America--Alive and Well!

I had hoped to be able to update daily from the road but I've been off the grid so just now have the "power"...NO hook ups is the word...but tonight I do..I'm still on the road, from the beach I headed north up I-77 and then to the Blue Ridge Parkway! IN search of Fall Color and I found it!

I spent my first night at Rocky Knob after I had to stay in a Motel on the rainiest night in NC!! IT poured rain on Tuesday so I got a motel to dry out...Wednesday I headed right for the parkway! 

I had a wonderful conversation with this handsome grey eyed pumpkin farmer!! I tried to pretend to be photographing the pumpkins....

He tried to convince me I did have room in my van for one of his gigantic Pumpkins..I did however point out my favorite one... the one nearest him...I had to walk over and touch it...that one with green marbling on it what a genuine and lovely man, he lives in Meadows of Dan, VA by the way a quaint small town right off the parkway. OH and he also told me he travels to Columbia, SC to the farmers market there...and maybe I should stop by and see him... ;o)

 Okay back to the road trip....

I think I caught the leaf color just right some oaks are stubbornly green but it is gorgeous!!  I love the Americana of the Southern Appalachians...

Including all these preserved  homestead cabins...this is Ma Puckett's cabin she was a midwife who lived in this area her whole life...she delivered like....1000 babies'--

Casey at Ma Pucketts 

And they used the local stone to build all sorts of structures 

Farms dot the hill sides everywhere!  Clouds hung around but leaf color is more saturated on dull days...

I just can't get enough of the landscapes...and the rail fences are all along the parkway which is 469 miles in length! It actually comes very close to SC on the southern end the northern terminus is at Shenandoah National Park, in VA.  Many of the amenities close around Nov 1, so if you're planning a trip make it before that. 

So I drove from the SC line to Mabry Mill, VA the handsome farmer jokingly told me they call it "Mayberry" Mill I think he was making fun of us "tourans" but it sure is a pretty little mill! So I did my part as a tourist to this area I took LOTS of photos and I spent a total of 52 cents while there...I had to have one of these...

I collect them! Not everyplace has one of these machines, you put in 2 quarters and a new penny and turn the wheel it flattens out the penny and imprints an image on the penny! This one says Mabry Mill, Blue Ridge Parkway, and now I see they have pennycollector.com on the penny so maybe I can order ones of past places I have visited?  You can chose from 4 different scenes,  Now I wish I had done all 4....:o(   I'm a tight wad in case you hadn't noticed!!  This is my fav shot of the ones I took.

I enjoyed trying to get a long exposure photo of the water zooming through the sluice, it had leaves traveling along in it too...

YAHOO boy that water was COLD! Don't stick your head out too far tho---^---

after I took this photo the guy told me Visitors are not allowed in that window...yikes! SO this is one shot probably no other tourists have of the mill in action!! What do they say, try to get a juxtaposition that no one else has to make your photo unique.~

there is a cute visitors center and a cafe here and you can buy grits, buckwheat and corn meal too!

and just one more pumpkin photo...

T.B.C.

PEACE

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

Huntington BeachSP

Casey and I are on our first road trip together! He is the sweetest old fellow, I love him to pieces!  My sis is at home with Mom so she is keeping my big girls, so I get a break from all that fur and drool...lol 

I guess you can tell we are at the coast!    He loves it...and so do I kinda muggy today as a front is passing through the State rain could be an issue tomorrow, but we are moving north tomorrow...we got the last empty spot at Huntington Beach St. Pk. literally!! Its jam full but barely a peep is to be heard as its all old gals and dogs like me and Casey...we turn in early and don't make noise, so no worries.  We did some shelling, birding, and peopleing!

Sanderlings in the surf

tbc

PEACE

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

Lost n Found

NO this is NOT one of my girls...its a lost dog I found yesterday..he has been wandering around on the road I travel, a man I saw nearby said that dog appeared in the area a couple days ago...I brought him home.  I put up some found posters and put his photo on the Animal Shelter Facebook page, so far no calls...

Here he is...a sweet dog, no problem he loves to eat and sleep! He is small, and looks to be an older dog, I guess I'm sort of making a commitment to him if no one claims him. 

What to name him tho???? I was calling him Cheeto but it wont stick....I tried Amigo that didnt fit, 

We had a dog named Grizz so that one has been used...so has the following

Tamba, Reny, Cyrano, Betty Sue, Jess, London, Longhorn, Moniletto, Lucky, Penny, Snowy, Peppie, Colorado, Muppet, Manfred, Breezy, Sam, Spanky, Indy, Maggie, DixieBell, Sundance, Jake, Jimmy, Flossie, and Annie!!!

Help me out with name suggestions---I like 2 syllable words--

Even if he goes back to his home where ever that may be (no chip in him)...he needs a name while he is here!  

PEACE

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

one.......good thing

I see people write on their posts...it was a good day or had a good day I can't wait till that's me, but I can't pretend all is good when its NOT, that's just not me...If I'm having a bad day it is a bad day---and vice-versa of course..Time flies when you are relaxing with a cup of coffee in the mornings...I have some time to kill before I head off into my day.  Does it seem that there is no caffeine in coffee anymore? Not long ago mom and I did something we never do...went out for breakfast!! So we had Diner coffee...within minutes I had a caffeine high going..I wonder what coffee they are using, I could use a punch in the arm right about now...

I am "scheduled" to be at the hospital today we really hope this is the day they tell us we can make arrangements for him to be transferred..see its not a treatment problem, its an insurance thing at this juncture...Last week we toured several facilities and today I'm supposed to stop by another one...trust me it is no fun what so ever, but it has to be done...I hope soon this will all be a distant nightmare.  

My CO sister is here now...well she is at my other sister's house upstate and staying with Mom...she came down and spent the weekend here with me and she did the hospital visiting to give me a break which I dearly clearly needed...and my friend came by last night and we viewed  episodes of Breaking Bad, and watched our favorite characters have a worse day than we could ever have...wee bits of unreality help keep the mind off ones own reality..

As soon as possible I am taking my camping vacation...the weather is changing, we had a gorgeous weekend..and fall is sneaking in quietly. 

I just remarked I wanted to get a table for my sewing machine...because its so heavy I can't manage getting it in and out of the closet and setting it up to mend a broken seam its way too much trouble...if I had it in a cabinet I would be more apt to try and use it..I went to the recycle center to get rid of my plastic....and there was one sitting there in the dead end furniture pile....

signs all over say -no scavenging-!! But I asked the attendant anyway she said once a guy took an old tv from there his house burned down that night he sued the city for $300,000.00 But she said just don't let me me SEE you take it...so I didnt----- I pulled my van across the view between me and her and I dragged it aboard!

Needs a good clean up and refinish but free is good eh??

so one good thing can lead to another ..........right?

PEACE

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

SMALL minds speak alike....

Nothing uplifting to report today...my X is still in the hospital although he is ready to be released we are wading through miles of red tape to find a permanent solution for him...Its a very difficult decision to be making, Its not my call so at least I can hide some feelings behind that knowledge ---doesn't make it any easier to accept tho!! IF you are thinking you may need long term care do yourself a favor and prepare for it..study medicaid rules and law now so you know what to expect if you don't have                                                         LTC insurance.

So here is what happened today my nerves are raw I'm stressed, I don't sleep well these days so I'm grumpy 24/7--- recall that line You wouldn't like me when I'm angry?? Anyways...go over to the X's apartment to get some of his things to take to him tomorrow.......here comes some of his nosy neighbors...one chimes up

HER= "how is he, we heard he died,  at the McDonald's Coffee Club all they do is talk about him."

ME= "he is improving, eating well now, and getting stronger."

HER= "and....  I heard gossip about you, you're his X wife, a couple who visited said you were feeding him when the sign over the bed said Nothing BY Mouth." 

ME=" Well what they didn't know is I was allowed to feed him they did not take down the sign....and did  you know what goes around comes around for people who gossip?"

Her face turned red, she excused herself..

That comment bothered me all day..I wish I could figure out Turn the OTHER CHEEK 

it's not the comment  I made  that bothered me....it's the one SHE made...

I knew the couple she was speaking of, they had come to visit with big smiles and apparently flapping mouths...so I tried all day to recall that couple's name..and 

Bingo it finally came into my mind...

So I looked them up in the small town phone book, there they are...I dialed...and I inquired are you the couple who visited ..yada yada,,,,

YES that was Us, she almost foamed with glee---

ME= Okay great well I wanted to tell you I ran into a friend of yours today and she shared some gossip with me!

HER= Really?

ME= Yes she did...she told me how you were sharing your visit to my X's bedside with the coffee club, making it sound as if I was injuring my X by feeding him..when a sign on the wall said Nothing by Mouth..

HER= She stammered..

I continued..

ME= Gossip is hurtful, its hateful and it can come right back to bite you...the gossip you were spreading got right back to me, and now I'm getting right back to you to let you know how I feel about it.... amazing how it comes back around!

HER="what I said was taken wrong, I'm sure"

ME= "no she was quite clear on what was said and who said it..'

HER= "I would never intentionally hurt someone with gossip"

ME= Really, well you did just that, and don't forget when you're the one who is NOT there it's probably YOU they will gossip about next..and by the way....you have my permission to tell all at the McDonald's Coffee Club, that I will personally call each and everyone of them whose gossip gets back to me if it is about me...I wont gossip behind a back I will come right up front and tell you how I feel about petty pointless gossip and the people who spread it right to your face!!

Do you think I over reacted?? I felt better when I hung up!!!

PEACE

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

Cobwebs and Squeaky Wheels

Well that's been me, while I've been at the bedside of my X--he has good days and some very bad ones where they have him tied to the bed, and with wrists in restraints, all his IV's pulled out blood all over him, his eyes look wild and he doesn't know anyone and he is seeing things in the room that aren't there and then he breaks into tears...and he sobs.  He told me he is sorry for all this he looks around the room...then suddenly he smiles, "do you see all those rabbits, thousands of them." 

His mind is tortured...my heart is breaking.  I suggest everything and anything that will make him come coherent, he recognizes me but he can't quite recall our relationship one minute he is calling me by name but then he will tell others I am his sister...no matter

...so he didn't eat for 11 days----I haven't slept for what seems like the same... every bite of food I take makes me feel guilty..they wrestled him down put a feeding tube in him he pulled it out...they put one back he pulled it out...they said radiology would put in a smaller one..

I pray every night and see him in my mind's eye eating...next day I demand either place a tube or feed him!! They try again, they fail he punches and bites the tech! Later that day....I fed him a dinner of mashed potatoes, with gravy, pureed carrots and pudding... AND he asked for bread!! They didn't give him any bread--- don't matter.  I hugged the same nurse I was yelling at earlier, and thanked her for not going off on me, and she thanked me for not losing it when I was so upset with her.  We are now in a truce...him, me, and them. We are all doing better today.

... he knew me when I came in, but he thought I was there to take him to the airport so he could visit his family in England..heck I don't care, I say, "I'm looking forward to meeting your family when we get there."

I do not have any say in this treatment we have been apart too long for that he has a Power of Attorney, his son from his first marriage...we are, so far, on the same page as to what should be done, although I think he should have had around the clock help instead he had only 12 hrs a week prior to this incident! 

When the lunch tray came he ate it all!! Thank you Lord for every bite...its a step toward a better place.  Come 5 or 6 he goes through Sundowner's its a very confused state they will have to restrain him again...I always leave before that, when Hyde comes out. 

How suddenly and subtle it comes...and goes

and 13 yrs ago I stood in Brooklyn NY and stared across the East River and watched 2,606 PEOPLE die in 2 buildings that collapsed...and I thought that was the worst day of my life...

PEACE

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

Sandhills Nat'l Wildlife Refuge --no labor at all!

2 posts in almost as many days? What's going on? Anyways yesterday we went to Sandhills NWLR.  We really are fortunate to have a state park and a wildlife refuge within a few miles of our home! It wasn't too hot so off we went--the hope was to see wildflowers and butterflies..we saw some of each a bit too early for the full force of the wildflowers and the butterflies seemed to be having tequila shots or something they were so buzzed they wouldn't sit still...but Mom has to pack today she is headed to my sisters for 2 weeks...so it was now or 2 weeks from now and we decided to do both What the heck!

the lillies are in bloom so little white dots along the edges of the ponds..the water was so warm...a footsoak was in order Mom sure enjoyed it--

Little shiners came to nibble at her toes..lol I was busy photographing the wildflowers weeds and such while she soaked...

 

                                   Tall Iron-Weed 

Joe Pye Weed

 

                                                                            Eastern Kingbird

 

                                                                           Button Bush really cute

  

                                     

This was my favorite shot of the day!!

I always make a mistake trying to I'd dragonflies...

more sightings included....  

buckeye butterfly

                                                     

Got a pretty good look at some blue grosbeaks and one posed for a somewhat distant photo..his breeding color fading a bit now to drab I am digging his big beak tho!

Just so you can see how vast the landscape is...

I caught a glimpse of an egret near the backside of one of the ponds...and then I saw she was not alone..

 Pretty far away but I think that is her  a white form little blue,  with her and they are traveling with a domestic duck they def. were all 3 together! They moved around as one unit not getting too far from each other...sorry the whites are so blown out...I'm still trying to figure out this camera..I am NOT a fan of digital buttons!! I'd rather have analog for that--one button for F-stops one for SS, etc..the good ole days but the film I can do without...do love the digital format for that!  Anyways this is like the incredible journey...it was 2 dogs and a cat right? How cool is that??

Then we carried on into a different area of the park...stopped to check on a few other sites..

Mom looking for more wildlife...once in the forested area I spotted this...and please do convince me it is a willow flycatcher cause that would be a new lifer for me!

not great crisp shots as he was high up in the tree...but here is what I see: Un-remarkable eye-ring,  whitish throat, orangey color to the slender beak, has some pale wing bars, buffy-breast, notched tail, and that flycatcher hair-do!

I put it on Ebird they will probably scream at me...but so be it!

Safe Travels on Labor Day!

PEACE

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

Lunar Spell

I went outside with my camera last night--I still don't have a complete handle on the settings of this Panasonic camera..but I was able to get a kinda cool Moon shot--

the big flat impression midway in my photo.....wonder what  this is?  Is it a mare (dead sea) a crater, or what? Have you ever studied the moon? Its spell binding to me!

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/etc/moonmap/moon-map.html

What do you think? Be safe this Labor Day!

PEACE

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

Something Constructive!

It got a wee bit cooler here today! We had the AC off until 1 pm that was nice! Little by little it will cool, the leaves will fall, and it will be time to turn on the heat! Our open window "window" is pretty short!  While its nice out I was able to get one of those "planned upgrades" done to the DLEX ,,,now If  only I could afford the shocks, brakes, tune up, and tires------I finally realized what I need is not a good job but a HANDY man!! But till I sign up for Cougars R US let me show you a job I was able to do!!

Remember that light project I spoke of...like when I want my double doors to be open on my van and the back light is on...and I'm always afraid the battery will get run down..I found one in
                                                              drum roll please
                                             XXXXXXXX---WALMART---XXXXXXXX

WHERE ELSE? Dang I hate that-- but it was there right on the shelf for a couple bucks grabbed it up and SHEZAM put it in...as follows!   The old one is held in by 2 screws...fumble around and get those out--

  

Tug gently  on the wires till the point of attachment is found  like shown below.

Make sure the light is OFF I turned mine off by closing the door that has that little "thing" that when you shut the door it turns off the light..dont cut this wire with Power ON, if you have to disconnect the Positive side on the battery under the hood, then do that....! You could BLOW something or get hurt if you cut it with live power running to it!  Snip- Snip-

Here is the kit I chose it has a push button on/off switch which I can leave in on position and when I open or close the door it will come on...but when I'm camping and want both doors open I can push the button to OFF..it has a clear cover and its a bigger bulb...

here is some of the tools you will need!

You have to strip back some insulation off the wire to expose the copper...I used that electricians red..pliers on the left it has handy stripping notches you just close it on the wire and pull off the insulation.  Only strip about 3/8" off like so...

I wish I had thought of buying some CRIMP connectors but I didn't so I used some of these twist kind I had in the tool shed. (if you use crimp connectors you don't have to strip the wire you just insert wire in each end then squeeze it and it cuts thru the insulation and makes the connection, you can get them in the auto section) Connect white to white and black to black...then secure the connection with the nuts.  YOU could just use black electrical tape..Black is normally the Positive wire.  White is neutral--here is how I did mine.

At this point check your light make sure its working...Open the door to make the wire live, and push the button to turn on the light. It works so close the door again and turn off the light...

I put black electrical tape around those twist nuts to make sure they wont work off and push wire and nuts up in the hole inside the roof...

Now its time to put the attaching screws in...my headliner is on a board of some type so it accepts screws..

I love this magnetic screw holder on my cordless screwdriver...without it I could not hold this screw with my clumsy hands...

Mount all 4 screws keep it straight if you can...NOW I forgot to put that black gasket around my installation,..I did keep it to put in at a later time if it becomes a problem!  Since this is an inside installation I don't think it will be an issue.

 

Then put the cover in place and insert the 2 screws in it...and test it....ON

OFF --cool beans!!

...another thing I spoke of doing is when I removed the TV from the headroom area..I put up a piece of plywood that I glued some cloth too!  I found these 3 trash cans and I used them to make some storage containers.  In order to make it so the stuff I store doesn't slide out I put this netting purchased at Jo-Anne's around the top of each can like so....I used duct tape to hold it on..

and I have 3 of them!! Now its not a huge behemoth TV and I like the Celestial fabric and extra storage! And I can pull these cans out and put stuff in the top bin too as long as its not heavy stuff.

Pretty simple eh???

Another issue was this annoying wire that keeps falling down!! It scares Annie when she rides on the bench seat so I finally did something about that using some double sided tape...

Poked it up in there and put a nice big chunk of tape over it in a couple of spaces...and it worked!! (so far)

Out of Sight ---finally!!

Felt good to have some things go Smoothly and  it also felt good to be doing something constructive!!

PEACE

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