Family Time

We had a small family supper tonight. Cheryl's brothers John and Robert were here, Jason and Erika were here and Cheryl and me.
















Here are pictures of Jason playing in the floor, one has John looking on. He loves to eat and to play and is starting to talk now. He says the same word for Daisy and Lacey, two of the dogs. He learned to say yes tonight when he was asked if he enjoyed Grandpa's mashed potatoes. He is a meat and potato and pea and bean kind of guy. We had a pork loin roast, green butter beans and zipper peas mixed, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and gravy. Dessert was blueberry crisp that I made with fresh blueberries from our bushes in the yard. It had ice cream on top and was delicious. Jason loves ice cream, too. If Erika didn't feed him fast enough he reached for her arm and tried to rush her up.

Busy Saturday

Today was a busy Saturday for us. We got up and did our running around. We finished our running after lunch at Docia Farms picking tomatoes. The vines had been picked for market up until now and though they are about too far gone for market tomatoes they were still loaded with some pretty tomatoes. We got a five gallon bucket in less than ten minutes. We came home staked tomatoes here and picked blueberries and then went to Erika's and let the dogs out. We cam back and got cleaned up to go to a wedding. Keith Belk is a really nice young man and a really good AC man. His father Wesley drove Brad and Erika from the Church to the reception in his restored 55 Chevy when they got married. We came back home and relaxed a bit on our patio as we studied our Sunday School lesson and now it is time to clean up again to go to bed. This will make three showers today for me.

Vacation

I am taking a vacation this week at the lake.

I will get everything cleaned up and ready, take the boat out, may fix some stump markers so i can come in after dark with my docking lights, and so forth. I plan a big hurrah the weekend of the 4th starting with a day on the lake, good food, fireworks and more fireworks. I don't have a clue who will be there and It may just be Cheryl and me but we will have fun.

I bought more flowering plants to take so it will be nice to have a week to water them to get the root system partially established.

I hope you all have a happy 4th of July.

Concerned Over my Mother

Last Sunday morning I had breakfast with my Mom and Dad before I left the Grand Hotel to continue my journey. At breakfast Daddy asked Momma if they had told me that Dick had died (Dick is one of Daddy's cousins by marriage)? We had that discussion and then finished breakfast and went up to my room to get my luggage. Mama asked me if they had told me that Dick died? I assured her that we had just had that discussion at breakfast. When we got to my car and were hugging goodbye Daddy told me that Mama appeared to be in the early stages of Alzheimer's. I had seen some of that the previous visit with them. Also, Sarah had mentioned it as well after their visit there at Christmas. I called Henry and asked him to talk to them and try to get her checked out so that if she is in the early stages they can start her on treatment. He said he hadn't really noticed but would go talk to them and try to get her to go get herself checked out. It is hard watching your parents age like this. I am also concerned that if their house is still as it was and not with Daddy on it as Joint Tenant with Right of Survivorship there could be real problems if something happens to Mama first in that event.

Home at Last

There is a verse in song that says, "be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." How true that is. After a week on the road It is sure nice to be home tonight. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. I got home to find my blueberry bushes loaded. I picked a gallon Ziploc bag full this afternoon.

Long week

This has been a long week. I have been to a meeting in Perry, a promotion in Atlanta, a meeting in Washington, the last session and graduation for our young leaders class and then finally tot he USA Peanut Congress. I am getting too old for this and am just about worn out. I am really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night. I also sure want to see my grandsons because it has been too long since I have seen them. At least I got to see Chery when I went through Tifton Sunday afternoon to unpack and repack.

Lake Time and Now Back to Work

I had a nice sabbatical at the Lake in spurts, a day off to get there and then an afternoon after the Cotton Commission meeting. Today it is back to work with a conference call and travel to Atlanta and then DC, SW Alabama, and Amelia Island, FL before I am back at home for a night next Wednesday.

I took the boat out twice and the first day there was not a pontoon boat at Ed Dorminey's house, the next day there was. Looks like Janice won that discussion.

I know it is crazy to plant stuff at the lake when you are only there a couple times a month but look at these pictures and you will understand why I like to have some plants there.

Muggy Monday

Yesterday was an emotional day for me. Brad's loss is deep for me and I will never stop missing him on this earth. He truly knew I was his father and we neither of us ever doubted that. The fact that he is in Heaven is the only reason I can get up and go on with my life every day.

Well this morning I got up and went for my walk. I was on the street at ten till five and boy was it ever muggy. You could see the haze around the street lights and the streets were wet. Still, it amazes me that there were a lot of folks that had their irrigation systems on after the rain we had yesterday. That was water and money that was just running down the gutter. If we all managed water there would be plenty for all our needs.

Well, time to finish getting ready for work.

Father's Day

Bart called me bright and early and wished me a happy Father's Day. I am not sure if anyone can understand how much my family means to me. If I can put God first, family second, work third, and everything else after that I will have a successful life.

I have been blessed with a great Father. Daddy has worked hard all his life, has battled cancer twice and beat it, he loved vacation time because we did stuff together with no distractions. Mama always said, "we are never doing this again." Thank goodness Daddy always won out because I have so many fond memories of our vacations.

I remember he hiked the Odom Scout Trail with Henry and me. We got the medals but I got a lot more from that than a medal; a hike in the mountains of the Talladega National Forest with my Daddy. Daddy just got to be tired but he never once winced. I learned a lot from my Daddy. He was not perfect but none of us are but he loved us and took care of us.

I guess if I had a time machine I would go back and do some things different in life but one thing never ceased and never will and that is the fact that I love my sons and and now their wives and children. I love my Mother and Father and siblings. I am truly blessed this Father's Day.

I now have fond memories from our family vacations when Bart and Brad were growing up. The best advice I could give to someone is to remember just a few things. They were the unwritten rules for our family. Go to Sunday School and Church on Sunday, eat Sunday Lunch out as a family, eat Sunday Dinner at home and let them bring whoever they want with a bit of advanced notice of course, and take a family vacation to someplace new and different every year.

Thanks to Daddy (and Mama because we knew she was just putting on when she said no more vacations) I got to see Washington DC, panned for gold and for rubies, went with him to Summer Camp and ate at the Cherokee Restaurant, went up in the gateway arch in St. Louis, (oh yeah he let Sarah take that dang rat Boo on one trip), we saw Monticello, Mount Vernon, you get the idea. Vacations were fun but I grew from them. God Bless our Fathers.

Man I'm Tired

For a guy that hates yard work, I worked really hard today. I pruned fifty foot row of Susanquas pretty radically with hand pruners. That took about three hours. I trimmed some more Nandinas. The trash men will love me. I edged the flower beds and driveway and curb. Mowed the grass and ran my weed eater. I blew off the driveway. I raked the straw off the roof of the house, fixed some nails that were pushing up some shingles, sawed off some pine limbs that were hanging over the roof, picked what few blueberries the birds haven't robbed from the bushes (they sure are good with peaches on my cereal I am eating now), and went to Erika's and hung blinds, except that I had to find something to use for shims on the mounting bracket for the door so I will get that one tomorrow after Church.

Our yard looks nice if I do say so myself. I hate yard work because it has no reward and has to be done over and over again. It is hard work at times. I told Cheryl if anyone ever wants to hire her yard man tell them they cannot afford him. Still, at the end of the project you can see the result of your toil for a short moment before the squirrels throw down a pine cone or the wind and rain knock down leaves and limbs. But now it is finally raining so I will not fuss about rain.

We had Jason around most of the day. He is so cute and I love the noises he makes. He laughs, when he eats he says mmmmm, he jabbers, says words that Cheryl and Erika can understand better than I, and doesn't cry too often. He even helped me with the blinds.

They also had the four dogs with them. Let's just say that at times things got pretty active.

Her blinds were a really good selection for her house. They look perfect and they are really nice blinds. They hang really easy on the inside of the windows, especially because her house has good wood surfaces around the windows.

Well I have had my cereal, studied my Sunday School lesson and now am ready to take a shower (the second today) and crash and burn.

I may try to take a day off this week because starting Thursday I will not have a day off again until the Friday of the next week. If I don't do that it will be two weeks straight. I am getting too old to handle that schedule anymore. After today I sure feel my age.

Yardwork and Jason

Ugh, more yardwork today. The pruning is the worst part. But one bright spot, Jason is coming to visit this morning and he will keep me entertained.He has this little practical joker in him already. He is so sweet.

I have to prune a long row of susanquas, edge the flower beds, driveway, and curb, and mow the grass and hope to be done before lunch. Never happen!

Tim Russert

America lost a great political analyst today.

Tim Russert had a heart attack and died at the age of 58.

Russert was NBC's Washington Bureau Chief and the moderator of Meet the Press. He was one of, if not the best political analyst in America. He was a devout Catholic, a family man of character, and a committed and dedicated professional.

Tim Russert was part of my learning what the term Generation Gap means. Once when Cheryl and I had taken Bart and Kip to Washington as part of their Christmas present we went to a nice restaurant called the Palm. While dining Kip exclaimed, "that's Matt Dillon." The Palm has caricatures on the walls of all the celebs that have dined there and immediately I start looking on the wall for Marshall Dillon. I didn't see him and asked and discovered it was an actor named Matt Dillon and he was right at the table beside us. I was all over 'who is Matt Dillon' and they told me. A few minutes later Tim Russert walked by our table and I got excited and exclaimed,"that's Tim Russert." They said who?

God got a good man in heaven today.

Yard Work

I started the day by taking Roscoe to the vet. He seems to me to be losing weight and acting lethargic. He about ate Dr. Branch and me up when Doc tried to get a stool sample to check for worms. Never got enough to check so he wormed Roscoe and gave him a B-12 shot and told me he really looked fine and maybe it was the heat.

I am not sure if anyone realizes this but I hate to do yard work. It is even worse to do the lake house because no one will ever go with me and I would love to get on the boat and ride for a bit after I finish but the boat is too hard to uncover and cover by myself.

I got my yard cut and trimmed at the lake and the new plants watered. My gladiolas should be in full bloom while I am gone next week and can't go enjoy them. I will be gone for a week straight starting Thursday of next week. I will be in Atlanta, Washington, Point Clear, AL, and Fernandina Beach, FL. Did I mention by chance that I hate to travel?

I like the 40 miles to the lake but no further. I wish I had a friend that liked to go to the lake so it was easier to take the boat out. I like a nice leisurely ride and stopping to swim. The water is so refreshing this time of the year.

On Memorial Day I was telling John about Judy Branch stepping on an arrowhead and lo and behold he stepped on one about three minutes after we got in the water at Loren Williams Park.

I got back home this afternoon and it took me two hours just to trim the Nandinas. Did I mention that I hate yard work. I got a blister from the pruners. I am getting soft in my old age.

More pruning and yard work for the whole day tomorrow.

I will take a bit of a break and help Erika hang blinds at her house. We had supper with Jason and her tonight and they are both so sweet.

I Didn't Get Lost

I haven't forgotten my way to my blog. It has just been a really busy week for me. We did committee meetings and the Board meeting to pass a final budget for the coming fiscal year which begins July 1.

Work is all I have done lately and last night I worked until 10:30 and was back at work this morning at 6:45. I was tired when I got home today.

Donald Chase who is one of my board members brought us some corn today and we put it in the freezer tonight creamed. We had 90 ears of corn and ended up with 8 full quarts of creamed corn. It yielded really well.

We had Bart, Robert, John, Inez, Cheryl and Me here to help though after it was shucked and silked it seems that most of the help left except John and he stayed until the first batch was done and then left. Inez made a spaghetti dish for supper to make sure we were fed.

Farm Boys

Bart and Kip and the boys along with their girl cousin Sammy came by to eat supper and then went to pick blackberries at Robert's house. After the dishes, Cheryl and I went out there and I dug potatoes with help from three little sets of hands. Then we picked some corn that was a bit firm but just right for corn on the cob for the freezer. I like using it for my low country boils.

Those kids loved the experience of the garden. They were surprised to see the potatoes intertwined with the roots of the plant. They ate berries and peaches and nectarines. Conner wanted to pick beans but dark was catching us. Cole helped even though the bucket was as big as he is.

Getting dirty and even eating a bit of dirt makes strong children. It is amazing how little it takes to entertain them and even more amazing the gift from God that family is. I am a blessed man.

Nice Surprise in Church

Ryan and Christee Branch and their children Mackenzie and Josh were in Church with Ryan's father Robert.

Ryan is like our third son. He and Brad went all the way through school together and were best friends. Ryan was always a regular fixture around our house and even made a trip to my Mom and Dad's house one time. He and Brad were so close. Ryan lost one brother younger than him, that is who Josh is named after. Losing Brad was like losing a second brother.

Ryan found a gem in Christee. The more I get to know her the more I realize she is sweet, sincere, secure, and just a great compliment to Ryan. They are both really special people. Put all four together and they are a basically a storybook family.

Ryan became Athletic Director at Berrien County High School and Head Football Coach. He just finished his dissertation for his Doctorate.

They have been special to Erika in her grief and healing.















Here is a picture of them at Jason's first birthday. This picture is a perfect expression of just how nice this whole family is. They are so pleasant to be around. And, Josh likes Zaxby's.

Family Night Tonight

Tonight we celebrated John's birthday, Brad's birthday, and father's day and even gave Bart his birthday present. We had a nice family gathering. Next to Salvation, family is God's greatest gift to us. We had all three grandsons and also, John's daughter Kendra came. She and John need each other a whole lot but they just haven't figured that out yet.

Bart and Kip stay busy all the time and I cherish what time we do have with them. I really hope they can come to the lake for the 4th of July weekend but frankly, they are so busy I almost hate to ask. Bart is a hard working and successful business man and I am so proud of him. I hope I had some part in shaping his being. Kip is bright and beautiful and such a sweet mother to two of my grandsons, Conner and Cole. And, those boys: I never tire of their company. They are really good boys even if they are boys. They are different and yet Cole wants to be so much like his big brother.

Erika and Jason were the first here and she is so sweet. Jason is a perfect little boy. He always has been. He is eating real food and loves it. Tonight he had his first real squash and said mmmm. Erika liked the Broasted Potatoes that are my most recent recipe. They are easy. Wash and scrape the potatoes and then spray an iron skillet and spray the potatoes with the butter version of the cooking spray. Sprinkle then with creole seasoning and a bit of olive oil and bake them at 350 for at least an hour and more if you desire. They crust on the outside and are tender and moist inside.

I also grilled Conecuh sausage and ham steaks. I shucked corn for creamed corn and Cheryl cut it off. The potatoes were dug by Robert and me today. He brought the corn and squash and green beans. It was a home grown and very fresh supper.

I love family time. Here are some pictures to share with you:

Jason loves real food and I guess Conner must have eaten too much ham because he sure is hamming it up.

I have three wonderful and lovable grandsons. They are being silly but I don't mind silly. They are growing up too fast as it is. Conner helped set our table for the first time. He put the glasses in place.

Here is John's daughter Kendra with Conner and Cole. She is a pretty 14 year old but sometimes needs to be reminded of it. She is smart like her Daddy. I hope she will use it. Growing up in our society is difficult today. I can't imagine what Conner, Cole, and Jason will face.

Cole was all about posing and being in front of the camera. Peace Out! Bart deserves him.

John is like a big teddy bear with kids.

Cheryl loves her boys.

Grandsons

We kept Jason tonight and went to dinner. We invited Conner and Cole and they came and ended up they are spending the night with us. Conner has lost a tooth and has another that is about to come out. Inflation has raised the price for a tooth from a dime to $2 for the cheap ones and $5 for the better ones and if you lose two at once those numbers are multiplied to $20 to $25 for the pair.

Here Conner shows his missing tooth.




















Here Cole explains to Granny that he doesn't wet the bed but uses the bathroom.















Aren't they a pair? Man I love them.

What a Day

I borrowed Bart's truck and pulled a car hauler to Atlanta with a Nissan Murano on it to take to the rental car company, and then to haul Cheryl's car home. On the way up I noticed a bit of what I thought to be unusual vibration, sort of like a universal joint was going bad. Still, I hadn't heard the classic pinging when you put the vehicle in gear. I left home at 4:30 and by 9:30 had the car loaded and was on my return trip home. I hate Atlanta traffic. I called Cheryl and told her that I was on my way and that the truck sort of seemed like it needed a U joint. Well the vibration seemed to be present at all times at this point and when I got just below Atlanta to McDonough which is the home of the Snapper lawn mower I got off and found a parts place. The folks working there couldn't tell me where a good place was to get a vehicle fixed but the guy trying to buy parts told me a shop that was both reputable and reasonable and it was about a fourth of a mile to get there. I went and asked it they had a mechanic that would crawl under the truck and survey the situation with me. It is a Dodge 3500 with a Cummings diesel engine so it has good clearance to crawl under. The mechanic slipped under and when he put his hand on the drive shaft I saw too much movement and he agreed that it would likely not make the 160 mile trip to Tifton. Two and a half hours later I pulled out of their parking lot ready to roll again. They fixed it for $67.71 which is a phenomenal price. If you are ever in McDonough and need something fixed go to McDonough Tire Company.

By the way if you haven't bought any diesel fuel lately it costs about $175 to fill up a Dodge 3500 Ram with diesel fuel. By the way did I mention that the diesel engine was invented by a man named Diesel and he ran his first engines on peanut oil?

Was Today Monday?

I know it is Tuesday but today sure seemed like a Monday for everything that happened.

Not just that it was Brad's birthday and he isn't here with us. The sad events of car trouble in Atlanta yesterday spilled over in to today. The guy from Atlanta Dodge called and said we need a new radiator, thermostat, and gaskets and to have the system flushed and new coolant put in. He said by the way it needs new front brakes. Hmmm, those don't have much more than 10,000 miles on them right now. Just to fix the cooling system was going to be 1479, that is almost $1500 if you wonder what it meant. He just told me 1479 like it was a bargain. I had told him not to turn a bolt until he called me when I dropped it off yesterday.

He may think I look like a sucker but he looked like a crook to me, he being Atlanta Dodge. I called the local Dodge dealer and for genuine parts in his service department it was $650 plus tax. I rented a car hauler and lined up Bart's one ton diesel truck and then called a local repair shop we use that does radiator work. I told him I wasn't sure it was a radiator but could be just a hose but if it was a radiator how much will it be and he told me for a new radiator with a limited lifetime warranty it would be $360. I am leaving at 3:30 in the morning to take the rental car back and get our car and bring it back here. Who's the sucker now? I am paying Atlanta Dodge the $98 I owe them including the towing and they won't have that business tomorrow.

These are the flowers Jason and Erika sent Cheryl for Brad's 33rd birthday today. They are so beautiful.

Brad's Birthday

Brad would have been 33 today. I guess because Heaven is for eternity he doesn't have to count birthdays in years. I love you and miss you Brad.

What a Day

This might have been one of the worst day trips I have ever made to Atlanta. It is usually interesting to travel with Inez and that was the only part of the trip that was good except the Doctor said I am doing fine.

I left Emory Eye Clinic and about five minutes in to the trip home the temp gauge on the car pegged out on the Hot. I quickly stopped and there was steam coming out of the right front corner of the hood. It was after 4:30 and by the time I could find a wrecker and Dodge dealer and rental car company I finally picked Inez up at Crawford Long at about 6:45. I don't even want to know what this is going to cost. We drove home in a Nissan Morano which is a car that rides like a truck. They call them crossovers. A couple things do interest me about it. You cannot feel any changing of gears. It just sort of goes and keeps going faster with no shifting. The other thing is that it is a really quiet vehicle. It has no squeaks and there is barely any road noise.

Well it was a long hard day....goodnight.

Atlanta Doctor's Visit

I have an appointment with my eye doctor today in Atlanta. Inez has one with her throat doctor. We try to combine appointments so that we can travel together and limit trips. She is a pretty good traveling mate. I have to go back to Atlanta later this week for work, was there last week and several times in the past month. Did I mention that I hate traveling further than the 40 miles to the lake.

One Weekend of Blogging

Well this has been a new experience. Friday afternoon I only knew how to spell Blog and now I have one and am quite comfortable with it.

Now I need to decide what to call my professional blogs.

Brad's Birthday Flowers

Here are the flowers

that Inez put in the church today in remembrance of Brad's birthday this Tuesday. He would have been 33 this year.

Last Week at the Lake

Here is a picture of Jason with me at the lake last week.

I really wish I had some quality time with all my children and grandchildren but it seems that it is a ball game here and a few minutes there. I would just feel like I had died and gone to heaven if I had a weekend with the children and grandchildren at the lake with noone else to interrupt us.

Sunday Activities

Today was a pretty typical Sunday. Cheryl's toenails looked really nice where I painted them for her. That was a new experience last night. We went to Sunday School, I taught my class though I am not really a teacher, more a discussion leader and story teller. Then I helped Cheryl keep the nursery which is something she enjoys and for me a true labor of love. I am in withdrawals because I didn't g my Zaxby's fix today. We ate at the Senior Adult Luncheon at the Church.
The menu was not really one of my favorites. I actually would rather have home cooking at home because we make it better. The pork roast, the fruit salad, the hoecake, the mac and cheese all tasted like turnip greens. I hate turnip greens.
Tonight we had a great supper. Ham Steaks, Broasted potatoes, cream corn, okra, potato salad, conecuh sausage, stewed squash, and topped off with banana pudding. MMMMMMMM MMMMMM!