The caretaker of this family land is my grandfather's cousin, James Smith:
Here is my grandmother, James and my grandfather
I have been fortunate enough to have met all four of my great grandmothers. 2 of them lived almost a stone's through away from my house, and the other 2 where only about an hour away in WV....one of which is still living with family and doing well for being over 90!! It's pretty remarkable that in this day and time, I have so many older family members still alive. But it was the lure of seeing not just the grave-site of such an old relative, but to see the land that they lived on and called home.
This is the headstone for my great, great, great grandparents, Peter and Martha Smith
And here I am with my mother, my grandfather, and the resting place of my great great great grandparents!
The original Smith log homeplace wasn't far from this very spot that we were standing on, but had long since gone from age and disrepair. It was a 2 day trip from here to Bluefield and back....a roundtrip drive that would now take about an hour. And there are still family members being buried in this cemetery--as recent as 2005! I couldn't imagine hauling a casket up that hill on that road....whew!?
So it was a pretty neat trip today. Got to see and learn some more about my family history.....and again thank my grandfather for leaving West Virginia!!
My parents spent a lot of time and effort into landscaping the yard here at our house and today was a wonderful day to enjoy the fruit of their labors:
I really love that rhododendron because it reminds me of my sister and her love for the color 'purple'. The pond was my dad's pet project and he poured his heart and soul into that thing. I guess it's fitting that the two sit next to one another.
The other rhododendron that I like a lot is the white one that wraps around our side deck:
This thing probably contributes a lot to my sneeziness this time of year, but it's soooo worth it. Looks like I'll be planting some more stuff this weekend as well since Mom just picked up a dwarf rhododendron and some sort of laurel....should be interesting....
Anyway, we had the first 2 blooms of the season from our lillies today:
Many more to come in the weeks ahead.....
So I decide to clean out the filter pad in the pond tonight because Mom said it was a little dirty. Well, I open the lid and there's 'Big Momma' hiding in there. See, we have this one female who is just about ready to pop.....well, she was in the skimmer and layin eggs when I found her. I had to get her out because it's not good for her in there, but the sad part was that there wasn't really a way to save the eggs that had adhered to the filter pad. So I quickly cleaned out the 20 gallon hospital tank and set it up after I monkeyed with the filter (gotta love Whispers) and filled it with pond water. It's about 9 pm and totally dark....and I gotta find this fish in 2300 gallons.....ugh. Well, guess what?! She went right back to the skimmer! So I got her out and tonight she's staying in the building.....and hopefully she'll drop her eggs in there soon if she's not too stressed. I'm also hoping that with filter down as low as possible, it won't suck the eggs until I can get some foam tomorrow.
Keeping the fingers crossed that I have saved some eggs and we can get some new sarasa comets for the pond!!!
2 classes that are rolling out on this coming Monday thanks to the beginning of Summer School....one just needs to have the index pages updated....the other.....needs a lot of work!!!! I have a print tutorial and online version to get ready for Monday as well.....at least the print.....the online will be up next week.
Then after work, I'm putting in time at the house where I used to live as they're trying to get it ready for market soon. The house needs quite a bit of TLC. Tonight, got most of the living room caulked for painting and almost finished installing the bathroom exhaust fan....almost = ran out of wire nuts, so that'll be finished tomorrow....the hard part is over. Then quite a bit of painting ahead and big cleanout on Saturday.
THEN, Sunday will be my weekly 3-hr stint at my grandmother's yard......3-hr's of cutting grass, then trimming, then blowing grass.....yikes.
So yeah.....busy busy.....but it keeps my mind from thinking about stuff too much......cause there's lots of things goin on up in that lil' noggin of mine.....
I bought her a new pink dogwood for her flower bed that is just outside my window. I think we may end up planting a few more before too much longer as she wants to extend this bed up and down the hill in either direction.....less grass = less maintenance!
I also made sure to get her something nice to look at inside while it was raining all weekend:
So we've had some wicked thunderstorms roll through this afternoon (high winds and hail!) and we've also had some absolutely gorgeous sun. So I decided to go out and sit with the fish for a few:
Other than that, just finished putting together my new chair for my desk. My aunt and uncle from Oregon are in, so we'll get to visit some later today and tomorrow.....that's good, cause I really miss those guys!! Well, looks like it's about to storm again outside and that's good cause we can really use the rain. Although, it just mean I gotta spend more time on the lawn mower this summer....meh.....
Well, it really got going once we started voting people off the island....the Tribe has spoken....
Well, that's kinda how last night's cookout went down. Yes, an evening of MONSTER BADMINTON, burning stuff, pie, some cold beverages, burning more stuff while meeting new people, and dodging flaming projectiles that were coming out of the pile of burning stuff. Yes, all in the name of Kosmo....
So yes, after the flames really got rockin, Pete presented Kos with his birthday gift......a stand-in puppy until his new one is born and he can become an official 'dad' later this summer.....also notice the large roll of $$$$ around the temporary poochy......a gift of money from us to a great friend and very deserving guy:
And what birthday would be complete without a cake, or in this case, a pie with candles:
Ah yes. So tomorrow is Mother's Day and I've done my good deed for the year.....pics to come tomorrow.....
Happy Birthday, Kos! Hope you had a great one! This was my 1 VT football game of 2005.....VT/UNC....
And also:
Happy Birthday, Ben! This was the night of the infamous 'Didsbury Dozen'. As you may gather, its still early in the evening as we are both still standing upright...
In other news, Jon Pratt will be in town this weekend for his Masters graduation! Big CONGRATS goin on to 'The Hammer'! Also, wanted to say how very proud I am of Emet and his wife, Kim, for both recently completing their PhD's!! I wish them all the best next year as they further their careers in Saudi Arabia! Emet, you will be missed! Can't thank you enough for all you have done for me in this short amount of time....
Probably the heaviest thing of the weekend was getting to know a colleague (and now friend) much better. We have a lot more in common than we had thought......particularly the fact that we have both suffered the loss of a father and a sister. He was away at school in Boston when his father passed--I was in England. His sister was here in town when she suddenly passed away--I was by my sister's side. I guess this was the first time that I could finally talk with someone who could really understand where I am and how I got here.....this rut that I have been in for the past several years. Someone who I could share discussions about the confusion, the hurt, and the need to compartmentalize emotions and project strength for those around us as a way to help them cope. All of this, while neglecting what's going on inside.
This was probably the most emotionally therapeutic weekend I have had in a long time, considering that I've lost so much in such a short amount of time. I'm still trying to figure out up from down, but I'm getting there. I'm still trying to stand on my own two feet now that my foundation has been swept away. It's getting easier, each day--and that's all that we can ask for, I suppose.
There are those loved ones that I miss dearly and will never see again. There are forgotten friends that I'm slowly catching up with again. And there is one other that I hope to see again someday, as she means the absolute world to me. We all have someone that comes along in our life and changes everything--forever. And no matter how difficult it is for me to admit, my world will never be the same now because of her, and I think it has changed for the better. It is hard to see that now, but I am in a better place to deal with my stuff on my own. But as I continue to search deeper inside, I find that one thing has not changed: my heart has only room in it for her--it always has been, and will always be...
So far so good on the new hard drive! This was a problem that actually started about a year ago in Manchester, but really came to a head about 2 weeks ago. Luckily, it seems that I got everything backed up this time around and didn't lose anything major...so far. We'll see how the ole compy does this time with the new hard drive.....
Work has changed a bit for me now that I'm doing a different project....less design, more mindless development. Although, I do need to come up with a new template for a course....gonna fiddle with that the next few days to come up with a new look.
Playing is going well....funny, I decide to back off and WHAM! I get more instruments and the phone starts ringing like mad for jobs?! I'll be in Charlottesville this weekend for the C'ville Oratorio Society's production of La Traviata. Then a few weeks until the Roanoke Chamber Brass recital. Then hopefully some travel time somewhere....*fingers crossed to head out west*....we'll see....then it's back to the grind at IDDL and playing my new euph on a recital in Abingdon in July. Then there's an eLearning conference in August in Madison, Wisconsin! I can't wait to go!!!! Madison is such a rockin town!! It'll be nice to see what this place is like when it's above freezing!!!!
Well, I'd post some new pics, but iPhoto and Rapidweaver aren't playing well together at the moment since I've moved some files. I'll have to sort that out soon....maybe while I have some downtime this weekend in C'ville.....
Later, peeps