Yard Critters

Critters were busy in our yard this evening. The dragonfly and tiger butterfly above cooperated nicely while I got several shots of them. The silhouette of the dragonfly is a little eerie, but I like it.

Photos From Grape Festival

Here are a few snapshots from the grape festival...grape stomping contest, jugs of juice from the stomping, a unique license plate, a street sign, and a young man with pie on his face after his contest attempt. He didn't win, but he did get plenty messy.

Monday and Tuesday

It's back to business as usual. Yesterday (Monday) was occupied with doing laundry and other tasks related to getting the camper and the house back in order after the trip. Of course, there were errands to run to the newspaper office, the Post Office, the bank, the pharmacy, the health store, and the worldwide discount chain store. There was email correspondence to catch up on, the Sunday newspaper and a couple of editions of our local paper to read, photos to be uploaded and sent for printing at the one-hour service, favorite TV shows to be scheduled into the DVR, the week's menu to be planned, and so on.



I did manage to get an exercise session in on my home treadmill yesterday morning, and this morning, I went to Cardiac Rehab. I needed these sessions, since other than walking around at the festival, I didn't get any exercise while on the trip. It was just too hot to ride bikes or walk.



While at Cardiac Rehab, one of the patients I exercise with, who manages the local Sears store where we went recently for an open house and to sign up for prizes informed me that I won a trip to Branson, and the tickets are on his desk waiting for me to pick up. I asked him why he hadn't called to let me know about this, and he said they didn't call anybody because the winners were announced on the radio. I rarely listen to the radio.

For a change, we didn't run errands this afternoon, so it'll be tomorrow before I can pick up the tickets.

Grape Festival, Day Four

Sunday, July 27: we slept until 7:30 this morning, and then had a breakfast of Cheerios, peaches, toast and milk. We were on the road home by 9 a.m. The weather was tolerable. Fortunately, we didn't have the problem leaving the town square that we'd had upon arrival Thursday, when we and the driver of an 18-wheeler got to an intersection simultaneously. Instead of allowing us, with our truck and 32-foot camper to turn right, the semi driver opted to nose into the narrow two-lane road, blocking us.

Hubbie tried to slowly back up, but, unable to see what was behind him, he tapped the bumper of a utility van. He got out to inspect, and the van driver was worried that we might have damaged his front end. There wasn't even a scratch, but Hubbie hastened to let the van driver know that our bicycles on the back of the camper might be damaged. They were not, so Hubbie got back in the truck. I decided at this point that I needed to get out and direct traffic. I stood in a position where the traffic behind us, the semi driver, and Hubbie could see me, and proceeded to motion the traffic to back up, back up, back up. Then I helped Hubbie back up without bumping the van behind him. Finally, the semi driver was just able to maneuver his rig past our rig, with me sandwiched between. Yikes! Not a pleasant place to be.

Our trip home today was without incident, thank goodness. We stopped at noon for a PB&J sandwich. By this time, the day was hot and sultry. An 18-wheeler was parked beside us, and on the rider door was a notation: "In Memory of Shelley, Linda, & Christian." We wondered if these were the driver's family who had been killed in an accident, or if someone who drives for the company was involved in an accident that killed those folks. Either way, it was sad.

It was a good trip, but we were glad to get back home.

Grape Festival, Day Three

Saturday, July 26: we were up by our usual 7 a.m. hour. Breakfast was Mother's homemade quick breads....date nut, banana, and pumpkin...along with grapes, cantaloupe and peaches.

About 9:30 a.m., Hubbie and I went to the festival. Mother opted to stay at camp. According to predictions, the temp was to rise into the high 90s, but this morning was fairly pleasant.

On our way to the festival, we looked for a farmer's market, where we could buy tomatoes. We were told that the vendors gathered in the town square, but we saw only one, and he was selling watermelons.

So we stopped to fill up with diesel again, and then went on to the festival. Despite several signs declaring that no dogs are allowed in the park, we saw all sorts of breeds there. Maybe the ordinance is lifted, or least relaxed, on festival weekend.

Today, I bought a festival t-shirt that I can wear to exercise in. It's shocking pink, with a grape cluster/festival logo. However, it isn't dated, and the back doesn't sport business advertisements, as the annual t-shirt does. I like this plainer one much better.

Hubbie bought a festival wine glass; in so doing, we were able to sample as many wines as we wanted for free. There was no danger of drinking too much, though, since samples were so small, and Hubbie and I shared those.

Today's festivities included several grape stomps, a grape pie eating contest, a waiter/waitress contest, where contestants filled large, plastic, stemware with what looked like Kool Aid, placed the stemware on a plastic tray, and tried to carry the tray to another point, where they then had to try to pour the liquid into a small-mouth jug.

Some adults, but mainly kids, participated in the stomps and contests. I snapped pictures of the contestants, and after the pie-eating contest, an older gentleman commented that he'd forgotten to bring his camera and could I send him the pictures I'd taken of his granddaughters. I advised him that I do charge for photos, and he agreed to pay. I'm frequently asked to provide snapshots that I take, so I think I need to set up a website for selling them. Right now, though, I go ahead and email them and trust the customer to be honorable and send me payment for whatever photos that are chosen. So far, this has worked fine.

Around noon, we headed back to camp, stopping at the roadside fruit stand to buy a half bushel of peaches. Today, there were also tomatoes for sale, and we bought several.

After lunch, we headed back to the festival. This afternoon, we enjoyed the entertainment, which included a very talented and professional African American singer. Other entertainment featured a country and western band and singers, and a band that played and sang 50s music.

I'd brought along cold lemonade, handheld fans, and wet wash clothes to help keep us cool in the heat of the afternoon. While it was indeed hot, it wasn't as oppressive as Friday night. We only stayed about an hour or so, though, before leaving to go to one of the wineries to pick up bottles of white and red grape juice for Mother.

We were back at camp by 3 p.m. I felt pretty wilted by this time, so I took a shower, and then we decided to nap before suppertime. Supper was turkey bacon, lettuce, tomato and Vidalia onion sandwiches, sauteed potatoes, and black eye peas.

After supper, we sat outside for a while. All was calm, except for a train that trumpeted and snaked its way along the track on the other side of the lake. About 8 p.m., we went indoors to play Skipbo. Hubbie won two games, I won two, and Mother won one. At our Thursday night game, we each won one. Sometimes, we are each convinced that we never win, but when I keep track of games, it turns out that we all do our fair share of winning.

Just after we went to bed, we heard thunder and saw lightening, so Hubbie went outside and rolled up the awning in case of wind. The storm skirted us, though, and we didn't even get a drop of rain.

Grape Festival, Day Two

Friday, July 25: we were up by 7 a.m. After a breakfast of bagels with cream cheese and Mother's homemade strawberry preserves, and fresh fruit, we headed to a town a few hours northwest to visit with Hubbie's daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, and two great-grandsons.We took along an ice cream bucket of sliced watermelon and a bag of peaches...our contribution to lunch.

We traveled the scenic byway, enjoying rolling hills covered in summer-green trees. Along the way, a lighted tunnel cuts through one of the hills. Mother, who is somewhat claustrophobic, was glad it's a short tunnel. I thought it was interesting.

We arrived at Daughter's house about lunchtime. She had prepared a delicious lunch of chicken and tuna salads, a choice of fresh veggies and/or chips with jalapeno cheese dip, and a platter of fruits that included the watermelon and peaches, as well as strawberries, cherries, and pineapple.

After lunch, we adjourned to the yard, where the kids played in a wading pool, and Shih Tzu enjoyed the swing, and a peddle car. She particularly liked the swing and would grunt when she wanted Hubbie to push her.

Shih Tzu was very well-behaved until about 3 p.m., when she began yelping, her way of announcing that she was ready to leave. Before heading out of town, we stopped by Granddaughter's house...this was our first time to see her creatively decorated new home. Granddaughter has two pets - a silver cat who comes and goes at will through a pet door, and a mixed breed dog that lives in the backyard. The dog is rather large, and very friendly...so friendly that he jumped up on me. On his way back down, one of his toenails found a slit in my sandal and scraped the hide off my little toe. I winced but said nothing, though it bled and stung.

Back at camp, we had a supper of cold meatloaf sandwiches, because somehow we'd failed to get the leftover lasagna into the ice chest. Later, we went to the festival. It was oppressively hot and humid this evening. There was no breeze, and the throng of people, plus the heat generated by various food concession booths, made it terribly uncomfortable. Mother and I made only one tour around the small park before she was sweating and ready to find a bench.

As is the case with many of the festivals and crafts fairs we've been to, there was an abundance of jewelry vendors at this one. One vendor featured dog clothes, another had locally produced honey, and homemade jams and jellies. There were several vendors displaying logo t-shirts and caps, and others selling wood and ceramic crafts. One vendor featured retro clothes, including wedding gowns and veils. The lady promoting these clothes displayed one gown with cowboy boots as a wedding theme suggestion.

For the kids, there were inflatable bounce structures, a rock climbing wall, and a "train"...several barrels cut in half and mounted on wheels and pulled by a lawn mower fashioned like a train engine. There was also a horse and carriage for rides.

We stayed long enough to buy generous and reasonably-priced quarts of sweet Reliance grapes from one of the vendors and then left to find a spot for the fireworks display.

We were early for the show (or so we thought), so Hubbie left the truck motor running so we could cool off. Right away, I asked if my camera tripod was in the back seat. No, it was at camp, thanks to a miscommunication between Hubbie and me. Since we thought we had more than 30 minutes to spare before the fireworks started, we decided to go back to camp and retrieve the tripod. Twenty minutes later, we were back at the fireworks site...just in time to see two bursts and the final salvo. Seems they decided to start the display way earlier than the stated time. Boo.

Back to camp. By this time, we'd had enough day and were ready to hit the sack.

Grape Festival, Day One

Thursday, July 24: the photos above show a lighted bridge at sunset, which can be seen and photographed from a vantage point in the Corp of Engineers Park, where we camped during the weekend. More about the bridge, and the geese, later in this blog.

We got up this morning at 6 a.m. and were on the road by 8:30, ahead of the worst heat of the day. As we traveled, we listened to an audio book we'd started on a previous trip: "Circle of Three," by Patricia Gaffney. This is a very good book about the bonds and interconnections among a mother, a daughter, and a grandmother.

Upon finishing that book, which took about an hour, we started another one: "Seize the Night," by Dean Koontz...a typically eerie story from the author.

The trip was uneventful, except for getting a ding in the windshield when an an 18-wheeler rolled past flinging a pebble in its wake. Colorful wildflowers grow along the highway, including an abundance of white and pink evening primrose, orange butterfly weed, cattails, and purple flowers that I wasn't able to absolutely identify...they could be Carolina larkspur, chicory, or rough blazing star. There was also one misplaced hibiscus with two huge, red blooms. Among the trees, there were mimosas sporting pink, fan-like blooms, and in the yards of homes along the way, red, pink, and purple blooming crepe myrtle bushes and trees were putting on a show.

We stopped once for lunch, and then proceeded to the campground. In the afternoon, Hubbie and I ventured to town to tour the grape vineyards. I had hoped to do some snapshots of grape clusters, but the fruit was not yet ready. So we went on to a winery and tasted a couple of samples, particularly an antioxidant deep red, sweet variety that was very tasty. We bought a bottle of this and then went to a roadside fruit stand to buy peaches. We bought a big bag of a locally grown, luscious, free-stone variety for only $5.

From there, we went to a filling station to buy diesel for the truck. Hubbie tried to purchase the fuel with a credit card, but was advised he had to check with the cashier. He did this, and she turned on the computer pump. Hubbie still couldn't get the pump to work, so back to the cashier he went. Oops, she had turned on the wrong pump. This time, Hubbie was able to fill the tank. As he was finishing the task, the cashier came over the intercom to tell him she needed to swipe his card again, since she had entered the info for the wrong pump. Back to the cashier he went, took care of the situation, and we were finally able to head back to camp.

By this time, we were ready to enjoy our supper of sliced cold meatloaf, microwaved baked potatoes, and French style green beans. The evening was July warm, but there was a breeze, so after supper, we sat outside and enjoyed watching the ducks skimming the water toward their roosting grounds, somewhere close to the dam. At one point, a tug boat pushing four barges loaded with lengths of molded steel somethings we were unable to identify, chugged slowly past our campsite, and into the lock located on the opposite side of the small lake.

Around 8 p.m., Hubbie and I went to the far end of the campground, where I set up my camera and tripod to get sunset photos of the bridge shown above, which is listed as one of the sixteen most beautiful bridges in the nation. On the bank across from where I was set up, was a flock of geese, all standing perfectly still and quiet, as if in expectation. After a long while, one of the geese, the leader, I suppose, having received some internal signal, honked loudly and proceeded down the bank and into the water. One by one, the others dutifully followed, and off they all swam toward the bridge.

A young family...dad, mom, and two kids...were fishing off the boat ramp. Dad hooked something that was strong enough to pull him into the water and snap his line. He waded out of the water just as a boat putt-putted to the ramp. The family, and we, took this as our cue to head back to our campsites.