got cranes?

We do! Naomi sent this to us for Christmas this year. It's 1,200 paper cranes. Tradition is 1,000 but I guess she figured we needed the extra 200 prayers & love. The information on the 1000 cranes check out this site.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_origami_cranes







She used the colors in our living room, plus of course some Naomi blue. Now I just need to find the perfect place. I'm probably gonna hang it from one of the overhead beams. We'll see.


Thanks Naomi, we love you too.

Christmas 2010

Most of you that see this know the Wiles and Gordons. They joined us Christmas day for food, drink and games. Eric, Grace & myself went outside to play in the snow after lunch and of course a snow ball fight broke out. I saw Aletha sitting on the couch when I looked in the window, opened the door with snowball in hand and asked "do you think I will?" she said no. Within minuets she had her coat on and out the door she came ready to retaliate and joined in the snowball fight. It was a good day hanging out with loved ones.

Merry Christmas

Clean laundry?

So much for clean laundry. At least his hair is mostly white so it's not so noticeable.

Thanks Oliver.

Did you know?

I was watching Dr Oz last week and did you know that the average person poops 184 lbs a year! He compared this to the weight of the average man. I don't know what you will do with this information but I thought it my obligation to let you know.

what's on your list?

You know that we don't do Christmas like decorate a tree or put out decorations in the house or the yard. We don't buy presents, go caroling or kiss under mistletoe. I do like watching some of the Christmas specials and movies this time of year though, and while watching one of the specials, ( I don't even recall which one it was) I leaned over and asked TJ.............what do you want for Christmas? He didn't give me an answer that night, but in the morning his response was;

World peace.

First snow

today we had our first snow of the season and we headed up to mom and dad's place on the new river so tj could go shoot some of his weapon's..........this makes for a happy husband. it was the really wet snow that fell which made cold toes & fingers, but still a good day. it was short for firing time, but the drive was beautiful.

How to end the holiday weekend

Most people end their holiday weekend saying good-bye to guest, eating the last piece of cakes and pies, putting away the "good" dishes or even cleaning up the guest room. Hill style? Tearing out the bottom of the kitchen cabinet under the sink because of a leaky pipe. I'm just happy nothing gross moved into the dark moist area.

Holiday Weekend

Over the Thanksgiving, 4 day weekend we had planned to go to Emerald Isle but my back didn't allow it this weekend. Disappointed yes, but the weekend was still great. We went out for our traditional Chinese meal but the good places were closed so this year it was Mexican. Once we finished lunch we headed back to the house and played games with Mark and Brenda. We ate some sweets, drank some wine and had a good day. Friday am we headed to Dicks around 5:30ish so TJ could purchase a Ruger 10/22, then to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and finished our shopping at Tractor Supply. Now tell me that's not a southern day after Thanksgiving day day. Came home, napped, ate fresh fruits and veggies to help resort the body, watched some TV and called it a day. Saturday was our gitterdone day, and if we're home, the evening is spent with Mark and Brenda with a shared meal and games. Who needs white sandy beaches and breath taking sunrises. Sometimes I do, but not this weekend. I'm very thankful for my husband who puts up with all my crap and my close friends who do the same.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

misprint

This past Friday I was freakin' out at home because when I looked at the calendar I saw that Friday was the 4th and for the past week at work I've been dating things the 5th. It never occurred to me that the calendar was off. This explains why the dates were messed up on the last camping trip and we had to pay for an x-tra day. No more "free" calendars for me.

Ready to go

There's still some welding and touch up painting that needs to be done, but working late nights and weather has put a slight pause to this but at this point it's usable. I just wonder what Libby, the mail carrier thinks. And yes the box is 1/2" diamond plate steel and flag is 1/8" diamond plate steel. My man doesn't mess around.






<~~This is BEAWESOME!!

brings a smile to TJ's face

Installation of the new mail box

<~~post filled with 20# of Quikrete, waiting for this to set before lowering into the hole

<~~inspecting rigging to remove old broken off concrete (see youtube)

<~~TADA, the rebuilt post held up with 620# of quikrete. Waiting for this to set, so the 130# mailbox can be welded to the post. Hit this one!

Franklin NC

We headed back up to Franklin NC this weekend with Mark and Brenda for their Pumpkin Festival expecting to find a large variety of pumpkin things to eat. Nope. The only pumpkin thing we had was a pumpkin bread/cake thing at Rathskellers, the coffee/pub place we like. We walked the town, took a nap, headed to the falls, walked the green way, searched for treasures at the Whistle Stop http://www.whistlestopmall.com/ and ate foods we loved and things not so much loved. It was a great weekend and the work of HIS hands kept me in a state of awesomeness most of the weekend. It was a real treat for TJ to not have to drive the entire weekend. Thanks Mark for giving TJ the chance to sit back and relax.

<~~at Dry Falls

<~~headed to Dry Falls

<~~at the Whistle Stop antique mall

Camping @ Crosswinds

We left the house on Wed heading to Crosswinds campground at Jordan Lake S.P. It was quiet, that was until Friday when the families with the screaming children showed up. But otherwise it was quiet, that is until the planes from the Raleigh/Durham airport traveled the flight plan that was over the campground. But otherwise it was quiet.

We had a nice looooong weekend to sit, eat, bike, hike, did I say eat, and watch a campfire. We headed into Apex to check out the local coffee shop and then headed down to the bakery. This place is AWESOME!!

We....I mean I played with toads, snakes, and one anole. We watched herons, ospreys, hawks and one deer. And just enjoyed the time away from work and us together. I think we'll be back to Crosswinds campground, but next time it will be spring/early summer.

<~~found a rough green snake while hiking a path

<~~site C53

<~~he's my Awesome!!

<~~sunset @ Jordan Lake

hard day

I didn't realize it was such hard work to have a yard sale. Get up early, display things, then sit around for 4 hours or so to hang out and talk with neighbors while drinking coffee and eating doughnuts, and muffin tops. Hard work!! We didn't have many folks show up or make much money (Goodwill made out though), but it was good fellowship with Betty & Pat. TJ also hung out with us as our security guard (his reason to eat doughnuts).



Maggie and Oliver as my feline comforter.

Meant to be........

In 2003 my neighbor Betty was camping with her family in the Mountains of NC and stopped into a place that sold handmade wood items like this cool hornbeam "ironwood" cup.

Well this weekend we're gonna have a yard sale and when I was over at Betty's I saw the wooden cup and told her I thought that was really cool, but the rule is that we don't go home with each others stuff since we're purging our homes of stuff.

Back in 2003 this was going to be our Christmas present. Betty thought that maybe we would relate this to the Holy Grail (Indiana Jones had a simple wooden one), but then her Mom said that we might think this blasphemy since we were really "religious" people. So Betty kept this, didn't like it at all, but just kinda tucked it away here and there. At one point it was in her living room (I never noticed) but then once she got to know me, thought she couldn't give it to me now, I might think that she was just giving me some of her old used stuff. (I like used stuff).

We both laughed about it and now I have a candy dish that is really cool. It was mine all along. I just didn't know it. In this home we call that a Godincident.

Pine or Gray?

I'm not sure which one this is? Colored like a Pine, but they are not listed for this area, more so on the East side of the state. The Gray is here but it's not colored like a gray. Such a delema in my life. I'm just happy that TJ pointed this little guy out to me when we came home

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.......

Nothing like waking up on a Sunday morning and finding out that your mailbox had been violated......again. But we do have satisfaction that it tore up the vehicle that hit it. Is that wrong? Do you know how many times we had to replace this because folks have nothing better to do than mess with mailboxes in the neighborhood! We're sick of this. OK, I'm done. We found the vehicle down at the apt complex, came home, called the Popo and waited with Betty. You could see where they came around the corned to fast and took the boxes out. Our box was put in the ground with 200# of concrete and the construction of the post is/was 1/4" steel tube with 1/2" rebar underground. TJ is going to make a new one out of diamond steel plate.

<~~this is the front of the Ford, TJ is also thinking there might be some tie rod damage.........oh darn.

Naomi

Naomi had a problem with her e-mail and lost her address book.
Here's her e-mail that she can be reached at.

naomi10toeda@gmail.com

much needed

Ever feel like a caged animal pacing back and forth? Feeling like if anything or anyone gets close enough you'll pounce and tear into it/them like a vampire at a blood drive? That's pretty much how I was feeling, so on Friday I headed up to Stone Mt S.P. by myself for a weekend to unwind, and unwind I did. TJ's been putting in lots of time at work so when he gets home at night he's pretty much done for the day. He's also been working weekends so going anywhere for fun isn't really what he wants to do 'cause he's just plain wore out. I'm not complaining about TJ having a good job, don't get me wrong. But I've always said I'd rather have TJ than more $$. I came home Sunday a.m. and then we headed up to Mom and Dads place on the New River in VA so TJ could shoot his guns and just hang out with the folks. It was a great weekend for all.

<~~my site which had open canopy for star gazing which was amazing

<~~early evening the deer gathered here for dinner

<~~pathway to serenity

Nice surprise

I don't see a lot of Monarch butterflies in the area but when I do I think of home in Wisconsin. They are everywhere back home, land of cheese, beer and milkweed (Monarch favorite plant). So much to my surprise while going through the different plant areas in the yard I found this on the butterfly weed. I guess this is the 4th generation that will migrate to warmer climates this fall.

http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/#Life-Cycle

Lazy 5 Ranch revisited

This past holiday weekend we didn't do much on Sat or Sun, but on Mon I was ready to get out and so something. TJ didn't want to take the kayaks out and I really didn't want to go hiking so my idea was to head over to the Lazy 5 Ranch. The last time we did this was Sept 2006 with Naomi, Mark & Brenda and we took the wagon ride tour. But this time, TJ & I took the jeep with just the bikini top. Please excuse the language at the end, I don't know how to edit sound, but I thought this was good.

Awesomeness

<~~getting ready




<~~pumping body fluid to wings










<~~moments before 1st flight






I've never seen a brand new butterfly, new paint job, not a scratch on it. I wanted to touch it and Betty wanted to smell it. She loves to smell things, don't ask, I don't know why, she just does and that's Betty. There are still 2 others to hatch and I hope to get some video. And this is a male black swallowtail.

Summer humdrums

It's to stinkin' hot to go camping, hiking, kayaking or anything else that has to do with outside. So besides watching the TV show Lost, which I got sucked into on the first episode of season one while checking Netflix instant watch list. I've been watching the butterflies in the yard. My favorites are the Swallowtails since we don't have Monarch's here. This is what I've observed.

<~~When you touch their butt, or any other part, they have two horns that come out and they smell like oranges. Yes, I smelled the bugs horns.

<~~In one day the chrysalis was made.

I'll let ya know what comes out in about 9-11 days.

Fake

Just goes to show what a great metal artist my brother-in-law is. This dragon fly doesn't know the difference between a rusty metal cattail and a real one!! Silly dragon fly.

Butterflies & Peanutbutter bush

Heat & humidity down

Friday was a wonderful day for watching the butterflies. The heat & humidity was down and I think even they enjoyed the day much more.

<~~Side by side the older weathered butterfly with the fresh younger one. There are several hatchings here in the south. I guess there are a few good things about living in the hot climates.

In the heat of the day..........

This past weekend we (Mark,Brenda,TJ,Gail) spent all day Saturday in Burlington for the 2010 Wesleyan State Softball Tournament. It was 97 degrees, sunny, don't know what the heat index was but I would say about 10 degrees cooler than hell. It was stinkin' hot!! The team played at 10 am (won), noon (won), 2 pm (won), and 4 pm (lost). Some of the younger guys ended up playing 6/7 games that day because one team was short so CWC helped fill the team so they could participate. By the 4th(6th) game our guys were exhausted and could have won that last game if they hadn't "loaned" out some of the guys. Oh well, they took 2nd place and mostly had a good time. No one was injured so I would say it was a successful tournament.

Temptation

The smell of peppered turkey breast in the a.m. & of course he got some!

Weekend event

This past weekend we attended Chris and Jessica Jones wedding. Don’t you love the sound of that, Jessica Jones (she won’t let me call her JJ)? Like Peter Parker or Doctor Doom or Pepper Potts. Hey, maybe Stan Lee can use that name for a new character. Jessica Jones, woman of action!! (For those who saw the writing on the vehicle). Any way, the wedding, it was beautiful!! Very simple but sooooo elegant. For us it was a Chris & Jessica celebration, but also a Salem Chapel / JLE / Uwharrie trip reunion and wish we could have spent more time with them. Of course I didn’t take any pictures. I was busy talking to people and eating cake. Which was very yummy. But I wish I would have taken some pictures, I miss you guys, and I miss the TV nites, trips on the trails and camping with you.

Godspeed to all of you.

The moth

This unusual moth was hangin’ out on the side of the house. Yup, that boarded, nothing to do but take pics of bugs. When it’s this stinkin’ hot what can you do?? I hate summer time in the south. Ok, I’m done fussin’……………………………for now.

day of rest

What else is there to do when it's 92 degrees
outside and the lawn is already cut.

Franklin NC

We spent the weekend in Franklin NC for the 14th Annual Taste of Scotland festival. We stayed at the Heritage Inn and rented an efficiency apartment which was perfect. It was within walking distance to just about everything we needed or wanted. It was a hot weekend, but a nice one. We checked out the festival, ate some soft pretzels and had some drinks at Rathskellar Coffee Haus. Walked around town, checked out 3 of the water falls in the area and finished Saturday nite at Rathskellar with some more pretzels, whiskey cake, beer and a game of Rummy while listening to Honey Pie http://www.youtube.com/user/honeypiemusic

Dry Falls where you can walk behind the water and take in the mist.

Ancient Celtic wear vs. modern. I'll take the modern and the drop dead sexy man in it.

New friend

This is our new friend and I'm inches away from her. Apparently marshmallows are not in her diet, but peanuts and almonds are. We feed anything that comes in the yard and I love to watch the squirrels play. This one never seemed afraid of us so I took advantage of this.

What is this?

Is this a wood boring bee? It didn't make this hole, it was already there on the fence post, it just seems to be filing it with something. I've seen others but they look like giant bumble bees. Not sure what this one is, any help identifying would be nice.