Late Bloomers

Here are some shots of a few flowers that bloomed this week. I do not know what the pink one or the white ones are called. Can any of you help me identify?? I'm always sticking stuff in the ground not knowing what it is. My therory is if its pretty plant it!!!

Lake Murray

The boys and I spent this weekend in Columbia with my brother Barry. Saturday we went out to Lake Murray for his step daughters 7th birthday. She adores Bret (go figure??) so she was very excited about showing off her new cousin!! We had a great time, the weather was grey and cloudy but everyone thought it was perfect. (nice and cool) The 1st picture is from their wedding back in April at her mothers home in St. Helena. Diana was a Beaufort girl, born and raised here until she went off to USC and she never came back!! It was a little scary being the only Clemson fan up there in Gamecock Country!!!

My on-going project

This is my on-going project that I started 5 years ago when we moved into the house. I have done almost all of the work myself!! Russell wired the fountain for me a couple of months ago. He got tired of having to remove the extension cord each time he needed to cut grass. He has suggested several times that we cover it up and plant flowers there!! I have stuck to my guns on making it a Koi pond, therefore have had very little assistance from him on this project. I'm not done yet, but it's come along way!! If you look close at the 1st picture you can see the Koi. I know have 4, started with 2.

An Angel??

Friday we had a headstone done for my sister Vikki's grave. Last evening I decided to ride out to the cemetery to see it. She is buried in Gooding Cemetery in Crocketville, which is in the middle of nowhere. When I got there I could hear a kitten crying in the woods, but I just ignored it while I visited my sisters grave. After a few minutes this little kitty squeezed thru the chain link fence and hopped up on my sisters headstone. I tried to grab her and she ran into a bush. So I started digging in the bush for her and she ran back to the headstone again. I grabbed her up and she started to purr!!! There are no houses close by so I don't think she belonged to anyone. Needless to say she came home with me. I have named her Vikki!!! Russell was not as touched by this experience as I was. He says she has to go!! I don't think I can part with her though!! We already have 3 cats and 3 dogs. I don't really need another pet, but I can't help but believe that she was a little angel sent to make me smile . Vikki was always bringing home stray cats and I think she sent me this one!!! Russell thinks I'm nuts!! So I'm not sure what we are gonna do....... I'm hoping she'll charm him as she did me, and as you can see Bret has a fondness for her too!!!

Everybody Loves a Parade

We spent Saturday enjoying the Water Festival. Russell, Ronald, and Louis participated in the parade. Afterwards Farm Bureau treated us all to lunch at Duke's BBQ.

Keeping Cool

More pics from the Keys.......are you sick of them yet??? Here's the gang trying to keep cool. The hot tub was not the spot for that though.....it was 102 in there!!! We had to run the hose in the pool to cool it off too!! Now I know why people in Florida have screens over there pools!!

New Blogger

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have a new blogger. Linda is now hooked, she is working on her page right now! Check back we got her linked up to all of us so be sure and add her to your links.

More Keys......

Here is a picture of the house we stayed in and some of the mangrove trees around the dock. I was fascinated with these trees, they were everywhere. I think the are so cool, they kinda remind me of SC's cypress knees.

Dolphin Research Center

The Dolphins at the Research Center were our neighbors while in the Keys. The cost to get in the Center was $28.00 per person, a dolphin encounter cost a mere $100.00 per person. A swim with them would set you back $200.00. Needless to say we choose the free show from our dock!! Every morning at 9:00am we would gather at the dock for a show. However I was never quick enough to catch a dolphin in the air. If you look close you can see a splash!! Oh well....I thought the pictures were nice anyway. I don't think you can take a bad picture there, everything is so beautiful!!!!

Florida Keys Sunset

We made it back from our vacation to the Keys! Boy is that a long ride, but worth every mile! A great time was had by all. The first night there I got a pic of the most amazing sunset, no other sunset the rest of the week came any where close to topping this one. I got some great shots with the under water camera as well but have not gotten them developed yet. I did not have an Internet connection there so I really missed the blog. Couldn't wait to get home and see what I missed!! Cindy extended her vacation and spent an extra week with us. She has some beautiful pictures too. She also has a good sunset pic that I hope she'll post as well.....

Something Round.....

Well not completely round. This also was Russell's idea for my blog. These are the sunflowers he planted in the dove fields. He's getting pretty good at coming up with subjects for my blog.

Live Oak Avenue

This was Russell's idea for my blog. This is a pic of the marker and the Oaks on the drive going up to the main house on Brewton. I never paid much attention to the marker before. I thought it was a tombstone!! Now that I know what it is I think it's pretty cool. I am always in awe of the oak lined drives that all the plantations have, it's nice to know the story behind them.....

Happy 4th of July

Ok so I'm a day late....can't download from home! Good thing my boss is so laid back! Well my 4th was not very interesting. I spent the day doing laundry and getting ready for our trip to the Keys. We will be leaving in the wee hours of the morning Sat. I took a picture of my suitcase.....how am I gonna fit all this stuff???? I do not know how to pack light, I always take way to much. I plan to take my laptop and my camera so I can blog on location!! The Crosby's and the Stanley's will be going with us, sooo I should have some interesting pictures to share!!

Mystery Location

I wanted to see if any of you can guess where this location is....I tested Russell and he got it right!! I was a little stressed yesterday so I decided to go for a drive to clear my head and ended taking some pictures. Great way to de - stress.....

Why so many posts today!

In case any of you are wondering why I posting so much today its b/c I could not post from home this weekend. We have dail up, and after trying to upload pics for 2 hours I gave up.....so I'm playing make up today!!!

Flew The Coop

Bret found this little martin on the ground by the pond out front. He had flew the coop or I should say the gourd!! Russell had to rescue him twice before he would stay put. I guess he didn't like the 1st gourd Russ stuck him in b/c he took a dive right back out. After the 2nd attempt in a different gourd he stayed put! This happens a lot right before they learn to fly well. I couldn't walk away and leave the little guy on the ground, we got to many predators about!!! Although he did not seem very appreciative!!

Kitchen Help

Good kitchen help is sure hard to find, but I got lucky this weekend!!
The Crosby's came by for dinner and Tonya made brownies.
As you can see Emily was more than willing to help with clean-up!

The Next Crocodile Hunter

I hope no one from the wildlife sees these pics.....Saturday we found this little guy taking a swim in the pond in the front yard. We don't mind them in the other ponds on Brewton, but I guess he did not see the "No Gators Allowed" sign posted in this pond!!! Good thing Sure Shot Bret spotted him, with a little assistance from Dad and the Ole 22 all is well!!!