Pleasant Ridge County Park!

A week is such a fast thing! Seems like only a day ago We headed out to sis's house...and  we had a sweet Memorial Day Picnic at the Pleasant Ridge County Park near Travelers Rest SC. There is a camp ground there but it was closed...we had a nice picnic then took a quick hike, my knee is really giving me a fit so strenuous hiking is out for a while...but easy trails call my name, I limp and later bring out the ointment!

Still managed to find a small slide/water fall!

it was in my Waterfall Book!! Bingo. 

This is a great MT Bike/Hiking loop trail...this park was used mainly by blacks, when segregation was still in force in the South....the past is best left in the past...today all are welcome in ALL parks! TG...but MOST churches continue to be segregated, go figure?

Mom was happy to get some sun and this dragon fly landed on her head...after he checked out the fence....

We read up on it in my sisters Animal Totem Book,,,,it said Dragonfly is telling you to get out in the sun and soak up some Vit D. Mom's been out of the hospital about 3 weeks...so she needs to get some sun!

The Mt. Laurel was in full bloom all through the woods.

we found this old chimney on the hike...

and we found this cool tree that reminds me of another tree I found once...

Fun was had by all who attended, and that's the END 

mom and sis

of the First day of My Summer Vacation!!

Up next Camping!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

Where I was today! Toccoa Falls,

                             

Having fun on my trip saw the Toccoa Falls today in Toccoa Falls Georgia, its awesome.  The falls is located on the campus of the Toccoa Falls college.  You have to pass through the gift shop and pay one dollar if you're my age and I got to bring the girlz along too...

Well worth the visit if you get the chance.  I didn't know there was a disaster there in 1977..,Google it up if you care to...I have visited 3 waterfalls all together and had a great time...I'm listening to a barred owl as I type but the bugs are beginning to attack so that's all for now!!
I will catch up with everyone when I return!

                                                            Flossie and Annie 

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

Finally!

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go....i'm standing here outside your door...lalala, yodel de'

I know y'all know that JD song it was one of my favs...

so thats how things stand right now for us, Mom is game to go and the deal was this...see I had prearranged prior to her hip FX and subsequent surgery to take a very short trip to some state parks here in SC.  I would have preferred a May Day departure but mom cant stay alone so had to co-ordinate the trip with my sis so mom could go there for a couple weeks...I am not gonna be gone a couple weeks straight..but in an out..

So long story shorter, I had to wait until sis was not traveling for work and her husband was going to be home during the day so NOW or never!!

I got the Dixxeland Express which I refer to as the DLEX ready to travel its not as spry as it once was neither am I...and it looks worse for wear as do I...so off we go into an adventure I'm excited!

Found this Giant Leopard Moth hanging around the yard yesterday...

Flickr ate my photos 

He looks like a cool graphic design, and under the wings this splash of orange really caught my eye..

Flickr ate my photos

Do you do this when you travel?

This is my collection of field guides, well some of them...I will probably toss a few of these in for good measure, otherwise I wont know what I'm looking at when I find things like the moth up there..

Another thing I enjoy looking for are pottery shards! 19th century stuff like these...

I did find this shard that I believe was flint-knapped! I found it on my own land as I have found one other in the past...what do you think; is it the real McCoy? You can see it better in the first photo its the upper piece.  I love to find bits of old crocks, plates, and china! Wish I had started sooner, I've tossed lots of bits in the trash but now I keep them.  I don't have a metal detector but it might be fun to have one. 

One stop is a state park off the Savannah River along the GA-SC border  I hope to see some different fauna and flora! The dogs are going with me, and they heard their leashes getting packed so they know they are going some where they just don't know when!!

I'm planning to toss this one in the lake and give her a bath!!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

The Panasonic has arrived!

This is the Camera I purchased! That's a stock photo...Its  Panasonic Lumix DCM FZ70K 60X geeze such a long name! I'm going to sort of review it here. The link takes you direct to the seller on Ebay where I  got this one. It is re-manufactured and I wouldn't even consider that except it comes with a 90 day warranty! So I figure that's a good a deal as any. 

WHY DID I SELL THE CANON REBEL, you ask?

Because...it was too heavy for me to use "out in the field" which is where I wanted to use it...generally I dont' use a tripod unless its a waterfall and if its a long hike I've been known to use a rock for a tripod..so weight is an issue for me...Changing lenses is a P.I.A. If you're in the field snapping shots of a flower and then a bird zooms by you're screwed..so a bridge is the way for me..

WHY I CHOSE THIS OVER THE main competitor in long zooms....the CANON  SX 50? 

Well I watched a few SX's on Ebay and they went to $300.  Even used ones were up to $250  and the megapixel is 12.1 this Lumix is 16.1 megapixels. I've never owned a Panasonic camera before so I have to get familiar with the layout...I've owned Minolta, Kodak, and Canon in the digital line.  So here is my first shot its right out of the window of my bedroom...so thru a pane of glass..

and even closer....

Here is a shot of distance so you can see...here is the back yard (no grass thanks to 2 dogs whose names I won't mention)...see the picket fence line at the back? Look to the right of the open gate there is a bird feeder on a taller post, it looks like a black spot about mid-line here 

standing in exact spot zoomed it in on feeder and a cardinal feeding....its a 60 X Zoom..so pretty good...this is hand held so IF I'm not moving too much I can get a decent shot...

I did notice its slow to focus sometimes in branches...but I found that with the Canon too, so mostly I manual focused that camera which was another drawback due to my wrist function...

So far I'm pleased..I am having trouble with the video it tells me "the card has been formatted by outside sources"...its an old card I've used in a couple of cameras so I will get a new card on my next trip to town...it came with battery (I have to order one more I like to have at least ONE back up ready to go) charger, lens cover, neck strap, booklet and software. 

Its light weight...at 1 lb and 6 oz.  CONS: I am not crazy about the location of the zoom button, I wold prefer it at the right back where you thumb can operate the zoom and the forefinger the release button...but its located on the edge of the release button...

And the Display Icons are scattered everywhere so It will take some time to get used to what all this means...so far I'm only shooting in AUTO mode till I get used to it...so as of today I like it...and plan to keep it if it screws up hopefully it will be within 90 days. I can buy extended warranty... I don't know if I will do that...gotta think it over do y'all do that? So now its time to get out there and photograph!!

Bye for NOW!!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

Call Me Al....

field of Ragwort & Thistle

Today Mom has a Dr appt. first recheck after being released...its been a hard week for me! I'm adjusting to the new format, but its frustrating for her and me...but isn't that the way life is sometimes? So now my knee decides to act up and give me misery...I hurt my knee in the fall last yr..I thought it was just heavy bruising but as time went on I realized its way more than that! Probably a meniscus tear!! The last couple of days ---Holy Grail---it hurts like H**L

grackle in the swamp

Oh well you just complain and go on...I guess when it stops moving all together I'll have to cry for help.

I've been on a couple of bird search outings for my Big Day Search while mom was in the hospital...but I'm not ready to report my findings yet I had one really good day..but I hope I can do better! There is still time so I'll report when Im ready to throw in the towel between now and the 25th of June!  I'm trying like crazy to arrange a trip for myself..it means coordinating  

Pitcher Plant Blooms

Meanwhile the garden has been under constant attack from critters seen and unseen! I think mostly its squirrels! So every piece of netting, wire, planking i have has been called into action to try and save some of it...lettuce is about done, carrots and Kale are doing well...made a rhyme could you tell? Ha! 

Green beans and onions growing well...

The tomatoes were eaten down I had to start over and I put up the most awful ugly barricade around them to try and keep the varmints out..and I put my security guard AL on the job!

I don't think they are scared of him!! I may have wasted my $10!

I use these cool water shutoffs to do my watering, got this one at Walmart a couple yrs ago..it shuts the water off you just turn the hose on, rotate the timer to how long you want it to run for and it shuts off so you don't have to worry if you forgot to go turn it off!

I bought this cool pocket hose too..its light weight and you can coil it up so easy...I recommend one if you're tired of lugging heavy garden hoses around!

here it is coiled in a bucket ready to go!

Not much else going on I got my van back from my son, it was is in horrible shape...dang .......IT....so I'm trying to get it ready for a trip in case I do get to take one...I need to have some suspension work done, already had one wheel bearing, rotor, and caliper done...it needs a new windshield...and I'm removing (well did already) that low hanging TV console thing it was useless! I don't watch TV when camping I do have a 7" DVD player I bring along in case of rain...and it sits anywhere so don't need a big huge heavy TV rocking over my head

 here is a before..

and after...
I do have to enclose this opening...but want to make it available for storage of lightweight items so I'm still brain storming on what I want to do with that.

see no more droop!  It opens up the headroom in the cab a lot!!

...and to help pay for all this costly stuff I'm still selling on Ebay, its been slow tho for a couple weeks!

Here is a cool thing I found to resale..

a carpenters tool holder, its quite well used so I'd say its Vintage!

The best thing is it didn't cost me anything I found it in the "going to the trash pile trailer" behind the Habitat Store! Tiz my honey hole!

So that's how things are going around DixxeLand for now..hope its smooth sailing for all of y'all.

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

My Ship {Could] Come In!

I'm trying to win a $5000 Home Depot Gift Card!! I entered one of my floor makeovers in their contest y'all can vote by clicking on this link!! 

HEY its time for a good Break for me!! You can be a part of making that happen..*Big Wink*

VOTE for Sondra's Floor Make Over HERE

and send all your friends over too! IF I win I can finish my Project house as it is currently at a stand Still!!! Voting ends on May 31st...

AND--

I'm trying to get organized to do my Big Day...Jen told me I've got till June 25th! So I had the dates all mixed up so My results will be coming soon!

~two-fur~

and here is something cute I found to resell--

for the little girl who loves frills! I'll let you know what it sells for I paid $2 for it..

And look at this it kinda made me think....hmmmm

New meaning to Paper or Plastic...Not an appealing idea!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.