Katiebug Farm

Remodel

2012-01-04T11:10:00.016-05:00

We started remodeling Katie's bedroom on New Year's Eve. Paul was giving her bamboo floors as part of her Christmas, but when we got started, the project grew.

She decided that she's rather have a wardrobe than the existing closet so Paul tore out the closet, which let us with a ceiling that needed patching. And a wall that had to be finished.

Here's the new wall with the primer coat.

Paul decided to add more receptacles while we had the room in complete disarray. Here's the base board with the holes cut for the receptacles.

And the baseboard painted charcoal gray.

The floor Katie chose is a light bamboo.

And here's the completed floor meeting the new painted wall.

Here's a shot of all the new colors: the existing log wall, the pale aqua wall, the charcoal gray trim and the Tiffany blue ceiling.

The log walls at the ceiling:

Paul is finishing up the new receptacle wiring here.

And now it's done. This is the existing dresser that Katie painted ivory with black drawers. The new pulls were found in Atlanta at Anthropologie.

I'll add more photos as the project goes on.....

Christmas 2011

2011-12-23T08:48:00.015-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year y'all!

We started celebrating a little early this year. Katie went to a Christmas party at a classmate's on the 17th. We always thought that we lived out in the boonies since our drive is a half-mile of unpaved dirt road, but this classmate's house outdid us by a lot. It was a pretty place once you arrived, but the dirt road was narrow and a lot longer than ours.

While she was at the party, Paul and I went to the Peddler for supper. The best part though was getting to wait in the bar, enjoying a libation with my wonderful husband and having the time to talk with him and enjoy his company.

We went to Mom's on Christmas Eve. I missed having Judy with us this year, but she was celebrating in Hawaii. She called and it was good to hear from her. Katie got the Harry Potter book set in a trunk that has a Hogwarts label on it. And she got new Bose ear buds and a Friday Night Lights shirt and calendar. I got a beautiful hand-crocheted tree skirt from Judy and a Kindle from Mom.

Paul got a ladder from Mom. It was a really big Christmas this year.

Can you tell how much she really likes that calendar with Tim Riggins???

And we opened our gifts on Christmas morning. Paul and Katie liked their gifts and I loved mine. I think Katie is most excited that she is getting bamboo floors in her room.

Sam wanted a little of Katie's chew.

Now I'm looking forward to starting 2012. My resolutions - same as last year's - (1) live purposefully, (2) enjoy life by paying attention to all the moments and (3) eat healthier foods.

Happy New Year!

November / December 2011

2011-12-21T19:14:00.011-05:00

The fall was really nice this year. The colors were not really bright but still pretty.

The late corn crop Paul planted was good.

We took a trip to Atlanta in early November. We stayed in the Embassy Suites in Buckhead and it was super nice. We shopped at Lenox Square and at the Mall of Georgia, then stopped at the Tanger Outlet on our way home.

We have the house decorated for Christmas. We got a beautiful tree from a local guy who runs a tree service. Katie fell in love with his neighbor's dog - a St. Bernard/Golden mix who came out and visited.

I even decorated the kitchen cabinets this year.

This is an ornament Katie made years ago. It started out as a soda can.

I really like the way Katie grouped these ornaments.

This is Katie's first gingerbread house and I think it's beautiful. We were asked to a gingerbread house decorating party. I would have never thought of such a thing, but it was really fun. The hostess had cooked all the gingerbread pieces and made the royal icing. Everyone just supplied the trim. And now it's on display next to my other silver tree.And this is our woodland angel. You can't see it well here, but her wings are made from greenery.

My nutcracker. I still have to pull out my DVD and watch Baryshnikov.

We don't have a mantle, so we have a wall of stockings just above the sofa.We rescued this antique aluminum tree from Mom's attic. Katie did a little taping and some hot glueing and it's nearly as good as it was in the 60's. Now all I need to find is a working color wheel. But for now it's decorated in Broome blue and gold. And our new wreath matches pretty well.

And all the decorating made Sam tired. :)

All Honors - All A's

2011-10-26T10:28:00.003-04:00

Just a quick brag moment:

I'm so very proud of Katie and her achievements. She was a bit stressed about being in all Honors classes for the ninth grade. But she worked hard and took the initiative on her classes, homework and extra projects. The result:

All A's!!!!!!

Love you Katie!

Early Fall Beach Trip

2011-10-08T12:44:00.007-04:00

Is there anything better than an early fall trip to Myrtle Beach? I had almost forgotten how awesome the weather is down there this time of year.

It was a little chilly in the morning, but Katie still wanted to test the water in the pool. It was warm enough for her.

The water in the lazy river was a little warmer. Paul and I actually floated around in here for a while.

The view from the pool deck was spectacular.I had to go put my toes in the sand, and briefly, in the water.

The beach really had a drop down to the water this year. And the shells were practically non-existent.And this is what Murrell's Inlet looked like - bikes everywhere! We ate down there both nights - once at Flo's Place and then at Nance's.

We didn't make it downtown to ride the Skywheel, but it looked good all lit up in Broome blue and gold!
We had such a good time we're planning to do this again next year!

Late Summer

2011-09-22T14:14:00.010-04:00

School's back in session, the heat has finally broken and summer's almost officially over.

The heat was so oppressive this year. I finally understand the phrase 'oppressive heat' after this summer. You just could not enjoy being outside at all. The heat just weighted you down after just a short time. But it's gone now - it actually feels overly warm when it hits 80 degrees.

The heat took a toll on our cherry tree. All of the leaves are gone already.

One of our sugar maples is showing some of the bright orange color that I love.

Paul has replanted parts of the garden and he's harvesting squash now and the corn is tasseling.

Katie is loving high school. I think her classes are not so intimidating now that she's in them, doing the work. And she's doing really well with the work. I'm so proud of her. She's got a really strong work ethic where school is concerned.

I'm looking forward to fall's arrival. We'll be going to the beach, Atlanta, and possibly Gatlinburg and the state fair. And there's football!

The King's Speech

2011-06-14T15:17:00.004-04:00

I finally saw "The King's Speech" and it was wonderful. No explosion, nothing blown up - just really great acting and dialogue. And it had Geoffrey Rush, who's become one of my favorite actors.

We also saw the fourth Pirates movie. It was not as good as the first, but I really liked Penelope Cruz's character. I loved the Keith Richards cameo! And yep, there's Geoffrey Rush again.

The End of Middle School

2011-06-07T15:59:00.019-04:00

School is finally out and the summer weather is here, even if it's not officially summer yet. So far this June, the high temperatures have been in the 90's and it feels more like August than June.

We went to Charleston for Easter this year and all of us stayed with Brent at his new apartment. We toured Charleston, rode the trolley and walked the Battery.

But the best part was going to the beach late in the afternoon.

Katie is finished with middle school and headed off to the 9th grade. We, along with 3 more moms and 2 more dads, gave the kids a graduation party on the afternoon after their graduation ceremony at school. One of the other moms was gracious enough to offer her house for the location and it was a spectacular success.

After the kids played volleyball and swam for a while, another of the mom's called each name and gave them all a balloon, which she asked them to hold while she told them all how proud we were of there achievements and to let them know that the sky is the limit at which point they released their balloons.

We finished up the party with a cookout.

Then we left the next day for another trip to Charleston. We drove over to see the Angel Tree, which was amazing. This thing is 1500 years old!

I even got a shot of Brent looking strangely Medusa-like!

The next evening we went to a legendary BBQ place - Sweatman's. This is the view from their parking lot.

It's just an old house, with the old-style walls. And the barbecue was really good, mustard based, but a little sweet. I still prefer Wise's, because their sauce is spicier.

The next day was beach day again and it was really hot. Katie got a nice sunburn and so did I. We stopped on the way back from the beach at:

I had seen this place featured on the FoodNetwork by Alton Brown. The dogs were good, but my next one will definitely have the blue cheese slaw on it.

And now we're home again. But it's still summer.

Spring 2011

2011-04-12T13:44:00.005-04:00

Spring has finally sprung and the bees are buzzing.

Paul is keeping honey bees this years. He has 2 hives at our house and 2 more at a friend's place. I can't wait for the honey.

We've planted a new flower bed, but I managed to find poison oak somewhere near-by and haven't been brave enough to go back over and see if anything is growing. But the cherry tree was beautiful this year.

Gatlinburg 2011

2011-02-18T13:13:00.005-05:00

We made our annual pilgramage to Gatlinburg in February. Usually, we go hoping to see some snow, but this year, we were looking for blue skies and sunshine. Well, it snowed in Gatlinburg on Thursday, but by the time we got into the mountains, the roads were all good. The air was cold though. We stayed in a new hotel for us - the Hilton Garden Inn in Gatlinburg. I liked the location - we could walk to downtown.

We stopped after breakfast to make photos with the bear. I wanted to do this for a while now, since I remember seeing shots of Ed doing this too. Katie was embarassed, especially when one of the passing cars blew the horn.

We walked to downtown and went through The Village. We overheard someone remarking that it looked like a set from Harry Potter. Katie and I both agreed but we didn't see anyplace selling butterbeer.

Katie found one of her favorite movie stars in downtown. She didn't mind posing with Bumblebee!

She wanted to go to the Titanic museum, but I didn't know that the only allowed a set number in every hour and we waited too late. But we'll definitely go next trip, because the exterior looks remarkable.

We stopped as we were leaving for one more tourist photo-op, with the sign at the hotel.

It was a good trip, even though the Liz Claiborne outlets were closed (for good!). We still did plenty of shopping and ate some tasty food.

And when we got home, Katie went for her last check-up at the orthodontist. He was really pleased with how well her teeth responded to the braces and she has a great smile now!

Snowbound Staycation

2011-01-13T14:39:00.009-05:00

Well, I've been threatening to take a day off from work to start getting the house organized, but Mother Nature stepped in and gave me 4 days off (and counting). We got 8-9" of snow on January 10 and then a little ice on top for good measure. Our driveway was still a mess from the Christmas snow and now it's impassable.

But I've gone ahead with the organizing. So far, I've got a lot of bags heading to Goodwill once the driveway is clear of ice. But I've also got a cleaned out pantry, 2 organized closets, an organized linen closet, 2 organized dressers and an organized wardrobe.

Whew, I'll be glad to go back to work!

Snow for Christmas

2011-01-13T10:48:00.003-05:00

White Christmas!!

It started snowing on Christmas Day and we wound up with 5 inches of fluffy snow!

We had a really great Christmas. Too many gifts and too much food, but it was all so good.

We had a party at Penny and Barry's on December 17. Robin and Darrell, Michelle, Justin and Ryleigh and Papa Joe were all there. We had a Chinese gift exchange that was a lot of fun. And of course, we hid the gifts for Justin, Melissa and Katie. It was a really good time, just spending a while with some of our favorite people.

Christmas Eve we were at Mom's, eating hot appetizers and soup. Penny and Melissa came over when Penny got of work at 11 and we talked and laughed til after midnight.

Then on Christmas morning, Katie had to go on a hunt for her last gift. But she managed to find it. It was a laptop of her very own and she's been with it almost continuously ever since.

Ron and Mom and Brent all came out to the house on Christmas afternoon to eat some more - lol. Then it started snowing late in the afternoon and we woke up the next morning to this:

November Already?!?

2010-11-19T14:56:00.002-05:00

Wow - that was a fast summer!

Let's see:

School's out - Katie did great - Principal's Honor Roll for the 7th Grade!

Trip to Daytona - We love staying in that condo!

Katie's braces off - She looks beautiful!

School starts - Wow - Eighth Grade - Last year in middle school!

Fall starts - I thought the cool air would never get here!

Halloween - Katie went to a football party on Friday night to celebrate the last game of the year. And she went to a Halloween party on Saturday night. Cowpens had a Trick-Or-Treat event in town so I got to see all the little princesses, skeletons, pirates and witches.

And now it's almost Thanksgiving and I'm really looking forward to this one. We ususally travel for Thanksgiving, but Katie wanted to stay home this year and it has worked out so well. A cousin of mine has managed to pull together an extended-family dinner for Sunday, a feat in itself. And we are still getting together on Thursday (after the Macy's parade!) for our customary meal. We all just say that we're bringing our usual dish. Paul has a co-coworker who generously offered to deep-fry a turkey for Thursday. After we eat and recover (those dumplings!), we're going to help Mom get her house decorated for Christmas and then plot our Black Friday shopping. Katie wants to go to Haywood since she's never been on a Black Friday. I imagine that it will be a zoo, since it was the last time I was there on Black Friday, but she's dead-set on going.

On Saturday morning, we're going to the Cowpens Christmas parade and more shopping after that. I'm more excited about the parade than the shopping. I still love seeing the bands and the horses, same as I did when I was a kid. And we always have to see if the 'cow-truck' will show up. It's so cheesy you can't help but love it!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Spring at 50

2010-04-13T10:00:00.001-04:00

Well, spring has arrived and this year it brought my 50th birthday along for the ride. I had a great birthday celebration, with way more celebration than I expected, including flowers, balloons, signs and a walker – yes that kind of walker.

I was dreading turning 50. It just sounds so much older than being in your 40’s. But nothing really changed. I still think that life is just one big adventure waiting to be explored. And it’s all about the journey. If you can’t enjoy the small details of every day, you are missing out on so much. The song birds sound so pretty in the early mornings and I’m glad they’re back. The flowers are starting to bloom and they brighten up my drive to work. Every day, there are new blooms to spot and appreciate. There is the taste of a new recipe that turns out yummy. We had a fondue supper last week and it was full of cheese, fruits and veggies and we all liked it. Katie is ready now to have chocolate fondue when the strawberries arrive at Cooley’s.

Easter weekend was just beautiful. The weather was really warm for the first part of April. Katie was not feeling very good. The allergy season has hit her hard this year, complete with stuffy head, runny nose, cough and itchy eyes. She spent the night with one of her friends Friday night, planning on a Carowinds trip on Saturday, but she woke up Saturday feeling so bad that she came home. And after a Benadryl, she slept on the couch for about 4 hours. When she woke up, we all went to Gaffney and we picked up steaks for supper from Mr. Brown’s shop. And Saturday evening was just spectacular! Paul grilled the steaks on the charcoal grill and we ate in the living room and watched an Andy Griffith rerun while we ate. The windows were open and a good breeze was blowing through. There is not a restaurant around that can beat that meal.

We had our traditional dinner over at Ron’s on Sunday. Paul smoked a turkey and we had all the fixings: dressing, gravy, macaroni and cheese, dumplings, green beans, slaw, and sweet potatoes, plus cupcakes and pie. We managed to lose one of the real eggs on the first egg hunt but that is becoming a tradition too. And I saw that Ron has some flowers in his yard that are like the ones I saw near the road here. Hopefully, I can dig some up and get them to grow in the field as wildflowers.

And I have to include a book I really enjoyed: "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. The characters are folks you'll recognize if you grew up in the South in the 60's.

But now – I’m off to enjoy some more beautiful Spring weather!

Thanksgiving, Christmas and Winter 2010...so far

2010-01-31T12:18:00.009-05:00

I love winter and this one has been really good.

We went with my family on our annual Thanksgiving trip. This year, we went to Myrtle Beach. I love this trip. It's all about just hanging out with family and eating and shopping. What could be better?

We stayed at Compass Cove in one of their condos.

We even spent time shopping online to save time and get the best prices.

And the weather was just right for sitting out on the balcony with a good book. We saw several dolphin swimming along the coast. I enjoyed that balcony even more than the shopping this year.

Christmas was the usual extravaganza. The huge difference this year was that Judy wasn't able to come to the Christmas Eve get-together. She was sick and we missed her.

Lots of year we just have a huge spread of appetizers but we decided to have a meal this year. I held up supper since I forgot to pack the deviled eggs and they are essential so we went back and got them. All the food was good and there was too much of it.

And the presents - they were everywhere. That's Mom's tree with the gifts all around.

We got a big fat tree for our house this year. Katie always wants a big fat tree.

This year, she woke up early and did her hair before Paul and I woke up. But she did wait on us before opening the presents.

We went out with the Wards on the 26th this year. We had an excellent meal at Copper River in Greer and then went back to their house. It's always fun to watch the kids open their gifts.

We spent New Year's at home. None of us were even awake at midnight.

And now January is nearly over. We're planning on our annual Gatlinburg trip in February, hoping to see more snow than we get here at home. And looking forward to watching the Winter Olympics. But so far, Winter 2010 has been a lot of fun.

State Fair and Halloween

2009-10-28T11:16:00.029-04:00

We went to the State Fair this year. It was the coldest trip we’ve ever made to the fair. We kept our jackets on the entire day. We decided to do the rides first since they were offering 2 for the price of one. Katie, Brent and I rode the Himalaya. Paul and Katie rode the tall swings (Brent and I both said no thanks to that one).

Katie and I rode through the worst haunted house ever although the last exhibit did make a loud noise that made her (and the girl in front of us) jump in her seat. And we all took a ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl. I’d forgotten how much fun those are.

It started raining just as we were finishing up that ride, so we headed to get some fair food.

We all tried the chocolate-covered bacon and decided it was just nasty.

The corn dogs were excellent though.

Katie and Brent liked the fries. We had popcorn too, from the old red-striped box.

The exhibits were about the same as before. The artists were still working on the sand sculpture and the horticulture building had a swamp replica this year, which was really cool. There were some really beautiful quilts and a couple of amateur paintings that were really eye-catching. The cakes were not as impressive this year. Only the wedding cakes were really exceptional.

The ag center is always my favorite part. We did see some really large watermelons and pumpkins.

We went down to the cattle barns and watched some of the judging and walked through the barns. We did the same at the horse arena. They only had junior competitions this year, but the horses and ponies were so pretty with those little girls riding. I didn’t see any boys riding at all.

Next was the petting zoo, where Katie always likes the sheep the most. This year, one of the llamas had figured out what the coin-operated feeders were. As soon as he heard the coin drop, he was over there with his mouth at the opening where the food drops.

And Paul and Katie like to look at the chickens so we went through the small animal barn too. But some of those roosters were quite large!

We stopped on the way out to get Katie some fried Oreos. We also got fair food to go – candied apples for Paul and my Mom a caramel apple with nuts for me and a plain caramel apple for Katie. It was a really fun day in spite of the cold, rain and the wind.

And now, I can’t believe it’s only a few days until Halloween. I love Halloween – the creepy movies, the decorations, the kids in costumes (and the candy). Katie and 2 of her friends hosted a Halloween party this year. It was at one of the friend’s houses, in their basement. I hope theirs was just as much fun as I remember ours being. I remember those Halloween parties in the basement of the Lynch’s house. We had a ball scaring ourselves silly.

Katie is going to be a hippy. She already had the bell-bottom jeans (excuse me – flare jeans) and a tie-dye shirt and we added a lot of long necklaces and a head tie with 2 feathers and some huge hoop earrings. She looks adorable. Of course, I’m allowed to be prejudiced that way.

Happy Halloween y’all!

Back To School

2009-09-02T13:18:00.001-04:00

School has started and homework has returned. I think I dread homework more now than when I was in school. Katie seems to have a really good set of teachers again for this year. Her classes are Pre-Algebra, Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Band and SAT Prep. The SAT Prep and the Pre-Algebra freaked her out when it showed up on her schedule. I hope the challenge won’t be too much for her. I know she likes getting A’s and it looks like she’ll be doing a little more studying for those A’s this year. And it looks like I’ll be brushing up on square roots and algebraic equations. I mean, what have I needed to know about square roots since graduating?

We’ve been to our first high school football game. Broome lost, but we all enjoyed being at the game. Katie spent the evening with her buddies, Paul was cooking French fries for the booster club and I was just watching the game. The weirdest part to me is that I know nothing about the teams in Broome's conference. I guess I'll learn them in time.

And since football has started, fall will be arriving soon and that’s my favorite time of the year. I’m already looking forward to the State Fair, Halloween and Thanksgiving. And this year, a lot of my favorite authors are releasing new books in the fall so it will be great reading on the porch when the weather turns a little cooler. If I can just finish the homework…..

Mid-Summer 2009

2009-07-28T11:59:00.017-04:00

Summer has really flown so far. Of course, it may have seemed that way because we’ve been busy. All the rain in June had the garden producing well for a while. We’ve put up green beans, pinto beans, English peas, okra, and corn from the garden. We gave away more squash and zucchini than we ate this year. And I’ve got blueberries in the freezer from our bushes. I am thankful for the bountiful harvest, but even more thankful that the arriving produce has slowed down.

We also bought tomatoes (50 pounds) and canned them. And Paul made blackberry jelly from some of Cooley’s blackberries. Hopefully, I will have time to swing by Cooley’s again this weekend for some more peaches. Nothing says summer like a fresh peach.

We just got back from our trip to the Mississippi shore. It was a really good, relaxing trip. We broke the first day up and stopped for the night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We drove around the campus of the University (Roll Tide!) and made photos of the stadium entrance, including a super-tall statue of Bear Bryant. Katie was more interested in the drum line, which was practicing.

We went to a local barbecue place for supper. I would never have guessed it was barbecue from the name – Pottery Grill. But the original spot was a huge pottery shop run by a husband and wife, using local clay. When they died, the spot was vacant for a while and then the new owner started a barbecue joint. It was really good barbecue too. The sauce was tomato-based, which is usually my least favorite, but this one was spicy and sweet and vinegary all at the same time. The owner was there and he took Paul back and showed him the cooker and we talked for a while about farming and haying. He was a super-nice gentleman.

Our next stop was Laurel, to pick up Emily, Katie’s friend from before Kindergarten. Emily’s family moved to Mississippi early last year and Katie went down to spend a week with them before Emily’s mom started back to work. We decided that this was the year we’d go to the Gulf so we invited Emily along and were so happy that she could go along. We threw Emily’s suitcase in the trunk and headed on down to Biloxi Beach.

Biloxi Beach is a beautiful beach – wide white sandy beaches and live oaks. There’s not much else on the beach side of the road since Katrina blew through. There was an occasional building, usually a restaurant or casino, but for the most part, it was just the Gulf and the beach, which is my preference. We were in a hotel just across the street from the beach and beside it, there were two foundations where houses had been.

And just beyond those was an old cemetery, complete with crypts. We walked around it and read the tombstones. A lot of the people buried had their country of origin on their tombstones. I remember Spain and Portugal.

Also near the hotel was the coolest live oak tree. The tree had a low branch that dipped to the ground and came back up. I couldn’t tell if the branch had rooted or if it was just covered with sand.

The Gulf itself was a disappointment to me. The water was murky, like Myrtle Beach, and hot!! No waves, hardly any tides, just almost like a huge, salty lake. But they had tricycle rentals and the girls tried that. I think it was more work than fun, since they started yelling for us to push them after about 15 minutes of pedaling. But we did swim in the Gulf almost every day, until poor Katie found out about jellyfish stings on our last full day. She and Emily liked the pool better anyway and so did I (that’s a first!) because the water was cooler than the Gulf. And they really enjoyed the night swim after supper every night.

My favorite part of the trip was a side-trip to New Orleans. We drove over and parked at the French Quarter and started exploring. We walked down part of Bourbon Street. It was before lunch so it was relatively quiet. The girls were disappointed that I wouldn't let them shop in the voodoo shops, but they did get masks.

We also walked over to the shore of the Mississippi River. As we were walking along the side of the river, we did get to see a Dixieland band, playing on the sidewalk. Katie said it sounded like band class.

We also ate some good food. During our daytrip to New Orleans, we had to try the beignets at Café du Monde. I also had the chicory coffee in a café au lait, which I loved, but Paul didn’t like the bitterness. Everybody loved the beignets once Katie and Emily saw all the powdered sugar sprinkled over the top. We also had a great supper at The Biloxi Schooner. It was a recommendation from a lady at the mall, and it was delicious and a great bargain too. Paul and I had the special which was 2 salads, 2 bowls of gumbo and 2 seafood platters for $20. The food was wonderfully spicy and was the best I thought we had. We also ate at the Blowfly Inn, McElroy’s on the Bayou and Steve’s Marina. They were all good, but didn’t have that Creole flavor at all. We did have a great lunch in New Orleans. The restaurant was in a courtyard and the food was really good. Paul had crawfish etouffee and I had the best red beans and rice I’ve ever had.

Lunch at Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans - we had our fingers in our ears because the little boy behind us kept popping balloons.

And now school is peeking around the corner. Katie and I went to get her school supplies and found everything in one trip – YAY! And we moved Paul’s old desk into a corner of Katie’s room, so she has her own space now for her school supplies. Now we just have to register. But we still have a lot of summer left, hopefully with at least one mountain picnic trip and another trip to the drive-in and lots more lazy evenings.

Serial Killer

2009-07-07T09:46:00.001-04:00

I just want to say “thank you” to all the law enforcement personnel who gave up so much time to keeping our little area safe during the serial killer’s time. We live so close to Mr. Cash’s house and the hay connection really had me alarmed, especially after the media focused on that HAY FOR SALE sign at the second victim’s house. I had just driven past the church where they were holding Mr. Cash’s funeral and gotten home to see the news report on the second and third killing. Paul was out with some friends of ours, helping to move hay, so the thought that there might have been a hay connection was chilling. For the first time since we’ve moved to this area, I went through the house, closing blinds and curtains, and making sure the doors and windows were locked. It’s not a feeling I like at all.

But I also saw all the extra patrol cars and those men and women working without a break to keep us safe. Everywhere we went over the weekend, the police force was out and in full view, both Cherokee county and Spartanburg county. This area was saturated. The overtime pay those folks earned is not nearly enough to repay their dedication to the job.

And this small post is not nearly enough to show my appreciation for a job well done. Thank you so very much.

Mighty Moo Festival

2009-06-22T11:26:00.002-04:00

What a great Saturday. It was hot and it was sticky but I really enjoyed everything we did.

First, it was the weekend for the Mighty Moo Festival which I love. It is the best small-town festival and this year we got to be a part of it. We volunteered to take the Athletic Booster Club trailer over and sell the remainder of last year’s Centurion apparel. We did better than I expected since a lot of the apparel was sweatshirts and hoodies and the weather was close to 100 degrees.

Katie and I watched both parades while Paul manned the trailer. The kids’ parade was so cute, especially the little girls driving their Barbie jeeps. Everybody was beribboned and ballooned in red, white and blue. And the Mighty Moo parade was good too. The number of veterans on the USS Cowpens float is getting smaller but there were a handful of active duty there also. Katie’s favorite parts were the motorcycles and the Cow Truck. She always loves the Cow Truck. I was surprised that she mentioned missing all the motorcycle trips we used to do. I always thought that she was too young to really remember them, but she does. I miss them too.

My favorite part of the parade was the elephant. I have always had a soft spot for those elephants and I couldn’t believe that Cowpens has a resident elephant. She lives on an animal farm and worked the entire day, in all that heat, giving rides. I didn’t care for that part of having an elephant in the festivities, but I know they originate in very tropical climates so I guess she managed the heat.

Once the parade ended, we walked back to the trailer and started selling since the parade crowds had to wander through the vendor site to get to the food. Great placement! We worked for a little over two hours. We bought hash plates from a local caterer on our way home. It was good – spicy and moist. Katie even tried the slaw and decided it was tolerable. That was a first.

After we ate, a neighbor came over to pick some green beans since we are blessed with abundance. Paul and I helped her pick. We have already put 23 quarts in the freezer and the bushes are still blooming. I am planning on getting the English peas early this week. Paul had never grown them before and they are so very sweet just straight from the garden. The squash and zucchini are producing enough for us to eat our fill and give away some also. Paul has started cutting okra. He has cut enough for a meal, but it’s early and I know the big amounts are coming. The okra plants are only knee-high now. The corn is looking good – none of the storms have completely knocked it down yet. The Roma tomatoes are starting to turn red. The Purple Cherokees are still green and so is the regular round tomato. But those round green tomatoes taste so good fried.

Katie had a birthday party to attend in the late afternoon. After I picked her up, we went back to pick up the trailer. Then it was a late supper at Yanni’s and back by the Mighty Moo for the fireworks. We missed the first part, but the part we saw was good. We didn’t stay for the street dance. That’s usually my favorite part, but I just couldn’t summon enough energy to go dance after the heat all day. We did hear the band and they sounded great.

Days like this make me really treasure the life we have out here. Watching a parade honoring those who serve on a US battleship reminds me how lucky we are to be Americans. And working at the festival or even attending the festival makes me realize just how many wonderful friends we have met since we moved here. Picking beans with a neighbor reminds me that we have been blessed with rain this springs and the garden reflects the rain’s abundance. We are truly blessed.

So that was Saturday at the Moo and out in the country.

Scheduling Rant

2009-06-19T11:07:00.002-04:00

Why does it seem that modern America is discriminating against the Monday-to-Friday 8-to-5 worker? I see so many things, events and opportunities, in which I am unable to participate due to being a worker who works during the day shift which seems to be the majority of working folks. And this is not a new occurrence.

When my daughter was small, I saw the public library offered story-time for young children, which sounded really appealing. But the time was always late morning on a weekday. They are now doing almost the same thing with the activities of summer reading. There are several activities my daughter is interested in, but they are all scheduled for 2 in the afternoon. And there a several different book clubs that all seem to meet in the mornings. Again, not available time slots for people who work the day shift.

As my daughter got older and started elementary school, I looked forward to being able to join the PTA and help the school while getting to know other parents. Unfortunately, the meetings were all scheduled at 3:30 or even earlier in the day - great for the teachers, but impossible for a working parent. I am still a member, paying my dues, but have only been to 2 PTA meetings in the 7 years of which I’ve been a member. Is it really asking so much that we parents who work are able to attend at least every other meeting?

Our church has begun a great program of serving a communal supper on Wednesday, followed by classes on various topics. The down side – the suppers start at 5:30 which makes it unavailable for us. My commute puts me getting home at least 15 minutes after they get started. Even a lot of summer Bible schools are being held during my work hours. Luckily, my daughter is in a daycare who takes the kids to at least one of the Bible Schools. Otherwise, we’d miss out on that opportunity also.

While I can applaud all of these activities for those who are able to attend, I still feel that working moms and dads are being short-changed.

Summer Reading

2009-06-12T13:29:00.000-04:00

Katie and I have signed up for the summer reading program at our local library. I still get a kick out of it, just like I did as a kid. What could be better than all those books with new ideas and adventures, just waiting to be read. I’ve already finished 3 since we started, but one was extremely thin (both the size and content)! But the other 2 were really good reads.

The first was “One Second After” by William Forstchen, a professor at Montreat College in Black Mountain, NC. This novel is about a Black Mountain family and their challenges after an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) destroys all modern technology. The most terrifying parts of this book are also the most easily imagined. It really points out how vastly dependent we are on technology, everything from food supplies that are replenished regularly to medicines for something as simple as an infected cut.

While I was reading this one, I saw some reviews which compared this book to an earlier novel, “Earth Abides” by George Stewart. This novel was published in 1949 and also deals with a great catastrophe, but this one is a super-disease which has killed most of the world’s population. The main character then proceeds to travel across the country to observe what has happened. Upon his return to his home on the West coast, he accumulates a small group of survivors who band together and become known as the Tribe.

I really enjoyed reading these back-to-back. In one book, there were plenty of people and in the other there were hardly any. But the struggles were the same – food, clothing, warmth, shelter, water and safety for the group.

Katie is still re-reading the “Twilight” series. There was a note in the envelope with her last report card which asked that all students read 450 pages over the summer. I think she will have that amount done by the end of June. And I will have to re-read “New Moon” before the movie is released in November. We both liked the trailer and are excited about seeing this one.

And werewolves are way cooler than vampires!

Summertime and the Living is Easy

2009-06-04T09:48:00.009-04:00

School’s out for summer. (Sorry Alice, a little plagiarism there). But it’s true that another school year is over. Katie has done really well this year. She was on the Honor Roll for all four nine-week reports. And she was invited to join the Junior Beta Club, which made me so proud and happy. I hope she enjoys her time in the club as much as I did. The pin has not changed at all in the x-number of years since I received mine.

And I think she is really enjoying the band. She is playing the clarinet quite well. She was second chair for the Spring Concert, which I thought was exceptional since she did not read music before the school year started. She still practices regularly, even though the concert was in early May. She has pulled out an old keyboard that she’s had for a while and learned to play the band music on it. Now she wants a guitar, so I guess that’s next.

Paul is gardening every night. The garden is doing much better than the last 2 years since we have been getting rain. The squash will probably give us our first meal later this week. That makes me happy since squash is one of my favorite veggies. And the English peas, green beans and pinto beans are growing, as are the tomatoes, peppers and corn. Katie had a watermelon plant, but something decided it looked tasty one night, so that will need replacing. And our bats seem to have disappeared. I hope they will return. I love being in the garden at dusk, to watch them swoop and dive.

I am as ready for this summer as any of the school kids are, but not because it was a bad school year. I’m just in a lazy, summer frame of mind. I’m looking forward to warm days and lovely summer nights. Hopefully, some of those nights will be spent at one of the drive-ins that we’ve discovered. We’ve been twice and both times it was fun. But it’s hard to stay awake for an entire double feature. I’m either getting older or lazier.

And Cowpens is gearing up for the Mighty Moo Festival. I love going to the Mighty Moo. My favorite is going late on Saturday afternoon, so Katie can ride a few rides and we can eat some carnival food. Then the street is closed and the band starts for the street dance. I just love it – watching the dancers and joining in the dancing. I can usually talk Katie into dancing with me and we have had her friends join us. This year, we’ll be there early, working in the Broome Booster Club booth, selling those Centurion shirts and hats.

So, bring on the summer – I am ready.

5 Toys That Remind Me of My Childhood

2009-05-07T13:15:00.000-04:00

Last night, while poking around on Facebook, I noticed one of my friends had selected 5 toys that remind her of her childhood. It looked cute so I tried. And I finally did find 5 toys that fit. But it took me a while.

What I discovered was that most of my fun memories of childhood don’t involve toys. What I remembered enjoying were being outside with my brother and our friends and playing with an odd assortment of things.

I remember playing in mud puddles after a rain shower (and making my own with the hose when it didn’t rain.) I remember getting an old plastic margarine container, filling it with mud and leaving it in the hot summer sun to dry into a brick. Of course, the brick was promptly crumbled. But I didn’t put mud or plastic margarine containers on my list.

I remember playing “School” on the front steps of my friend’s house. She had an older sister and we’d take turns being teacher. The rest of us, including some other neighborhood kids, would start on the bottom step. The “teacher” would ask a question and if you got it right, you moved up a step. First one to the top step got to be the next teacher. But you had to be careful with that top step since her mom had some cactus growing up there. It hurts to pull those needles out. But I didn’t put steps on my list.

I remember walking down to the creek to catch crawdads and screaming like a banshee if we saw one and it moved. I remember trying to build dams on that creek so we’d have a swimming hole. It never did work, maybe because the creek was only 3-4 inches deep at best. I remember scaring each other with snake stories while we were walking on the path to the creek. But I didn’t put crawdads, snakes, or a creek on my list.

I remember collecting various plants to rip apart and “cook” in those plastic containers. Who knew that some plants could give you hives? But we spent a lot of time in those woods playing at being a cook, stirring all those plants with sticks. I don’t remember trying to get anyone to eat our “food”. Hopefully, we didn’t. But I didn’t put wild plants and sticks on my list.

I remember riding our bikes all over the neighborhood. Sometimes a grown-up would ride along and we’d go down to the part of Wellford that passed for a town. Mom had a friend who lived there with her kids, so we’d ride down and stop for a chat on the porch. I actually remember hearing “I Shot the Sheriff” by Clapton there for the first time. I’m sure it was on a radio someone had playing. And the bike made my list.

I did find 4 other toys for the Facebook list. There were roller skates, Malibu Barbie, Nancy Drew/Bobbsey Twins/Hardy Boys books, and Paint-By-Number sets in addition to the bike. And I really enjoyed those things but I don’t remember them being as much pure fun as the free stuff.

2009-05-04T21:12:00.003-04:00

Where did the Spring weather go? It’s been too hot to keep the doors and windows open and I miss hearing the screen door. I absolutely love having that screen door.

A lot of my favorite things about our place are definitely old-fashioned: the screen door, the attic fan, my clothesline out back, and our porches with the rocking chairs. Spring just never seems to last as long as I’d like for using the screen door and opening the windows. I didn’t even get to use the clothesline this weekend because of the clouds. Linens just don’t smell as good when they are tumbled in a dryer.

Katie and I went to Cooley’s Saturday to get a bucket of strawberries. She says they are delicious this year – really sweet and juicy. I’ll let her and Paul have them – just don’t care for strawberries. But I did buy some fresh squash and it was yummy when we had it Sunday.

I was out on the porch Sunday when Paul let the horses out for some grazing and had to laugh when Harley dropped and rolled to scratch her back. It’s just fun to see an animal that large rolling in the grass. But I missed Chocolate doing his running-prancing-showing off-thing. Katie told me about it. I love watching God's creatures play.

Paul’s garden is coming up and doing well, so far. He has onions, radishes, turnip and mustard green and some beans up already. I’m excited about the pinto beans he’s growing this year. Hopefully they will do well enough so we can dry some for the winter. And Katie’s watermelon is starting to grow also. The girl simply loves melons – both watermelon and cantaloupe. Hopefully, she will be successful with her plants and have more melons than she can eat.

Katie's 12th Birthday

2009-04-17T08:14:00.013-04:00

Wow – I can’t quite believe that my baby is 12 today. She just gets more beautiful daily – inside and out.

I still have the best memories of getting up in the middle of the night to feed her. Once the bottle was warmed, it was so wonderful to sit in the rocker and just hold Katie while she had her bottle. And I grew to appreciate the wonders of Nick at Nite. I actually discovered that the Dick Van Dyke show was quite funny.

Then when she was 8 months old, we moved to a rental house. It was a smaller house, but had an almost circular floor plan – perfect for a little girl to ride her scooter toys! And I still have this photo that shows where I found her one laundry day. She had gotten quiet and disappeared, but hadn’t gone too far. She was in the laundry pile, just chillin' out.

And she was 2-1/2 when we moved out to our country house where we live today. Here’s Katie getting her first horse, Chocolate, when she was 6. Note all the pink and purple. It was almost her uniform!

But now she’s in middle school. It’s hard to believe that time could go by so quickly when you are enjoying it so very much.

Happy Birthday Katie! Love you lots!

Good way to spend the evening

2009-04-09T14:25:00.001-04:00

Last evening was just spectacular. It was just one surprise after another.

First surprise - Paul called just as Katie and I were turning in to the house. He wanted to know if we wanted him to bring supper home. He was planning on going to Gail’s in Lyman for the best fried chicken on the planet, but they were closed. So he went to Aunt M’s. And we still had fried chicken - yummmm.

Second surprise – no homework for Katie. I love when that happens. It frees her up to spend time with us instead of alone with her books.

Third surprise – we got a movie from Netflix that we’d all wanted to see – “Bedtime Stories”. Yes it was rather lame and not great cinema, but we liked it. And we got to watch it on a weeknight, while we were feasting on Aunt M’s chicken.

Fourth surprise - Paul and I were outside – he was feeding and watering the horses and I was doing the same for the dog on the other side of the house. The moon was just rising over the trees and it was a light orange and misty-looking. Then Paul motioned for me to come and look at the far upper edge of the pasture and there were 9 deer out feeding. We just stood and watched until they moved off into the woods.

Then it was time for baths and beds, but it was such a memorable evening of nothing really special.

2009-04-09T12:17:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite photos. That's our daughter in the black dress. They were in a wedding - the bride was the daughter of a very dear friend - and the wedding was in the most beautiful church we've ever attended.

King Tut

2009-04-09T11:38:00.000-04:00

We are going to see the King Tut exhibit and I can’t get that stupid Steve Martin song out of my head!

I’m looking forward to the trip though. We are going with my side of the family. And we are going to Paul’s favorite restaurant for his birthday supper. He loves Pappadeaux. It’s a Cajun seafood place. Fletch told us about it 3 or so years ago and we tried it when we went to Atlanta. This will be the second year that we’ve been in Atlanta for his birthday. He says we are starting a new tradition. I just think it’s a good reason to shop in Atlanta!

Living a Blessed Life

2009-04-09T08:45:00.000-04:00

That’s me – I live a Blessed life.

I have a wonderful hubby and the absolute best daughter. We all live in a beautiful spot out in the country, with plenty of room for animals and gardens. And it’s quiet and peaceful.

And I love my job. I am the head of inside sales for an engineering firm. It’s work that is sometimes challenging but rarely boring. There is always something new to be learned and I really like that.

And my extended family is super. We always have fun whenever we get a chance to get together.

And all of these, and more, are just blessing from God.

Now, if I could just get year-round football…..