By Golly, I'm Back!

 It's been a while.

Like more than two weeks which is not my style.

But now I am back after more activities than a gal can relate.  More pictures too.

We went to Florida for a week and of course we saw this bundle of joy more than once. 

My goodness what a sweetheart and Bill and Fallon cannot keep from thinking it must be a dream, they are so in love with him. Can you blame them?

But let's back up a bit because there is much to be said. We served at Soul Table on the 3rd of July and here is Dottie in the middle, D'Anna and yours truly decked out for the holiday. 

I nearly forgot that I have not told you about the 4th! After playing pickleball we walked over to the park just in time for the peanut drop! Yes, you read that correctly. And what pray tell is a peanut drop you ask?

I don't know how many they drop, but unshelled peanuts fall from the back of the plane, scattering all over the field, and folks go after them, looking for colored ones that are worth money, ranging from $1-5.

Later on we watched the fireworks display from our neighbor Sandy's porch and while good, and better than from our back porch, next year we are just going to walk the few blocks to the park because for a small town, it is a very impressive display.

Here's something funny. So remember how I went mushroom foraging, more specifically for chanterelles in the forest, and it took like two hours to get to the spot? Arriving at Cobby and Diane's house for a cookout, look what was in their front yard! Diane had already picked a bunch of them.

Meet Tank their beloved cat.

28 hours later, I continue....(life got in the way of my computer time)

Monday morning, nearly two weeks ago, we left the house around 8AM, heading south with our first stop the Costco in Woodstock to pick up our new glasses. Unfortunately for me, I had them tighten mine a little too much and it has taken this long for them to finally be comfortable. 

But I digress...

Surprisingly, the drive through Atlanta was not too awful except for this little bit in the outskirts

By that time it was about 11 in the morning, so what the hold up was, is not something I am prepared to write about except to say that D'Anna says it always backs up in this area and  seeing as how she was raised in Atlanta, she should know.

We made excellent time, arriving in Valdosta, our normal stopping place, about 3:30 in the afternoon. The parking lot at the Drury Inn was nearly empty, so little Missy here suggested we go into downtown to see what we could see rather than sit in the hotel room. Mr. Wonderful agreed. There were a lot of tell-tale signs of a city working hard to revitalize their downtown which was filled with many wonderful buildings.

Lots of interesting murals to admire.

We went into several cute shops where people were enjoying themselves.

Another striking mural.

And who does not like an alleyway filled with colorful umbrellas?

All was good until it wasn't. Back to the hotel that Bruce had very much been looking forward to, he popped in to secure a room and they were ALL sold out! Apparently the word is getting out that it is such a good deal. So, we headed out of town and Bruce drove the four more hours to Orlando, arriving just before dark and in time to stop at Publix for a few supplies. Woo hoo! Passing the time I continued reading aloud all sorts of things to Bruce, eventually coming across a website about world population. Wow, some real surprises there. While we knew that India and China are neck and neck as far as people go, we were both surprised at how many people live in Africa! Perhaps I have mentioned before how Bruce is always game for guessing things, and is usually pretty darn accurate, but this time some of the African countries most definitely took him by surprise.

Much to our delight no real disasters awaited us, that is if you don't count two small leaks in the sunroom awning. 

The corner that you see was leaking, but we were able to secure a visit from the ever-busy Herbert who caulked it and we should now be in good shape. 

Tuesday morning first thing I took an open dental appointment for a cleaning, stopping at the carwash in the complex to rid the MINI Cooper of a few months worth of dirt.

I am including a photo because I suspect some folks up here are really doubting that I actually do drive, if only occasionally!

As I may have reported, we are in the midst of a very expensive assessment to pay for new roofs throughout the community. It was good to see how things are progressing.

One of the other things we hoped to accomplish was to empty our storage unit, the same one we downsized to about a year ago. Since that time, although this space was nearly half the size of the previous one, the rates kept increasing, seemingly on a whim. SO, after seven years, we did it! Or, more accurately Bruce did with some cheerleading on my part. Another big surprise was that while hot, it never was nearly as hot as it was two months ago. Thank God for that!

Our visits to see Christian still revolve around feedings and nap time, but when we were able to see the family it was pure gold. 

Another thing I did on our drive down was contact friends to set up meal dates which worked out very nicely. Tuesday night just Bruce and I popped into a newish place called Moderne, and while I thought the food was uneven, the look was spectacular.

Their menu is meant to be an Asian-fusion small plates kind of place with that fusion being Japanese-Puerto Rican, if you can imagine. Fallon told me later it is supposed to be all about the cocktails. Bruce sampled one for $14 and not only was it pretty, it was delicious according to him. I have no idea what was meant by that clip on art.

Before leaving Murphy we arranged to have both John and D'Anna help with our plants and I am so pleased to report that these back porch plants, corralled for easy watering, took our absence in stride. 

After much back and forth we met Joe and Cynthia at F&D Italian Kitchen and it was super good; the same cannot be said of the picture that I took of them. No clue what happened!

I spent some time exploring the front gardens at the complex and they did not disappoint.

It does not get any more Florida than banana trees and bougainvillea.

I have seen very few butterflies this summer in Murphy, so I was pleased that I was able to see a Monarch butterfly enjoying some milkweed. 

These caterpillars are very cool to see in person while at the same time the gardeners wish desperately not to see them in person!

We also went swimming on a few days which was just delightful. If there is anything I miss about our place in Orlando, it is the pool.

And the lakes, and the surrounding flora and fauna.

And of course our friends and family. Look at this little face!

But then I think of the heat that I just cannot tolerate anymore. Although this visit was bearable, there are months and months ahead that are not. We will continue staying in touch via videos and Facetime like we have with Matthew these many years. As you may recall, I began this blog about a month or so before he left to work in London and both of us are still at it! My word, I just looked at the statistics and it seems as if I have gone over one million views recently. And to think it only took 18 years!😊

Our sermon today was about communication and how important it is to stay in touch with our loved ones, a subject near and dear to my heart. Blogging was not mentioned, although it might have been. I sincerely value and appreciate anyone who spends time reading Camera Crazy, a blog I began in an entirely different part of our lives. I was a college student, Jonathan was still at home, Bruce traveled most every week for days at a time,  and our sons were not married. And here we are now. Gosh, it's a wonderful life.

your friend,

Gail

p.s. More about the Orlando time and the crazy amount of activities since our return to our sweet little, never imagined in our wildest dreams, house on Campbell Street where cucumbers are growing!