This picture is for Macro Monday, a photo meme hosted by Lisa’s Chaos. It’s real easy to play, y’all. You take a close up picture that you think is blog-worthy, post it, and link back to Macro Monday so everyone can visit everyone! (That’s southeren-eese for leave each other comments, if you know what’s good for ya.)
This bee was in my lantana. I shot this with the zoom lens from a few feet away.
This week’s Spin Cycle topic is Parental confessions. We are supposed to confess something about parenthood that we don’t like. And it’s not supposed to be serious.
Well.
I have to be serious, y’all. I mean, we’re talkin’ about the most important job I’ve ever done – raising younguns’. So, I don’t know how to not be serious.
So here’s my confession. What I hated most about being a parent?
THEY GROW.
Yep. You heard me right. They grow. They grow up. They grow out. They grow away.
And one day, that precious little bundle that you were so overjoyed to welcome into your life….is a grown man with a precious bundle of his own.
That toddler that you are having to remind for the 100th time to brush his teeth….has a mortgage and a truck that needs tires.
That young boy that liked to play video games all night long is a physics major.
And you wonder – where did the time go? Why didn’t I savor every single second? Why didn’t I play that stupid game of Old Maids or Monopoly? Take the night off of work to go to the class play? Read the extra bedtime story? Help with the homework project? Go for more walks around the neighborhood? Bake more cookies? Take them to the library more often?
If you are reading this, and you have young children – cherish these moments. Even though you might be bone tired, and not feel like it, and just want to crawl into bed yourself – read the favorite story again. Play the second game. Sit down and watch the Disney movie with them. Because when they are gone, they’re gone.
If you are blessed with grandchildren, you have a chance to do these things again. Honestly, I think that’s why us grandparents are so damn mushy about our grand babies. It’s our second chance. And, Oh God, how we’ve waited for it.
I found a new photo blog to participate in on Thursdays! It’s called You Capture. Every week there is new theme. This week’s was “Photographer’s Choice!”
Click on the link here to read about how to play along. Then, do your best to visit the other participants’ site – everyone loves the traffic, the comments and the feedback (not just you!) Next week’s photo challenge is Real Life. Do I have one of those?
Since I get to display whatever I like this week, here goes….
The last time we saw Freya, just before she and her mom and dad moved to Michigan.
Look at that face! I think she’s going to be a real mischief-maker when she’s a little older, don’t y’all?
She’s cute from all sides!
We sure do miss this little one.
Keely, over at Unmom, does this thing.
You post Random Thoughts on Tuesday. That’s it. Try it – it’s addicting. Then link back to Unmom and see what other people are randomly thinking and typing about.
I think I finally have this Random Thoughts posting figured out, y’all. What I have to do to make this happen is to keep a little list in a notebook of things that pop into my mind the day before. Because I cannot come up with a bunch of random thoughts first thing on a Tuesday morning. I’ve tried it and it can’t be done.
So yesterday, when I dreamed up this little plan, I got my notebook out and turned it to a blank page, ready to fill it up with all sorts of randomness.
There was only one problem. I could not find a pen.
Which leads me to my first question.
1. How many pens do you have to buy - to be able to have just one somewhere, anywhere, when you need one?
I have bought package after package of pens. I don’t think it matters how many you buy and put in your junk drawer, they are going to disappear. I think there is a black hole in my house that sucks pens into it when I’m not looking.
Which leads me to my second question.
2. Do y’all think it is possible that there is a cosmic black hole (or something) located directly over my house in Wilmington, North Carolina?
Seriously, have I missed the YouTube video about this? I swear there is something wrong down here, because I cannot…CANNOT…talk on a cell phone inside my house!
I used to think it was the crappy phone and/or the crappy service I used to have. So. I waited patiently for my two year contract to expire, all the while enduring calls that sounded like this : “Mom? Hi……when….so…..then…..she said…..and….before…..what was…..yesterday……important…..what do you think?”
So I’d say, “Klinton, you’re breaking up. I can’t hear you. Hold on. Let me try going outside.”
To which he’d say, “Mom? Are you there? Mom?”
Then I’d hear that joyful little electronic jingle that tells me the phone has dropped the call.
Not fun. So it’s two years later and now I have a much nicer phone with a cool little slide out QWERTY keyboard and everything. I have Verizon service now, which is supposed to be top notch, or at least way better than what I had before.
I was so excited. Now I could text! I could talk inside the house and not have to stand outside in the cold, and the rain, and the dark.
But nooooooooo. I guess I just need to learn morse code or something. It is not meant for me, in 21st century America, to be able to use an easy electronic devise like a cell phone in my own home.
The phone works inside the Corning factory, where I work. (I never even got a signal there on my old phone.) It worked in the rural contryside of Upstate New York, with no problem. It worked at the airport, in the grocery store, in the car, at the hairdressers, at other people’s homes…..just not in mine.
So, see? I obviously live directly underneath a black hole.
Yesterday, while I was searching in vain for a pen, I noticed something. So here’s my third and final question.
3. Is it normal for animals to follow you around all day and look at you when you get a day off?
Because that’s all mine do, y’all. My rottweiler and my cat follow me from room to room while I gather laundry, put things away, look for pens, curse mutter under my breath because I can’t find one, fix a cup of coffee, toast a bagel, read the newspaper, sit at the computer, brush my teeth, or whatever….they follow and they stare.
They stare at me as if they don’t know who I am. They stare at me as if they expect me to do some kind of puppet show to amuse them. They stare at me accusingly, as if to say, “Geez, we waited all week for you to have a day off – FOR THIS??”
I eventually got tired of looking for a pen, while the damn animals tried to give me a guilt trip, and gave up. Anyway, I had forgotten what I wanted to write down by then. So if I can find a pen between now and next Tuesday, maybe I’ll be able to compose a nice list of random stuff.
Or, I might not.
Mellow Yellow Monday is a photo forum. You post something yellow on Monday. “Because life is better with a splash of yellow.”
Be sure and visit the other participants to see how creative everone is with their yellow shots. You’ll be amazed, y’all!
Well, if not amazed, then mellowed out. How’s that for a Monday?
I feel a little blah today. The weather is dreary and chilly. I was hoping for one of those wonderful Indian Summer days, that North Carolina is famous for in November, since it’s my only day off his week. Maybe a little dash of yellow will brighten my day.
This black and yellow spider is a female Argiope aurantia , commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Writing Spider, Banana Spider or Corn Spider. She was living in our lantana this summer. These spiders are carnivorous (they eat flies and grasshoppers) and harmless to humans.
We have a field near our house that we walk to with our rottweiler dog and our calico cat. (Yes, they both have to go on the walks.) This is a just a weed that grows wild over there. I have no idea what it is – maybe some of y’all can identify it?
Finally, my husband bought me this bouquet of fall flowers for no reason. Well, I guess maybe there was a reason. Because he loves me. There. I feel better already.
When you have the blahs, what do you do to make yourself feel better? Does yellow help, do you think? Or do you have a comfort food that you eat, or a favorite sweater that you wear? Do you crawl back into bed or get dolled up and go somewhere? Let me know what works for you!
I chose these photos for Sunday in My City, a photo forum that has folks posting pictures on Sunday of their cities. I thought Wilmington NC should be included.
To participate, visit Unknown Mami and link up! Let’s visit and travel the world together.
Wilmington, North Carolina is considered by many to be one of the most actively haunted cities in the world. Once the largest city in the state, Wilmington still has the largest historic district. It has a violent history. During the 18th and 19th century, this Port City has been through the ravages of disease, war, slavery, piracy, savage murders and suicides.
Although beautiful by day, the city takes on a ghostly aura at night.
I shot these photos during a Ghost Walk Tour. According to our guide, the building pictured above is the site of an old babies hospital and has been graced with much paranormal activity.
Is it just me or do these mannequins seem a bit creepy?
There are definitely some places you want to stay away from. This alley is one of them.
Even the courthouse takes on a spooky feel at night.
To see more photos of my city, visit my photo blog, Wilmington Daily Photo.
This week’s Spin Cycle topic is Halloween.
This is a picture of my friend, Debbie, and I. We don’t really look like this, although there are days when I fell pretty darn close to it. She and her husband came to visit us last October, and we had fun wearing these masks while we rode around town and waved at folks out the window.
I know. Sad what amuses us old women, isn’t it?
My dear Grandmama Gladys passed away last year on October 23, the week after this photo was taken. She was a prolific writer. She wrote poetry and her life story, which I love to use whenever I just don’t have time to be original highlight every now and then.
I also have another blog, which is dedicated to her. It’s called The Rock of Gibraltar. I know she would have loved blogging, if only the internet had been invented a few decades sooner!
When she was in her 90’s, she wrote a new poem every month for her community news letter. Even at her advanced age, she was a stickler for making sure her work was “just so”. I can’t begin to tell you how many times my mother, who served, among other duties, as her typist, was told to redo the whole poem, because Grandmama had discovered a typo!
This is one of her poems she wrote for the newsletter. Since I can’t hold a candle to a ninety-something woman have to work all weekend, I’m going to let Grandmama fill in for me.
OCTOBER DAYS
Winter is coming – its getting cold.
Pumpkins are turning reddish-gold.
And on this colorful October day
Yellow and gold are on display.
It is a wonderful sight
Pumpkins are waiting for candle lights.
And when the children pick one out,
This is it, they always shout!
Pumpkin pie and whipped cream
Are many folks fondest dream.
But children would rather have in place
A silly cut-out pumpkins face.
Halloween comes at last
And at the door with gruesome masks
Are goblins, witches and ghostly things
And “trick or treat” a familiar ring.
This brings memories of the past
But childhood days never last.
We are older and already gray
Giving all the treats away.
Age brings a new kind of joy
Watching the happiness of girls and boys.
Gladys Parker
October 2002
For my birthday in November, the year I turned 49, my sweet husband and I went to Asheville, North Carolina, which is right smack dab in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We stayed at this majestic place called The Grove Park Inn.
Built from granite boulders hewn from Sunset Mountain, The Grove Park Inn opened in 1913. At its opening dinner, William Jennings Bryan declared that it had been “built for the ages.” In the decades since it has become one of the South’s most famous and venerable resorts.
This is a photo of us, standing in front of one of the massive fireplaces in the lobby. This lobby is known as The Great Hall — and for good reason. Measuring 120 feet across, the hall features 24-foot ceilings and two gigantic 14-foot stone fireplaces. It’s famous for the elevators cleverly hidden in the chimneys of the stone fireplaces (put there to conceal the noise of the machinery), which continue to transport guests to their rooms today.
This is the other fireplace, decorated and ready for Christmas.
It’s hard to believe today but there was a time soon after WWII when the only thing that kept the Inn standing was the prohibitive cost of tearing it down. Fortunately, in 1955, the hotel caught the eye of Dallas businessman named Charles Sammons. Under the stewardship of Sammons, the Inn was fully restored and, in1973, it was named to the National Register of Historic Places.
With the restoration the contemporary wings of the hotel were added, and beginning in 1998, a period of intensive renovation and expansion occurred, culminating in the creation of the resort’s $42 million Spa. This photo shows the back of the Inn, which features a dramatic waterfall above the Spa. The Spa, built into an underground rock cavern, is more than 43,000 square feet in size, and includes mineral pools with soothing underwater music and nearby waterfall pools. There is also exhilarating contrast pools, a lap pool, an inhalation room, sauna and a eucalyptus-infused steam room. You can sip herbal teas and savor refreshments in the lounge.
Although The Grove Park Inn is a destination all unto itself, no trip to Asheville is ever complete without a tour of the Biltmore House and Estate. Said to be America’s only real castle, George and Edith Vanderbilt’s 250-room family home and country retreat is open for tours every day. You will see original art from masters such as Renoir, magnificent 16th-century tapestries, Napoleon’s chess set, a library with 10,000 volumes, a Banquet Hall with a 70-foot ceiling, 65 fireplaces, an indoor pool, bowling alley, and priceless antiques. Opened to friends on Christmas Eve 1895, this French Renaissance chateáu remains America’s largest privately owned home.
But the main star of this trip is the mountains themselves. In November, the trees have lost most of their leaves, leaving the mountains barren, but perhaps even more beautiful.
Y’all really ought to visit the lovely and talented Pseudonymous High School Teacher today. Pseudo, as she’s affectionately referred to, lives in Hawaii on the island of Oahu. Anyhoo, she has started a great thing over at her place called Travel Tip Thursday – every Thursday she and anyone who chooses to participate will do a little “travelogue” about a place close to home.
I found a new photo blog to participate in on Thursdays! It’s called You Capture. Every week there is new theme. This week’s was “Red”
Click on the link here to read about how to play along. Then, do your best to visit the other participants’ site – everyone loves the traffic, the comments and the feedback (not just you!) Next week’s photo challenge is Still Life. I can’t wait to tackle that one!
I think this is an interesting photo of my son, Ryan, with our cat that he loves. I like to experiment with photos of faces and changing them to sepia is nice touch, don’t y’all agree? I’ve been helping this son (Freya’s daddy!) through some stuff for the past couple of weeks, so I naturally gravitated towards a picture of him for Sepia Wednesday.
Mary the Teach has another photo blog, besides Ruby Tuesday. It is called Sepia Scenes. Every Wednesday, she posts a picture in sepia, and invites everyone else to do the same. She also has a tutorial on her blog on how to produce good photos in sepia. I you are into photography, like I am, go on over and check it out.
I chose these photos for Sunday in My City, a photo forum that has folks posting pictures on Sunday of their cities. I thought Wilmington NC should be included.
To participate, visit Unknown Mami and link up! Let’s visit and travel the world together.
The majestic Battleship NORTH CAROLINA is docked on the Cape Fear River, across from our historic downtown district.
Dining options along the riverwalk include everything from upscale elegant restaurants to casual hot dog stands.
Living on the river has many advantages. You can have your own boat and enjoy a spectacular view.
Wilmington, North Carolina is a beautiful city; rich in history and natural scenery. As a Wilmington native, I am proud to show off my hometown. I love it so much that I have another blog called Wilmington Daily Photo. It keeps me busy posting a new photo of the Wilmington area every day. I hope y’all will check it out and see for yourselves why I think this place is so spectacular.
Hey, thanks for stopping by! I have a family, a job and a dog. I like grits, boiled peanuts and hush puppies. I'm over fifty, and I work swing shifts, so I'm menopausal and sleep deprived. I blog because I might snap any minute if I don't!
