Young helper!

 

Jason and MM have a future helper.  Will loves to do anything his dad does, so he was the firewood helper yesterday.  Yes, it is that time of the year to think about wood for “Big Bertha” for this winter…for them.

MM and I solve that cold problem the easy way by heading to Florida!  Forget firewood—hit the road and head south.  That’s a good plan.

This photo brings to mind a time back on the FL farm when MM needed both his truck and the front-end loader back at our house, which was a half-mile from his shop, on our own dirt road.  Brian also loved to go to work with his dad, so that was the solution to MM’s problem of needing a second driver…his little helper.

He showed Brian how to use the correct lever to lower the bucket to stop the machine, since his short legs couldn’t reach the brake, and to put it into gear and GO.  I’m sure they practiced a few times on these technique before MM jumped in the truck to get back to the house in time to get me to come watch the arrival.

A beaming Brian did as instructed, getting the BIG machine to the house with absolutely no problems.  My own heart did a few back flips at the sight of my wee boy in that ginormous machine…all by himself.

Did I mention he was only FOUR?!  He had a mile wide grin on his face when he hopped down to the ground.  Me?  Probably a gray hair emerged that day, oh so long ago, but we all survived it.

Good luck, Amy.  You are one tough mama of two rowdy boys!  Some Clairol may be in your future.

It’s just another Monday here in fabulous Mayberry, y’all, with MM tinkering on the four-wheeler, and Will out riding his motorcycle.  The only difference between men and boys is the size and price of their toys!

Do I hear an Amen?

Play ball!

Watching the antsy 6 year olds play soccer. It was nice and overcast when we left home, now the sun is baking our necks.

Which way, coach?

We love our small town living. The kids play for fun, not competition...at least at this age.

It's all good. WYWH! Bring sunscreen.



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TBT

 

That cute little towhead (n. a person with very light blond hair) is my own sweet Maintenance Man with his siblings, circa 1946 I would judge.  And here the whole family is pictured, just a few years later:

Don, Margaret, and Marjory (Marj) are all deceased, and youngest sister Ginny has health issues now, requiring her to live in an assisted home.

Count your blessing when ya have good health! 

MM got his flight medical done on Monday, and the doc said he is in excellent health.  He had better keep it that way. 

And  I am blessed with good health, too…shown here all gussied up for my Junior Prom (long before I met MM, of course).  Yikes, we now have a granddaughter a year younger than this very same age!

It’s just another “remember when” day here in the beautiful GA Alps…where life is good, y’all!

45 and foggy in Mayberry

 

When I wake up to 45 and foggy, I declare that summer is officially OVER and FALL has begun…and the calendar definitely confirms this as well!  Bu-bye, Summer.  You were mild this year, and we d0 appreciate that.

This year is flying by.  I think that is maybe a sign of getting older.  Kids think that Christmas will n-e-v-e-r arrive, but adults know that the calendar hits Halloween, Thanksgiving, then Christmas lightening fast.  Every year…gaining speed.

So I am still tinkering with the new laptop, getting everything installed and downloaded so that my guru can come over and hook me up to the home network and tweak the old laptop to be the auxiliary computer, rather than the main one.  Exciting stuff.

My lovely assistant will probably want to help, right after her morning nap.  Leave a message, she sez.  KC has escaped already…to the sun(less) room…for his nap.  I’m thinking they are overpaid, the slouches.

Have yourself a ginger peachy day.  Come on, sunshine!

Beta Sigma Phi fun!

We had a funny and informative forum presented by the Phi-vile Tater Sistas this morning:



Shook our booty a bit last night:



And finally managed to get a group shot of our chapter represented here at convention:



Smiles, laughter, and connecting with our sistas...197 registered!

Having fun in HotLanta, y'all!

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Hair…for a good cause

Ansley (on the R) has been letting her hair get rather long this past year, and for a very good reason:  she planned on donating to Locks of Love, a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

Before, with sister, Macey:

Brave girl:

And after:

Cute!

I love your new short “do.”  And smile.  And generous heart.

Thanks for making some little girl happy with your beautiful hair.  One young lady…making a difference in the world, for a disadvantaged stranger.

May we all make a contribution in some way to something worthwhile this week.  Go ahead.  Just do it.  You’ll feel good!  Pass it on…

Throw Back Thursday

 

Look at these children!  No, I was not 12 when this photo was taken, although I look it.  I was definitely more than twice that age.  Trust me.

This was early 1972, and I was pregnant with Haley (sorry for outing your age, honey), taken in Grandmommie’s kitchen.  I’m not sure of the exact date in 1972, since I only marked the photo as “1972,” (shame on me) but that tummy definitely “blossomed” more before Haley was born.  Actually, it blossomed A LOT more, before her arrival in late March.

This makes me smile.  So does this photo of our girl, now all grown up:

At the rate I am going, I will have all my old photos scanned in by 2112.  Wish me luck.

Happy TBT, y’all!

Zoom, zoom…

Getting ready to go four wheeling (no, Madison wasn’t asleep—yet):

We wound up with eight ATVs all total (one directionally challenged, unknown couple joined us so they wouldn’t get lost) on Snowbird Mountain up in NC yesterday.  We rode over boulders, mud, ditches, rocks, a few streams, and more mud…about 20-22 miles of that stuff.

MM said the views are beautiful (my first trip up there), but we were in the misty clouds, so our views consisted of the thick forests, just loaded with a variety of trees, rhoddys and mountain laurel (not in bloom of course).

Some folks left the trails and called it a day  (one had to be towed back to the truck…bugger), but those remaining visited a lovely waterfall:

Trust me, it was a bit testy walking up the trail to the waterfall and back in that slick mud!

We stopped for a few “donuts” in a muddy field toward the end of the ride that everyone had to experience:

I enjoyed all this in comfort with Jason as my trusty driver in their new, side-by-side ride.  Great job, Jas.  I’m ready to go again on a clear day!

A warm shower was first on the agenda when we got back home…thoroughly splattered with mud…everywhere!

Life is zooming in the mountains, y’all!  Who wants to join us next time?

Fresh stuff

Our local farmer's market has only a couple more weeks to be open, and I was pretty much out of fresh fruit and veggies, so Joan and I shopped together this morning.

We both enjoyed seeing folks, and picking up some good, fresh produce. We also got some locally made soap/lotion products. They are a treat to the nose and a plus for natural skin hydration. Cutting out chemicals and buying local are both winners, as is spending time with my bestie.

Now that I am back home and ready to tackle the new laptop again, the sun finally comes out. Go figure. It is beautiful, and I need to be inside. At least my view outdoors is a good one. One assistant is inside; one is outside, always subject to change......constantly.

Have yourself a ginger peachy day. I sure will!

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Friday funny…finished

 

No English dictionary has been able to adequately explain the difference between these two words:

COMPLETE and FINISHED.

In a recent linguistic competition held in Toronto, attended by supposedly the best in the world, a Newfoundlander was the clear winner with a standing ovation which lasted over 5 minutes.

The final  question was:  How do you explain the difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED in a way that is easy to understand?

Some people say there is NO difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED.

Here is his astute answer:

When you marry the right woman, you are COMPLETE.

When you marry the wrong woman, you are FINISHED.

AND, when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are COMPLETELY FINISHED!!!

He won a trip to travel the world in style, and a case of 25 year old Scotch.

Very smart Newfy, I would say.

HAT TIP to Dorothy M

TBT

 

The way we were……..way back in September 1985, the year before we moved from the W Palm Beach area to Mayberry.  Look how young we all were!

Our munchkins are all grown up now, with spouses and munchkins of their own.  We are (of course) proud of all of them, warts and all!  Yep, we love them.  I’m thankful MM got over his beard phase, bless his heart.  He’s still a keeper, too.

Blessed.  We are…and happy to be living in the land of the Free and the Brave.

Life is good, y’all!

Wednesday in paradise

 

Not much going on around here, other than updating RV park records and making necessary changes.  Blah, blah, blah.  Just doing my job, but since I am my own boss, I can do it at 10 AM or 10 PM.  The choice is mine to make, with whatever fits my schedule on any particular day.

MM is out working on the broken whatever on the tree shear.  Remember I said the broken part would be expensive to replace?  Well, my guy thinks outside the box, found and has ordered a blade of some sort, and contacted a local guy who can cut it to the proper configuration.  This will save us a whole bunch of (travel) money.   Me likey…both my guy AND saving money!

Speaking of things breaking, my old laptop finally seized up and died, at a highly inappropriate time.  Isn’t that always the way it happens?!  It was Win98 anyway and had been “acting up” so I knew its demise was imminent, but it still had one very important program on it (only) that I needed and was using when it decided to quit on me.  And I had not yet backed up my changes.  Fortunately, it came to life ONE final time and I quickly got the file saved.  Whew!

I have a new laptop on the way, which means I will go through the painful process of installing all the programs, etc., on the new one.  All my data is backed up both in the cloud and on an external hard drive, so I am good there.  My four-year old office laptop will be demoted to the status of downstairs spare computer, and life will go on as usual.

Wish me luck.  Thanks in advance.

Meeting success!

 

There was no shortage of food at the RV park yesterday for our annual meeting.  Alex said he ate 4 pieces of chicken.  I saw at twice when he returned for another piece.  That is one growing boy, who also found the dessert table…along with his cousins and friends.

We met some new folks, visited with long-time campers, and generally had a great afternoon.  We call it a success, especially with enough leftover chicken for tonight’s dinner.  Yay that!

Have yourselves a ginger peachy Sunday.  We sure will.  D fer done for another year.

Saturday in Mayberry

It is overcast in Mayberry, as you can see.

Do you see the red popping out on some of the leaves? Yes, peaches, fall is around the corner...and it will be very welcome.

Did you notice that the hammock holder is still empty? MM has been too busy to laze around, plus being away traveling, so it never got installed this summer. And now something broke on his machine yesterday. So...hammock stays stored.

I think I have all the rosters and everything else ready for our RV park annual meeting today. MM and I will go to the park after lunch and get the pavilion all set up, then pick up the main course: fried chicken from a local restaurant, and it is not from the Colonel. Yum. Everyone else brings a side dish to share...and it is always good.

Sun is forecast for soon, and we are hopeful, but so are afternoon showers. Bugger to the showers.

If life hands you lemons, make some lemonade. I will. And all will be well in our world.

I need to check my list again.


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TBT

Here is an old photo of my favorite two big guys:

MM still had a bit of hair on top way back in ‘80something.  We don’t particularly miss it now.  He says that of all the things to GO, that can go first…and it has.  It’s all good…and saves on shampoo, right?

Brian, enjoy your hair while you have it, honey.  It’s not gonna last!  May all your problems be that unimportant.

So I’m making progress on paperwork and preparedness for the Saturday meeting.  MM is back on his big machine before the rain stops him.

Life is back to normal, and we are staying put for awhile.  No travel plans in the immediate future, but a couple of somethings are in the hopper for later.  Of course!

Happy TBT, y’all!  Life is good in the GA Alps.

Random cuteness!

Will picked out his school clothes last night. Amy tried to convince him to pick different socks, but no, he wanted to wear his new moose socks from Grammie. Gosh, I love this sweet boy. Of course this outfit looks fine to me!

Before we know it, he will be as tall as crabby Unka Brian:



We woke up to rain this morning, which has stopped for now, and overcast...which we still have. That's OK, I am stuck inside doing boring paperwork. I have procrastinated long enough. Alright, too long. We have our annual RV park meeting this Saturday, so a deadline looms. Sigh. I need those.

Find something to make you smile today while you are doing a boring task. I sure did!

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Birthday bash!

Amy and Jason put on a fabulous low country boil birthday bash (niece Madison’s request) to celebrate Madison turning 8 and Unka Brian turning, well, you will see.  It was all good!

Yes, a beer “cake,” baked to perfection.

Imported from Grand Lake, CO, this was the LAST Stumpjumper beer available there, since Grand Lake Brewery moved elsewhere:

Time to blow out the candles on the nanner puddin (B’s fave):

There was cookie cake and ice cream cake:

And lots of lovely presents.  Madison is enjoying her birthday season, and she definitely deserves that happiness.

MM and I helped clean up, then left all those energetic kiddos and went home next door to our quiet kitties.

Life is good!  We love our (rowdy) family.

How was your long weekend?