First Fishing Trip

It took a few years to happen, but yesterday was the boys first official fishing trip. I guess it had to do with the age thing, and wanting them to be able to handle their own little poles and not get bored.

One of the things I like about the Carolina Estate is my Uncle lives about 50 miles away. He has a small stocked pond on his property, and the bass are plentiful. So yesterday we spent the afternoon with him, grilled out, and then got in some fishing.

NW got his first little bass, but it was so small we threw it back...did not matter the kid was delighted. Then Senior started getting some bites and landed his first of the day..

little ND and I were fishless, he got tired of using his kid sized pole, and began learning how to use a bigger pole. At the time he was practicing throwing it out and reeling it back in..  I was about 30 feet away, Senior and NW were clear on the other side of the pond, and my Uncle was sitting near ND. Every thing was silent, then all heck broke loose. As ND was reeling in the big fishing rod a  real monster took the  little bit of bait still on the hook.  He landed this big guy, his very first fish:

We tried getting him to hold it, but no way was he sticking his hands in the mouth..lol   My Uncle said it was the biggest one he has seen in a while out of the pond. ND is still so proud and has not stopped talking about his fish. After the excitement wore down, Senior caught one more. Then the fish seemed to stop biting.  

We headed to the garden where my Uncle taught NW how to cut okra, then sent us back with a mess of tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, and okra

A Question For You All...

Last evening I put a movie on for the kids. Then Senior and I retired to the front porch of the estate.

While enjoying the peace and quiet of the night, I told Senior that my most important arch nemesis and her husband were planning a Jamaican vacation next year, and wouldn't it be awful if an EMP went off and they were stranded on that island.  ( I know I am vicious) . They would not last two days. She is from Brooklyn and firmly believes that no one should carry a gun, because she grew up on the mean streets of Brooklyn and never needed one so no one else should.

That discussion  got deeper when Senior said something about it almost happened a couple of weeks ago, the sun had back to back solar flares. He then thought about it for a few minutes and said this:
" It would suck to be on a cruise ship, in the middle of the ocean if an EMP went off, after a few days people would be so desperate they would resort to cannibalism"

That's  when the idea popped in my head for this blog post. My initial answer is the worse place would be 80 floors up on an elevator packed with people. Being air born on a plane ranks up there too as one of my top answers....

So now, I ask you good people the same question that Senior and I pondered last night:

 What is the worst place to get stuck at if an EMP went off and everything stopped working" ?

Humming Birds

They were out in full force tonight. Senior, NW and I sat as still as we could in the graveled driveway of the estate. I waited patiently with my camera.  I love these little critters...so amazing to watch, and full of personality.

NW told me he wished to be a hummingbird for just one week so he could live with them, and fly like they do.
ND said he wanted to be one so he could justify drinking straight sugar water...lol 

 

 

 

Then the clash of thunder was heard off in the distance...  rain began to sprinkle and our playtime with the little friends soon ended.. 

The Ole Chimney and Other Stuff

At the estate we had two single wide mobile homes. One my father in law resided in, the other was old, and the floor was about to give away. So we got with our neighbor Mr. Farmer, and thus began the demolition of the old place. We said he could have it, and put it on his place if he just got it out of here. Must have taken him a month to dismantle the porch my father in law had built. Let me tell you that man used every nail he could find,and when he built something, he built it to last.
Then, about three weeks ago, Mr. Farmer got with another neighbor and had it towed off. It now sits in Mr. Farmers pasture, he is remodeling it for his grand daughter and her husband.

What is left in it's wake is a pile of concrete blocks and this old chimney. I love this thing. It has lots of rustic charm and character.

We plan to move the old rubble to a bottom area, and clear the old home site up. Once all that is done, Senior wants to work his magic and transform this old chimney into a fire pit. His plan is to make an opening in the bottom then make some bench swings around it. Should be nice and cozy once we are done with this project.

My parents came to visit. the only thing I have to say about it is my mother does not have a country bone in her body. Combining  that with her Alzheimers made for a wonderful week. By Wednesday night she had half of their luggage waiting by the door. At precisly 8am on Thursday their bedroom door opened, they were fully dressed and mother was lobbing bags at my dad as if they were baseballs. I can most likely predict that she will never return to our little hilltop estate.   *Sigh*

Saturday brought us rain, and dark clouds here today. Senior is smoking us some ribs. I will cook him up some baked beans, and fried corn. We will retire on our porch for the evening, with our major source of entertainment: The police scanner..  Fun times indeed! 

Till Next Time! 
JUGM

Poor Skunk

 

 

 

 

The only one who should find this offensive is the skunk.....

Bird Houses Of The Estate

When Senior and I were dating and I first began what would be many trips over the past 20 years to the Carolina Estate, my in-laws were heavily devoted to the wild bird population that made its home in the trees.
My Father in Law , a contractor by trade constructed many houses for the local winged ones to reside in.You stroll about the hill top and you see the fruits of his labor everywhere. A simple walk down to his old work shop, and you see an unlimited supply of plastic ones still on the top of his work bench where he last put them.

A funny story about it was after Senior and I were first married, we were up for a visit, I went into one storage building and found hundreds of pounds of bird seed. I inquired with Senior, who got a big smile and told me that the Estate was deemed a wild bird refuge by the state, and monthly they got sent bags of the seed to feed the population. I was amazed.
Later that evening at dinner, with every one around the table I congratulated my in laws on the honor of being named a state refuge, and how great it was they would save money by having the state pay for the bird seed.
My step mother in law looked at me strangely, Senior began laughing. She said they were not a refuge, and made me feel about an inch big. I wanted to slap Senior then crawl under the table.
That story has lived on in our family's folklore and the subject of numerous dinner time discussions.

Today, the boys and I cleaned out some old hummingbird feeders, and filled them with red nector. I was reminded of another moment  during another visit, I went to the fridge for something to drink and found what I thought was fruit punch. It was in a regular pitcher.. I poured a large glass full and proceeded to refresh myself.
My Step Mother in Law once again gave me that strange look, and told me I was drinking the Hummingbird Nector.  Good Lord! I thought to myself, she must think  I am the ultimate twit...
I had never seen the stuff before, my parents never placed out feeders...Well she should have labled the pitcher !  lol   I can look back on both these situations as a good sport and laugh.

After my father in laws death, the bird population suffered a bit, no one was here on a regular basis to fill the feeders. I am happy that the boys and I have taken on the task during this summer. We have cleaned out feeders, and hung them through out the trees, the feathered population is once again returning to the trees they once called home, and to the feeders they always relied on.

-JUGM

Still Here...

Hello everyone. My buddy Harry sent me a comment via one of my other posts, and I guess it has been a bit since I last posted. Harry to answer your question, yes we are still here..  Thank you so much for your concern.
Things have just been busy: kids out school, going back and forth to our Carolina property..and my mother. She was officially diagnosed with Dementia/Alzheimers. And the past month has not been easy. My mother is so fixated on all her OTC vitamins, laxatives and etc. The doctor asked us to clean everything out and destroy it. We tried, but did not realize the scope of her fixation, or the levels she would go through to protect them.  She has stuff hidden quite well throughout their house. Even stashing bottles in with my dads diabetes medication. We also found a hoard of pain killers she had in the very back of her kitchen cabinets, the expiration dates were several years ago. We thought that maybe she forgot there were there, but no. That is not the case, she became quite agitated when we tried to destroy them, and openly acknowledged that she still takes them..
She will then regress backwards in her mind to almost a childlike demeanor, beginning us not to take them away or judge her.

It is heart breaking for me to see my mom like this. One minute she is engaged in a conversation with you, and the next she has no recollection of every thing that was just said. She refers to the men in her life as "mister" because she can not remember their names.

So with all this going on the last thing on my mind has been writing up a post. But, I will say that maybe I need to do this, writing about it, and talking about it is therapy. It helps ease my heart ache because I know I have all you good folks out there who are concerned and  care.

-JUGM