Beautiful Day

Saturday, November 14 was a beautiful day. Everett was in town, and I took him to see the scenic side Augusta. First we went to Phinizy Swamp, which is also where the Natural Science Academy is. The local schools go there for Science projects. Below is the boardwalk that spans over part of the swamp out to the wetlands. Even though it was in the mid to high 70's, we saw no wildlife basking in the sun, just a couple egrets ad tons of spiders on the boardwalk, but they were not yucky ones!

This is only a small part of the wetlands used by the Science Academy AND the Waste Water Treatment Plant for filtering purposes.

This ugly spider is NOT one from the boardwalk. He/she was outside the restroom door. Very clean restrooms! It was about 3" in diameter.

After the swamp, we ventured to downtown Augusta to the Raw Water Pumping Station, where I took no pictures, and we walked part of the trail that follows the upper part of the canal.

I took this picture from the trail we walked, and saw the herron and turtles sill there later when we took the boat ride on the canal. The guide on the boat gives a very interesting history of the canal. I have ridden this boat ride about 3 times now, and each time learn something else new. Must depend on the guides and how much they research the canal history. The bird is a blue herron, and the turtles I believe are yellow bellied turtles.

The beginning of the boat ride on the canal begins in Downtown Augusta about 2 blocks from the hospitals. The boats are replicas of the original boats they used to carry cotton and tobacco down the canal to the mills, etc. The bridge has eagles and lions on it. Will have to do the history and pictures of that another time.

Textile mill below was turned into a factory to make ammo fur the Civil War. It still produces hydro electric power which it sells to GA Power and also charges the replica boats which are electric. No motor or fuel powered crafts are allowed on the canal.

No fuel power used here. The green overpass is the pedestrian/bicycle path that runs several miles along and over the canal.

The mill below is the Enterprise Mill where the boat started from and returned to. This mill has been restored to keep its original state as much as possible. There are now offices and apartments in it, along with a museum. Throughout the building you can see some of the workings of its hydro electric mechanisms.

As you can see, we did have a very pretty day for walking and boating. Hope to keep up better with the blogging. Now I shall go back to work and earn my money!

I was very surprised when Kev popped in for a quick visit Thursday evening. He got a nice warm meal of roast chicken, corn on the cob and asparagus. The next morning, he walked around my place to see what has changed, and then he had to finish the last couple legs of his trip back home.

As for me, I was informed by Cobii that I needed to be a witch. As one in my Office told me, that would not be hard for me to do!

Melissa was a cat. She did such a wonderful job painting her face. It is hard to see, but she does have ears, and the tail is not showing in this shot.

The Rimmer family stopped in on their way to take Cobii trunk or treating at the church. They had lots of fun and................

The pumpkin Wins The Prize! She was so happy that she got a prize, a CD with music on it. That made all the work put into this costume very worth it. Cobii HAD to have paint since everyone else did, so Carrie gave her a little. Cobii actually washed it off all by herself.

This year we had a smaller party than usual. With ALL the kids in college, working, etc., there was no time to plan or decorate. We did have all of us plus about 6 more people that are Carrie's friends, it rained quite hard which put the kabosh on the bonfire, had lots of sweets, and just had fun. Next blog will be soon for sure.

Catch up Time

I have been stretched out to the max with going here, going there, helping others, and have not taken much time for myself. I always preach that ones self is FIRST. I have been going to the Y and watching what I eat, and it is paying off. I have lost a couple of pounds and toned up. The other day at work I had to constantly pull my pants up, they kept sliding down to where dropped waist clothes go. I went to Cato and found a couple of nice pair of slacks in a smaller size!

Part of my running around has been traveling half way between home and Atlanta transporting Melissa. Her car is in the shop, so she needed rides. She has had some inconsistencies in her blood work, so has to go for blood work. Her brother or other family members have met me at the halfway point. The exit we stop at has everything from all the fast food places, WalMart, Lowes and a bunch of other places. It is 1.5 hour trip on each end for everyone. Yesterday on our way back, after we left I-20, we saw........... are you ready?.......

She was just strolling around very leisurely. She stood in the road for a little bit just looking at us like "What are you doing?" That was awesome. I am glad Melissa remembers we have cameras on our phones, because I just plain forget in my old age. I have a camera AND a phone. I guess because I do not pay to send and receive photos, I do not think about it.

I have read everyones blogs, and am enjoying reading about all the FOOD and activities. My latest activity I have had some time to do is Cobii's halloween costume. I have sent some pictures of it, but not sure who I sent it to. Will post a new picture at a later date when it is totally finished.

Until the next blog, hopefully not so long, I will sign off. Love to all.

It has been awhile since I have done some updating. Saturday, 8/29/09, the girls and I bbq'd some chicken and potatoes that were doctored with butter, onions and peppers. It looked like rain, so the old rain barrier that use to be used when I worked craft fairs got put up. Then the sun came out and made for a very pretty day. My girls were "drawing" in the sand. One of Cobii's favorite things to do, and she is a good teacher. She tells one what to draw, how big, etc.

The food turned out to be quite tasty and the last of the left overs got finished in my lunches on Wednesday.

Just before dark, the weather was perfect for cleaning the roof off and the gutters. You can see that there were trees growing in the gutters. That sure was a workout! As you can see below, it was also a very dirty job.

The shower sure felt good after that, and it was still quite warm, but not like in the hot sunshine.

I have joined the Y along with my friend Melissa. She goes nearly everyday around noon or so. I car pool so do not have as much time to go without driving all the way back into town. Patches and I are going bike riding after work today, so I drove myself and stopped at the Y on the way to work. Didn't have a lot of time, but did have time to do 2 miles on the tread mill with an average speed of 4mph. That felt great! Took a shower, and here I am.

This weekend is a long weekend for me, and I am so looking forward to it. Not sure what I will do, but do know I will go to the Y a couple of times. Scrapbooking has really been on my mind lately. Have not done anything on that in a long time. Also need to make Cobii some winter PJ's, but I have plenty of time before the cold weather sets in to do that. Maybe scrapbooking will be it then.

My mother in law will have her left big toe operated on next Friday. The gout has gotten so bad, that it has eaten most of one of the bones in the toe. A circulation test has been done, and her circulation is fine, so surgery will be day surgery with a local. They will remove the rest of the bone that has been deteriorating. With her good sense of humor, she said "I can hardly wait". She does know she will be in pain and have some trouble moving about, but she is a strong and good recoverer of things.

Now I suppose it is time to get something done around the Office. I will close with a picture I took of Oliver last night. Jason, Carrie, Cobii, Oliver and I were walking all around the horse pasture looking at all the different mushrooms growing. Even though he wakes me up at 3AM to be let outside, he is still my best companion.

A safe and great holiday weekend to all.

Life in my part of Georgia has been about the same. We just keep getting older and hopefully wiser. This past weekend two of my kids planned a birthday party for the other kid - Carrie. Her birthday is really this Wednesday, but this was a good time for us all to get together. There were 17 people there. Spaghetti was the menu of the day with chocolate birthday cake with fudge icing and purple roses and writing. It was a very nice day except for the half hour it poured - we got 1" in that time. Then Cobii and Jewel HAD to stomp in the mud puddles. They had so much fun.

Some of us stayed up till nearly midnight after the party. We had a small fire since everything was wet, and we just enjoyed the great evening. There was a nice breeze and not hot at all. My one project I had for the weekend did not get done. I wanted to get the toy box moved, so I can have my space back.

Pictures below are Cobii and her new Little Tykes digital camera that I gave her for her birthday. She has had lots of fun taking pictures of everything. This picture I took of her during "camera training" class.
I think I mentioned before she had taken pictures of half a cat. Here is one of them along with her own half feet.

She is getting better - all of Oma is in this one.

This I thought was a nice picture of the fog. Not sure why all those trees on the right are so black, but the tree in the fog looks good.

This picture I took. She was saying "I did it".

I have not tried a video yet, but here is one. I made it short to see if it would send. If that works I will send a little bit longer one and see how large of a file will post.

I have finally shown up again on my blog. This past weekend was great! I had Cobii a good share of Saturday, overnight, and till Sunday afternoon. We had a fun time. She mostly played "Muppett Babies" on the computer. It is a preschool program with matching, finding the difference in things, etc. She did fantastic! She was happy to receive all the medals possible. I was a bad Oma as I did not take the first picture this weekend. Other than regular things, there was nothing else exciting.

I have been watching the roof going up on the Church. It is progressing quite nicely and is looking good. Also, I have been keeping up with the blogs. Lynda's ironing looks good, maybe I can send mine to her.

I had a Dr. appointment today - just a regular 6 month check up. I went fasting as they always do blood work. He said since my blood work has always been consistent with everything where it belongs, he would not order blood work this time. I went without my coffee and muffin this AM for nothing. The coffee part was the worse. On the subject of Drs., Melissa had an Atlanta appointment Monday. She is right on track where she needs to be, other than being quite tired all the while. Besides her just doing too much, her Dr. said that is par for the course with her blood disease. She was so hoping they would just tell her to get more iron or something in her. At least it is not a bad thing.

Bless everyone.

The weekend was the most wonderful relaxing time I have had in quite a while. Melissa and I went to our friends on Friday night and stayed until Sunday evening, early evening for me. This is where we spent most of our time, by the pool or in the pool. The weather was perfect and so was the water. There is a nice little covered area where the lounge chairs, little tables, and whatever else you need is. Also, there is ALWAYS a breeze, no matter what.




Then we had Melissa's 9th liver transplant birthday party with presents and all. She is looking so good and doing just fine, sometimes better than me I think.

Of course, there was a great dinner to be had. Along with the squash, corn and steak from the grill, there were other sides to put with it. One side was twice baked potatoes - the best thing ever. It was absolutely YUMMY! I just finished my leftover steak last night for supper. Had been eating on it for a couple of meals.

Then you cannot have a birthday without cake! Melissa's favorite, yellow cake with buttercream icing. It was quite sweet, but good.

After I got home from the relaxing weekend, I had to feed the neighbor's animals while they are out of town. That consisted of feeding 1 dog, 2 cats, 5 goldfish, and 2 horses. Of course, I found that the dog escaped, but was captured and put in one of the Mravlja dog pens. I walked him back to his own pen and piled up concrete blocks in front of his escape hole. Last night he was still there. Today should be the last day of feeding them as they are due home tomorrow.

Also when I got home from my weekend away, my kids were all there. That was nice since they unloaded the car for me. I got my towels and bathing suits washed and hung up. I was beginning to hang them up when Carrie and family were ready to go home. Cobii HAD to help hang up clothes - she would not leave until she "helped". The length of time it took Carrie and Jason to load up their things, we were done with the laundry hanging. Cobii said "Bye Oma, I love you and thanks for letting me help". She is just too awesome. Until the next post, Bless Everyone.

Cobii's birthday with the Rimmer Family

July 18, Carrie and Jason put on a nice big party of Cobii. She was in the yard with her bubble machine when I got there. She just LOVES bubbles.


When the cousins, etc. arrived, they all wanted to swim. Cobii can do a little doggie paddle, so she will be swimming soon. She really wants to, and she is one that if she wants to do something, she will keep trying until she has accomplished the task.

Carrie made the most beautiful cake. The front of the skirt was trying to fall off. Barbie is sitting rather than standing. Carrie quickly added some extra icing to the spot before serving. She did a great job.

Cool shades are always nice to get in favor bags at birthday parties. They go real well with the bikini!

Next, so you may have a laugh for the day. Melissa was playing with Oliver, and he does not care who does what to him as long as he is getting attention. Melissa let go of him, and he just turned and wanted her to pet him some more. He purred through the whole process I think. It is good to have such a good cat with Cobii around.

As for this weekend coming up. It is ladies weekend at Kay's again. We have such a fun and relaxing time. It is also, Melissa's 9th liver transplant birthday. With all the ups and downs, she is doing absolutely perfect. We will partake in swimming, board games, FOOD, and probably some movies.

Today Carrie is going to speak to a lady at a quilt shop for a required internship for her marketing class. Hopefully that will work for her. I cannot see why not, there is no salary involved unless the business really wants to pay something. Sorry, just got busy, am posting with no proofing!

Until next week - Love to all

Cobii's Birthday

Jacobii has reached the age of 3. Yesterday we had a birthday party at Oma's house. There were 14 adults and 8 children present. The weather was just perfect, nice breeze, sunny, and a good day for the kids to get wet in the pool. Some of the adults, that seldom see each other, had a nice time catching up on everything. We had macaroni and tomato, garlic bread, and of course cake. It was pleasant enough to eat outside, no mosquitoes or bees. The kids all played very hard and most cried when it was time for everyone to go their separate ways. We heard "You can just leave me here", "Can she come with us", or plain "I do not want to go home now". There was not the first argument or fuss between the kids at all. They are all such good kids. It was so nice to see them all having a good time.

The four kinds in the front and the one in the car seat are Diona's, Jackson(blond in front), Logan(dark shirt), Montana(girl with baby Jamison), Baby Joseph(in car seat). Back Roy, Cobii, baby Joseph, Jewel(green shirt), and Jewel's brother Eri(on his daddy's shoulder). Those two belong to Angie.

And of course, now it is cake time.

The round blue thing is the musical carousel that was on the top of Carrie's baby shower cake. Since Cobii cannot have all the colors, she got that and her candles looked like crayons.

Two last pictures are the latest and cutest editions to the VanValkenburg "extended" family.

Eri - 4 months old Pronounced Airy

Twins Joseph on left, Jamison on right. 4 weeks old.

That was my weekend! The usual house duties can wait as it is the day of rest!

Critters

Besides my cat Oliver, I have othere "pets" in my yard. There are LOTS of daddy long leg spiders everywhere! Cobii always asks "may I touch it?" At least she asks before she touches any kind of bug. The colored bug has not been identified yet. My boss and I spent 2 hours trying to find it on the interenet, and the closest we came was some kind of stink bug. Last but not least is Oliver. He looks like he is "The Boss", but he is quite whimpy for a male cat.

Work is going just fine. I do really like my job, trying to keep everyone in line, ha ha. Basically though, that is what I do along with my secretarial skills. My job is very interesting to see what really goes on before the public sees a construction crew on site.

Sorry, I did the preview thing, and do not like how the pictures are situated, but spent way too much time trying to figure out how to change that! Next time, I insert pictures, I will center them rather than left side them. Thought the text would be alongside them.

July 7, 2009

Here I am again learning this program. Let's try a picture from the fireworks. Yeah, I got it! Another time I will try a little video. Today all 3 of my kids are back in school for their next quarter at Augusta Tech. College. They have been out for nearly 3 weeks now. Makes me feel I want to go back myself, but my brain cannot hold anymore information at this time. Hopefully, we will get some rain as things are wilting badly here. The plants I can keep watered, but it is hard to water an acre of trees. Until the next time, Bless everyone.

July 7, 2009

Since I have had some people ask me to have a facebook page or blog, I will attempt to put one together. Keep your eyes open for some recent pictures to come. I will just have to look for some of the best. The fourth of July weekend was a good one, Fireworks at Fort Gordon that were awesome, and mostly watching TV. I was on a real vacation! Did almost nothing! It sure felt good and seemed like I was on a vacation. Now I have the things I should have been doing on the weekend left for me for evenings this week.