A Tough Week

Following the wedding weekend, we enjoyed having my cousin and his wife with us for Thanksgiving week.  Though he grew up in Baton Rouge, and I was the “country cousin”, we have always been more like brothers than cousins.  We drank that first beer, and smoked that first cigarette, together.  That, along with all the other things boys in the late fifties/early sixties, could get into.  There were a lot of “remember when” stories throughout the week.

Shortly after their departure last Friday morning, Wanda said she was tired and going to lay down for a short time.  Little did we know that she had the beginning of the Flu.  We have gotten the flu shot every year for the past 15-20 years.  This year was no different, and we had ours the first of October.  It made little difference.  She has been pretty much bed-ridden since Monday.  A trip to the doctor got her the usual meds, but not much relief from the symptoms.  Hopefully, she will begin a recovery within the next day or so.

As for me, I’m trying to be the best nurse, housekeeper, grocery shopper, etc; that I can.

After all my chores were done for today, I went for a short walk down our lane.  Our neighbor has one of the last little patches of hardwood timber in our area.  Most all other  areas of hardwoods have been cut, poisoned, or just chopped up, to make more room for growing pine trees. So sad.

It was a beautiful afternoon.  November 30th; and most of the trees still have their leaves.

That was one of the things my cousin and I talked about.  When we were kids, there was hardly a leaf on a tree by Thanksgiving Day. We would chase squirrels and rabbits with a feist dog, running through the woods on frozen feet encased in wet tennis shoes. We never had a problem spotting that treed squirrel way up in the top of a hickory tree.  I don’t know the reason, or the cure, for global warming.  But I’m confinced it’s real.

                      

Despite the sickness this week, there’s a lot of planning going on for our 2018 travels.  January and February is mostly done.  A big fiberglass rally in March, then home for a couple of months.  Then, maybe, the trip of a lifetime.  We’ll see.

That’s enough ramblings for now.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Just keeping my fingers crossed that I dodge the flu……jc

Another Milestone

Those of you that have followed this blog the past few years know we have only one grandchild.  We have been awefully proud of her many accomplishments though the years.  A few pics from the past.

First there was the little t-ball player, and on through the years.  All the way to playing college ball on a full scholarship.

    

It wasn’t all softball, though.  She could be Nana’s best kitchen assistant,

              

a living doll,

                          

or a true Southern Belle.

She was an artist, doing a self portrait as an art project in school.

She was a Homecoming Queen in high school, and an honor graduate from college.

                         

This past weekend was another milestone in her life.  The expression on her dad’s face says it all.

His (our) baby girl was getting married.

                      

It was a wonderful weekend.  She was a beautiful bride, getting married to a outstanding young man.

I think the expression on her face tells it all.

           

Another milestone in her life.  May this milestone last a lifetime…..jc

Just a short Catch-up

The last time I posted we were spending a day or two on the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway.  We were on our way East to Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA.  It was a relaxing trip with few pictures taken. 

On the way we stopped in Plains, GA to visit a Presidential museum.  Do you remember him?

               

We made our way on to Charleston, checked into a RV park, and went in search of something we hadn’t had in 46 years.  The last time being when we lived in the Charleston area while I was in the Navy.

                      

She Crab Soup.  A Charleston/Low Country tradition.  No, I don’t know the difference between she crab and he crab.

                       

We spent four days in the Charleston area, looking for old haunts, trying to find our old home location, visiting the weapons station where I was stationed.  To say things had changed would be an awesome understatement.  Charleston was once a military town, but it’s now all about tourism.  And, they have capitalized it to the max.  We had a wonderful time, there.

From Charleston, we moved down the coast a hundred miles or so to Savannah, GA.  We were meeting a few friends at Skidaway Island state park which was located just a few miles from downtown.  We toured the town which was beautiful, but seemed we spent most of our time eating.  While on the riverfront, Yelp, the restaurant finding app, said there were 102 restaurants within one half mile of where we were standing.  Hard to imagine, but all one had to do was look around. Restaurants, everywhere.  Many even catered to pets dining underneath the tables, while their owners dined above.

                      

We stood in line beginning at 10 AM, to get into Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House when it opened at !!.  Four meats, and twenty two bowls of side dish’s on every table.  Quite the experience.

                       

I found some interesting brews in the corner pubs.

                        

We cooked up our customary pancake breakfast for the friends at the campground.

  

And, I had to try a Low Country Boil.

It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great.  If these folks ever discover Zataran’s and Tony Chachere’s, there world will be changed for the better.

That’s it.  All cell phone phone pictures.  I’m getting lazy….jc