Saturday, January 24, 2009

Bloggers family visit

Do you remember my Post titled Georgia Drought you say? from last month? Well, it was not a pretty sight with water standing in my Georgia Garden while awaiting a Garden blogger's visit! I took the advice of the commenter's and just let the water flow off my mind.

As you can see the blogger friend was "In the Gardens" very own Master Gardener, Tina and family! Tina looked right over the mud and we splashed our way all over the yard. I was so excited of her visit that I forgot to change shoes and ended up sinking into a hole that once housed a plant! Arggg, my once white tennis shoes... Not much to see in the winter but it was fun talking gardens a few weeks before Christmas.

We were able to get in one quick sight seeing trip to the Savannah river before night fall. Sorry, no pictures of that. You may recall seeing a picture of Fall Colors snapped at this spot. All pictures you see today, were snapped by Tina as I never touched the camera the entire time they were visiting. Ever have so much fun you never snap pics?

Off to the Pizza Joint for dinner, (thanks for picking up the tab guys) then to a surprise for everyone! Light's of the South, is located near our home and has become a tradition for us. This is a wonderful place to experience and will surely put you into the holiday spirit. A family has opened up their farm to visitors to see their fabulous light display. Everything is custom made and set up by family and friends of the land owners. This castle was one of many new additions this year. It is made from 60,000 lights! You can either stroll the lighted pathways through the enchanted forest of lights or opt for a Hayride which we always do. With hot chocolate, fudge and apple cider in hand, we had a wonderful ride together. This was the Jimsters first Hayride! I was happy to have been there for his experiencing a hayride. Sorry we did not get to roast marshmallows over the open fires. Can we say long line for fluffy sugar cubes? Tina had told me the Jimster had started to play the guitar. I told her to have him bring it along so he and the Saint could jam together. The Saint pulled out his guitar and showed the Jimster a few cords. Notice the Jimster is not wearing any shoes. Tina, you have had him in Tennessee too long! snicker snicker, I can say that since I was born in TN. Jimster was really impressing us with his self taught guitar skills! The Saint would show him something and the Jimster would repeat on his guitar in no time at all. The Saint even handed over his electric guitar for him to pick on. Wow, I have never seen the Saint let anyone play his guitar before that night!

Jimster really does seem to have a talent for picking up cords quickly so maybe one day, I will be talking about attending one of his concerts. Don't forget us small people when you hit the big time! I think those two could have stayed up all night given the chance. As you can see, Mr. Fixit was about to fall asleep. Not really, Tina just caught him with his eyes closed as she snapped the picture. Heck, the guitar was so loud who could sleep if they wanted to? Mr Fixit was holding the Jimsters keyboard. Yep, that young man is also self teaching himself to play the keyboard! Can you tell I was enjoying the concert?

We enjoyed a glass of wine during our concert and now Tina has a pretty blue bottle to add to her Bottle Tree. I think we all ended up getting to bed around 1:00 in the morning.

The next morning the Saint took off for work and I made breakfast for everyone. Tina, loved my eggs. Tina, they were just scrambled eggs! Jimster took a sausage and biscuit to go as for some reason, he was too tired to get out of bed. And he is the young one that is supposed to be ready to take on the world! Ha, young whipper snappers don't have anything on us old hoot owls!

After breakfast, Tina, Mr. Fixit and the Jimster took off for Ft. Jackson to see Christine (daughter) graduate Basic Training. Again congrats Christine!

Tina, you have a wonderful family and we thoroughly enjoyed having you in our home. Although too short and we must do this again soon! This was one really nice BLOGGER'S FAMILY VISIT, In the Garden...

31 comments:

  1. Sigh! (and thats a nice long, happy sigh, Skeeter) I feel as I was there too. What fun y'all seem to have had. Can I gate-crash the next jam session?

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  2. What a great time --thanks for having us peek in on the visit:) Well, our nice warm weather has gone by the wayside --it's much cooler this morning. We're heading out to the library this morning for some "new books" to read, lol. Girl Model can't get enough books and Sidekick loves to look at all those frog and lizard books. Just have to feed them all and get some housework done --the library won't be open for a few more hours. Have a great day!

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  3. Hi Skeeter, this was a surprise post! Thanks for showing us that everyone enoyed themselves so much, especially Jimmy, for kids his age sometimes get bored being around a bunch of old fogeys, but not on this visit! I'll bet he can't wait until they come again. And like you, I will look forward to seeing him in concert someday, or at least listen to his song on my mp3! :-)
    Frances

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  4. Sounds like you all had a great time! (pun fully intended ;))

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  5. Rainy Day in Georgia this morning. I was out in it feeding the kitties next door. Why do I find myself pet sitting during the rainy days? Seems to be a pattern here. Oh well, I will not melt...

    Sunita, I will give you a heads up and you can pack your bags and come on over to the next Jam session! The more the merrier and while the boys jam in the background, we garden folks can talk gardens...

    Anonymous, talk about warm, I had on shorts and tee shirt while in the yard yesterday! Still warm today but raining so not much fun. We have company coming and nasty weather for their arrival. It is great your kiddos enjoy reading; it opens up a big world for them to explore. Somehow I knew Sidekick would take to the books with lizards and frogs! We need to get that boy some pet frogs to tend and study. lol Have a great day with the kiddos!

    Frances, The Saint and I only have fur kids but I worked in Day Care for 6 years (thats probably why I dont have kids lol) and know the importance of keeping young people entertained. If they have something to do, they dont bug us old fogey's! Ha, just kidding, the Jimster was a delight. He had us laughing more then once and such a nice young man to be around. He taught us about putting honey on pizza! You will have to ask him about that one some day. tee hee. If he makes it to the big time, I am with you, might hear him on the MP3 verses a loud concert but if Tina goes, I reckon I must be by her side to enjoy her gloating :-)...

    Dave, Glad you enjoyed the concert! It was a really nice relaxing visit with a garden bud and her family. Looking forward to the next blogger visit! Hey, I like your new family picture. Now I can see your adorable little girls every day...

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  6. Hi Skeeter,

    A wonderful visit thank you for sharing it with us! I got to see Tina the other night and we gabbed for the longest time. She is a darling. I do hope sometime to meet you...will you be attending Spring Fling? Have a great weekend...is the cold weather back in your neighborhood?

    Gail

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  7. We had the best time Skeeter. You and the Saint were awesome hosts and I was so glad we could finally come and visit! It worked out well for sure. The Jimster is a sleep right now but once he gets up I know he will want to see this and for the Saint to let him play his special guitar and never let anyone else play it before? That's deep. I hope Jimmy appreciates it! Now onto those eggs, it is still breakfast time and I am telling you that you made them SO good. My grandmother used to make them that way and I STILL can't get it. Urgh! I love the first picture of all of us too. What a fun visit!

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  8. Gail, Thanks, Good visits such as this need to be shared :-) I heard you gabbed so much that you missed your opportunity to chat about blogging! Too funny. We will meet in person some day for sure. Not sure on the Spring Fling as that is still a bit away. I must get through Febuary, March and April then work on May if possible. I was wearing tee shirt and shorts in the yard yesterday! Today a bit cooler and rain so nasty stuff and we have company coming in today. Arg, but we have lots of chatting to do so will be an inside visit. Hope you are keeping warm...

    Tina, I hope you dont mind that I shared so much of our visit with everyone. We had such a wonderful visit that I wanted everyone to join in on the fun time! Getting to know garden bloggers in person is so much fun. All I can say on the eggs is dont over cook them. Most people do and they are hard. Yuck. I will be sure to make you eggs again with your next visit which I hope will be during a time the garden is booming with color.

    In the 23 years I have known the Saint, I have never seen anyone but him play that guitar! Jimster really made an impression on him to hand over his Axe like that... I wish you had taken a pic of Jimster playing one of the guitars :-(

    Tell the Jimster that he is now a Rock Star on the Blog... tee hee
    Keep up those grades young man!

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  9. How lucky for you all to visit like that! I always wondered if you and Tina knew each other before blogging..just wondered how you got together for "In The Garden"

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  10. Looks like everyone had a nice visit including the teenager. :)

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  11. What a great visit you all had together. I love that castle! Pretty amazing. I would also overlook puddles of water to look at a garden! We gardeners are all about the plants, aren't we? Thanks for sharing your get together and have a great weekend!

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  12. Sounds like a great time was had by all, even if your tennis shoes are not longer white. I can't tell you how many times I've gone out into the garden with "good" clothes or shoes only to have a similar thing happen.

    Jan
    Always Growing

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  13. Sure sounds like a great time and I just love the first photo. Thanks for sharing it with us Skeeter.

    Tina when I read about the eeggs I thought (but Skeeter beat me to the punch), do not overcook. I think my eggs are as good as Nana's and that is sure where I learned to cook em. In the restaurant world we call them "wet". You need the right heat to start with and cook them fast but not too much heat or they burn. If you have the right heat and good melted butter and cook them fast, the pan even looks clean after cooking them. Oh my, is this a cooking or garden blog?

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  14. What a nice post Skeeter, I think the pizza place must of been really beautiful! And it's great Jimmy is learning about music, it gives Nikki a run for her money! cause they are the only two! I visited Dave with the "hoot owl" not too many up her this year, they are so pretty. Makes one wonder about what food it's spying.

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  15. Thanks Skeeter for a look into the visit of a fellow gardener. I know it was enjoyed by all.
    That's terrific that the Saint let the Jimster play his guitar. Music knowledge is a great thing.
    Sorry about your white sneakers. I do that sometimes too. Never mind the good shoes or clothes. Just have flowers & the garden on my mind.
    I saw the awesome pic of the owl, Dave. Great.

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  16. Meadowview Thymes, Maybe Tina and I should do a posting on how we started this little partnership. We totally met due to blogging! We never knew each other until then. I was the second person to comment on her new blog and we had so much in common with each other. We really hit it off. She is from my hometown so when I went home to visit family, she and I decided we had to meet. The rest is history! A good story and one of many wonderful things about blogging! I hope to meet many more bloggers in time…

    Raquel, It is very important to keep teenagers minds occupied. I was so happy for the Saints and Jimmy’s common interest for guitars. We can entertain Jimmy any time now! Are you listening Tina? Come again any time!

    Kathleen, We garden fanatics are all about the garden indeed! I never considered myself a garden fanatic until this blog really took my mind into wonderful places. Now I love gardening more then ever!

    Jan, I knew I was not alone in the dirty shoes department. Luckily they were leather and I could clean them with an old rag and water. lol The Saint did laugh at me because I am forever “fussing” at him for going into the yard to work in good clothes. He has more stains and tears in his good clothes. I caught him chopping wood in his best jeans, shirt and new shoes last weekend. arggggSo he got a real kick out of me getting dirty shoes...

    Jean, Your welcome and we can talk cooking anytime. We must cook all the fun veggies we grow right? :-) After writing all the words about cooking the eggs, guess what I had to do? Make some eggs for the Saint and I we also had rye toast with Fig Preserves that I picked up at a craft fair. Yummy, they were good and the first time I ever had Fig Preserves. Anyway, dont let too many cooking secrets out, we must not let everyone know them. Tee hee...

    Dawn, the Pizza place was in town and not by the light show. But it is a neat place with huge fish tank in it. They have honey pizza, Ask Jimmy about it. lol. I am glad that Jimmy is learning about music and Nikki too! It is important to toy with different things in life to see what best suits one for the future. The owl was a hoot for sure. I wish I could see it with my own eyes!

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  17. fun, fun, and more fun! what a great visit. you guys had a wonderful time together.

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  18. Lola, We are on here at the same time! The shoes will survive; they were leather and clean up pretty good. Was funny though as I was just telling Jan how I "fuss" at the Saint about him going into the yard with good clothes and shoes on. Then I did the same thing. I was not expecting to go straight into the yard from the car when Tina arrived though! She was so insistent at seeing it before going into the house. Probably wanted to stretch her legs from the 6 hour drive. I did not mind as we were pushed for day light anyway. She must stay longer with the next visit. The owl is a beauty isn’t it? I wish I could see one in person. We have owls in our yard because I hear them at night when I have the windows open but only seen one fly by once. Maybe one day I will get lucky and spot one in a tree in our woods.

    Raining here today, how about there? Mild temps though so will be nice for our company from Atlanta. They smoke so we will spend some time on the front porch in the rocking chairs...
    Have a good day!

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  19. Marmee, I keep commenting when others are commenting today! Great minds think a like and on here together. We did have a lot of fun. It is always great to have Garden friends stop by as we all enjoy similar things in life. Nature, being the most important connection...

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  20. Skeeter (and Tina) -- It looks like you gals had a wonderful time! From the looks of the pictures and the sound of the story, I'd say that the guys did, too!

    Cameron

    PS My husband is a musician (he's playing right now), so jam on, rock on!

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  21. I've been waiting for this post! For a while there, I thought maybe someone forgot to take pics during their visit. Family members who allow themselves to be included in blogs deserve some kind of special reward: first dibs on showers or desserts fresh out of the oven or the first tomato of the season or...whatever they want. Within reason, of course.

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  22. Sounds like SO much fun Skeeter! How lucky that you all got to visit.

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  23. Skeeter, strange that you should mention hearing owls at night. I laid there last night & listened to one close & then as he moved on. Sure wish I could have seen him. My DH & I were riding through the woods some yrs back & saw a pure white one. I have no idea what kind. Sadly as we came back out of the woods he was gone. We used to ride the woods quite often back then. I loved it.

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  24. Looks like you had so much fun together, Skeeter. The light show sounds fantastic--I wish we had something like this nearby. But, of course, getting together with good friends had to be the best part of the weekend.

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  25. We Had a wonderful time I thoroughly enjoyed the Hay ride and the Jam session; although I was falling asleep:) I always enjoy talking with The Saint and Skeeter. I know Tina always looks forward to seeing them and spending time with them as well. Tina could walk though a monsoon just to look at a garden, as it is her real passion. Thanks for having us and remember you always have an open invite to see us.

    January 25, 2009 9:43 AM

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  26. Mom, You will have to cook some scrambled eggs for me:)

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  27. Those are amazing lights and great photos of them too!

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  28. Cameron, We all had a great time together. Hard to believe we met through this blog! Yeah, another musician in the Garden blogging neighborhood. Saint does not play much any more as he seems to have other interest but I do enjoy when he takes it out and jams a bit...

    Helen, it was so much fun although, too short of a visit. When Tina and I get together, we have to come up for air as we take all the oxygen out of the room with our chatting mouths...

    Walk2Write, Okay, I get it. The Saint will have his shower first next time. Will that make him happy, oh I am sure it will. tee hee. I will NOT turn on the washer before showering so as to have plenty of hot water for all to enjoy. Who cares if the clothes get a cold bath!

    Gardengirl, I do feel lucky that this visit happened. It is easy for me to get to visit Tina in TN as my family lives there. But not so easy for her to get to visit GA. As soon as I found out that Christine was graduating an hours drive from here, I jumped on the chance for Tina and family to stop by for the night!

    Lola, I bet the white owl was beautiful. I dont really know my owls as we never see them. I think by the sound they make, my book seems to say we have a barn owl. That would make sense with our neighbors having horses and barns. I hope to see them at some point. We seem to hear them more in the fall then any time of the year...

    Rose, we did have a great visit with Tina's family. The light show and other entertainment were mainly for the Jimster as teenagers get so bored listening to us OLD people chat. I thought he would really enjoy the hayride. I was not aware he had never been on one before so that was really a treat for him and us all. The light show is one we attend each year. It is only a few years old but growing more each year...

    Mr. Fixit, You and my Saint are such wonderful hubby's to put up with your garden loving wife's! You are true sports in every way. You and the Saint are both so laid back that we passionate gals seem to work well with you two. tee hee. You know I will be back to visit soon as we can! Next time, y'all need to stay longer. So much more to show you and when our lake gets up to a launching level, we will take you fishing or just for a joy cruise!

    Tina, I made eggs for our guest today. Susi had seconds and I could not help but snicker as she seems to enjoy them as you! lol

    Dan, Light shows such as this homemade one are great. A wonderful family to open up their land such as this to the community. They make no profit as all proceeds go to keep the place operating and adding more features...

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  29. Skeeter ! .. I just saw this now and what a nice post to read .. still smiling here. I am so jealous some of you garden bloggers get to meet like this .. it is wonderful .. and .. I would be asking why not roasting of said marshmallows aaahhhh ! LOL
    Very easy reading post , well done girl !

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  30. GardenJoy, Thanks for your kind words. It is really nice to be able to make friends from blogging. A great world this blogging! In order to roast the marshmallows, we had to stand in line to get the marshmallows. Line was too long for anyone to stand in. If our fire pit had not been full of water, we could have picked up some marshmallows at the store and roasted them in our backyard! As far as bloggers meeting, you bet if I am in Ontario, I will be looking you up! Same goes for you, if you are ever in GA, I will be looking for you to drop by for a spell... :-)

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