Marcia's Knee Replacement #2 Day 4

Sorry I missed day 3, but I'll catch you up.

Yesterday, I found her disconnected from tubing and wearing her own clothes. She had requested her walker from home. I arrived with it just before PT came in, and she put it to good use getting to the bathroom on her own.

If you know Marcia, you know she is not a "show-off", but then you might not have seen her with a brand new knee and PT audience. There was a demo on how to use the walker instead of the dreaded leg motion machine. This was followed by a loooooooooooong walk down to the nurses station and back-a sort of walking inservice. This was followed by, "NO, I don't want to get back in the bed! I have more sitting up exercises to do!"

Today was indeed, discharge day. I found her dressed in long pants-a feat unthinkible after the April surgery. We did the usual wait for wheelchair escort. Getting in the KIA was only slightly challenging compared with last time, and she sat in the front seat, since she already has 90 degrees with her left leg.

On arrival at the house, there was no parking just outside the bathroom door and calling on friends for assistance to get in. NOOOOOOOOO!!!! There was walker assisted walking from the car to the computer chair. Many of you know how long that walk is, and there is the carport step to navigate as well. No problem.

I had trapped Stella in the kitchen so Marcia could get seated for the reunion. What a happy reunion it was. Just one little rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr of complaint about her absence, and lots of twirling with joy.

After an email check, she headed for the bed. There was a bit of settling in, and a nanosecond later she was fast asleep. There's no place like home!

She is now up and about at will-kinda like she was about 10 days post surgery with the right knee. She gets the warp speed award of the day!

KG

Marcia's Knee Replacement #2, Day 2

Kay's assessment: She is looking 24-36 hours better than she did on the last knee. I'm not sure if this is due to the different anesthesia, the better knee, or practice effect. Who knows? Who cares why? It really is good to see her do so well.

She was sitting up when I arrived today. PT had been there and gotten her up. She had a rather regal look about her-quite pleased to be sitting! By the time PT came back to help her walk and get back into bed, she was ready to have a little stroll across the room (long wise). When she started to feel sweaty, it was time to head for the bed. Getting back in bed involved something like a circus set up with two PT's untangling various cords and tubes and machines and containers in order for her to get back into bed. Then there was getting her back on the leg motion machine that I was surprised to still see in the room. By the time she got setteled back in the bed, she was glad to be there.

My glowing accounts of the new anesthesia proceedure in the last blog is clearly the account of the person on the outside of the surgery. Marcia reports that the pain relief was insufficient, so they had to give her oral Vicodin. Apparently this worked, as she reported a pain level of 3 (on a 1-10 scale) post walk. That's pretty good!

Shortly after the resettlement, the leg motion machine gave out, so she got some respite till they found a new machine. I swear she did not break it on purpose. Apparently the new one has a much better comfort level.

The staff has been very good and very pleasant.

Stella had a great Glof, and nearly successful squirrel hunt. She looks forward to this squirrel hunt. After a little running around and getting business done, she is ready to get on the Glof for a good squirrel stalk. I take off her collar and leash so she can really give chase. We rode around awhile before really spotting one. This particular squirrel had found a really good cone and was carrying it away when Stella spotted him/her. S/he tried to run with the cone, and was doing quite well, but not well enough, as Stella was gaining on him/her. So, down went the cone and the squirrel went into hyper-warp, and made it to the nearest tree by a hair. Stella was so pleased with herself.

I hate to think of what will happen if Stella ever has a catch. I can imagine that it will ruin the whole game. However, for now, it is great sport!

Speaking of great sport, those Rays are providing it. Last night, I found myself using the Griff (my Dad) method of watching baseball. You close your eyes and fall into light sleep, but jerk awake when the crowd roars. Using this method, I made it to the last out, though it was something of a disappointment. Maybe better tonight. Better go turn on the TV.

KG

Marcia's Knee Replacement #2 Day 1

4 am is very early!!!

Everything went very well. The anesthesiologist wanted to do a new technique that they have been using (apparently since our last visit in October). Instead of an epidural, which effects both legs, they use an anesthesia on the nerve in the leg to be done. The results were amazing. She was more awake and aware when she went up to the room post surgery, and totally cleared sooner than Knee Replacement #1. She does have a pain pump, but hasn't needed to dose herself. However, tomorrow is "get up" day, so I expect that pump to come in handy.

She is on the second floor in the Ob/Gyn unit. The nurse advised that if she hears baby cries, she is not halucinating. So far, this is a private room-knock wood. There are also lots of nice chairs.

Those of you who live in Floirda, make a note to self. Have elective surgery before the snowbirds arrive. There are plenty of rooms and the hospital staff are so glad to see you!

So, by afternoon, she was wiggling around in the bed and by now is probably ready to throw that leg motion machine out the window. They did not make those machines to fit Marcia's legs, so they rub in the wrong places. As soon as she can, she will do her exercises the way her PT showed her-with her walker. She did make a deal with the Doc to use the leg motion machine until the staples are out. We will see how that promise fares.

I was able to distract Stella with a long Glof as soon as I got home, and followed it up with her dinner. I don't fool myself that I have fooled her, but I did take some of the pouty energy away. She is currently resting near me-facing the door. I'll have to come up with another trick tomorrow night-maybe back to the Glof followed by ground beef in dry food. Ideally, Marcia will come home Friday and there will be a glorious reunion before I have to start buying the really expensive cuts.

I will try to catch some of game #1 of the series tonight. We are very excited about the Rays and hope they win! The playoff games had us rivited to the screen. I cannot promise "rivited" tonight, as I have already put in my 15 hours on 5 hours of sleep, but I am pretty sure I can make it through the first inning.

KG

Genealogy and the "Oh, My Lard!" Buffet

We are back from our trip to Madison (Florida) with smiles on our faces. It was good to be out and about in the Cronemobile and gathering ideas and inspiration for finding the ancestors.

When we pulled into the Yogi Bear Campground on the Old St Augustine Road (the road where Uncle Amon lived when he was writing his journal). I asked the manager if there were any "Southern Cooking" restaurants in the area. She was almost apologetic, saying that they only served lunch most days, but they were open Friday and Saturday night. Since we are clearly people who do not miss many meals, and we did plan to stay the weekend, this seemed fine to me.

The Yogi was not crowded, but there were indications that it sometimes does get that way. There was a little lake and lots of swimming features including a 60' slide. There were flyers for the gospel sing weekends, and a sports field complete with bleachers. We were just as glad that it was sparsly populated.

The library, however, was rather full. Probably 30 people or more, all about our age or older, diligently consulting Elmer's collection for their kin. At 6:30, the presentation on Georgia research facilities began. Because I do have some family from Georgia, I though I might learn a thing or two. As it turns out, the little libraries and the big archives are not just for Georgians, and there is a wealth of stuff. Good news! Most of them are in south Georgia too, so the Cronemobile won't have far to go.

So, we had late dinner, early breakfast at Denny's on the other side of I-10 from the Yogi, and called it a night. Or tried to, anyway. First night out is always challenging for sleeping, as everything is new and different, and acorns fall on the RV and spook Stella. We did our best.

Friday our plan was to do my usual leisurley get up and coffee, head over to O'Tooles Herb Farm, have lunch, and go to Elmer's for research till presentation time. We managed to get to O'Tooles by noon, and "B", the owner and possibly cousin, was having lunch with friends. We did get to check out the mushroom growing set up, and I believe we have just the place for growing our own, not to mention plenty of logs.

Finding O'Neal's (Oh, My Lard Buffet) was not hard. It is in the old A&W on US90, but the real give away is that every car in three counties is parked there for lunch-really, truthfully-dinner. We though we might have to wait for a seat, but not so. Every inch of space had been well used, and there is a porch with substantial concrete and tile tables in case the house fills up. The protocol is to grab a plate from on top of the buffet and fill it up. We went for the fried catfish strips-done the right way in corn meal and fried till they curl up upon themselves. I got a little bowl of mustard greens and another little bowl of creamed corn and a hushpuppy. One was enough, as they were bigger than golf balls. You find your table. Utinsels are up with the plates, but napkins and pepper sauces are on the table.

A word here about pepper sauce, for those that need it. There is the red kind like Tobasco. That's for the catfish or whatever else you want hot (picante). The peppers are liquefied with vinegar. Then there is the jar with the little peppers about an inch long or less. They might be red and they might be green. The jar has a flip top uncovering a little spout for shaking out the pepper juice. Boiling vinegar is poured on top of these little peppers, and they are allowed to sit. Da mo it sit, da hotta it git! is the idea. This you shake on your greens. Now you know.

When you sit down at the table, the waitress comes to ask you what you want to drink. 4 choices: sweet tea (hold onto your fillins as it WILL be sweet), unsweet tea, lemonade (purtty sweet), and water. Your choice will come in a plastic glass that almost requires two hands to manage. I recommend using two hands, as the glasses will be sweaty and your hands will be greasy. The waitress brings these glasses in a wire container sorta like the ones the door to door milk delivery man used to use.

Now you can eat. Over the course of two days, we managed 4 meals at O'Neals. And what a wonderful time we had. Among the menu items that transported us to nirvana were: fried chicken, catfish, lima beans, pole beans, a bucket of creamed corn, okra and tomatoes that would make you disrespect your grandma, purtty good cole slaw, and just right banana puddin.

Midday dinner is the time to see everyone, and to see the changes in Southern culture. When you travel through time, like we genealogists do, it becomes really apparent about some changes at the "Oh, My Lard" Buffets and Cafes. To our left was the sheriff deputy table. Their cars were parked within sight and at the end of the road by the street, where they could take off right away if necessary. These are the guys who need not worry about using both hands on the iced tea glasses. One hand covers it all. On our right, and in the far corner of our little room, Spanish was spoken-probably Mexican Spanish. Behind us was an African American man eating alone. He spoke to us, first, and made eye contact, and he was a bit older than we are. The cooks and buffet refillers and beverage servers were black, white and brown. The till was personed by whites; probably the O'Neals. Our dining room was "decorated" with photos of Native Americans. The ancestors we are reading about made war against them, so it is safe to romanticize them now. Otherwise, we all eat together now, cept those who want to take their dinner out. Dinner was $7.50, and take out would have been $3.50 (no drink included). Our supper take out was $7.50, but it was the seafood buffet and I got the boiled shrimp (Old Bay seasoning) and a stuffed crab (in addition to my catfish). Sit down supper was $11.50.

Friday night's presentation (of genealogy, not food) was in the Madison County Courthouse.

The original county seat was located at San Pedro, a now-vanished wayside on the historic Bellamy Road connecting St. Augustine and Pensacola. The structure was built of logs, but the site was later abandoned as it was in a low, wet area and suffered frequent malaria outbreaks. In response to the unhealthy conditions of the original county seat, Madison was founded on a hill surrounded by a ring of lakes. Originally this was known both as Newton and Hicksville, the latter for a Seminole chief with the anglicized name John Hicks. The first courthouse was constructed by Adoniram Vann in 1840. Early settlers also attended court in Monticello, Jefferson County. The first Madison courthouse burned in 1876 and was replaced by one built in 1880 of brick. This building burned as well, in 1912, and was replaced in 1913 by the present courthouse which remains in its original configuration with no attaching annex.

http://www.jud10.org/Courthouses/Madison/madison.htm

The courthouse is a lovely old building, and they are working to make it even lovlier. As a matter of fact, we might have wished they were not working so hard on Saturday, as the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz made it a bit difficult to hear the speaker. They are planning to replace the old tile roof, which hasn't been seen since about 1930, with new tiles in the next few months. We'll be headed back to see that, I am sure.

Saturday's speaker was knowledgable and entertaining. John Colletta has published several books, and we will be reading them. His best stories are of his trips to Europe in search of German, French, and Italian ancestors. He gave us ideas about places to search that we had not thought of, and preped us for our trip to the UK and Ireland this summer.

So, we packed up on Sunday. The book on Madison County Families that Elmer gave each of us, along with the tote bag it came in; Marcia's new cane pole (fishing) that is just short of 15 feet long; web sites and email addresses, and maybe even a local cousin or two that we did not know before all safely transported home via Cronemobile.

Can't wait for a good cemetery stomp this winter!

KG

Signs That the Summer is Almost Over

While our friends in the northcountry are sending their shorts and sandals to the back of the closet and bringing out the fleece, we are headed out doors. The other day I even went out in the early afternoon, though I leave the heavy sweat producing work for after 4pm. Yesterday, I had my way with more of the 3ft. high weeds with the help of my DR trimmer. There are still quite a few weeds for us to tackle and then, when it is truly cool, the chipper shredder and I will tackle that yard trash mountain. Mulch, mulch, mulch!

Amazingly, I sat on the dock last evening and didn't get one mosquito bite. I had sprayed with Cutters, but a few weeks ago, those stingers would be looking for and finding the only square 1/2 inch of unCuttered flesh to have their way with. It wasn't even breezy last night. It's not like they are completely gone. Stir up some damp mulch and watch the mosquito clouds emerge.

Another sign is that Marcia asked me to go kayaking in the early afternoon. The summer sun is not her friend, but as it begins to back off a bit, we are out in the river.

Conferences are happening. People are ready to get back to more serious endeavors. I began my CEU collection with a one day conference in Tampa this week. Next week we will head for Madison, Florida for a genealogy conference-alas, no CEU's. Ideally we will be learning more tricks for ferreting out the ancestors from various records here and overseas.

In addition to the genealogy conference, we will be visiting O'Toole's Herb farm in hopes of learning how to start our edible mushroom garden. We seem to be quite proficient in growing an amazing variety of wild fungi with no apparent effort, so we thought we might be able to grow edible ones as well. Perhaps we can make Shitake happen!

An added benefit of going to the herb garden might be finding another cousin. I read their web site and discovered that "B", the owner, is descended from Madison settlers from the 1840's. Since many of these early settlers married each other, there being few families and many children, it seems quite possible we could be related.

On the international front, we have secured two house exchanges for summer 2009, and are talking with a family about a third. July 23-August 6, 2009, we will exchange with the Potts family of West Sussex, UK-just outside of Chichester. This will be a direct exchange, with them coming here at the same time as we are in their house. I am having a good time imagining their two children, aged 10 and 8 enjoying the river. They are excited about having Stella as well.

This past week, we arranged a non-simultaneous exchange with a retired couple from Dublin. We will stay, for three weeks, in their second home on the southeast coast of Ireland-Castleton, County Wexford. They will be staying at our house in February and March of 2010. We will find a nice place to park the Cronemobile while they are here.

Our possible third exchange would be for a month-June 2009 in County Mayo near Ballaghadereen, Ireland. We need a little more information about this exchange, as they have not posted photos or a map location of their exchange home. They also have a home near Dublin, so we will see what they offer.

Our usual house sitters seem quite ready to have some time at the river. They may actually be feeling deprived since we have been here all this summer. Our leaving the country seems to work out for all of us. We think that even Stella enjoys having a change of "sheep".

Speaking of Stella, she just had her 6th birthday. She got a pigs ear, and has been carrying it around for everybody to admire (but don't touch). My theory is that Stella lives like every day is her birthday, and we adore her for that.

And, last but not least, the morning glories are willing to blossom out now that they are not baking both day and night. They make me think that every day is my birthday too.

KG

Queuing in the Atlantic

Like a loaded shotgun, they are lining up-spinning off from Africa and winding their way to-well-who knows where, but it seems to us very likely they are aimed towards us. Our Governor has us on alert, so it must seem like that to his advisers as well.

If you were, like me, looking at the river you would see that it is mirror like with a light haze. Stella and Marcia drive by on the Glof. Stella balks at going out, and I notice that she has the leash in her mouth, a sign of her resistance. Nobody wants to go out in the heat and humidity with a cloud of hungry mosquitoes buzzing around you. It's quite lovely as long as you are sitting indoors in the AC.

These are our worst of times, weather wise, and yet, our cousins from across the pond (I might have been doing tooooo much ancestry) have requested a house exchange for August 2009. We have arranged a house exchange with the Potts family of West Sussex, UK-just south east of Chichester. We have discussed our heat, humidity, and hurricanes with them, and they are still game. We will be looking for another exchange or two so we can stay for longer, but what a good start! I'm practicing my British English here on the blog!

So, time to gather up our histories of Britain for reading so we have a clue when we are checking out the ruins and cathedrals and castles, and let the storms blow where they may.

KG

The Outer Bands of Gustav

Friday is my usual day for filling the bird feeders, but I missed it yesterday as we took the KIA in for service. So, I was headed out there today with a full bucket of seed when I passed by the TV and noticed that the bands of rain passing from east to west over the state looked remarkably like the outer bands of a hurricane. Further checking on www.weather.com confirmed that, though Gustav is hundreds of miles away, the outer bands are passing over us now. Because Fay soaked us good, it will take very little water to raise the St. Johns river to flood stage, and warnings are out to secure things close to the river.

Meanwhile, Gustav is just getting to prime rev-up zone in the Gulf, and already is a Cat 4. That is to say, Gustav has moved beyond the "just fooling around" stage and gotten serious. We are not convinced that it will reach New Orleans, but we are glad to see they are preparing. One little twist, and Mr. Gustav could be at our doorstep.

So, I just took that bucket of seed back inside, and will consider bringing in the hummingbird feeders soon. Meanwhile, the kayaks and floaters and boaters continue to enjoy the river-occasional breeze and shower notwithstanding. Scent of grilled chicken has been breezing by since this morning. These are more signs that the river will soon revert back to a more peaceful home for us and other river critters. Happy Labor Day!

Marcia has just returned from the grocery. We are well supplied with food, batteries and LP gas. Still in wait and watch mode.

KG

Uh-Oh!

Here was the plan, as we discussed it (perhaps a bit too smugly) at the beginning of the summer. If a serious hurricane is approaching, we will just get in that Chronemobile and get the "Dodge out of Hell".

Current question: which is the way out of Hell?!

We just watched Fay wander across the state making landfall 4 times, and causing flooding from south Florida to....still going on.... We are not inspired by current meteorological predictive abilities. In addition, the house and generator seems so much more stable than the Chronemobile.

Plan B is to keep watching and remain flexable.

The convention seems to be going well-knock wood. It would be so lovely to have a real President.

KG

Hurricane Season

Fay has gone and Gustav is on the way. I put the hummingbird and bird seed feeders out again, but it just doesn't seem prudent to put the porch back in order again. At least not until Sec Sat, and even then, maybe just the rockers in place.

However, hurricane season signals the end of summer and the beginning of fall. It's not like it isn't hot and the mosquitoes are certainly in full force. It's just that something goes, click, and we know that summer is time limited. I wouldn't go out without long sleeves and long pants and a mosquito repellant of some kind or another, but, I'm going out.

I called Bob, the lawn mowing man/crew on Friday as Fay was passing through. It was his usual day to mow, but forget that. So, I anticipated his arrival any day, but there was this patina of tree trash all over the yard, so mowing would not be able to happen without clean-up. So, this morning, while I was sleeping, Bob's crew showed up and Marcia directed them in clean-up with help from the butt buggy, and I woke up to some serious mowing going on.

This was so inspiring, that I dressed out and headed for the herb garden for some serious weeding. That done, and the butt buggy filled with even more yard debris, I continued on to the coleus. Fay had done some initial pruning, so I just finished her job. The dining room table is ful of vases of coleus cuttings. Who knows what will become of them. Please feel free to have some if you are in the neighborhood. I just cannot stand to throw all of them out.

So, fall is coming. There will certainly be plenty to do when it does. However, this week we discovered that the neighbors had been working on the roadway and indeed, cleared away the noxious growth, leaving the lovely Queen Palm. They even took the fence. So, the major task of winter has been removed, and I have only to clear my own yard trash, a rather daunting task in itself. I'll be plotting what things need to be planted along the roadside soon. I actually have a few loquat and crepe myrtles in the nursery waiting to be put in the ground.

So, almost as exciting as the Democratic Convention, which I need to go see right now. More hurricane coverage later.

KG

More Fay

She seems to be headed west. We are getting the southern bands of rain now-south westerly winds, when there is a gust. Just rain and rain and more rain.

When the power did go off today, our trusty generator proved not so trusty. We were without power for several hours waiting for phone calls to be returned and for the service guys to get here. Seems the battery was the culprit and in no time they had it fixed. Our generator guy should have serviced it, but, not done. Maybe we will get these two guys to be our generator service guys.

So, now we have limited power. The fans and computers and TV work, but no cable. We have some power in the kitchen-can plug in little appliances. No hot water, but the refrig and ice maker are working, and, most blessedly, the well pump. As soon as the power was on and I was able to get my computer online, I checked the weather map, saw that there was a break in the clouds, and made a dash into town for my scripts. So far the house temps are comfortable. The rain has lowered the outside temps, and it will soon be dark. Let's hope the power is on tomorrow.

The roads are clear of large limbs, but our driveway is carpeted with spanish moss and other small tree debris. There is a medium sized oak that has begun to list. I will be surprised if it hangs on. It doesn't threaten anything. It might be just the wood we need for our new shitake growing endeavor. There is the top of an oak on the backyard berm. Looks from here like it will be an easy cleanup. Other than that, the yards are liberally littered with tree debris. If you saw how many palm fronds are on the ground, you would be surprised that the palms are not naked, but they have plenty of reserve. Looks like the butt buggy and I will be pretty busy when it stops raining.

I didn't see any real property damage on my trip to town, but I saw a few downed trees. One of these is across the railroad tracks.

We also have the remnants of some little bug that has settled in our lungs. Aside from needing to rally to get the generator going, we have few demands on our punky selves, so reading and computing and eating and sleeping with occasional forays outside to see what there is to see seems fine for now. I recommend those headlamp flashlights. Great for reading in the dark.

Looks like Fay is swinging out of our way, and on to the panhandle. We hear that Aunt Alva has a good supply of bananas and milk and branflakes, so we will not worry.

KG

The Way of Fay

She is slow. It's not like she is very strong, but she just sits on you. We have been getting rain for several days. Not the usual daily summer rain, but overcast with off and on gentle showers-occasionally a breeze. Yesterday, we got a little wind from the east, making the river look like it was flowing the wrong way. The yard was littered with the occasional palm frond or bunch of Spanish moss.

It's picking up now. The wind started coming from the west this morning, and the river's flow was obvious and fast. By late this afternoon, it was steady rain, and now there are winds. The river occasionally looks just short of surfable. It undulates with the wind. The yard is filling up with tree debris.

These old oaks can soak up just so much water before they let their limbs loose. This is the part that Stella hates worst. I have heard a couple of thuds, but haven't yet found a big limb near the house. Of course, Stella can hear from quite far away, so she tries and tries to tell us that we should crawl under the desk or something like it. She and I had a little glof before it started to rain in ernest. It was a great time to pinch the coleus blossoms off, as there was enough of a breeze to keep most of the mosquitoes at bay. Even though she was off leash, she stayed close to me. Probably was good she got a potty break then, as it might be some time before she gets dry potty time again.

The weather wizards are pretty stumped about predicting this storm. They have been wrong just too many times. So far, we have power and cable. The TV goes off for a few seconds at a time, but no big blackout yet. Those of you who have visited the house know that, though we are down in a hole, there is quite a long way to go to get to the river, and the water would actually prefer to flow to the opposite side of the river from us where there is low land. We do think of the people in Ocala, which quickly fills with water, and in Gainesville where the streets flood.

So, we have several boxes of brownie mix and enough eggs to make them. We have tons of coffee, and enough Lactaid for several days. Lots of Cherrios and keifer. Marcia made a wonderful potato soup and fresh baked bread for dinner, so we are comforted. She had to use up the white box (generic) of shredded wheat, as Stella will only eat the red box kind. Don't even think she is a regular dog.

Perhaps I'll publish before I get a power glip.

KG

Hurricane, Snake, Heat, Mosquito and Banana Spider Season

It's not our best time of year. As you know, I try to stay inside most of the time. However, today that wasn't a good idea. Tropical Storm/hurricane Fay is admittedly a real wuss, but like all of these other summer pests, it is wise to take precautions and prepare. So, before our regular daily rain, not to mention tropical storm type rains, we donned clothes like it was Florida winter-long sleeve shirt and long pants, long socks, sneakers, headband with cutters tissue tied to the back, and, yes, even cotton gardening gloves. This reduces the number of mosquito bites.

Stella was helping me water the porch plants this

week, and I noticed a cloud of perhaps 20-30 mosquitoes hovering around her. I had considered having her shaved earlier in the summer, but summer inertia and the thought of her near nakedness just stopped me. Now I am glad I didn't.

So, I first tackled that gigantic floating island that I was so excited about a few blogs ago. It was great fun, but had to be hauled up into the yard lest snakey become accustomed to hunting/fishing under it's cover in the river. Somehow, the little inflatable seats would always come open in the water, and take on water, so the first job was to deflate and drain it. I soon realized that it could probably withstand a cat 5 hurricane without budging, and that I would actually prefer if it blew away, but it has our names and address on it, and retrieving it from across the river half filled with water would be even more distasteful and perhaps even dangerous. I got out the butt buggy and tried to lift its behemothness into the bucket, but there was just enough water left to make it whale like. So, I did what any of you would have done. I stabbed it. It's dead! I'll dispose of it at the Marion County landfill as soon as I can get there. If you missed the summer of the island float-well, too bad.



I find that once you work up a sweat and drench your sneakers and lower legs in water, the heat is a bit more bearable. A couple of runs around the yard in the butt buggy, and you can feel like you have stirred up a breeze.



I was in the process of picking up the hanging yard and porch things when Marcia approached me about the snake. S/he has been using our dock as a digestion station for weeks now, and we know to just watch out for him/her. Marcia says s/he is 6 inches in diameter, but I am thinking more like 3 or 4. We do know that s/he is the length between the first two dock posts on the right hand rail just beyond the steps. Today, s/he was catching all the rays s/he could. Marcia had deferred getting the dock furniture squarred away because of snakey presence. So, I headed down there in the butt buggy. S/he didn't even move. I was able to get the little plastic table, but decided to let the chairs manage as best they could with the existing lock and chain. It could be tightened up, but then again....



To it's credit, this snake's bite is not venomous, but you probably have heard my philosophy vis a vis snakes-any one of them can give you a heart attack. So, we let digesting snakes be.

Banana spiders are a wonder to behold. Rest assured that this is not my hand either supporting or hovering right behind this lovely specimen. Since I am not out much, these ladies (we don't have to closely examine to know their gender) have spun their fabulous lacy webs all over the place-quite notably in the Cronemobile Cathedral where they are protected from the rain and yet in the flight path of many insects. So, when one goes to retrieve the butt buggy to get some work done, disruptions occur. Also, one can forget, in ones haste to anchor all blow away type things, that the banana spider rules, and soon be wearing a web. Generally, Ms B Spider is scampering away from a web disrupter as large as I am, so the possibility of an encounter is rare. However, the web alone is unpleasant, and her lover is small and perhaps not so swift, so.... I will not post the photos of the effects of the Recluse spider on this blog, but the less faint of heart might wish to Google them. It takes a long time and lots of antibiotics to get over the bite of the recluse, and quite a lot of tissue is lost in the process. One thinks about this when trying to remove a web.

So, everything is pretty well stowed away from wind and rain. We have plenty of LP gas for our generator, which will keep us on the computer and our refrigerator running,and the well pump working. We can flush with hot tub water-which won't be very hot. The only remaining hanging item that might fly is the bamboo chime on the back porch. I can only hope it does fly, as it is full of wasp nest. Luckily, I am sting free. We will be without AC, however, but I remember, from childhood, that a fan and ice cubes can make an air conditioner of sorts.

The birds and squirrels will have to do without feeders for awhile, but I say, "Eat more mosquitoes!".

We all know, and I quote, more or less, from Holly's email of this morning, that this means that Ms Fay will dissipate and there will be no more storms this season. Guess it is worth it if that is the case.

KG

Only Two Things That Money Can't Buy...

True Love and Home Grown Tomatoes. One thing I will say about this summer. We got true love and homegrown tomatoes. They are not coming in quantities enough to can, but what comes in are mighty tasty!

Today's lunch:BLT with Texas Okra pickles and our newest favorite pickle-Wickles.

Most are small, but yesterday I picked a beefsteak sized tomato. It just cried out to be made into BLT, so I had to do it, and I'm glad I did. Marcia is taking the small ones to the veggie dryer and has plans for sun dried (well, food dryer dried) tomato tapanade. I've had her homemade tapanade and I am very supportive of her endeavors. I'm kinda thinking, "Gazpacho". We have homegrown jalipenios (sans salmonilla) too-well, maybe one.

Stella helped me pick tomatoes last night, even though it had been a hard day for her. Her eye has been looking irritated, and she keeps trying to scratch it-not an easy thing to do for a short legged dog. So, off to the vet for the regular yearly checkup and intervention for the eye. Since her life is rather sedate most days, a trip in the car to a place where lots of dogs have left calling cards is quite exciting for her. However, once on the table, rude things happen. She was so out of sorts with "the violator" that she would not accept the offering of a yummy liver smelling treat.

I have to say that she is the best dog ever in all catagories, and that includes compliance at the vet. The doc was able to do all sorts of things to her eye, and she seemed fine with it. It must be said that she was sitting down during all of these eye treatment procedures. Perhaps in her mind, it was a good trade off. We went home with a bag full of meds and med giving treats. She doesn't give Marcia any trouble, but then, we all know the difference between giving medicine to a dog versus a cat. Still, goo in the eye is another matter.

So, when it came my turn to Glof her last night, with the sky making cracking noises, I decided to let her freeload the whole way, and she let me pick tomatoes without any fuss. That's true love!

KG

Hungarian Rapsody

We heard from our friend, Kristina. Regular Empty Cage Blog readers will remember that we stayed in her flat in Budapest May 2007. She has made progress in her renovations. The new toilet sits where the old tub used to be. She tells us that the new fixture is a combined toilet bidet, but looks like something you might want to be careful with.

I wonder if it might function like the paperless toilet Hilda was telling me about. They are all the rage in Japan-70% of households have one. They are also making a hit in Great Britain, but I cannot find a dealer in the US. As a person with two septic tanks by a pristine river, it seems like a good choice. We also know that our next septic dig will be uphill and require a pump (x2) so paperless makes sense. Still, I would like to try it out first.

Anyway, we are thinking that Kristina knocked out a wall to put this shower in. Well worth it!

We are hearing about the kitchen renovation, but no photos yet. Some things did not get done quite as she had in mind. Isn't this always the story of rennovations, and particularly when one is not on site in the process. Still, we cannot wait to see the kitchen.

Look where she and her cousin, Julia got to visit. The Adriatic.

Makes me just want to pack my suitcase!

KG

Summmmmmmmmertime

I'm not telling you the temps or humidity. Waaaaaay too oppressive. So far, at the risk of speaking too soon, we are out of the direct path of hurricanes.

We went out for lunch today. Cheryl and Hilda called us as they were passing through Dunnellon. We ventured out. Many of you know the distance from the kitchen foyer door to the car (in the carport). Just stepping in the foyer was challenging, but that treck to the car was brutal. We made it, and I started the car as soon as possible to get the AC going. It was a lovely lunch. Otherwise, why go out????

After lunch, I ventured out to pinch the blossoms off the coleus. If you pinch the blossoms off, they will put all their energy into the leaves, which, after all, if the point of the coleus. The mosquitos are not out in droves at 2:30pm; only pods. I was able to accomplish my pinching and swab my legs with amonia so the bites only itched for about an hour.

Stella and Marcia are in from their evening Glof. Stella ambles, with tongue lolling and panting to my chair. In the mornings, post Glof, she bounds in with wet underbelly. Tonight, she just flops down and has little interest in moving. I think Marcia is brave to go outside at all. After my morning teeth brush on the bathroom porch, I am content to stay inside.

There is the almost constant flotilla on the river. It is really lovely from my computer chair.

I am mostly in the 19th century. Frosts and summer heat come and go. Today I found a Mama for Uncle Jasper's children. Quite a coup. Uncle Amon's journal names her, Sallie A Maxwell, and, to my surprise, I find her remarried in the 1870 census (Uncle Jasper died in the war). She has married a Benjamin Draffen born in North Carolina. I find him in 1860 in Decatur County, Georgia, the home of my Griffin relatives. I wonder if Draffen is really Griffin in some census taker's mishearing or handwriting. I have a passport photo of one of Sallie's and Jasper's children-as an adult about my own age. I wonder how I would like to be "found" by generations in the future and identified by my passport photo. Not much, I think.

I have listed our house for exchange on intervac.com. I am hoping for an exchange in Great Britain next summer. I am thinking May and June, but then they say that "mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun", so maybe I shouldn't limit myself.

The French are visiting my listing in (comparative) droves. Maybe they, like me, like to look at what people offer. I amuse myself reading the offerings. The west coasters (US and Canada) always mention that they have an espresso machine. I think this is a plus, but nobody else, including me, seems to feel it necessary to mention espresso machines. Maybe if I mention the electric tea kettle, I'll get more British hits.

So, that's how it is for summer this year. If you want more action and lovely photos with your blog, we refer you to the blog of T&T, coasttocoast-ontheroadagain.blogspot.com/ Love the Gannets!

KG

Family Finds

I have been up to my goozle in family this summer. I am told that even early morning is sauna like outside, so I hop in the computer chair and travel through time.

Last weeks traveling was rather rocky. I was reading Uncle Amon DeLaughter's journal and Cousin Essie Mae Washington William's book, Dear Senator. I found that both were referring to the same people and families-DeLaughters, Days, Butlers, Thurmonds. Read the history of South Carolina and find them in the state and federal legislatures and the governers mansion. I still haven't tracked the Tillmans down to know if they are cousins, or if the DeLaughters so admired "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman that they named children after him. Perhaps both. At any rate, these forebears enjoyed the prosperity slavery brought them, resented the intrusion of Reconstruction, and established the ideology and practices of Jim Crow which guaranteed them political power till this day. Rocky, bloody road!

I am grateful to Cousin Essie Mae for sketching out the history of the family, and providing her unique perspective on Cousin Strom. Since her mother's family were slaves of the Butlers, it seems quite possible that she is, like many of us, multiply related to each other and ourselves. Her desire to join the DAR and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, however, is quite beyond me. That desire to be recognized as aristocracy seems a sad mimic of European monarchy and what the ancestors came over here to avoid...possibly.

I believe I have stated that I am not particularly fond of history, but thinking about the motivations and decisions and reactions that have lead to my existence is holding my interest. I confess to a touch of narcissism here-perhaps a genetic trait. So, I began to search the people in Uncle Amon's journal and ended up indexing it. Well, up to page 56, so far. Mrs. Elizabeth Sim's book on the history of Madison County (Florida, of course) is also filling in some gaps, and occasionally sends me to Elmer's Genealogy Library webpage to see if he has the books she mentions in his collection. Often he does. This will mean another trip to Madison after I have exhausted my "entertainment sources" from the last trip.

Occasionally I leave the southern aristocrats for the southern plebians. In addition to finding my great grandfather TJ Shaw's lost brother -well, lost to me, and lost in the Civil War, I found another Higginbotham child of the patriarch and matriarch Burris and Isabella. David "Bod"(perhaps a different meaning than that my contemporaries might bring to this name) Higginbotham setteled in, and populated Alachua and Levy counties. He actually lived in a settlement (1828) called Spring Grove that was where I lived during the last years I lived in Gainesville (then known as Hogtown-in his time, not so much mine). When I say, "populated", you may take that fairly literaly. Though there doesn't seem to be as much cousin marrying in this branch of the web, there were at least 15 children per wife. Sometimes the poor women would live to menopause, but often they succumed to unknown (to me) causes and a replacement would be brought in to produce 15-20 more offspring. Besides childbirth, there was typhoid fever and malaria, and just plain infection. Nevertheless, many of these children survived and went on to produce more.

Back in Nassau County, another section of the web was producing the grandparents and parents of none other than the three Vanzant brothers of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Yup! Cousin Ronnie, Donnie and Johnny.

I haven't gotten the exact links down yet, but I have it on good authority that they are cousins. What I don't understand is why they didn't write, "Sweet Home Callahana"???

Finally, I came across some redemption for the DeLaughter family in Cousin Bobby DeLaughter. Bobby is the Judge that prosecuted Byron de la Beckwith for the murder of Medgar Evers, and wrote a book about it. Bobby is, like me, a descendant of the "DeLaughter diaspora"(Edgefield, South Carolina being to the DeLaughter family what Callahan is to the Higginbothams). His gggg grandfather was James DeLaughter, son of our immigrating ancestor, George Wilheim DeLaughter. James went to Mississippi shortly after it became a state in the 1820's. One of Bobby's grandmothers was Frances Tillman. Bobby and I are 5th cousins once removed.

Amazing what you can find with the www, a touch of narcissism, and lots of time.

KG

A Fine Flower Day

Our morning started with thunder and heavy rain. Normally, the rain would be just the incentive needed to trunover and sleep a bit more, but not this morning. Stella was eager to let me know that the thunder and lightening was notable enough that I should be alerted and perhaps help her to higher ground... like the bed. But first a little "catch me 'cause I'm scared" occured when I sat up to console her. Argggh! I sat a moment and realized that both my knees were aching enough to send me back to the horizontal. Stella returned, my knees didn't feel any better, so I was up and Stella landed in the bed, hugging up on Kay for safety.

Our days have been regularly blessed with rain almost every day for the last few weeks. It's a most welcome addition to our day and our garden. July sees the end of the daylilly bloom season and brings on other flowers that have been holding out for more water. The ferns are jumping up in joy and the roses have just about finished their cluster blooms.

There is one rose that I love the most that waited a bit longer for blooming-- Angelface. I love its lavender-pink bloom and wonderful smell-- like a sweet rose with a hint of strawberry or raspberry.

The "teardrop" garden in the center of the driveway's circle is a rainbow of color with the little flowers and bromiliads tending the statues and walkways with their blooms.

When I do my daily walking exercise around the driveway I always find something new that I somehow missed yesterday. Today it was a pair of passion flowers. Stunning!

These hardy plants will provide color and attract butterflies until well into fall.

The showers this morning had everything spiffed up and ready for photos! Enjoy!

mdt

Ancestors and Descendants

In the short period of one week, I have become awash in a sea of information about the ancestors and emails from the descendants. As I blogged last week, I went to the Braddock Higginbotham reunion Saturday a week ago. This prompted an inbox full of emails with the exchange of photos and photo identification and oooh's and ahhh's-lots of them from me!



Wednesday, Marcia and I set off for Madison to the old A&P now the home of Elmer's Genealogy Library. I knew he had a copy of my great, great Uncle Amon DeLaughter's journals, and I was rabid to see it. Turns out, it has been transcribed by Elizabeth H. Sims, who also wrote a history of Madison County, and I was able to photocopy it. Along with it were several other interesting documents, and I was able to get a copy of a copy of my great grandfather's obituary from 1910-barely legible, so I transcribed it. With these in hand, I left Marcia comparing knee replacements with Elmer while I trotted over the the "Old Bookstore" to get a copy of Elizabeth Sim's book.


Mrs. Cherry was running the store, and asked if I had relatives in Madison. Of course I bit, and she pulled out the phone book, a rather small thin phone book, and began to look up the phone numbers of our common relatives. I was curious to add these names to my memory in case I ever run into them, but I am way too shy to just ring them up.


However, back at the Library, Elmer encouraged me to take the email of one of my cousins from the DeLaughter file. This woman had convinced Elmer to open the library for her on Labor Day in 2003, and, since there was nowhere open to eat, he and his wife had provided a little cookout for her. So, I emailed her, and after making it past her screen, have been corresponding with her ever since. She has always lived in the Edgefield, SC area where the DeLaughter's call home (since the young American government gave the emigrating DeLaughter ancestor bounty land for his service in the Revolutionary War), so she knows the way to all the cemeteries, and has offered her services as guide should I head up that way. Sounds like an offer I would not refuse. Might be time to crank up the Cronemobile for an ancestry mission.




She also was able to identify the people in my unidentified photo.

For those of you who are family, here is the ID: L to R front row: Alexander A DeLaughter, Frances Janette "Nettie" DeLaughter Adams, James "Jim" Adams, and probably Thomas Jefferson DeLaughter. Back Row: little girls unidentified, big girls are Estella Adams and Martha America "Mattie" Adams. Alex, Nettie, and TJ are siblings-children of James Pickins DeLaughter who was brother to Amon and our grandmother, Annie Elizabeth.

So, we got home from Madison via Floyd's Diner in High Springs-we had missed lunch, a rare occurance! The trip home was pretty difficult for Marcia. She had forgotten to bring along her pain meds, and there was no elevated leg sitting, so it was complaining big time. Once home, she was able to get to sleep, and I read the journal till 2 am.

Amon's entries are short and he records only the things important for recording about the plantation and every letter he ever gets or sends-hence a virtual directory of family members. However, on his birthday and at the end of the calendar year, he spends about a pararaph in reflection on what he has or has not accomplished. Each year he makes a trip to the family in Alabama, the Days-his mother's parents, and from there on to Edgefield, SC where he enjoys being with the family and in the place where he grew up. I was not only rivited to the journal, but, together with information from Cousin Carol of Edgefield, I keep thinking about what life must have been like for them.

The journal ends with his trip to Texas via ship to Galveston where he is recording which land is best for farming and how much it costs. Within a year of the end of this journal, the Civil War begins and turns their world upside down. Amon survives, but has a foot amputated. His mother dies in 1864. His brother, Jasper is killed in 1862 at Sharpsburg. His baby sister's husband is killed leaving her with a baby daughter. This is my great grandmother, Annie Elizabeth DeLaughter Witherspoon Shaw. She will go on to marry (if my reading is correct) the overseer of the neighboring plantation-a marriage that would have been well beneath her social station just a few years before. The neighboring plantation belongs to Judge McGehee, who called together the convention of succession for the state of Florida. His overseer was Thomas Jefferson Shaw, my great great grandfather.

James Pickins DeLaughter, younger brother to Amon and Jasper, survives the war and goes back to Edgefield, SC. His son, JP Jr. becomes a state legislator for SC, and his descendants include my corresponding cousin in Edgefield.

Elmer says that Elizabeth Sims says that there were several other journals of Uncle Amon's in the possesion of a Mrs. Crandell, Amon's grandaughter. When Mrs. Sims went to her to ask if she could transcribe the other journals, Mrs. Crandell said that she had moved and couldn't find them. This drives Elmer crazy, and probably makes him wish for a genealogy and rare things police to conduct a raid of the DeLaughter house, which is now occupied by the great grandaughter of Amon and her husband who is somehow related to the bookstore lady. I too would be quite happy to read the other volumns.

So, this is a puzzle that never ends. Each discovery leads to at least 10 more questions. How did they get Amon's mother's body to SC in 1864 with the war going full guns, so to speak. How did Uncle Amon walk? (There is a newspaper article about the donation of his wheelchair to the American Legion Post in Madison-1971-donated by Mrs. Crandell-he used it for his "adjustment".) Etc, Etc. Endless puzzle.

For now, I have plenty of papers to study and spaces on the tree to fill in. I have maps and cemeteries and history books and biographies to read, and ideally, more photos in my inbox. Probably I should also water the porch plants.

KG

Front Yard Sunset

KG

A Walk Around the Gardens

When the Braddocks and Higginbothams are making my head swim, and it is after 5pm, I might just go for a walk in the gardens. Now you can come along too.

Just outside the back doors, next to the carport, the hydrangea is doing well. I am hoping to get some cuttings from it for a little bed in the front yard.

Occasionally, for no reason that I can discern, blogspot's photo brains override my photo orientation and do it their way. Whatever, this is my 9 in. mallow hibiscus. What's not to love???

This year, this is my favorite garden. The caladium are in full force, and there are little treasures in the middle of the garden. I just got a few more caladium for that little gap.

There are a few little fruits on this tree. Hope they make it!

Love these crepe myrtle! They are a little more blue purple than they appear in this photo. I have been eyeing other crepe myrtles as we drive, and I love the color that these appear to be, so it is ironic that my photo has changed the color. These are actually Catabawa.

Here, beside the row of Catabawa crepe myrtle is the first wide bed. Plan A was a bumper crop of a variety of heirloom tomatoes, peppers, okra and basil. Plan B seems to be a few little tomatoes and an occasional okra or pepper-no basil, alas.

This is the three sisters and a scarecrow. I'm surprised the scarecrow has held it's pants on so far, but it has. Plan A was stalks of corn that serve as support for two kinds of butter beans with squash groundcover. I'm sure the crows are laughing at my bonsi corn. There are some blosoms on the beans and maybe one squash blossom.

This is the pitiful tomato bed.

One little watermelon plant is valiantly striving to get out of bed.

The butt buggy spends quite a bit of time in the Cronemobile Cathedral these days. Forget using the chipper shredder. The Cronemobile sits ready with a full tank of $1.93 per gallon gas just in case we need to get the Dodge out of Hell!

This bed lies uphill from the Cathedral. It is the compost/papaya bed. Those little patches of green are groups of papaya seeds germinated. When we came home from our first RV trip two years ago, we had great papaya trees with lots of fruit. I'm thinking, maybe not this year.

Pitiful bush beans and zuchinni presided over by cardinal. Good that we had a few of the first blossoms, because subsequent ones fell off.

We did get a mouthful of blueberries. There are a few left as well.

Back to the front yard, this crinum is looking a little droopy, but it has been very fine. Love the color.

Next blog-we'll check out the sunset in the front yard.

KG