Cheryl B. Dale's Blog: RANDOM MUSINGS, page 20
October 11, 2014
UNKNOWN FLOWERS
I've asked this before but no one seems to know the answer. I guess I'll have to bestir myself and take some to the local garden club or something if no one recognizes these flowers.
These flowers are so thick, I thought this was a bush last year. But over the winter they died down to some flower stems. Nearly this entire space was bare. Below are a couple of closeups of the blossoms.
Anybody with any idea of what they are? I like them and sure would like to put a name to them!
These flowers are so thick, I thought this was a bush last year. But over the winter they died down to some flower stems. Nearly this entire space was bare. Below are a couple of closeups of the blossoms.
Anybody with any idea of what they are? I like them and sure would like to put a name to them!
October 6, 2014
LOCAL AUTHOR EVENT
Our Literary Guild (that used to be a Friends of the Library till they disbanded and reformed due to a conflict with the system library director at the time who is no longer in charge; in fact, our county formed our own separate system) put on an event to benefit local authors yesterday and invited twenty authors to participate. I was happily one of them. They set up tables at the Casino atrium for each of us to display and sell our books, furnished lunch, and generally catered to us for the four hours we were there. It was a lovely experience, easily one of the best put-together of its kind that I've attended.
Here are some pix. Yours Truly is in the first as we're setting up. I am fortunate my guy's done stuff like this. He made up the boards and set up the table and did all that. All I had to do was sit there. (Of course, since he practically forced me to participate since I am the shy, retiring type, I guess he felt like he had to make it easy.)
Then here's Dr. Christina Johns on the right. She's written a fictional semi-memoir.
Finally, here's Buzz Bernard. His book Eyewall, the story of a hurricane hitting St. Simons hit too close to home for me.
A fun day. Thanks go to all the volunteers who worked so hard to make it successful!
Here are some pix. Yours Truly is in the first as we're setting up. I am fortunate my guy's done stuff like this. He made up the boards and set up the table and did all that. All I had to do was sit there. (Of course, since he practically forced me to participate since I am the shy, retiring type, I guess he felt like he had to make it easy.)
Then here's Dr. Christina Johns on the right. She's written a fictional semi-memoir.
Finally, here's Buzz Bernard. His book Eyewall, the story of a hurricane hitting St. Simons hit too close to home for me.
A fun day. Thanks go to all the volunteers who worked so hard to make it successful!
September 30, 2014
CRIME BLOTTER
Most of the local crime column has been the same old stuff. Man hits man, woman hits man, man hits woman, woman hits woman. But there were a few that caught my eye.
Two juveniles were returning a shopping cart but when they pushed it inside another cart, the front window of the business shattered. Evidently, the owner believed they were trying to do the right thing and declared it an accident. How nice!
In another a woman reported a friend of her boyfriend was at her house taking a shower, and she did not want him there. He was arrested for trespassing. Teach him to go where he's not wanted!
Then an officer responding to a burglary in progress call, found other officers making the suspect get on the ground. The homeowner said she didn't know the man and didn't want him in her residence so he was arrested for burglary. Guess the officer who arrived late had to do the paperwork!
Then there was the woman reporting another woman threatened to kill her. This happened when she asked the other woman to make her child stop playing on a public computer other people were waiting to use. Hmm. Wonder why she didn't slap the tar out of the child's mother instead of reporting her. On the other hand, she might have been one tough mama!
And my favorite: a woman reported her iPod missing. Seems she was riding in a car when a mouse started running around inside. She stopped -- I would have jumped out screaming, but I don't know what she did -- and two men stopped to help. They got the mouse out, but when she got back in, her iPod was missing. Guess they felt they deserved a reward for facing down that big, bad mouse!
I love our local paper's crime blotter column.
Two juveniles were returning a shopping cart but when they pushed it inside another cart, the front window of the business shattered. Evidently, the owner believed they were trying to do the right thing and declared it an accident. How nice!
In another a woman reported a friend of her boyfriend was at her house taking a shower, and she did not want him there. He was arrested for trespassing. Teach him to go where he's not wanted!
Then an officer responding to a burglary in progress call, found other officers making the suspect get on the ground. The homeowner said she didn't know the man and didn't want him in her residence so he was arrested for burglary. Guess the officer who arrived late had to do the paperwork!
Then there was the woman reporting another woman threatened to kill her. This happened when she asked the other woman to make her child stop playing on a public computer other people were waiting to use. Hmm. Wonder why she didn't slap the tar out of the child's mother instead of reporting her. On the other hand, she might have been one tough mama!
And my favorite: a woman reported her iPod missing. Seems she was riding in a car when a mouse started running around inside. She stopped -- I would have jumped out screaming, but I don't know what she did -- and two men stopped to help. They got the mouse out, but when she got back in, her iPod was missing. Guess they felt they deserved a reward for facing down that big, bad mouse!
I love our local paper's crime blotter column.
September 23, 2014
TRAVELS
We've been traveling again. Had a family reunion up in north Georgia and made a trip out of it. While we rode through some of the small towns, my guy took some pix of county courthouses.
My light mystery, TAXED TO THE MAX, features a courthouse murder. When I get the ebook rights next year, I plan to self-publish. My talented guy has been learning to do covers so I'm excited that he'll be using one of his photos for it.
Here are a couple he took on this trip. The first is in Washington, Wilkes County, GA. Built in 1904, the top part was destroyed by fire in 1958. Repairs gave it a flat roof and allowed it to be used until an approximate restoration of the top portion was done in 1989. The original clock tower was taller.
And this one in Lexington, Oglethorpe County, GA was constructed in 1887. It is the oldest Romanesque Revival style courthouse in Georgia :
My light mystery, TAXED TO THE MAX, features a courthouse murder. When I get the ebook rights next year, I plan to self-publish. My talented guy has been learning to do covers so I'm excited that he'll be using one of his photos for it.
Here are a couple he took on this trip. The first is in Washington, Wilkes County, GA. Built in 1904, the top part was destroyed by fire in 1958. Repairs gave it a flat roof and allowed it to be used until an approximate restoration of the top portion was done in 1989. The original clock tower was taller.
And this one in Lexington, Oglethorpe County, GA was constructed in 1887. It is the oldest Romanesque Revival style courthouse in Georgia :
September 11, 2014
LIZARDS
On the island, we have little lizards. Once when we were heading up to north Georgia, one hitched a ride in an indentation on the hood. About three hours into our trip, my guy noticed a little head bobbing up occasionally so we stopped and put him off in a grassy area. I hope the other lizards in his new environment were friendly.
Yesterday at breakfast, I was looking out the windows at the hummingbird feeder and saw what I thought was part of the jasmine vine on the bottom. Looking closer, I saw it was another lizard. The hummingbird kept zooming in around him and at him, but it didn't scare him off. He stayed all day. I guess he was catching insects. They're cute but pesky sometimes. Especially when they sing after dark.
Yesterday at breakfast, I was looking out the windows at the hummingbird feeder and saw what I thought was part of the jasmine vine on the bottom. Looking closer, I saw it was another lizard. The hummingbird kept zooming in around him and at him, but it didn't scare him off. He stayed all day. I guess he was catching insects. They're cute but pesky sometimes. Especially when they sing after dark.
September 2, 2014
LABOR DAY ACTIVITIES
We went up to Fort King George yesterday for their Labor Day events. I love their reenactments. Er, that is, their living history activities. (They get rather tetchy about us calling them reenactors.)
My guy got some nice pix. This first is showing how to play the children's game of Graces. A ribboned hoop is thrown by one person (using two sticks) and caught by another. Here the soldier is catching it. He and his lady playmate did a pretty good job.
Other games demonstrated were quoits (kind of like horseshoes only with rings), rolling the hoop with a stick, and nine-pins (kind of like bowling).
There was a blacksmith demonstration going on, too, and then a musket demonstration. And of course the obligatory cannon firing after a little lecture about the different projectiles (cannon balls, grapeshot, linked balls, mortars, canister, et cetera.
This was a small cannon, but it made a loud noise so they told us when to cover our ears. And there was a lot of smoke afterward!
My guy got some nice pix. This first is showing how to play the children's game of Graces. A ribboned hoop is thrown by one person (using two sticks) and caught by another. Here the soldier is catching it. He and his lady playmate did a pretty good job.
Other games demonstrated were quoits (kind of like horseshoes only with rings), rolling the hoop with a stick, and nine-pins (kind of like bowling).
Cropped.jpg)
There was a blacksmith demonstration going on, too, and then a musket demonstration. And of course the obligatory cannon firing after a little lecture about the different projectiles (cannon balls, grapeshot, linked balls, mortars, canister, et cetera.
This was a small cannon, but it made a loud noise so they told us when to cover our ears. And there was a lot of smoke afterward!
Cropped.jpg)
Cropped.jpg)
August 29, 2014
LOCAL NEWS
Looking at our local paper the past week, our crime blotter had a couple of strange things.
A truck had its passenger side window broken. The owner's wife's purse was taken, containing her Honduras ID and a social security card. I guess the SS card was because she was working here?
Another case found the cops being called out to investigate loud music. They said they could hear the music a block away. Since they were on foot, they found a man rolling a cigarette in his car...with marijuana. Bet he wished the partiers had turned their music down.
Finally, a man got sick in a store and stumbled out to a nearby porch to go to sleep. When a policeman woke him, he was confrontational. So they got him for carrying four bottles of vanilla extract??? Ah, but the vanilla extract was 41% alcohol. Guess that's why he was confrontational.
Not in the crime blotter, but a front page article told about our local library getting its table and chairs back. Our two local libraries were in a system with several counties till last year. After requesting audits of the system's funds and not getting a response, our county withdrew from the system and set up our own. We also kicked the system's director out of our main library (which had been the system's headquarters). She sued to stay longer but lost. When she moved out (without allowing anyone to see what she took), she made off with monies that belonged to us along with a historic table and chairs presented to our library many, many years ago from a coastal mansion.
After more heated discussions, she finally resigned from the position head of the system now headquartered in another county. The new person in charge met with our board recently and we are indeed getting our table and chairs back. The other system also agreed to pay us the money that had been allocated to our library.
We readers are happy about that! Yes, justice sometimes prevails.
A truck had its passenger side window broken. The owner's wife's purse was taken, containing her Honduras ID and a social security card. I guess the SS card was because she was working here?
Another case found the cops being called out to investigate loud music. They said they could hear the music a block away. Since they were on foot, they found a man rolling a cigarette in his car...with marijuana. Bet he wished the partiers had turned their music down.
Finally, a man got sick in a store and stumbled out to a nearby porch to go to sleep. When a policeman woke him, he was confrontational. So they got him for carrying four bottles of vanilla extract??? Ah, but the vanilla extract was 41% alcohol. Guess that's why he was confrontational.
Not in the crime blotter, but a front page article told about our local library getting its table and chairs back. Our two local libraries were in a system with several counties till last year. After requesting audits of the system's funds and not getting a response, our county withdrew from the system and set up our own. We also kicked the system's director out of our main library (which had been the system's headquarters). She sued to stay longer but lost. When she moved out (without allowing anyone to see what she took), she made off with monies that belonged to us along with a historic table and chairs presented to our library many, many years ago from a coastal mansion.
After more heated discussions, she finally resigned from the position head of the system now headquartered in another county. The new person in charge met with our board recently and we are indeed getting our table and chairs back. The other system also agreed to pay us the money that had been allocated to our library.
We readers are happy about that! Yes, justice sometimes prevails.
August 25, 2014
BELK'S
I love Belk's, our southern department store. It has nice quality products and the best sales around. A friend once bragged she got a dress for four dollars after using a couple of coupons on top of the percentage off the original price and the extra percentage off the sale price.
Anyway, we needed pillows. After sleeping on them for several months, pillows tend to get stained. I'm not sure if my nose runs or I drool, but the pillow gets gross. So when Belk advertised fifty percent off pillows and sheets, I decided to make the trip across the causeway to our local store.
I found the pillows that we like and brought them to the counter. A lady buying sheets used a coupon and when she'd finished, she offered it to me. "They don't care if you use them again," she whispered.
Sure enough, they took it. Another ten dollars off. Did I mention I love Belk's?
Turns out the new pillows were a tiny bit shorter than our old ones, though the extra padding made up for it. My guy joked they were like us: a little shorter and a little fatter than we used to be.
I wasn't amused.
Anyway, we needed pillows. After sleeping on them for several months, pillows tend to get stained. I'm not sure if my nose runs or I drool, but the pillow gets gross. So when Belk advertised fifty percent off pillows and sheets, I decided to make the trip across the causeway to our local store.
I found the pillows that we like and brought them to the counter. A lady buying sheets used a coupon and when she'd finished, she offered it to me. "They don't care if you use them again," she whispered.
Sure enough, they took it. Another ten dollars off. Did I mention I love Belk's?
Turns out the new pillows were a tiny bit shorter than our old ones, though the extra padding made up for it. My guy joked they were like us: a little shorter and a little fatter than we used to be.
I wasn't amused.
August 16, 2014
LOCAL PAPER NEWS
There's an item in my local paper today about the Ebola virus patient. The doctor caught it while doing missionary work in Liberia and was flown into Atlanta where he's recovering at Emory University Hospital.
Heck, he didn't need to go all the way to Liberia to get sick.
In this same paper was an item about a CDC scientist who accidentally mixed a deadly form of bird flu virus in with a tamer strain and then kept quiet about it. The supposedly tamer stuff was sent to other labs where unsuspecting employees played with it for several months before discovering what they were messing with.
And right on the tail of that scary item followed another about the trial in a deadly contamination of a Georgia peanut plant. The owners allegedly covered up lab tests and knowingly shipped tainted products, knowing they tested positive for salmonella.
Woo hoo! Why go off to foreign countries to risk your life? Stay here at home and see what happens!
Heck, he didn't need to go all the way to Liberia to get sick.
In this same paper was an item about a CDC scientist who accidentally mixed a deadly form of bird flu virus in with a tamer strain and then kept quiet about it. The supposedly tamer stuff was sent to other labs where unsuspecting employees played with it for several months before discovering what they were messing with.
And right on the tail of that scary item followed another about the trial in a deadly contamination of a Georgia peanut plant. The owners allegedly covered up lab tests and knowingly shipped tainted products, knowing they tested positive for salmonella.
Woo hoo! Why go off to foreign countries to risk your life? Stay here at home and see what happens!
August 9, 2014
TREE LIMB DOWN
I opened the blinds the other morning and looked out. A lovely English lady in our neighborhood usually walks early in the morning and was passing by. But she had stopped, staring at something in our yard.
A tree limb had fallen. No rhyme or reason. It just fell. Yes, it had drizzled a bit during the night but this seemed an excessive reaction.
My guy gets out with his lopper before he brings out his electric chain saw (his big saw has been with a relative since our move). A neighbor across the street sees and comes over with his big chain saw and cuts it up. He even gives us a phone number for someone who'll haul it away. So by lunchtime, we were back to normal. Except for the gaping hole in the tree.
When the leaves come off this autumn, guess it'll get taken down. Now we have to decide what to plant in its place so we can have some shade in the evenings.
I was later told Bradford pears often split like this.
I knew I never liked that sucker for a reason. Besides the awful smell, I mean.
A tree limb had fallen. No rhyme or reason. It just fell. Yes, it had drizzled a bit during the night but this seemed an excessive reaction.
My guy gets out with his lopper before he brings out his electric chain saw (his big saw has been with a relative since our move). A neighbor across the street sees and comes over with his big chain saw and cuts it up. He even gives us a phone number for someone who'll haul it away. So by lunchtime, we were back to normal. Except for the gaping hole in the tree.
When the leaves come off this autumn, guess it'll get taken down. Now we have to decide what to plant in its place so we can have some shade in the evenings.
I was later told Bradford pears often split like this.
I knew I never liked that sucker for a reason. Besides the awful smell, I mean.
