Unfortunately Covid-19 is still altering a lot of what I would have called a normal life this year. Not as many activities at the Jekyll Convention Center so I didn't work as often as I usually do. Even though I am so grateful to be retired, especially with what our county teachers are having to deal with these days, I still need to keep busy. Besides motivating me to get up, my part-time job at the convention center also allows me to fill in the little physical actvity circles on my iWatch (and I get paid for it)! Hopefully those work days partially counteract my poor eating habits.
Work Day Non-Work Day
So less physical work and too much free time. But I am reading lots of books.
IN February we had SSI Village Pier entertainment that did NOT involve the Golden Ray. The block with all the kiosks in the village were dismantled which provided for a few days of interesting activity as they were transfered the Kiosks thru our narrow oak lined roads.
We got our second vaccine shot in February ! - Thank you Paula for constantly looking for appointment availability and sharing with us. We had to drive to Kingsland but they were very well organized and quick.
I was lucky in that Penny and Ted visited almost every month. This allowed them the opportunities to look for a house to buy in St Augustine - AND they found one - they are moving in at the end of September. It will be nice to have them close by. We did local tourist stuff - Beach, Pier, Wesley Garden, Ft Frederica, and eating seafood.
April - For Easter I flew to Salem. The syrup was running so Nico, my housemate's stepson, and I collected sap and boiled more than 40 galllons of sap down to about 1 gallon of syrup. A lot of work and wood for a little bit of syrup but a neat experience. Confession - Nico did the large majority of the work - a large production is a 24 + hour business - we were able to boil down in just one day.
My Cary Hill Climbing Buddies
Zac with his winter beard.
April Continued - It was later than usual but we did decide to have our annual -THE 10TH- Marigold Dog Parade. Even though we had less participants we were still able to raise more than 4000 dollars for No Kill Glynn County.
Big Thanks to all the great volunteers
10th annual
May - I did a short puppy/cat/house sitting job at the Wallins with a new - not quite potty trained- puppy. Wore me slap out ! I even had to chase away a raccoon that Stella thought was a new friend.
End of May I flew to Indianapolis see Penny and Ted and to attend the Indianapolis 500!
"Kissing the Bricks"
Penny signed the mortgage papers for her house in St Augusting !
Lee Wilson Sloan and family also live in the Indianapolis area so we got to meet for dinner at a really nice restaurant Cold Stone Creamery in Zionsville Indiana
Great dinner at Ted's family home on Morse Reservoir. Here I got my first jet ski ride -- fun.
June - was mostly uneventful, but at the end of June, I drove up to Salem for 2 months. I was lucky enough to have two visitors while I was there - Penny for a week and then Margie - who thankfully helped me drive home. I took a blacksmithing class, made jewelery with Ava, picked blueberries, learned how to wire wrap stones, and trudged up Cary Hill.
I arrived in time to attend the Southern Vermont Art Center where some of the SAW (Salem Art Works) artists had an opening - Zac included -- he had 2 inside pieces and 4 outside sculptures - plus a really nice write up. Zac has said many times that his job at SAW is his Dream Job. Seeing how happy he is - I agree.
Zac's - called "Longboard" it rocks like a see-saw which produces a noise like a whale
Zac's - glass, metal and cement
cooling off in the river where Zac and Katrina got married
Katrina and Zac by Lake St Catherines
July
Made 4th of July Jewelry with Ava
4th of July - Bill and Barbara Carris
One of the kids there taught me how to do a fireworks selfie.
It definitely wasn't a good angle for an older person but it was fun.
My blacksmithing class. With the help of my knowledgeable instructor, Luke, I made a hook and a napkin holder.
Taste of SAW
A fund raiser for SAW which provided delicious food and the burning of a sculpture that took about 2 weeks to build and about 2 hours to burn down.
Penny arrives for a visit
Yes - I made her climb the hill with me.
Trivia night at Salem Tavern - Great Hamburgers and Chicken Caeser Salad.
While at SAW I got to see 3 metal pours - 2 aluminum and 1 bronze - surprising how many steps are involved in doing such a small poured sculpture.
These are the larger "bath bubbles" that were used in one of the aluminum pours. They fell out of the sculpture as it cooled but left an interesting shaped piece.
August
Birthday time --Nice dinner outside at The Barn and Katrina made a wonderful tasting chocolate mint cake. Zac decided to shave his face and head - he looks so much like his father, Chris.
Mid August, Margie arrived and we spent a few wonderful days at her cousin's Eric house on Lake Skaneateles. We basically boated, ate and shopped.
Back at SAW
We kept our VT/NY travels fairly local and uncrowded, but we did drive up Mt Equinox for an interesting view of the area. The mountain has a unique history -besides an old NORAD site there is also a collasped cryonics receptacle for humans to be places in low-temp suspension, The Charterhouse of the Transformation Monastery, built in the '50's, is also located on the mountain. It is the only Carthusian monastery in the US.
On the drive back we stopped in Manchester for the areas' best Philly Cheesesteak and onion rings.
We visited Katrina's studio which had Margie drooling over her machines and large space that she had available for her sewing. We went to Wednesday night's Trivia contest at Salem Tavern. The rest of the time we spent a lot of time on the porch, climbed the hill, made bread, and learned to wire wrap stones.
On our drive home to Georgia, we stopped in Maryland at my sister-in-laws family's 2020 delayed wedding reception, Good food and so great to see the Wolfe family again.
Face to Face time - finally. A great lunch and pool time at Maria's beautiful home in Fernandina.
The 2 year removal of the Golden Ray Car Carrier, our 2019 GA coast environmental disaster, is finally coming to an end! The last cut has been made, they are empting out the rest of the cars from the piece that is still attached to the VB 10000 (big yellow thing), and 2 pieces are still located at the Brunswick dock.
Stormy looking sky as the weak tropical storm "Mindy" passes by.
I couldn't get very close to take a good photo due to security - so it is really hard to grasp the massive size of each piece. Below is a piece from an earlier period when they left the cars on each section - Zoom in and look at the cars hanging - it will give you a new perspective on the size of each section.
Road Scholar Trip - Fernadina and Cumberland Island
This was a great choice for our first organized trip amongst the continuing Covid stuff. It was close (no planes), short (5 days), mostly outside and a small group. We spent 3 nights in Fernadina Beach right on the river front and 2 nights at Grayfield on Cumberland. Lots of history and good food at both locations. RS required proof of vaccinations so we felt a little safer and all of our guides wore a mask unless they were outside which was a nice added consideration. Just 4 of our group was going - Judy was having major house plumbing problems and Margie was going on a scenic cross country train trip that Don planned.
Monday - We had a shuttle tour and history about the 8 flags over Fernandina and American Beach but too much unneeded information about the local shuttle tour guide's life
The afternoon we had a nice tour and views from Ft Clinch
Tuesday - We did an optional morning walk along Egan's Creek and then our RS boat ride down the same creek. Two interestesting views. Boat captain's knowledge and his delivery (and wife's lineage) definitely compensated for yesterday's shuttle guy.
Marsh side view of Maria's house
Quick stop for a local beverage at the Green Turtle Tavern where
"Daytime Drinking" was encouraged.
Being in Fernadina Beach provided the advantage of being right down the street from Maria's house so we did manage to sneak in a pool visit during one of our free times.
On Wednesday we took the Grayfield boat to Cumberland Island. Grayfield is one of the few privately owned homes on the National Seashore Island. It is a beautiful old historic home filled with antiques and things that made Paula sneeze and snore.
It is located mid-island directly across from Kings Bay
The four of us were lucky enough to share the Master bedroom suite (which included a sitting room and extra bedroom) We also shared the bath.
We spent a lot of time outside - Paula and I gravitatied to the swinging 'porch' (or was it 'porn') bed and Kate looked for birds with her fancy camera.
We had a couple of Naturalist/Historic tours. So far our week long weather had been perfect, except for a 15 minute downpour which occured during our back of the truck tour. We even got to see the church where the famous Kennedy wedding was held.
Thursday Morning Tour - Dungenesss, Marsh, Beach Walk and beach time !
