Ridin' the Crazy Train

DH, Moe, and I rode an old train today. And it was a lot of fun.

We drove up into North Georgia to Blue Ridge, GA, and rode on their old rail line - the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway.

We got our tickets and looked at the train. It's made up of older cars that have been refurbished.

Some cars, like this one, were open air. This would be great in the fall - but since it was so hot, I opted for an air conditioned car.

We were on car 332 - it was cheery and bright. Before it was refurbished, this car had a darker past. This was supposedly the very last rail car made under Jim Crow rules - designed for segregated seating of black and white folks. I'm glad those days are gone.

As we waited in our car for the trip to start, we saw a tiny train which sent us on our way!

The trip was not a long one, but the scenery was gorgeous. The tracks follow the path of the Toccoa River, which flows north into Tennessee.

Here's the basic path. This line started before the Civil War, part of the narrow gauge line known as the Marietta & North Georgia Railroad. The current line is staffed mostly by volunteers!

Here's a lovely home along the way. According to our guide, the home was owned by a railroad conductor who built the home and raised 11 children on the grand salary of fifty cents a day.

We saw a lot of pretty scenery as we made our trip. This is an ancient Native American fish trap in the Toccoa River, which flows right to left here. They put rocks in the river and herded fish into the V of the trap.

And soon enough we were at our destination. This little town is split by the GA/TN state line, so it's two towns in one.

The state line runs straight through the town, marked by a blue line. Moe's big dogs are in seperate states.

The town is quaint, with the Toccoa River running straight through it. Lots of rafting/tubing companies are based in the area. The town used to have copper mines, but they closed up years ago.

Other residents enjoy the river. We grabbed some lunch (sandwiches we brought) and browsed some shops.

This is just wrong. (The candies are feather shapes!)

After a two hour layover, we got back on the train and headed back to Blue Ridge.

We met the jolly conductor. What a fun job!

We were tired on the trip back - it was really hot that day, and we walked around for hours in it. (DH later told me his feet hurt. He was wearing shoes with no supports.)

Soon enough we got home. The train pulled into the station and we found our car and headed home.

Here's a little treat for you, a little movie I took on the trip. You can hear the train sounds well, and see the river through the trees.

A fun day - I recommend riding the rails!

Other doin's

A bit of tatting has been accomplished.

My old favorite, Mary Konior's Large Cross from Tatting with Visual Patterns, done in Lizbeth 142 (turquoise twist) size 20. My cell phone camera does not do justice to the vibrancy of the colors. I'll block or press it tonight. This is for a church friend, a recent widow.

BTW, if you are considering going to Palmetto Tat Days this year, this may convince you. Take a look at the pictures of patterns here! Some are mine, as I'll be teaching. One of mine is at the top of the list! (I love Dinky the Cat - too cute!)

Larry is doing a bit better, mostly since his demon mother pried him out of bed. I'm taking him back to the orthopedist tomorrow. He's pitiful. 

Things are growing in my yard.

 

Container grown tomatoes. Larry, Moe and I don't like these raw, only cooked. DH adores tomatoes any way he can get them.

Look carefully - those are plums on our tree!

And things are blooming.

Butterfly bushes, planted in front of our dining room windows. That way they become entertainment for the cats. Vader loves butterflies.

The occasional rose is blooming at the base of the plum tree. We have salmon colored ones elsewhere.

 

Some pretty fleurs Mother brought me last year, sitting on my front steps. They survived the mild winter.

Hosta thrives by my mailbox. Hmm, the Stooges need to edge the curb and sidewalk here.

Hope things look good where you are....

 

Time at Mepkin Abbey

While I visited Charleston, my entire family went to Mepkin Abbey. Mepkin is about an hour outside of Charleston, in Mock's Corner, SC (and yes, I've spelled that correctly).

Mepkin is on the site of an old plantation. The property was donated by Clare Boothe Luce to the Trappist monks, and the order was established here.

My father often took retreats here. He loved the peace he found there, and he was close friends with the late Abbott, Fr. Frances. Frances died a year before Daddy, his life cut short by a virulent leukemia. Before Daddy died, he said he wanted some of his ashes to be put by Frances.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to plant Daddy at the Abbey this trip. The monk's cemetery is private, and while we were allowed to go into it and saw Fr. Frances' grave, we were escorted by another monk who didn't know about our intent. So we'll come back another time, when we've been able to talk to the Abbott and make good arrangements.

The property is truly gorgeous.  There are gardens and sculptures everywhere. And it borders the Cooper river, which flows into the Charleston harbor. Walking through the gardens is a blissful experience, even on a hot day.  And it was hot!

We walked through the gardens in the summer heat. There are many lovely natives plants and flowers here. This is a hydrangea. One of the things the monks do is cultivate native plants.

The sculptures are lovely. Many blend in with their surroundings.

Some are more modern. This is a wonderful creche made of metal. The baby in the manger has a round golden saw blade for a crown. The monastery has a large collection of creches.

This is a wooden sculpture of the Holy Family, carved on site from this huge log.

As I mentioned, the property was donated by Clare Boothe Luce. The Luce family is buried at this location. You can see their cemetery just past the big live oak.

There were lovely views of the Cooper river in parts of the gardens.

A restful Madonna and child sculpture. It was very peaceful here.

If you're ever on the coast in the South and you see the live oaks with the Spanish moss on them, admire the moss from afar. The moss is loaded with nasty itchy bugs. Look, don't touch.

One of my nieces with her mother, my sister.

My family really enjoyed this visit to Mepkin, and I'm certain we'll be back.

When Moe and I returned from our journey to Charleston, you'd think Vader would be there to great us. You would be wrong. He was lolling around, pretending he didn't care. Of course, he jumped on me in the middle of that night and woke me up, purring loudly.

Catch up

I need to report that the gods smiled on me when it came to my air conditioning repair. I dealt with a very nice and efficient young man who came Saturday afternoon and fixed the unit right up. And it was only about $100 - extraordinarily cheap for A/C repair. I almost kissed him. (A replacement unit would cost me at least $5K USD.) God is good!

Curly has been working hard at his new job, with Bubba keeping him on the straight and narrow.  Bubba doesn't let him get away with much.  Curly comes home TIRED, too tired to get into much trouble.

I'm trying to tat up some UFOs and free up shuttles for Tat Days. Got some cool projects to work on!  And - my broken shuttle has been glued back together, so it can be used for Nina's class.

The Bad Kitten is chillin', with his tummy on the carpet and his back legs stretched way out.

What Vader the kitten doesn't know is that next week he will be having a bit of surgery, the ol' snip-snip.  What he doesn't know won't hurt him. We will be happier for the snipping, though!

Tidbits for a Saturday

Today is my blog's one year anniversary. I'm going to do a giveaway - but I'm going to wait until AFTER Palmetto Tat Days, as I'll give away something I'll get there. So you who can't go to Tat Days - watch this blog for something cool!

Some miscellaneous stuff:

Do you see those family stick figure stickers on the back of minivans and SUVs? You see them a lot here in the States. I find them pretty silly, obnoxious even.  (I just found this one on Amazon - hee.)  Well, driving home the other day, I saw an Alien stick figure family.  I laughed and laughed.  (FYI - the vendor mentions living in Roswell - which co-incidentally  is the name of a suburb of Hotlanta. Not THAT Roswell, though.)

We are currently sitting in a hot house.  My air conditioning is not working at the moment, and we've called someone to service it.  I'm hoping I'll only have to service it and not have to *GASP* replace one or both units.  (We have a big house, hence two units.  One is not working.)  AC units only last so long, and several of my neighbors have replaced theirs.  We are very very short on cash right now, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  And it needs to get fixed quick - it's 91 F outside (that's almost 33 for you Celsius folks).  In other words, it's the same dreadful temperature it's been since late May.  I need my AC!

Tat Days 2009 participants - and yes, I'm in this.

I'm really getting excited about Palmetto Tat Days 2010.  For those who can come and haven't signed up yet, it's not too late.  It is such a blast!  I blogged about it last year - look for Tat Days 2009 in my search.

Here is Jane Eberol at last year's Tat Days.  Check out her purse - it's covered in tatting!  While Jane won't be there this year, you'll be able to meet folks like Georgia Seitz, who is just wonderful.  I can't wait.

For those who need their fix of bad kitten (and you know who you are), here is Vader standing on the long suffering Cisco (on the bottom) Cisco is really the top cat in our house and he knows Vader is just a kitten, so he puts up with it.  A second later, Vader was biting Cisco's neck.

toodles....

It's sweltering

Hotlanta is living up to its name. It's been gawd-awful hot. sweltering, miserable, stiflingly hot. The kind of heat that smacks you in the face HARD as soon as you walk out in it.

And it's technically still Spring.  Summer is still to come.  It was supposed to get to 96 F today.  (That's 35.5 for you Celsius folks.)  July and August are our hot months - June is relatively mild.  Back in 1980, I lived in an upstairs apartment with no air conditioning.  Late that summer, we had 2 weeks of 100 degree plus days.  A friend took pity on me and insisted that I move in with her until the heat wave was gone.

Here's the forecast for the next few days.  We could have a summer like 1980 again.

You folks living in the land of snow and ice - not so jealous of me now, are you?

Since I've had to move my office to another building, I spend a lot of time shuttling back and forth between my new building and headquarters.  And damn, it's pretty miserable.  I end up coated in sweat.  Wipes me out.

Air conditioning civilized the South. This is no lie. I've lived without - it's awful.

On another subject, I got a package from my good friend D.  And she sent me tatting books!

I got Tatted Snowflakes by Vida Sunderman and Tatted Doilies & Edgings edited by Rita Weiss.  I didn't have these and I'm delighted to have them.  She's such a good friend!

I'm working on my first tatted project for the TAT Apprentice program.  I have to say, I like the size 10 Lizbeth a whole lot better than that soft Aunt Lydia's crochet cotton.  The Lizbeth is much crisper and handles a lot better.  I think it will be make a better outcome.

Another friend emailed me this funny link - we all laughed and laughed.

And my legs are now covered in tons of tiny scratches, courtesy of that bad kitten, Zelda.  She is fierce!