Had to see it for Myself!

Tonight we decided to drive about a bit and check out our surroundings; I wanted to see that fungi for myself. It was still there but a bit further along in it's life cycle. I love the bands of color that I captured in this photo.

I also spotted this group of fungi on a dead tree that I thought looked pretty amazing. Kinda like an apartment building for fairies.

We sat by the river for awhile watching a young man playing with his dog in the rocks that have been exposed during this drought. And we got to watch the geese fly past us to the sand bar where they spend the night.

Here we are being silly while having fun together...

I spotted a spider above us as we were heading back to the car. Between the sun setting and the oncoming darkness we weren't able to get any GREAT pictures but between the two of us we captured the spider as well as her really cool web. (web shots by Scott)

Scott hasn't heard a word about the job but he keeps applying for more... one has to work out eventually. Thank you all for your prayers and supportive words - it all means so much to us.

Wonder's I Miss

Sometimes while I am at work in the early morning Scott goes to the River for a walk on his own. This morning he spotted this amazing fungi. I wish I could have seen it in person but this photo is as good as it will get for me. LOVE IT!

Don't miss the give-a-way in the previous post for a lovely pair of size 17 Bamboo knitting needles.

A Fun Little Give-a-way

I got an incredible deal on some Bamboo Knitting needles and decided to "share". All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to be entered to win - I will ship these anywhere.

US size No. 17 (12.75 mm) and they are 16-inches long(40 cm)

These large needles are great for loose knit scarves and afghans.

I'll draw a winner on Labor Day (USA)

Columbia Canal - Part Two

Sorry for the delay - HAD to take a nap!

The Diversion Damn on the Broad River

 This was absolutely AMAZING! And you can tell why it was named the Broad River... it is REALLY wide!

 To the right is where the water diverts into the canal from the Broad River!

The old "locks"

 The gears and pulleys are all still in place but quite rusted.

 There were rest rooms here by the locks to represent the old canal  monitor's homes. I would have LOVED that job.

Rest Rooms

The Mechanics of it all.

SNEAKY SCOTT! Took my picture as I was returning from the rest room.

 On the way back we decided to walk in a bit more shade down on the lower trail closer to the river and it was lovely down in there. But drats the camera battery was trying to fade out so we only got this one neat picture of this neat gnarl in a dead tree.

I hope you all have enjoyed this weekends adventure!

Columbia Canal - Part One Picture Heavy

We decided to cross over into Columbia, SC and went to the Columbia Canal Park for our weekend adventure. We walked the full length - down and back  - 6 miles total. WHEW! But SO worth it!

The iron work was beautiful! From the fence rails to the lamp posts to the sculptures.....

I love architectural elements! Details, details, details!

The Arena area waiting for a Performer and an Audience with none other than Christopher Columbus looking over it all.

This was the MOST AMAZING sculpture! I just loved it from this distance but then we took a closer look.....

Ready for a game of "Eye Spy with my Little Eye?"

What all do you see on this side?

How about this side?

We could keep a child or two busy looking for objects in the blocks for I'm thinking close to an hour.

The foot bridge over the canal.

Spanish Moss waving in the breeze

Egret

The walkway was wonderful and we enjoyed watching the Spanish Moss blowing in the breeze. There were Egrets all along the walk and this one was quite close to us.

Dragonfly

I loved this blue gray dragon fly... it's all about the "little" things to me - always has been. My favorite toys were miniatures.

A disappearing Treasure.

This lovely old bridge is being torn down and I know  that these lovely rails will be replaced with something flat with no character whats so over.

The view of the locks just before we reached them. This was our turning around point. But make sure you come back later to see the view we had to behold once we reached them!

On my mind! Irene and Memories

Hurricane Irene is nearing landfall and a dear friend thats never experienced a hurricane is in it's direct path. I'm hoping, praying and wishing for her and her families safety. If it was us we would have "bugged out" yesterday.

And a few more picture's that my Mom has dug out to share with me and me in turn with you all...

1967

Grandma always grew blue morning glories on the side of the woodshed.

Down by the "crick" where we would go fishing.

Won't you join the rest of us with a "On my mind" post; This is a weekly feature over at Down to Earth

The Birthday Boy's Spread

Well here is the Birthday Boy! Waiting for me to get pictures before he dug in! The little meat loaf in the very center was made for his gal as she is allergic to peppers. I forgot to make a salad as he had requested but he said that was fine as everything else was delicious - all his favorites!

Greg waiting to load his plate with meatloaf, mashed potatoes and broccoli casserole.

Sorry for the poor quality - I was trying to hurry so he could eat before it got cold.

He wanted his cake to look like a cake in a game he plays; so here is his "Portal Cake"...

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY SON!

Here is the link back to the Broccoli Casserole Recipe

HOW ABOUT THIS SQUASH!

I decided to cook a couple of the butternut squash that had come up volunteer in our garden this Spring and WOW! I haven't seen butternut squash THIS deep orange in YEARS! There really is something special about vegetables that you grow yourself. I mean seriously.... look how deep orange these are...

The last few we've bought from the store have been barely beige! Nothing like these. I can hardly wait to eat dinner. LOL! We will plant more of these next year in addition to any that decide to come up on their own.

And my "little" boy is turning 25 tomorrow morning at 10:10 AM! Every year I wonder why the time had to pass so quickly. Here he is "helping daddy" fix the car wasn't he cute?

Change of Plans

I have decided to make some Fall/Winter PJ's for both boys and I will be using a different pattern. I'm making view A but with short sleeves as it rarely gets THAT cold here. I'm making 2 sets for each boy as I can cut two out at once and save time. I had some wonderful flannel in my stash perfect for both of them. I'll post pictures when they are complete. I still have about half the pieces to cut out for Austin. Phoenix's are ready to be sewn together and I am hoping to do that tomorrow afternoon.

I did a bit of house keeping on my Facebook Account and only kept folks on there that communicate with me regularly. The ones I know truly care about me and enjoy conversing with me on-line as well as in person.

And we've just taken a relaxing day at home for the most part. Ate a tremendous  meal at Scott's Moms' - YUMMY! But other than that we have stuck close to home; Scott was feeling a bit under the weather.

Time for some sleep for me!

So Enjoying these old photos!

Me in the "Flower Room" 1967

NEXT!

I completed the blocks and they are in the mail to my swap partners! YEAH! Now to those two little boys that recently had birthdays that I wasn't able to attend their parties.

I went through my patterns and "stash" and came up with Pj's for Phoenix using some totally cool skull print flannel and a nice homespun shirt for Austin. If I can find some denim in my stash I may make Austin some overalls to go with his homespun shirt. I thought some Fall type clothing would come in handy since it really won't be long until we are experiencing some cooler weather.

A walk to calm myself...

A friend of Greg's gave him a motorcycle - I HATE THEM! And have told Greg many times that I wish he'd NEVER get one - but he couldn't refuse the gift. I'm not happy about it at all and will probably never think it's a good idea. Enough on that... don't want to get myself all upset again.

Scott and I went for a walk along the river to help calm my nerves... it worked!

We saw a Great Horned Owl but weren't able to get it's picture. It was HUGE! Nearly 3 foot tall. Maybe next time I will be able to capture a photo.

What I was able to photograph....

Blue Heron

River Trestles

The power of water

Remnant of the Brickworks

Yellow Dragon Fly

Goose Feather on rocks

Geese settling in for a feed

BIG Fish!... well part of him at least

Coming in for a landing

More Geese in flight

I could sit and watch them for hours

Do you see the white goose?