DAY OF THANKS…

Happy Thanksgiving to all family and friends…I miss being away from everyone…have a great day and be safe….

Donna & Maggie too….

A FROG GARDEN….

Not much ….

Going on around here…except health issues…I was wondering the other day ..if this is what one is to expect when you got old and retire….does not make me very happy…so far I have not been able to do “my retirement thing”…and I don’t want to be old and sick and not be able to do it… dad and all this makes me stressed and that in its self is not healthy either .…any way posting some pics  of my frog garden…I made the big green frog below…many years ago…

One reason for the frog pics…is I got a  new phone and wanted to see how the camera worked on it..it has to be better than my old phone..that has been dropped one to many times…cute ceramic toad stool/mushroom I got at a yard sale last summer in PA ..for a whole 25 cents…

The bird house I put in the garden is one that I use to make to sell..it is just like the one at my house in PA that I posted about with the little birdies nesting in it….also added a few sea shells that I have found at the beach…I found out it is not easy finding frogs…that don’t cost an arm and leg…not even at my fav hunting grounds,..yard sales!! They are not cheap…must be more collectors than I know…

The frog garden got started because my dad doesn’t want me to do any planting or landscaping…so when a neighbor offered me some starts off her succulents …I took  and potted them then and there…year before last they almost bit the dust…no water…so I made sure dad would water them this summer and they did much better….I planted them in pots so they can be moved around and they don’t bother anyone…the one below is sitting in an old small wrought iron chair…

This is the best I could do …trying to show the length of the FG…don’t mind the much need paint on the Florida room …the FG looks better than this pic…

And the rest of the story….

I guess the phone camera is ok…much better than old one…Like I said about health issues…not at all happy…tired of dealing with these kidney stones…now looks like I have bladder infection….it has been a little on the cold side for Central Florida..along the coast…had to ware long pants …lol…me I like T-shirt and shorts weather…I want to do some GTG..but with KS…I cant go very far…will warm up for awhile so maybe I can go over to Wickham CG and spend a couple days with MM and Harley dog…The phone I got is a Galaxy ..it is new but not the newest model 5s or the note 6 by Samsung…I had to get older model because had to buy it out right…cause price and  I did not want to change my plan with Verizon ….as I have unlimited data..and do not want to give that up… to get the good deals I would have to change plans no thanks…and now that I have a new great working 4G phone…I want it even more..had a whole lot of trouble with internet connections with old phone….now now!! Well have to get ready for a doctor visit so will leave it for now…blessings to all …G&M

COLLETON STATE PARK…

Another stop on the way…

back to Florida after leaving Liz & Thistle…we headed on to Colleton St Park SC  to visit with Miss Mermaid  (aka Cynthia) & Harley ….this is another first for me…new to me state park…

Colleton St. Park campground is on the Edisto river in Walterboro SC…..The Edisto river is a canoe and kayak trail…it is one of the longest free flowing blackwater rivers in the country…

one area in the campground where you can launch your kayak or canoe…the river here looks like it is not moving much…but I can see movement when I am standing there…but it looks to be a slow float down the river at this point…

Here is a map posted at the campground for the river trail.…I think this would be a great river to kayak on…the campground is a nice one…and might be some place to have a GTG…the paddle on the river would be more than just one day excursion …just a thought…

Maggie and I hiked a couple of the trials…This part of one trail was a swamp so there were several wood board walks…

Another trail we were looking for a geocaches on this one…and we found it….we did not see any wild life …and I am glad (I think)..because I was talking to the ranger about another cache and and he told me to be carful because snakes were on the move…(mating season ?)..he had just that morning moved a copperhead from the road way by the station….!!! He said I don’t mean to scare you…well I said you just did!! So that was the end of the hiking..and geocaching ,,,

Anyway we did find one and here it is…it was in one of those Keebler trees …I did figure out where the other one was…but was to afraid to go after it…

They also have a very nice recreation building..it is a first come first serve …but you can reserve it also…thinking about the one at Hillsbourgh that we made good use of that rainy week we had the last GTG there…

A pic of Maggie once when we walked the loop…our site is the one on the right…you can see the rig…

Below is a pic of MM site…she stops here on here way to camping on the  beach …coming from her work camping job for the summer…

One of the snarly roots along the river bank…I like to see if I  can pick any animals or things out of these and…I think I see a frog sitting there…you see it? It’s like seeing  things in the clouds…

And there are tons of cypress trees and knees…love looking at these also…they must harvest the knees somewhere because they sell them… I have seen them at flea markets for sale ..my DD paints old time father Christmas on them when she can find them to buy..

Below a Keebler tree…where elves and fairies live…remember ? Not where the geocache was found..

And the rest of the story…

This park was built by the Works Progress Administrations (WPA) ..a program similar to the CCC…The WPA did a great deal of work in the National Parks through out the US…but I could not use my newly purchased old people pass…if I remember right it was because this park is now a state park ?..any way I think it is a nice camp ground and would make a potential GTG destination …Not sure when this will get posted…I took my lap top with me when I went to some yard sales this morning (10/8/14) and post about Booker T Washington National Monument …(a trip Liz and I took…and that has been awhile ago..) I stopped at Panera Bread got a bagel and did some work using their internet and posted on both my blogs…have not been able to do any camping or traveling…due to many reasons…so working on getting  organized with all my personal belongs ..which is not a lot …but a lot when there is no place to put any of it…very frustrating…so decided to sort thru it all..including all my craft/art stuff and store what I am not going to use for awhile in totes and stack them in the Florida room…and try and work around them…Yesterday 10/10/14 and all this week I will be at the church working on setting up the bazar…this group of ladies make nice high quality items…after this is all done…hope to get out and about with the RV ..even if just to take day trips…MM should be landing at Wickham CG ..so might be able to spend time over there…anyway again not sure when this will get posted..so maybe I will be adding to it again! Well it is now Wed 11/12/14 and I am at Panera Bread again so will post this now…thanks for looking and come back soon ..blessings to all G&M

Going south…Booker T Washington N M

While we were ….

traveling the side roads …there was a stop we were looking for..in pic below …the Booker T Washington National Monument…At Smith Mountain St. Park in VA …The first thing we did was watch the movie about him in the Visitor Center…very interesting and informative…glad I did because I would not have learned much about his life just walking around…there were things to read along the way but I don’t have much time  to stand and read…need to be moving…

If you click on the pic below you can read about this place…

This is believed to be a pic of the cabin that Booker T. Washington was born in… on the plantation that is now the National Monument.. born a slave right here….in 1856 on the Burroughs tobacco plantation…

Below is a reconstruction of the slave cabins of that time…These cabins were not very big..hard to imagine whole family's living in them…

A slave family…

And this is a pic of the plantation ….When I saw this pic …I was struck by the size of it…small…in comparison to what the movies portray of the plantations…and some others I have seen from a distance in the south…thinking I would like to visit a few plantations…I guess this was more of a farm than a plantation…I guess I should have paid better attention!

If you click on the pic below and look  in the grass at the top straight across from the slave cabin you can see white/gray line that is what’s left … the foundation of the big house…also found it interesting how close the slave houses were to the big house…the house burned down in the 1950’s

And this is the tobacco barn..where they dried the tobacco…this was the cash crop of this plantation…...

Read about the cash crop here…click to enlarge…

They even had a small crop of tobacco growing so you could see what it looked like..along with some bottle gourds…I think there was some corn growing also..I just wanted to get a pic of the tobacco…we all know what corn looks like…

And here is a pic of the horse barn…they had a couple horses and some sheep in the pasture beside it…

The blacksmith shed…

Duck pond…

Turkey/hen house…

And the hog pen…see that big dude lying in the shade?…there was one lying in the dried mud also…

There was a lot more and I took more pics but due to the gigabyte situation I cant post anymore pics at this time…I need to pay better attention when I am visiting these places…I would not mind going back there and walking around again…if I were in the area… there were a couple trails but we didn’t hike any…I love history and this was great…just think a man born a slave …to be come the founder of  the Tuskegee Institute! ….I am sitting still..in dads drive way…I am grateful that I am not in the cold snowy wet north…but I really need to get out and about… I feel like I am going stir crazy…Wed is dads 90th birthday…remember the hickory nuts I found for the cake I wanted to make him…well they never made it to FL…some how…at Chester State Park …a pesky squirrel got them…I found the shells out side the door way of the rig one morning…I had swept out the door way …and left the nuts sitting on the step…in a small blue bag…I am a little confused about why he shelled them there and then took the nuts and bag never to be seen again.…strange…Well all for now thanks for looking and come back soon…blessings to all…G&M

CHESTER ST. PARK …SC.

After we …

were finished visiting with Andy & Barney in Mayberry… spent 2 days there as we did not want to travel on a rainy day…we moseyed on down the highway  ..(not the interstate) another first for me…going to one camping destination to the next on side roads…anyway we ended up at Chester ST. Park in SC…below is my site ..I guess you could call it a lake front site….

The view out my bedroom window…cant get much better!! Unless it was the ocean…but I like this pretty good…

Below is Liz & Thistle’s site..next to ours…this is a small state park only 25 sites..one small loop..very quiet…lazy and sweet!!

We got the kayak…

and the Kayoo out to take a paddle on the Lake…Liz pumping up the inflatable kayak…Since I been having problems with my legs she let me try out the Kayoo since it has more leg room…I think I could get use to it!!!

A couple of pic’s below of the lazy lake..

The lake like glass…

By the time we got out there the wind had kicked up a little…but it was still a very nice paddle…I am a little rusty…this was only the third time kayaking for me and a new experience in the Kayoo..think I could get the hang of it…

Here below is Liz taking a pic of me taking a pic of her….lol

While we we were hiking the trail around the lake we happened on a turtle that was caught on a fishing line hanging from a branch out over the water…like were Liz is in pic below.. we went looking for him … went all over the area where we thought he was but only found a few empty fishing lines…we were pretty sure he got off the hook and line…

Walking the trail around the lake…

Hey Thistle wait for me ….

There were even a few steps to be climbed while hiking the lake trail…we did not see any wild life ….I wouldn’t mind seeing some as long as it isn’t the kind the crawls on the ground.. if ya know what I mean..once we saw deer while hiking…not here tho…

And the rest of the story…

After the Blue Ridge Parkway experience this was a very much needed laid back stop over…finally relaxing after the  harrowing drive up to and on the Parkway…I sure wish I could get over this phobia I have…finally getting over the one kidney stone …but there is still one in the left kidney…drinking a ton of water trying to float it out…lol…went last week finally to craft with the church ladies ..making things for their bazar…going again this week…today Monday 27th I am spending the night at Wickham CG..to dump tanks…I love coming over here…cant wait until later when some of the Women RV girls will come and visit and camp….well all for now thanks for looking and come back soon ..blessings to all G&M

BEDFORD FESTIVAL… AN APPLE A DAY TRIP

A DAY TRIP…

was taken to the Bedford VA street festival…they had the usual crafts, food and dress up…cute couple below..back in the day I would have been interested in the crafts…but those days are gone…would have liked a nice quilt show included….

In stead we found some of the old buildings that made up the town…I should have did this b log sooner..cause now I cant remember what this building below was….grrrr..

We liked this building below…and even liked it more when we found out it was a Civil War Museum …no photos in side so all you get is the building and I am no photographer …it had a lot of civil war artifacts …old stuff …things like that I find interesting…part of all our pasts…think about this…just a little over 100 years ago (not a long time when your are 90 like my dad) the main mode of transportation was horse and buggy…now we fly around in outer space!!!…amazing...think about it…

And then there is the…

stop on the way back to camp…we stopped at pick your own apple orchard / market …we did not pick off the trees…I got mine out of huge bins of many, many differed kinds of apples…I don’t remember the price but I got a bag full of 7 different kinds with at least 2 of each kind some 3.. it was very good price tho.…Liz didn’t get any cause she had just bought a big bag somewhere else…

Inside the market is the pic below…they had a ton of apple items and some other jelly's and jams …I was looking for apple jelly (not apple butter)…they only had apple cider jelly and I was afraid to get it in case I didn’t like it…but after tasting the fresh cider Liz got… that they press with their own apples I was very sorry I didn’t get it!! I love apples straight from the orchard as apposed to store bought…same with the apples ..no comparison

And for the …..

the ” apple a day “ I am not sure this is what the doctor had in mind to keep him away…Fresh Fried  “right then and there” …apple pies !!! Oh my what a treat…was delish…we at them on the way back couldn’t wait…think they were almost go before we got out of the parking lot…

Well that’s about it for now…I am having a hard time remembering everything…getting sick with that kidney stone the day after I got back to Florida hasn’t helped my memory…I will have to be doing a better job of it…if I am going to be doing some trips and traveling …so anyway thanks for looking and come back soon blessings to all…G&M