Blue Grass Festival

A good time was had by all; however, Billy and I got a belly full of Blue Grass music.  The weather cooperated, and it was cool enough to light a good smelling campfire.  Caroline, Sam and the boys spent Saturday with us, and the boys were delighted that they could go into Memaw's and Big Daddy's "back yard" to buy shaved ice and corn dogs.  Making more of those beautiful memories!  We love every minute of our time with the boys.  Missed seeing Brandon, Lori and the baby as they were sick with some sort of virus.  Time for me to confess that I, too, was sick the entire weekend.  Had waves of vertigo and nausea that washed over me throughout the day and night.  We did get a promise from Caroline and Sam that the boys could spend next Friday night and Saturday with us, but we are seriously begging to have a sleep over the entire weekend with them.  We just found out that our tenant will be moving out of our house on November 1st, so we have had to cut our stay short here to return to FL to find ourselves another tenant.  All is good though.  We posted the house on Craig's List yesterday and had nearly 10 phone calls inquiring about the house.  We are looking forward to seeing our friends, neighbors, doctors and Billy's mom while we are in the area.  So you see "Life (Remains) Good Today!"  Thanks for stopping by to visit with us.

Fall is Slowly Arriving in Georgia

The air is finally beginning to cool down which even inspired Billy and I to gather firewood for campfires.   Campfires, hot dogs and S'Mores should bring extra ambiance to our Blue Grass Festival here this weekend!  Yesterday Billy and I worked extremely hard on the preparations for the festival.  I had to quit when Maggie gave out on me and Billy got a flat tire on the front end loader that he was driving.  Thankfully, Billy was able to pick up Maggie and I straggling down the side of the road trying to get home BEFORE he got the flat tire.

Last night we went to Lexington to see Phil's soccer game.  He plays on the Bulldogs and played goalie and defense!  What a hoot.  It so reminded me of the days when my children played "kiddie" soccer.

September 11 - A Day of Remembrance

Proud to be an American!

Billy and I drove the motor home in for repairs on Wednesday last week and spent the night at Brandon's house.  The servicemen found a leak in the passenger's window that was causing the mold growth.  They remedied that problem and checked the entire home for additional leaks.  Thank goodness they didn't find another leak.  However, they did find a crack across the roof and back of the motor home.  We will have to take it back in when the parts arrive.

We were surprised to have about 10 campers in our section of the State Park this weekend.  Most of them are here to enjoy the Blue Grass Festival next weekend.  Billy has been busy moving trees with the big front end loader and I was busy picking up debris here and there after I finished making the GA Bulldawg diaper shirt and britches.  Just sorry that the Dawgs lost to SC last night, but they showed a lot of heart!  Still love my DAWGS!

Closing up for now and going to lounge outside while reading a book.  Billy and I have gathered up a stack of firewood and are beginning to truly enjoy this Fall weather.  Having a special dinner tonight of Bratwurst, German potato salad in the crockpot, Weinkraut, hard rolls, and watermelon.  Yum!  So you see..............Life is Good Today!

Campground Hosts Enjoying Their Solitude

Haven't taken the time to blog much lately because we have been truly enjoying our peace, quiet and solitude.  The campground has been almost completely empty until the long Labor Day weekend.  Billy and I did perform some much needed "campground maintenance" by moving trees, cleaning out fire pits, and picking up limbs and debris.  We do enjoy the solitude and the peacefulness of this style of living.  We finally made the final decision that we will not go to Lolo National Park in Montana to park host next year.  The Rangers here have begged us to stay on, so we promised them that will return before Memorial Day next year.  We still plan on hosting out west sometime, and know that we would truly enjoy Montana for a few months.

Friday was Grandparents Day at Phil's kindergarten class so I was invited to go enjoy lunch with him.  I checked him out of school at 1:00 pm, and he went into Athens with me to run a few errands.  We ended our errand "chores" with a trip to Wally World to pick out a toy for Phil and Lincoln.  Stopped at the Varsity to bring Billy home a dinner of chili dogs!  Speaking of DAWGS,  oh my, I do hope they make a comeback against South Carolina next Saturday.

Next Wednesday we will be taking our motor home in for repairs once again.  This is a good one, and I haven't heard of it happening to anyone else........three times we have had a half-fist size of mold grow through the seam in the wallpaper.  I at first thought it was a snake coming through the wall.  Billy cuts it out and a few weeks later it grows back through again. I can't imagine what the inside of the wall must look like!  Yuck!  We must have a leak somewhere, but we are clueless of where it may be.

Today there was mass exodus as the Labor Day campers departed.  Our next and last crowd will be here the weekend of September 16 for the annual Bluegrass Festival which will be directly behind our motor home!  Thanks for stopping by and remember "Life is Good Today!"

Day With Family at Elijah Clark State Park

Our section of the campground is still closed so we took the opportunity to enjoy a picnic, a lake swim and a day with the family.  The kids were happy because they could ride their toys in the road without fear of cars.  Sweets and Maggie had a blast running, begging for food and swimming.  After a lunch of barbecue, slaw, potato salad, baked beans, watermelon, vine ripened tomatoes, marinated cucumber and onion, and banana pudding it is a wonder we didn't sink to the bottom of the lake.  As you can tell from the photos a good time was had by all "Knee Deep In The Water Somewhere!"  Life is Good Today.

Phil lost his first tooth.

Family Reunion in Alexis, NC

You can double click on the photos to enlarge.

Part of the cemetery hopping Stroupe/Stroup's.  Yep!  That's a cemetery we are standing in.

It has taken me from Sunday until today to recover enough from the heat and activity at the family reunion to feel like posting.  Early Friday morning I drove the short 2 1/2 hours to http://www.ci.rock-hill.sc.us/ to pick up my brother and then drive to http://www.cherryville.com/ to visit cemeteries with Sid Stroupe and Linda Ballard.  It was cloudy and and raining like mad so we didn't get too hot on Friday.  We enjoyed a Cherryville hamburger with slaw and a fried bologna sandwich at Malcolm's.  The Shake Shop parking lot was too crowded!  Early Saturday morning Mike and I returned to Cherryville and met Stroupes/Stroups at the Cherryville Museum and then toured Mount Zion Cemetery and The Cherryville Cemetery. I was tickled that Nancy and Arnold drove to Cherryville for a short time to visit with me.  The time was just too short.  Later Linda, Mike, Sid and I toured quite a few more cemeteries and then drove out to Red Bone Willy's (http://www.redbonewilly.com/) to enjoy a Cheerwine and ice cream on the front porch.  Early Sunday morning found us leaving Rock Hill, for the three cemeteries in the "woods" in Alexis, NC.  We had a much larger attendance this year than we had last year.  Lewis Burton, George Rhyne, Matt Stroup, Dan Stroup, Hank Stroup, and Margaret Ann met us for the cemetery tour and "eating" to follow.  After the pot luck Lewis, Mike and I drove a short few miles to see Aunt Lillian's old home place in Iron Station, NC.  A flood of memories of playing in the corn fields, climbing the China Berry tree, and stomping in the creek came rushing back to me.

Yet another Stroupe/Stroup cemetery in the woods.

Lewis Burton, Dan Stroup, Sid Stroup

If Mike (Bubba) doesn't move off of this Stroup, the body is going to get up and move elsewhere.

Lewis Burton, Linda Ballard, Cindy Stroup, Nancy Morrison and husband, George Rhyne, Mike Stroupe.  Yep, that is a stack of Aunt Lillian's photo albums on the table!

Returned to Elijah Clark State Park to a completely empty campground.  Yoo Hoo, but Billy is still terribly busy with the front end loader and I have been up at the front office helping Amy with the July budget report.  Plan to sew on our new little Cousin Stuart's diaper shirt today. " Life is Good Today."

Life In A Mostly Empty Campground and Primrose Lane Baby Annie

This week they closed off Campground #2 at Elijah Clark.  (Our Campground)  It is giving Billy and I a chance to tidy up areas that we left undone while so many campers were around.  The VERY best part is that we are up here, in the woods, by the lake with all of these beautiful wild animals ALL by ourselves.  Yes, "Life is Good Today!"  Speaking of animals, Maggie May became sick after Lincoln and Phil stayed with us last week.  I thought that it was psychosomatic, but she probably got into "something" while I was enjoying the park with the two grandsons and not watching her as closely as usual.  She had a massive stomach upset from both ends and by Sunday morning had quit eating or drinking.  A trip to the emergency vet was in order.  Four medications and forced fluids through a medicine dropper later she began to improve.

It is SOOOOOOO blasted hot here that we have to be very careful not to dehydrate and overheat.  We can only be outside for short bursts of time.  Soooooooooo I have been sewing for that precious little grand daughter again.  This little goodie was made with fabric and rick rack purchased from http://farmhousefabrics.com/ using Baby Annie by Primrose Lane
(http://www.chadwickheirlooms.com/products/baby-annie) as a pattern.  I think it turned out real cute.