from up-the-street had a habit of staging "hold-ups" at the office for whatever Sue might have to snack-on. Sometimes the bandits were in full cowboy garb with cap-guns and bandana masks and sometimes the bandits wielded finger-guns concealed by little boys' t-shirts.

Jack and I appreciate the presence from my side of the family and the attendance of so many of

our friends.

Sis and Chris brought Lucia, who gets more beautiful by the day --

I'm including a picture of one of the baby cardinals being raised in one of Jack's trees in the front yard at McTown.

Orchids in the Hood

Today I got a fabulous surprise while taking a walk.

Something bright pink caught my eye, and I made a note to go back with the camera to check out the situation later, and WOW!!!

Wild orchids - wild, native orchids growing in a good size clump within a rock's throw of the house...

They're amazing - relatively the same size as the orchids you see growing in pots in the "floral department" with big clusters of healthy, beautiful blossoms. It appears that these put on seed and multiply via that route, so I'm definitely going to keep an eye on these as the pods mature and produce seeds. Hopefully this is something we'll be able to easily add to the yard. The area where they're growing is very similiar in light and soil to what we have, so keep your fingers crossed that we can spread them and produce another healthy colony of them...

We also have blue-eyed grass, and and an interesting-looking mint that likes this area happening.

We got more rain this afternoon as did many areas across the mid-state area, but by the time it arrived here, it had lost much of its steam. We got one hard shower followed by 20 minutes of lingering rain and that was it.

I keep hoping that one of these rain showers we seem to get every couple of days will finally wash enough pollen out of the air that my sinuses will clear and I will again be able to breathe through my nostrils.

Happy Friday, everyone --

The picture at the top of the page for the last week - the little bell-shaped flowers - is our Solomon's Seal. This is our False Solomon's Seal -

Horrible Hayfever and FREE BAMBOO

I'm ready for the weekend, and it isn't even Wednesday yet --

Jack and I have both had issues with our sinuses the past couple of days, and yesterday the best word to describe me was "miserable". It isn't often that I go to bed before dark, but after I got home from work, I had no problem calling it a day and tucking myself in until it was time to get up this morning. I can't remember the last time I went through a whole day without eating anything, but such was the state of my appetite.

While coughing and sneezing and snotty noses linger, we're both feeling MUCH improved today. I'm not sure what was in the air over the weekend, but in talking with a couple of people at work today, there were many call-ins on Sunday and yesterday with people experiencing the same symptoms.

I don't know that Middle Tennessee has ever been deemed the Hayfever Capital of the World, but it's certainly worthy.

If anyone is interested, Jack and I have some black bamboo for give-away. It's "dig your own" at the house in McTown, but this is nice, healthy stuff. This is not invasive in the way that many bamboo species are, and while our mass in McTown is a bit unruly, it IS fairly easily contained to the area you want it. In nurseries, a five gallon pot of this stuff can cost as much as $50, and it is impressive. The canes mature to a lush ebony and are quite long-lasting in comparison to white-cane and the wild stuff that folks around here normally use as "bean poles". Please drop us an e-mail to make arrangements, should you want some...

Have a good night, all.

Happy Mother's Day!!

We had a great day with Mom -- first church then lunch at the farm...

Dad grilled hamburgers and chicken breasts, and they were wonderful. I've been craving a cooked-out hamburger for weeks, and today's really hit the spot. If only Jack had thought to make potato salad!

This is Sis' first official Mother's Day. This time last year, we'd all just found out that she was expecting a baby -- we knew the baby would be special, but none of us had any idea until we met Lucia.

I didn't take as many pictures as I'd hoped today, but sometimes it goes like that.

Sis special-requested the ice cream cake, and Jack and I are both glad she did. It was YUMMY!

There Will Be Huckleberries: Part 2

Some of you may remember this post from a couple of weeks ago, when I speculated that we'd end up with a good crop of huckleberries this year.

With any luck, these will get the right amounts of rain and sunshine to be wonderful with Kashi come July.

We also have blackberries in bloom and wild raspberries starting to jam...

Empty Nest

After taking the pictures of our four little birds last night, I went to check on them this afternoon and the nest was empty.

Jack and I decided last night after seeing the pictures of them that they were close to flying size, and we were right. They apparently took off sometime this morning when we were still getting a little rain and the cats were still in the house. The mother bird did a great job choosing a place to raise a family - under the deck, under a canoe provides a lot of shelter, and there's no way whatsover that any predator could invade the nest.

We wish them well and will think of them in a couple of weeks when we scrape that nest out of the canoe and go for a paddle on the lake.

Birds in a Boat: No, It's NOT a Recipe

I had no idea we had a family of birds living in our canoe until earlier this evening when Jack mentioned the nested babies as I headed out the door with my camera.

We store our canoe upside-down under the deck, so it's easy to drop on top of the Explorer when we want to take it out for a paddle. For several years now, we've had birds that have built and rebuilt and reused (based on our barely occasional canoe trips) and remodeled and repadded the nest and raised their baby birds there.

This is the latest crop.

Mr. & Mrs. Page Go to Washington

I happened to notice last night that I've hit a milestone here on the blog - 500 posts!!!

And onward...

As I mentioned in last night's blogging, Mom and Dad went to D.C. earlier this week. Here's the story and picture from the local radio station --

Congressman Bart Gordon recently met with representatives of Caney Fork Electric Cooperative to discuss energy reform legislation currently being drafted in the U.S. House. Caney Fork Electric Cooperative serves DeKalb, White, Warren, and Van Buren counties.

Notice that Dad is the best-looking man in this picture, though I admit I have strong personal bias and mean no offense to either Mr. Rogers or Mr. Gordon, should they or their loved ones read this. Mom looks great, too. I like her casual take on patriotic for the visit - very cute!

Mom reports that the trip was a lot of fun, and she and Dad stayed at a great hotel within walking distance of the White House. Even though the weather was a little bit chilly, it sounds like they were able to get out and about, taking a nice walk all around the Obama digs. Apparently the legislative meetings went well. We haven't had a chance to talk about all of that yet but will get caught up over the weekend.

Hi There!

The week is coming to a close, and I'm glad...

My plate at work has been absolutely full, but I got a nice break yesterday when I took the day off to stay with Lucia, as Mom and Dad were out of town on a big, fun trip to Washington, DC.

I spent the night at the baby house after celebrating Cinco de Mayo with the V3 and their neighbors in their "cool" de sac. We all donned Pancho Gonzalez-style mustaches, including Lucia. The food was great and so are their neighbors.

Tracie at work says "Monopoly Man" while buddy Matt thinks it's more Inspector Hercule Poirot a la Agatha Christie...

Being at the baby house with Mom and Dad is fun, but being there by myself is like going into a rest and relaxation chamber. Their mattress is one of those "memory foam" numbers in the queen size, and I always sleep like a baby when I'm sprawled there.

My day of babysitting duty was a lot of fun, and Lucia seemed to enjoy it too... She's such a sweet, happy baby and even wakes up with a big smile on her face.

Lucia's Got Mail

Sis just sent me new pictures of Lucia that are good for sharing...

Aunt Pam sent LuV her first real "mailbox mail" this week, and she loved her card with a puppy dog on it.

The picture of Lucia in the yellow dress is from Easter.

Owl in the Woods

This isn't the best picture in the world, but you can definitely see the owl in the center, looking straight at the camera.

Jack took this yesterday afternoon after seeing "Hootie" in the back yard. I wasn't able to spot the critter until he/she was flying away. We believe this owl lives within 200 yards of the house; we hear it all the time at night, but only rarely do we spot it when there's enough daylight to even think about taking a picture.

This owl is a bit larger than your ordinary housecat and is quite impressive with a 4 foot wingspan.

Rainy Sunday

Jack has been looking at plans for an ark online as the rain has continued to fall throughout the day today.

Most of our flowers are water-logged, and I don't feel like standing out in the driving rain to take pictures of them anyway. I did snag a couple of pictures of our "Hearts a'Busting" , which are in bloom and will be for several more days. Those are rather subdued in the springtime when they bloom, saving their flashy-ness for fall when the heart-shaped seed pods burst open, revealing their fleshy, scarlet seeds. (Here's a picture of the actual "busting heart" I took last fall...)

The dogs hate it when we have this much rain for so many days, and they've spent entirely too much time begging on one side of the patio door or the other. We've done so much "dog drying" in the past couple of days that our washer and dryer are working overtime on towels. Not only have we had to take care of towels today; this morning a very wet and smelly Jimmy sneaked into the bedroom and joined me for my last five minutes of snooze time -- it took about that long for me to realize that I had a wet, smelly dog spooned-up against me and for Jack to follow the wet footprints down the hall. We've also run the bed linens through the heavy cycle today as well.

This is one of those times that I'm really glad Jack and I paid the extra bucks for the good washing machine with the internal water heater and special "sanitary cycle".

Saturday Evening Post

It's the Saturday evening post, and all I really have is a smattering of stuff --

Jack and I had dinner earlier this evening with Mom and Dad as a late celebration of my birthday and our anniversary. We met them in town at the nice little restaurant on the square downtown, which has been there for years and years. It's one of our favorite places to grab a quick dinner "out" - the food is tasty, the wait staff is attentive and responsive, and we feel good about supporting a local small business. While the decor is far from snazzy and the silk flowers on the tables have long since seen better days, we dont' go there for the atmosphere - we go there for the food, and we weren't disappointed.

Sis sent my birthday present with Mom and definitely scored a home run in getting me a new wallet and some cute new earrings that I'm wearing at this very moment. My old wallet was just sad - inexcusably and horribly sad. Several months ago when the snap-closure stopped working, I found a big rubber band that had originally come with a bunch of asparagus

Mom and Dad are in big spirits - they have exciting stuff going on this week!!! I'll update on that with a blog post later this week...

The weather has been rainy and gloomy for the past couple of days, and while we haven't had it to a problematic level here locally, there are places in Tennessee that are under flood warnings due to the large amounts of rain that have fallen in the past two days.

Jack went to the city with me yesterday to shop while I was at work, and when it came time for us to head east toward home, we drove through some of the hardest rain we've seen in awhile. Water stood on the interstate in places, and traffic slowed to a rush-hour crawl, though we were leaving town in the early afternoon. Luckily the storms that passed through our area were limited to hard rain with some thunder and lightning - no heavy winds or "tornadic rotation" this time around.

The rain continued into today, so we spent most of the afternoon gearing up to watch the Kentucky Derby, catching a couple of the early races on ESPN before turning to the main network coverage of the event. I enjoy watching the stories about the horses and their people and generally formulate my "favorites" based on what I learn in the last few hours before the race is run. This year's winner, Mine that Bird, was purchased for less than ten thousand dollars and made his trip to the Derby in a horse trailer pulled by his owner/trainer - a true long-shot and a winner everyone can feel good about.

My favorite horse and favorite story of the day was that of General Quarters and his owner/trainer Tom McCarthy, a retired school principal. Unlike many thoroughbred owners, McCarthy cares for GQ almost single-handedly, fulfilling the roles of owner, trainer, groom and friend. I have no doubt that if Tom McCarthy were 30 years younger, a foot shorter and eighty pounds lighter, he would be GQ's jockey as well!

Mom sent new pictures of Lucia from this week, which I'm including with this post. It's hard to believe how fast she's growing...