Sunday, July 27, 2008

Odds and Ends


It's getting toward the end of the Gladiolas.. I have enjoyed them so much. I thought I would share these two pictures.. I only had this one gladiola that had multicolor like this.. I thought it was beautiful. Wish I had more of these - Also I shot this around 9:00 am but the light was too harsh even then..

Also we are arranging for the carpet for the Guest Quarters today. So probably in the next few weeks we will be completely done. We are both looking forward to it. Cap'n Steve is definitely ready to move on. He is talking furniture making and I am encouraging it so that should keep him occupied and not driving me crazy! He did rebuild our back steps earlier this spring. Our BC, Lass, is to the point that she has problems going up stairs. These back steps were starting to give her fits. I couldn't pick her up and carry her up/down like I did with the corgis as they became unable to negotiate them so Cap'n Steve redesigned them to be wider and smaller rise. We just put the outdoor carpet on them this week as Lass was really starting to slip. Mattie, my ham, is modeling them for us. Lass is definitely a camera shy BC.. I have come to the conclusion it is the infrared focusing that makes her uncomfortable...

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Love, The Second Time Around

My Aunt and Ira are coming to visit for the next couple of days. She and her husband Ira are an inspiration. They were married in 2006 after both had lost their spouses. They have spent the last two years traveling and seem to be enjoying themselves so very much.

I love this picture of them. I had my camera for all of a month when I shot pictures of their wedding. That is the day I developed a very healthy respect for wedding photographers and I follow several wedding photographer blogs for inspiration. I will sound like a broken record here, but I just don't have many people to practice on and practice makes perfect... and I am too shy to just shoot people randomly in the streets. I don't want to be known as that crazy woman with the camera.. Our town has only 1 stop sign and 1 traffic light...so I could easily be spotted and "tagged".

We seem to have a bit of a break in the weather here, actually feels like North Georgia again, so hopefully we can get out and I can show them a bit of our little corner of the world without all of us dripping in sweat..

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Do Cats Rule (and dogs drool)?The Squeek



The Squeek - came to us by way of a construction site on the ridge above the cabin. She has turned out to be the cat I always wanted..more dog like than cat like.. she is a sweetie - and out of the 3 cats - she is more my cat than Cap'n Steve's (take that Cap'n Steve!).

She was just skin and bones when we got her - but outgoing from day 1..


For some reason, kittens seem to like to camp out on Cap'n Steve..



But with lots of love and lots of food (The Squeek is insatiable - evidently a probable result of having been starved as a very young kitten) - The Squeek now resembles a fat tick..


Saturday, July 12, 2008

I'm No Martha Stewart




Having a bit more company this weekend than last. 8 people.. Which is fine except that we don't have more than 6 plates/wine glasses and not to mention we can't sleep more than 4 very comfortabley, which is one reason for the guest quarters. But I guess my friends (more on MY friends vs Cap'n Steve's friends in another post) finally got tired of waiting on the guest quarters and decided this is the right time to visit. Which is too bad in a way because the quest quarters are just a couple of weeks away from being completed.. Hooray!..

So back to my Martha Stewart comment. I am no pro at cooking/nesting/entertaining and don't really spend a lot of time fretting over it... but luckily my friends all realize this and still like me.. I feel lucky..I used to go all manic when we have company - I mean really bad - drove Cap'n Steve up the wall.. I have learned to relax a lot and it makes for a much more enjoyable time for me...(and Cap'n Steve). I usually try to do the food a day in advance (even when my guests graciously bring goodies) and then I usually run the vacuum the morning of the day of arrival... with 5 animals and living on the river bank with lots of sand, it's always a losing battle - but at least it helps initially.

This time of year our gladiolas are blooming which is a treat - at least for us. But somewhere recently I heard them referred to as funeral flowers and now I can't get that phrase out of my head and as I look around at them all over the house I can't help but think about that phrase... ticks me off.. I shot these yesterday very quickly with the P&S (and it shows) but the colors or pretty true - very brilliant with a preponderance of white gladiolas this year I have these spread all throughout the cabin.. in fact I need to go tend to them and make sure they look fresh for company.. It will be a fun group - lots of laughs and lots of good discussion - I am looking forward to it..

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

A Fashionable yet Comfortable Recommendation

Okay - I am not known for keeping up on the latest fashions.. I live in the middle of nowhere and combine that with that "woman of a certain age" and well you may want to take this rec with a grain of salt... but believe me - when I find something great - I love to share.. Teva flip flops with the Mush footbed..




Just about everyone who has tried these flip flops loves them.. they are so light - but the sole is made out of something that is difficult to describe - sort of like walking on air.. (but it has arch supports built in)..and they are 13 bucks - granted you do pay shipping - so make that 16 bucks or so with shipping. And believe me they last - I have worn them continuously for the last 3 months and around here that means walking on gravel driveways - yard adventures and all around town (what little we have) - They are the first thing I put on in the morning to take the dogs out and they are just about the last thing I take off. I have a pair down at the Hudson house too... so if you are looking to treat yourself for a minimal amount - these are great - granted I have never tried the crocks that I know a lot of people are swearing by - but these are so inexpensive - I don't think you can go wrong..

I order them from Sierra Trading Post.. if you aren't familiar with them - they are a pretty good outlet.. they have everything from housewares to outdoor gear and stuff in between... they will bombard you with catalogs - so beware... but we have had great service and deals from them for the last 10 years - and they are easy to deal with when you need to return stuff.

Hope you order these - that you enjoy them and if you don't - well if you wear a 9 - I might buy them off ya!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Independance Day - the relaxed way...

Our life here is very quiet and very relaxed. We don't have a social life.. period. We have nice neighbors and on rare occasions we will socialize with them, but it is rare. Which is fine. Cap'n Steve is not known as a social butterfly. Me, on the other hand, well I like a bit of socializing. So when my friends (what few I have) decide to venture up to the cabin, spending the 2-8 hours that it takes to get here (depending on origination point) I get excited. It is like a breath of fresh air to hang with my girlfriends. It's a wonderful break for me and the same for them. So when two of my favorites decided to come up for the 4th... I was thrilled. Rebecca and Christiane are two sisters that I love dearly and vicariously live a career through each of them. You might recall my Memorial Day post about Christiane and I hanging with our buddy the timber rattler... Well Rebecca took a break from doing good in the world and finally made it up this past weekend. It's been far too long, and she has had a rocky road these past few years, but this spring things started to really look up and now she can look forward. She looks so great - the best I have seen her look in three years. These two girls are gorgeous, smart, artistic, smart, caring, smart, insightful, oh did I mention smart? Spending timing with both of them together is such a treat. They arrived on Friday accompanied by their "3rd sister", Cheryl - who loves Marines - and who grew up about 45 minutes from here. When they arrived we had a beer and loaded the tubes in the truck and off we went to launch for our 2 hour tube trip down our little river. Drinking beer and slowly floating, keeping cool on a hot summer day.. that's about as far away as you can get from their high pressured careers and there were smiles all around. Coming off the float I made my signature margaritas while they prepped dinner. These girls can cook. I have nicknamed them the Silver Palate girls. They were kind enough to bring up all the fixins for an absolutely wonderful meal.. I am still stuffed... We then took up on the lawn while Cap'n Steve entertained us with a small showing of our leftover fireworks from a couple of years ago. What fun. Wish we had more - it was a short display... it is so much more fun when you have an audience... I guess I just can't ooh and aaah enough for Cap'n Steve to play pyromaniac just for me..and we didn't really think to go get any...but alas it was a wonderful relaxing day and I do believe everyone sleeps very well here at the cabin. Most guests choose to sleep on our porch, where they can hear the rapids that are just upstream. High class camping to say the least! The next day, after saying our goodbyes to Cheryl who headed for her parents, we headed for the Ocoee whitewater center. We brought our cameras and beverages and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon whatching the rafters and boaters. I really miss running the Ocoee with Cap'n Steve. We had a lot of fun in our boat. We still run the Nanty a couple of times a year but no more Ocoee... boo hoo.. Also I won't guide our friends down. I don't feel comfortable doing it, and I would hate to make a bonehead move and hurt someone.. Told the gals next time they came up - we would grab a guide from one of the companies and we would all go down.. so looking forward to that...So here are some shots from the afternoon...

These guys must have thought they were out west... an oar rig and no helmets are much more common on western rivers... Eastern rivers are known as narrow and rocky - western rivers are wide and only rocky in the major rapids. You wear a helmet because the chances are very good that if you come out of the raft or boat - you could easily slam your head on a rock - so brain buckets are standard... usually..These guys also had a dog with them - can you see him? Remember you can click on the pictures to see a larger version. Nobody said paddlers were smart...



This looks like guide in training or private boat - can't tell for sure - they all have good form and look like they know what they are doing... I am jealous to say the least...




We decided to hike upstream from the whitewater center and decided to stop at this small rapid, seeing how there appeared to be some recent carnage here, we thought there might be some action to come..Rafts pinned and abandoned lead to many tales...




The looks on guides faces were priceless - and the customers going by are wondering WTF? I can hear those guides now.. spinning some tale...

Here lies good ole raft 17 - it was a workhorse until that new guide from Sunburst threw it under the bus...



Uhh, they told me there would be days like this..



Man, I am glad it was them and not us...



I wonder if they still tipped the guide?




And last but not least.. The guide pointing to the raft and talking to his customers.. "Now this is what will happen if you don't do what I tell you- NOW PADDLE FORWARD - HARD"...

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

All Over but the Groutin'

.... well a few more tiles to be laid (and the cleanin' and the sealin') - Cap'n Steve is on a role - make that a mission or maybe he senses the apocalypse - whatever the reason - he is making tracks.. to be fair - he said the tile would go quickly and for the most part it has. Anyway - some shots of the the WIP ..