Two weeks of catching up to do

The posts have been infrequent lately. Sorry about that. Now... all of a sudden I have some catching up to do.

First of all we just want to brag a bit about Chattanooga. As you know, the Tennessee River runs right through town. This week-end there was a big rowing competition centered at the downtown area. There is a great public gathering area right on the Riverfront.

Downtown has lots of fun things to do and great restaurants to boot. There is a walking bridge across the river which takes you to the North Chatt area with more restaurants and fun shopping. Coolidge Park is on the North shore.

There is a Merry-Go-Round there next to a kid-friendly fountain area. It's a great place to hang out. The kids love to cool off there in the summer. Bigger kids (like adults) use the big grass areas to play Frisbee or volleyball. There's also a small, steep hill just right for kids to sled down on cardboard sleds. What a great city we live in!

Two weeks ago, our friends (Carl and Karen)came for a visit. Since the fall weather is so nice we spent a good deal of time outside. We played Bocce in the back yard and then went to try our hand at Disc Golf.

Larry and I had recently discovered a course not far from home that is free!! Yes, we did spent a couple bucks on four discs but that's all it took to get us started. If you've never heard of Disc Golf it's a game similar to golf but instead of clubs and golf balls you toss a Frisbee type disc. Here the old guys are posing by "The Old Guys" sign by the 3 Hole (we just couldn't resist). You can see the shape of the course curving off to the left. There are distance and mid-range drivers as well as putters. This course is in the woods (as you can see from the photos). We've since visited another course and it was more in open. Either is fun. You can't quite see it (in the photo on the left) but the "hole" is an elevated basket (maybe if you click the photo it will give you a larger version and you'll be able to see the basket) with vertical chains around it to catch the disc.

Now, I can't go too long before making mention of Abi. She is 5 months old now and getting cuter every day. And we thought she was already a cutie pie!

Here's a short video as well. (When I get some photos from Laura of Abi playing in a pile of leaves I'll add that too.)




Finally (more bragging on the part of the country we live in) we visited Cloudland Canyon in GA, about 35 minutes from our house where we caught some great vistas. Enjoy.






Dogwood Tree

Shirley's new job

On Monday, I started a new job with Alstom Power as Human Resource/Payroll Coordinator. Alstom Power is a huge company, with 76,000 employees around the world. My little division is called Turbomachines Group and has 30 people in it right now. Eventually we'll have a few hundred employees who will build the largest turbo machines in the world. Can you imagine that? The construction for the manufacturing is under way and I had the priviledge to tour the grounds. They're converting a previous manufacturing facility with 4 huge bays, taking it down to the "bones" and then rebuilding from the ground up.

As with most new jobs, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with all there is to learn but I'm sure I'll do fine. It is very interesting as many employees have come from Europe and many others from outside Chattanooga. Instead of Southern accents I'm hearing French accents - and even French conversations! It's a big change.

Abi laughing

Is there anything more delightful than a baby's laugh? Click the play arrow to enjoy.

Abi is such a joy. I'm sorry for all her relatives who are not close enough to watch her grow. How blessed Larry and I are to have Ben, Laura and Abi here.

Videos of Abi

If pictures say a thousand words then perhaps videos say 10 thousand. Therefore, here are a couple videos of Abi. In the first video (very short) she's making little noises as her first means of communication. In the second video she's enjoy her style of a thrill ride (we think she's going to like theme parks).

August

Mind you, this is only our second August here in Chattanooga so it's hard to say, but this seems like a cooler than usual Month for an August. We've had very nice weather. For the last 10 days or so our highs have been in the upper 80's and lower 90's. Humidity has been low for the most part (not counting some days with a little storm activity).

Larry has taken this opportunity to build a greenhouse for me. We saw a show on TV where someone made a greenhouse out of used windows and I said "I like that!". That's all it took. Well, that and a window company very close to us that puts out the old windows that they remove when replacing old windows with new. Yes... he asked first if he could have them.

So, here's Larry working on the frame.

And... here's the structure with the windows and doors installed - all free. Eventually it will have a slanted roof. The two center windows at the back are hinged so they can be opened in the summer. It's about 8' x 12'. If you can, use your imagination with me and see it with greenery all around, even with a vine growing upon onto the roof. Not Ivy! Think something daintier with pretty flowers.

July - A big month for Abi

Isn't she cute?

She turned two months old on July 24th.

Ed & JoAnn were here for 3 full days last week, over the week-end. Together the 4 of us managed to spoil Abi fully. I believe she was held her every waking moment.

Last Sunday, an article about home births ran in our local paper. Abi and her parents were featured in the cover photo! Abi was quite proud of this as you can tell from the photo. :-)

She is beginning to respond to our attempts to engage her. Larry has been sticking his tongue out at her and she's gotten pretty good at sticking her tongue out in return. Here, Laura is playing the game with her.

America - Why I Love Her (Happy 4th of July)

This morning a heard this patriotic song on the radio. Apparently, it's been around for years but this is the first I've ever heard of it. Perhaps you've heard it before but just in case I looked for it and found it online and want to share with you. The lyrics are below but if you go to the link you'll hear John Wayne narrate it.

Oh how I would love to share photos from our trip to go along with the words because so much of what he touches on, we've seen. But, digital cameras are newer than our trip - at least for us - so sharing photos isn't happening this time. Besides, that would be way to many photos to fit in.

America - Why I Love Her

Words by John Mitchum

narrated by John Wayne

http://sagebrushpatriot.com/america.htm

"America, America, God shed his grace on thee..."
You ask me Why I Lover Her?

Well, give me time and I'll explain.

Have you see a Kansas sunset or an Arizona rain?

Have you drifted on a bayou down Louisiana way?

Have you watched a cold fog drifting over San Francisco Bay?

Have you heard a bobwhite calling in the Carolina pines,

Or heard the bellow of a diesel at the Appalachia mines?

Does the call of Niagara thrill you when you hear her waters roar?

Do you look with awe and wonder at her Massachusetts shore,

Where men who braved a hard new world first stepped on Plymouth's rock?

And do you think of them when you stroll along a new York City dock?

Have you seen a snowflake drifting in the Rockies, way up high?

Have you seen the sun come blazing down from a bright Nevada sky?

Do you hail to the Columbia as she rushes to the sea,

Or bow your head at Gettysburg at our struggle to be free?
Have you seen the mighty Tetons?

Have you watched an eagle soar?

Have you see the Mississippi roll along Missouri's shore?

Have you felt a chill at Michigan when on a winter's day

Her waters rage along the shore in thunderous display?

Does the word "Aloha" make you warm?

Do you stare in disbelief

When you see the surf come roaring in at Waimea Reef?
From Alaska's cold to the Everglades,

from the Rio Grande to Maine,

My heart cries out, my pulse runs fast at the might of her domain.

You ask me Why I Love Her?

I've a million reasons why:

My Beautiful America, beneath God's wide, wide sky.

Text from John Wayne (in his book by the same title as the song)

YOU ask me "Why I Love Her"? Well, I think it's pretty well explained with the words and music, but we can dwell a little more on it.

"From the mountains" (and we sure have them). The Adirondacks, the Catskills, the Cascades and the Great Smokies. The Grand Tetons, the Bitterroots, the Allegheny and the Blue Ridge. And let's not forget our Spanish sisters, the Sierra Madres and the Sierra Nevadas, and of course the big daddy of them all, the Rockies. No one in a lifetime could explore them all and I can't help but think of a few lines from a great song by Bob Nolan that the "Sons of the Pioneers" sing.

The desert breeze that brushed my hair,

The leaf that fell from who knows where,

The scent of wild flowers in the air,

Is just the touch of God's hand.

"To the prairie." Well, if you look westward from a Kansas prairie along about evening, you'll be amazed at what God can do with a sunset. Take a slow ride through Nebraska, stand in a field of tall Iowa corn or sample the cheeses of Wisconsin. Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio--names and places that spring from some of the richest soil in our known world. Rivers like the Ohio and wide Missouri funnel their waters into the mighty Mississippi, which in turn carries much of the bountiful prairie harvest to a needy world. Rivers like the Cumberland, the Osage, the Platte.
The settlements that spring into cities because of rivers such as those are a pulsating heart of America: St. Louis, St. Paul, Natchez, Omaha, Louisville and New Orleans. Their names are a part of our heritage and they grow stronger with each passing year.

"To the oceans, white with foam." The Oregon Coast--unforgettable--awe-inspiring during a winter storm. Massachusetts, with its Marblehead and Martha's Vineyard. And how about rip-roaring, always-moving New York City? The Eastern shore with Delaware and its apple orchards making you wish you were a kid again. The pine forests of North Carolina and the southern peaches of Georgia. Seems to me they still set beauty standards all over the world.

Watch a Hawaiian island sunrise from the old Lahaina Inn or Maui. Go ahead! Dream of old whalers and island kings! In this country you're free to go any place you want to go. From the Florida Keys to Alaska, from Hawaii to Maine, Americans move freely within her border and there's no one going to stop you.

Sure you have to pay your dues--but walleyed pike are waiting for you in Minnesota; backpacking for free in Washington, and watermelon's ripe and juicy in Mississippi. Dig for oysters in Maryland or go after steelhead in Idaho. Try shooting the rapids on the Colorado or picking blueberries in Maine.

Try your country on for size. It's free and it's a big order. I've been doing it for years and I can never get enough of America.

Recent photos of Abi

Abi (short for Abigail and pronounced like Abby.) She is one month old today. The photos are mostly from the last few days.

In looking back at the announcement of Abi's birth on this blog I see I left out a great many details. You may not know that Abi was born at home; well, her grandparent's home to be exact. Laura went into recognizable labor about 9:00 Saturday morning and Abi was born at 4:25 (give or take a couple minutes) that afternoon. There was one tense moment that passed quickly (thankfully). Abi arrived healthy and well.

Now, with a home birth, things can be a little different than what you may be accustomed to. I say that to prepare you for this... The mid-wife package the placenta and suggested we plant it with a commemorative tree or shrub. We froze it until we were ready to do that. Ben & Laura purchased a small Red Japanese Maple and yesterday we planted it.

As you can see, though the tree is small, it is taller than Abi. It will be interesting to see which grows faster (we know the tree will be ultimately the tallest).

SportsBarn Bocce party

Yesterday was the big Bocce party. The new court got it's inaugural kick-off party with the gang from the Sportsbarn. Larry counted 30 people - including ourselves who came and stayed for anywhere from a hour to six hours.


The fact that anyone came... and stayed, amazes me because it was hot, hot, hot! I believe it topped out at 99 degrees and yet people came (about noon) and stayed till 6:00, playing out there in that heat for six hours! And for my Las Vegas friends, this was not a dry heat! I think the humidity hovered around 53% most of the day. Not as bad as some areas get but certainly not the 15% we were used to in the desert.




Anyway, it was fun. We grilled hot dogs and had trimmings like chili and slaw. Some wives came and brought salad or dip. All in all it was a very good day.

Stupid cold

When Abi is only 3 days old I catch a cold. The ironic part is that I haven't had a cold - or been sick for that matter - in years. What timing. I hate having the cold for the cold's sake but I must stay away from Abi which is awful. It's been nearly a week already and I'm not any where close to well. Fortunately for me (and only me) she sleeps most of the day and has her waking times at night. How familiar is that?

Ben & Laura sent some precious photos today so thought I'd share a couple.

Announcement... She's a Girl!

Abigail Bella Snell arrived 14 days early, much to Laura's delight. She was born Saturday, May 24th at 4:27 pm after less than 8 hours of labor. In this photo she's been in our world for about two hours. She weighed in at 6 lbs, 4 oz and she's 18" tall.

3 more weeks

Some friends have been asking about Laura - so here are updated photos. She's doing really well. She has one more week of work and then starts maternity leave. The baby is due June 3rd. Oops! Wrong date - it's supposed to be June 9th!! Sorry.

This week we had a group meeting with her mid-wife here in our home.

Laura's friend, Alison, is Ben's back-up on delivery day.

It won't be too much longer now!

Master Bath Remodel

Larry has tackled our Master Bath Remodel. He moved so quickly I didn't get any before photos. That's okay though because it was nothing special.

Let me see if I can set the stage. Just off the master bath there was a small room. In this small room was a mirror with a counter in front of it - meant to be a make-up area but really was just wasted space. Along the side was a closet - big enough for one person. Off this room was the bathroom - very basic: vanity, tub/shower combo and toilet. There you have it. Like I said, nothing special. And... by the way - our washer/dryer is in the basement. That's important to know as you'll see in a minute.

Enter, the first photo... An empty room - gutted to the studs. This is the doorway into our bedroom. I'm standing where the tub had been.

Now, I'm looking where I had been standing. See the area to the left where the studs have been removed? On the other side of that wall is our dining room. Soon this will be a big hole.

Now (a few days later), I'm standing in the dining room looking into the bathroom. As you can see, Larry is putting in the one piece shower... a big 3' by 4' shower! Eventually, the vanity will go to his right.

Now, the scene gets more complicated. Larry has built a wall, not in the opening like it appears here but a few feet inside of the wall. This is where our washer/dryer is going to be! (If you're thinking it's weird to have a washer/dryer in the dining room, you're right. But, it's a small house with very little options. It works for us!)

He has been working on the plumbing and electrical the last couple days.

Friday - May 16th

Some progress has been made. The plumbing and electrical are done and sheetrock is up. Larry's been taping the joints and my photos are already out of date!

Here's the corner with the window (if you want to compare to above).

And the opposite corner where the vanity will go. You can see the shower is in already.

And finally, the washer/dryer area. That hole in the wall will be made a bit bigger and it will become a pass through cabinet so I can fold towels at the dryer, put them on the shelf and then they can be accessed from the bathroom. Clever, yes?

Our BIG Maple Tree

Okay - so we've lived her for nearly a year and a half. But... we still have so much to learn about our neck of the woods. See woods below...

This big tree is on the NW corner of our lot. We were told it's a Maple Tree. As you can see, it's huge! It would probably take 3 or 4 people, holding hands, to wrap their arms around it's truck.

It's leaves look like Maple leaves - at least I am easily convinced they do. But do you see the flowers up there?

But do Maples bloom? I don't think so. Imagine my surprise when, while working outside the other day I noticed the tree is covered in tulip like flowers!

Pretty, yes? Come to find out, this is a Tulip Poplar. I had learned about them in the gardening classes I took in March. They're native to the Eastern US. They grow to 90' tall. In fact, they gave away a few saplings but I knew I didn't have room for one on my little chunk of land because I already had a huge Maple - ha! The jokes on me. This one has probably been on this land for a very long time.

Myrtle Beach

This week, we went to Myrtle Beach for a short vacation. Yes, we just took a trip to Salinas, but we had to book this vacation or lose it. Don't ask me to explain.

We took the long way to Myrtle Beach, choosing to go through the Great Smokey Mountains. Much to our disappointment, Spring hasn't yet arrived in the Smokeys. Most of the trees were still bare and the flowering trees weren't yet in bloom, save for just a few I didn't recognize.

Larry wanted me to see downtown Greenville and I'm glad he did. There is a creek flowing through it complete with waterfalls. The city has built a beautiful public park around the falls. Sioux Falls has water falls in town too but they don't beat this!

Here is a very interesting curved bridge with all the supports on only one side.
Unfortunately, for those of you interested in architecture, we didn't get photos of the whole thing including the two support beams with cables. Actually, you can see one of the two beams just to the right of center below the bridge in the upper photo. The photo belows shows the Reedy River Falls and the city park.

I'd love to keep showing you photos of Greenville but this trip is still about Myrtle Beach.

If you love the beach then you would probably love Myrtle Beach because it's great as far as beaches go. We discovered that we're not really beach people. The rest of the city was primarily resorts, miniature golf, and restaurants. Oh yeah - and lots of the gaudy souvenir shops you also see in Florida. It wasn't our favorite place but we're glad we went once.

A commercial area called "Broadway at the Beach" was recommended to us. It turns out to be rather like an Outlet mall surrounding a man-made lake. The best part about it was the catfish. For 25 cents you could dispense fish food from a gumball machine and feed the fish. They knew it too because they hung out beneath each and every machine with their mouths wide open, hoping you'd throw food in! The ducks liked it too and it was a frenzy of fins and feathers when food was thrown into the water. It was a riot... really! Take this photo below and multiply it by 50 and you'll have an idea what it was like. They were swimming on top of each other and the ducks (not shown) were on top of them!

Finally, the last thing we did was go to a show called the "Carolina Opry" which was really a variety show. There was lots of singing interspersed with comedy and occasionally these amazing tap dancers. I wish I could make the photo bigger for you but it came from the internet and this is the best I could do.