Packing day, more treasures and loving message

- A beautiful day to finish packing up our family home.  This is the right side of the house and you can see the "privacy" shrubs mom put in there on the side in the back yard.  The next door neighbors kept kind of a messy yard and rather than say anything, mom just blocked it out. 

- I vowed that I wouldn't bring anything else home, but bring it, I did.  I think this frilly dish came from my great aunt's house.  It's in my bathroom for now.  The scalloped edges put me in mind of a seashell.

- My father retired from Nabisco and had a collection of antique cookie tins.  This is one of them and I like how they put stray game pieces and marbles in it.  So I'll keep it like that.  :)

- This label in the inside of an old dresser drawer (off to a good home) caused a mini-meltdown.  This was my father's drawer and my mother had occasion to make a loving label at some point.  They sure did love each other - it's how I measure relationships now. 

Moving on, at the junction and continuity

- Our family home, on the market for more than two years, has been sold.  It is a bittersweet feeling, but a lovely young family will be moving in next month.  My sister and I are converging upon the house on Saturday to clear out the final things remaining there.  I'm looking forward to meeting the new family at the closing and will tell them where dad had his vegetable garden out back and that mom planted this azalea in that corner of the front soon after they moved their young family in, so there would be color there every spring.

 - The house is in a neighborhood just outside the city limits of Milledgeville, Georgia.  The Union army camped on the property during the Civil War during its march to the sea - probably thought to be a good spot because a creek runs through it (and right behind our house.)  My mother would never let us go near that creek when we were children, fearing snakes (and rightly so.)  :)  We saw them around throughout the years. 

- Even though the home will be gone, we remain a close family.  Mom and Dad's second great grandchild is due, appropriately enough, on Labor Day weekend.  We three sisters talk about our late parents, without fail, every time we are together or speak on the phone.  And so lovely that when Lisa redesigned my blog, she included this flower at the top - it's from a geranium that mom tended at their home before they moved to assisted living.  It's now at my home and I think of her every time I see it.

A bit of a sentimental post this morning - thank you for indulging me.  I can't wait to see sister and brother-in-law tomorrow - I haven't seen them since May.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend - full of hugs, love and laughter.  

Score!, smells like summer and car care

- More peaches - this time some from Georgia!  Friend Janice arrives for our walk with a bag of peaches for me from a box someone gave her husband.  She was off to make peach bread after the walk.  Me - I just like to eat them over the sink or with vanilla yogurt and granola crisp cereal for breakfast.

- The smell of peaches when I walk into my kitchen.

- The oil change guy smiles as I list what I don't want done to my car, "just the oil change, please."  OK, then he would have my car back to me in 10 minutes.  And he does. 

Lots going on in that photo above, impulsively snapped yesterday morning.  An iron trivet that was always hanging in my mom's kitchen, my dad's hand-carved bread bowl and rolling pin (note to self - learn to bake bread), a tile I admired at a shop in Monterey, California and my sister sent to me for Christmas that year.  Same sister, mom and dad, with mom holding me as an infant in a framed photo and a block of knives mom and dad gave me for Christmas one year that never fails to remind me of the horror movie, "He Knows you're Alone" every time I look at it.  If you've ever seen that movie (I did - reluctantly with some friends), you'll know what I'm talking about.  :)

Fanlights, Crape Myrtles and a bee

- The fanlights on the side of this antique mall in the little town of Lilburn, where I like to walk at the nearby greenway park.  I'm thinking this building must have once housed a bank or might have even been the police station / jail.  It has an institutional look (except for the windows.)  But it's hard to imagine any crime in a sleepy little borough such as this.

- The Crape Myrtle trees are in bloom now.  I love how this treat is saved for the middle of the summer.

- Neighbor Rhonda is away and her plants needed a little water.  So I watered around this busy bee, who kept moving and was hard to capture with my camera (and I didn't want to disturb).  See him there?  I'm so delighted to see bees, after hearing so much about them not being around as much.

Peaches, kitchen window and commuting fun

- After reading somewhere that the peach crop is about tapped out for the summer, I stopped by the produce stand at the end of my street to buy some.  You'd think a gal from Georgia in a state known as "The Peach State" could get some Georgia peaches, but these beauties from South Carolina will do just fine. I like how that one on the left still has the leaves on it.  The tomatoes are from a client's garden.

- Photo taken of my kitchen window while watering outside plants in the dark yesterday morning.  I liked how my fake lavender plant on the windowsill cast shadows on the window pane.

- I labeled this photo, taken with my iPhone, "Mishap" because it didn't really capture what I intended.  This was in the 7am hour yesterday on I-85 south and there were ethereal clouds surrounding the tops of tall buildings in the distance.  We had come to a momentary stop and I snapped the photo before we rolled again.  Alas - you can't really see the buildings, but you can see the mileage on my odometer and that I need to get an oil change.  :)

Last commute of the week today!  I hope you all have a lovely weekend and find good things around every corner.

Update on Saturday.  I didn't know about the morning's events in Colorado when I posted this.  I just want to add that I am sure everyone is as sad about it as I am.  I'm so glad we have each other and my heart truly goes out to the families of the fallen.

The wings of dragons, being proactive and basil rolls

- My Dragon Wing Begonia at the peak of its beauty for this summer.  This taken just before it is about to take over my front door in hugeness.   I love the thought someone had to name this plant after the wings of dragons.  It seems as if the leaves are indeed shaped like dragon's wings.

- Dr. Stephen Covey passed away on Monday.  His book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" had a huge influence on me as a young corporate manager in the '90s.  Particularly the very first one, "Be Proactive" - one can either choose to react or be proactive.  "We can choose to be different, be better, to overcome and rise above our circumstances."  I heard an awful lot of whining from employees back then, and so I try to remember this very highly effective habit when I'm tempted to do that myself.  :)

- A wonderful meal of Thai food at the lovely L'Thai Organic Cuisine and Wine Bar.  My friend ordered the red snapper and got the entire fish.  My favorite:  the flash fried basil rolls.  So delicious I'll be dreaming about them today (and I don't have to - I scored a couple for lunch today.)

Georgia Blue, coexist and random act

- It is clear from reading blogs that this summer is being brutal to almost everyone, weather-wise anyway.  You might be able to spot a few brown spots in the Veronica peduncularis plant named "Georgia Blue."  It's hanging in there though and maybe it'll bloom next spring.  There was lots of rain last week and about an hour after I took this photo, there was another hard rain and then it was over for the day.

- If I was trying to grow two maple trees and a pine tree in a pot, I probably couldn't.  :)  This is my "weedy" pot - I've always let whatever wants to, grow there.  I always pull that stuff out in the winter and this is the third time those things have come back. 

- Receiving this awesome card animal card in the mail containing a Starbucks gift card, from a friend "just because."  When I say I don't know what I did to deserve that, this reply:   "Just a random act of caffeine ;)"

Who is it, a gaggle of them and healthy lunch

- Sitting in traffic on Peachtree Street in midtown Atlanta and noticing this rather old fashioned sculpture of a man on a pedestal in front of yet another glass office building.  I just spent 15 minutes searching on the internet to see who that might be, with no luck.  I'm on a mission now to find out what famous Atlantan this might be.*

- Could they have lost their way any more?  Geese strolling down the parking lot in a suburban strip mall.

- A vegetable hating coworker (she might eat iceberg lettuce sometimes) comes back to my desk at lunchtime and stops short:  "What are you eating???"  "Brussels Sprouts."  The sound of disgust she makes as she runs away is pure comedy.  I call out, "I'm the healthiest girl in the world!"  More disgust.  :)

* Found it! 11:00am. The sculpture is of Samuel Spencer, known as the father of the Southern Railway system.  He was killed in a train accident in 1906.  After his untimely death, 30,000 Southern Railway employees contributed to pay for a bronze statue of him by sculptor Daniel Chester French, which was dedicated in 1910 and stood for many years at Atlanta's Terminal Station. The statue is currently located in front of the Norfolk Southern Corporation building at 1200 Peachtree Street in midtown Atlanta.  This is of particular interest to me since my grandfather was an engineer for Southern Railroad.  

The weekend is finally here!!!  Enormous happiness here.  Hope you have a great one!

Home grown, best line ever and being nice

- Sheer happiness at scoring some home grown tomatoes from coworker Bobby and a home grown cucumber from coworker Tony.

Photo by JB

- Enjoying all the photos being sent by friends and family of their vacation scenery (although I did threaten to a coworker that I should take a picture of the concrete and asphalt jungle I work in and email it.)  :)  Ha!  This photo of a placid cat was preceded by a beautiful tale, with photos, from niece Rebecca and her partner Jack, of hiking on Vancouver Island, BC, and then discovering that their car had been towed.  After recovering it and shelling out much $$$, they return to their rented cottage, where the cat wandered in with them and "the night's sorrows dissipate like kitty breath."  Best line ever!

- Speaking with a triage nurse on the phone at my HMO who tells me I have a wonderfully peaceful way of saying no.  (To a doctor I didn't want to see.)  It always seems to me that you can get what you want by being nice.  

Curvy path, ghosts within and Atlanta history

- On the boardwalk.  A new section of park I hadn't tried before Saturday morning.  Gorgeous, curvy path and lined with bluebird houses here and there.

- Later that day - a tour of the fabulous Fox Theater with some friends.  This is the right side of the stage and what looks like box seating, but actually houses acoustical equipment behind that screen.  There was a "ghost light" on the stage and an explanation that the light is burning all the time when the theater is closed, so the ghosts within always feel someone is with them.

- The side of the building on Ponce de Leon Avenue.  Our guide tells us of the Turkish influence of the architecture of the theater - originally built as the Yaarab Temple Shrine Mosque and meant to be headquarters to the Shrine organization.  But due to funding issues, the organization sold it to movie mogul William Fox and it opened as a movie theater in the height of the Great Depression.  The most fun part of the tour - cajoling the bored teenagers with us that it was almost over and promising great lunch.  :)

Imagine, respectful girl and braving the heat

- My niece Abby is pregnant with her first child - a boy who already has a big name, a bedroom full of nice things and parents who can't wait for him to come.  (Not to mention grandparents and many various other relatives and friends.)  He is already much loved.  She emailed me to ask if I could find the image above that she saw on Pinterest on a poster that she could buy for his room.  (I'm good at Googling and found it in an etsy shop.)  I love the things she wants for her boy and hope he does all those things.  I put my favorite in the title, but sleep soundly is a great one, too.

- Friend Janice and her visiting niece Mary come to have lunch with me at the Korean taco place.  (Avocado tempura tacos - yum!)  I ask Mary if she is in college, thinking it's better to guess older than younger if I don't know.  She blushes, "Oh no ma'am, I'll be in the tenth grade."

- Walking in the park after work in sizzling heat - only me and a lone young lady running are there.  We nod at each other in acknowledgment of our bravery.  :)  Probably skipping that today, but I like that I got through it with no incident.

So I hope you live your dreams this weekend, my friends.  Have a great one.

Being free, the bucket list and happy 4th

- A great American passed away on Tuesday.  I couldn't resist this small tribute to Andy Griffith and his famous show.  I especially loved this episode in which Opie learns a valuable lesson from his Pa.  And that last line in the video - I think of it every time I hear birds singing.

 Photo from Google images

 - This time last year I was in this throng of people running / walking The Peachtree Road Race - the world's largest 10K race.  This year I'm sleeping in, maybe having a little breakfast on the back porch, thinking about what I'll do for the rest of the July 4th holiday.  I'm glad I did that race once, but now it's checked off my Bucket List.  :)

- And remembering the real reason for this holiday in the United States - to embrace our freedom and be thankful to America's founding fathers.  A quote from another great American:  "As I grow older, I am increasingly fascinated by our founding fathers.  The challenges they faced and the compromises they made, good and bad, to create a nation, have inspired us and people around the world."  -  Colin L. Powell

Butterfly, bee and magnolias

- A butterfly bush, and its special visitor.

- And their friend, the bee.  So much activity on one bush!

- A nearby magnolia blossom.  Summer in the south.  Lovely.