This is my wish to all mothers and especially those whose children cannot be with them on this day...Happy Mother's Day and may your memories bring you joy and comfort!
This is the handbag I knitted for my mother in Germany and when I called her this morning to wish her a Happy Mothers day, she said she received the bag and she really likes it.
No matter how old my daughter gets, she'll always be my little girl to me. This is one of my favorite photos of us. It was taken back in 1997 at Mimi's Restaurant in California.
I find great comfort in my little fur balls, to whom I'm a mom too. My dog, Gizzy and my cat, Middi. It's nice to be needed, even if only by a fur-baby ;-)
My Middi is a very good and smart cat. She has to put up with a lot of nonsense from Gizzy and so far, she's been very tolerant of him. (Guess it's still better than starving outside)
I took Gizzy to Bank's Lake in the afternoon to spent a few hours with my friend who runs the Outpost. We shared some ice cold watermelon and watched a fisherman catch and release a nice sized (pregnant) bass.
I also bought Gizzy a new plush hand puppet at the Outpost, where they sell only animals that one would find at this National Wildlife Refuge. As you can see, he loves his new alligator!
Earlier today, I received a surprise invitation to join my long-time friends in Valdosta for dinner. We all went to a nice little seafood restaurant (no, not the Red Lobster) that served us an assortment of tasty seafood and I enjoyed some fried green tomatoes. But best of all was the company. It was so nice seeing them again!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Every year I look forward to strawberry season, so "Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about. Strawberry Fields forever."
(Remember?)
I don't think I ever fully appreciated the songs of the Beatles until I got older because it wasn't till then when I started to pay attention to the lyrics. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see. It's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out. It doesn't matter much to me.
Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.
Strawberry Fields forever."
Southern Grace Farms operates this strawberry field every year from the beginning of April till the end of May. People can come and pick their own berries or purchase them ready picked by the gallon or flat. As soon as you drive up, you can smell the strawberries. What a lovely scent!
Here's Gizzy peeking out of the passenger window where the car is parked at the entrance.
You can see rows upon rows of strawberry plants and in the very back are some people picking strawberries. (It helps to double click on the photo to enlarge it.)
I don't know why I felt compelled to look down to take a picture of this lonely little strawberry that fell to the ground - never to be eaten (poor little berry!)
I asked the young lady to take a picture of me for my blog after I purchased the strawberries. Simple things in life make me very happy!
Here I'm beaming some more in the sunshine. I decided to purchase two one-gallon containers full; one for me and one to give away to a friend.
Here are my sweet, red jewels in the back seat of my car, awaiting their final destination...Yummmmmmm, I can't wait!
Hope you'll be eating fresh strawberries very soon too (if you're not doing so already) and, thank you little honey bee, you did a fantastic job! The strawberries are delicious!
...and may you be around for another 30 million years so that we might enjoy "Strawberry Fields forever!"
I'm flabbergasted!
Water Bridge in Germany ..... What a feat!
Six years, 500 million euros, 918 meters long.......now this is engineering!
This is a channel-bridge over the River Elbe and joins the former East and West Germany, as part of the unification project. It is located in the city of Magdeburg, near Berlin. Be sure to double-click on this picture to get a good look at it!
To those who appreciate engineering projects, here's a puzzle for you armchair engineers and physicists:
QUESTION:
Did that bridge have to be designed to withstand the additional weight of ship and barge traffic, or just the weight of the water?
ANSWER:
It only needs to be designed to withstand the weight of the water!
Why? A ship always displaces an amount of water that weighs the same as the ship, regardless of how heavily a ship may be loaded.
"Unique among all God's creatures, only the honey bee improves the environment and preys not on any other species." ~ Royden Brown DID YOU KNOW? (you can see this blog better if you use your zoom feature on your computer on the lower right hand side? - I didn't!) * The honey bee has been around for about 30 million years**see NOTE: **NOTE: (Apis mellifera L.) preceded humans on earth by 10 to 20 million years. Honey bees are one of the oldest forms of animal life still in existence from the Neolithic Age. Primeval humans gathered and ate the honey and honeycombs of wild bees, the only available sweet, as far back as 7000 B.C. * It is the only insect that produces food eaten by man. * Honey bees have 6 legs, 4 wings and 5 eyes (see bee anatomy drawing) * Only worker bees sting, and only if they feel threatened and they die once they sting. All worker bees are sterile females. The male bees are called drones. They have no stinger and their only function is to mate with the queen. They die after mating. Queen bees have stingers, but do not go outside to defend the hive; only the queen lays eggs. * It is estimated that 1100 honey bee stings are required to be fatal. * Honey bees clock over 55,000 frequent flyer miles and drop in on about 2 million plants in order to produce one pound of honey - all that time and effort to make 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey per bee, per bee lifetime. * Honey bees communicate with one another by "dancing" (see video below) * Bees fly an average of 13-15 mph. * Worker honey bees live for about 4 weeks in the spring or summer, but up to 6 weeks during the winter. * The queen bee lives for about 2-3 years and is the only bee that lays eggs. * Fermented honey, known as Mead, is the most ancient fermented beverage. The term "honey moon" originated with the Norse practise of consuming large quantities of Mead during the first month of a marriage. A THOUGHT TO PONDER: "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live" ~ Albert Einstein Here is a partial list of tried-and-true bee attractors: ANNUALS Buttercups, Clematis, Cosomos, Dahlias, Enchinacea, English Ivy, Foxglove, Geranium, Hollyhocks, Hyacinth, Roses PERENNIALS Aster, Clover, Crocus, Marigolds, Poppies, Snowdrops, Sunflowers, Zinnias GARDEN PLANTS Blackberries, Cantaloupe, Cucumbers, Gourds, Peppers, Pumpkins, Raspberries, Squash, Strawberries, Watermelons, Wild Garlic HERBS Bee Balm, Borage, Catnip, Coriander/Cilantro, Fennel, Lavender, Mints, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme BUSHES Blueberry, Butterfly Bush, Button Bush, Honeysuckle, Indigo, Privet TREES Alder, American Holly, Basswood, Black Gum, Black Locust, Buckeyes, Catalpa, Eastern Redbud, Fruit Trees (especially Crabapples, Golden Rain Tree, Hawthorns, Hazels, Linden, Magnolia, Maples, Mountain Ash, Sycamore, Tulip, Tupelo, Poplar, Willows Although Utah enjoys the title "The Beehive State," the top honey-producing states include California, Florida, and South Dakota. In 1998, the United States made over 89,000 metric tons of honey. China, the world's top honey-producer, created more than 140,000 metric tons of honey in 1997. For your amusement, I am adding an entertaining little movie clip called "Green Porno" where Isabella Rossellini portrays a honeybee and explains how they live. You can watch her impersonate other insects here: The Sundance Channel You can find more bee related information here: American Beekeeping Federation
(Lydia crocheting in the Garden of Marly by Mary Cassatt, 1844-1926, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
I felt that I needed to say that, since my blog is called 'Crocheting in Georgia' yet I never actually blog about crocheting.
I figure, that's what my shop is for. You can click on my flickr account or Etsy shop (to your right) and see the things I've crocheted and knitted. So, unless it's something really extravagant, you probably won't find me blogging about it here.
...and while I'm crocheting, I have to confess, my mind wanders often to Southern California, where I spent my "American Life" for several decades. I've made some wonderful memories there because California has breathtaking sceneries. You can have it all, mountains, beaches, the desert, big Redwood forests, you name it, it's all there. I have "done" California and I'm here to tell you, it's truly awesome!
The above video is about Laguna Beach, my most favorite beach to walk with Gizzy. Of course, the video does not do it justice, but right now, that's all I have, that and my memories and my photos. If you're young, strong or rich, I would definitely recommend California (...and being educated always helps, no matter where you go, but especially there - the competition is fierce!)
Today I'm blessed with another beautiful day and the mosquitoes are not bad at all. Maybe all that spraying the city's been doing helped or maybe the breeze we've been having blows them away, but I'm thankful about having a little reprieve - for now! I visited my friend at Bank's Lake again, and, as usual, we sat outside on the bench, just talking and watching nature. I did see another alligator (with the binoculars) but it wasn't close enough for a good shot with my little camera. She told me that earlier this morning a big 8 footer was laying on the boardwalk and I could have got a really good picture. Maybe I'll try going there earlier in the mornings and see. Here are some pictures that I thought turned out really well, considering I don't have a fancy camera: This picture to the left, is me looking down from the landing of the boardwalk, onto a protruding patch of land with cypress roots growing up from under it and the reflection of the opposite trees in the water. I thought it looked kind of interesting. Afterwards, Gizzy and I stopped at Roquemore Memorial Park. We saw a few new memorials that were added recently. Gizzy had to run straight to his favorite "Rocky's Bridge" memorial. Then, we strolled around while I took some scenic pictures. This memorial is one of my favorites. It commemorates the departing of a beloved daughter. It's a lovely statute of a girl reading, surrounded by beautiful roses. The roses' first bloom is almost over, but they bloom continually all year through autumn. They have a lovely, fruity fragrance. Here's a close-up of one of the remaining big blossoms: Lastly, Gizzy tried out the swings to see if they're still Gizzy-proof and that's the resulting short movie clip of him swinging: (just click on the right-arrow to view - it's very short!) Here are some stills for those of you with a slow internet connection and no patience - you know who you are ;-) Maaaaam, I'm ready to go now..... And this, ladies and gents, is what happens when a woman has no grandkids. Have a nice May!
Not only do I love bees, but I have always enjoyed watching the dragonflies. I recently became even more enchanted with them when I learned that they also eat mosquitoes, which makes them my allies.
I was at Bank's Lake again today and managed to snap a photo of one that actually flew closer as if to pose for me:
While Gizzy and I were walking around, I noticed how pretty the clouds looked (I love big, puffy, cumulus clouds) and decided to take a few pictures of the sky as well:
One of these days, I'll get a better zoom lens, but for now, you'll just have to double click on the pictures to make them bigger, but take a look at all the rows of water lilies floating amongst those cypress trees in the water. I just love them!
We didn't stay long because it was windy and Gizzy was antsy, but I enjoyed the little outing and I'm thankful for having this lake so close by. Tomorrow, my friend is working at the Outpost again, so I may go and visit with her for a while. Who knows? Maybe I'll spot another alligator.
These two fishermen headed in also as we walked to the car to leave:
This is my wish to all mothers and especially those whose children cannot be with them on this day...Happy Mother's Day and may your memories bring you joy and comfort!
This is the handbag I knitted for my mother in Germany and when I called her this morning to wish her a Happy Mothers day, she said she received the bag and she really likes it.
No matter how old my daughter gets, she'll always be my little girl to me. This is one of my favorite photos of us. It was taken back in 1997 at Mimi's Restaurant in California.
I find great comfort in my little fur balls, to whom I'm a mom too. My dog, Gizzy and my cat, Middi. It's nice to be needed, even if only by a fur-baby ;-)
My Middi is a very good and smart cat. She has to put up with a lot of nonsense from Gizzy and so far, she's been very tolerant of him. (Guess it's still better than starving outside)
I took Gizzy to Bank's Lake in the afternoon to spent a few hours with my friend who runs the Outpost. We shared some ice cold watermelon and watched a fisherman catch and release a nice sized (pregnant) bass.
I also bought Gizzy a new plush hand puppet at the Outpost, where they sell only animals that one would find at this National Wildlife Refuge. As you can see, he loves his new alligator!
Earlier today, I received a surprise invitation to join my long-time friends in Valdosta for dinner. We all went to a nice little seafood restaurant (no, not the Red Lobster) that served us an assortment of tasty seafood and I enjoyed some fried green tomatoes. But best of all was the company. It was so nice seeing them again!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
