New Fun - New Sites

David called earlier this week and during the conversation brought up Geocaching, the activity that involves you heading out to a set of coordinates to find a cache of 'something' that someone has taken the time to hide for your searching pleasure.  He shared the fun he was having with Hannah, the two of them going out to look for these things.  Not exactly being totally booked I looked into it a bit on the web and then ordered a handheld GPS device which just so happened to arrive today.  I followed David's advice for a beginner and chose a cache that wasn't too far away, had been found recently, and wasn't too small in size.  I got the coordinates off the Geocaching website, jumped in the car, and took off to find it... and I did :)  It was located near an old historic courthouse building that is either on or next to a cemetery in front of a small church.  I guess an experienced searcher would have seen right where it was before I did but once I noticed the rock that just wasn't like the others I flipped it over and found the cache.

There's the rock turned over.  I did follow the 'rules' and replaced it just like I found it.  I guess I'll learn as I go and today I learned to bring gloves for turning rocks over.  I turned over a number of them and was met with some yucky stuff.  Worst was an incredible red ant city under one rock and I had a couple of them get onto my hand and have their way with me before I could brush them off.  Oh well, what's an adventure without some adventurous happenings :)

Here's a close-up of the cache container.  The people hiding these things evidently go to a lot of trouble.  This is a real rock that's been hollowed out to hold this plastic tube, not some piece of styrofoam.  Again following the rules, I opened the container, pulled out the log, entered the date and my initials, and put it all back again.

After finding the cache I wandered through the cemetery a bit.  Back in CT I loved going to the cemeteries to find old headstones and the like.  Here, I don't really see them around and this was my first visit to one.  Different, for sure, at least at this one.  It appears as though the owners of a large, family-type plot take effort to 'wall' it off for themselves as the pictures below attest.  Also something I've never seen before was the use of small gravel to cover them.  I'll have to investigate more.  A few photos for you:

Some individual headstones and the 'walled in' family plots.

The small church is up the hill yonder there.  The old courthouse building is out of sight to the left.

So, something new to do that should get me out of the house and seeing new things, both of which I enjoy doing.  It was fun today and I look forward to more of the same :)





Still Riding

Although not nearly as often, or as far, as I rode in years past I am still getting out on the motorcycle and loving most every minutes of it.  This is the 3rd summer in GA and I've never found anyone to ride with so my rides are solo.  No big deal... I like riding with myself :)  I miss very much the JerseyPine Cruisers group I rode with in the Chicago area and as far as the best combination of roads, scenery, lack of traffic, and just so much to see I miss CT and New England.  Now I'm in GA and that's where I ride, getting over to Alabama every so often.  I know I haven't sent many pictures of my rides at all but that's because in GA there are no shoulders... and no shade.  So, I cruise down the road seeing this and that and you'll just have to take my word for it.  So, for those wondering if I still get out on the bike, if anyone,  yes... I do :)

Getting ready to go out.  July 22, 2012.

Little Friend Sitting

Since my massive discovery regarding the hummingbird food -- described in a previous post -- my little friends have become frequent visitors and I get such a kick out of watching them flit around.  I am always wanting to get a photo of them and that's pretty much like trying to hold a wave on the beach for me.  When I've got the camera ready, they seem to know it and spite me by not coming.  I shut it off or don't have it with me on the porch, they come to play and eat.  Well, this morning I got one just like I wanted... sitting on one of the feeders.  I really like that they sit sometimes because you can then appreciate just how tiny these things are.  In case you haven't picked up on it yet, I get a total kick out of watching these things.  A few photos of one of my friends sitting for a drink:

Retirement - Hosta Project

Yesterday after lunch I was just sitting on the deck... just kind of relaxing.  Somewhere along the line I said to myself something like "Well, this is retirement."  I leaned over the railing and looked down on the row of hostas and yarrow plants and said I guess I could partition off the plants like I've wanted to do since I moved in.  It was a perfectly normal day of doing pretty much nothing and then the project starts.  So, it's off to Lowes for supplies and then getting into the dirt again.  I worked on it yesterday late afternoon and then finished up this morning.  Now I need to do something about the 'clay' soil where no grass seems to grow.  If that grass project goes like my other grass project it too will be a lifetime project.

The 'before' shot number 1

The 'before' shot number 2

And the 'after' shots

Good photo.  One more project completed on the left.  One more project to be done on the right.  Seems like there's always one more project to be done.  Retirement... gotta love it :)

Visit by the girls!

There hasn't been a whole lot happening in Douglasville, Georgia as of late. The weather here has been god-awful hot as it has been for just about all the family no matter where they live.  Matter of fact, I think it was hotter in the Chicago area... go figure.  We did have our multiple days in a row above the 100 degree mark but the worst part for us was a total lack of rain for over 5 weeks just when the intense heat and sunshine showed up.  The grass looks like total crap and I don't know if it's dead or just playing dead, as in dormant.  We'll have to see how that goes.  We finally got rain a few days ago with about 3" coming down over the last couple of days.  As said, we'll have to see how things recover, if they do.

A most wonderful visit was had when Samantha, Hannah and Riley came down after spending some time with girlfriends a couple hours north of here.  It was a most delightful 8-day visit and I so enjoyed getting to spend time with all the girls.  Riley was just the cutest little girl and plays with the best of them.  She smiles all the time and it doesn't take much to get her laughing.  She's a little eating machine with some of the food actually making it to her mouth, and staying there.  She loved going to the pool and kicked as though wanting to swim on her own.  Grandpa had a rather good time with her and Samantha did catch a few good shots of some of the playing going on:

Hannah and I made it to the pool every night during the visit.  The others took a night or two off to rest up.  It was a lot of fun watching Hannah make progress every single night, venturing out and getting a bit braver each and every time.  The first time she sort of hung out at the steps but by the end of the visit she was making laps around the pool with the help of her noodle thingie.  She even got into jumping off the side and from the steps, grabbing onto the noodle as she jumped further and further. 

At first Hannah was a bit tentative about moving about on her own.  After all, she really doesn't know how to swim and it was an adult pool... can't blame her.  But, as you can see, she got to taking off on her own and just kicking herself around.  As said, she made progress each and every night!  One other rather nice thing about our swims is that we pretty much had the pool to ourselves for some reason.  I mean it was hot!  Our routine was to have dinner, clean up a bit, and then jump on the golf cart to get to the pool.  Usually Samantha and Riley took the rumble seat -- Riley enjoying each and every bump in the path -- and Hannah and I riding up front.  Hannah got to drive the cart a bit and although she didn't master doing so, she did seem to enjoy herself.