Memorial Weekend

We just finished up an enjoyable weekend.  The Feagins (K,T,s and L—oh and Truman) were here and because of the Monday holiday we got 2 full days with them and half a day on their travel days.  Friday Penny cooked country fried steak.  Saturday we went to Waffle House and then the big beach (the Gulf).

We lunched at the Back Porch, which is right on the beach.

  After lunch it was back home for the kid’s naps.  We hadn’t had enough beach yet so, after naps we went to the little beach (the bayou).

Dinner was pizza.

Sunday I made banana pecan pancakes for breakfast.  We did church and then lunched at Slick Micks.  We then went to a little water park at a local shopping center. The kids enjoyed that! 

This was the first time we went to that park and it is really nice.

Then it was back home for naptime again and even adults took naps this time.  Penny made spaghetti with eggs and cheese for dinner and we followed that with birthday cake milkshakes from Zaxby’s.

On both Saturday and Sunday evenings  Penny and I watched the kids while K&T went out.  That provided even more quality time with the grandkids.

I got a lot of 1 on 1 time with Lucy and Sophie as well as a great deal of time with both kids.  A grandpa can’t ask for anything better than that.  Sophie is able to read simple words now and can sound out words when you ask her to.  I called  Penny by her name once and Sophie told me that I can’t call her Penny.  She is grandma.  I tried to explain that Penny was my wife but she couldn’t understand that yet.  She thinks Penny is my Grandma, too.

Lucy’s big accomplishment is being able to jump with both feet in the air.  She also has an amazing vocabulary (if you can understand what she is saying.

The kids also helped me pick cucumbers and eggplant from the garden.

It’s only been a few hours and I miss them (all of the Feagins) already.

Yes Sir, Yes Sir, 36 Bags Full

I’ve mentioned recently that I haven’t been doing much blogworthy (a word that drives spell-check crazy) lately, mainly yard work.  Well, one result of that work now sits out in the front yard; 36 lawn bags full of leaves.  Part of that came from the accumulation on the shed roof.  I had to clear that before something started growing up there.  I’m cleaning up the yard in advance of hurricane season.

Yesterday I drove Penny to the dentist for her temporary crown.  After Penny went back to have the work done another couple  about our age came in to the waiting room.  The wife was wearing a pain patch over one of her thumbs.  She made a comment to the receptionist about falling apart.  I asked her what she had done and  it got a little scary because as she listed her problems I matched her  item for item.  She has the same issue with both thumbs.  She has torn both rotator cuffs, has had one fixed and getting ready for the other. She then said that’s what happens when you get older, you look about my age.  I said I was 62 and she said she was too.  Then I said “don’t tell me that you were born in November”  but she was!  She was born in New York not Connecticut so we finally found a difference.  I was beginning to think I found my twin separated at birth.

I had to mount our swifter duster on a long pole today and wipe the spider webs from my outside security cameras.  It seems their IR night vision lights are the correct frequency to attract some insects and the camera structure with the weather hood makes perfect attachment points for webs.  The webs are too close to the lens to be in focus but the web reflects the light back and makes it so about half of the view is blocked.  It is interesting when the spider builds its web.  It is out of focus but it can be recognized as web building by the motion the blurry spider makes.  So far tonight no new webs are being built.

We Are Still Here

Why does 1 guy saying the world will end get so much press?  People have been predicting the end since the beginning and it hasn’t happened yet.  It’s not a testament to humankind that so many can be superstitious.  I know most people thought this was a joke –but enough believed that it made all the news programs, not to mention Facebook and twitter.

I’m still doing little of blogworthyness.  I’m cleaning up the yard, tending the garden, finishing up on my bike repair and not keeping up with the housework.

The garden is still doing good.  We’ve eaten squash and zucchini  and there is more just about ready.  I’ve got 6 tomato plants getting loaded with tomatoes  and they seem to have no problems.

There are lots of baby cucumbers, bell peppers, Japanese eggplants and okra  growing and  the basil, parsley and herbs are growing nicely.

On the kitty front Buzz has been showing up each evening for the last few nights.  To my amazement Marmalade, who hasn't been here  in months showed up for 2 nights and then disappeared again.  Meredith and Velcro haven’t been around either.  Where do they go?

The birds feeding continue to provide entertainment for me and a chance to play with the camera.

                                      You talkin’ to me?

No Cats, Lots of Birds

There haven’t been any cats outside this week.  I haven’t seen any since we got home last Sunday.  The birds, on the other hand, are showing up in hungry droves. 

I hang a bird feeder at our back door full of cat food for the birds.  In normal times that will feed them for about 2 weeks.  I filled it before we left town last week.  When we returned 4 days later it was almost empty.  I refilled it on Monday and it is now empty again.

The main reason for the increase is the youngsters are leaving the nests.  There are newly fledged Starlings and Blue Jays  visiting the plate of food I have on the fence.

There are 3 young starlings that are providing me with lots of entertainment.  They first showed up and landed on the fence.  Then whenever an adult bird would land on the plate and grab some food the little ones would open their mouths wide and trill—expecting to be fed.  Sometimes they would get fed some times not.

They even jumped into the plate and snuggled down in it as if it were their nest.  They’d look at the food and then wait for someone to come feed them.  Eventually they caught on and began to eat.  Now it’s a mixture of them feeding themselves while still begging on any adult that arrives.  I know when they are out there because they make quite a racket.

Using the plate as a nest and feeding itself.

 

Successful begging.

 

A noisy adult.

 

A juvenile jay.

 

We came home by way of Cedar Key last weekend.  Many years ago I took a picture of a shack at the end of a pier that looked as if it would collapse any moment, yet it had a electrical line out to it and a TV antenna on the roof.  Well, it is still standing (barely) and definitely not occupied.

Then

 

Now.

The Past Weekend in Pictures

First – Kathy’s Birthday celebration.

Then High Springs with C&C and a botanical garden…

Then a hike…..

and finally a stop in Cedar Key on the way home.

Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD).

 

That’s the procedure I had today.  It’s also called an upper endoscopy or in plain English they looked at my esophagus.  All went well.

I’ve been taking NSAIDS for many years and have had stomach issues all along.  I currently have trouble sometimes when I swallow with stuff getting stuck for a few seconds in my esophagus before it went into my tummy.   Considering my Mother’s medical  history the doctor thought it was a good idea to take a look.

I was sedated for the procedure and now I don’t remember waking up, coming home or even having a bowl of ice cream when I got home.  Penny took good care of me.

Besides that all I did today was sleep off the anesthesia.

On the home front I’m getting the yard in shape and the garden is growing like gangbusters.The only plant giving me issues are the bush tomatoes.  I planted them in last year’s containers and evidently the wilt affected them I lost all 3 plants that I had.

I took extreme care on this years tomato plant to not spread the wilt from last year.  I used new containers, new soil and new tools and don’t ever touch the old soil or plants in the and then touch the new tomatoes.  So far, so good.  All are growing well and have tomatoes on them.

I’m even getting squash and zucchini this year.

On the kitty front 3 cats were out this morning and Buzz and Velcro have hung around the backyard since then.  Those 2 were out there at dinner time and are still out there tonight.