12/26/2021

 

Weekly Update 12/26/2021

Wishing you all a very happy New Year!

I had a couple of very nice holiday gatherings this past week. My Green Square friends and I enjoyed a lovely lunch at Denise/s house on Thursday, and I joined Kay and her family oh Christmas Day. I also did a couple more Holly Jolly Tours at DH.

But for the most part, this week sucked. Without details, let me me just say that my health is not an issue. And my finances are likewise not a concern. It’s just the rinky dink, day to day crap that all went haywire this week. My tv, my hot water, the computer, the car. It has overwhelmed me.

But at least the Bills won, and Adrian is perfect.  

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Weekly Update 12/19/2021

I was able to get out and do a couple of things this week. I was invited to a wonderful party at Heidi’s house on Wednesday. The ladies that meet for drinks on Wednesday Happy Hours were invited to join together for delightful munchies and glasses of wine. It was very nice, and the food was all excellent. 

That same group met again on Friday. We went out for supper and then to a concert of holiday songs at the Tybee Post.

Wednesday was a mixed up day for me. Every single Wednesday I’m scheduled to give tours at DH. Well, there was a couple who wanted to do the tours on Wednesday this week, and I had been notified, but I completely forgot and showed up. I just turned around and went back to the apartment. I had signed up to do Holly Jolly Tours on Saturday night, so I was back downtown again. This time I got it right. I’m also scheduled to do two nighttime tours, as well as my regular Wednesday tours, next week. At the holidays, many volunteers have travel plans, and since I do not, I like to be able to help out when no one else is available.

When I returned from running errands on Tuesday, there was a nice surprise for me by my front door. My neighbor, Cara, had left a little potted fir tree. Poor thing – it’s only a matter of time before I destroy it.

Imagine my surprise when I went out to my porch Tuesday evening to turn on the Christmas lights and I saw that the fountain at my end of the “pond” was working! It has been out of commission for months, and I finally decided it was gone for good. I pay extra in my rent to have a view of the water, and the lighted fountain was something I really liked, but I thought it was gone. It’s back! And I’m glad.

I’m absolutely livid that YouTubeTV took away all my ESPN channels because they couldn’t reach an agreement with Disney, who owns not only their own channels, but also ESPN, ABC and a few others. I think they found a way to reconcile by Sunday, but I’m done. Not only am I disgusted with the horrible buffering on live sports, but also the lag time between what’s on the tv screen to the real game being played. I’ve looked into a few other options, but there’s something not right with everything I look at – no recording capability, no PBS (that’s a deal breaker – I NEED PBS), no TCM, no tennis channel. I fear I may have to return to Comcast. I never liked them, but I don’t like this either. I have little that I enjoy as much as sports on tv, so I’m going to have to figure this out.

Adrian continues to delight his great grandma. He is just adorable. I know Christmas at those houses in Rochester will be very special indeed this year, and for many years to come. I wish you all a very happy holiday season, too!

12/12/2021

 

Weekly Update 12/12/2021

While walking around downtown this week, I’ve had a chance to see some wonderful decorations. Of course, Jones Street is still my favorite. I have not been to River Street yet to enjoy the Christmas Market, but I’ll should get to that soon.

In a very very sad state of affairs, the Buffalo Bills lost twice this week. On MNF, the lost to New England, and that really was a must-win game. The loss moved the Bills to second place in the Division, and the hated Patriots are now in first place. The come from behind, very near win at Tampa Bay was also disappointing, but not unexpected. Again this year, my hopes have been dashed.

This week, I’ve been sleeping in the guest bedroom. On the outside chance I got visitors in 2022 (I had none in 2021 except for Barbara, who slept on the sofa), I wanted to be sure that the bed in there is comfortable. It is. It’s difficult for me to sleep without a tv, and the tv in there is not connected; I can watch videos, but not tv. This is the time of year when I watch many of the holiday DVDs I have collected, so I did that. I’ll be back in my own bed this week.

I finally got a haircut. And I was disappointed. It is not a good cut. I should just reconcile myself to spending some money, but I’ve never been allowed to believe that I’m worth it. I continue to go to Great Clips, and I get what I pay for – not a good haircut. I guess it’ll grow out.

I tried to make Friendship Tea for a few gifts. I try not to get into “gift exchanges” with people I know here because I have too much stuff already. But there are a few special friends that I’d like to have a little something for during the holidays. Last year, I received some of this tea mix, and I really enjoyed it. I found a recipe online, and I made a batch of instant tea mix to give to some of my friends here. It’s not much, but I like the idea.

I also made my cookie house. It was a kit from Hershey’s, and it’s not gingerbread, but chocolate. I’ve been doing this for a very long time. I think the girls are still interested in making cookie houses too. I had a nice photo of Sarah with Jack and Adrian creating a house, and I had photo from Emily of her house. I think Hannah and Brendan will be doing one, too, when they’re on break from college. It always makes me happy to know that some of the traditions that I felt were a lot fun through the years are still continued with the next generations.

I had a couple of holiday parties this week. The DH party was last Sunday, and that was reported on last week’s post. This week, when the Thursday Green Square ladies met, we wandered to the Jepson for a delightful luncheon there. I also went to a CMA gathering at the African American Art Museum on Friday night. It was not as well attended as I’d hoped, but I was glad to catch up with people I haven’t seen in more than a year. The monthly “meetings” are held on line, and they are always on a Wednesday, when I’m at DH. I have not seen some of these people in a very long time.

I read a very quick read for the Holidays by Dave Barry. It was ok. And now I’m reading, again, A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. This is my favorite holiday read. And it’s a tradition.

Adrian continues to bring me much joy. I am constantly amazed at how much he has accomplished in such a short time. I have bragged about how wonderful he is at the parties I've attended this holdiay season.  

12/5/2021

 

Weekly Update 12/5/2021

After all the upsets of last week, I’m back on schedule. That’s just where I want to be. Last week, I didn’t have to go to DH because it was closed on Wednesday afternoon. There was a lot of NFL games on tv on Thursday, so it seemed like Sunday. When I got up Friday, I thought I should be doing housework, because that’s my Monday routine. But now I’m back on track – Monday - housework, Tuesday - City Hall, Wednesday - DH, Thursday - Green Square, and on the weekend, - Kay. I like the regimen!

I had to go out to the other side of the city on Monday, so while I was out, I made an appointment at the Comcast store. I didn’t want to call them, because I don’t like to be on hold for over 30 minutes, and then only be able to navigate through a system of Press One If… and never talk to a real person. So, I made an appointment. The buffering on my tv, particularly for sports events, is intolerable. I had hoped that by increasing the speed of the internet service, it would help. It did not. I have faster internet, but the tv is still a problem – a BIG problem. I can’t think about it now, but will probably have to have a tech rep make a house call in the near future. It’s terrifically annoying.

After Green Square on Thursday, I gathered up my meager Christmas packages and walked them to the post office downtown. The only things I’m sending this year is one present to Allen, and something else (not a present, just a little surprise) to Ishy. Last year, the gifts didn’t get to them until Christmas, or after, so this year I tried to get a head start. I’m trusting them to deliver some time this month, but we’ll see.

Following that, I went to the Ships of the Seas museum. They had a display about the African slave trade between Africa and Savannah before the importation of slaves was declared illegal in 1808. It was not what I expected, but was merely a collection of banners with the slave ship name and some facts about the ship. Interesting and heartbreaking, but I had thought there would be more models of slavers, or something other than just banners. This was in conjunction with the series of lectures I’d attended a few weeks ago.

Then I went to book club at TLC. I haven’t been in several months, but the book this month for the British Murder Mystery Book Club was An English Murder by Cyril Hare, a murder mystery set at Christmas time and written in 1951. It was almost like reading Agatha Christie, and I enjoyed it. I also surprised myself by reading it on my ipad. I very much like to hold a book in my hand, and turn pages, but this wasn’t available at the library. The book club leader had included a link to several free reading services that offered this book, so I chose one of those. Also, it was a not a long book and not a difficult read, so this was a good book to read online.

The UGA / ‘Bama game was a disappointment. How can an undefeated team, with the best defense in college football, play such a bad game? During half time, while there was still a possibility of a win, I went for a walk around BP to look at the lights. There were very few. The little tree I have on my porch is rather lonely, as only a few others have Christmas lights set up.

Sunday, Kay and I went to the cemetery to change the flowers we have there from fall to Christmas. Kay does a better job of making the decorations look nice at Liam’s grave. I just stuck the same poinsettias from last year in front of John and Dessie’s headstones. But, in a happy surprise, the Christmas cactus I have in my living room has bloomed beautifully. I have no idea what I did differently this year, but I am enjoying seeing it bloom.

Kay and I also attended the DH holiday gathering on Sunday. It was held in the garden, and was very nice. Kay has not seen some of those people in a very long time, and I was glad she was able to go.

11/28/2021

 

Weekly Update 11/28/2021

Thanksgiving here sucked. I was all ready to go to Jan and Greg’s house to meet with friends for a wonderful feast. It was scheduled for 6 pm. I was watching the early NFL games, when I lost all my wifi connections. Both my tvs, my iPad, my iPhone, and my laptop. I couldn’t find my information listed and wasn’t able to sign back in. What a disaster! I couldn’t check the scores, I couldn’t look for new photos to be posted to Adrian’s gallery, I couldn’t do anything. With two hours to go before I had to be at the dinner, I called Netgear. I was informed that my network had been hackd. I didn’t even know a network could be hacked, but here I was. They were on the phone with me for over two hours, and finally got it fixed. I had to install a firewall and that cost big bucks. I eventually got everything back. I never made it to dinner, but I did watch the Bills game. I made a Lean Cuisine micro pizza for Thanksgiving diner. I was in a snit.

But, I got over it. Eventually.

Last week, I reported that I had trouble with a tire on my car. I made an appointment to have it checked, but not until Tuesday. So Monday I did nothing. Monday is normally a housework day for me, so I got all that done, but I didn’t go out to run errands. Tuesday, I went to the Goodyear service station. In a stunning turn of events, they were not able to plug the hole the nail had made in the tire, and I needed a new tire. Also, my auto insurance was due, so I had to pay that. The car cost me a lot of money this week.

Wednesday, I drove Kay to the Georgia Eye Institute. It’s difficult for her to drive after they look at her eyes, so I try to help out when I can. Because it was the day before the holiday, DH closed at noon, and I didn’t have to give tours, so it was no trouble for me to be with Kay. After I dropped her off at her house after her appointment, I went to the bank and made a large withdrawal, for Christmas gifts.

Between the car, Christmas and the Netgear payment, my budget is all shot to hell.

Kay had a few things she wanted to shop for on the weekend, and I was not really up to going on Black Friday. We went to Hobby Lobby and Home Goods on Saturday, and then out for breakfast. I didn’t find anything, but I do like looking at all the items for the holidays. We had really good Blood Marys for breakfast, and that picked up my spirits.

Because the Bills played on Thursday, I didn’t have to go out to watch them on Sunday. None of the other games were worth sitting in a bar to watch, so I dragged out the Nutcrackers, and all my other Christmas decorations. It took me all day to get everything set up. I’m not much in a holiday mood, but it looks festive inside the apartment.  I also took all the videos out of the drawer and have them ready to go as soon as December gets here.

Adrian experienced his first snow this week. Sarah posted a photo of him bundled up in his snowsuit, surrounded by the white stuff. He did not look happy.

11/21.2021

 

Weekly Update 11/21/2021

Eating out with Kay, that was this week. Because we didn’t get together last weekend, we went out Monday night. We chose an Italian restaurant in Pooler. It was really good. Saturday, we went to the movies. I haven’t been to the movies since before the pandemic started! And now I remember why. I’m so used to watching my tv with closed captioning turned on, I’ve forgotten how to watch without reading along. We went to see Spencer, so that made it difficult for me to follow, too, as the accents are hard. After the matinee, we went to a nearby Indian restaurant. I don’t do Indian food a lot, and this was a great treat.

When I was at City Hall this week, I leisurely wandered back to my car after I’d finished reading as many old magazines as I could stand. I went to Ellis Square, where I was surprised to see police tape around the Johnny Mercer statue; I don’t know why that was there. (When I went by again on Saturday, the barricade and tape was removed). Then, I was curious to see if Bitty and Beau’s coffee shop had survived through the past couple of years. There were fine, and I got a pumpkin spice latte. I walked along the west side, down Montgomery Street, looking for remnants of Liberty and Elbert Squares. As I got closer to Crystal Beer Parlor, I remembered that there is a sandwich shop nearby that was supposed to be good. It is! I got a Reuben sandwich to go that was very good. Also expensive.

The new glasses I’d ordered were delivered on Wednesday. They don’t look very different than the ones I’m already wearing, but they are a little bit stronger. Because they are single vision lenses, with no tinting (I did pay for scratch protection), I got the two pair for $50, including the shipping. I love a bargain.

At DH this week. They had already set up for the holiday interpretation. That’s not a big deal because Christmas was not celebrated in the 1820s, so there’s little to talk about. I do have to tell a bit about the New Years, or end of year, traditions that most Savannahians joined in – feasting, entertaining, etc. But I’ve done this for enough years that I can fall right into it without thinking too much.

I had planned to go to the Georgia Historical Society research room in the Hodgson Hall after meeting in Green Square on Thursday. But as I got there, I saw it was closed. They were closed for almost two years to add to the building, but I thought they had reopened. Apparently not. My investigation into the lives of the Seven Ladies of the HFS will have to continue at another time.

Saturday was not the day I had planned. I had a lot to do. As I went to get out of the garage, there was a moving van parked across my entrance, and I was blocked in. Luckily, the driver came out to unload something else and moved the truck so I could get out. Then, as I was driving into town, the “check tire pressure” light appeared on my dashboard. I had just done that a few weeks ago, but it had been another cold night, so I thought maybe it needed a booster. I stopped at a garage along route 21, and he filled the tires, but also told me that I had a nail in one of the back tires. Great! But the light was off, and I thought I could continue with my errands.

I began downtown, parking by Forsyth Park and walking to River Street, and then taking the water taxi to the Convention Center for Christmas Made in the South. That is a huge craft market that I have not been to in many years. It bothers me to have to pay to get into an exhibit whose sole purpose to to sell me stuff. But I’ve been wanting to get holiday night lights for my bathrooms, and I hoped I could find some here. No luck. I did, however, see a Nutcracker box that I could not resist. It’s a small box, about four inches square. When you take to top off, it unfolds to reveal scenes from the ballet – Clara, the Nutcracker, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and 3D pictures like that. There were a lot of other boxes with other themes, but of course, I needed the Nutcracker. There was a lot of really nice stuff at this craft show, but I don’t need any more STUFF, so I was able to get by with just the box.

I had to hurry when I left because I had planned to pick up Kay for the movies at 2:30. There were so many people at the craft show, I had to wait in line for an hour to get the water taxi back to Savannah, and then walk to my car. Not only that, but the new Cosco opened in Pooler this weekend, and I expected the traffic to be bad. I wasn’t too late, but I did have to rush a bit.

I had a ticket to go to the Tybee Post Theater in the evening for an Elvis impersonator show. It was originally scheduled for last spring, but had been postponed two more times, and tonight was the night. I would not have been comfortable driving all the way to Tybee, on a tire I didn’t trust, in the dark. So I skipped that. I would have liked to see that show.

I called to get an appointment to have the tire patched / replaced first thing Sunday morning, and the earliest they can get me in it Tuesday. I had thought about going to the R Bar in Bluffton to watch the Bills game, but, again, I wasn’t comfortable driving that far, on fast moving highways, with a faulty tire. I stayed home. And looking back, I’m glad I didn’t waste my time. The Bills are such a disappointment, when I’d begun the season with high hopes. What happened?

Adrian is learning at an amazing rate. He is eating food. He is sitting up. He is going to library book club. He is going to swimming lessons. He is using his hands. He is talking and making happy noises. And he’s working on the computer! I got a video today of him at the keyboard. I want to ask him how to organize my photos. Or get my tv to stream a sporting event without constant buffering.

11/14/2021

 

Weekly Update 11/14/2021

This week started slowly, but I was quite busy by the end of the week.

I was able to read a lot of my library book on the first several days. It was The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, who also wrote A Gentleman in Moscow, which I read a while ago and also enjoyed. This newest book by the author was a very good read. It was beautifully written, and (although I miss quotation marks when people are speaking) a joy to read. I cared very much about each of the characters. It was almost a series of related short stories as well as a long novel. I would recommend this book.

I met Denise for lunch at the St John’s Holiday Bazaar at the Green-Meldrim House on Thursday. Because the Veteran's Day parade was at the same time as the bazaar, Jane and Helen opted not to join us and avoided the crowded downtown area. This is one of my favorite holiday events, and I wanted to go. I didn’t think there was going to be a “white elephant” sale, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was reinstated. I bought a cute Easter bunny (and it’s not even Thanksgiving yet!) and Denise found a small china tray that would be perfect in her home. In addition, there was a silent auction that was interesting to look at, but I didn’t bid on anything. We sat outside on the porch of the historic home, with a white linen table cloth and fresh flowers on the table, and enjoyed a lovely luncheon.

The Pioneers of Preservation, a group of museums including DH, Ships of the Seas, and Andrew Low, held their Fall Lecture series for three evenings. On Thursday, in the outdoor area of Ships of the Seas, Queen Quet delivered a thought-provoking, entertaining Gullah / Geechee histor-musical. In the darkened garden area, she sang in the Gullah language about the trans-Atlantic voyage of the ancestors of many African Americans. I didn’t understand a thing she said.

On Friday night, I went to the historic Second African Baptist Church for a lecture by Dr. Sownadèn Mustakeem, author of Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage. Not a very uplifting story, to be sure, but one that has been nearly forgotten and needs to be told. My objection is, however, that the old white people in the audience are probably not the ones who have forgotten, nor are they the ones who need to be told about this chapter of American history. The people who do need to hear it have neither the time nor the resources to attend lectures.

On Saturday I found myself in the garden at the Andrew Low house for a talk about African food in antebellum America, and also a very nice sampling of the food. Presenting the talks were Vaughnette Goode-Walker and Sallie Ann Robinson. Ms. Goode-Walker told about Mosianna Milledge, a free person of color and cook for the Low family. Ms Robinson grew up on Daufuskie Island and was raised with the African American cooking tradition. We were all treated to molasses cornbread, chicken, collard greens and peach cobbler.

Before I joined the lecture on Saturday, I first went to the Tanger Outlets to see a car show. There were a lot of cars, but they were not all antiques, or even old. There were many Mustangs, for example, but none of the 1965s or 1966s of my youth. It was still great to wander among the cars, some which brought back memories, and other that I had only seen in pictures or at other car shows, and were older than I am.

And then I had only a few minutes to listen to the Philharmonic in Chippewa Square before walking to the Andrew Low. I wish I could have listened longer. It was the brass quintet, and what I was able to listen to, I enjoyed very much.

Sunday, BHS was short of tour guides and asked if I could fill in. I was torn – the Bills last week was such a disappointment, I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch another loss to a horrible team. And I was pretty sure they would be able to defeat the Jets. So I drove all the way across town to the cemetery. Then, there were not a lot of people who were willing to wander around the cemetery, so only one guide was needed. I left and went to Coach’s Corner. I had not been there since before the pandemic began. And I was glad to be back. It was not as crowded as I remember it to be, and I had a table all to myself where I could see the games I wanted to watch. The wings were the best! World of Beers wings are horrible, and I will never have those again. It may be worth the drive back to the east side just for the wings.

Adrian is beyond wonderful. He seems to be a happy baby and most of the pictures I see show him smiling. He has also just begun to have solid food. There were some cute videos of him trying cereal for the first time, and also carrots. He didn’t seem very interested, and Sarah wrote that he prefers milk to the new foods he’s being given. Wait til he tastes chocolate!