August 9, 2018
Wow-it's been a really long time since I blogged!! We'v been really busy but I didn't realize it had been quite that long! This entry will cover up until July 20, the day we left for our trip to Portugal and Spain. Then I'll start a new page just for that trip.
We have continued our dragonboating. We go every Saturday morning and paddle for an hour. It's very tiring but we really enjoy it and it is great exercise. We've missed it the past 3 weeks because of vacation but will be starting again this coming Saturday. Everything else has been pretty much the same stuff as we always do-piano lessons, docenting and prayer services at the nursing home. We made a quick 2 day trip down to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for some routine tests for Oliver. We go back in a week or so for more tests, specifically on his back. It's an amazing place and we are fortunate to have it so close.
Bunny and John, and Whit, Alex, Jace and Landon came over on July 17. We had a great time with them. The weather was on and off but we spent time in the pool every day. We had a couple of really BIG thunderstorms and a tree on the lot next door got hit by lightning and crashed down while we were sitting on the porch but no damage done. We stayed close to the house because of the two little kids but had a wonderful time, as we always do when the family comes to visit. They left Friday morning to go to Hilton Head and we left around 2 that afternoon to start our vacation!
Jace was looking forward to seeing Uncle Oliver's tractor but he didn't want to ride on it. So he sat on it with Mom but he did like it when Oliver made the bucket go up and down! Whit drove it back to the shed.
The boys liked the pool. We couldn't get Jace out!!
Jace learned how to motor around with his water wings.
This huge hawk was watching everything that happened!
Baby Landon liked Aunt Sally's potato salad.
Alex celebrated her birthday!
June 23, 2018
Happy Anniversary to us!!! Thanks to Mary and Sharon for reminding us via phone call and text as neither of us even thought about it!!! Twenty seven years and we forgot! I do have a card for Oliver but might save it for next year. In fairness, this was a big day so we might be forgiven for forgetting! Today was the Dragonboat races that we have been practicing for since April. More about that later.
First a follow up to my last post. My car DID show up at the dealer and they called first thing Monday morning to say it was just the battery and by noon they had replaced it and I had my car back------and it was under warrenty, so no charge! Secondly, the part came for my faucet and I have running water in my kitchen again. Also no charge. And lastly, I have a new crown on my root canal tooth...BIG charge!!!
Last week-end we went to Atlanta for baby Landon's baptism. Drove there Saturday and arrived to find most of the Davenport family was/had been sick. Bunny and John, Oliver and I went out for a really good dinner and a nice evening of conversation. On Sunday we got ready for church and the baptism. Their pastor gave a wonderful sermon and Landon was such a good boy. Afterwards we all went to Alex and Whit's for a wonderful lunch. We enjoyed seeing how much Jace has grown since last summer! We went back to Bunny and John's for a light salad dinner and we left Monday morning for home. We're so glad that we're close enough to see them so often. They will all be here next monyh.
So that brings us to today! We picked up Mike and Jeannine at 7:15 and dropped all our Dragonboat gear off at Waterfront Park and then I parked the car in our church lot. There were 26 teams and each team had a tent so it was very festive! The opening ceremony was nice. A prayer, the national anthem and then the parade of drummers. Each team has a drummer and they are all dressed in costumes so it was very entertaining! That was followed by the carnation ceremony. Everyone who was paddling for a special person lost to cancer got a carnation and then a lovely song was sung. Some kept their carnations, some threw them into the river and some returned them to be taken to a local nursing home. Then the races started! Our first heat was at 9:45 and we did pretty well-I think our time for the 250 meters was 1 minute, 17 seconds. It was SO hot today-we had a heat advisory-so we tried to stay well hydrated and in the shade as much as possible. We raced again before lunch and did about the same time. It was really too hot to eat much so we had some cheese and crackers and some fruit and then Oliver and I found a swing in the shade with a nice breeze and rested. We had 1 more heat after lunch and the current was quite strong so our time dropped, as did everyone else's. oor Oliver's back was just killing him so we all packed up and came home before the medal ceremony. We were pretty sure we didn't win!! But Oliver and I both got medals for raising more than $100!! Thanks to everyone who contributed, between the 2 of us we raised $825!!!!! Once we got home we walked direcly into the pool---in our clothes!!! After cooling off for a while, Oliver went to take a nap while I got my pictures ready for the blog. Bed will feel good tonight, although we are greeters tomorrow and I am on altar guild so we will be there early and late! Stay tuned for our next adventures!!
Baby Landon and his Daddy
And with his GaGa
And with his Mommy and GaGa
He had a beautiful cake for his luncheon
Here's our "camp" for Dragonboat Race Day
Here's the stage where all the announcements were made and ceremonies held. It was 95 and these crazy people were dancing!
Here are some other encampments!
This was Oliver after our second heat
And here we were after our 3rd heat!
And here is our fantastic team!! The little guy in the lower right was our drummer!
June 3, 2018
We've been busy since my last entry. First the not so good stuff-my touchless faucet in the kitchen broke (Delta sending a new part), I had to have a root canal last Tursday (a breeze, both during the procedure and after) and on Friday I went to church to do my altar guild duties and when I went out to leave, my car wouldn't start! Oliver came to see if it was just the battery but even with jumper cables it was a no go. So we had to call for a tow truck, whcih couldn't come for 2 hours. We left my care sitting there, unlcoked and with the keys in the glove box, and went home. I was glad to get to church this morning and see it NOT still there. I can only assume it is at the dealership, since I haven't talked to them yet! We're hoping it's not TOO big a deal.
Now all the other good stuff! Bunny and John came to spend Memorial Day week-end with us. They got here Thursday afternoon and right when I was getting ready to think about dinner, our power went off!! So, we jumped in the car and went out to eat at an Italian restuarant we like. Turned out that we had a very nice evening and when we got back, the power was back on! On Friday we just laid around the pool and then I grilled salmon and asparagus for dinner. Saturday was more pool time and dinner out at Breakwater. It was a really excellent meal!! Sunday we all went to church-the bell choir played and we were pretty bad! But it was our last time til fall so we will have time to forget about it before we start over! Then we went to the Red Rooster for brunch and back home to watch the Indy 500. Dinner was pork tenderloin, rice and salad. They left on Monday morning. We had a great time!
We practiced for the Dragonboat Races yesterday and think we are improving! We are also raising a lot of money. Our friends and famiiy REALLY responded to our donation request and we have raised $575!!!! And I'm sure we're not done yet. This is such a great cause and we're excited to both raise money and have a great time racing. We have just 2 practices left and some of our team has yet to set foot in the boat so we will see how it goes. There are 3 church sponsored teams in the race and we are competing for the Hallelujah Cup!! Church team with the lowest time wins! I'm trying to use this to pump my team up-we'll see how competitive they are!!
A couple of weeks ago we planted this little Chinese Wisteria tree-isn't it pretty?
But look at it today!! In spite of the fact that the deer nibbled on it. It will eventually be about 5 feet tall with a wing span of about 7-8 feet!! And should be a beautiful shade of purplish blue!
Bunny and I having our opening cocktail
We have been watching these little geese as they grow up!
My darling niece Sarah sent me these beautiful flowers for Mother's Day
We went fishing Friday morning and Oliver caught a couple of fish. We threw them back but he enjoys catching them anyway.
May 11, 2018
With this entry, I have switched from Fall/Winter to Spring/Summer, and as I write this, it is 89 degrees here! We had a long winter and a chilly spring but it is now definitely summer! I last wrote on April 7 and quite a bit has happened since then. Apart from th normal activities, we signed up for our church team for the Dragon Boat race on June 23. Then we went to learn HOW to paddle a Dragon Boat, which is a little tricky and VERY taxing!! But we loved it so we have joined Dragon Boat Beaufort and will paddle most Saturdays. Here is a dragon boat
There are 20 paddlers in the boat plus a drummer in the front to keep the pace and a steerer in the back to steer. Note that none of these people are doing it correctly since they should be synchronized-all paddles in the water at the same time! We got Jeannine and Mike to sign up as well as 2 other neighbors and a waitress from a restaurant we frequent. We are very professional now-we each have our own paddle and our own gloves! Last year our church team came in dead last...but they didn't have the Millers!! This year will be very different!
We had a few other events in April-our church has a Women's Steppin Out dinner a few times a year and I took a friend and she really enjoyed it. Then she and her husband, who is a retired 3 star General invited us to their house for dinner and we talked them into signing up for Dragon Boat! Some other friends invited us to join them for a banquet for the Women's Radiance Center, a crisis pregnancy center in Beaufort.
But the biggest event was our trip to New Mexico with Mike and Jeannine! There were 2 states we haven't visited and NM was one of them. We were up at 3:15AM on Thursday to drive to Savannah for our 7AM flight. We flew to Atlanta and met Mike and Jeannine there and then we all flew to Albuquerque. We spent abut 20 minutes at the airport just picking out a rental car!! and then drove to Santa Fe and checked into the Hilton by the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe. We had a drink in the bar and then met up with Dawn and Bob, friends of Mike and Jeannine's who drove down from Salt Lake City. We went to an excellent restaurant called Tomasito's for a really good Mexican dinner. Back at the hotel, we at in front of the fireplace and chatted until bedtime.
On Friday, the others went to breakfast and we met them afterwards to take a trolley tour of Snta Fe. It was really good-we had a tour guide from Milwaukee! He was so knowledgable and very funny. We really liked Santa Fe. After the tour we had lunch at the Shed-it's a hot spot and a HOT spot!! We all had the Christmas sauce-both red and green-and it nearly killed Bob!! Then we walked around a shopped a bit before going back to the Hilton for a drink. Our bartender suggested the Rooftop Pizza for dinner, and it was quite good-Oliver and I had a lobster and shrimp pizza. After we watched the sunset, we went back to the hotel for a nightcap.
On Saturday we drove to Taos. We took the scenic high road route and stopped for an antique car show for Mike and Bob. Once we got to Taos, we had lunch outside at the Gorge, where we had MUCHO margaritas! Walked around a bit more and then drove back to Santa Fe by the low road. We freshened up and went to dinner at Anasazi and then to the rooftop bar at the Drury for drinks.
On Sunday, Oliver and I went to the French Pastry Shop for breakfast, for crepes, croque madame, and chocolate croissants. Then we walked all over town looking at different galleries, the most interesting of which was the Gib Singleton gallery. He had several bronze castings of the Earp borthers, which Oliver loved. They were $3000 each, so we didn't buy any! But then we did go to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis to see his life size Stations of the Cross sculptures. There was a bg group of children all dressed up for their first communion, getting instructions from the priest. Then we went back to the hotel and had a drink before meeting our tour guide for our culinary tour. We walked to a nearby French restaurant for salmon carpaccio and wine, and then alked to Canyon Road where we heard the history of the area and visited an art gallery. Then we went to another gallery before having dinner at a wonderful Persian restaurant and then going to a 3rd restaurant for a wine tasting and dessert. It was all wonderful. We walked back to the hotel and chatted a bit before bed.
On Monday, we all went to breakfast at an excellent Mexican restaurant and then went back to the hotel to pack and check out. Bob and Dawn were staying another day but the rest of us left and drove to Albuquerque. We stopped in Old Town and shopped a bit and then had snacks and drinks at a nice outdoor restaurant. Mike and Oliver came upon a gy with an old but pristine truck and we spent a while chatting with him before heading for our hotel. We decided to have a drink at the bar before an early night since our flights were at 6AM. We met a very nice guy who travels to Albuquerque a lot and started chatting with him and then discovered another guy who is from Aiken, SC so started talking with him. We ordered some food and had a really pleasant evening. We all met in the lobby at 4:30 to go to the airport-us to go home and Mike and Jeannine to go to San Francisco. They had to lay over in Salt Lake City because MIke became ill but made their way to San Fran yesterday. We had an uneventful trip and were home by 4PM. Now we are back to the same old same old until July, when we take our next trip!! But I will post befoe then. Thanks for checking in!!
We saw this big dragon on our trolley tour!
This is called a coyote fence.
The Governor's Palace where the native Indians can sell their wares with no taxes.
The end of the Santa Fe Trail!!!!
The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assissi
The lovely plaza park
Anoher coyote fence
Jesus carrying the cross in the Stations of the Cross at the Cathedral
A typical home in the upscale Canyon Road neighborhood
St. Francis
The miracle stairway at the Loretto Chapel. The nuns who lived here had a very steep and dangerous staircase. One day a strange man appeared and built this spiral stairway and then either disappeared or died-we heard both. The wood used is found nowhere near Santa Fe.
Another statue from the Stations of the Cross
The first American Indian woman made a saint
These sweet little children were taking their first communion.
Looking up the street at the Cathedral
Our yummy breakfast at the French Pastry Cafe
Bob and Dawn, and Oliver and Jeannine waiting for lunch at the Shed. Didn't realize Mike was behind the tree!!
Jeannine in Old Town Albuquerque with a new friend!!
