10/29/2023

 

Weekly Update 10/30/2023

Except for issues with my car, the week was pretty smooth.

As I was walking to city hall on Tuesday from my free parking near Forsyth Park, I wandered down Barnard Street for a change. When I got as far as Ellis Square, I noticed that Johnny Mercer was coming back. He was gone for about eight months because someone thought it would be a great idea to vandalize the statue. But he’s been repaired and he’s back. When he was re-installed, it was decided, they didn’t want him barricaded or inaccessible because so many people want to have their photos taken with our iconic Savannahian. But, he’s back now.

I got my COVID booster and my flu shots. I passed on RSV and pneumonia shots, and I’ll probably not get those at all. But I feel I’ve protected others and will be less likely to pass anything on to people I care about.

I refuse to be held hostage by Prime and be forced to pay to watch five NFL games a year. So, I went to Wild Wings Cafe to watch the Bills play and get some wings. I left at the start of the fourth quarter because I thought things couldn’t change. I was wrong. Apparently it was an exciting finish and I had to “watch” on my phone with the play by play.

Tybee Lighthouse held a fundraiser for repairs to the property on Friday night. It was a costume party, and I thought it might be fun. I had my cemetery / mourner outfit from last weekend, so why not. It was very dark, and if there was anyone there I knew, I couldn’t find them. I didn’t stay for too long, but it was something a little different.

Another charity event that I like to attend every year is the Alzheimer’s Walk. For the past several years, it’s been in September. Because I was traveling this year, I just assumed I’d missed it. Also, no one followed up with me as they have in other years, so I was surprised when I was at Lake Mayer Park on Saturday morning to walk with a friend, and the Alzheimer's walk was just ending. I would have participated if I’d know. I was able to find the organization group, I made a donation, and gave my information so that I hope I’m n the list for next year.

I signed a new lease for another year. The rent went up only slightly, and I really don’t want to pack up and move. This isn’t the best place, but it’s as good as any other. Jane was having her HVAC replaced this week (over $10,000! yikes!), and they found a hole in her roof. I’m glad to be renting, and not owning.

This was the week from car hell. It seemed as if I spent more time at Goodyear than in my recliner. Last week, I got the brake light replaced. It’s been like that sine JULY! Goodyear kept telling me they couldn’t find a burned out bulb, although I asked when the dashboard light first appeared, and again when I have the car inspected before my journey to NY for The Wedding. Denise texted last Friday that she noticed as I drove away from the Green Square “meeting” that my brake light was out. Good thing I’ve got a friend who watches out for me, because my mechanics don’t. The car was starting really hard on Wednesday. I could get it to start up, but I needed to give it a lot of gas, and I never have to do that. I made an appointment on Thursday. Luckily, it was an almost-dead battery, and not the ignition switch. I just got that taken care of, when ANOTHER warning light came on. I mistakenly thought it was low oil, and although it’s only been three months, I thought I’d better get that done. When the new oil was in, the light still was on. The 12-year-old mechanic said it wasn’t my oil light, it was the check engine light. He ran the diagnostics and said it looked like my spark plugs weren’t hitting. I don’t even know what that means. But he couldn't help me. Back to Goodyear. Saturday was full busy, so I was told to come back Sunday. Back I went because I just want this done. Well, their technician called in sick. I’m supposed to go again tomorrow. I hope this is the last time for a good while! And on top of my other automobile issues, it’s that time of year when I see dead deer carcasses along the roads where I frequently have to travel. That is scary for me.

Adrian and Annie are adorable. I had mailed a Halloween card, and apparently Adrian liked it a lot. He took it to bed with him that night, and Sarah sent me a photo of that. Annie is getting around ore easily. I won’t be surprised if she’s walking by Christmas.

Happy Tricks and Treats to

10/22/2023

 

Weekly Update 10/23/2023

Tuesday, after going to City hall to volunteer (I’m all the way up to the 2017 copies of Savannah Magazine – the end is in sight!), I went to the library book club. It was a little different this month. We all read Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. But at the club meeting, we watched the movie from the book. Because you use your imagination when reading, I like that better. The movie changed some elements of the novel, too, and I didn’t think that worked very well. And I wasn’t alone. In the discussion that followed, others said they preferred the book, too.

Wednesday, I attended a lecture at the Learning Center. I haven’t been doing that as often any more; maybe I’ve learned all I can and my brain is full. But Jamie spoke about the Green-Meldrim House, so I wanted to see that. I couldn’t help but remember the last time I’d heard Jamie talk there, right after she was fired from Davenport House. It was so unlike her, and rather sad. This was the old Jamie again - animated, enthusiastic, eager to share. I’m glad she’s back. It also gave me a chance to walk around Ardsley Park to look at the Halloween decorations that are usually so great. This year, there seems to be less front yard displays, not just on this walk, but on others I’ve taken through the neighborhoods near my apartment.

Harry O’Donoghue was going to be singing his Irish fold songs at Katie O’Donald’s in Bluffton that evening. He doesn’t do as many gigs anymore since Kevin Barry’s closed, so I wanted to see him. By the time I called for a reservation, they were full, but I was told that I could sit at the bar, where the seats were first come first served. So I did that. Because of COVID, the dining area is separated from the bar with a glass partition. They still haven’t removed that, so it was difficult to hear the music, and impossible to hear the jokes, but I’m glad I went.

On Thursday, Jane, Denise and I (the Green Square group) took Helen out for lunch. Helen will be moving this weekend, back to her home in New Jersey to be closer to family. This was our last chance to see her. I am going to miss her terribly.

So, Friday, there was no Green Square get together. I did, however, meet Kay for dinner at the Crown and Anchor, a new British pub that opened recently in Pooler. They have the usual suspects: fish and chips, meat pies, bangers and mash, and I got the cottage pie. And a Guinness. I had a Guinness at the bar in Bluffton on Wednesday, too, so I have reached my quota for this month.

On both Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening, I went to Bonaventure. They were having a fund-raiser to help replace the gates that were damaged when a drunk destroyed them a few months ago. Several members of the Bonaventure Historical Society dressed up in costumes and told stories throughout the cemetery. I was at Little Gracie’s site. We also had Mary Telfair, John Walz, Mayor Richard Arnold, General Robert Anderson, Johnny Mercer, Mary Aiken, and a grave digger. I thought it was a lot of fun. If they ask me to do it again, I would!

I’m really disappointed in the Bills. Again this week. They very nearly pulled it out, but just like last week, they really didn’t deserve a win. And this week they didn’t get one. It was painful. I don’t think there’s a Super Bowl in the future – not this season anyway.

But on the brighter side, Adrian and Annie are getting cuter as the days go by. They are getting ready for Halloween, and have already participated in on Trunk and Treat.

10/15/2023

 

Weekly Update 10/15/2023

I’m not the only one who likes to travel. Allen had time off work, and decided to go to Las Vegas for the MNF game. It was a great game to watch very exciting, and the Raiders won. He had never been to Vegas before, and enjoyed people watching, playing a little Blackjack, and wandering up and down the strip to see the great hotels. He stayed at Excalibur and said it was wonderful. He was disappointed that the fountains were under repair at the Bellagio, but enjoyed seeing all the big hotels and all the hoopla that is Las Vegas.

Monday was October 9. That’s a big day in Savannah history. The bloodiest one hour battle of the Revolutionary War occurred on that date in 1779, Each year, there is a commemoration of the event at the History museum and Battlefield Park. I try to attend when I can. This year, instead of being held at the crack of dawn, which is the time of the actual battle, it was changed to being at 9 am. I didn’t have to hurry so much to get there, and it seems that the change of time also allowed for others to attend. There was the largest group there that I’ve seen in years. Bonaventure Historical Society placed a wreath with the other participants, like the local chapters of the SAR and DAR, embassies of France and Haiti, and local politiians. It was a perfect day for the event.

Friday the Thirteenth, what could go wrong? I knew I shouldn't, but I went to an evening tour at Hofwyl Broadfield Plantation. Not only am I triskaidekaphobic, but I had passed two fender benders on my way to meet for Green Square (and I’m superstitious about things happening in threes), but it was rainy. Taking my life in my hands, I went. It was interesting, and I heard stories about a woman in white who has been seen more than once roaming the grounds after dark, about a boatload of seventy enslaved workers on the plantation that were lost during a hurricane, and about visitors seeing a little boy named Jamie, who died in the house in the 1880s at age four. Waddling around in the dark, wearing my poncho, fending off sand gnats and mosquitoes, I wondered what I was doing there. When I arrived safely home again, driving through the rain and avoiding deer on the edge of the highway (I did see one), I was glad I’d faced my fears and done something a little unusual.

I didn’t do much on other days. I was able to continue to get out and walk most days, as the weather is cooling down and the rain has held off for the most part. I’ve stopped DH and GM hasn’t scheduled me yet. I’d tried to set up a few lunch dates, they didn’t work out. I’m becoming more and more boring.

What’s not boring is Adrian and Annie. They get cuter all the time. It seems as if they have been spending a lot of time at the local apple farm lately.

Now, I just have to settle in for a Buffalo Bills win tonight. If they don’t beat the Giants, I give up.

I’ll end with lone last bit of humor. I saw this in a gift shop this week.

10/8/2023

 

Weekly Update 10/8/2023

After an amazing vacation in UK and France, I spent a week trying to get back to The Way Things Should Be. I had a ton of mail to go through, and a ton of laundry to attack. I had to do my end-of-month check book balances. (I fear the next VISA reconciliation because I don’t have receipts for everything, and I don’t know how the conversion from pounds to dollars will work). I had to grocery shop. I went to City Hall to volunteer, I attended a CMA meeting, I went to a book club meeting, and I went to GM for more training. I even began to read a book for Book Club. I met the Green Square ladies on Friday, but there’s sad news there: Helen’s house has sold, and she expects to be be moved back to NJ by the end of the month. I will miss her terribly.

My hearing aids stopped working while I was in UK, and I was pretty irate. So I had an appointment Wednesday and got that cleared up. Seems they were full of ear wax again. Really? I’d cleaned them when they first stopped working, but I guess I didn’t do it well enough. I was shown a new way to remove the wax, but it takes a youtube video and an auto mechanic. I’m really disappointed in these. On the plus side, really got the hang of using my phone to charge purchases when I was in UK. Look at me! - advancing right into the 21^st century!

I also tried my best to get back into my walking routine. In addition to when I had to be downtown, and walked from where the parking was free to where I needed to be, I walked around the neighborhood twice this week. My swimming days are behind me, and I’m going to have to find another way to keep moving.

It took me two full days to load the photos I’d taken on vacation, but I’ve got them pretty much organized now. I couldn’t find them on “the cloud” (worthless piece of shit) and when I attached the cable, less than a third loaded. I needed to email them from my phone to myself and then save them from the laptop email program. There must be an easier way, but I can’t find it.

I’m getting ready for fall. I took the colored leaves and flowers to John and Dessie’s graves and replaced the faded and ugly red, white and blue carnations. I put away most of the Buffalo Bills stuff and got out my Halloween stuff to decorate inside the apartment and on the front door. The horrible loss on Sunday morning made it easy for me to pack the things away. It seems that they either play tremendously well, or the completely collapse. It’s breaking my heart.

Saturday, I went downtown because Plant Riverside is celebrating Octoberfest for all of this month. I wasn’t there for too long, but I did listen to a lame oomp-pah band, and I got the most wonderful bratwurst, loaded with cheese/beer sauce, grilled onion, and red cabbage. It wasn’t as good as anything Dave made for me while I was visiting,but it was very good.

Adrian and Annie are growing by leaps and bounds. They are so adorable!

UK

 

Weekly Update 10/3/2023 Travels to UK

The overseas flights were ok. We arrived in London 8 am (3 am my time) on Monday. Lisa picked us up at the airport. After settling in a bit at Dave and Lisa’s lovely home, Kay, Lisa and I went into Porthcawl for drinks along the water, but it was quite windy as they were experiencing the tail end of Hurricane Lee. We spent the rest of that day laughing and getting caught up. 

Dave is a gourmet chef, and the meals he made for us were outstanding. It’s going to be difficult to get back to pumpkin spice cheerios and Marie Callendar Mac and Cheese.  Dave also proudly showed me the work he is going on his model railroad setup. It has taken over his entire garage and is very creative. 

We spent more than one evening watching terrifically amusing British comedies on tv. I especially liked Motherland and the Cunk series. Cunk on Earth is available on Netflix in the US. If you have the kind of strange sense of humor I have, you might like to try it. 

The first place Lisa took Kay and me was to the center where she volunteers. It’s a lovely facility that is a drop-in place for people with medical issues (primarily cancer, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s) and their caregivers to meet and have coffee, work a jigsaw puzzle, swim or work out, or just relax. We met several of her fellow volunteers and friends. It was impressive. After that, we went to Tredegar House, a manor house that was built in the 17^th century (but with foundations dating back to the 15th century) and for years was the home to the Morgan family, one of the most powerful and influential families in the area. It has been managed by the National Trust since 2011.

Lisa’s walking friend, Soo, whom we had heard many good things about, joined us for one of Dave’s wonderful meals one evening. She is delightful, and because Lisa has talked and written of her frequently, we felt as if we already knew her. I was glad to have a chance to meet her in person. 

We did some shopping for a few days in little town I had not been to before, Llandelio, and we went back Hay-on-Rye. In Llandelio, there was a church, St Teilo’s, that had a lovely graveyard next to it. The town itself is very quaint and lovely. While at a Hay, we split up for a while so everyone could browse the bookshops at their own leisurely pace. I did minimum shopping (I did get two mysteries in one bookshop), but had time to tour the castle. I’d not done that on visits before. Hay castle was a medieval fortification and 17^th century mansion. Organically constructed as part of the Norman invasion of Wales, it was build in the late 11^th or early 12 centuries. In the 17^th century, a mansion house was built along side the medievel keep and the property became a private home. We each were on our own for lunch, and I found a charming little old pub, where I ordered Welsh rarebit and a Guinness.

We visited Llancaiach Fawr Manor. Thought to be built about 1530, it is considered to be one of the most important gentry houses to have survived from the 16^th and 17th century period. Charles I visited before he was deposed and beheaded. The guides were fabulous, and kept in character for the whole visit. For example, when asked about King Charles III, the headmaster denied that there was more than one King Charles in England, and didn’t know what we were talking about. 

Porthcawl has the worlds largest Elvis Fest in the world. And we were lucky to be there on the exact weekend of the festival. Lisa got us tickets to the Saturday night concert. I enjoyed the music, and could sing along with some of the tunes, much to Kay and Lisa’s horror.

On Sunday, we had a nice day driving around to see wonderful valley views the quaint small village of Cowbridge. We stopped at an area overlooking the Bristol Channel, spread a blanket on the ground and had a picnic. We spent quite a bit of time helping each to stand after and struggling to get upright (when you do that as first, you don’t really add to the scenic views!). It was another windy day, but that will be a forever memory for the three of us. 

We drove toward London on Monday morning to take Kay to stay at her aunts house for the next week.  She has aunts and cousins in Hampshire and that’s a big reason she likes to go to UK. Lisa and I missed her immediately, but Lisa had big plans for us. We drove to Portsmouth on the Channel coast where the British Navy has a large presence. There’s also a marine museum. We saw the Mary Rose, a ship from King Henry VIII’s navy that was sunk in battle in 1545, and remained undiscovered until 1971. Only parts of the ship could be recovered, but the museum has many other artifacts that were found as the ship was raised. It reminded me very much of the Vasa that Ishy and I visited in Stockholm many years ago. We also were able to got onto the HMS Victory. That was captained by Admiral Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar and he died on the ship after being shot. The museum aboard the ship today is a tribute his greatness. And, the ship is the world’s oldest naval vessel still in commission.  That's impressive.

We stayed in a hotel for the night, then boarded the fast ferry for Caen France. The ferry was very much as I remembered the Rochester to Toronto ferry was when I made that journey long ago. We had a B&B on the Main Street in Bayeux, France. We had a delightful view of the main street from the balcony of the B&B.

One of the major things to see in Bayeux is the Tapestries. Believed to have been created about nine centuries ago it tells the story conquest of England from the point of view of the conquering Normans, and for centuries has been preserved in Normandy. The tapestries tell of Harold, king of England, and William of Normandy and the battle of 1066. It was originally created to tell the story to a people who were illiterate, and unable to read. It’s 230 feet long and 20 inches high. It was truly amazing. 

We spent the next day immersed in WWII history. We went to the beaches at Normandy, where D-Day happened. There are several museums, markers, monuments and gift shops. We also went to the American cemetery - row after row – over 9,000 in all, burials of Americans who died to liberate Europe. Very moving, very sobering, very humbling. 

We spent a day driving around Normandy, and stopped at chateau de Saint German De Livet. The chateau was built by the Tournbu family between 1561 and 1578. It’s undergoing an interior restoration, but we were able to walk and around the gardens (complete with peacocks, one of which was white) and had a guide give us a history of the chateau. We stopped for lunch at another little town where we enjoyed a fresh mozzarella cheese, tomato and basil salad. And wine. 

We ferried back to UK and drove back to Porthcawl. I had a few more days with Dave and Lisa. We went to the Porthcawl History (which was a delight) and did some shopping near Cardiff (two new shirts and a sweater for me, but no luck finding a Nutcracker at the Christmas Store). There was a street fair in Porthcrawl, and shops had racks of clothing on the sidewalks, there were wonderful displays at the green grocers, and an Old Geezer band was playing such fan favorites as Sweet Caroline. That was fun. At the museum, I learned of Porthcawl’s part in the wars, including RAF training and Victory gardens, and about a disastrous shipwreck of the Santampa in 1947. Not only were all crew members lost, but a rescue team was also drowned. The museum itself is located in the old police station, and that made for interesting displays in the original holding cells.

Lisa and I were going to pick up Kay, who was spending the second week of out trip with her relatives outside of London, and go to the airport. But, we left Wales a day early and we had time to visit another National Trust House, The Vyne. Built in the Tudor style by the Lord Chamberlain to King Henry VIII, William Sandys, the estate was owned for generations by the Chute family. The gardens were impressive, as well.

After picking up Kay in the morning, Lisa dropped us at Heathrow. We had a lot of time before boarding, so what did we do? Ate and shopped. The flight home full, so there was no room to stretch out or try to get comfortable. I think there were so many travelers because many had attended the NFL game in London the day before. 

So, that’s the whole adventure. It was wonderful. I was so happy to have time with my besties. I’m back to my boring life again, but am so thrilled to have these memories!