Too Many Willies

 Have you ever said 'I got the willies over that.'  Willies being something that causes goosebumps, is eerie or disturbing. 

Imagine have the name Willie. My full name is Willie Latane Barton. 

Yep, and to top it all off when I was younger than a grasshopper I started dating a handsome young dude. His name was Willie Elbert Barton. 

Two Willies should have been enough but WAIT.... there's more.

I was named for my father who was killed by lightning when Mom was 5 months pregnant with me. Everyone called him Willie. So, I was named for him, William Albert Alexander . 

And, my husband (that good looking dude I found early in life) ... his Dad was named Willie Armstrong Barton. 

So, now we are up to four Willies. 

One more to go... Elbert's grandmother's name was Willie Dee O'Rear. 

Guess what we named our children: Linda Marie, Steven Elbert, Shirley Ann, Michael Alan and Susan Renee. 

             There will be no more Willies in this family!! 

What a Racket!

                           Talk about NOISE!! 

We've had plenty of it this week around Centerbrooke. I'm three floors up and still the jack-hammer was ear-splitting!! Yesterday I was reduced to just piling up in my bed and watching tv (with my door closed, of course). That cut most of the racket out. Today more of the same. 

Why they are tearing up a perfectly good sidewalk is beyond me. I am sure they have their reasons but they didn't share them with the residents. This photo I took yesterday around 10 a.m. 

Same place, same time today

I'm all for progress... however, it would be nice to know what progress they are trying to achieve!!

Scary Times

                                               This is my daughter Shirley                                     

         She's my sidekick and my "partner in crime"

She's had such a rough time of it lately. I was worried about her. She fell some time ago and ended up with bursitis in her leg so she has been having to have steroid shots in that leg ever so often. 

So, she went in for a shot just over a month ago and the next day there was a knot just below the shot site so she called the dr and they told her that it was a hematoma, that likely the PA who had administered the shot, likely nicked a vein. That the blood would be absorbed back in to her body.... but it would take some time. 

The knot got bigger. She was a lot of pain, got to where she was having difficulty walking and could bear no pressure on that area. And, it continued to worsen. Trips to the dr. ... tests done... etc, etc, etc and all the while she is getting worse and worse.

Well, to make a long story short.. 

Her dr. sent her to a large hospital in a nearby city to have that 'hematoma' drained on Friday. It was not  a hematoma!! It was an infection that had grown to the size of my hand on her upper thigh. In all likelihood caused by a compromised needle or medicine (steroid) that was used. 

Thank God,  she is already much better and is now able to do some chores around the house. 

It is scary that someone who is supposed to make you well can cause such painful results because of negligence but it happens. My son and I thinks she ought to sue but she's not sure. She's not a 'sueing' type of person. We'll see. 

Birds of a Feather

 My train derailed!!

And, I am having a hard time putting it back on track. I have been so busy writing that dadgum book that I seldom get anything else done. At least not anything you girls would be interested in - like laundry, grocery shopping etc, etc, etc. All that fun stuff!! 

I feel good about my book but it is such slow-going. And, I haven't even painted any in quite a while. 

and I am rambling.... 

'cause I have nothing to share. I will just leave you with a few of my favorite photos. The first one is recent. During a rain storm I saw a hawk taking shelter in a nearby pine tree so naturally I grabbed my camera. 

These next ones are oldies. 

this one I got a kick out of... A cardinal and finch sharing some food. The cardinal looks like he's either trying to feed the finch or asking 'And, just what are you doing here?'

I'll stay with the bird theme...

A robin sitting on top of a scarecrow's head. I'd decorated for Halloween and that birdie thought he'd just add to my decorations. 

This one I could not figure out for a bit. It's a bird flying directly toward my camera so all you see is this blob with eyes. I couldn't have staged that one if I had tried. 

And, so, I will leave you with that last one. Just wanted to check in to confirm that I am still alive and kicking. 

Have a great weekend!!

Time For Tea

 Shirley and I had quite an outing yesterday. It was a lovely day, a bit warm but not uncomfortable. I had made reservations at the Stillwater Tea House for an early afternoon tea. It was so nice... 

We were greeted at the door by the owner, who led us to our table. We were served Blackberry tea right away. 

Then came our salad, one of my favorites: Strawberry Feta

I don't remember what the main course was, just know that it was tomato sprinkled with bits of bacon and chives on a type of bread that was spread with 'what I do not know but it was good'... I'd say it was a bruchetta but that's not what the owner called it. This came with Ginger Peach tea. 

We ended our tea with a delicious mango custard. Now, if it had been me I would have slipped that tart out of that aluminum pan before serving but perhaps the crust was too flaky and she was afraid of a mess. But, I didn't think that aluminum fit our atmosphere. However the custard made up for it.

This was served with what she called strawberry milk shake tea but mine had only a slight taste of strawberry and there was no milk in sight!! 

We met two very enjoyable ladies at the next table, not from Suffolk but not too far away. We all decided we should get together again sometime. And, they are now my facebook friends. The whole experience was just so delightful. 

Then on to the library. I'd been wanting to go but the one time I had attempted it by myself I found that they were paving the street there, things were blocked off and I just turned back and came home. But, Shirley drove us down and we went inside. It's brand new, been open less than a month... huge, two story with lots of light and space and meeting places and little nooks to sit and read. So, yes ,I will be going back. 

I was pooped when we headed back to my apartment for her to drop me off. Guess what I did when I got home????

I plopped down in my recliner and stayed there, watching tv, 'til the 'cows came home'. That's an old Southern saying that means it was late in the day for those of you who aren't familiar with the south. 

Flip-flops

 I will be glad to get rid of this pink themed background!! I do love changing up my blog page often but usually do it on the first of the month. I am so over this pink!! Can't wait til August so I can change it!

          For today's Photo-a-day the theme is flip-flops. 

I've had lots of flip-flops, even have them on my feet as I speak!! But, to find a picture I'd taken of them! Liked to have never found one but here it finally is:

Our family went to the beach every year, for years til prices got just way too high!

I'm not a sand lover, nor a sun lover

so I'd sit on the balcony with my feet propped up on the railing listening to the ocean waves and the sound of my grandchildren and great-grands having the time of their lives. 

Good times! 

Lunch at Cafe Davina

Hope your morning is super. Right now it is looking fine for me, a bit cloudy with a thunderstorm this afternoon but that is what happens in the south, a thunderblunder (that's what my grandma called them) in the late afternoon. 

Shirley is going to join me for a 'session' today... heck, I don't know what to call it but we have a speaker coming to Centerbrooke from Senior Services. There are people here that don't drive, their families that are supposed to be helping out aren't always available. Even though I drive I don't get out in the heavy traffic so there are times I could use some transportation. Senior Services provides that for just a donation, plus a whole bunch of other services so this is going to be very informative. 

Did I tell you about my sweet little lunch out with my life coach/friend on Friday? I'd been hearing about this place called Cafe Davina that is in a huge old, old mansion downtown. They specialize in crepes and the places I go doesn't offer crepes. It's more like Southern cooking rather than French!! 

I ordered the crepe filled with ham, brie cheese and an apricot sauce then topped with greens. Oh man, it was soooo good. 

We ate inside 'cause I'd never been there and didn't know the options. But, we found out that there are the cutest little eating places scattered all around the beautiful yard. I didn't get a chance to photo most of them or do much exploring but I intend to next time. These following photos are from Cafe Davina's facebook page: 

There is a ginormous magnolia tree on site and I understand that there is a table underneath the branches of this tree where you can have lunch or just sip tea. Wouldn't that be fun!! I couldn't find a picture I could snitch of that scene but maybe there's where I will be seated next time. 

Now to participate in the Photo-a-day. The theme today is BLUE

This is a quilt I made back in 2001. Have no idea what happened to it. I gave most of my quilts to family. But, it was fun to do and is it BLUE!
 

Far-away Osprey

 I am just so inspired by what little knowledge I have gleaned from Chatgpt about basil. I told you about the tea I made. I had some left in the fridge so I added a bit of it to a glass of iced tea this morning. Very good. 

I also made some garlic-basil oil. And, I've been using it on a number of dishes. 

First I made bruchetta (never had before and it's so easy). Of course it was sprinkled with the oil. 

This morning I started thinking of how I could use some ingredients that I already had and came up with this. Is it my invention? Probably not. But, it was new to me. 

I made cheese toast out of a piece of sourdough bread. I made an omelet and placed it on top of the toast then topped with slices of avocado that I had poured some lemon juice on and some chiffonade basil. salted it and then drizzled it with the garlic-basil oil I had made. Oh yum. I'll make that again 

In keeping with Photo-a-day. Far-away is the theme for today. 

Do you see the osprey that is far-away, high in the sky? 

Basil in my Kitchen

 In yesterday's post I showed you my basil.  I've grown it before but didn't know what to do with it much so it just grew and then died. But, this time is different. I let chatgpt give me some suggestions and here's what I did. 

                    First I made me a cup of basil tea. 

I just steeped some basil leaves in a cup of hot water, added some honey and it was good. I'm having me another cup right now, as I type. 

Then I found a little jar to put some oil in. I didn't have one of those fancy oil dispensers to use and you just make do with what you have. Now, I have basil-garlic oil to use in various ways. I drizzled it over my bruschetta last night... oh yes, that's another thing I had never made and having all this basil inspired me to do so. 

My supper last night. 

Bruschetta

So easy and so good. 

Now for today's Photo-a-day 

The theme is Close-up

Basil's Taking Over

 My granddaughter-in-law gave me a flat of small basil plants about a month ago. I love basil. Not that I use that much in cooking but because I love the smell. I'll just break off a piece and walk around with it sniffing it. Well, it's better than sniffing pot, don't you think!! 😊

Anyway, you gotta look at these plants now. And, they are blooming and I am trying to snip them down so they'll keep growing. I must be doing something right. My little pot of mint isn't doing too badly, either. There's a lot of things I can't grow but I don't think it's basil. Right!!

As I told you yesterday I started doing the Photo-a-day thingy and today's pick is 'an ordinary moment'. 

Here's my ordinary moment

Just me taking a break with some iced tea and a bit of lunch. That's pretty ordinary!

When It Rains, It's Pours

 We residents here at Centerbrooke have been thrown a huge curve ball. Will the drama never end!!

The apartment building is owned by multiply owners from places like New York and New Jersey. Now, I'm not throwing stones at people from those areas but I often wonder if those folks have any idea what older people need and want and have to have. They took over in 2017 and turned our common room into something that was a showcase and totally unworkable for the elderly. They wouldn't provide the van that we had had, the hair salon was shut down. 

They hired a management company from Virginia to oversee the place and there have been so many changes it's hard to keep up. And, we have had constant staff turn-overs so that's unsettling. Nobody seems to want to work here.

Well, last week we were told that the owners got rid of the management company, they'd oversee the managing of this place themselves (with various contractors etc). How they gonna do that from hundreds of miles away!! 

We had a wonderful staff member. I don't think he's been here much over a year but he was one that you could tell he loved us and cared about us. And, dog gone if he isn't leaving Friday. I am just heartsick over this. 

Okay, I've ranted enough. Thanks for listening. I needed to get that off my chest. I am very curious as to how the next few months are going to play out. I'll keep you posted.

              In the meantime I'll keep dancing.....

                                                     Hey, I want to play!

I thought I'd catch up with a few blog friends this morning and visited Mary at visitswithmary@blogspot.com. Her post really spoke to me... I need a distraction big time and I loved the thought of posting a different picture each day with oneseasontothenext.blogspot.com  

                           So, may I play along? 

                          (today's photo is a tree) 

                               Here's my Tree 

                 taken on Colonial Parkway in Virginia. 

I'll Get There One Way or The Other

 

I may not have been perusing a shelf of books looking for something to read....

I may have neglected my friends, not checking their blogs.....

So I apologize...

I am so invested in this novel that I am writing that most of my energy is going into that and lordy, it's a slow go. 

But, I do worry that something will happen that I won't get it finished. WHERE IN THE WORLD DID THAT COME FROM!! but it's true. That's how committed I am to getting this thing done and published. 

At this age, I have about 6 hours a day that I have the energy to be busy then I just totally poop out.

 Yesterday I spent 5 hours working on that manuscript. I did eat... ha ha 

So, hang in there with me. I don't have but about half of it done yet... But, I will get it done. That I promise !

I Always Did Appreciate A Cow

Today was COW APPRECIATION DAY at Chic-fil-a!! 

My daughter, Shirley, loves Chic-fil-a so she made arrangements for a group of residents from here at The Commons at Centerbrooke to go for lunch. We'd get a free entree if we wore something that reminded them of a cow. So... we cut out black felt and glued big spots onto white tee shirts and today we were ready when Shirley with her friend, Pamela, drove up in a big van to get us. Away we went! 

I had to be different!! I saw an ad on facebook for a tee shirt with a big cow head on it so I ordered me one. It was a hit! 

There were 17 of us that filed into that place, laughing, cutting up, having us a grand ole time. We got our food, ate, and then here comes the COW ... of course, we all had to have our pictures made with it/him/her. 

Here we are mooing at the photographer!

Then we all went outside to get a group picture before leaving the site and stood there waving and 'mooing' at all the people going through the drive-thru. We got lots of waves and a few honks of horns.

Shirley even arranged for me to take an order from one car driver. The real worker was there tapping the order in on her IPAD while I found out what the order consisted of.

Me:  And, what will you have today.

Driver: A Chic-fil-a sandwich

Me: Your drink?

Driver: French Fries

Me. Okay, some french fries and your drink is.....?

Driver: Coke

Job done, I took off  back to have my picture made with the group. 

Everyone said we had a blast and we did. Best outing we've had in ever so long and it's all because Shirley made sure everything was arranged to a tee and lordy that girl can keep the laughter going. She's a master at that. 

So, I'd say we did Chic-fil-a proud today. No telling what a bunch of 70-90 years old will do!! 

An Author I Shall Be

                      I've been busier than a bubblebee! 

I finally decided that I would finish that sequel to my "Springtime In Magnolia" book that was published in 2014. No one can ever say I am the hare, more like the tortoise! I write when the notion strikes me and let me tell you, writing a book is not a walk in the park! 

You might think it's just writing down words, like you'd do when you write a letter to someone. Far from it. Every little detail has to be checked out, the punctuation has to be perfect, the spelling... you get the picture. Oh, and too while I am thinking about it. Facts... Everyone of them has to be authenticated. What kind of dresses did women wear then, did they have toasters in their kitchen, what kind of school, job, and the list goes on. Being an author is a tiresome job!!

But, I am very hopeful I can get this done and publish it before I get out of the mood again! 

I just read "Life is Short But Wide" by Lorrie Orr, one of our blogging buddies. It was really good, all about

their many years of living in Ecuador as missionaries.

You ought to check it out.  And check out her blog, too

at  Fabricpaperthread.blogspot.com She's a very

interesting lady. 

Well, time to get back to writing..........

Lordy, it never stops. hehe

Rockets and Robots

                            The fourth is over!

I hope you did not get caught in all the storms that hit the east coast, messing up celebrations. My dau. Susan's family got nearly blown away and totally drenched escaping from a fireworks site. 

Me, I stood on my balcony and watched what I could see of the fireworks display being shot off downtown. Trees do get in the way sometimes. 

I know it was a special day, the television kept telling me it was! Yet, for me it was just another fourth, a time to remember that we fought hard and won our freedom. I had ancestors who did the fighting. Geez, my family has been here FOREVER....

It's hotter than blazes here so I am staying in my apartment and giving up thanks on a regular basis for the man who invented air-conditioning. I am old as the hills, so I know what it feels like to not have that cooler than cool air blowing all the time. I remember summers that were scorchers but we had never been exposed to anything else so it was just normal. It's funny how we get used to something and think we can't live without it.

I was thinking the other day about the Jetsons. Remember that tv show from way back when where Rosie, the robot was the maid? 

We all were saying, 'never in a million years will there be a man-made machine that can do what humans do.'  Well, folks, a million years have passed and those robots are taking over!! I even saw where there is an entire soccer team of robots playing soccer. CRAZY!!

It might be interesting to watch a game.... one team of robots, the other team real honest to gosh humans. Wonder who would win!