Our 5 granddaughters

We flew to Maine in the summer of 2006, where we met our 5 granddaughters, to attend nephew Doug Johnson's wedding to Michelle, a wedding on the ocean front. It was a very cold day (note the sweaters).

Our son Bill joined us there also. Then the 9 of us spent several days in the Boston area, sightseeing. We stayed in Salem, MA and took the commuter train to Boston every day, and traveled about the city on the subway. It's hard to find a place to park in the old historic district.

Our granddaughters live in Florence, SC and Austin, TX. Pictured here, left to right, are sisters Nerissa, Caroline and Katie. Next are sisters from Texas, Elizabeth (Lizzy) and on the end is Allison (Ally). We don't get to see them at the same time very often and this was such a fun time to all get together. We were all together last Nov. for our son James' 50th birthday party. I hope we can do something like this again before they graduate from college and get jobs, get married, etc. The oldest, Lizzy, goes to the Univ. of Texas and is a biology/pre-med major; Ally is in her second year at North Tex. University in Denton, TX; Nerissa is interested in some field of nursing and will start to Clemson Univ in SC on Aug. 18th. Katie will be a Jr. at West Florence HS in Florence, SC and Caroline will turn 12 just a few days after school starts and will be in the 6th grade. She asked if Grandpa and I would be able to attend her high school gradation. She must think we are getting old!

Jelly making for church bazaar in Nov

Our Concord grapes were made into low sugar jelly yesterday. I only got enough juice to make 10 pints total. The drought this summer almost killed the vine. But we have a bumper crop of scuppernongs coming along (top left) - in about 2 weeks - red, small and large bronze ones. I made this jelly for our Methodist church bazaar in November. We sell the jelly for $5 a pt, or $3 half-pint. So far I've made enough jelly and fig preserves to make $100 for the bazaar. I'll make some pear preserves later and maybe some purple scuppernong jelly that tastes like grape jelly but not as tart

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Some of my favorite things

These vases sit on top of a chest in our guest room. They came from my Aunt Bob's when we cleaned it after the flood of 1998. She was in the Elba Nursing Home when her home was flooded. We salvaged what we could when we cleaned up after the flood and had a garage sale. We told her relatives to come take something to remember her by and I chose these vases. She probably got them at a garage sale.

Her house was also flooded in 1990. Not much was left in her home after that flood. Carolyn came from Indiana to help her clean her house that year.

The sun shines on these vases and it's almost as if her spirit lives in them. I love going into the room and picking them up and looking at the designs.

I'm not an antique collector so I have no idea if they are worth very much. I just collect things I like. I have a few old books that I treasure. Most of all I love vases and like to use them to hold flowers from my garden. I have a big heavy glass vase to hold my gladiolas with those big long stems. I keep fresh flowers on the table in the breakfast most of the time. Today it was zinnias in a metal coffee can!

More tomorrow.

Weigh In Day - lst week

Today was weigh in day for my first week following the WW program. Lost one pound. But that's a start. Hope to have a better report next Monday. Walked at least 4 times but plan to walk 5 times this week for at least 15 minutes. "You have to move to lose" - I made this up!

I plan to have my picture taken at this same spot every Monday. Watch for changes.

Elba High School Class of 1952 -55th class reunion

L to R: Henri Ann Taylor, Betty Coleman Lewis, Peggy Adkinson Gullion, Fannie Lou Jacobs Cowen, June Kendrick Hamm, Nadine Hattaway Fuller; 2nd row: Peggy Hutchison Cain, Patsy Pinckard Sharpless, Betty Jo Ham Vanderhoek, Donald Hudson, Floyd Griffin, Acie James Lowery; 3rd row:Ethel Dawkins Morrow, Faye Clark Adkison, Janice Cowen Hudson, Martha Jean Padgett Davis, Nell Wilson Gilmer; back row: Phillip Hamm, Ted Hudson, Earl Stone, Wendell Collier

We met at the Fellowship hall of Elba United Methodist Church for fellowship and then barbecue lunch that was delivered from The Ranch House. We had so much fun visiting and recalling our school days, etc. We talked about getting together more often - before we get too old!

Things you'll find in our yard

This morning the air was buzzing with bees visiting our coral vine beside the carport. It provides a good shade from the morning sun and in the winter the vine dies and we cut it almost to the ground. It returns again in the spring and we really enjoy watching it grow. I remember one just like this at my Aunt Daisie Winston's home in Elba when I was a little girl and I searched for a long time before getting this vine from a neighbor here in Elba. You can grow the vine from seeds and every year I plant some seeds and pass the plant along. I've never seen one in a nursery for sale.

I guess it is one of the heirloom "pass along" plants.

I am posting a varigated lantana that blooms all summer and is an unusual color. I bought it at Lowe's in a hanging basket several years ago.

The third photo I am posting today is an arrangement in our front flower bed which is mostly river rocks. It includes sedum (blooms in the fall), a succulent that came from my Mama Smith's house and can live on air for awhile if I forget to water it, and on the rocks you will see a stained glass stepping stone my sister Carolyn made for me. The big "fossil" rock came from the family farm. Overlooking this is a "statue" of Uncle Sam that Judge Kelley gave to James about 3 years ago. It was made by his friend out of a 4x4" post. He used it as a table decoration at a charity dinner we attended. James fell in love with it and wanted one. The next morning we found the statue sitting on our carport! We keep moving it around to various places outdoors.

James' Train Quilt

I made this quilt  for our son James' 50th birthday on Dec. 8, 2006. He loves trains so I looked for train logos and other photos to put onto quilt squares. Each square has a special meaning for him. He picked out the items he wanted me to use for his quilt. He has taken several train trips and when we lived in Wayzata, MN the Burlington Northern train came by our house several times a day. It was comforting in the dark winter days when it would be snowing and you could see the light of the train coming down the track and hear the whistle blowing to greet James as they came by. In the summer he would sit on the hill behind the house and wave to the engineer. They always waved back and blew the whistle.

James is mentally challenged and lives at home with us. His hobbies are trains and watching baseball games and his baseball card collection.