Any Improvement???

Before



During



After

Soaperrific

I run a small handmade soap business. Once a year, Alabama soapmakers convene for education, shopping, gabbing, and eating too much. This is known as the "big meeting". There are regional lunch meetings throughout the year, as well as a large social gathering in January. It's a friendly bunch. We started out many years ago as a group of strangers on the internet, and have now become so much more than just colleagues.

We are fragrance junkies.

There's always lots of stuff to spend money on.

We teach each other how to make things.

Vendors provide samples, catalogs, and door prizes.
The unofficial uniform includes overalls, pearls, and a tiara...

Not your run of the mill overalls.
The pearls and tiara are optional for men. We have had a few male members in the past, but somehow we've managed to run them all off.

Lunch Ride to Mineola

I had been meaning to ride to Mineola on a Wednesday for lunch. Wanted to check out their tenderloin sandwich (a Wednesday Special) at Toby Jack's Mineola Steakhouse.
Sunny say, nice temperature, with a breeze from the WNW. The wind direction was a problem, I was not looking forward to pedaling up the hill into the wind on the way home.
When I got to Margaritaville, I notices some changes. The area has cleaned up and the bike racks moved over to the East side of the trail. There is a new (second) grill there. Looking good.
After lunch, I started pedaling up the hill, sucking on a shot blok. It was an effort, but made it. Tool it easy down the hill. Just before the trail head, there's an open space. The wind was sooooo strong there, I had do shift way down, and hoping to not bonk. Made it, but my lets were toast.
Needed a day off the bike to recover.

Tagged By Mrs Quad

Happy Valentine's Day!

This version of the tag game calls for a list of "five things that you might not know about me" – Hmmm. How can my revelations be interesting in the wake of people like Mrs Quad, Nelumbo, Jim and Kerri? Kerri parents actually owned a pet store when she was growing up! I must admit that finding out a few things about other people was pretty cool, so I'll be cooperative.

Five things that you might not know about me:

1) When I was about ten years old, I seriously considered becoming a Catholic Nun, driving my sister and cousin nuts with my pre-adolescent piety. [I got over it.]

2) I entered college at 16, intending to become a junior high teacher. I left after completing my junior year and never went back. So there’s no degree after Annie’s name. [It was of course, all Philo’s fault – no way was I letting him go to grad school in South Carolina alone.]

3) Our four children are widely separated in age, so they were born in three different decades - 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s - at different hospitals, with different groups of doctors, and at the time of each birth, Philo & I lived at a different address.

This age range also meant that once the oldest turned 13, my husband and I began an unbroken 23-year stretch of living in a house with a teenager. Four of them. One after another.

4) Genealogy is another of my interests, and I’ve done a lot of research for friends and family, frequently using online resources. While at those sites I bumped into a couple of previously unknown cousins who were doing the same thing.

5] I dislike the taste of watermelon, cucumbers and licorice, and don’t like their scents, either. But even if Philo has been eating one of these things, I like him more than I dislike watermelon or cucumbers or licorice, and will gladly kiss him anyway. [This was the Valentine part of today's post.]

I hesitate to tag anyone - but sure would like to know more about most of you – Ki? Lost Roses? Julie? Stuart? Pam in TX or Pam in SC? Anybody?

Here’s a squirrel photo for Nelumbo in South Carolina. This one is gobbling up the sunflower seeds, even though I covered them in hot sauce. The birds can’t taste it, and the squirrels are supposed to find it distasteful but it didn’t work out that way. It's possible that since everyone in Austin grows hot peppers, and the birds plant the chile pequin type in natural gardens all over town, an entire subspecies of salsa-loving tree rats is evolving here.

Usher Hall

Old and new architecture together at Edinburgh's Usher Hall. The 1914 original to the left, and the angular glass extension completed in .. in the centre of the shot.
We were at a concert there last night: American violinist Joshua Bell and British cellist Steven Isserlis, with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. The first time I've experienced a standing ovation at a concert (we Scots are a reserved lot).
As with many things in Scotland there's a connection with our national drink. The hall was built with money gifted to the city by Andrew Usher, son of a whisky distiller.

VILLAGE SHOW

Our small village has a tiny village hall. The Village Show brings everyone together and really draws out the hidden competitive spirit which lurks inside most of us.









Our entries were duly signed in and paid for, gossip exchanged with friends, other entries admired (and envied) and we returned home for a welcome cup of tea - only to discover that we had forgotten to take the onions! A quick dash back to the hall soon sorted that one out.

This was my entry for the floral arrangement incorporating fruit - sloe berries, physallis and some cherries.

This is my small floral arrangement.

and this is our box of mixed vegetables. I won't bore you with yet more entries - but we had 16 between us... I'll let you know how we get on after the judging. I have a kitchen which needs cleaning down now - I haven't done so much baking since Christmas!









OK, one final entry - this is my painted stone. I decided to turn it into an island with crashing waves, a lighthouse, and seagulls. I really enjoyed doing it - and George came up with a great suggestion for another one. Unfortunately I didn't have time to paint a second one but once things quieten down I'll do it.





Jonny has arrived in Shanghai - and so has his baggage! His adventure can really begin now.

Churches in the South

Here are some vignettes of different church where we've travelled. I'll try and remember where they were taken.
1. Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg2. Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia3. Chapel in Jamestown, Virginia4. Catholic Church in St. Marys, Georgia

5. Bruton Parish again6. Hiwassee Union
Baptist Church in Reliance, Tennessee7. Old Sheldon Church Ruins in Sheldon, South Carolina8 & 9. AME church close to Millen, Georgia10. ?????

Click on #'s 1, 3, and 5 and read the fine print. Click twice for a super closeup.