Friday, March 8, 2024

It finally happened!

 


After two previous tries (canceled due to COVID and hip dislocation) the third time was the charm. We made it to Wilmington, NC and had a splendid visit with our granddaughter, Alison.


She gave us a tour of the lab and office area at her work place on the University of North Carolina Wilmington campus. We now have a better understanding of the work she does; think rescue/recovery of stranded marine mammals, doing necropsies of carcasses to determine cause of death, keeping data, instructing students and outreach programs for the community.

 



She is having a grand time discovering the Wilmington she didn’t experience while an undergraduate largely due to COCID and two hurricane evacuations. Taking us to a couple of her favorite bars and coffee shops she showed us a little glimpse of her life as a young adult. 

Knowing we like bluegrass music, she found a venue and enjoyed a new experience herself. (Can you believe she had never heard Rocky Top?) Now she has an interest in learning to play the banjo.

It is such a wonderful feeling to know grandchildren are healthy, happy and passionate about their careers.

It is fortunate our route to Wilmington takes us through one of our favorite cities, Asheville, N.C. We stopped in at two of our “must visit” breweries, 


and also the lovely home of our dear friends, Kathy and Jesse in the beautiful North Carolina mountains.

They send their love and greeting back to their friends in Paducah.



Greeting us on our return home is an abundance of blooms. 


With the warmer than normal temperatures, the garden is waking up and ABN is ready to get her hands dirty.

 

Monday, January 8, 2024

It's a wrap!


All that is left are the memories (and a new craft studio.) 

We closed out the year with memories of friends and family.


ABN with sister, Mary




Tipsy Tuesday

Traditional Janne Christmas
Not!
Christmas at Biltmore

Destination Family Christmas in Ashville, N.C.
New tradition? Perhaps.

Along with the good times, 2023 brought us disappointment when COVID made it necessary to abort a visit with our granddaughter in North Carolina as well as with our good friends in the mountains.

We also had challenges with renovating and installing a dry basement system in our nearly 100 year-old house. (ABN is loving the new crafts pace, so it was worth the dust, work and inconvenience!)

Speaking of inconvenience, ABN was partially incapacitated following her 2nd shoulder replacement in September. The surgery and rehab went extremely well and she returned to her normal activities within a couple of months.

Fortunately ABN was near the end of her rehab when Captain dislocated his 27-year old artificial hip. Once again, we had to cancel a trip to North Carolina. The worn out parts were replaced and damaged muscle and tendon repaired in November. He is doing quite well but rehab is preventing our winter RV travel.

Captain ended the year trying to pass a kidney stone. (Hopefully that is the finale in our saga of woes.)

 As the writer of Ecclesiastes puts it,

 When times are good, you should be cheerful; when times are bad, think about what it means. God makes them both to keep us from knowing what will happen next. Ecclesiastes 7:14 CEV

 As we say good-by to 2024, we leave you with our mantra, expect the unexpected.

 A special thanks to our friends who chauffeured, mowed, finished and winterized the sprinkler system and remained on stand-by to help during Captain’s rehab. 


 

 

 

 

 

 


Monday, October 30, 2023

The Buzz is Over

 No, not that one! The cellar is well supplied.


In spite of unstable weather with a drier than usual April, cooler than usual May and June, minor flooding in July, heat wave in August and a moderate drought in September, our garden has thrived.


It has been a buzz of activity in late summer and fall with lots of bees, a variety of butterflies, countless  hummingbirds (because they will not stay still long enough to be counted), beneficial wasps and many little creatures, like moths, which we have not identified. 

Scolia dubia (blue-winged scoliid) wasp that loves to feast on grubs (think Japanese beetles and June bugs)

In August a few Eastern Tiger Swallowtails paid a visit, 
and several Black Swallowtails stopped by.

                    September brought the Vanessaes,

                lots of Monarchs,
                    a few Great Spangled Fritillaries,
               and these little yellow butterflies that flit around so fast its difficult to 
               capture a photo.             
The Vanessas, Monarchs, Fritillaries, and the little yellow butterflies stayed with us through much of October. 

With the anticipation of our first freeze tonight,  ABN has been hard at work putting the garden away for the winter 


while Captain winterized The Wanderer. 

That brings us to one of the questions we are frequently asked from friends we encounter around town  "Have you been traveling?" The answer is no, but not because we haven't tried.  After the exhaustion from the basement renovation we needed a break and were looking forward to a trip through North Carolina with a visit to Asheville (one of our favorite cities) as well as spending some time with our granddaughter in Wilmington. We got as far as Asheville when COVID required us to return home. After a couple of weeks we both recovered just in time for ABN's planned second shoulder replacement. The surgery went better than expected, so we decided to plan another trip to North Carolina during the beautiful fall season. A week before our scheduled departure, Captain dislocated his 27 year old artificial hip. Long story short, it was put back in place and he is scheduled for a hip joint revision in November. No, he is not in any discomfort and is getting around quite well. He just has to be careful to not turn his leg in a manner that will cause it to pop out of place again. Once again, we had to cancel our North Carolina trip. 

We are disappointed to have our plans interrupted but extremely grateful the aged hip did not become displaced before the renovation was completed, while ABN was recovering from surgery or when we were off the grid, like in the middle of the dessert.