Chicks

My mother and step-father ordered some chicks and they arrived this week. We had Hannah here with us this weekend and when I took her home this afternoon we stopped by my mom's house to see the chicks. They are adorable! Below are a few pics I took of them.

they love to crowd together

they are in a kids swimming pool lined with newspaper and pine needles and a heated lamp, when they are big enough they will move to the chicken coop Buddy built for them a few months ago

Grandma hands one of the chicks to Hannah

Hannah holds a little chick

Peach Blossoms

I finally got around to taking some photos of the pretty peach orchards around here. Below are a few of my favorites. Some of the orchards have already peaked but others, like the ones below are right at their peak now. We had some freezing temps one night this week but hopefully the peaches are safe.

Varmits!

update:

The "varmit" is named DAVID! I was telling him all about how some wild animal had ripped up the grill cover and he confessed that he was the one who ripped it when it opened it up. And to think I was blaming a poor little animal. LOL.

I just took Millenni outside to pee and discovered that something had been into our charcoal grill and ripped up the cover. We cooked on it Sunday night and apparently some animal smelled something it wanted more of. We just bought the grill over the weekend and that is a brand new cover. It wasn't terribly expensive or anything but still, I'd like for it to last longer than a few days.

Swinging

When we returned home late Saturday afternoon, the park manager came by to ask if we would like to have a swing for our lot. One of the other RVers moved to another site in the park and left behind this swing that he no longer wanted and asked the park manager to find a new home for it. We were thrilled to get it and have moved things around a bit on our lot to make the perfect spot for it. We now enjoy swinging with a view of the lake. We moved the picnic table from that spot to the area we had planned to make into a grassy area. I think we will leave it in wood chips now that the picnic table is there.

Spring Blossoms

Took a few pictures of pretty signs of spring today. I was hoping to get some pictures of the peach orchards in full bloom but it didn't work out today. Perhaps I will get some made before they are gone. Until then, enjoy these.

Andy and Opie

Come on and admit it... I bet you have been whistling the theme song from the Andy Griffith Show ever since I told you we had visited Mayberry. I guess no visit to Mt. Airy is complete until you stop by and have your picture taken with Andy and Opie on their way to the fishing hole. We didn't get to see all the Mayberry spots while in Mt. Airy so I guess we'll have to make another trip there in the future. We only made it to Opie's Candy Store, Floyd's Barber Shop, Barney's Cafe and by the statues of Andy and Opie in front of the Andy Griffith Theatre. There is still much to see. Hope you enjoyed a little step back in time to a slower paced life.

Linda and Millenni join Andy and Opie on the way to the fishing hole

Whistling while they walk... David and Millenni along with Andy and Opie

Barney's Cafe

We talked about eating lunch at Snappy's located next door to Floyd's Barber Shop but while David was getting his hair cut a tour bus dropped off a load of tourists and they all headed there for lunch. The place was packed so we opted to find another place to eat. Barney's Cafe fit the bill and we enjoyed a nice little lunch there. While eating in walked "Otis" the town drunk from Mayberry! He had a jar of moonshine in his hand and asked the patrons if "Barney" had been by then told us if we saw him not to let him know that he had dropped by. I expected to see more of the characters out and about but Otis was the only one we saw. We have seen "Andy" and "Barney" before at a festival. We did see one of the old squad cars parked on the street.

Barney's Cafe, a local greasy spoon restaurant where we enjoyed lunch.

Mayberry

Well the part of Virginia we were in was incredibly boring. Nothing there, nothing to do. There is a small college located in the town where we were staying but even they were on Spring Break so the town was completely dead. It was a beautiful area though and I am glad that I went but I doubt I will go back there again. So yesterday we drove home and we decided to make a stop in Mt. Airy, NC... the real life Mayberry! It was great. The town was actually larger than I thought it would be. We spent 3 or 4 hours there walking around and enjoying it. David even got a haircut at Floyd's Barber Shop! The barber there was a delightful 84 year old man named Russell. He said he had been cutting hair there for 61 years and planned to work another 20 years then would take a year off then come back part time. He was funny and adorable. Below are a couple of photos. Notice all the photos of past customers, many of them famous people who drop by. Oh, I almost forgot... when we walked into the barber shop David asked if they accepted debit cards. We almost never carry cash and everywhere to go takes debit cards but not in Mayberry... we found most places we wanted to go there didn't. So David told him we'd have to find a bank to get some cash and would come back. Russell told him to have a seat and he'd cut his hair (the price was only $8) and he could come back and pay later. Can you believe that??? So David got his haircut. It took forever because of course Mayberry is a laid back, slow paced sort of place you know. But once he was finished he had a fantastic haircut, we finally found a bank and got some cash then paid Russell. More on our trip to Mayberry tomorrow.

Russell AKA "Floyd" gives David a nice haircut, notice all the pictures on the walls

David is not too sure about the straight razor... Russell told me he could give him a total makeover! LOL

Virginia

David and I are in Virginia. We made the drive up on Sunday afternoon and arrived in Christiansburg. Once we crossed over the state line the terrain changed and we drove thru beautiful rolling hills with rustic barns and old farm houses. The Appalachian Mountains are just to the west of us and provide a scenic background. Tonight we went out to eat at the Farmhouse Restaurant. We had been told that everyone coming to Christiansburg had to give it a try so we did. It was nice. It is an old farm house made into a restaurant that serves fine food. Glad we went. This is a pretty remote area so not a lot of things to do. Roanoke is about 30 miles away. Kathy, I am not sure how far away you are but I think it is still quite a drive or I would come visit you while we are here. David has business all week but I am trying to get out and see some things while here.

A New Yard

When I returned home from my trip I found a new yard. While I was away David and some of our neighbors were busy. We are currently staying in an RV park on a lake and have a nice little lot but it lacked any personality. Now we have some flower gardens, flowers, flag stone and even an area that will eventually be grass. Below are a few photos of the new yard. I didn't get any photos of the entrance but they also put flag stone and pea gravel at the entrance to the porch and all around the area behind the RV where we have our chimenea and grill. What a nice improvement.

our neighbor built this little garden area for me and planted bulbs that are coming up

flag stone and a picnic table have been added along with flowers and mulch, that brown area of mulch will soon be a grassy area

another view showing how the RV is parked in relation to the new yard

Car Wash Surprise

On the day before I was leaving Austin to return home Jamie took the afternoon off work and we had some errands to run. She had been wanting to get her car washed so that was one of our stops. We had her dog, Bella, with us. She found the car wash she wanted to use and I took Bella to wait out front while Jamie went inside to pay. The car wash had several benches set up outside under a tarp and a large stone area surrounding some pretty live oak trees. The benches were full of people waiting for their cars and several were sitting on the stone wall around the trees. I decided to take a seat on the stone wall. I had only been there a second or two when ... SPLAT!... bird poop on my left forearm. It was all white and thin and runny but it was bird poop! I didn't know what to do, there was nothing around for me to wipe it on so I used Bella's back. She is white and it didn't show up on her. One swipe across her back and I was clean and poor Bella didn't seem to mind. I decided that wasn't a safe place to sit afterall so I moved. I didn't notice anyone else being hit but the tree had lots of birds in it so I wasn't taking any more chances. It was quite funny and I believe it was the first time I have been hit.