A Sunday in Georgia

 A few more pictures from last weekend.

This is Jim's shop; Mae is standing in the doorway, probably saying, "PaPa, PaPa..." because when Jim is in sight, that seems to be all she wants to say.  

Our son's new tractor gave Cliff an extra motivation for visiting Georgia.  Isn't it cute?  Jim used the back-hoe to move some pretty sizable rocks on his one acre of land.  It may be a small, but it's mighty.

Mae wanted to show us how it's done. 

This is a picture of me encouraging Mae to splash her feet in a puddle, which I loved to do as a kid.  I think she already knew what to do without my encouragement, though.  We had a nice, steady rain just before this was taken.  If you wonder what I'm carrying around, I didn't have my camera along, so I used the iPad as a camera.  I thought I'd packed my camera and lost it on the plane, but when I got home I found my camera, parked right where I put it when I decided to charge the battery.  I have to say, I can't believe that's me, so skinny-looking!  I don't have to diet any more because I just can't eat as much as I used to, so I maintain my weight without thinking about it.

Daughter-in-law Deb wondered if this was a murder hornet.  It was alive when this picture was taken, but Cliff promptly squashed it before we could decide.

There we are, visiting and watching TV.  Granddaughter Lyndsay had been out late the night before at a pumpkin patch event.  She and Mae were catching up on their sleep.  That's my son's foot; thank goodness his feet resemble his dad's rather than mine, or I'd be cropping them out of the picture.

Taken Sunday:  We were enjoying the view from the back porch while digesting our breakfast.  Carolyn, Deb's mom, even came out to join us, walker and all.  They have several outside cats, and Carolyn has a favorite that she called over to her to pet.  

I wish I'd gotten a picture of Deb's mom while she was petting the cat, but I didn't think to take one.  Here's one of Deb cutting Carolyn's toenails.  Deb was accused of hurting her, but there are plenty of witnesses who will testify she wasn't harmed in the least.  Carolyn is my age, which makes me realize it could be me in that condition at any time.  We never know what the next day will bring.

Sunday Jim smoked some meat and we had a great dinner.  Deb invited all the local family members over, so there were kids playing everywhere in the pantry and in the woods.  Then came time for the Chiefs to play... and we found out they weren't showing the game down there.  However, somebody did some magic and made it happen anyway.  What a great game, and it was fun watching it with our son while the rest of the world carried on around us.

I'm so glad we went.  I appreciate Jim making the trip to see us every year, but it was fun to share their lives for awhile, too.  Deb and I agreed that really, two days is plenty of time if you're just going for a visit.  After that, it begins to get tedious for guests and hosts alike.  The hospitality was appreciated; Their home was one of the better bed-and-breakfasts we've found.  OK, we've never been to a bed-and-breakfast, but our experience there was a good one and we had plenty to eat.

By the way, the grandson was to feed the cats for us while we were gone.  I called him to see how it was going and he said, "I haven't seen the gray one at all; just Mama Kitty."  This tended to cast a slight shadow on our trip, but I put it out of mind for the most part.  When we arrived home, I got out of the car calling "Kitty kitty kitty, here Blue," and he jumped off the front porch running to meet us.  Arick said he still had not seen him in the time we were gone, so he just left the food out; each time he returned, the food was gone.  

All's well that ends well.

Enjoy a Georgia rain, won't you?  I wish I could send it to California and Colorado.  You'll hear Jim talking in the background.