New Skills

The  boys were with us for several days last week and we enjoyed spending concentrated time with them. Collier, who has been taking steps for several weeks, began to really take off in the walking department while he was with us. Hamilton is also enjoying a walking brother though he is not always kind. We thought it so cute when Hamilton took Collier's hand and walked him around the house. At least it starts out cute. Dale caught this on video.

Nothing says summer like sucking on a peach

Strolling Downtown Greenwood

The boys are staying with us this week and we needed a little diversion from the farm so I took them to downtown Greenwood to view the topiaries set up for the Festival of  Flowers which is this week.
Like previous years, the topiaries are works of art in flowers and plants that look like animals and other things. This year they have a jeep, an anniversary cake, and a camera among the lions, tiger and bear (oh my!). Hamilton, who loves to take walks anyway, enjoyed pushing Collier in the stroller to see each display. We combed the entire area from the playhouse theatre to the new library on one side and the Inn on the Square to Frilly Frog on the other. It's so fun to have an adventure so close to home.

All Aboard for Tweetsie Railroad

It was our pleasure to take Hamilton and Collier to the mountains of North Carolina and visit Tweetsie Railroad yesterday.  We had been planning this for several weeks and without much finagling, Gray and Seth agreed to let us keep them for several days.
Our good friends, Nancy and George, let us use their vacation home on Sugar Mountain to spend the night on Thursday so that we could be up and at 'em on Friday morning for Tweetsie. Tweetsie Railroad is located between Boone and Blowing Rock and is a wonderful little park, complete with chair lift, amusement park rides and of course, the main attraction--a steam locomotive that travels around the property. It was first developed in 1960 and I can remember going with a friend and her family way back then.Disney World it's not, but for an almost three year old, it's pretty great. Replete with cowboy and Indian shoot-outs, Hamilton was enthralled from the get-go, if also a little timid at first. Actually I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Hamilton or Dale, but we all thought it to be a super day.

The crowd was thin which made it possible to ride everything we wanted multiple times with no waiting

In addition to the big train there was this smaller one that travelled through a tunnel with a mouse and cheese diorama

Pops points out the finer machinations of a steam locomotive to Hamilton

Collier was zonked by mid afternoon

Only three to a chair allowed so Dale carried Collier sometimes while I had Hamilton

Full Fledged Spring

My accommodating husband built a bird feeder for me last Saturday. I was doing some cleaning in the garage and ran across some scrap cypress lumber that I thought would work nicely for a simple platform feeder. I suggested a simple design that I thought he could make up in less than twenty minutes.
Instead he imagined something considerably more advanced and constructed this handsome feeder.

He said the long perch was for crows

                               I just had to get some photos of the azaleas in bloom. What a show!!

What's that yard ornament? It's what you get when the chief gardener is not at home when the DishNetwork guys come.

The pollen is flying. I just swept this deck yesterday!

Highlights from Last Week

We continue to take advantage of the beautiful weather and work in the yard and garden. And when I'm not out there doing that I'm wishing I were.

That's Dale up there painting the cupola

Wisteria bloom--the first one ever for this 4 year old plant.

It took me hours to get this bed ready for the pine straw

Wednesday evening Travis and I went to a TransSiberian Orchestra concert at the Township Auditorium in Columbia. The tickets were my Christmas gift from him. It was a lovely, balmy evening conducive to  walking to an Italian ristorante for dinner and then to the concert several blocks away.
If you know anything about the TSO then you know they are not your typical symphony orchestra. They are mainly known for their Christmas music--hard rock style. This "off season" concert was a tribute to Beethoven. It's high energy to say the least. The audience was diverse. Children to old people--way older than me--and every age in between were wowed by the guitars, strings, keyboard and vocals as they wove a story of Beethoven's last night on earth. I took a couple of pictures without the use of flash (not allowed) because the visuals and lighting were extraordinary. It was a fascinating event and I enjoyed it very much. But even more special was having an evening alone with my son.

Celebrating 30

Travis turned thirty yesterday and we took him to the zoo to celebrate. We also took Hamilton and Collier.  Joining us, as well, were Gray and Travis's girlfriend Cheri. (Seth was studying for a test he has to take on Tuesday and needed the solitude at home to get ready.)

It was a beautiful pre-spring day and we weren't the only ones interested in spending the day at the zoo. It was the grandboys first trip and they were delighted to be there and delighted us in the process. We picnicked for lunch in the designated area near the zoo entrance. It was sooo fun!

It's hard to believe our baby is entering his third decade of life. 

Meet Cheri

German chocolate cake is Travis's favorite

Cheri was such a sport and hauled Collier around 

Typical camera view of the fam

Warmer Weather Means Work

As soon as the weather warms and the calendar points to spring, I get the urge to fix things. There is no shortage of work to be done around a twenty-seven year old house and yard. I also get a little panicky that the mild weather, free weekends and 'want to' will dissipate before everything I have in mind gets done. Dale, unfortunately, bears the brunt of my whirling dervish and is commandeered into helping. Last weekend we severely pruned some shrubs  long overdue and this afternoon we painted the garden shed/pump house. Dale built this little structure just a few years after the house was built and this is just the third time paint has been applied. It turned out to be a quick job after I removed the faux window and windowbox, hose reel, farm implements and plant hangers. The cupola still needs a new coat as does the door trim and doors. That will keep for another day.