Snack Time

This little squirrel climbed way out to the end of a limb and feasted for about an hour. This is another "thru the window" photo and the tree is right in front of where I normally sit while on the computer. The cat sure enjoyed watching the squirrel too!

New Addition

We have rented a second site here at the RV park, the one directly beside us, and will be using it to park our vehicles and also for a storage building. The guys arrived at 11:30 this morning to start building. I took photos of the progress throughout the day. It was quite interesting to watch them build it. By 4:30 they were done. Below are the photos of the process and the final product. We will be painting it and I’ll post a photo again once that has been done.

the empty lot

the foundation

the floor

first wall goes up

2 walls and the doors

roof studs are added

work continues on the roof

windows are cut

shingles go on

finished!

Out of Gas

The gas shortage continues here in this area. I don't understand it. According to the national news this is only a problem in the southeast, primarily North Carolina and South Carolina. The rest of the country has gas but here it is very difficult to find and if you do you better be prepared to wait in a line and be limited to the amount you can purchase. On Sunday we were taking Hannah home and the tank was on empty. First gas station we came to was out of gas, so was the second one. We had to keep driving, holding our breath and hoping to find one with gas. We had to drive out of our way to locate one and there was a limit of only 10 gallons. When we arrived in NC we discovered a lot of stations there were also out of gas. Plastic bags cover pump handles everywhere it seems. All of this is being blamed on hurricane Ike, you know, the one that passed thru a few weeks ago. We hear on the news that our gas comes from a refinery in Texas and they can't get the gas to us here. WHAT??? How are they getting it to the rest of the country? And... when we can find gas now the price is higher than it is in NC, something unheard of! It has always been a lot cheaper here. I think there is more going on than we are being told.

Annie

Each year David's company buys out a night at a local theatre showing a children's musical. Last year we took Hannah to see Beauty and the Beast. This year the show was Annie. Hannah got all dressed up in a new dress and shoes and we went out to dinner then the show. The play was fantastic. Hannah was not familiar with little orphan Annie so this was an entirely new show for her to see. She absolutely loved it! Her favorite was Sandy! After the show the cast came out for a meet and greet and Hannah got to meet some of the characters and of course Sandy!

all dressed up in a new dress and shoes

what a beautiful girl!

standing next to the sign at the theatre

Hannah and Annie

Hannah and her favorite character, Sandy, played by a labordoodle named Austin

Canoe Trip

David had plans to take Hannah on a canoe trip on the lake while she was here. He rented a canoe and I packed them a picnic lunch and they spent several hours out on the lake and actually rowed about 6 miles. Hannah really enjoyed the special time with Grandpa.

Web Cam Call

Grand daughter Hannah was with us for the weekend and we started it off on Friday night with a web call to Jamie. It was the first time Hannah had used a web cam. It was a lot of fun. Jamie put the camera on her dog, Bella, so Hannah could see her too. I think Hannah really enjoyed talking via the web cam. On Sunday we talked to Jamie again and also Jordan and Elizabeth so Hannah got to see them all and they got to see her too.

Hannah talking to Jamie using the web cam

Butterfly Courting

Yesterday I had been out running errands and upon returning home I noticed two butterflies in the driveway. The larger one I assume was the male and his wings were fluttering so fast as he kept trying his best to approach the smaller female. She kept her wings up high and avoided his aggression. They danced all over the driveway and I grabbed my camera and snapped away.

Sleeping Babes

They so rarely have anything to do with one another so when I saw Millenni and Oreo both napping on the sofa one day this week I quickly grabbed the camera and took a photo. Actually Oreo jumped up there earlier in the day and made herself comfortable on the afghan. Millenni was not too happy with that so she spent most of the day napping on the floor. She normally likes to cuddle up on the afghan. I guess Millenni finally had enough of the hard floor so she finally jumped up on the sofa and tried to snuggle up on the far end of the afghan. Aren't they sweet?

Baby Hummers

Yesterday I went outside and took even more photos of the hummingbirds. The quality is so much better when I am not shooting thru the glass window. Below are some baby hummingbirds that were so cute I just had to share them with you.

Hummingbird Zone

Our hummingbird feeder has been busy lately. They are so territorial and it is hard to see more than one at a time at the feeder. While one is feeding there are others buzzing around trying to get it to move. I did manage to get a couple of photos with 2 birds at the feeder. It was raining yesterday morning and I took all of the photos through the kitchen window so the quality is not the best and in the first one here you can see the raindrops. They sure are fun to watch!

A Gray Day

Geez it is cold here today. It is 30 degrees cooler than it normally is and I even had to put on long pants this morning. The sky is dark and it is windy and we've had bands of rain on and off with thunder rumbling in the distance. I think this is what is left of hurricane Ike reaching this area. I've been watching the little hummingbirds fight for their spot at the feeder. They are so territorial and will chase each other away so they can have the feeder all to themself. I'm missing the warm temps already. David says he is ready for Fall but he starts saying that in May and continues to say it all summer long. I love the hot weather myself.

Muscadine Time

There are certain things, such as taste or scent, that take me back to my childhood. One in particular... muscadines! My grandparents had muscadines growing in their yard when I was a young girl and I loved the smell and taste. I recently discovered that we have muscadines growing right here at the RV park, bordering our site! A couple of the neighbors have been eating them so now mostly just those high up in the trees remain. I did manage to get a couple of hands full over the weekend and oh man, did I ever enjoy the sweet taste and the nostalgic trip back in time. Here are some interesting facts I discovered regarding muscadines. I didn't realize they are native only to the southeastern US although they do grow in other areas now. Muscadines are a grapevine species native to the present-day southeastern US that has been extensively cultivated since the 16th Century. Its recognized range in the United States extends from New York south to Florida, and west to Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. They are well adapted to their native warm and humid climate; they need fewer chilling hours than better known varieties and they thrive on summer heat. The muscadine berries range from bronze to dark purple to black in color when ripe. They have skin sufficiently tough that eating the raw fruit often involves biting a small hole in the skin to suck out the pulp inside. Muscadines are not only eaten fresh, but also are used in making wine, juice, and jelly. Muscadine grapes are rich sources of polyphenols and other nutrients studied for their potential health benefits. Reports have indicated that muscadine grapes may contain high concentrations of resveratrol — a polyphenol with reported beneficial health effects. So who knew... they not only taste delicious and smell heavenly but they are good for you too! Most of the vines I have seen over the years grow high up into trees. The hulls are very tough, sometimes I eat them and other times I spit them out after getting the good stuff from the inside out. I bet all the healthy part is in the hull. If you have never tried muscadines I highly recommend you do!

very black and oh so good!

a single muscadine clings to the vine, looks like it is in eclipse as the sun is hitting only part of it

Gas Price Jump

update: We did not make the trip to the coast. With the huge increase in gas prices here and the fact that a lot of stations no longer have any gas to sell we felt it was best to put this trip off for now. Hopefully gas prices will stabilize soon and will once again be available so we can go.

OUCH!!! I went to one of our local grocery stores a little while ago to pick up a few items and noticed as I pulled in the price for gas said $3.89 but as I walked into the door the red sign already moved up to $3.99. I was only inside for maybe 15 minutes and when I got back outside the price was $4.60. Good Grief! Gas there just 24 hours ago was $3.33. What a difference a day (minute) makes! And this is South Carolina folks, where the gas is much cheaper than most of the country. This price increase is being blamed on the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and the oil platforms being closed down. We keep hearing on the local news that many of the gas stations here have closed because they have no gas at all. Those that do are increasing their prices. There will be no delieveries until sometime next week, after Hurricane Ike has passed and the oil platforms are back at work. We had planned a trip to the NC coast to visit Jordan and Elizabeth this weekend but we are now rethinking our plans.

An Unexpected Gift

I got an unexpected gift earlier this week. Our neighbor, Robert, gave me one of his bird baths. He got a new one and no longer needed this one. I was thrilled to get it. It is very similar to the one we had for years but sold in our estate sale when we left Texas a couple of years ago. I sure have missed it. I decided to put one of my glass balls in the bowl to decorate it up somewhat. I have not seen any birds use it yet but I am sure they will. The bird feeders and bird houses are nearby and we have plenty of birds. I have often seen birds trying to bathe in my fountain so now they have a proper place for water and bathing. Thanks Robert!

Dinosaur

Earlier this week David and I were out driving around one evening and passed by something that caught my eye... a big dinosaur walking out into the road. Well, sort of! It is actually kudzu growing up a pole but the shape reminded me of a dinosaur. I happened to have my camera with me so we turned around so I could take this picture. Pretty cool, huh?

Web Cam

Sorry for being so slack lately. Busy, busy and no time for blogging it seems. We purchased a web cam over the weekend. We recently discovered Skype and found it was more fun to use when you have a web cam. Anyway the first one we bought we knew nothing about so bought it blindly. It was around $30 but was poor quality. Jordan and Elizabeth have one and use Skype too so asked what brand web cam they have since their video shows up nice and clear. Today I went out and bought the same brand although I think it is a different model than what they have. Anyway, the video clarity is so much better so we are happy with this one and it was $48. So now we are all set up for that. If you don't know what Skype is then check it out. It is a free internet phone service to anywhere in the world. Well it is free if you are calling another Skype user. If they are not a Skype user then you pay a small fee... much less than cell phone or land line phone service. It's all done via your computer and the sound quality is so much better than that of a cell phone. Last night we had a nice conversation with Jordan and Elizabeth. They were in their kitchen and we could see them while we talked. David and I were at our desk and they could see us too. Very cool! We even let Millenni and Sasha see each other. Sasha wasn't too impressed but Millenni saw Sasha and gave the monitor a good stare for a long time, it was precious! Sasha on the other hand was too busy trying to get out of Jordan's lap to notice Millenni on the monitor. Think we are going to enjoy this. David parents also have Skype but no microphone so they will need to get one before we can actually talk to them. Jamie also has it. Wish Joey and Anita had it too but they don't even have internet service. Debbie, you guys need it so you can talk to Lindsey all you want. So that's that! I will try to think of something more interesting to blog about soon. I have a couple of things rolling around in my head but have just been too busy to write about them yet. I will... I promise!

Cat Clown

My sister sent me a photo she took of her cat recently and it brought to mind this photo I am sharing with you today. I don't know where I got this picture, someone probably sent it to me in a forwarded email but I thought it was funny so I saved it and told Debbie I would share it with her. Instead of just sending it to her I thought I would share it with everyone reading my blog so you can all have a good laugh. Isn't this just the funniest thing? This cat is nothing like mine for sure. First I would have to catch my cat, and then she would eat me up if I tried painting her like this. Hey Debbie, why don't you try painting Nellie to look like this???

Kitty Cat Time

Our neighbor, Robert, has two little kitties, Stripe and Mischief. On Labor Day while we were having a cookout here on our site the kitties came over and made themselves at home. They were so cute. Below are a few photos of them.

Stripe loved playing with my water fountain

Mischief watching Stripe climb the tree, they both had fun playing in my flower garden

after all the playing they were worn out and took a nap all hugged up in a chair on the porch

awwww.... sisterly love as they napped

Labor Day Cookout

We had a little neighborhood cookout here at the RV park yesterday. What started out as only 4 people ended up growing and growing until we had a crowd. We had a good time. Below is a photo of some of the group as we ere getting ready to eat.