from the porches

items of interest

Here are a few items of interest:

Our FCAT writing test results came in and our fourth graders did okay.  We're not number one out of all of Columbia County schools.  Nor are we number two.  We're about in third place.   They say it's not a competition; but I beg to differ.  I had hoped we could have outscored the other schools, but it didn't happen.  Anyway, the children are proud of their scores, as well as the fourth grade teachers.  I guess I'll always be disappointed if Fort White Elementary isn't number one in writing.

The autistic child I wrote about at the first of the year scored the highest score possible...a "6".  In fact, we had two students score a "6".  I'm especially happy about this.  I always know we have more students who could do this; but there again, kids will be kids on any given day. 

The second worthy item to mention is that we have twenty (20) school days left with the children and everyone, teachers, kids and principal, are counting down.  The weather is getting hotter and the spring fights between boys have begun.  It happens every year.

      

Thirdly, this ligustrum is blooming off my back porch and smells heavenly.  The jasmine is blooming in the front yard and they smell heavenly.

color galore

Right now the fields and the sides of the highway are ablaze with color.

      

I have always looked forward to the phlox each spring but..

       

I believe the coreopsis is my favorite.

      

dinner time

      

Truett and I went back to my friend's house Sunday to feed the horses, Cowboy and Harley.

      

       

Cowboy waited patiently with his lips pressed against the fence.  Meantime Harley circled and circled.

      

                                What a beauatiful face!

      

      

 

baby buggy wars

I learned something valuable this weekend: 

You must have two of everything if you are to have a happy babysitting experience.

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The sleepover with Maddie and Oliver went pretty well until Maddie saw Oliver pushing her baby buggy on Saturday morning.  Then all hell broke loose at 10:30 am.  She began screaming,  "Mine!  Mine!  I want my baby buggy!" 

Good golly Miss Molly.  I was stunned and so was Truett and little Oliver. 

Heck. 

The buggy had wheels and I, the grandmother, thought it was the perfect boy toy.  

WRONG! 

Madeline displayed a thirty minute temper tantrum that would win any fireworks competition. 

      

This is a photo of the famous baby buggy, complete with Maddie's, oops! Oliver's bracelet.  Heck!  I don't know who owns the bracelet anymore.

But after listening to a thirty minute meltdown by a five-year old I made a wise decision today.  I trotted myself down to the Fort White Dollar Store and bought a second baby buggy.  

      

 Isn't it beautiful?  It has Snow White and some other woman on it, and it has four wheels and rolls in case Miss Maddie doesn't like it and Oliver does.

Never again will a baby buggy come between the grandparents and grandchildren having a grand time.

    

feeding horses

      

Feeding my friend's horses was a highlight for us on Saturday.  This is a photograph of Cowboy.  His face has a wide white blaze on it.  He let us stroke his nose and waited patiently for a carrot.

      

 And this is Harley, or as Maddie says, Charlie.  Harley is the friskier, leaner horse with the tiny bit of blaze on his face.

Lucille said that Cowboy would be the gentlest horse for the grandchildren to feed carrots to.

       

And Lucille was correct.  Cowboy slowly poked his head under the fence and Maddie poked a carrot toward his mouth.  He slowly wrapped his horse mouth around the carrot and poof!  It disappeared.

      

Harley, on the other hand, slung his head toward me and Oliver with quick impatient movements which scared Oliver a little bit, and maybe me too. 

      

I've come a long way in being around these big creatures.  I am fascinated by horses, but I do wonder why they stomp their feet during  the feeding process.  Are they saying,  "More!"  or "Hurry up!"  I don't know.  Oliver even said,  "Horse stomp foot.  Horse bite."  But they did't bite, thank goodness.

Today Truett and I feed Cowboy and Harley by ourselves. 

the sleepover

      

           Oliver and Maddie leave for the sleepover at Nana's and Granddaddy's.

      

                                                    All dressed up.

      

                        Enjoying the flooded Ichetucknee Springs.

      

                                                       Breaking up sticks.

      

                                        Feeding Cowboy carrots

      

                                          Maddie having a good time.

 

the story teller

Thursday night Truett, and Merry Jennifer and Sam and I went to see Garrison Keillor in Gainesville.  I think Merry Jennifer was as excited about seeing him perform live as much as Truett and I were.

You see, we have done a lot of traveling around the United States by car on our way to Stained Glass Association Conferences, as well as visiting family members.  We took many, many long trips filled with bickering children.  If you are a parent, you know how it goes:  He's on my side.  She touched me.  Make him stop.  Make her share.  Yes, many, many, many long miles of "sibling bickering".

But eventually, Truett and I got smart and turned on the radio and listened to NPR or books on tape.  I remember the kids saying,  "Please don't listen to that.  It puts us to sleep."  Duh.

But as it turns out, all those monologues, all those humorous anecdotes, yes, all of them seeped into our daughter's soul as she was dozing. 

At the performance MJ saw a drug sales rep who asked,  "Why are you here?  How do you know about Garrison Keillor?  You're too young." 

Her response,  "I listened to him many times with my mom and dad."  Truett and I just beamed.

Garrison Keillor sang and told stories of characters in Lake Wobegon.  His voice was rich and melodious.  He told about some people in his home town who went to exotic places, but when asked how their trip was, they responded,  "Fine.  We had a good time."  With no elaboration about their trip at all.

His point:  Be a story teller.  We all have stories to tell. 

I was impressed.

big shoals walk

During our trip to White Springs Truett and I took a walk to Big Shoals, a portion of the Suwanee River brandishing a class III whitewater rapids classification.  If you check on the link above you will see someone else's photos of the Big Shoals, but the Suwanee River was up too high for us to see the water cascading over the rocks.  Too bad.  I'll have to try another day.

Arriving at the park entrance to Big Shoals, we were met with this sight:

      

I knew exactly what it was. . .a deer feeder.  But I wondered why it was up so very high. 

      

I expected to see corn on the concrete pad, but instead saw flax seeds. Hummm, maybe it's some kind of wild bird feeder to attract the American goldfinches since they like flax seed. 

Truett caught up with me and said,  "You know what that is, don't you."

"Sure.  It's a deer feeder or a big bird feeder."

He laughed and said,  "No.  It's a bat house."

"But look at the flax seed."

"That's not flax seed.  It's bat poop."

So now I have been enlightened.

     

                     The swollen Suwanee from the embankment.

      

                             

                                  A trail leading into the woods.       

This is a typical palmetto and pine forest here in North Florida. 

All in all, it was a good Sunday walk and a change of scenery for us.

                          

white springs

Sunday Truett and I took a drive to White Springs, Florida, just to get away for a different view of another Florida town.  White Springs is also located on the Suwanee River so we were curious about the flood conditions there as well.

      

White Springs is an historic little town, but the thing I like best about it is that they take pride in their history.  I wasn't in the mood to take pictures of the old historic buildings, but did take this one on the way out of town.  One day I'll drive around and photograph all the gingerbread on the houses.

I learned that White Springs was originally called White Sulphur Springs.  It seems the Timucuan Indians and Apalachee Indians lived on either side of the Suwanee River.  But they put aside their warring attitudes and both tribes used the springs to heal and cleanse themselves.  Click on the  link above and you can read the history. 

White Springs is home of the Stephen Foster State Folk Cultural Center.  I've taken many fourth graders on field trips there and back in the 70's learned how to weave grapevine baskets.  I only did that once because it tore up my fingers.

About twice a year White Springs Spirit of the Suwanee hosts a 3-day country music event with single tickets costing $120.  These musical events began following the 70's.    It is truly a unique town show- casing it's heritage.

      

These are the stairs leading to the old lodge at the White Sulphur Springs.  The Suwanee is flooded so they had the stairs blocked off.

        

Click here and you can see an old photo of the original hotel at White Sulphur Springs. 

Well, that's enough history for today.  Actually, Truett and I tromped around the nature trails next to the river.

reflection

      

I started to name this post distortion, but changed it to reflection.  This is a photograph of the flooded waters at Three Rivers.

      

This photograph shows the wayside park at the highway 47 bridge.  The water is higher now but I just can't take any more flood pictures.  It's depressing to think about the mess left behind when the waters recede.  By the way, the waters crested yesterday.