Ah, Springtime. The days are getting longer and hopefully warmer. In other parts of the South the trees are in full bloom and the Daffodils are up. But that's not here at the house. I went south towards the Atlanta are this past weekend to meet up with Richard. We spent Saturday at Stone Mountain Park and had a really good time.


We played a round of mini golf and I lost by three strokes. I tried to challenge him to play me a round of golf on a real course but he would not take the challenge.

We toured the Antebellum Plantation area and got to walk through some really old houses. This is a kitchen for a large plantation house. No Cuisinart! But they did have an apple peeler and a cherry pitter. Some things never change.

After we left Stone Mountain, Richard took me to the historic district of Norcross to get an ice cream cone. We found this neat little coffee shop/deli/cafe called 45 South Cafe. Every Saturday afternoon a group of men show up and have a jam session. They go around the circle and each man gets a chance to pick the song, play the lead guitar and sing. They were really good.

Now I am off to my kitchen to start the seeds for my Basil, Tomatoes, Sweet Peppers and Eggplant.

A Narrow World

I am currently in Rancho Mirage, California spending a few days with my mother while my step father opens up their summer home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and also enjoys a break from his care-taker duties.

We got out to the barn every morning after walking the dogs and take my mother's former horse Hana her "goodie bucket" Momma had to sell Hana because she was too much for her to handle sometimes.

Wildflowers growing along the road. Every morning we take the dogs Maui and Nikki and go for a short walk. We take bird seed for the wild birds and sometimes left over corn cobs and stale bread. After the walk we go to Starbucks, get coffee and the LA Times an then go home for awhile.

Out where we walk there is a pavalion built on a ridge. I can imagine the views are great from up there.

It is a small world my mother lives in and it is getting smaller all the time. I was so proud of her for agreeing to go to the mall with me yesterday even if it was only for about 30 minutes. She did ask me a couple of times if I was sure I could find out way back to the car and I assured her that I knew exactly where it was.

By mid afternoon most days we are back in the house watching taped episodes of Jay Leno and Oprah from the day before. Then it is an early dinner and an early bedtime.

So far I am lucky and have not had to put my foot down about something she is doing or wants to do. I hope that does not happen during my stay. We are supposed to have lunch with my brother Patrick and his wife Denise tomorrow.

I will post more when I get home.

Welcome to the Lough Life

Up here in the North Carolina Mountains it has been a very long, cold and snowy winter. Yesterday was the first time I saw our froggy fountain since before Christmas.

I look forward to the warmer days when he is running again.

In anticipation of warmer weather I went out and bought several seed starting kits and lots of seeds. We have seeds for Dahlias, Pansys, Wave Petunias, Sunflowers, Basil, Cucumbers for pickles, Eggplant, Green Beans, Sweet Peppers and two types of Tomatoes. I also bought onion sets.

We planted garlic back in the fall and I really hope it comes up when the weather gets a little warmer.