Palm Sunday, 2010

It's been a wonderfully lazy Sunday--Palm Sunday--on the river. The hub is back on U.S. soil, amen! He's at home with the kid who seems to be needing a lot of DK time (dad/kid) right about now. Oy. To be a 16 year-old boy. No thank you. Not even a 16 year-old girl, that I somehow remember oh-so-well--even more so. Ooooof. Palm Sunday.

There was a time when I would have spent Palm Sunday, first thing, in Church with all the boys. Hub, teenager and kid. Growing up, I attended a Baptist church through my best friends. While, we, as a family--three boys and girl respectively--were brought up more spiritually, my brothers and I, by my parents. Yes, we believed in God and Jesus, but we weren't expected to attend church to prove it. As a teenager, I knew I would find my perfect partner and convert to his religion--if, in fact, he were religious. Never dwelled on it--just seemed the course. Low and behold, I met the hub. My one-and-only. I began the process of becoming a Catholic. I was baptised in the Church, having never being baptised. Go figure. Amy was my "sponsor," and I still think of her as my Godmother sent to me from Heaven above way before I was baptised. The hub was my "sponsor" when I was Confirmed into the Catholic Church. And, so, we brought the boys up Catholic. Went to church every Sunday with them. Well, almost. Once they were confirmed, it was their decision to go to church or not. Today? Me? I dunno. I still SO believe in God and Jesus, as I was brought up to do. But church? Hmmm. I have seen so much hatred and bad coming from organized religion these days in the United States, I just don't know. . . . . How can people call themselves a child of God and push so much hate? I just don't understand. And it breaks my heart. Today? I seem to be more in being with the river.

K, off my soapbox.

Yesterday, I went into town and was in the mood for finding something "fresh" for the house, Riverside. Coming home, I took the "scenic" route and had to stop off at the park and take a few snaps. It is absolutely breathtaking from the top of the bluffs. The sailboats, in the distance, were mesmerizing. I love the views from here. It is absolutely gorgeous on and off of Mobile Bay.

Everything is popping here. And I have the pollen all over the place to prove it, including the bedroom. I had, mistakenly, left all the windows open for the weekend. Oy. (Painter coming in the morning so all is closed up tight now!)

Beautiful, in spite of having to take extra Zyrtec. Well worth it. Of course.

At home, at 8:30 pm., it was lights' out. Earth hour. I did it. I thought I would forget--after all, I'm on the river and quite riversorry, in truth. But alas, I remembered.

And, what did I do for an hour? lol. Once a photog, always a photog. Or should I say phot-hog? What in the world did I do all those years when I gave it up? Oh yea, raised my boys. Heart heart.

I do so enjoy it--trying to get that snap that relays your feelings at the moment. Notice the word snap. No longer do I spend hours in the darkroom.

Bella, trying to be a tough-ass in the candle-lit room. This, Riverside, is her first and absolute home, btw.

She does love it here; and, thus, another OMMMMM moment by the Bell. Bad girl.

K, moving forward to Sunday, Palm Sunday. Dar called from a couple of houses down and said that she and Linda were painting--NOT the kind of painting going on down here on the river, mind you. Nope, that girl is an artist. She was artistically painting--painting several signs for a local studio in Magnolia River. So talented that woman. Brought my camera. Did I take a photo??? Nope. In the short time I have known her, I already call her a dear friend. And a talented one, to boot!

MmmmmkK (as Jacq would say), here's our inspiration. Actually, Darlene's inspiration. Mine was blue for the back door--and I'm not a blue person. NIXED! We went into her front yard and she picked a few azaleas. This is it! The back-door color! Knowing that I am THE most "fuchsia" person ever, I knew it right then that it was the correct color. Then, as if that weren't good enough, Dar, being the perfect person she is, whips out a paint-color fan? How many people do you know has one of those, easily accessible, Sherwin Williams' fans???? Now, how awesome is that? Darlene rocks the river! Not only is fuchsia my all-time favorite color way back from childhood (60s Crayola land) , but the azalea's in her front yard? These are the SAME old-fashioned color of azaleas from my childhood. Sniffle. The ones from our front yard growing up on Fox Street in Arlington, VA. Sniffle. Sniffle. Sniffle.

I am meant to be here. Right now.

Wow.

Rainy at Riverside

It seems like a lifetime ago that I was here. I had two muck buckets full of "Riverside stuff." Some things I found up in Maryland, Canada and California. Some were gifts like above which is a gift from my SIL, Jacq and Mad.

I played around with the bedroom desk and added a new goody.

This is another gift from my sweet family.

It rained and sleeted all night long. I love to listen to the rain as I fall asleep. This was about 7 a.m. (of course, I went back to sleep after I shot this!). And, obviously, we never did get a flake of snow! Everywhere around us at least had flurries. We had nothing. Oh well.

Probably a good thing. The gent who watches the place had turned the water off last month when we had a faucet pipe freeze and burst at the boat house. He had attempted to fix the faucet but it still had a small leak. So, he kept the water off. Long story SHORT(er), this is the main water shut on/off. Joy. After it quit pouring down rain and sleeting, I thought I could get this done. Well the water was up over the box here and I stuck my hand in there and couldn't find a thing. I only made with worse with all my stirring the mud around. Thank goodness our next door neighbor (who had originally found the burst and cut the water off) knew exactly where the valve was. She was sweet enough to come out into the frigid weather. We bucketed the water out of the pit (it was completely over that green flag!) and she stuck her hand in that freezing water and shut the water back on. Well, it took a lot longer than that! OY. What a savior! Not only did she catch the break and turn the water off, but she was there to turn it back on for me! She is good, through and through!

I drove down to the Bay since I was told it was snowing in Mobile and you can see Mobile from our side of the Bay. I didn't see any sign of snow anywhere. In fact, it seemed to be clearing up. Sniffle. The water was still quite stormy though.

Look at how different it looked in town as compared with the Bay! Spring had already sprung down here before heading back into winter mode.

I got back to the house just about in time to turn back around and go back into town for one of the Mardi Gras parades. Above is just a teaser. Sorry.

xo
ro

Fall at Riverside

It's been an absolutely delightful day here at Riverside. After not sleeping last night, I woke after what felt like a couple of hours of shut eye and put on a sweater (yes, finally a sweater!!) and sat out on the front porch. Bella and I listened to the fish jumping and just enjoyed the nip in the air. We had to come south to find this?

The hub flew into Mobile last night and we were so happy to have him home with us.

I think we were all tired but still enjoyed the almost full moon over the river. Sigh.

Yesterday, before the kid woke, I ran into town and did some errands (shopping). I did a quick walk through one of my all-time favorite stores, the Church Mouse. It is a delightful little shop that is half antiques, 1/4 British goodies and 1/4 fly shop. What a mix. I found a little hotel silver tea pot to add to my collection. It was cheap, always a must in my book!

I then walked over to the information center to see what was happening this weekend in our little town. I love the little statue standing outside.

Then it was time to get some groceries for the house. This was at our little grocery store. I loved their "cafe." Notice how everything is in an iron skillet. Now you know everything tastes better in an iron skillet, now don't cha? (I was good and got my high-fiber bread.)

On my way back to the house, I had to stop by the cotton field down the road.

It doesn't look like tall cotton this year. I am mesmerized by this stuff.

What an amazing plant!

After picking up the kid, we went and had lunch, steamed shrimp. Yum.

Then a storm blew through. The kid and I had to go to the bay and sit and watch it. We love our storms, and I can't say when the last time Tennessee had one!

The kid snapped one. Chin up, pip pip!

A tree in the back yard. I love the moss on the bark.

Breakfast on the dock, Pelican Landing, this morning.

A volunteer out of the water.

I'm enjoying my time here. But, it's speeding by too fast.

Mermaids in the Sky by Riverside

This curvy mermaid was sited on our way back from lunch near Mobile. Isn't it wonderful? I love finding things in the clouds, especially appropriate ones. I've never seen a mermaid before! (Do I spy a whirly hat on her head?)

We decided to get out of the house and headed towards Mobile. We had never eaten at Oysterella's, so we gave it a try. It was good.

The kids wanted crab claws to start.

I ordered red beans and rice (good but a tad salty), the cuz decided on crab cakes and the kid got shrimp Alfredo.

We all took a couple of bites out this monstrosity. Yum.

This was the view from the docks with Mobile in the background. There were wonderful storms all around us but we never did get caught in one.

We came home and made the infamous s'mores ice cream pie to enjoy the rest of our days here.

Earlier today, I finally hung the teak hanging pegs. Yay. They've sitting out on the front porch for about a year now. They will definitely come in handy!

This big ugly thing watched. Ew.

The kid waiting for the cuz to finish her girl talk with gal pals back East.

Bella enjoying the waves as boats pass.

Now it's time for our evening Uno wars.

Mobile, Alabama

(Note Fairhope used to be named Williamsburg)

I wasn't going to blog this weekend and I didn't even bring my computer (I wasn't going to work on the house either--famous last words). But we had a wonderful day in Mobile yesterday and I just had to write it down before I forgot.

From Fairhope, you can take what they call the "Bayway" across Mobile Bay. It's basically a raised road, not quite a tall bridge like I'm used to crossing the Chesapeake Bay up north. It's a pretty drive across the Bay and the marshlands there. You end in Mobile after passing the old USS Alabama battle ship.


We headed down the main street away from the business district and drove through town. The old mansions on this street are amazing. I forgot my camera at home (boo hiss) so I couldn't take any photos. I borrowed all of these from the web. I promise to make another trip there just to get some shots of these houses. They were crazy beautiful. All types of architecture can be found here. Of course, you have the Antebellum homes scattered about--visions of Tara; but I was amazed to see so many Victorians and also craftsman bungalows. As we drove through many of the neighborhoods, it was sad to see a lot of these old homes needed a lot of love and attention. Pout. Oh what I could do to one! hehe. Many of them though wanted me to come home and make my porch pretty again. It's just been too hot to do anything out there in regards to plants or even inhabiting it.

We drove around and really didn't find a whole lot more than the lovely mansions to look at. It's a lot like Nashville. A big city but not a lot for visitors to see and do. We did stop at one antique store, kid in tow, and did a quick radar walk through of the place and found a beautiful old transferware platter for the new kitchen. Oh, and of course, we also found an old peanut shop and ice cream parlour. I can smell 'em out, I tell ya!

It was a fun day and a wonderful thunder storm followed us home to Fairhope. It was delightful. Oh, and after getting lost in Mobile for the umpteenth time--and just about everywhere else we drive--we broke down and bought a portable GPS thingy for the car. We should have had one of these since before time. It is amazing. Although, when we used it, for fun, to track down our restaurant down on the bay last night, and it took us all around the Fairhope neighborhoods rather than the two turns it normally takes us. So, yes, it has it quarks. But, it's always fun to drive through the lovely neighborhoods for any reason, so no worries.

Excuse the typing once more, on the hub's laptop which drives me bezerk. Think the hub and kid are heading to the beach and I'm off to hit the outlets to see what I can find for the new kitchen. "Travel Cat" Bella has settled in once more at her home away from home. I wasn't going to bring her but I thought we better keep her in the travel mode if that's what she will be doing off and on. She did great in the car. It's sad to think we're heading back tomorrow already.