Happy Halloween...

Have fun tonight, but don't eat too much candy!!!

Pretty waterfalls and stuff...

Cullasaja Falls outside Franklin, NC...

Lady panning for gold maybe???

Icicles on the rocks next to Bridal Veil Falls...

Bridal Veil Falls...you can drive on the road behind the falls...there was ice on that part of the road!

Newleyweds Sherman and Pat...
Sandy and Dick...still smiling after 40 years of togetherness!

Our rally master had us do an indoor scavenger hunt last night. I hadn't heard of that one, but I guessed that it was a game for old folks that was easy to do, with no terrorizing of any neighborhoods. Correct. She gave us a word--travelers--and told us to find something in our mohos that represented each letter in that word (and to remember that there were two of the letters E and R--no slacking), and to bring those items to dinner with us. Let me tell you, some folks got *very* creative. Sue called out one letter at a time, and we all held up our *items* to show off. We had some good laughs out of the creativity of our group. Y'all should try it!

And now the good time has ended, and we are loading up and heading back to Mayberry. Work calls. Rallies are fun...met some new folks; enjoyed seeing old friends. We've worked on the final January rally details that we two are hosting, along with Joe and Bonnie. We passed out registration forms and now have our first reservations coming in. Woohooo...progress!!!

Enjoy your Thursday...wanna come help unload the moho after lunch?

Red Hatters Matter...

Red Hat Monacats having fun in Franklin...Pat, Harriet, Susan, Sandy.......

Sue, Harriet and Annette with the Party Lady...

Pat and 'her' Party Lady...

Hmmm, some serious talking going on here...

I wanted to steal Queen Mum Nancy's pretty hat!

All the 'hatters' know how to have fun. We learned some interesting facts about Halloween, and about each other, but no one is letting any secrets out! What happens at High Tea, stays at High Tea!

It snowed this morning!

OK, it wasn't a lot, but it was still some of that fluffy white stuff! Here is the entrance to the park, taken just yesterday when we arrived. It was sunny and cool...

But when we woke up to go to breakfast this morning, this is what greeted us! It only reached 49 today...and Amy texted me that it snowed back in Mayberry this morning. What happened to global warming, I wonder?
This park has a nice meeting facility where we are enjoying catered meals. Aaahhh...no meals to cook; no dishes to wash!
We are having pizza and salad tonight, and everyone is to bring a dessert to share, along with a dessert and the recipe for it. I'm taking my Sour Cream Banana Pudding...yummm.

Dick and I met with our rally co-hosts this morning and finalized lots of details. We'll be handing out flyers tonight, so you know what I was doing this afternoon after our Red Hat high tea! The guys enjoyed lunch at the club house, along with a tech talk while us gals were at our tea party. Then I think the guys all went out afterward and kicked tires. That is a guy requirement, whenever two or more are gathered together! What a fun day...and it isn't even over yet! It's time for Happy Hour!!!

I hope y'all are having fun, wherever you are...

On the road again...

Off to Franklin, NC, today...we will be connected, so never fear--I'll post pictures!

Now don't forget to go click at the breast cancer site, OK? It doesn't cost you a thing, and helps provide free mammograms to women in need:

HELP GIVE 700 FREE MAMMOGRAMS...If daily clicks on The Breast Cancer Site add up to 500 mammograms at the end of October, an additional 200 mammograms will be funded by our premier sponsor. Just think: 700 FREE mammograms for women in need! But we need your help to reach this goal--the TOTAL SO FAR is XX mammograms--so be sure to click away, every day!
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/tpc/ERB_101008_BCS
Every item purchased in The Breast Cancer Site store helps fund a free mammogram for a woman in need.

Happy Sunday, y'all!!! Leave me a message or your Sunday won't be happy:-)

Saturday stuff...

It's been a busy week...health scare with Parker kitty, but he is on meds and is still being his sweet self. He does NOT like taking pills. And I have scratches on my hands that prove it!

Dick has been hunched over his puter checking on prices of stolen stuff to submit to the insurance company...no small task.

We pull out in the moho tomorrow for a short jaunt, so he also finished up a couple of moho projects. He built a rack to hold the big TV in the 'basement,' and mounted a small TV above our bed, in order to save space and make the bedroom TV cabinet now a storage cabinet. He's a smart, handy fella to have around. I think I'll keep him:-)

Where are we going, you ask? Up to Franklin, NC, to a Monaco Travelers Rally. Sherman/Pat will also be there. It'll be a few days of fun and relaxing with lots of friends, and a chance to talk up the Ocala rally Dick and I are hosting in January. Our co-hosts will be there, so the four of us have got lots of *stuff* to work on so that we can begin accepting reservations.

Now I need to go work on my list and check it twice! Enjoy your Saturday, y'all.

Thou shalt not steal!

Sometime Sunday night, some guys stole a whole bunch of stuff from Dick's shop. A bunch of expensive stuff--two generators, a mountain bike, some chain saws, a concrete saw, the GPS out of Dick's truck, a bunch of tools, nail gun, and a variety of other items from oil to antifreeze. Needless to say, we are not HAPPY CAMPERS. This is our hard-earned STUFF. Stuff (mostly) that Dick and our guys need to work with. I know times are bad, but stealing is not the answer. Of course the local sheriff was called and a report was taken. We'll now have to contact the insurance company, etc. And be concerned that they might come back for another load. Isn't that a happy thought? Hmmm, they might be on Candid Camera the next time!

I'm grateful no family member was physically harmed; however, we still feel very violated. And angry, but we have a roof over our heads, a comfy bed to sleep in, food on our table...and the ability to keep the home fires burning despite this set back. We'll survive...and hope the thiefs get caught.

Party animals...

Come on, Mom, I want some cake!

Here is spaghetti boy...with a face only a mom could love!
Come on guys, hurry up and open up my new loader!
Do it again, Bike Dude!

Need my help, Grumps?

Yep, we did good. Now it's time for the old people to go home where it is quiet! The end.

Hi, I'm two!

Today this precious boy is two years old! He has the world by the tail, with good health, a bright, curious mind, and loads of folks who love him...life can't get any better than that!
We are heading over to eat spaghetti with him (his fave meal), eat birthday cake, and have a fine time with the family and friends. Life is good. Bless you, little Doodlebug. You are a blessing to us. We love you, Grammie & Grumps

Everybody join in...
Happy birthday to you...
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, deeaar Doodlebug!
Happy birthday to yoooouuu.

Thanks. Y'all sounded good!

Sorghum-rific!

Wow...lots of activity going on here.....

Lots of homemade goodies and crafts for sale...

A little pickin' and grinnin' going on here. Anyone want to climb the greased pole? Or try out your log sawing skills?
Brand new 'house' for the sorghum cooker...
You can watch grain being ground...then buy some good Logan Turnpike products...
And try out your skills at throwing baseballs. Carolyn was disappointed that she didn't set a new speed throwing record. Lynne and Pat were cheering her on...Now don't forget to go click on that breast cancer site again. Have you scheduled/had your mammo yet? Mine is today. Ouch. Enjoy your day, y'all!

Clan gathering recap...

We spent a lot of time here in the kitchen, cooking, eating...talking......Chuck, Lynne, Steph, Amy, Alex, Jason, Carolyn...
Carolyn, Jason, Alex...
And more talking and holding 'da boys'And a whole lot of sitting on the deck while eating and/or just visiting...Sherman, Lynne, Pat and Steph are below...
...along with Macey, Haley and Logan...the pictures on the other side of the deck didn't turn out well:-(
But this one in the living room shows a few more folks...
Of course we had to go out on the lake for a final run of the season...
We all had a great time...will post more pics tomorrow. Life is good!

Good stuff!

Mm, mm, good! Everyone enjoyed the banana pudding last night. Here is a picture of it to whet your appetite. Lois, you and Hank shoulda been here! Joy joined us. Tonight we are grilling steak and salmon. And maybe having my yummy Mother's chocolate delight for dessert.

Whew, it was a busy day, what with all that cooking, but I did have good help from Pat and Steph in the kitchen. That's always appreciated, especially since I needed to serve at church for a memorial service for one of our parishioners in the afternoon. At 97, she had lived a long and good life. May we all be so blessed!

We'll attend the local fall festival today...and Dick is taking folks flying, so hopefully I'll have some good pictures to post of our fall colors. More family arriving later on today! Life is good!!!

Say BOO to Breast Cancer!

What? Pink pumpkins???????........
Can you believe those punkins??? A BSP sista (a breast cancer survivor) has a very caring son in WA who has a special fund raiser going. Here is what she said about him:

He had a small event last year raising money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Well this year he got an idea to raise more money. He has made many pumpkins and painted them pink. He is selling them to people and they will paint them. He hopes to make $500 this year. The large pumpkins sell for $50 and go down in price to $5 for the small ones. He is also collecting checks for the cure. The program that he is participating in is called Passionately Pink, he has named his event...Just Say Boo to Breast Cancer.

Well, I think this is a fabulous idea! Kudos to this son, and to his mama Liz. I clicked over on the breast cancer site today in Liz's honor. Don't forget to do that today. Go ahead...do it right now!

Have a happy Friday, y'all! I sure will...Brian is coming home, Chuck/Steph arrive...Bob/Lynne are on their way south, Sherman/Pat are here. What's cookin' for dinner...grilled chicken...and banana pudding for dessert (my special recipe)...yummmm

Rain, sweet rain...

I woke up at 4am this morning to the sound of rain! We haven't had any in two months, so this was indeed a *sweet* sound. It has continued off and on all day, which is the best kind to give our parched ground the good soaking it needs.

Sherman and Pat are the first of the clan members to arrive here today for our annual get together. They are in their moho, so they are staying at our RV park. We are heading over to Amy's house for dinner tonight. She's a good cook...promises brats and chicken on the grill...yumm. Dick will be smoking some fish so I can try making Ginger's smoked fish dip that is outstanding. I'll be in the kitchen a lot over the next few days. Stay tuned and I'll let y'all know what's cookin'!

Did y'all click over at the breast cancer site today? NO? Go do it!!! The link is on yesterday's pink post.

Rebels FOR a cause...think PINK!!!

See the two pink streaks in Haley's hair? Well, she learned it was against the school dress code! What? That itty, bitty bit of pink...done for breast cancer awareness??? This is October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, when special attention is brought about every year about this disease that took Dick's sister last year. She and the wee girls all got 'pinked' the other day. She certainly did not realize this was a violation of the school dress code. Now I ask you, how disruptive is this, compared to pants bagging down around a person's nether region? Well, she didn't take that rule on face value...and so she and her co-teacher marched straight to the superintendent's office to very politely disagree with the 'intent' of the code. They certainly felt their 'intent' was OK. Check out her blog for details of their, um, respectful disagreement...that she and her co-teacher won! And leave her a comment, OK?

Hooray to you both for standing up for what is fair. The apple didn't fall too far from that gene tree. Scary, huh?

Ginger, she wore your pink angel pin...and could have sold a bunch of them! See the pin below...

OCTOBER IS NATIONAL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH Your daily click is worth double all month!
Simply click the pink button at The Breast Cancer Site to help provide free mammograms to underprivileged women.http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/tpc/ERB_100608_BCS

And don't forget to schedule your own mammo, gals! Think PINK...think health. Life is good.

Dad did it...so can I!

We have the Bell clan arriving this week, Dick's siblings/spouses and a cuzn, so this is a good opportunity to get some of those dreaded honey-dos done, right? Those high windows on the deck have been a perfect spot for spiders to weave their webs. I know it is getting close to Halloween, but they were not a pretty sight. Dick and Jason hauled the tall ladder through the house and placed it on the deck. Dick climbed up and knocked away all the collective critters, but hadn't gotten around to taking the ladder down yet. Enter curious Parker, who climbed all the way to the top...

....didn't find a thing of interest to a little kitty cat...
...so back down the ladder he came...with coaxing from Dad in the recliner...
Whew! That sure wasn't worth all that effort!
And speaking of cuzns, I just learned that my cuzn Pat from the Redding clan reads my blog every day. Who knew??? Hi, Pat. Give Aunt Nene a big hug from me. That sweet lady turned 97 this past July. She got a hug-in-a-card from me recently, as did her younger sister, who *yikes* turns 88 next week! Needless to say, she'll get a birthday card! These two ladies are all that remain of the 10 kids. We'll lose a lot of history when they pass on.

I visited Aunt Eloise several years ago and she showed me lots of old family photos that she has kept. She even graciously let me take them with me to have copies made. I actually need to scan them into my computer first before placing them in a scrapbook, which is where they will eventually go. That way, I can place the scanned album online for the rest of the family to view. Or ignore. But at least they will be preserved and available. Haley and I have done some scanning of old Bell photos...and I need to get back on that *massive* project! So much to do; so little time! I know, it would help if we would stay home...then I could get more of these projects done:-) All in due time.

Create memories and preserve them. They are precious. Life is good! Happy Monday...