Chapter 1, We Get to Know Each Other

This post is a prequel to Volume 2 of our heroine's life. Back in October of last year she spent a few days,,,not many mind you, thinking about what she had been through with the last man in her life and decided that she was too damn good of a woman to be alone and there had to be someone out there that was just right for her.

So after picking herself up and dusting herself off the heroine put herself on match.com. First man up was a scam artist who wanted money, the second man was a hard working man but no education. She then tried Christian Mingle but all the men who liked her profile didn't drink,,,not good.

Finally, our heroine decided to try Our Time, the internet site for the over 50 crowd. She was impressed at how many hits she was getting on her profile but none of them were what she was looking for.

In her profile our heroine mentioned that she was a cancer survivor, liked a drink almost every night, a good cigar was to be enjoyed on occasion and she was moving to Florida. Men from about 25 of the 50 states replied. But none really got her attention, until,,,,,,,,,,,,

Our heroine got a "Like" for one of her photos. Woofie4U2 was interested. Our heroine looked at his photo and kept going. Her first impression was "what a grouchy man". So she ignored him. He liked her other photos,,,,all of them over the next few days. He commented that he liked her profile and he would love to chat with our heroine.


The man was very, very persistent. So our heroine went back and looked at his profile. She really liked what he had written. But he was still a grouchy looking man. She had had enough of grouchy and wanted something better. Even his second photo was grouchy. I'm thinking of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street here,, GO AWAY.


However the man was not easily discouraged and he kept trying to get the attention of our heroine . Finally she broke down and went through all of his photos. She found this one from Christmas. Look at that,,,he's not grouchy looking,, no scowl on his face.


And then there was this one from a trip he had made to the Childress Winery. Our heroine knew at this point that she had to reconsider the grouchy person and give him a shot. It was the best thing she has EVER done. He is not grouchy,,,unless you aggravate him. He is funny and very romantic and everything our heroine wanted in a man.


Our heroine is now dating this man and has never, and I mean never, been so happy in her life. It is awesome. She makes sure she tells this man everyday how much she loves him and how glad she is that he was extremely patient and very, very persistent.


Now, in all fairness to my sweetheart I need to relate the story behind the first two, very grouchy photos. My sweetheart had been in a car wreck and at the time those 2 photos were taken has been using a wheelchair to get around as he recovered from a broken back, neck and leg. For those two photos his son in-law grabbed him by the armpits and stood him up against the tree and the boat. I would have been extremely grouchy also if that had been me. On the bright side I bet the grouchy photos kept a lot of other perspective matches away,,,,whew.

Uncharted Lands for Me

After our road trip to Decatur, Mike and I agreed that I would head over to his place for the weekend. He has 4 acres of land and many fruit trees and a couple of pecan trees.

The view from the driveway looking out toward the orchard.It is hard to see all the fruit trees since everything is still bare.


The view of the backyard with the shed.


Mike has planted a lot of daffodils around the house and the adjoining yard. I got to bring home a large bouquet of them.


He has a nice gas fireplace with a remote control. You get chilly, you push a button and poof,,you have fire.


The kitchen.


Alas, Sunday afternoon came way too quickly and soon it was time to pack up and head back to the mountains. I am looking forward to my next trip down especially as everything comes into bloom.

A New Volume

When some people start something new in their life, they say they have started a new chapter. Well, not me,, nope,, I am starting a whole new volume that will hopefully have many, many chapters to to it.

Met a wonderful man on an over 50 dating site and then spent about 6 weeks sending emails, texts, chatting on the phone or instant messaging each other. We really got to know a lot about each other before our first date. A few weeks later we decided to take a road trip to Decatur, GA so Mike could meet my son. We had a great time and the weather was just about perfect. It was only in the teens and all you could see was snow when we left the mountains.

I did not take any pictures of Friday of us, our awesome meal or anything. Just a bit tired after working and then driving about 5 1/2 hours.

On Saturday after breakfast Mike and I walked over to the Publix Grocery store 2 doors down from the hotel. Now if you don't know about Pulix you are probably wondering why we would do that. If you know Publix, I have a few words,,,,Buffalo Chicken Dip (Thank you Shri!!!!) and fire roasted tomato salsa with black beans and corn. I had to take a picture of the flowers at the Publix sign they were so pretty,,,especially after seeing only dead stuff covered with snow for the last few weeks.


A little later on we meet my son CJ and his girlfriend Brooke for lunch and killer Bloody Marys. Then we went to take a walk. My son pointed out all the cars lining up behind the truck thinking it was going to turn but in realty the driver was out making deliveries. He and my son had just greeted each other.


Mike was enjoying the warmer temps and sunshine as we walked around the square.


The square is pretty neat and has interesting lights around it and a large gazebo on the other end. It is a center of activity of all sorts.


Saturday for dinner we decided to go back to Capozzi's where my son works because it was "within stumbling distance of our hotel". Those are my son's words. We chose a table in the back of the bar and my son made sure that we were taken care of.


We started out Saturday like we did on Friday with these wonderful garlic rolls. We had two orders of them on Saturday.


Mike was enjoying himself,,,,


As was I, as we enjoyed a cosmopolitan made with lemoncello. These babies rock!!


Per my son's request we ordered some stuffed mushrooms and then got a bottle of wine after the cosmos.


Mike and I were having a great time drinking and talking about the food and if we could replicate it at home.


After the mushrooms we ordered these risotto balls made with ham and then quickly fried to give them the crunchy coating.


This young man was our waiter on Friday night and also makes the garlic rolls.


Sunday after breakfast we headed over to the Farmer's Market and bought some stuff to take home before we had to meet CJ and Brooke for lunch. Since we had found a parking spot near the restaurant and had time to kill, Mike and I looked at all the historical markers around.

Here is a statue of Thomas Jefferson. I thought I had taken a picture of the plaque next to him but I guess not, oops.


The courthouse is truly beautiful.


The detail is that which you do not see anymore.


A marker telling about the settling of DeKalb County.


A bust of Mr. DeKalb himself,,minus part of his nose.



After a great lunch at an Irish pub Mike and I headed back to the frozen tundra and picked up our three girls from the kennel. When we finally got home we had all our Farmer's Market stuff to put away. We had bought some mango juice, curry powder, leeks, radishes, Key Lime pie, butter, slab uncured bacon, smoked turkey legs and artichokes.


It was our first road trip,,certainly will not be our last and we had a great time.

Random Food

Since the New Year my life has taken a turn not just for the better but for the much, much better. You'll have to see the next post to understand what I am talking about.

What is going on is 2 people who love to play in the kitchen having fun.

Deviled eggs the new man made,,yummy.


Broiled salmon with a honey mustard-maple syrup glaze, roasted green beans and yellow rice.


Appetizers one night. Roasted garlic hummus, green olives soaked in olive oil and massive quantities of garlic and crackers.


Pork fried rice. What a great way to use leftover pork and veggies.


And, peanut soup. A hearty way to end a cold day served with an assortment of cheeses and crackers.


No wonder I have put on a few pounds.

Savannah Brooke

On January 31st, the most beautiful young lady made an appearance and has completely stolen my heart. As promised I packed up and headed down to spend a week cooking and cleaning and helping out around the house.

On Saturday afternoon I got to meet Savannah. Here she is a tired girl,,big yawn.

We tried out her swing and she did well.

During the week I held her when I could. She is so precious.

She is just so cute I can't stop taking pictures.

The new mother and her baby girl.

On Friday a neighbor came over to take pictures of Savannah. Patricia and I both love those naked newborn shots.

My last night in Florida we had some of the Knipper clan over for dinner to celebrate my ex father in-law's birthday. I got to hold Savannah again.

Still holding her.

She is so cute when she is sleeping.

After everyone left Patricia and Savannah fell asleep on the sofa while I did the dishes.

Can't wait until I can get back down there to spend more time with Savannah.

Man? I Don't Need No Stinkin' Man!

Before I go any further on this post I wanted to share a photo of my girls. Kele has now figured out why Lili likes to sleep on the sofa all the time.

Well the time came for me to get the Christmas tree out of the house. I called a friend, I sent him a text, I left him a voice mail. When I got tired of waiting to hear from him I took matters into my own hands.

Here it is 11:21 and the tree, all 8 feet of it, is ready to go outside.

It is now 11:32 and the tree is not only out of the house but it has been tossed over the back deck rail.

By 12:09 the house was back to normal.

So who needs a man for these things,, not me!