Rain, Rain Go Away!

 Before I begin this installment of Camera Crazy, let me just say thank you to any and all who find this little spot on the web enjoyable enough to keep coming back. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support. Facebook, being the primary way that I promote this blog, has let me down again. For whatever reason, my last post has been blocked from most people's eyes, the second time this has occurred in the last month. I had a lot to say in that post, including a retraction so I was hoping all the faithful would have easy access to it. Four times I've tried, each time, seemingly without success. So, HERE is a link to my story about Blakely, GA and I think you will find some of the stuff fascinating. I suppose the moral of the story is that if you want to continue reading, perhaps subscribing is the way to go? I think it is relatively easy to click on the provided space at the very top right hand corner of the blog. 

Okie dokie, here's something else unrelated----

Me: Siri, call Fields Appliance Repair

Siri: Are you sure you want to call them, they only have a 2.5 star review.

Me: Unfortunately Siri, I have no other choice.

The above exchange happened a week ago Monday and I hung up with the customary frustration. Making a long story short, Bruce had three calls going to Whirlpool at once, hoping someone would answer at one of the numbers. He left sporting his earphones, while the house phone continued on hold for 38 minutes. Meanwhile, I'm in the kitchen preparing a stew and a woman named Connie finally answered and not only did she answer but she was empathetic as well.  Both of us told our sob story and we both finally got somewhere. The control panel with motherboard is on it's way!! Nine weeks later and if all goes according to plan, I will be back in business next Tuesday. What a saga.

Now we are ready to return to Kolomoki Mounds State Park. More rain overnight and in the morning, leaving our tent soaked outside but dry inside. Yeah for our Core Tent.

Eventually we were able to get out and about a bit, riding our bikes over to the plaza where the major mounds are to be found. 

The largest one,  called the Temple Mound is, according to this information, 56 feet tall.  We climbed the stairs up,

where the view of the entire area, once home to several Native American cultures which is explained in the link above. The statistic about how many pails of dirt it must have taken to make this mound is down right astonishing. Anyway, the view from the top is unimpeded by trees.

What goes up, must come down.

By the way, we both credited our incessant pickleball playing to being able to do this with relative ease. Relative being the operative word! Back at the campground, Bruce is chatting with a fellow fisherman.

I wish I'd gotten all this down quicker because things are blurring, but let's see if I can get this straight. 

One night we grilled steak, a first for us and although I would have liked to keep the corn on the cob intact, I'm not great at that so I cut it off the cob and fried it instead.

How there are no flies is a mystery! 

A campfire is one of the reasons to go camping, even though it was only for looks as it was still very warm outside. 

So, because it was warm, we were sitting at the picnic table, playing cards when all of a sudden I cried out as an animal was in our midst!! No, my friends, it was not a scary animal at all, but a black Labrador Retriever who came to visit. Because it was so dark outside, you can imagine my initial confusion! To make a long story short, the dog was reunited with its owner after some detective work by Bruce. If you can imagine, he lives 1.5 miles away!!

The next morning Bruce concocted more shelter from the rain using sticks he found and one of the tarps that came with our shade shelter.

Breakfast is served.

Most of that day Bruce was fishing while I was reading a fantastic book I picked up from the onsite "little library", Thunderstruck by Erik Larsen.  My gosh that book is interesting. 

In an effort to diminish the fly presence I took to Google, finding the suggestion of putting out some soap in a dish that would attract them. While I did that and caught a few, the dishwater from lunch caught even larger bugs! Yikes!!Bruce is chatting with the young Dad I mentioned in my first post about this trip.Oh how I wish we'd had some sunshine! By now, later in the week, other folks began arriving, with groups on either side of us. It was nearly dinnertime when I noticed the sky looking super weird with almost a brown cast to it. I called out--watch that sky because they had their backs to it and I was fearful of a tornado.Before long the thunderheads gathered,followed by a torrential storm. Our tent remained dry, in spite of pooling water all around it,and after about an hour, it quit. I'd begun cooking before the deluge and we ate under our canopy, in spite of a few drops of water that managed to drip on us. 

Ever the handy guy, Bruce still managed to get a fire going, wet wood be damned!Our last night sleeping under the stars was dry after the downpour with no rain predicted for the morrow. Finally!

With Thanksgiving just days away, although there will be no cooking going on in this house, we do plan to meet up with our immediate family for dessert down at the pool. Not the same as most years, but what is in 2020?? Still there is much to be thankful for, beginning with you and all of our family and friends. Secondly, we only know two people who have been ill, so that is something to be grateful for. May all who read this remain healthy and strong and find something to be thankful for as we celebrate in the time of Covid-19.

your friend,

Gail

On Backorder

Calling the appliance repair folks following lunch yesterday, my expectations were low which proved to be a good state of mind going into the marathon call. At first the woman said the part was to be delivered to their office today, except she had the wrong person. Did she have any news at all? Nope. I called Whirlpool and was on hold for nearly 40 minutes with the same result...no news on when the elusive parts would arrive. To say that it frustrates me is a bit of an understatement because there is seemingly no way to have my questions answered. What exactly does it mean that it is on backorder and how is it that NO ONE seems to have any tracking number? Without my new little Vortex I don't know how I would still have all of my hair because I was on the verge of tearing it out!! The saga that began on September 16th continues....

More recently, as in last evening, I finished a novel, The Snow Child, that captivated me from page one. Oh my goodness! Perhaps I enjoyed it so much because I was transported from pool side in Orlando to a fantastical snowy landscape? And yes, I was in the pool on October 29th, the latest I can ever remember. Not especially saying a lot due to my memory but it sure seems late to me. After a week in which we watched the temperature soar to 91 degrees, a "cold" front came through overnight and today we will not reach 80! Hallelujah!

After somewhat of a sunrise drought (can that even be a thing?) surprise!

When last I wrote, new projects were mentioned but went unexplained, so today let's talk about that. Many years ago, as in six, which I only knew because I found the post about it here, racing home from my bike ride, I
convinced Bruce to follow me down the street to pick a neighbor's curbside trash. Although he was very skeptical he went along with my idea for using said trunk in our sunroom as a coffee table

Never a fan, periodically he would say, I'm going to paint that, except other stuff took precedent. Well, my friends, should you be so inclined, click on that link to learn about it in real time. Should that not be to your liking, here's what it looked like after he did some sanding.

Using paint we already had, he painted the chest, along with the individual brads and hardware.

And then there were three pieces of furniture in the Peck household painted teal!

The other project was the dust ruffle that I had put off for far too long, thinking maybe I would wait until Nancy arrived last Friday to help me with it. Alas, with Bruce's help it is done. Nancy had given me the great idea of buying a fitted sheet for the box spring and sewing the fabric to that in order to keep it from slipping around. I made French seams, sewing eight panels together along with the stitching to make the gathering. Note, the sew line made with Magic marker.

Even though I'd measured everything carefully I was holding my breath after sewing, hoping it would be the proper length. Hurray--it worked!

And now, my dear readers, after nearly a year of on again/off again work, it is finally complete.

The Volkswagen print is from our recent trip to Pine Mountain. Isn't it cute? Both of us had a VW as a first car, mine was a '63, and Bruce's was a '65. 😀

Before Nancy arrived I asked her what she wanted to do while here and her reply was telling....play pickleball and not wear a mask all day! She has gotten her wish, however, there was one small glitch, an injury on the second day! Rolling her ankle, she fell gracefully to the court as everyone stood around in disbelief. The good news is that although very bruised and swollen, she did not break it and in fact, she's been back on the court already, beating her sister with Bruce as her partner, two games to one! On Tuesday, her birthday, we had lunch out at The Capital Grille, eating outdoors on the patio. As is often the case, she's visited with a few friends as well as our brother Pat. PLUS, she cut my hair and did my nails!

Speaking of family, I received an odd message recently from a woman who told me that about some land in Fancy Farm, KY that our Mother was a part owner of back in the day. It is way too complicated for this space, but one thing of note is that she explained that she'd been paying the taxes on the property for 30 years, thus, she wanted all of my siblings to sign over our rights to repay her. Our son Bill called the property assessor's office there, learning that last years tax bill was $38 on 2.75 acres. Imagine that! Because we cannot visit Maureen yet to explain the matter, I've requested that we sort this out post Covid-19. Sadly, when that will be is anyone's guess. We had a nice long chat with Matt and Tom, learning first hand how things are in Britain. What a mess we are in! 

I made a quick trip to the mall last week on a Saturday afternoon and was I ever surprised to see folks lining up to go into the Gucci store. Apparently some folks are still making money.

Interestingly enough, they are standing in front of what will become a revamped Tiffany store. 

Because of the family matter in the previous paragraph, I began sorting through drawers and folders of old papers. Coming across records from my time in x-ray school, is it any wonder that I find offense when health care workers look so sloppy? It was ingrained in me all those years ago! Can you even imagine this happening these days? Of course you can't!

What really puzzles me is that grade of 3 in hygiene. Was I not ironing my uniforms? Perhaps there were runs in my stocking? My white Clinic shoes weren't shiny enough? That couldn't possibly have been it as shining shoes was as natural to me as waking up in the morning. And you wonder why that is? Because from the time we were able, all of the Price children were made to shine their shoes daily and woe to those who did not comply! Emotional status???

Ha ha! When this was written I was 17 years old! About those grades, wanting A's on my report card? Yup, that was a thing in our household too, anything less than a B was grounds for six weeks of restrictions! Discovering all of my old report cards during this paper shuffling, I must have been on restrictions more than I remembered. I even got a D in 10th grade English! In today's paper there is an article about Seminole County wanting the state to allow NO grades for this year. Imagine that, eh? 

Just the other day I was telling someone that seemingly no one has been unaffected during this pandemic even if they have not contracted the virus. Backorder indeed! How about you, what has been your experience? By the way, Claussen pickles are still hard to come by. 😞

David is coming along nicely following his surgery and Cris is showing baby steps of improvement so the news is not all bad. I will leave you with a shot of the lovely Angel Trumpet tree in full bloom.

Pickleball is calling....

your friend,

Gail