Posts Tagged ‘Betsy’

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Why Betsy Feels Jinxed

December 6, 2008
Betsy pointing out some snow on the roof of our cabin on Mount Nebo.

Betsy pointing out some snow on the roof of our cabin on Mount Nebo.

First of all let me say that Betsy and I got back last night from our trip to Arkansas.  We had a wonderful time, but it’s good to be back home.

Now, why does Betsy feel jinxed?  You have to remember how much Betsy loves snow.  She looks forward to it every winter and never feels she sees enough.  It snowed all day Sunday at Mount Nebo State Park in Arkansas — we arrived Monday, a clear, sunny day.  It did snow back here in the Glade on Monday, but of course we were in Arkansas.

It gets worse.  We went to Mount Nebo in February of this year and it snowed in the Glade while we were gone.  We didn’t have any snow while we were at Mount Nebo, but while reading the comment book in the cabin we rented Betsy discovered that they had 12 inches of snow three days after we left!  I thought Betsy was going to cry.

We’ll stick fairly close to the Glade for the winter, but if we don’t get at least one decent snowstorm I may need to take Betsy to northern Michigan so she can get her ‘snow fix’ for the year!

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You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down (or Off-line!)

November 23, 2008

extensioncords

Yesterday I got a demonstration of how creative my bride can be.

Friday night, about the time we were thinking about going to bed, we suddenly lost all power in our computer room.  At first we thought we had lost all power, but we then realized that electrical appliances in other rooms were working, so we knew that something else was wrong.  I went out to the garage and checked the electrical panel and discovered that the circuit breaker for the computer room was off.  I turned it back on and it promptly went off again.  Definitely not good!

We then unplugged everything and I tried the circuit breaker again — no luck, it kept tripping off.  We finally gave up and went to bed, although I wondered how we would get by with no computers in the morning.  (We haven’t yet joined the laptop – wireless crowd, but this may cause us to do so!)

Yesterday (Saturday) morning Betsy got up at her usual early hour to put out her bird feed.  Since I’m such a nice guy I asked her if she wanted some help, but she said ‘No’.  I dozed off and on for a while, wondering why Betsy didn’t come back to bed.  My curiosity finally got the better of me and I got up to be greeted by a surprise — my bride had gathered up just about every extension cord we owned and strung them across the house.  The living room looked a little strange, but the computers worked.

The electrician will be here Monday and hopefully find and fix the problem.  But in the meantime we’re online, thanks to my creative bride.

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I Want to Win This

November 21, 2008
Cranberry Pecan Bread. Yummy!!!

Cranberry Pecan Bread. Yummy!!!

Betsy has been writing a blog longer than I have and she has met many other bloggers through her own blog.  Lately she has been sharing some of those links with me, and I must admit that all of them are interesting and some of them feature absolutely gorgeous photography.  (I’m jealous, but that’s another story.)

One of the bloggers Betsy told me about is a woman from Michigan named Shelley.    Shelley actually writes three different blogs and maintains another site.  She talks about living in northern Michigan and has some great pictures as well.

Shelly is doing something interesting — she’s having a giveaway!  As she says on her blog Building a Log Cabin,   “There is a special place called Zingerman’s located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They have the best deli and bakehouse in the state in my opinion. In fact, their breads were voted one of the Top 12 Mail Order Bread sources in America! Every year during the holiday season they come out with this Cranberry Pecan Bread – it is so yummy that they have a waiting list for this bread! You have to try this stuff! In fact, I’m going to have a loaf shipped from Zingerman’s to the winner of this Giveaway!”

I’m sure many people have entered this giveaway, but I’m really hoping that I win.  In my younger days (before I had to worry about high cholesterol and things like that) I used to make sour dough bread for my family.  Although I stay away from breads more than I used to, I still love the smell of fresh-baked bread.  If I win Shelley’s giveaway I promise to do justice to the prize!

To see Shelley’s blog (and enter the giveaway) click on BUILDING A LOG CABIN.  Links to her other blogs can be found on the right side of her page.

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Work or Play?

November 20, 2008
Betsy 'working' on the leaves. Fairfield Glade, October 2007.

Betsy working on the leaves, Fairfield Galde, October, 2007.

Yesterday was a busy day for the Adams.  In the morning we made our weekly trip into town to do our grocery shopping (we like the Senior discount at Krogers!!).

In the afternoon we decided to tackle the leaves in our yard.  The trees around us have lost most of their leaves over the past couple of weeks, and although we cleaned the leaves last week, it was time to do it again.  Actually it was past time, but rain and high winds kept us from doing much over the past couple of days.

But yesterday afternoon the wind died down and the leaves were dry, so Betsy and I decided we couldn’t put things off any longer.  Betsy is the leaf-blower ace — she can get those leaves to go where ever she wants them to go.  My job is simpler — I provide the muscle to carry leaves away.

We have one big advantage when it comes to getting rid of leaves — our yard backs onto the golf course and the maintenance people will use their equipment to pick up leaves from the rough directly behind our house.  Betsy can blow leaves from the back yard directly onto the golf course property, but the other sides of the house involve some work.  That’s where I come in — I get to carry the leaves to where they can be dumped.

Now don’t get me wrong — Betsy also works hard.  But she has this wonderful ability (see above) to make work seem like play.  Or should I say to make play seem like work?

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The Secret to Betsy’s Happiness

November 17, 2008
Snow on a pansy, Fairfield Glade. November 16, 2008.

Snow on a pansy, Fairfield Glade. November 16, 2008.

Betsy was in a very good mood yesterday morning, and the picture above shows the reason why.  Betsy woke up yesterday morning to find snow on the deck and flowers.

I   really don’t understand it, but Betsy loves snow.  We haven’t had what she calls a good snow for a couple of years.  The first winter we lived here in the Glade we had a 10-inch snow storm!  We had gone to Hendersonville that day and it started to snow as we headed back.  The trip home took twice as long as normal and we had to walk up the hill to the house, but that was a good snow storm as far as Betsy was concerned.

So although she was delighted to see the snow yesterday, I know that it only whetted Betsy’s appetite for more.  I want my bride to be happy, but I wish it was spring flowers she wanted to see!

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Akron Falls Park

November 11, 2008
Lower Akron Falls, Akron, New York. October 24, 2008.

Lower Akron Falls, Akron, New York. October 24, 2008.

A few days ago I mentioned that my daughter Kelly and her husband Chuck, took us to a city park in Akron, New York, to see a waterfall.  We enjoyed the park and the waterfall, but didn’t discover until we got back home that there are actually two waterfalls in the park.

Even though we only saw the one waterfall, we did enjoy our visit to Akron Falls Park.  The park is a 284-acre park that straddles Murder Creek.  There has to be a story behind the name of the creek, but I don’t know what it is!

Although it was close to dusk when we got to the park, we were able to enjoy the walk through the woods and the waterfall.  To see more of our visit to Akron Falls Park click HERE.

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Eating Us Out of House and Home

November 7, 2008
Young Goldfinch in one of our feeders. October 28, 2008.

Young Goldfinch in one of our feeders. October 28, 2008.

I’ve mentioned several times that Betsy has become an avid birder.  She keeps a pair of binoculars by her favorite chair and periodically consults several books and blogs in her attempts to identify new birds that come to our feeders.

We now have six stations where the birds can get food.  Betsy has tried her best to provide the favorite food of each of the different birds in our area.  Judging by the numbers of ‘feathered friends’ on our deck, I would say that Betsy has done a good job.

I guess we’re running a cafeteria for birds.  I will admit that the birds are interesting, and the young ones are even cute.  But they sure can eat!!  It seems that we’re having to refill feeders every time we turn around.

I’m glad Betsy likes her birds.  I just hope we can continue to afford to feed them!

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She Came Back!!!

October 13, 2008
Susan, Nita, Reida and Betsy at a Savannah restaurant. October 8, 2008.

Susan, Nita, Reida and Betsy at a Savannah restaurant. October 8, 2008.

Saturday was a wonderful day.  My bride came back home!

Betsy went to Tybee Island, Georgia, with Nita, Reida and Susan, her childhood girlfriends from Big Stone Gap, Virginia.  Only Nita still lives in Big Stone Gap today, but the four of them have been getting together for a trip just about every year since 1992.

This year they had a longer-than-usual trip, spending a week on the beach in Georgia.  They came back on Saturday, and I drove down to Atlanta (where Susan now lives) to pick up Betsy.

Betsy kept me waiting as they got to Atlanta later than expected, but since she wasn’t driving I guess I can’t hold that against her.  But what I can say is that it’s great to have her back!

But don’t tell her — I don’t want her to get a big head!!!

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When the Cat’s Away … I Get a Honey-Do List!

October 5, 2008

I’m sure you have all heard the saying “When the cat’s away the mice will play”.  Well, the cat’s away, but I’m not sure that I will be able to play.

Betsy is down at Tybee Island, Georgia, with her three childhood girlfriends from Big Stone Gap, Virginia.  The ‘Get-Away-Gang’, as they are known, starting taking annual getaways in 1992, the year they all turned 50.  They’re goiing to be at Tybee for a week.

I took Betsy down to Atlanta to meet up with Nita, Reida and Susan.  You would think when I got back home I could look forward to a week of leisurely reading, listening to music, and working on my stamps.

But oh, no, I get to look forward to a week of feeding the birds, cleaning the bird bath, planting pansies, and doing the grocery shopping.  There are a few more chores on the list, but so far I’ve been afraid to look.

I guess I’ll have to change that saying to “When the cat’s away I get a honey-do list!”

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Betsy’s Bluebirds

October 2, 2008
A male bluebird in our backyard. July, 2008.

A male bluebird in our backyard. July, 2008.

As I’ve mentioned several times, Betsy has become very interested in birds this year.  I gave Betsy binoculars and a couple of bird-watching books for her birthday two years ago, but at that time she was mostly interested in hummingbirds.

But this  year her interest has broadened to include just about every type of bird that we have here in the Glade.  We’ve gotten several new bird feeders and Betsy has learned a great deal about woodpeckers, cardinals, titmice, chickadees, robins, sparrows, wrens and flickers.  She’s tried to teach me, but I must confess that I am a slow learner.

I think Betsy really got interested in birds of all types when we discovered a bluebird family in a backyard bird house.  The adult bluebirds (especially the male) are beautiful and they didn’t seem to get spooked by our presence on the deck.  So we were able to watch as the adults raised their family.  We were sorry to see them leave and hope they will return next year.

To see our bluebird family click HERE.

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