It's Not Spring, But Oh It's Pretty!

We're a little more than 3 weeks away from Spring but the weather has been incredible.  In the 70's most of the week and this weekend up in the 80's.  Oh I know it's going to turn cool again but I still went out and bought a bunch of flowers to plant this week.  My daffodils are blooming, as are the Grape and regular Hyacinths, the Camellias, and a bunch of  bulbs I just planted.  I'm in heaven.  Spring is my favorite season, I can't wait to go out in the yard and see what's blooming.

Movie News

Jim Caviezel

If you like to watch movies being made they're working on one in Savannah.  They started filming a week or so  ago and will be filming for another 3 weeks.  The movie is titled, appropriately enough, Savannah, and it stars Jim Caviezil.  They're filming all over the historic district, at the Roundhouse (think trains) and out at the Effingham County Court House and some roads are blocked off during filming  which explains why part of Abercorn was closed off when we went downtown this last week.
The movie takes place around 1900 and is about the relationship between Jim Caviezil's character and that of a former slave and is based on actual local characters.
Another movie is slated to begin filming in April, haven't heard what i is yet,  and ABC Family just finished a movie made for tv called "Always and Forever".
Many local people are used as extras in these movies but  I'm just too lazy to even go and watch them filming. LOL
This site savannahoffthebeatenpath.com  (click on movies/books)
 has a list of movies made in Savannah through 2010, but does not include the movie James McAvoy The Conspirator made last year or X-Men First Class that just finished filming in Brunswick. about 40 miles from here.

Royal Wedding Invitation

How sad, neither I nor the Obamas have received an invitation to the royal wedding.  I can't understand it.  I visit England frequently, spending lavishly and in my own way supporting the British economy, doesn't that entitle me to an invite?
As for the Obamas, their last visit may have been less than up to royal etiquette standards (doesn't Michelle know you don't lay hands on the Queen?),  but surely people of such importance and so photogenic should have been included.  It's a sad day for the presidency, maybe being on the cover of GQ again will cheer him up, and she can get another $800 pair of boots to garden in.
As for me I'll just have to visit somewhere else from now on, I know when I'm not appreciated.

Savannah

Driving down Abercorn Street to Savannah

Had to go to Savannah for a doctor's appointment yesterday so we decided to visit downtown, and to slip into a couple of antique shops.  Well I'll admit it's been awhile since we'd been to any of the local antique stores and boy did we have sticker shock!  I was looking for some vintage tea cups to make candles in, I'd seen some on etsy and thought I'd make my own.  Well I don't know about you but $22-$28 for a simple cup and saucer seems mighty high to me.  I finally found a couple of "reasonably" priced ones and when I'm in a crafty mood I'll melt the wax and make the candles.  I have a number of cup and saucer sets of my own but I wanted to try the process out before I used my own.

Johnson Square

Wright Square

Julia Gordon Low Founder of Girl Scouts
Birth Place

Did a bit of street walking in Savannah and took some pictures as we walked through the squares.  Savannah is laid out in squares, there were 24 at one time but a couple were "lost".  We walked through Johnson Square, named after a South Carolina governor and has a statue of Nathaniel Greene a Revolutionary War General, Wright Square that has the grave of Tomochichi a Creek Indian chief who helped the early settlers in Savannah and on to Chippiwa Square.  The trees are just starting to bloom, by April the squares will be a riot of color, and even more full of tourists than they were yesterday.  I love Savannah, it is the such a quintessential  southern city, full of old homes, live oaks, Spanish Moss and friendly people, to say nothing of the wonderful food.

Walk along Bay Street

Kite Weather

It's sunny, warm (in the 70's) and breezy so Mac decided it was time to check out the miniature kite he had given me for Christmas.  I love kites, always have.  I love the simplicity and complexity of them.  When I was a teacher I would always teach a unit on the aerodynamics of kite flying and then we'd make kites and go fly them.
Today's kite flight, despite the breezy conditions, wasn't too successful, the kite didn't fly so much as it plummeted.  Don't know if there wasn't enough wind, the tail was too long or the running speed of the operator was the problem, probably the latter.
I gave Mac a pair of miniature helicopters for Christmas so that will our next flying adventure!

Sunday Sunshine

It's Sunday, the sun is shining and I'm feeling very happy.  My younger sister has been in the hospital for more than 2 weeks with pneumonia, but it looks like she's finally going to get to come home.  I've really been worried about her, she's a smoker and her lungs just aren't worth a darn/    So she's had 2 weeks of ICU and I think it has scared her into quitting smoking, at least I hope so.  I know it's not easy, Mac and I quit nearly 30 years ago, and I've bugged both my sisters for years to quit, maybe this will finally do it.
In other Sunday "news" my carrots are planted even though the packet said not to do it till March.  Well the long term forecast is for our weather to stay in the high 60's and low 70's through the beginning of March so I felt pretty safe putting them in.  I would say no rabbits need apply except we don't have any rabbits out here, every other kind of wild life, but no rabbits.
We also transplanted the Hydrangea that Mac gave me for Valentine's Day and the Primula I had put in a window, both were looking rather unhappy.
We caught our cat lounging in the sun this morning and had to take a picture of her.  My Mother-in-Law always said that if she could be reincarnated that she'd like to come back as one of my cats, they always look so contented.  So whenever I catch my cat looking like this I hope that there's a bit of my MOL there too.

Where The Sidewalk Ends

View of our neighborhood, note, no sidewalks!
Also not this time of year!

And I'm not talking about Shel Siverstein's book!  For some reason American builders and developers have decided that we don't need sidewalks to walk on any more. I know Americans drive every where, but we do walk and I'm tired of walking in the street.
Why you ask don't they put in sidewalks, well I don't know, my guess is to save money, it certainly isn't to save lives.
We walk every day through our neighborhood but we walk in the street it's either that or on people's lawn and we don't want to do that, wouldn't want others walking on mine.  And though most cars slow down to the posted speed limit (10 mph) others fly through here risking my life and limb.  And I really love when they fly through puddles splashing water without the least consideration.
The school bus that comes here only stops at the entrance to our neighborhood so children as young as 4 or 5 must walk in the street to get to the bus or home.  Many people drive their kids to the entrance and pick them up for safety's sake, it would save gas if the kids could walk.
I would think that when developers submit their plans to the local planning commission that sidewalks would be considered a necessity, not a luxury, though in some developments that how their marketed.  "New family-orientated neighborhood with front porches and sidewalks. " I grew up with sidewalks, everyone had them but now they're disappearing .  Well I want a sidewalk, but I guess that short of moving I'm probably not going to get any--pooh!

Best of Times

Gotten to garden a bit this week, cleaning out beds, putting in some hardy bedding plants, encouraging the daffodils and hyacinths to bloom.  We've had days in the 60's all week and will be well up in the 70's through the weekend.  I know it's going to get cold again, but this has been wonderful.
I just planted some Hidcote Lavender seeds I'd ordered.  I never have much luck with lavender I don't know if I'm overwatering or it's just too hot here.  My Snowball plant is covered in buds and I hope to see some leaves soon.
My Spanish Bluebells are coming up and so are my Louisiana Iris's, I hope more of them bloom this year.
Mac has started a bunch of seeds in his hothouse, and his broad beans are blooming, next the sugar snap peas should.
The box is something Mac made me for Christmas to store my gardening hat, gloves, tools, it came equipped with an emergency Hershey's Kisses in case I got faint in the garden.  It opens to provide potting space and note the "golden" trowel next to it.

The only trees to show signs of life are the Red Maples and they look so springy!

Gifts From the Heart

My husband is so special!  He really is, thoughtful, loving, funny, you name it he is!  For Valentine's Day he painted me a picture that is now hanging in my kitchen.  I love the colors and I love that he takes the time to paint just for me.

Then today he gave me a love bug with chocolate inside.  Definitely knows the way to my heart!

Valentine's Gift

An early Valentine's gift from the best husband in the world!

Curbside Shopping

Ever since we moved to the south I've been threatening, in a nice way, to drag Mac to High Point, North Carolina.  That's where most of the wood furniture made in the United States is made, tons of factories and showrooms.  They have a huge furniture expo twice a  year that attracts more than 100,000 venders..  Every time I start thinking about a new piece of furniture I tell him we ought to borrow a truck and drive up there because the prices are so much cheaper.
Well for several months I've been muttering that we need a game table to go in the pub upstairs and so I've been pricing them online.  Those I like run from $250-$600, more than I want to pay.
Today while I was grumbling around Mac came and got me and told me there was a huge furniture truck outside from High Point, North Carolina and they were selling furniture.  I went to take a look at their catalogue,  telling the man I was interested in a coffee table and a game table.  I didn't care for the looks of the coffee table they had, but I loved the game table hardly daring to ask the price, and I couldn't believe his answer, $108, that's less than half of any price I'd seen online, so I said yes, ran back inside gave a description of the table and found several examples of it with a list price of $350 and a discounted price of $278.  Oh was I happy.  The table is cherrywood and just gorgeous.  They unpacked it from the truck and I asked if this was their first trip to our area, they said no,  they came fairly regularly, so I said we'd love to see them the next time they come down.  Made my day!

Getting Ready For Valentine's Day

Almost ready for Valentine's Day or at least my table is, covered in every Valentine Critter I own.  I didn't collect stuffed animals as a child, we were poor, they were expensive and by the time they were cheap I was grown.  But Mac has made a point through the years of giving me many things I never had as a child but wanted , like a bike, an electric train and of course stuffed animals.
It has been a semi-gloomy week.  On the rainy days we painted the landing and the two sides to the bathroom and they look so much better.  Now with that mess cleared I need to get back to work on some Valentine projects.
After that he weather man has promised us 6 days of sunshine with temperatures up in the 60's to near 70, so I will be out in the garden.  I got broccoli planted and I need to get my lettuce going  and finish clearing my herb bed.

Gone The Way Of The Dinosaurs

Found a new telephone book on our front porch this week and promptly put it into the trash, no recycling here in the wilds of Georgia, it's either trash or burn.  But I digress, my subject is obsolescence, and to me the phonebook as a printed book is obsolete, I never use them, if I need a number I look it up online.  I disliked phone books even when I had to use it, the printing was so small and my eyes are so bad.
But that got me to thinking about all the other things that have gone the way of the dinosaurs since I was a child.
And I guess that list would include:  Black and White T.V.S
Record Players, 33, 45 and 78 rpm records, video cassette players, tape cassette players, reel-to-reel tape recorders, transistor radios, white out, typewriters, carbon paper, bobby pins, expensive calculators (they were really expensive when they first came out), push mowers (though a few linger on), polaroid cameras, sets of encyclopedias, home visits by doctors, bread and milk delivery to your house, handwritten letters, small pox vaccinations,  and unfortunately common courtesy

And before I'm gone I expect to see the demise of paper checks, pennies, landline telephones, most mail service,  print newspapers, regular light bulbs (I hate those energy saving ones), cameras that use film,  and they're even saying credit cards,  we'll pay with our cell phones instead.

The times they are a changing.

Gorgeous Painting

My very talented husband has sold another painting.  This gorgeous turtle is now on its way to New Mexico, hope it enjoys the desert sands!

The Dark At The Top of the Stairs

When you look up the stairs to the landing in our house  usually all you see is dark (my flash made it look brighter than it is, trust me it's dark), there are no windows and the ledge that use to let in some light is covered up with a painting.  Why cover up the only light source you ask, well we have a cat, a cat who sleeps so soundly she's been known to fall off from where she's sleeping.  And though we'd try to discourage her from sleeping on the ledge she persisted and one night fell off, not to the short landing side but rather about 20 feet down to the livingroom.  She bit through her lip and hurt her lower back, thought thank goodness not badly.  But after more attempts to keep her off the ledge Mac mounted a painting there so she can't lay there, and as a result we have an even darker landing.
To make matters worse the people who constructed this house probably took one gallon of white paint, watered it down and then sprayed the whole house white, which means the paint is dingy looking.  Which brings us back to today.  We promised ourselves that the next rainy day we'd start on the painting upstairs.  The landing, the 2 sides of the the Jack and Jill bathroom and the third bedroom all need painting.  In addition we're ripping the carpet out of the 2 bathrooms and replacing it with tile.  Don't contractors know that carpet in the bathroom is a no-no?  I can just hear the homebuyers from HGTV saying, "Oh no, I can't buy this house there's carpeting in the bathroom."  So the tile has been bought and the carpet is being pulled out.  In addition to that we're putting in granite counter tops, feeling cheap though so we're probably going in use granite tile.  Though there's a granite place not too far from here that sells slab remnants, don't you just love the idea of buying a leftover yard of granite?  So we're going to price granite there too.

Bathroom 2

Today we painted the landing and it looks so much brighter now.  Thursday, the next rain day we'll probably start on the bathrooms.

Bathroom 1

The cat was a lot of help on this job and we'd recommend her to anyone who wants their newly painted walls topped off with cat hair.

Plagarism

There I was playing a new classical piece of music ,  Muzio Cementi's Sonatina in G Major, Opus 5.  I was playing slowly because it was the first time I'd ever played it and I didn't want to butcher it too badly.  But all of a sudden I left the classical world of music and was playing a 60's pop song by Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders, A Groovy Kind of Love.  Somebody in their group or entourage had a training in classical music and knew a good riff when they heard one.  All they did was take the original (the Rondo section of the opus) and slow it down and they had a hit song.
Mac was in the other room while I was playing and asked why I'd switched songs, and I told him I hadn't, it was the same piece, just that someone had borrowed it and we knew the modern version.
This happens a bit when playing classical music, I play something and say, I know that song and sure enough someone has adapted it into a pop song.
Do you think poor old Muzio can collect any royalties?

Gardening With 5 Celebrities in Need of a Punch

I know it's a silly title, but that's what's going on here today.  It's absolutely beautiful here, around 70 degrees and I've been out cleaning my garden beds.  And as I gardened my mind wandered, as it is want to do, and I started giggling, and then outright laughing as I remembered a blog I'd read recently at The River Cottage Diaries.  The blog entry was Which Five Celebrities Would You Punch.  It was hilarious!  She'd smack The Kardashians, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bono, Amy Windhouse and Miranda Kerr--it was so funny that I laughed till I cried.
Well as I gardened today I got to thinking about which 5 celebrities I'd like to punch and here's my list.

Charlie Sheen: You so need someone to punch you--more than once.   Oh, God, please go away, not just to rehab, but far, far away.  You're not funny, you're not interesting, you're the opposite of sexy.  If stupid were a drug you'd have died of an overdose years ago.  No one wants anymore stories about you and your hookers or your incredible performance therein.  I hope your tv show is cancelled, I hope all your equally stupid ex-wives leave the country, I hope you father disowns you, I hope you go to live in the ooze from whence you came with all the other slime dwellers.











Al Gore:    You're  still around way past your sell by date and you need a good swift punch.  My God even Tipper got fed up and left you.  Do you know how annoying you are.  That you won a Nobel Peace Prize and an Academy Award just shows how bankrupt these two organizations are.  You  preaches about global warming and the need to save the environment while living in a 10,000 sq.ft. house that uses more electricity in a year than a small town.  And that's not your only home, you own at least one more in Hollywood, where they love you.  You travel in limousines and private jets never walking you lard a** anywhere.  You admit that ethanol is a waste of money, that turning corn into gas drives up food prices worldwide,  but you backed it to get the farmer's votes when you were running for President.  Today you're telling us that our horrible winter is a product of global warming.  Shut up!  I don't care, if we did everything you wanted, experts say we might lower the temperature globally by about .03 degrees in 50 years or so.  If you lost 50-75 lbs we might lower it ever more.





Justin Bieber:  A Canadian inport that needs to be deported!  He is beyond annoying, from hanging out with the Kim Kardashian, sharing his first traumatic kiss with us, visiting the incredibly tacky show Jersey Shore his every "adventure" makes the news or what passes for news any more.  Isn't is wonderful what YouTube can bring us!  He's listed as an R/B pop singer, what the heck is that?   If I smack him they'd probably get me for child abuse so hopefully someone his own age--he's about 12 isn't he?--will nail him.

Lady Ga Ga:  I thought she was a joke at first, then I found out she was real, or as real as anything in pop music is today.  She makes Madonna look actually talented.  Another celebrity famous for being famous, if you're outrageous enough you must be talented.  Hope you all enjoyed her meat outfit as much as I did, too bad some cow didn't run her over.


Well I only came up with celebrities to smack, but I'm sure that's lots more of them who need it.  What do you think?