from the porches

if I had watched

If I had watched the weather over the past several days I would not have been surprised to see the thunderstorms heading our way.

      

Ominous looking sky, isn't it?

    

This line of thunderstorms came on Saturday as we were driving right into Gainesville.

    

And this line of thunderstorms were right over our path to Merry Jennifer's house on Sunday.

    

The cattle egret were flying across the sky.  They look like silver dollars flashing in the sky, but I was not able to get a good picture of them since we were driving.

    

I photo-shopped the same photograph and decided the sky didn't look all that bad.

              

But it really did.  A bolt of lightning flashed and thunder boomed just as the grandchildren leaped out of the car and headed for their front steps.  It scared the begeebies out of them. . .and me too.  So after a wonderful day with Maddie and Oliver on Sunday, when Sam opened the door all he saw were two squawling children.

The storms raged on into the night at Fort White.  I worried about the cows and horses I saw standing in the fields.  I worried about Bubba who is terrified of thunder.  I wouldn't even sit on my front porch and watch the light show for fear the lightning would find me.  I'm such a wimp when it comes to storms. 

So today the highest temperatures were 65 degrees compared to 95 degrees two days ago.  I should have taken a sweater to school.  But most importantly, I should have watched the weather station on TV.

a success

       

Truett and I kept Maddie and Oliver for the day, and it was a babysitting success story.  The children were cooperative and happy and half of them took a nap.  That was a blessing in itself.

      

This time there was no arguing or melt-downs over who got to watch the TV, Truett or Maddie.  We bought a 22 inch flat screen TV and put it on the front porch so the children could watch a DVD of their choice, all comfy on the the fouton.  Why hadn't we thought of this before?

      

Snacks were of a healthier form this round of babysitting.  I served Ants on a log.  The kids ate the raisins and licked the peanut butter off as you can tell, but would not bite the log.  So Truett and I ate a bunch of logs.

      

We all had a good time.  I know Truett and I need our naps.

annie

Since I showed you a picture of Bubba recently, I thought you might like to see a photo of Annie.  She, too, has her summer cut. 

Annie has been through a lot this past year with an anti-immune problem.  She developed large bubbly blisters and scabs all on her nose and around her eyes.  She had stopped eating, and I honestly believed she was near death.  I took her to an animal skin specialist, and thus, the diagnosis and healing began.

Diligently I have given Annie Prednizone and Anathioprine.   Also I give her GastriCal and Pepcid AC tablets to combat the stomach issues she has with the first two meds mentioned.  I had to give her puppy food, fish oil and other things I don't remember, and now Annie is doing rather well.

The first result of the regiment of medicines was her vitality.  She became like a puppy again, leaping and turning in the air. . .just like a young puppy.  Annie is older than Bubba. 

      

Her nose still looks tender, but it is 100% better than it was.  She's my pretty girl.  Clay calls her Roo-Roo.  ????

big old hard-headed Bubba

This is how my afternoon went after I got home:

  First, the clouds formed black and poured buckets and buckets of rain.  Then lightning flashed and thunder boomed.

I walked to the back of the stained glass studio and began a conversation, but the pounding rain drowned out our voices.  "WHAT?  I CAN'T HEAR YOU FOR THIS RAIN ON THE TIN ROOF!"

Mumble.  Mumble.  Mumble.

"WHAT?  SPEAK LOUDER!" 

Well, I gave up, dashed to my car, while getting soaking wet, and parked the Acadia in the car port.

      

And there waiting for me at the back door entrance was Bubba.  Point of interest:  Bubba is deathly afraid of thunder. 

"Back Bubba!"  I said.  But Bubba kept pushing against my legs, trying to beat me into the house.  "BACK BUBBA!  BACK!"  Then he flung his big old hard head against my legs, trying to squeeze between my legs.  "BACK!  BACK!" I yelled, knowing I'll have a bruise below my kneecap in the morning. 

It took me about five minutes of walking off like I was headed to the car and turning quickly to race back to the door so I could unlock it before Bubba squeezed in the door.  I nudged and pushed with all my might, but that big, hard-headed Bubba wouldn't budge. 

I felt sorry for him.  Really, I did.  But I can't have him in my house.  Finally, I managed to trick him, unlocked the door and slammed it on Bubba's nose as I quick as a mouse slipped in the back door. 

That was the most energy I had expended all day long.  Now I'm wondering if it's raining this hard in Gainesville.  We're taking Maddie to swim lessons in a minute.

smell of rain

Hip hip hooray!  It finally rained today.  Actually it's raining right now at 7:45 p.m. and there's no better sound than that tapping and pattering on the tin roof.  Up until now all I've seen have been dusty automobiles and Ford trucks with finger swiped messages on the back windows that read Wash me!  or John loves Boo.

The rain makes me feel light-hearted and happy, so I'll show you some pretty flowers from my garden.

      

                             Here we have a pink flower.

      

                                  And some blue flowers

        

                          And a pinwheel of a jasmine blossom.

I love . . love . . love the smell of rain!

the soloist

Late this afternoon Mom and I saw The Soloist with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr.  Now this is a movie that will sap all the energy out of you while you wait for a perfect ending, or any ending at all, for that matter.  I know one review says, "Though it features strong performances by its lead players, a lack of narrative focus prevents The Soloist from hitting its mark."

By narrative focus I took it to mean a problem with events that lead to a conclusion. . . any conclusion. Any resolution based on movement of events.  But schizophrenia has no conclusion, nor do the 90,000 homeless people in LA.   I thought the movie was excellent and came out wanting to tell everyone to go see it.  However, the longer I was away from it, the more depressed I became. 

The performances by Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx were excellent. I had not read a review about the movie before hand, so I did not know who played the characters.  Robert Downey, Jr. has certainly matured into a fine actor over the past ten years.

Well, with all my inner turmoil about The Soloist, I thought this photo would be appropriate.

      

                                                  

truckin'

Truett and I were having coffee on our front porch early Sunday morning when I spotted movement in the driveway. "Hold that thought, Truett.  I see something coming down our driveway." 

So I stood up, opened the front door, and stepped out on the porch steps. 

      

That's when I spotted this gopher turtle truckin' toward the house.

Quietly I went back in the house, grabbed my camera, and headed out to the front gate.

      

You can tell how fast she's moving by the strides of herlegs.  By that time Truett had joined me.  We did not walk toward the gopher, but just stood as still as statues while I clicked away.  Snap!  Snap!  Click!

      

Then it turned it's reptilian head toward the fence and headed that way.

      

So I turned my reptilian neck to see what had forced a change in her direction.  It's been so dry lately that I only surmised the gopher was looking for water.

      

Uh oh!  Annie (with her summer cut) stood gazing at this creature in our yard, heading her way.

      

"You've got to rescue the gopher!"  I told Truett.  He seemed to think Annie wouldn't harm the turtle, but obeyed my command.  Notice how she tucked herself all inside her shell.

      

And she stayed that way for a while.  Truett referred to the gopher as a she so now I do, although I don't know how he figured that out.

      

We went back to the porch and eventually the gopher unfurled and headed back up the driveway toward the woods.  Annie went out and sniffed her, figured she was boring, and left.

I worry about the gophers and dogs because we've had turtle-flipping dogs in the past.  One of our dogs, Rufus, used to flip them over and leave them that way until they died.  Another of our previous mongrels would chew at the shells and tear at the legs.  So that was my concern with Annie.

Back on the porch, I kept my eye on the gopher, but seemingly she trucked on to safety for I couldn't find her again. 

"Now what were we talking about, Truett?"  I asked as we sipped lukewarm coffee. 

a happy mother

Today at lunch at Ruby Tuesdays at the Oaks Mall in Gainesville, I overheard one happy mother speaking to her baby.   It all started after I had devoured my Carolina chicken salad and had retired to the ladies' room.  I chose the handicapped stall simply because it was the only one empty out of two stalls.

So I was sitting there when I hear a woman slam through the outer restroom door and say,  "Oh no!  They don't have a baby changing station."

About that time one of the Ruby Tuesday waitresses (I could tell by her black slacks and black shoes when I peeked under the door) came out of the single stall and said,  "The baby changing station is in the handicapped stall."

The mother then quipped,  "Well, I guess I'll have to wait until that woman is out."

Me:  Duh!

In a minute or so I left the stall and made way for the relatively new mom and her chubby baby boy. They entered the stall and the mother locked the door. Then, as I washed my hands, I overheard the zealous mom speaking to her two-three month old baby boy.  Here's what I heard.  By the way.  My comments to the mom's conversation are merely my thoughts.

Mom:  Oh, look at mommy's little boy.  You're such a pretty little boy. You're so cute.  Yessss yooou aaare!

I'm about ready to yank a paper towel out of the holder on the wall when I overhear the next sentence.

Mom:  Well, just look at that little weiner!  That's a cute little weiner!"

Me:  Weiner?  I wasn't about to leave the sink at this point because I wanted to hear more so I reached for another paper towel.

Mom:  Yes siree.  You're going to have a big weiner one day just like your daddy.

Me:  Weiner?  Gosh lady.  Gag me with a spoon!

I had had enough.  I just couldn't listen to this one sided dialogue another second.  I thought about hanging around and following her to big weiner daddy's table to check him out. . .but I was too chicken.

It must be nice to be a new mother and experience all those special memorable moments.

cedar key sights

      

The one good thing about getting away for a day are the sights that are not everyday occurances.  Sights that lead you to believe that you're on vacation, even though you aren't. 

The gulf coast waters at Cedar Key were alive and teeming with life.  Dolphins swam around fishing boats snapping up fish.

      

                       Pelicans soared overhead like prehistoric birds.

      

  They rode the ripples of the gulf waters made by tiny fish leaping to the surface. 

       

               Then the pelicans dove under for their snack.

      

                      They dried their wings on dilapidated docks and . . .

      

                           stood century on high guard rails. 

      

Pelicans looked down on fishermen and tourists with cameras, wary and . . .

      

                                                             watching.

      

                                             And watching and . . .

      

              sometimes they scratched  under their necks.

mother's day at cedar key

      

Today Truett and I spent Mother's Day a day early at Cedar Key for lunch.  Merry Jennifer & Sam, Maddie & Oliver, Carroll & Sam Markham and my mother were also there.  Mother's Day is a special day and I can think of no better place to celebrate than at Cedar Key. 

        

Oh, my!  This is the only photograph of a mother I took.  But isn't she beautiful.  No, I got distracted by the grandchildren. . .

      

                     Grandson Oliver who is checking out Harley Davidsons and . . .

      

              Miss Madeline Kate Markham who is displaying her dramatic skills, and . . .

      

             Sam, my grandchildren's father. . . one of the best fathers I've ever known . . .

      

                                             and pelicans!

I will post again about our day trip to Cedar Key, but right now I'm going to watch a video with my husband.