Anniversary of "Elba Lady" blog

I started my "Journal" on Monday, July 23, 2007. This past Thursday was the 2nd anniversary and I have posted 279 entries over this period of time. Two years = 730 days or 104 weeks. So I average two or three a blogs a week.


I started out putting down things I wanted my grandchildren to know about from my early childhood, living on the farm and growing up. As they call it, "the olden days". I have such good memories of that period of my life. As farmers, we didn't have a lot of money but we didn't have TV to tell us that we need "things". Somehow we always had everything we needed and that freed out mind to enjoy those things we did have. School was a lot of fun and we never wanted to miss a day. Church was the center of our social life and VBS in the middle of summer was so much fun.


After I ran out of things to talk about on the farm, I started recording things about our children and their lives. Then I talked about places we have lived and traveled.


I've had a hard time writing my blog since our son James died on Feb. 2 this year. For 52 years he has always been by my side and I've taken care of him. We miss him so much.


The past few months have been more about daily occurrences, trips, happenings, etc. rather than my past.


My first blog was about going to WW and losing some weight. Guess what... I weigh about the same as I did in July 2007. I think I am healthier maybe but I can tell I am aging. I will be 3/4 of a century old come November.


I think that will be a good subject for my blog - to show how I have changed (aged?) over the years. Keep watching for this; might take awhile to get the photos scanned. I will do this especially for my granddaughters.

Home Again! Fun Trip

Remember the song "It's good to see the green, green grass of home?" Well, the grass was indeed green, and tall, and thick.... Jim mowed today.

We drove over 1,800 miles in one week, in our new Honda Accord. We had fun using the built-in navigation system. You just put in your beginning address and your destination, plus stops along the way, and you get very good instructions. I loved it when she would say "You are entering unverified territory" if we got off the main road and turned into a shopping center, store, etc. Once back on the main road, she would say, continue on your highlighted route.

Our first stop was in Charlotte, NC where we visited my sister Alice and her husband Jerry Thrasher. They live near South Park Mall in SW Charlotte, not too far from downtown. They're the only people I've ever known of that bought an exact replica of their old house in another part of the state. Their furniture was easy to place back where it originally was. Weird!! They have one addition; a nice sunporch on the back and lots of big shade trees for the back yard. They love living in the big city and taking advantage of many programs for seniors. Their favorite is "ushering" for big events including concerts, plays, etc. They are ushers for opening night of the broadway play, "Mama Mia" on July 28th.



Day 1 was Jim's and our son Bill's birthday (July 15) and we celebrated it with a picnic luncheon in Charlotte, NC at my sister Alice's home.

It was well attended and the big lunch spread was held in the back yard under a big oak tree.

Our son turned 51 and came from Florence, SC with his 3 daughters. Jim turned 75 and had fun opening his presents from the granddaughters. They always know just what to buy him. Bill gave him a new telephone with lots of new tech stuff I don't understand!

Day 2 - Jim's 57th high school class reunion in nearby Harrisburg, NC. He made a DVD for each member present with background music from the early 50s and lots of photos thru the years. 


The man in the dark shirt was voted the person who had changed the "least". Everybody went home happy from the restaurant (which is in a shopping mall on the land where the old school was located). Jim presented the owner of the restaurant with a big poster size aerial view of the old Harrisburg School and he said he would hang it in the restaurant for everybody to see.

Day 3 - we left Charlotte around 9 a.m. on Friday, July 17, and drove to Olive Hill, KY to attend the Logan family reunion on Sat. night and Sunday at noon. It was a beautiful drive through NC, VA, WVA, and KY - traveling through the mountains most of the day.

We stayed in Grayson, KY (closest motel to the reunion). Jim's brother Larry and his wife Suzi drove from Virginia Beach, VA and we had fun visiting with them.

About 60 people gathered at the youngest Logan sibling's (Geraldine) house on Sat . night for the cousin's get-together. The crowd has increased over the years with grandchildren, great grandchildren, in-laws, etc. We didn't have as much fun as in previous years at this gathering when it was smaller and we got Geraldine wound up telling "tales" about growing up on "Head of Grassy" and the youngest of 8 children and born when her mother was 46. She had a niece older than she was. Geraldine is a great story teller~

The reunion took place on Sunday at noon at the senior center in Vanceburg, on the side of the Ohio River that separates KY and OH. Of the 8 Logan children, only 3 attended the reunion. Pictured here are Geraldine, Paul and Noah. One other sister also is still living (Gyneth, called Jean) was in attendance on Sat. night but unable to come to the reunion on Sunday. We spent the day visiting around and having left-overs at Geraldine's house on Sun. night.

Day 6 - Monday, July 20th we headed home via Black Mountain, NC to visit my sister Carolyn and her husband Dave. We got to spend the night in their B&B as they had a vacancy. It was very cool in the mountains.

Driving through Virginia, near the NC border, we stopped at Natural Tunnel, a VA State Park. There's a tunnel running thru a tall mountain, with a stream running thru it and a railroad track. It was a most interesting stop along the way. You could ride a chair lift down to the bottom of the gorge to check out the tunnel. We checked it out at the scenic overlook instead and took this photo.

We checked out this home in Montreat that was one of the original homes built in 1918 on the side of the mountain. It belongs to a family in Montgomery, AL and he told me he rents it. I haven't decided if we want to stay there next May or not when we go there for a wedding. First of all, there are no parking places on the one way, narrow road on the side of the mountain. Billy Graham originally lived on this street before moving farther up the mountain to avoid people looking at his house. 

After a stop-over in Black Mountain, we drove all the way back to Elba (9 hours) on Tuesday, getting home at 5 p.m. We had a great trip visiting with family and friends.

On Vacation

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We have a lot packed in the next week, beginning today at noon. We will be leaving after Rotary Club lunch meeting and start our week-long travel to visit with family in Charlotte, NC, northeast KY for a family reunion, and returning via NC mountains to see my sister.


We'll be attending Jim's 57th class reunion on Thursday at Harrisburg, NC. Celebrating Jim's 75th birthday (3/4th of a century!) on Wednesday and our son Bill's 51st birthday - he was born on his dad's birthday.


We have a lot planned for the next couple of weeks.

A Tie for Every Occasion

Our son James had a big collection of neckties and he wore them to church on special occasions. Some of his favorites are shown here.


When we were taking his clothes out of his closet recently, I didn't know what to do with his tie collection.


So - I cut cardboard to put under each tie, and wrapped each one with
Saran wrap. Then I photographed them in categories of baseball, Christmas, patriotic, Looney tunes, etc.


Next I sent the photos to his brothers Bill and Ronnie to select ties they might want to keep. I removed those photos and sent the photos to other family members to select one of James' ties to remember him by. The stack is getting smaller and smaller. Any left over will be offered to friends of James.

Tiger Town Playground Update

The old high school facade is looking better every day. The old roof was removed and a new one installed. Missing bricks on sides and back were replaced and the ceiling is being installed inside.

Landscaping on each side will include dogwood and crepe myrtle trees with small shrubs underneath.

The building on the left side is the new restroom. Bricks from the old school were used on the lower part of the building, and for the 5' brick columns that will be used for the fence around the buildings.
The restrooms doors face the playground and the area between the building an play will be paved with concrete.

Large round columns will be used to support the pavilion roof, to match the columns on the front of the old school facade.

The contractor informed me today that he plans to finish the project before the end of July. This is going to be a great asset for our little town when all is completed.

Plans are being made to have something spectacular for young kids for the grand opening of Phase 2 of Tiger Town, using the amphitheater and stage for a special event for young children. This would take place before school opens in August. Maybe a "back to school" party, or "celebration of the end of summer".

The old school wing behind the playground has been "transformed" into 8 luxury 2-bdrm apts, with 2 efficiency apartments on the end facing the playground. Some private individuals bought the old building and own the apartments.

I am looking forward to celebrating a project that I have been working on since May 2004. The playground was completed in Sept. 2006. Drinking fountains were added the summer of 2007 but lack of restrooms prohibited school children from having field trips to Tiger Town Park. Maybe there will be "yellow fever" at the park next year when buses bring in kids from nearby schools.

Jim and I planted and watered (two summers) 12 maple trees and 10 Leyland cypress. Here I am standing under one of the maples and an earlier photo of the same tree when it was planted in March 2007. They have really grown. Also planted some crepe myrtles.

Coffee County Lake reopens today

The Coffee County public lake opened in the summer of 1947 when I was 13 years old. My sisters Chris and Sue and our Papa Wilson and I went there to fish. Papa was almost blind and we often got him to go places with us. He made us feel secure. I guess I must have driven our dad's old truck to get there; can't remember.


Anyway, it was a hot, sultry July day and we rented a boat to get out in the lake to fish. While we were out in the middle of the big lake, a storm came up and we couldn't paddle the boat back to the boat ramp. We kept going in circles and finally the wind pushed our boat to the opposite side where there was no path, just a deep thicket and woods. We got off the boat and waited for the storm to pass and then hiked around the woods, across the dam, and back to the concession stand to let them know we couldn't get the boat back. I guess somebody must have retrieved it for us. I don't remember if we caught any fish. And I guess we didn't have on life jackets. If we did, I guess we left them in the boat. It was many years before I wanted to get in a boat without a motor.


When the lake was new, there was an area marked off with ropes as a designated swimming area. Daddy would let us use an "inter-tube" from a car or truck (one that he had patched I'm sure) to use to float on top of the water. We made the swimsuits we wore.


Now I'm "paying" for all the time I spent in the sun and getting sunburned. I have to go to a dermatologist regularly to have pre-cancer skin places removed on my arms and face. There was no sun screen back then. 


Today there is a nice fishing pier where water is deep and a good spot to go fishing. Also there are lots of picnic tables along the shoreline on the west side, along a road that enters the park.


The city of Elba recently took over the management of the park that is operated by the state Wildlife and Fisheries Dept. State rules for fishing are in effect.


Hopefully this lake will be here for many more generations to enjoy. It is a great place to go fishing for catfish, bream, crappie and bass. I can't wait to get up early one morning and be there when it opens at 5 a.m. and catch enough for our lunch. Yum yum...... I'll have to clean them; Jim refuses to do that. He didn't get to go fishing when he was growing up and never learned to clean fish. He doesn't know what he missed.......

Getting Ready for July 4th

Just 4 more days until July 4th. We visited New Ebenezer Cemetery out in the country this morning and placed a patriotic arrangement there in memory of James - who loved Uncle Sam and the 4th of July. While he love watching fireworks on TV, he didn't like the loud noise of live fireworks displays. He always wanted to go watch them, but usually wanted to come home as soon as they started going off. He always wanted to go to the fireworks stands and buy some for 4th of July and Christmas.


I don't remember who gave James this Uncle Sam lawn ornament, but he kept it in his club house. I thought it was very appropriate to use in this arrangement. Hope it doesn't disappear!


The grocery store sale paper arrived today and there's so many good specials this week for the Grand Old Fourth celebration. We are invited to a fish fry but if it's still in the high 90s, I think we will celebrate inside with air conditioning and maybe grill some ribs. We are also invited to Troy University for a special 4th concert in the evening.


We both love patriotic music and honoring our country and saluting the American flag. We did that at church last Sunday; our church on Sunday morning and another church in town on Sunday night. The music was great at the presentation on Sun. night, and great fellowship afterwards.


Thursday we will be attending a 4th outing (on the 2nd) at the river boat landing park, after we go to Special Persons at our church for lunch and a patriotic music program by some Troy singers. Then we will go to the city sponsored picnic to meet our new Congressman Bobby Bright. We don't have anything planned for Friday except to get ready for Saturday!


It is so exciting to celebrate the 4th of July as a free nation when so much is happening around the world right now. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!