Carmichael Hall Tea Party

We were graciously invited to a " Tea Party" at Carmichael Hall for the afternoon that we had to take Aunt Shell to the airport in Birmingham. We put on our dresses and hats, packed up Aunt Shell and headed out. We were so happy to get to meet " Miss Kimber", Lady Melanie Fay's grand daughter, who will be 10 yrs old on " my birthday". I am so happy to share my birthday with her. The tea that was served was made by Kimber and was a " tea/fruit punch". It was wonderful! Along with the tea, were watermelon sugar cookies and pretty petitfours that were delicious. Presents were exchanged, that was so much fun. We had brought the truck because we were given a dresser, a couple of old windows and a big box of beautiful dishes among other things like a big jar of strawberry jam (that Lady Melanie had made) and a case of wine which was our " welcome to Alabama" present from Lady Melanie. A really nice present huh? !!!!!!! Oh yeah....Chuck dug up some of Lady Melanie's "tear drop" bulbs and I picked some " 4 o'clocks seeds to plant here at Brambly Pines. It really helps the sadness of saying " good bye" to Shell when we get to visit at " Carmichael Hall" before going to the airport.

Billy's Garden and Goats

Here they come.......

See the pipe taped to his horns?

What a "sweet face". They always look like they are smiling.

Mr. Billy Goat!

Linda and Billy had asked us to come over and pick their okra and water their plants on Saturday since they were out of town for a couple of days. They went to Gatlinburg for a car show. Billy has a whole garage full of old cars. Billy also raises goats and has three cows. The goats make me laugh every time I go over there. I can't help but take pictures of them...they are sooooo cute. Billy has duct taped a pipe to the horns of one of his little goats because it kept getting it's head stuck in the fence. It looks so funny. Shell and Genavive did all the picking and I watered the plants ( and took pictures). We came home with two BIG bags of okra. I don't think I need to plant okra next year because Billy plants enough to feed all of Lawrence County!

The porch

Eating ice cold watermelon for a snack and watching the birds up close. We always start our day and end the day on "the porch" . Right now, it's my favorite place to spend time. The birds, including the hummingbirds and the bunnies and chipmunks all come to entertain us. You can use your porches up here more than you can in Florida which is a good thing because we are going to have one lonnnnnnng front porch on the house and a screen porch on the back, plus a deck at one end, off of the sun room. I'm going to put a twin bed on the back porch so we can sleep out there during the summer. In the "olden days" people had "sleeping porches" since they didn't have AC but in the south, "sleeping porches" are making a come back. I bet ours gets used a lot!

Swimming at Caney Creek Falls

hiking to the falls

Caney Creek Falls

looking for rocks with Papa

Aunt Shell swinging

Genavive's turn

Aunt Shell caught a baby bass in the sandwich box.

Getting ready to hike back to the explorer

Sunday we went into the forest to go swimming at the first waterfall that we showed Genavive that last time she came to visit. It was as much fun as we thought it was going to be. Someone had made a rope swing with a big stick tied to it and it swung right through the waterfall. First Shell and G were just hanging from the stick but then Aunt Shell figured out a way to sit on the stick and that was even more fun. There were all kinds of baby bass in the water and they would come and nibble on our feet and legs. One of them bit Aunt Shell...so she decided to catch one of them. She used one of our sandwich boxes from lunch. After spending two or three hours of waterfall fun, we hiked back to the explorer and on the way, stopped to pick and eat several nice blackberries. One area of the path was thick with them. The day was so neat with all the fun being created by " mother nature" and not " Disney".

The Miracle Worker

Saturday evening we drove over to Tuscumbia to " Ivy Green" the birth place of Helen Keller to see the play, " The Miracle Worker". It was outdoors behind the house where Helen was born and grew up. Before the play, we toured the house and grounds. Chuck and I had been there before so was able to tell Shell and Genavive about the different things we were told on our tour. There were too many people there for tours that night. The play started at 8:00 pm. It was "wonderful!" The little girl who played Helen was Genavive's age, ten. She did such a good job....as all the actors did. When the play was over, Genavive got to get up on stage and have her picture taken with the little girl. It made for a late night for us since we had to drive home from

Tuscumbia but it was all well worth it. It was a night that I think Genavive will remember forever. ....I sure will.

Working in the Garden

Getting ready to drive down to the gardens

picking cucumbers

Trying out Mom's plow

picking squash!

pulling up the beets

Great Grandma's plow

I couldn't wait for Shell and Genavive to see the garden. They were a big help in picking. I had held off for a couple of days just so they would have lots to pick and that they did! We picked the first "watermelon" out of the patch! They each had to try out " Great Grandma's plow". It's harder than it looks. Riding on " little red" sure beats walking 1/4 mile, especially since we had to carry three baskets full of veggies and a heavy watermelon.

Genavive and " the girls"

I just knew that Genavive would "love the girls" as much as they do her. They love her because she feeds them fresh grass and leaves every day. Genavive helps let them out in the mornings and puts them to bed at night. I can't wait for the next time she comes up because they will be laying eggs by then and she can go down every morning to collect them.....won't that be fun!