Once again, I hardly know where to start. Not writing a post for eight days is not ideal, however, yesterday after going with others on a hike to Benton Falls, this blogger just could not get it together, in either body or mind to write. Now, however, I am in good shape. Plus, we skipped pickleball this morning which leaves me three extra hours which hopefully will be sufficient time for us to catch up. You will spend about five minutes, whereas I will enjoy spending a few hours.
Tuesday last week, I walked to the church to meet up with two other ladies in order to count the offering. Apparently this is done by two volunteers each week with two trips to the bank included. Of course that part is pretty easy as it is just down the street. During our walk to the bank, Janie and Lorie, two Murphy natives, told me that our house was built by the Candlers who once owned a department store downtown. Our previous information turns out to have been incorrect. Giving credence to this new information is the fact that Lorie's husband's grandparents lived two doors down and when they died, said husband whose name I cannot recall, and his parents moved into the house on the corner. One of his memories was of being a young person going around the neighborhood collecting for the American Heart Association, and as he recalled, Mrs. Candler was quite generous because her husband died of a sudden heart attack. Well, I guess all heart attacks are sudden, but in this instance they were visiting family in South Carolina when it happened. Armed with this new information, that it was the Candlers, not the Chandlers who built this house, I went in search to learn what I could. Well, I learned quite a bit including this article detailing the marriage of their daughter with the reception held here in the year after the house was built. I so remember a time when the gown was described in such detail because even in 1973, my gown was given a full write- up in Bruce's hometown newspaper in Adams, NY.
Speaking of small towns, it has been over a week ago that we met up with Jack and Nancy in Andrews for their Friday night food truck event which has a fancier name that I cannot recall. Because it has been quite warm here, it was with a bit of trepidation that we went, but as it turned out, the park in Andrews was quite comfortable and the scenery cannot be beat.
Mark and Mary Beth (l), who live in nearby Marble, joined us.
No doubt we are in Appalachia.
Although this was our first time attending this event, it won't be the last as it turned out to be most pleasant. The drive to Andrews is about twenty minutes during which time you encounter very little traffic. Which meant that when the rodeo was advertised in Andrews for this past weekend, we decided to go. It was our first rodeo so I really had no idea what to expect, but what I did know was that the setting was good. Andrews is in a valley, surrounded by mountains, and the natural beauty of that town exceeds that of Murphy.
I was most happy when we walked up and found those amazing port-o-lets, something I never imagined typing! They are so clean and the fellow standing beside them cleans them after each user. What a relief! Arriving, it was a very casual entrance, to say the least. Hand over a $20 and you are in.
The barrel racing was our favorite with beautiful horses ridden by pretty girls. Whoa...showing my age, right?
Because we arrived early, our seats were on the top of the bleachers, something both good and bad. An unobstructed view was the good thing, the bad thing was getting up there! And getting down with no handrails! Ever since breaking my wrist twice, I have become a very tentative person.
A variety of pretty horses.
Gotta love a palomino.
The announcer asked for any children that weighed 50 pounds or less and wanted to try their hand at mutton busting, or so that is what he called it, and much to my surprise, parents let their children give it a go, so to speak. One little guy holding on for dear life was the winner.
Eventually he faltered, or you might say the mutton gave him the heave ho, but he popped back up to claim the prize.
Those boots!! That hat!!
Another event was equally as surprising in that this time he asked all children between five and twelve to enter the ring in order to chase a calf with a red ribbon tied to its ear. The kids just kept on coming..
By the way, in true form for here, we saw four different people we knew including our friend Gerrie, seated in the navy blue top in the foreground. She is 83 and plays pickleball with us when she is in town, otherwise, when she returns to Sarasota for the winter it is tennis. We both just love her!
Anyway back to the action.....
There was some bull riding (scary) but according to our friend Brittany, who was there with her family, this was not the best introduction to a rodeo as they were mini bulls. Big enough for us!! Now we can check that off our list of new experiences.
I finally joined the gym in order to cool off in the water and at some point, perhaps I will go to the water aerobics classes.
I was most proud of myself for swimming twelve laps, albeit in two sets of six. And while it has been hotter than I would like, it is still not Florida hot!
Walking to the library, literally two blocks away, I saw some neat things that I was thinking of sharing, but other stuff happened and that idea went by the wayside. Actually, I walked around the block first, admiring my neighbor's homes.
We enjoyed a lovely party at Shannon's house, the one with the pride flags in front, on 4th of July. Wonderful food and good company. Her home is beautiful and she tells us it was built by the Candlers for their daughter, which makes sense as it is behind ours and across the alley from the Presbyterian Church where Mr. Candler's funeral was held. (All stuff I learned from the old newspapers)
In front of the senior center was this lone stem of Gladiolas in a bed of Hosta.
I'm pretty sure that these would not be found in a stack for sale at our Orlando library. Maybe in Kissimmee?
The two week check out time is not my favorite part of the library, although I can renew online, I am so used to three weeks, that it has taken me by surprise. Plus my reading time has so diminished I don't even know why I check out more than one book at a time! Perhaps in the winter I will have more time to read, or so I'm thinking.
I passed by the history center that I plan on revisiting to see if there are any mentions of the Candlers.
We held Soul Table on the 4th of July and Dottie made popcorn to go with all the other traditional foods. I do so love popcorn.
One thing we recently did is water the garden at The Orchard House, aka, John and Laura's, while they were out of town. She planted it before we left, and it is doing very well in spite of the lack of rain. Plus the deer have stayed away which is most welcome.
I must say it felt sort of weird being there and not staying. They found, during our stay, that it is far easier having a long term renter, so a friend who was looking for a new place to stay, has moved in. Thank gosh our new home is lovely because leaving here was not easy.
If you have been reading for any length of time you have seen that tree outside the window filled with birds when it was bare.
Speaking of our new home, the Hydrangeas are withering, but still look beautiful.
Ta da!! Finally the quilt is put together for quilting, which is actually the act of sewing the three layers together. I've got a start on it now and hope to head upstairs soon to keep going.
Having the space to lay it out was amazing! Of course Bruce helped me get it all straight and trimmed. What would I do without that man? Here's a bit of good news as to him, aside from the fact that he is so happy with his shop, and that is that he has been doing some hand exercises which are helping him greatly. We shall see how long it works, but for now his pain has diminished greatly.
When we bought the house the Japanese Maple tree was bare. The it was super burgundy and now it is changing again.
Those little dangling things are seeds, although I read it is hard to get them to grow. Apparently they are prone to flight once they become loose enough. Spreading their seeds to the wind if you will. Maybe, just maybe, someone else will get lucky and have a seedling grow and thrive in their garden. There is something really profound about that when you stop and think about it.
It's a wonderful world folks.
your friend,
Gail
No comments:
Post a Comment