Daddy! Just a Blip...

A few months ago, my Daddy showed me an article in a local magazine written about him. I was almost afraid to read it!

You see, my Dad is an avid political activist in Levy County and has been written about in several of the local newspapers and it is not always kind --or truthful! I was pleasantly surprised to read Ms. Rarick's article about the simple pleasures of living in a rural area.

Bronson has become a "suburb" of Gainesville. Soooo many new folks! (Most of them Yankees. LOL!) Most of the residents who lived there while I was growing up have moved or passed away. I have no idea of the actual statistics, but I would venture to guess that a huge majority of Bronson folks work in Gainesville and come to Bronson to sleep.

So many things have changed...but a few things stay the same...like my sweet Daddy.

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Ms. Rarick a few weeks ago.  She has kindly given me permission to reprint her article for you here.  It will give you just a "blip" of a look into my dad's life.  Hope you enjoy it!



Out with the Cows
Talking with Charles W. Gilbert

By Elli Rarick


The rain held off just long enough for Charles W. Gilbert, known to many in Levy County simply as CW, to take me on a driving tour and picturesque journey of the area in and around Bronson where he has spent most of his 70 plus years.

Today, and since 1981, he and his wife Bobbie live on Oak Street. In the middle of the street just in front of the (new) house, built in 1993, is the stake that marks the center of the four-square-mile town of Bronson.

He still owns one 10 acre and one 30 acre parcel, part of the original farm, where he and his youngest son Beau run some cows and have hay to sell. Gilbert has one watermelon wagon left and uses it to take children on rides where they can throw pellets to the cows and travel into and through the "jungle" he has created on the 30 acre parcel off SR24.

Gilbert's paternal grandfather, Charles W. Gilbert, moved his family from Georgia to Newberry where his father was born in 1917. In 1924 the family moved to a house on Lake Street and south CR337 in Bronson.

His parents, Carroll W. and Mary Frances Gilbert, purchased 320 acres one mile out of town on CR337 off SR24. The original two-room house was located at what is now 9251 CR337. It was later replaced by a four room house in either 1944 or 1945 as the family grew from three to six children.

Gilbert said, "It was like a mansion to us! The boys had a bedroom and the girls had one too. It even had porches." In 1950 he recalls a storm taking the front porch off that house.

With an axe he helped to clear the land for planting that is now, in part, where the new Bronson High School sits. They planted watermelons mostly, and some corn. They had nine wagons to haul watermelons in and during the harvest would load as many as seven semi trailers a day.

Prior to 1947 there was a "no fence" law that allowed cows and hogs to run free. It was not an uncommon site to see cows and hogs wandering around town and even sleeping in parking lots. The Gilbert farm raised mostly hogs and some cows.

Gilbert remembered, "My job was to ride the horse out to wherever Daddy said. He would go to town and have coffee and find out what was going on and then come out to where I was to do the day's work."

During his later elementary school years, he told me, "My job on Thursday afternoon at 4 PM was to go and read the Bible to Mrs. Epperson."

He learned to drive in a 1939 Ford pick-up. His father served for 12 years as a county commissioner during the early 1950's and 1960's. Gilbert's mother was a school teacher in Bronson and later the principal at Otter Creek.

In 1955 Gilbert graduated from Bronson High School and in December of the same year traveled to Washington, D.C. to accept a training position in fingerprinting with the FBI. He remained there until 1958, teaching others the skill of the fingerprint identification process. It was there he met his first wife Betty. They had four children before she went home to be with the Lord, after they returned to Bronson.

Gilbert spent nearly 13 years in Tallahassee working for the FBI during which he earned a degree in Pre-Law in 1972. He worked over 3,000 cases and testified as an expert witness in fingerprint identification in over 100 cases.

When he returned to Bronson in 1972 he acquired his state general contractor's license to operate Aztec Industries in building houses. They also provided semi-loads of oak wood to barbeque restaurants in Florida and Georgia. The building (later Lee's Grocery on SR24) also housed a small engine repair shop.

He is employed by News America Marketing, a Rupert Murdock company, where he visits such area stores as CVS, Walgreen's, Dollar General, Hitchcock's and Winn Dixie monthly. He stated, "I do the stores because of the people I am apt to run into from the past."

On August 22nd Gilbert was among a group of past presidents (1969) of the Florida Division of the International Association for Identification being honored in Tampa for 50 years of service. He was part of the first organizational meeting in October 1959.

He and Bobbie, married 30 years, have a blended family made up of his three sons and one daughter; her daughter; their son and daughter and a total of 14 grandchildren.

In closing, Gilbert said, "I love being out with the cows."

Reprinted with permission from the author and 
In The Field, Marion's Agriculture Magazine
September Issue, Volume 2, Issue 9



Stay tuned!

Another Interruption?

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG....

for VOLLEYBALL!

Okay, I guess I really don't have to interrupt because I'm the one who decides what to put on here in the first place!  How cool is that?
 
Actually, I was in the middle of posting my Illinois pictures before I was so rudely interrupted by LIFE!


So much has happened since my last post, I guess I need to slow down and catch my breath.  To begin with, September is such a busy month for us anyway; we have umpteen volleyball games, Bex is in school, we have our annual G-Girls weekend at the beach, various church activities and corporate taxes are due!  These are normal.  Add to that a special weekend for me attending a Beth Moore conference in Orlando with friends, Bex heading to Camp Charis for a teen weekend and then our whole family enjoying a day at Camp Charis for Family Fun Day...whew!...it all adds up to a very busy September.

But that was September.  Now we're knee-deep into October and the "busy" continues!  As September came to a close, the end of volleyball season loomed heavy in front us.  After playing for Maranatha Christian School for six years, Bex (and me!) looked forward to her Senior season with a mixture of anticipation and dread.  Anticipation for a wonderful season...and dread for the end of her final season playing the sport we both love so much.

This volleyball year has been filled with drama!  As school-time rolled around several of our team's players left for different schools, leaving the team with huge holes to fill.  After practicing/playing/camping with one group of girls all summer, the actual TEAM looks quite different for the season.

This year, our Senior starters include Bex (of course) and Emily.  Both have played for MCS since 7th grade as homeschoolers.  Valerie, who attends MCS has played, but never been a starter.  We have two Junior players -- Sarah is a homeschooler that came back to play with us this year after having to play elsewhere because of a conference rule that limits the number of homeschoolers on a team.  Jackie, is a MCS student who's been on the team for a lot of years.  LaTisha, a Sophomore, is a new MCS student and pretty new to volleyball also.  Kelly is our lone Freshman this year and new to volleyball.  Then we get down to Savana, (Cha-Cha) our 8th grade veteran player (Sarah's sister) who can't play any conference games because of that silly conference rule limiting homeschoolers.  Thankfully, she does get to play in our non-conference games and is a huge asset to the team just because of her encouraging spirit!  We were so limited on eligible players, our coach promoted two 7th graders to Varsity.  Cherelle and Emma had only played one year of JV so there has been a HUGE learning curve for them.  There you have it, an eclectic group of girls thrown together as a volleyball team...but what a TEAM they have become!

After getting off to a shaky start with girls playing new and unfamiliar defensive and offensive positions, and for some of them learning how to play REAL volleyball rather than the "bump ball" version, it's been quite a season.

This picture shows Bex "setting" the ball.  This was so far out of her comfort zone this year.  She is usually an Outside Hitter and LOVES hitting!  But this year, everyone had to make changes and adjustments.  I was proud that she worked so hard to learn this new position.  She still got plenty of chances to hit, too!

As we head into our final weekend of volleyball season, our record stands at 18-0 in regular season and tournament play.  We've knocked off each and every team in our conference, as well as, three big high schools here in Tallytown.  Our girls have worked so hard to accomplish this.

Our conference, Panhandle Christian Conference, stretches north from Florida, to Bainbridge, Georgia and Dothan, Alabama -- then west through Panama City and Pensacola, Florida  nearly to Mobile, Alabama.  It is divided up into two regions -- East and West.  Last weekend, we traveled to Panama City, FL for the East Regional Conference Championship.  The five schools (with teams this year) battled it out to be the East Regional Champions.  The top two finalists go on to another tournament (which is THIS weekend) called the Final Four.  There the top two teams from the East and the West play to decide the full Conference Champions.

Last weekend, our girls easily won the East Regional Tournament.  Here's a picture of our team after the game with our two coaches, Ginny and Rachel.

16-Cherelle, 12-Emma, 22-LaTisha, 13-Sarah, 8-Emily, 21-Bex, 23-Kelly, Savana, 3-Valerie.  Remember, Savana can't play in conference games :(  so she isn't in her uniform.  She cheers everyone on anyway!  Jackie (6) is the one down with the trophy.


Before the tournament, all the coaches vote to determine the best players in the conference for the All-Conference Team.  From MCS, Bex, Emily and Sarah were voted 1st Team All-Conference and Jackie was voted to the 2nd Team All-Conference!

After the championship game, a Most Valuable Player for the tournament is named.  This usually goes to a "tall girl."  That's just the way it is.  

BUT....


This year, the Most Valuable Player trophy was awarded to a 5'5" Senior....

BEX!!!

And, yes... Mom and Dad are so proud!!!  She plays her heart out each and every game and I was so thrilled for her to receive some recognition for her efforts.

Our last regular season game was against Godby High School here in Tallytown.  This is a big, public high school right down the road from MCS.  This is the first year they have agreed to play us.  Since this was the last home game of the season, it was dubbed "Senior Night."   All three of our seniors were recognized with team signed volleyballs, special t-shirts, roses and a framed picture of them playing.  It was a sweet time.  I cried.

As official scorekeeper, I'm considered part of the officiating team.  This means I'm supposed to be unbiased and QUIET during the games.  I've learned how to be somewhat quiet and somewhat unbiased.  But it is HARD!  Believe me, it is HARD!  Since it was our last game, the chief referee (who I've become good friends with over the years) turned around to me and whispered, "If you want to cheer tonight -- I'm not listening."  He was so sweet, he kept turning around between plays and telling me "Did you give her that Ace?  Did you give her that Kill?"  He was referring to my favorite, #21, of course.

So, this weekend we are headed to Pensacola for the Final Four Tournament.  We're excited, but also dread the ending of our sweet season.  Normally, when a team has such a great record, we finish our season by participating in the NACA National Volleyball Tournament in Dayton, TN where Christian school teams from all over the country come to compete.  Remember I mentioned earlier that the year has been filled with "drama?"  (Since this is a memoir for Bex, I can't NOT mention the drama...but I will keep it short and sweet.)  Well, part of the drama included the church Pastor canceling several of our games, our coach resigning under duress from the administration, and our being told that Nationals was NOT going to be in our future.  But despite these trials, our girls have kept their head and finished their season with much poise and focus.

The end of the season is bittersweet for me, as well.  I've been the Team Mom, Team Scorekeeper and traveled with the team for the past four years.  I love these girls and I love the game.  So MY sporting life is over along with Bex's.  But despite all this, I'm looking forward to the new chapters unfolding in my sweet Bex's life.  I can't wait to see what God has planned for her (AND me)!

Stay Tuned with me!

PIZZA!!!!

Some of my most favorite Illinois memories as a kid centered around Aunt Judy and Uncle Moose's PIZZA NIGHT! Back then, their house wasn't as roomy as it is now.  In fact, it was downright tight when you added all the relatives to the mix!  As you came in the door, you had to SQUEEEEEZZZE  around the table to get anywhere!   But that didn't matter to us kids. We always had a blast running around with all the cousins outside while the adults (+ cousin Gena, who was never a child) hung out in the house. It's true that you always remember the "smells" of your childhood. I never smell pizza cooking, that I don't think of those wonderful times in Illinois.

These days, the pizza is still as yummy as ever.

Before the pizza, though, we spent a lot of the afternoon cutting up all the peaches we picked.  Oh, and shucking more corn.  While we were up to our elbows in peach juice, cousins Sue and Gerald Glasco from Marion dropped by for a visit.  Gerald and my mom were first cousins.  It's been fun getting to know them over the past few years..especially through Sue's blog.  They brought their granddaughter (who I had read so much about I felt like I knew her!) and some of her friends from college.  Gerald was in a big hurry to get back on the road until he started showing me albums of pictures he had taken of various family, folks and stuff.  That was so much fun looking through and figuring out who all those people were!

This year, Uncle Moose and his granddaughter (my cousin) Cora were in charge of making the dough (from scratch), rolling it out and pouring on the pizza sauce.  Aunt Judy's flour container would last me about 10 years.  They say at Christmas it might last HER a week!  Whew!

This picture is actually the LAST pizza being started.  They ran out of their homemade pizza sauce, so they improvised with homemade salsa!  The salsa was wonderful with chips...it was yummy on pizza, too!


By the way, that is not a mini-fridge.  Uncle Moose is just THAT big!

Here is my cousin, Gena and Aunt Judy putting on pizza toppings.  As a kid, we grated the cheese from a huge block....but now they've resorted to "bagged" shredded cheese.  {For SHAME!} The meat toppings were store-bought, too.  Pretty much everything else was freshly cut from the garden -- tomatoes, peppers, onion, etc.  Actually, I spent a good bit of time cutting up those tomatoes being layered on that beauty! They were soooo good!

Here's some pizza ready to go in their oven.  Its a commercial oven, but for some reason you couldn't put 8 pizza's in at the same time!

If I didn't mention it before, these folks COOK.  They COOK A LOT!!!  And when they COOK, it is soooo GOOD!!!

I must be adopted.

Here are some of the menfolk enjoying after dinner talk.  There were a whole bunch more folks there that night...but they must have been spread out letting their supper settle.  Bex was in charge of taking these pictures... Maybe she could have done better?  She didn't get a picture of all the peach cobbler, the peach pie, the peach and blueberry pie, the peach salsa, the brownies....I'm just sayin.

Here are most of the "little" ones these days.  All cousins kids that live within a few miles of each other.  This was taken right before Bex was told to leave because they wanted some "privacy."









That's all the pictures of the pizza night.  There was a BUNCH of folks there.  There was a BUNCH of pizza eaten and a BUNCH of peaches eaten.  All was well with MY world!!!

Stay tuned.

Giant City State Park

On Saturday morning, after arriving in Illinois on our little road trip, my aunt and uncle treated me and Bex to breakfast at the Giant City Lodge located in a beautiful, 4,000 acre Illinois State Park.  I had requested this little side-trip to show Bex the lodge because my grandfather helped build it as part of the CCC back during the Depression.  Also, my Uncle Moose worked in the park for many years and he gave us the "real" tour!  Here are a few pictures from this beautiful place.

This one is taken inside the great room at the Lodge.  It sports beautiful brick-work and wood-work...oh and several dead animals.

Here's a picture of Bex standing beside one of the HUGE poles that hold up the main part of the building.  This is ONE log!  It's REAL!  Not like those fake ones you see at Disney.

The other end of the great room.  The archways are so pretty with the sun shining in.  Kind of reminded me of an old castle.  I have no idea what "part" of this building my grandfather helped build...doesn't really matter...but I wish I knew.

The next few pictures are taken on the trail TO the Devil's Standing-Table....which we never actually saw.  (These old bones can only hike UP so far!) 

Of course, my monkey-child has no problem climbing ANYTHING!

These bluffs are so pretty!

A look up the trail we were following.

An interesting tree hanging off the bluff.

 

Believe it or not, the trail goes right through here.

 

Yes...Climb OVER the rock and through the creek.

This is me and my Aunt Judy.  She's my mom's youngest sister.  She's short like my mom.  She retired from a long nursing career and now takes care of grandchildren and her husband, Uncle Moose!

Do you have any idea what THIS little green thingy is?  It's a Paw-paw.  Remember the children's song about "pickin up paw-paws puttin them in a basket"?  Well, here you go.  Aunt Judy says they taste like rotten bananas...hmmm...I'll probably pass on trying this one!  After a wonderful "truck" tour of the park, we headed back towards home.

But on the way home, we couldn't get past this beautiful peach orchard.  After driving down some of the rows, Uncle Moose just happened to have the telephone number of the guy who owns it.  So, after a quick call, we were given permission to pick some of the beauties!  Did I mention, we just "happened" to have some 5-gallon buckets in the back of the truck?

 

Some of these beauties were the size of softballs!

I don't know whether I put as many in the bucket as I dropped...but I tried.  It didn't take us long to fill up a couple of buckets!

After picking his bucket full, here Uncle Moose is "testing" the product.  They were YUMMY!

Stay tuned....more Illinois trip coming your way....

 

The Road-trip Continues!

We were still in Alabama when we left off from the last post.  Today we head north with Southern Illinois dialed into our sights.

On the way, we stopped in Cadiz, Kentucky for a bite to eat at Cracker Barrel.

This pig was in the front of the store.  I couldn't resist getting a picture...so I insisted  ordered encouraged Bex to take a ride!  Isn't this a cute pig?







HINT:  You can really see the beauty of the countryside in these pictures if you "click" the picture (it blows them up full size).  Then to come back, just use the "back" button on your browser.

We arrived at my Aunt Judy and Uncle Moose's home around 4:30pm.  The weather was absolutely beautiful!  Here are a few pictures showing the view from my Aunt's home.  I don't think I would ever get tired of looking at the beauty surrounding this home.

 

 

The beautiful rolling "hills" are so gorgeous.  It was great just sitting and enjoying the scenery.

We had not been at my aunt's for more than 15 minutes when cousin, Cora, swooped in and carried Bex off to a local rodeo.  You know she REALLY had to twist her arm to get her to go!  (We had been away from home more than 24 hours --so Bex was in need of a horsey-fix!)

When my aunt got home from town, she commenced to planning dinner.  The number of mouths to feed quickly grew from 4 to about 15 by the time all the family had been informed of the arrival of the "Florida folks"!!!  It was quickly decided that we didn't have enough corn for everyone.  So....Aunt Judy said "Come on, lets go up on the hill and pick some corn.  You can ride a 4-wheeler, can't you?"  "Ummmm...sure!" I answered.

Okay... TRUTH time here!  Yes, I have ridden a 4-wheeler.  NO, I have never DRIVEN a 4-wheeler.  But the thought goes through my head, "how hard can it be?  I used to drive my brothers' mini-bike (35 years ago!!!), surely this can't be too complicated."

So, I mount up on this huge machine.  My uncle graciously gives me a quick lesson on how to make it go-- and more importantly, how to make it stop!  During this class time, my aunt has loaded up and is heading out on another 4-wheeler.  She leads the way up the gravel road to the "hill" which looks very much like a mountain to me.  After a shaky start, I follow her.  This particular scene was captured on video by one of my dear cousins.  Because of the video, I was able to see my skills (or lack thereof) and my backside from a different perspective AND to hear the "remarks" made by the elders still back on level ground!  Bex thinks this video is priceless.  (Thanks a LOT, Jon!)

Anyway, I made it up the hill to the corn field.  Here's the beautiful scenery that met me on the hill.  You can see the cornfield in the distance.

When I finally arrived at the field, my aunt was riding down the corn rows on her 4-wheeler, leaning over picking ears of corn and throwing them in the bucket on the back.  THIS is the way to pick corn!

After picking a sufficient amount of corn, we headed back down the hill.  The folks that live around there might not consider this a daunting task...but for this flat-lander-Floridian it was pretty scary!  But I DID make it down without embarrassing myself in front of the pile of folks gathered at the bottom.






Now...let me tell you about the corn...oh, my!  This stuff was so good!  In fact, when the meal was over I KNEW Bex would kill me if she didn't get some, so I wrapped up a left-over ear in foil and stuck it in my bedroom, in my suitcase just to make sure it would be kept safe and sound for BEX.   Let me repeat!  It was for BEX that I did that...not myself!

But when the passle of kids that were running IN and AROUND and THROUGH everything spotted that corn, they thought it was too funny that this crazy lady from Florida would put CORN in her suitcase!  Thus, the appropriate pictures were taken.

Next time, I'll make sure to CLOSE the suitcase!

Did I mention they also have a tomato patch??  Makes my mouth water just thinking about those HUGE, sweet, juicy tomatoes.

Stay tuned.

That Brings Us to August!

Our August started out with a bang!  

On Monday, (July 27) Bex won some tickets from a local radio station to a Rascal Flatts concert in Atlanta on Friday night (July 31).  Now, if you know my Bex --she LOVES her some Rascal Flatts!  FREE TICKETS!!!

Okay, if this had been in Tallytown, they might have seemed more FREE!...but this concert was in ATLANTA, GA -- 5 hours away!  Let's see...ummmm...gas, food, a place to stay...FREE? And the kicker even to that is that she had a volleyball tournament in Albany, GA the very next morning --bright and early!

But did I mention, my girl LOVES Rascal Flatts... "a chance of a lifetime" to hear them in concert!  So, after much coercion coordination, we worked it so that Mr. Fix-It would take her to the concert on Friday night, then get her to Albany on Saturday morning for volleyball.  Did I forget to mention that Mr. Fix-It isn't really a RF fan? Hmmm... But he sure loves his girl!  You can bet there was NO WAY her parents were going to allow Bex (at 17) to drive to Atlanta --even with a friend for such an event.  (We're so mean!)  So, off went Dad and daughter.

Oh, by the way.  The concert was in an amphitheater and it rained...

They had a great time.  It was a bonding experience!

So, after a busy night for Bex and Dad (where they ended up staying the night with wonderful friends in Macon), on August 1, the volleyball team arrived to play in a summer tournament at Sherwood Christian Academy in Albany, GA.

Sherwood is now famous for their church's movies, Facing the Giants and Fireproof!  Much of FTG was filmed at the school (just a little neat trivia--no charge!)  We played against four other teams (I think it was 4!) and didn't lose a game.  Our girls played really well most of the time.  We were undefeated and won the tournament!

Then on August 8, we had our Women's Ministry quarterly event at church (which I help coordinate).  Our theme was "It's A Fruit Festival."  It was a fun look at what IS a fruit of the Spirit and what is not.

Galatians 5: 22-23  "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (NLT)

Each table was decorated with a different fruit (i.e., banana, strawberry, grape, cherry, pineapple, etc.)   The food consisted of lots of yummy "fruity" things like pies, cakes, cookies, breads and a few breakfast casseroles thrown in for fun.  If you're on FaceBook you could see some pictures that somebody else took of the event...alas, I was too busy to take any.

On August 13, Bex and I headed out on a road trip with my dad...Grandaddy CW..from Bronson.  Now let me explain right up front.  Grandaddy CW does not take vacations...but he DOES take road trips.  Once he is away from Levy County, FL he doesn't let any grass grow under his feet.  Don't expect to stay in any one place more than 48 hours--TOPS!  But he can surely put some mileage on a car.  This particular trip was supposed to be...leaving on Thursday and starting for home on Monday or Tuesday.  But remember, if Grandaddy CW is away from Levy County --timetables change drastically when he's more than a 10 minute drive away from home!!!

We started out on our trip heading west to Montgomery, AL...or more specifically, Millbrook, AL.  My dad's first cousin, Billy Carl and his wife, Pat (and their grown kids) live there.  We arrived at their lovely home in the late afternoon.  They took us to dinner at their favorite BBQ restaurant and we had great food!  Then we went home to have some of Pat's homemade Red Velvet cake for dessert...oh my!  I was STUFFED!

This picture is of Pat, my dad and Billy Carl.  I'm not sure why they look so happy.  They really do like each other --a lot!

Did I mention they have a lovely home?  Oh, it is gorgeous!  Bex felt like it was one of the finer hotels she's ever stayed in.  And the service was fabulous!

Now, back to Grandaddy's timetable changes.  Before we went to bed, he had decided we would leave around 7:30 or so and get on the road towards Illinois.  No problem.  We can handle it...but I knew better.

So, the next morning, I get up at 5:30.  Billy Carl and Pat live in such a pretty, quiet, safe neighborhood, I decided this would be a good morning to go for a walk and try to expend some the calories from the night before.  I lovingly SHOOK my daughter awake (did I mention it was still dark outside?).  I conned her into walking with me--with the promise that she could sleep all morning in the car!  I'm thinking, we'll walk for 30 minutes, get back to the house with plenty of time for a  leisurely shower, do my hair and get dressed for the day.

So we walk 30 minutes and get back to the house about 6:15.  Dawn is just breaking....and  my dad is standing in the driveway with all his stuff already in the car READY to go!  Really!  I'm sweaty from swimming/walking through the muggy morning air... so I beg for a few more minutes to get that shower.  Daddy is never belligerent in being ready to go, he's very agreeable to whatever I want to do....but HE IS READY TO GO!  So, being the good daughter, I hurry.

Stay tuned for more Grandaddy, Bex and Meggy adventures!

Our Summer -- July

There was lots of activity around The Pine in July.  It was enough just having Bex back home! But we had some more fun anyway!

Our June ended with a fun party to wish my friend Cynthia a happy retirement.  It was bittersweet, knowing she would be moving to Tampa within a week or two.  As of today, she's happily ensconced in her new home, venturing out to find the perfect grocery store, a church that fits her preferred worship style, and I KNOW she's gathering new friends to be a part of her ever-growing family.  Thankfully, with the technology of today, it takes just a simple phone call to hear that precious laugh!

When Bex got home from camp she had to test the newly created "Rainbow Float" she had heard so much about from CJ!

While Bex was at camp we had a HUGE thunderstorm come through The Pine.  Mr. Fix-It and I stood outside under the carport and watched God's fireworks.  At times, it was too amazing for me and I sat in the van and watched!  We watched lightning strike this tree across the road from us.  It sizzled with a bright pink/purple light for several seconds.  These pictures were taken the next day as we went to investigate the damage.

You can tell where the bark was just peeled off this oak tree.  Absolutely amazing!

So what would July be without fireworks on Independence Day?  This year we went to the Talla Antique Car Museum for the festivities.  The festivities weren't bad for their first year.

A couple of our favorites here.

LOVED this one, it was HUGE!

On July 11, my sweet niece, Natalie, took the plunge into matrimony.  Here's a pix with Natalie, her dad and mom (Mr. Fix-It's sister), and her sister Caroline.  It was a beautiful wedding of fairy-tale proportions.

Natalie married her prince, Stephen, in the Monticello Opera House.  Here are the men from the wedding party before the wedding.  Stephen is the handsome one with the white bow-tie (2nd from left).

Here is the beautiful wedding cake which represents the girlie-girl that Natalie has always been.  She loves anything "Victorian" so the opera house and the cake were just right!

Here's a picture with Bex and Natalie before the wedding.  Bex dress looks weird with the handkerchief hem...so don't ask about it.

The next week, we headed off to Gainesville for team volleyball camp at the University of Florida.  As much as I'm NOT a Gator fan, I looked forward to this week because it meant I could visit and hang out with my family.

These girls are part of the team that rode with me and Bex to Gainesville.  (L-R) Sarah, Savannah (Cha-Cha), Emily and Valerie.

The team did well at camp (even though it was NOT a very good camp!) and finished the week earning Third Place in their division.  (That's what their fingers are showing "third"...) The blonde in the gray shirt in the front is Coach Q, she was their coach for the week. (Bex is 2nd from the right)

Another good thing about having volleyball camp in Gainesville is that Mr. Fix-It was able to come, bringing a friend's boat, for the weekend.  We sent the other girls home with another mom and spent the weekend in Chiefland with my crazy brother's family.

Here's a pix as we were on our way to the Suwannee river for the day. Bex with the bug-eyes, CJ, and CJ's oldest sister, Tiffany.

Did I mention that the "crazy" doesn't fall far from the tree?

Couldn't leave this picture out.  Here you see the much drooled over Camo Croc's.  These are Bex's dream shoes!  They finally arrived the week before camp...she was a very happy girl.

Here we are at the Redneck Riviera!  It's a sandbar in the middle of the river, about 3 feet deep so the kids can get out and swim to their hearts content.  You can see our pontoon boat on the right, with our friends (the Feagle's) boat on the left.  Before the skiing started, we had them parked all together so you can easily go from boat to boat.

This is Bex, just getting up on the ski's.

Here's Bex skiing up a storm!  She has such good balance, she's a natural.  As we were headed home, she skiied all the way back to the boat landing (about 15 minutes)...she was TIRED!

Here's Mr. Fix-It relaxing as he is skiing slalom.  You can see the pieced together "ski rope."  Somebody forgot to pack the ski-rope.  Being the resourceful folks we are...one was quickly improvised.  The handle was a wooden dowel someone had.  It was funny because the handle kept getting shorter and shorter as the day wore on because it kept breaking. 

Here's Tiffany skiing.  Don't worry, you won't have to endure a picture of Meggy skiing --that ain't gonna happen!  I'm WAYYY too old for that!

 

Here's Uncle Chuck, the faithful boat driver for all the skiiers.  Just look at those pink legs!

OOPS!  Another picture of Bex and CJ!  How did that get in there?









Well, a LOT more happened in July...but this hit the high points.  Of course, attending my friend Tammy's baby shower for her #7 was a lot of fun and I got to visit with some friends I don't get to see face-to-face very often...that was a high point too!

Next up will be our August fun...

Stay Tuned!

Our Summer - Substitute Daughter

While Bex was at camp, her Mom did find a few things to do!  Since Bex had abandoned me the week of our church's Vacation Bible School, I decided to import a "substitute daughter" for the week.  My niece CJ (Carroll Jo) was happy to fill the position!

CJ is now nine years old and just started the fourth grade a few weeks ago.  She LOVES her Aunt Meggy...but especially she loves her cousin, Bex.  Since the day CJ was born, she has believed that Bex was put on this earth simply to be HER playmate.  This was her first visit to Tallytown without her special "cuz" being in residence.  But we muddled through anyway.

When asked if she was having a good time, she told her mom she was enjoying being an "only" child.  Too funny!    When CJ was born she had one sister 12 and one 13....so she has ALWAYS been an "only" child.  CJ was born a teenager! Always the QUEEN!

CJ enjoyed VBS and swimming at our neighbor's house.  The temperatures during the week she was in Tallytown were over 100 degrees every day!  So the pool was a welcome relief.

CJ LOVED playing with Spooky!  Spooky LOVED having a girl to play with, too!  He wore her out with all his energy.  He was missing Bex terribly!

We lovingly refer to Spooky as "Pooky"...but I was informed in no uncertain terms that was CJ's nickname from her Grandpa and we could NOT call the dog, Pooky.

One of our evening duties was to feed the horses in Bex absence.  CJ (the girl) LOVES CJ (the horse)!  She wasn't too thrilled with Cherokee (the yearling filly) because Cherokee has such a prissy attitude, she scared her a bit.  But CJ (the horse) is always up for a little love and attention from anybody! (NOTE: CJ the HORSE was here first!)

Here CJ is enjoying our favorite summer treat...a Rainbow Float!  (Quickly invented by a very smart Aunt.)  A Rainbow Float is made up of Rainbow Sherbet and Ginger Ale, served up in a fancy glass.  (The glass is especially important!)  CJ would agree to anything as long as a Rainbow Float would be delivered as the reward.




CJ was a big hit at church!  She attended choir practice with us and enjoyed showing off the motions to songs she was learning that week at VBS.  After choir, I had several offers to take her off our hands...she's such a cutie!

At church, when folks asked CJ who she was, she answered..."I'm Aunt Meggy's substitute daughter while Bex is at camp!"  We got a LOT of mileage out that!

While CJ visited with us, she had to call her Mom and Dad EVERY day (can you imagine?).  Things got a bit trickier at the end of the week because I had told CJ about a surprise 25th Anniversary party for her parents that we would be attending on Saturday.  It was tricky because we had to "forget" to call her parents on Friday night.  We had to "forget" because we (CJ AND Me) were worried that she would forget and spill the beans to her parents.  Her parents were not amused....but they were surprised at the party ...and they survived a whole night without talking to her.  I tried to upload pictures off of Facebook of the party.  They're too small to really be of any value here...sorry.  But it was fun.

It was quite lonely around here after taking CJ home.  Quiet.  Too quiet.  But I survived the rest of the month anyway.  Now on to July for my next post! (Notice I didn't say tomorrow...but soon!)

Stay tuned.

Our Summer -- Camp Charis in June

Meggy is BACK by popular demand!!!

Okay...only 3 people asked nicely for me to post to my blog...but that's popular demand, right?

Two months without posting? How does the time pass sooooo quickly?

JUNE

June seemed to d--r--a--a--a--a--g by for me, I guess because Bex was at camp the entire MONTH!!! Can you believe she would CHOOSE to be away from her loving mother for a whole month??? Four very long weeks away from her Mom...okay, truthfully they were long for MOM...but Bex thought they went by wayyyy too quickly! I did see her a few weekends, so that helped a little.

Well, there aren't many places I would let her leave me for, but Camp Charis in Pelham, GA is one of them. Her time there has taught her leadership skills and responsibility, encouraged and discipled her spiritual life, and she's made many, many wonderful friends. Here are a few memories of her June 2009.

These pictures will give you a taste of WHY she loves Camp Charis and WHY you should send your children there...




This particular week, Bex was the Counselor for Trailblazer girls (Ages 11-12). This is Bex favorite age group! (Bex is in the back in a yellow shirt.) Their wagon was "Turkey Trot" so they are doing their turkey signs...can you see it?









The first night at camp, they have to make up a cheer and a poster for their cabin...this is the performance of said cheer.










Bex (in brown t-shirt) working with her "Cadets" on their poster for the week. Cadets are kind of 1/2 worker/1/2 camper for the week. Bex was pushed WAY out of her comfort zone being their leader for the week. But from all reports, she did a great job! (They won Top Wagon for the week!)








After some hard work, the Cadets are getting ready to head out on the lake for kayaking, canoeing and row-boating.











Bex rowing the boat...thinking "Why did Duh say this was hard? She's such a wimp!"





Swimming in the lake. Although they really love this, I believe this picture shows the beginning of Bex's double-ear infection which reared its ugly head in her third week!

The Friday of her Week 3, I got a call that I should come get her because she was sick. After a quick doctor visit, diagnosis of both ears infected, and antibiotics started, she spent a painful couple of days. But before the fever even subsided she was begging to go back and finish her 4th week. Hmmm.... Against my better judgment, Mom caved and took her back to camp. I figured that was preferable to hearing her whine all week about staying home. Thankfully, Bex survived!




Another favorite activity...the MUD PIT! You may be saying "Ewwww!"....but we all know rich women pay BIG BUCK$ for this spa treatment!











Here are the Trailblazer's cleaned up a bit! (Did I mention they won Top Wagon honors for their week, too!)













LOVE this picture!!! Kids reading and studying God's Word out of their own Bibles!










You never know who will stop by to help tell a Bible story!












Bex hates this picture -- but I thought it was a good picture to show you the wagons they sleep in with the lake in the background.

The wagons sleep 8 (on bunk-beds) and are air-conditioned!








Ever made tuna salad for 70? This is my friend "Mamaweso" mixing it up! Different folks volunteer to cook each week. She's one of the favorite camp cooks.









At camp, different days have different themes. This day was "Messed Up Monday"...I don't think they dress like this on a regular basis!


These are the Cadets... Bex giving them the thumbs up!








These are the Trailblazers on  Messed Up Monday.












The Trailblazer's all decked out for Western Wednesday! Bex would be the one with the big belt buckle...a gift from Mrs. Becky.












One of the treats for Trailblazers is they get to "camp" out one night...in tents...in the woods...












Just in case you wondered, Bex is probably not having fun...just likes to jump high!












Just glad it's her...and not ME trying to keep up with that crew! Would you leave your nice air-conditioned bunk for this?














Just in case you ever wonder who "Duh" is...she's Bex's BFF and fellow counselor (the one in the middle).










Here's a good picture of the Cadet girls. They had a fantastic week!









One of the highlights of the first camper's week...the dedication of the new swimming pool! After the old pool was condemned because of numerous leaks, God blessed with this new pool! What an awesome experience to be the first group to get to enjoy it.









Can you tell what this is? This is a game of water volleyball (boys against girls)...with a human net (the boys with their hands up are the "net")!

The "net" also helped the boys team. Gives new meaning to hitting the ball OVER the net!








Preparing for Water Wars!

Staff -vs- Campers













Water Wars in full motion! Bex running for her life...or more likely for more water!












Sometimes things are just too funny! Bex is really laughing...and her dear friends are laughing "with" her!









So there you have a small snapshot of BEX's June. There are soooo many more pictures, of soooo many other activities, but I decided to spare you and just give you a few highlights.

I have a few more pictures of my own June to share... later.


Stay tuned!

Voila! Ain't So Complete!

So.... a few weeks ago, I decide to try something new for supper.

In a fit of fancy, I had purchased this Voila frozen dinner at Publix. It was on sale. I had the silly thought that we could give it a try on one of those busy nights when I didn't feel like REALLY cooking. It looked promising.


Check out the picture.

"Voila! -- A Complete Meal in 10 Minutes"

Maybe you can even read the ingredients: "Carrots, Broccoli and Red Peppers with White Chicken and Pasta in a Sesame Garlic Stir-Fry Sauce"



Yummmmm! you say? Okay, it does sound pretty good. All the healthy "colors" covered, right? Orange, green, red, etc.

So I follow directions, pour it out in my skillet. Hmmmm...interesting...but it looks like something's missing. So I look at the bag --then look in the skillet --then look IN the bag (its empty) -- then look in the skillet. Yep! Something just ain't right.

Then I got my camera.

Check out THIS picture:



Notice anything missing? Why not compare this to the bag picture?











Okay...not quite Pioneer Woman photography, but you can see there is something missing.






Oh, wait!!!! LOOK!! I found it!!!!

There IS broccoli!!! See? Right there...on the end of the spoon!!!










Here's a close-up shot...I found another piece of broccoli!!! Yay! No false advertising here! There really IS broccoli...just not quite what the picture promised.

Now considering I don't even LIKE broccoli it was no great personal loss to me. However, the rest of my family DOES like broccoli and it would probably have been the most nutritious part of the entire meal.

So what would YOU do?

Popping By to Say Hello!

Thought I'd drop in and share a little with you today.

The Pine continues to be a crazy place--even with Bex gone! Last week I had a substitute-daughter for the week. It really helped since I'm missing Bex so much. I'll post more about that later.

Bex is in the middle of her 3rd week out of 4, working at Camp Charis in Pelham, GA (the world's best kept secret (www.Campcharis.org)). She is having a blast! Last week she was the counselor for the 5-6 grade girls and her wagon won top honors for the week. This week she is in charge of the Cadet squad. These are 7-8 graders who are kind of 1/2 campers-1/2 workers. They serve the meals, help in the kitchen, clean the bath houses, etc. My "secret contact" is cooking at camp this week, she tells me Bex's wagon is ahead in points this week too! (I taught her everything she knows! Hah!)

I didn't even get to SEE Bex last weekend because we had to go to Chiefland for my brother and sister-in-law's 25th Anniversary party. So Bex just spent the 1 extra night at camp. You can imagine that I'm having HUGE Mom-spasms this week. I keep telling my "secret contact" to give her hugs for me...I can live vicariously through her! At least I will get to see her THIS weekend...3 more days! Wahoo! She'll be home and AWAKE for a few hours Friday night while washing clothes...then will be leaving again Saturday afternoon for her last week.

So.... me and Mr. Fix-It are hanging around actually having to talk to each other (LOL!), taking care of all HER animals and watching old "Have Gun Will Travel" shows from NetFlix. If you could hear: Dun-dun Dun-dun Dun-dunnnnnnnnn-dun over and over and over and over and over....you would understand how exciting this is. But Mr. Fix-It enjoys the show and it makes me happy when he is happy. At least its a clean show and we don't have to listen to all the homosexual innuendo and language you see on the sit-coms these days...just people shooting each other. Soooo much better!

Here are a couple of pictures of a strange bird that showed up on our bird feeder last week. I've checked out the Audubon book, but can't find it... Maybe you can help!



His eyes and beak don't match any of the pictures in the book!













His feathers seem to be pretty slick too...kind of...green.








Stay tuned!

Treasure Found!!!

I bet you thought since I haven't posted in a few days that I had disappeared again!!!

Nope!

Just haven't made time to visit BloggyWorld this week.

I've been de-cluttering, running around with Bex and playing on FaceBook this week. I delivered six boxes of homeschool books and other materials to a friend. It was nice taking my "stuff" to clutter someone else's home. But if I know my friend, she will go through it, take what she can use, and have it on its way to somebody else very soon.

During the de-cluttering process, I've come upon quite a few treasures, too! Being a pack-rat isn't allll bad! Part of de-cluttering has been going through 12 years of homeschool...which includes books, papers, notebooks, supplies and all manner of "stuff." I've thrown away workbooks, assignment sheets, math papers, science papers, spelling papers, and just plain old paper-papers. I don't even remember her doing half the stuff I threw away. Looking through this stuff I'm much more confident that we did what we needed to do. That's a relief!

Through the process of throwing out, I've also come across things I treasure. Certificates from activities, math papers with mean drawings because she hated math; math papers with huge scribbles because she hated math (not such great memories of those particular days...but I smile when I remember them now!); art papers with beautiful pictures; and wonderful, creative, fully illustrated stories I will never part with. You wouldn't believe how many "I'm sorry Mommy for my attitude" notes I found! LOL!!

But one little note I found has made me laugh, smile and cry at the same time. (I wish I had a scanner so you could see it...that is so much more dramatic!) So far, this is my favorite treasure...

A letter from my sweet daughter (age 9 or 10--spelling NOT corrected):

++++++++++++++++
Dear Mommy,

Thankyou for making me a tuna sandwhich today, it was very very good!

This is a poem for you that I wrote.

I love my mom
She is so great!
She made me a sandwhich,
That I ate.

I love my mom,
She loves me too!
She cares for me
when I have the flu.

I love my mom,
she is so cool!
She takes me to Lindseys house,
to go swimming in their swimming pool!

I love you!

++++++++++++++++++++

These kind of things make everything worthwhile.



Stay Tuned!

Pink Lemonade Anyone?

Being the thrifty gal that I am, I hate throwing perfectly good stuff away. [Okay, in keeping with the truth in blogfulness rule...maybe I should say...Being the pack-rat that I am, I hate throwing anything usable away.]

To give you the background on this...Bex has this little dehydration problem. Therefore, since she just will not drink water by itself, her loving mother buys lemonade mix for her. She WILL drink that and it keeps her from having one of those upchucking episodes that comes from dehydration.

So here's what happened a few weeks ago. Bex looks in the cabinet and since she had used up the previous jar of lemonade mix and NOT put it on the grocery list, she can't find any lemonade. Having the wonderful memory that I do, I say "Oh, I'm sure there is some pink lemonade mix in there." I know its there, I've seen it time and time again.

After pushing other things around a bit, Bex pulls out a container of pink lemonade mix. "Ummm...Mom, this is Sugar Free! Yuck!" Then her loving mother reminds her..."Would you rather drink that...or have an 'episode'?"

She starts looking at it and sees a coupon! Great! we love coupons!




Then she looks a little closer....





Sure enough... $5 off baseball apparel at JC Penney. Well, seeing "JC Penney" would have set off bells for me...because they only use "Penney's" now. Then, Bex read the expiration date. Can you see it? 12/31/94!!!!

No wonder I knew it was in the cabinet! I've been shoving it around for 15 years!!!! Apparently, nobody in my household likes the stuff!

So, now I know you're wondering..."Did you throw it away, Meggy-girl?"

Ummmm....no. She drank it.

Really! She drank it.

She complained the whole time about it being sugar-free...but she drank it.

So now you know: I'm either the thriftiest gal you know...or a child abuser... hmmmmmm..... she didn't have an "episode" and I can testify she lived! Pack-rats of the world...UNITE!

Stay tuned.

Now for the GROWING UP TOO FAST Department

Another year -- another Awards Banquet --another opportunity to play dress up! Where does the time go? Seems like we just did this a few months ago!

Here are a few pictures from last Friday night's banquet. Even though we have homeschooled her entire life, Bex has enjoyed playing sports at a local Christian school. Each year, the school has a banquet where they honor athletes and students for their achievments. It's kind of like a prom with awards and no dancing...oh! and the parents are invited. Okay, so its not really like a prom...just a dress-up dinner.



My sweet Bex looked lovely. I'm so proud of her...but she has grown up wayyyyy too fast!

Here's a picture with Bex and her main man!

















The FAM!









Here's most of the volleyball team and the coaches. Several team members were missing.













Bex was honored to receive the Coach's Award for volleyball this year. That's the "all around you're a really great kid and volleyball player" award. This picture is of Bex and Coach Ginny.















After the banquet, Bex and some of her friends went bowling. They thought they were doing something unique. Little did she know that she was just following family tradition...since her Mom went bowling after a couple of her proms in full formal regalia, too!










Stay tuned!

Funerals R Us!

I know you're saying...ENOUGH ALREADY WITH YOUR FRIENDS DYING!!! Actually, I'm really tired of funerals too...even joyous celebrations of Christians lives. Does this make me strange? I've just had quite enough of them lately. Actually, waaaaayyyyyy too many!

Today we celebrated the life of a lovely lady, Betty Hough. I've known Mrs. Betty since I was a little girl. We went to church together. Mrs. Betty and her husband were very instrumental in discipling my Dad as a young Christian--which sure made our family's life take a new route!

About 27 years ago (next month) Mrs. Betty introduced me to my future husband. She was big on manners and would never let someone in a room go without being introduced to EVERYONE! Hospitality was probably her middle name...even though they said it was "Lou."

As a young college student, fresh away from home after losing my Mom, I knew I could always count on a wonderful, home-cooked Sunday meal if I took the initiative to get up and go to church. I wasn't shy about accepting her invitation! During one of those afternoons, she taught me how to make the perfect Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Every time I make it I think about her.

Mrs. Betty had four children. The oldest two were quite a bit older than me and my brothers. But #3, Phyllis, was only 2 years older and always seemed to be in my brother's class in school. We became friends (probably because she is so much like her mother and is so friendly and outgoing) and kept contact even after my family moved out of town.

Long story...shorter, at least --Phyllis was the Matron of Honor at my wedding. Her older sister made our wedding cake and decorated the church. Mrs. Betty's girls gave me a wedding shower here in Tallytown with many people coming who hadn't seen me for years...they were there for Mrs. Betty, I think. Mrs. Betty loved flowers and trimmed and pruned her beautiful, huge Boston ferns all summer long so we could use them in the wedding. Her family basically put on our whole wedding! Did I say they were wonderful?

When I was pregnant with Bex and ordered on bed rest, Mrs. Betty and another dear friend made it THEIR mission to get me to my Dr.'s appointments. Even then we lived WAYYYYY out in the woods, but they would come pick me up and take me home every two days for three weeks! They were so faithful and kind to me during that hard time.

Mrs. Betty fought her cancer for many years. She was always worried about being a burden on everybody. She never complained. She died five days before her 61st wedding anniversary. Wow! What a lady. Now she's reaping her reward with our precious Savior. What a blessing to KNOW we'll meet again.

Another milepost in our lives. Another wonderful picture of a life well lived.

Stay tuned!