Pumpkins in the sun!

We took these pictures after church on Sunday, which was the first sunny day we've had in a long time. It's been raining since so I decided to post them in hopes that maybe they will bring more sunshine to our dreary water-soaked existence. (For additional beautiful pictures of pumpkins visit http://thevictorianparlor.blogspot.com)We have bumpy pumpkins...
Various colored gourds

More bumpy's
And gourds...
Sun drenched pumpkins...



A pumpkin maze (the entrance)
Don't get lost!
Finally an exit - whew!
Two toned pumpkins - red and green - just in time for Christmas:)
Ahh! A white pumpkin peeking out
And more white pumpkins
Here's a great recipe for Roasted Pumpkin Seeds from my mother!

2 cups fresh pumpkin seeds

2 tsp peanut or vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place pulp and seeds in a colander and run under water to separate out the seeds. Discard the pulp. Sprinkle seeds on an ungreased cookie sheet and drizzle with oil. Bake 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir occasionally. Place in paper bag with salt added.

Life's Blessings

"There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth... not going all the way, and not starting" (Buddha)

The continuing fan story...

A few years ago my daughter and her husband gave me a wonderful surprise. They were visiting from SC and while I was at work they spent the day redecorating my porch. They cleaned, painted, recovered my furniture, bought a new table and chairs, etc, and turned my pathetic looking porch into a warm and comfortable shabby-chic style living area.

But of course not all plans go smoothly. Somehow hubby hit the porch fan and the blades went flying through the air and crashing to the floor breaking into pieces. With very little time, he made a trip to our local Lowe’s and purchased new blades.

Since that time though the blades have, shall we say, drooped! Apparently using indoor fan blades in an outdoor setting results in moisture overload. Everyone who comes to visit has commented on the bowed blades (and yes, they still work) and we have the pleasure of relating the story to them as they stare at the fan and laugh.

As you know, recently the Atlanta area has suffered tremendous amounts of rain and flooding. Shortly after the first weekend of flooding I was sitting on the porch with a cup of tea and looked up at the fan. To my amazement the blades have once more changed. Not only are they bowed, but they are spotted.

I can safely say I now have a cow fan... or perhaps a dalmatian fan... maybe an appaloosa fan?

Life's Blessings

Paths"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives." (Henry David Thoreau - 1817-1862)

Life's Blessings

Atonement - Forgiveness"And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." (Isaiah 32:17)

Autumn

Ahh... Autumn, a time to enjoy the serenity of cool air, falling leaves and a general well being.
Well maybe not yet! Actually as the first day of Fall arrives, I see the sun peeking out through the ominous rain clouds that have shadowed our fair State for the past week. In the last three days they are now guestimating that we have received 22-25 inches of rain.

The water came down so hard yesterday that the small lake in our backyard became a gushing river!
As I stood in about eight inches of water outside, I took a picture of my boots as the swirling tide surrounded them. This brought back memories from my teen years in Florida, wading barefoot in knee-high water after a hurricane.
Alas, I will have to wait a bit longer to see the sights of the Fall season and enjoy all the smells and sounds it brings, but it will come and it will be enjoyed by all!

A Tribute to David (1939-2006)

David would have been 70 years old today so I thought I would do a blog tribute to him for his birthday. Married to my sister, David was more like a brother than a brother-in-law. He was always helping us out of tough situations such as towing back my poor wrecked car across three states after my daughter (yes, that would be Kim) nearly totaled it while away at college.

I have wonderful memories of David. For example, when he was dating my sister I used to charge my friends a quarter to watch them kiss in the living room. I know, I was a naughty sister, but hey, money was hard to come by when I was 13.

David, who was dedicated to this country, joined the U.S. Army shortly before he married my sister. I used to make him brownies when he came home on leave and he loved them! He remained in the military, served in the reserves and eventually retired from it. Here he is with my sister and his dad.

David loved many things. He loved his family most of all and when I looked through my pictures, it was hard to find one of him without my sister also in the picture. She was the love of his life and they were married nearly 46 years.

Here he is at a family picnic on Mother’s Day in 1968 and yes, he loved to eat too.

David and my sister at their daughter's wedding

David and my sister both loved the snow and were avid skiers. On the few occasions that it snowed in Atlanta, he and my sister would come over to our house and we would go sledding or just play in the snow and then walk to the Waffle House for something to eat. Back in 1969, I called my sister to tell her that we had snow, and David drove his entire family from Florida to Atlanta over some perilous roads to enjoy it with us.

David spent a lot of time at the beach. I guess that's what happens when you are born and raised in Florida. He loved Jacksonville, FL especially and I believe moved there about three different times!

David left behind his wife, a daughter and son, five grandchildren, a sister and sister-in-law (me) and since his death, a beautiful great-granddaughter!

Happy Birthday David! We love you and miss you.

Life's Blessings

Rain..."Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make its color appear" (Author unknown)

Rainy Day and Night in Georgia

The Southeast has been deluged with rain for the past week and there doesn't seem to be any letup. The water cannot drain fast enough so Sweetbrier Cottage is looking more and more like lakefront property.

It's drizzling now so I took this opportunity to snap a few photos and do a little yard cleanup.

Standing water, so there must be a clog somewhere downstream.
Nature is so artistic even in the simplest forms. Note the concentric circles that raindrops make.
This is flowing nicely now...
Problems at one of the gates...
Just a trickle now, but a river later...
Here's one of the problems. Leaves and grass had formed a nice little dam at the edge of the property - a slight reroute hopefully will work, but only time will tell.
I checked the forecast and it looks like our next day without rain is September 28, so I guess I'd better get our scuba gear out:)

Life's Blessings

In memory of Senator Edward KennedyOnly a life lived for others is a life worthwhile (Albert Einstein)

Life's Blessings

Life"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that counts. It's the life in your years" (Abraham Lincoln)

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)

Life's Blessings

Healing"The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love" (Hubert H. Humphrey)

Heirlooms

We've been working on the family's genealogy for the past year. As part of that project, we've begun taking pictures of family heirlooms and the stories behind them. Although not of any great value, these bottles brought back memories of my childhood and early marriage. Do you know what they were for?Answer: Many years ago before no-iron clothing, clothes were wrinkled once washed and dried. In order to iron them without creases, bottles were filled with water and you would sprinkle your clothes that were to be ironed. (You could purchase a sprinkler head that would fit in the top of the bottle.) After sprinkling your clothes you would roll them up, place them in a plastic bag and then put them in the refrigerator until ready to be ironed. Voila, no wrinkles! This seems rather silly in today's world, but it worked!

Life's Blessings

Happy Parents Day!"A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be your friend." (Author unknown)

Trip to Edisto - NOT!

The last two times I have visited the Victorian Parlor, I had wanted to take a day trip to Edisto, SC. So the following is a photo tour of our trip.

Leaving town, I took this picture of the new city hall that is under construction.
On our way out, we stopped at the Antique Show which was part of the Water Festival. Although there were only about 10 dealers, and it shared the space of the Omni Gym, the show turned out to be most enjoyable. Dealers were friendly and they had some very interesting pieces.
Our next stop was Fletcher's Finds in Yemassee. Whoaaaa, that's not on the way to Edisto; that's the opposite direction! Fletcher's was quite interesting and had some unique pieces. My hostess was asked to perform in the fall at the local country club which I'm sure you will hear more about later. Hmmm, now to Edisto? I think not.
Heading back home, we stopped for lunch at a Thai restaurant, called "Yes, Thai Indeed," but sadly not in Edisto. The food was absolutely fantastic!
While sitting at a light, I grabbed this picture of a new condo building that's going to overlook the waterway. Apparently, although approved by the council, the building turned out to be 6' taller than was agreed on. Not sure how you make a building a that much taller - where were the specs?
Our final stop was at the Antique Mall, and again not in Edisto. This is a great place, there are wonderful finds, and prices are very reasonable.
Well, I guess my trip to Edisto will have to wait another year. Maybe the third time will be the charm:) Although we didn't make it again, we enjoyed our day and doing what we like best - antiquing!

Cassie's Expanded Domain

While my beloved Sweeti was living, I had to keep her and my feral kitty, Cassie, separated. Cassie spent most of the time in the garage (it has HVAC, carpet and all the comforts of home) and would come into the house once in the morning and again in the evening. Since I lost Sweeti, Cassie now has free rein of the house all day. At first she was a little hesitant about it, would stay glued to the sofa, and constantly alert.

Last night was the first time she seemed to relax. I took this photo below (sorry, it's a bit fuzzy) while she was sleeping, although she might have been peeking.
My next assignment is to get her to let me pick her up. I've been working on it the past week and I can carry her from one end of the couch to the other, or pick her up and put her on the floor. But once I put her down, she immediately turns around and gives me a sharp 'meow' as if to say, 'Don't do that!' We'll keep working on it:)

Giving...

My Victorian Parlor hostess and I spent a day last week going to Blufton, SC, thrift store shopping. We stopped at numerous stores on the way and took advantage of items that other people had donated. The stores we visited were sponsors of charities.

My find of the day was this lovely lamp, maybe 1950's, with a Dresden-like china figurine. I purchased this from the Habitat Restore, which is associated with Habitat for Humanity.
Unfortunately I did not think to take pictures until it was too late, but other thrift stores we visited included:

• The CAPA Closet, which helps the Child Abuse Prevention Association
• Cancer Thrift
• Red Door, which helps a local Hospice

On our trip back, I tried taking pictures from a moving car. These are pictures of the water and marsh while going over a very long bridge.

The road in front of us...
Our final stop was a consignment shop which had two floors of items for sale.
Our thrift store shopping trip was very successful! Thanks to all who gave their "no longer wanted or needed items" to these organizations. Everyone benefits from these thrift stores -those who purchase items at massively reduced prices, and those who are helped by the charities that are associated with them.

Morning at the Victorian Parlor

As I stated on Friday, I would spend this week blogging about my vacation to the Victorian Parlor. Morning there is quite leisurely for everyone. The hostess would fix a pot of tea and we would either sit on the front porch and enjoy the view and the early morning air and sounds, or we would sit inside. On this particular day we chose to stay inside.

Following are pictures of some of the residents preparing for a long exhausting day. Kasey, the wonder pup, prefers the pillows on the living room couch.Calvin peers out the living room window contemplating the day.
Lizzie chooses to spread out on the sofa.
My hostess spends time blogging.
And Kramer, well, he prefers stretching out in the library, doing the infamous "Kramer Crouch."