Some Things On A Monday

Hello. Just a few bits of this and that on a Monday morning  afternoon. 

First things first...there won't be a Hodgepodge this week. I apologize for the late notice but it can't be helped. The Hodgepodge will be back next week (September!! 6th). 

We never know what a day will bring but I take comfort in knowing the One who does. 

My brother-in-law passed away, somewhat unexpectedly this past week and my whole family will be coming to town in a few days. My mom, siblings, my own girls ,and my grands will all make their way here to celebrate his life, share funny stories, and support my sister and niece especially. None of my family (except my sister who lives nearby) have met the two newest littles, and I know their sweet faces will bring a bit of cheer in the midst of all the sadness. 

Hubs and I were supposed to be traveling this week so we spent the weekend cancelling hotel, rental car, the kennel and, always a delight, the flights. It only took two days, three phone calls, and four agents to make it happen, but everyone was very nice and eventually we did manage to get those flights cancelled. 

Yesterday we were sitting on the dock waiting on a crazy, sudden, and might I add unpredicted storm to pass, when an enormous gust of wind swept through. Hubs stood up to grab something that was blowing away and when he did his chair literally blew off the dock and into the boat lift. The storm came out of nowhere and it was a doozy. In my efforts to be helpful I jumped up to grab hubs chair and my own chair tipped over. Unfortunately my phone was sitting on the arm of said chair and it was only after a few minutes we realized it had gone into the drink. 

The lake, but the weather was ka-razy so drink sounds more like the right word. 

We could have a diver come and try for retrieval, but this is not my first rodeo in terms of a phone taking the plunge, ahem, so we opted to just get new. 

And that's how I spent my Monday morning. 

What about you? 

Zeta'd

Well it's been quite a day. And by day I mean year, right? 

Thursday morning situation.

UGH!

Also yowza! And oh crud! and possibly a few other choice words which I will leave to your imagination. 

Of course I need to also say whew! and thank goodness! for the place and the time and the fact that exactly five minutes prior I happened to notice hubs car had been left out overnight and he dodged the rain to pull it into the garage. 

For the record hubs never leaves his car out. 

The tree hit the garage/attic end of the house where nobody lives and where nothing is stored, and nobody was injured although the sound of this big boy striking the house may have taken a few years off my life. 

The tree is actually on our neighbor's property and was perfectly healthy. It doesn't take much to blow a pine to the ground (or onto a roof) and we had crazy winds courtesy of Zeta.

I have been on a bit of a news boycott so hadn't heard anything about the storm until late Wednesday. My daughter2 who is several states away mentioned her SC teacher friends said school would be virtual on Thursday due to bad weather. 

Hmmm. Bad weather? Maybe I better tune in? So I turned on the news and still wasn't overly concerned but we did pull in loose pots and moved the porch furniture back and took all the normal precautions just in case. The winds were nuts and the lake neighborhoods looked like a war zone on Thursday with so many downed trees, power outages, and boats and docks on the loose or damaged (not ours!)

Shout out to my hubs the squeaky wheel which in all honesty can sometimes be annoying, but in this case got the job done. The tree fell around seven am, and he managed to have the tree guy in the driveway by nine. They had to wait for the crane because did I say ugh? It's never good to need a crane is it? 

Anyway, super super nice people who got the job done and they work within a network so also had the roofer there to put up tarps immediately after, which people tell us is a minor miracle. Then the guys came back this morning to finish the clean up, and we're on the schedule with the insurance adjuster a few days from now. 

Hubs and I are currently in the local Starbucks charging devices and making up for all the coffee we didn't drink yesterday because we're on day 2 of no power which is only a hair less aggravating than a tree through your roof. 

Did I have two neighbors over for happy hour yesterday afternoon? Why yes, yes I did. We sat out on our porch and it was a happy distraction from storm damage and insurance claims and basically the year 2020. 

So what's new with you? 

2020 Tom Foolery

It's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged anything more than the weekly Hodgepodge, so thought I'd play catch up here today. Talk about what's been been going on in our little corner of the world.

So what has been going on?

Well there's a pandemic. Did you hear? Ha! Whew. It's getting old, isn't it? I heard someone say it's starting to feel like a heavy wet blanket across the shoulders and I think she's right.  Today when I got up I thought, "I need a day off." From what though? It's not like we're doing all that much but I feel like I need a day off anyway.

Earlier this week, or actually I guess it was last week, but who really knows because everyday is a lot like the one before, and a-ny-way...I opened the sliders to greet the morning, steaming cup of coffee in hand, took a deep breath, and yuck. The air smelled so fishy.

We live on what is one of the cleanest lakes in all of North America and it never ever smells fishy, but this day it was definitely smelling fishy. I looked out towards the dock and saw a huuuge turkey vulture eating breakfast, right there on our shoreline.

Raise your hand if turkey vultures kind of skeeve you out? Yeah.

I told hubs he needed to walk down there, because I don't care if it is 2020, investigating and dealing with dead stuff is a man's job. It was in the handbook we were given when we said I Do.

There wasn't a handbook, but I do have a mental list of rules and this is one of them, which hubs knows so he walked down there and then yelled for me to bring the camera. Hmmm. I yelled back, 'Is this going to be something I can't unsee?' and yes it was, but I brought the camera anyway.

Y'all. This vulture was chowing down on the biggest catfish I've ever seen. His head was the size of a basketball and with his mouth wide open he looked even bigger. Hubs dealt with it, but all I could think about was how a vulture casually dining on the worlds biggest catfish right in my backyard is pretty much 2020 in a nutshell.

Let's change topics. We had an earthquake. I know! We were sitting on our deck early Sunday morning and we felt the rumble, the deck shook a little which was a bit disconcerting, and our hanging lanterns started swaying. It lasted long enough to make you think, and we found out later a quake measuring 5.1 on the scale had it's epicenter about three hours from us.

We also were treated to a rainbow last week which I guess balances things out. We've had so many rainbows this summer, so many crazy rainstorms where the sun keeps right on shining, I guess even the weather doesn't know which way is up right now. I do love a rainbow though, and while this one wasn't quite as vivid as the last it was still so pretty. After the weather cleared hubs and I hopped on the boat to catch the sunset because we knew we'd get a good one.

We were right.

This has nothing to do with the weather or unusual occurrences (unless you count people coming over for dinner as an unusual occurrence), but we had some friends come for dinner Monday evening (outdoors of course) and I baked this salted caramel butter cake that was as delicious as it sounds.

I took this right after I poured the caramel butter sauce over the cake, and after it cools you remove it from the pan and drizzle the top with a salted caramel syrup. So good! You can find the recipe here. 

In other delicious news, this little guy is all of nine months old now and he is such a joy.

photo credit: Sincerely Shannon 

Big brother started a little preschool program two mornings a week and we are just loving watching them both grow and learn and discover something new about the world every day.

photo credit: Sincerely Shannon 

The distance stinks, and hubs and I might throw tiny little pity parties for one another now and then, never in the same moment though, which helps. My daughter is wonderful about keeping us connected, which we appreciate more than words can say.

Sunday evening we kayaked with a few neighbors over to a nearby island because you never ever tire of sunsets on the lake and this one was a beauty.

The temperature was perfection, the night quiet, and the lake still. With every exhale you feel your cares float further and further away.

When life is fragile and uncertain it helps to know the One who sets the sun.

Ka-razy!

Good Monday morning to you all. I hope there was joy in your Easter weekend and everyone found ways to mark the day as special in spite of the distance between you and those you love.

Earlier in the week I asked hubs if we could get up before the birds on Easter Sunday and watch the sun rise from our dock. Our own little Easter morning sunrise service if you will. The weather forecast was not looking stellar, and he thought it would be too cloudy for any beauty to show up, yet there she was-

But only for a minute and then the rains came. Also lightning, thunder, howling winds and a couple of tornadoes. We ended our Easter Sunday sitting side by side at 3 AM in our lower level storage room which is concrete and windowless. What a day.

What a year.

What a world.

We had Sunday School with our class via Zoom and enjoyed our traditional Easter dinner (ham and pineapple stuffing) eaten on the good china in the dining room just because. We face timed with family, even getting my mom in on a call with all my sibs which was special. And we especially loved watching our grandsons from afar via pictures and video calls with my daughter.

Our little town did sustain some damage from one tornado that touched down, and sadly there was a fatality as well. Your prayers are very much appreciated as people mourn and clean up and repairs begin. Life feels a bit extra hard these days, which makes me more grateful (or maybe just more aware) than in years past for the significance of Easter and a hope that cannot be shaken.

I'm still writing each day in the April A-Z blog challenge but am taking a slightly different tack with today's letter and word.

Day 11-K is for Karaoke

This word comes to me courtesy of my sister-in-law, the one who plays the violin with an orchestra, who can carry a tune, and has that music gene in her DNA. Alas I do not. Have you seen the movie My Best Friend's Wedding with Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz? Well for those who have not, Cameron Diaz's character is peer pressured into performing karaoke, and it's not pretty but it is hilarious. 

Me doing karaoke would be similar. 

Since this word feels light and kind of fun I've decided instead of a whole post on the word I'm going to incorporate it into my Wednesday Hodgepodge questions this week . Let's see who might be a fan and who realizes they suddenly have somewhere else they need to be when a D.J. announces it's karaoke night. Stay tuned.

Also stay well-stay safe-stay home-stay happy. 

Rainy Days and Mondays

We're in for some bad weather today if the forecasters know what they're talking about. FYI-forecasters don't always know what they're talking about, but in case this is one of those times they're correct we've secured deck furniture and moved potential flying objects from in front of the glass doors.

Now the weekend was a different story. We had absolutely gorgeous weather and spent a lot of time out of doors. Our boat is back in the water as of last Tuesday, and we're so excited to be out on the open seas once more.

Technically it's a lake, but still...we're pretty happy. 

On Saturday hubs and I drove over the mountain and across the state line to a charming little town called Cashiers. We had to stop along the way and take in the spectacular view because it's the law. 

That's Lake Jocassee which is not our lake, but is our 'next door neighbor'. 

Cashiers is a sweet little mountain town filled with boutiques, antiques, and restaurant-iques. The season doesn't officially begin here until May 1 at which time it will fill with tourists. Still there were already quite a few shops open so plenty of places to browse and buy. The locals all recommended we have lunch at Cornucopia and the food was yummy. Slow as Christmas, but delicious. They've just re-opened and maybe don't have their kitchen timing fine tuned just yet. ahem. 

I had my nose pressed against the glass at one of the antique shops in town, and the owner said even though they weren't open we could come in. So many lovely things! Hubs and I will definitely be going back there! We've been looking for Adirondack chairs to put around our fire pit, and we chatted with a gentleman in another shop who makes them to order. He said he'd deliver to the lake so we chose our color and will have them fireside in a couple of weeks. 

Hubs and I came home and watched basketball, and I say it every year...March Madness is some of the most exciting sporting competition out there. The games are so close and it's really fun to watch, even if your team doesn't win. I mean that would be more fun, but still these games are nail biters! 

Sunday was another gorgeous day, and after church some friends dropped by on their way back home to Atlanta after a weekend wedding in NC. It was perfect deck sitting temperatures and after they left hubs and I took the boat for a spin. 

Speaking of Atlanta-ugh. Daughter2 and I booked our flights out of there for next week because it was going to be easy and less expensive than connecting from here, except now it's not going to be quite so easy. In case you missed it a massive fire broke out under an overpass on the Interstate collapsing the overpass and destroying the highway going north and south. As if Atlanta traffic wasn't bad enough! 

So that's about it on this rainy Monday morning. A good day to blog, pay bills, and stick close to home. How was your weekend! 

West Coast Wanderings

Where were we? Oh yeah-everywhere. 

Or maybe it just felt that way? I know I travel a lot, but have I mentioned here I'm not a great traveler? Hubs is a great traveler and sometimes a great traveler traveling with a mediocre traveler is a test of how much you are loved.

A lot apparently.

Oh and guess what I'm doing again before a new month rolls in? Mostly I love to travel, except when I don't. When flights are delayed, then cancelled, when it rains buckets in a state where 'it never rains in California', when our luggage doesn't make the connection we ourselves had to run for...

As an aside, I've informed hubs I do not run in airports. It's a travel policy of mine, one of them anyway. Hubs says I have a whole handbook of travel policies, but tops on the list is I am not running in an airport. I will walk briskly and skip the restroom stop if I must, but I'm not running.

So where were we really? Mostly San Francisco, but we started our travels in Washington State because another rule I have is if we're going to be anywhere on the west coast we're either coming or going via Washington State. Daughter1 and her hubs did not get to come home for Christmas this year, and while I'd seen them back in October on my side trek from Arizona (hey I was already out west remember), hubs hadn't seen them since the end of July, and that's just way too long not to see your girl.

I will try not to blabber on about how beautiful the Seattle-Tacoma area is, how much I love Mt. Rainier, how tall the trees are and how expansive the Puget Sound, but y'all seriously this part of the country is stunning.

And very very far from the Eastern half of the U. S. of A.

We had a lovely few days walking in the woods, helping Daughter1 with some garage shelving and organizing, and eating lots of clam chowder in picturesque venues. We also took the newlyweds out to celebrate their second wedding anniversary which occurred the day before we arrived. Two years. Be still my heart.

Daughter1 dropped us at the airport on Sunday to catch our flight to San Francisco, but between the monsoon like rains in California and the snowy weather across the rest of the country we were delayed. Then delayed some more, and then some more, and then finally cancelled.

Hubs and I had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant because what else are you going to do when your flight gets cancelled, and then finally made our flight to California the next afternoon. Not without more delays, but we did get there and I guess that's what counts. Actually I know that's what counts-ha!

We entered the hotel lobby and were immediately swept up in a literal sea of navy blue suits. The conference had taken over every hotel, Starbucks, suite, nook, and cranny in Union Square. It was a fantastic spot for people watching that's for sure!

Tuesday the weather was bordering on monsoon so I went with Plan B. I'm not a wimp about walking in the rain, but this was beyond rain. Umbrellas were inside out and the wind was whipping. Insanity! I walked a little more than half a mile in it and spent the rest of the day inside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Question for you...who decides what is art? I was so missing my Daughters who can always be counted on to educate me as to why this is art-

It looks suspiciously like the light in our garage.

There was a whole lot I loved, particularly the William Kentridge Refusal of Time exhibit for anyone reading here who enjoys art and museums and is fascinated by the passing of time like me, and it was the perfect way to spend a rainy day in a new city.

Wednesday the sun peeked out, or rather the rain stayed mostly away so I hiked over to Chinatown while hubs worked, then later we Ubered out to the suburbs to catch up with some of our oldest and bestest friends.

It poured again on Thursday and it was cold too, so I read a book and napped while the guys worked and then on Friday the sun shone and it was glorious and we rambled around Napa all the day long.

Hmm...it appears this should have been three two posts, but in short (ha!) here's my take away from our ten days on the go-

The Evergreen State ranks right up there as one of the prettiest.

Washington is too far from South Carolina.

Old friends pick up right where they left off no matter the time or distance between them, and actually it does rain in California which means I need to go back to San Fran to see all the many things I missed, and also I wish I had an orange tree in my backyard.

Finally, when you get home at almost 2 am without your luggage, but then you wake up in your own bed and sip morning coffee on your dock in near 70 degree temps in the middle of January you will feel a little bit like Dorothy...

...there's no place like home.

The Perfect Storm

Ooops. I accidentally on purpose skipped a day in the 31 Day Challenge. Here's the deal...I'm not going to blog on Sundays. It's just not my thing. Coincidentally, yesterday's one-word prompt was the word 'rest'.

So I did.

Truthfully I need to rest my blog brain on Sundays. I don't like feeling I have to make time in my Sunday to blog. Sundays are set aside for other things and blogging is a distraction. There are two schools of thought in the blog world, one being don't blog unless you have something to say and the other being blog every single solitary day forever and ever amen.

I've been known to blog when I had nothing to say-ha! And I agree there can be value in blogging every single solitary day because writing is a habit and takes practice. The discipline of the every day is a good thing, but it's too much for me. I think you know I'm all about following the rules, but I'm going to break some here and call this a 27 Day Challenge.

Also, today's prompt is 'storm'.

Yeah, I'm not going there today because it's Monday, and I want to catch up a little on everyday life here. Which is not really stormy unless you count our recent weekend weather.

Hey, did I ever write here about the time we were in The Perfect Storm? Hmmm...maybe I will blog about the word. Did you know I was a fly by the seat of your pants writer?

There's always tomorrow to write about yesterday.

Day 12-storm

Way back in I think the year 2002, we were caught in a storm that all who were present have come to refer to as 'The Perfect Storm.' If perfect means terrifying, then yes that's exactly what it was.

Perfect.
And terrifying.

We were living near Annapolis and we had a boat and had friends with boats and we all spent hours on the water livin' the life. One July weekend, our friends with the big boat suggested we all load up and fly across the Bay for a crab feast. There were three families, six adults and six kids ranging in age from 9-13. Our babies.

When you think you're going to capsize in a wicked thunderstorm on the Bay, 13 is not too old to be called your baby.

The day started out gorgeous with that magical sunlight sparkle on the water and everyone feeling happy and hungry. A crab feast beside the Chesapeake ranks right up there as one of my favorite things in life (sunlight on water might top the list) and our gaggle of girls, plus one boy child who was used to all these girls, climbed aboard the boat and off we went.

When I say fly I'm not exaggerating, because this particular boat can travel at a high rate of speed. That combined with the wind whipping your hair and little girl giggles, sunglasses and friends...well we had all the makings of a glorious July day.

We made it across the Bay and sat outside at one of our favorite spots where we picked crabs and solved all the problems of the world. We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves when we noticed a few clouds beginning to form in the far off distance. Our very good friend (aka the captain) suggested we wrap it up and get ourselves back home, because it looked like the weather was changing.

You always hear storms can come up fast on the water, but man oh man, I've never seen anything like the speed with which the day went from bright clear blue to black as night. We started back and were chugging along at a good pace, when the captain said to his wife...'Get my jacket'.

Ruh-roh.

Apparently she knew when he asked for his jacket it was about to get serious, but we passengers still had every confidence he could outrun it.

Naivete can be a beautiful thing friends.

Our captain instructed us to take the kids below deck and that was when I started to feel a teensy bit anxious. All the guys stayed up top along with the Captain's wife (aka first mate), while the other mom and I corralled the kids down below. We decided it was a good idea to make certain everyone was cinched up tightly in a life jacket.

Pretty sure that's when the tears started. Little girls can be oh so dramatic...I think at one point one of them bemoaned the fact that we were all going to die and she was never going to get married, which is funny but only because we didn't.

And I'm not gonna lie, if we hadn't been the designated adults the other mom and I might have been crying too. The skies that afternoon let loose in a most ferocious manner, a storm to beat all storms. I've never in my life seen lightning strike in such abundance as what was happening all around us. We passed the time trying to decide if we could be electrocuted in fiberglass???

We were fortunate to be in a really solid craft, with a highly capable captain, but even he was fighting to keep the boat moving in the right direction. We were being bounced hither and yon, and at one point our enormous vessel did an actual 180. I think that's when we moms instructed the kids what to do if we had to 'evacuate'.

Now apparently, according to el captain, we were never in any danger of capsizing, but it sure felt like we were. Also I did not throw up, which my family considers one of my greatest triumphs and should be mentioned here.

When we get together with these friends we still love to relive that day in story form. It might get a little bigger in the telling, but honestly it was really huge in the happening. Sometimes when we're with these friends someone will randomly say, 'Hey remember the perfect storm?' and we laugh.  Now we laugh. Then I wasn't really laughing.

Now I know I should use this story as a metaphor but I don't think I will. I'm going to let it stand out there on it's own as a crazy happy memory of our adventures on the Bay and my girls growing up years.

Years we weathered storms together, because we're not made to weather them on our own.