Savannah memories~ and my Sepia Scene figurine

Note about my recent SS photo and post

To:

Carletta and all who might be interested in the book and statue-etc...


It's a very interesting book to read-and made even more so because it's a true story! Lots of quirky characters-in fact- MOST are! It reads like fiction with all the colorful characters; you almost think they HAVE to be from someone's wild imagination! :)

It was fun visiting the city and being able to find all the places mentioned in the book.

Bonaventure Cemetery is one of those places-and the original stature
( my Sepia Scene figurine pic) once stood in the cemetery but had to be removed-for safe keeping- after the book became such a big success.

If interested-click the link to read about the cemetery.


Click Here!




Junie

Belated Birthday for Charles ( just family stuff )

Well, we finally got together with the kids ( some of them, anyway) and celebrated Gabbo's birthday! (Gabbo=Grand dad) Only Tina and Alli were able to make it from up here.

We all met at Tam, Terry and Zach's house ( Orlando) about 1:00 today! They had a most delicious lunch waiting for us! We had 2 kinds of chicken wings, stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs, chicken salad, fresh veggies and a really good sour cream dip for them....ummm... and some very tasty rolls! Everything was just perfect!














Zach and Alli, best friends and best cousins, hung out in Zach's room with his guitars and his collectibles!

Zach is into music and cameras in a big way! His latest music interest is Rick Wakeman of the progressive Rock band of the 70s- 'YES.' He had 2 LPs he had bought...He told me I should look up 'Wakeman' on Youtube... I plan to do that soon! Yes- I DO like the 'Yes' music that I have heard...but don't have any of Wakeman's solo work! Something new to explore! :) Thanks, Zach!












Zach's cool cat~ Mittens~ was here, too!








Here we are doing the birthday thing! Gabbo got some good things! That pretty plant was from the Orlando kids and the fancy Thermometer was the gift from Tina and Alli. All the other things were from me!...lol-All those T-shirts and those house slippers were much needed...the book is one of his favorite writers! (ok- MINE too!!) LOL- and the water lilies for the fish pond are from me, too! He got gifts from Chris (books and movies) early , because of our delayed celebration. He had a happy belated B'day today!





















Our Chit-Chat around the table is always lively! :)







































Another good day!

Gabbo was happy!


And - Me too!



Love,
Junie

(Ginga)

Today~ 3~8~'08

After yesterday and last night's continuous rain, today we awoke to a beautiful sunshiny day .
That and other-unseen factors have lifted my spirits a lot. Funny how moods shift and turn of their own accord...maybe not funny in a 'haahaaha' way but in a mysterious way! At any rate I am only glad things do change and the feelings of depression dissipate.
( well, at least I am one of the lucky ones who has just short spells of depression- I know it can become a lot worse in some cases)

Last night:

Last night, talking with a friend helped to cheer me and to get my mind off things that were bothering me ...and later I spent some time with music listening. Eric Clapton's Rock n Roll was the choice~ :) and I kept finding good vids to watch!

Later still, I started a new book . This one is "The Night Crew," by John Sanford. It's a mystery/thriller type book~ just what I like! :) And it got off to a great start.
Finally, I slept and quite well. Woke an hour past my usual 8:00 AM!


Today:

Today the sunny day beckoned and I went out to take some pictures of the orange trees and rose garden! (weed patch???) First- the orange trees are blooming out-as the pictures show- but are still loaded with fruit. We use only a small amount of the fruit-and give a LOT away to neighbors. It's too bad it all gets ripe at the same time. Anyway, being near those trees when in bloom is just heavenly! Also, the fruit itself, is heavenly!

It's best to have all the fruit off the trees, for them to have a full bloom for the following season's crop...but that makes little sense to me... I can't see getting the fruit off JUST so it will bloom more for NEXT TIME ~ not while the fruit is still good! Grapefruit, in particular, keep well on the trees almost into summer.

lol- decisions...decisions...

For now, anyway, I still have Honey Bells for juice...the best juice, ever! I probably will only have a few more juice-making days this time! :(

























Checking out the rose garden dismayed me! The weeds have taken over, as is not uncommon this time of year! Seems the weeds always get a head start on the flowers...and it becomes a major task to prepare the beds for pretty stuff!

...You see-here in North Florida our roses are mostly dormant during our coldest periods-not blooming but still growing long and straggly . The scrawny ones sometimes die- not from the cold but from my neglect, I guess! (I just lose interest when there's no blooms and forget to water and prune!)

Oh!
I spied the 'Gnome Lady' again, as I have the past 2 seasons. She was, as usual, in one of my gazing balls...spying on my garden and taking pictures with her camera! I truly hope she doesn't have plans to turn me in to the Garden Society for neglect of my roses! She may even go so far as to try to prevent me from using 'ROSE' as part of my screen name! All I know for sure is that she did not look happy - viewing the condition of my rose garden! :(



I felt like telling this nosy little creature to mind her own business...and that her time might be better spent by getting herself in shape with our local Weight Watcher chapter...and let ME worry about getting my roses in shape!
( She does, indeed, seem to be getting chubbier each year-and looks to be in danger of getting stuck in the neck of that gazing ball! )
However, I resisted such a drastic approach, as, in fact, she may be an official garden patrol and can cause me untold grief...

I wouldn't want to be deprived of the use of 'Rose' as part of my name. And be stuck with something like Junie Weed, or Junie of the Jungle!

Who knows what power this little lady in my gazing ball wields?

~~~

OK~ Today was an eye opener for me and I can kill 2 birds with one stone. ( so to speak)
I can take up this garden project of getting my roses in shape- thus- keeping the little Gnome lady off my case and at the same time I can combat my tendency to frequent spells of 'The Blues!' I will be too tired to think of anything else!

I HOPE she will notice my efforts!

I will report my progress, here on the blog!

( I wonder if she's into blog reading...or does she just spy on over grown gardens...that nosy...chubby little so and so...... )


My sweet old cat, Tiger, enjoyed the sunny day! Here he is, posed relaxing in the sun ...with a weed masquerading as a garden flower! (Soon to be replaced with REAL garden flowers!)









I don't think the Gnome Lady found anything to complain about with the Azaleas... How could she! :)







Junie ROSE

Dreary Day

(this is the kind of day we had )

What a day this has been with rain all the day long...And here we go into the night with the rain still falling down; harder than ever, in fact! It rained a lot yesterday, too!

All this rain gets to me, as you all, well, know ! It's hard to keep the spirits up and the smile in place when things are working to counteract all your good intentions!

Depressions are like the weather - unpredictable-unchangeable...out of our control.

We have been under a tornado watch today so I should focus on our good fortune in not having any catastrophic occurrences.

...Back to my self diagnosed depression...I don't know if that's, truly, the correct name for these low periods I fall into.
But I don't know what other name to give it...these times when I feel so low that nothing interests me (in a fun or relaxing way) and my head is filled with worries and anxieties .

My concerns center on the people I love...my kids-my grand kids! I just want them all to be safe and have happy lives! That doesn't seem too much to wish for!

OK- The ugly weather always makes everything seem bleaker! Tomorrow there may be sunshine in my life again! :)

Hope with me??

~~~

I have noticed, throughout blog land, that a lot of people seem to be suffering the blues, to some degree! I know a lot of people in the north are very weary of all the snow and ice. And a lot have slacked off or stopped posting .

And that just adds guilt to my complaints of the rain we're having! I wonder how on earth I'd deal with some REAL weather woes- which are commonplace in other places.

But with me, the dreary weather is really just the trigger, not the true cause, of my feeling blue! ( feeling blue-heck! Depressed is a better fit!)

~~~

On a happier note ~ last night I DID have a very enjoyable time watching some vintage TV shows .
I watched some Twilight Zone shows and some Star Trek. It took me away for awhile. Made me happy! It kept the bad feelings away!

I ended the night-very late- by finishing up my Stephen King book! Tonight I will need to start something new-I don't know what it will be yet! BTW- -Duma Key was quite a story- for King fans! ( maybe too far out unless you have a very flexible imagination!! :) )

I don't know what's ahead for this night...We'll see.


Junie

More about Gordon Lightfoot!

Tonight I got this in my comments -from 'Char.' ( the Super Gordon Lightfoot fan I connected with in my recent Lightfoot posts.)


Char had this information that might be of interest to Gordon Lightfoot fans.



Char says...

"For lots of Lightfoot tunes set to video images:
http://www.youtube.com/user/thomasj157
enjoy!

Junie - you can post this link if you'd like! and www.lightfoot.ca/ for tour info in case anyone is near the venues he'll be at this year.. "
 

~~

OK~ I can say I checked out that Youtube site and found some very well put together videos of Gordon Lightfoot music! It was fun viewing! :)

The other site is tour information for his concerts!

Thanks, Char!


~~~~

I'm going to bed early- for me- right now...(well- soon) and it's only 10:45! LOL- Wish me luck, y'all!
You know early sleepy time and me are not pals...but maybe we can get along tonight!

I'm still reading that Stephen King book -'Duma Key!' Still have about 200 pages to read! It is over 600 pages! It's really one of the best King books I've read in awhile! It's a ghost story...or seems to be turning into that... typical Stephen King weirdness...only more so! :) I LOVE IT! HAHA!

~~~

...we'll see what tomorrow brings!

Goodnight, all!

Junie Rose

Blowin' in the wind... (Victory Ride)

......and so today Charlie says, "You wanna go for a ride?" And Junie says, "Sure!"



"Where?"


The answer to that, my friend, was 'Blowin' in the Wind' for awhile! :)




OK-OK- I being silly! :)
"So-what else is new and crude?" (as my daughter, Tam, would say!) Meaning ~It's to be expected that Mom is silly sometimes!

However, it was pretty windy riding as you can see!

On the way north I said, "Oh, I know where we can go!" Charles says, "The Waldo Flea market??" I said, "No- lets go to Cross Creek and have lunch at the Yearling Restaurant!"

~~~

I'm sure most are familiar with the Pulitzer prize winning novel, The Yearling, written in 1938 by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Go here!
And of course a movie was made of this wonderful story, too, in the mid 1940's. And another one more recently!

Here is something interesting to read ~ some history!



This place which Marjorie Rawlings found so fascinating, and where she chose to live and write her Novels, is north of us (about 15 miles). It is almost like taking a trip back into our Florida of the early 1930-40s, as this old farm place has been preserved and is now open for public view. We didn't tour the house-only the grounds- and I made a few pictures of the old North Florida look!








Photos:

The old Florida Cracker house~

The barn~

Gardens and grounds
and that blue Florida sky!~

Outhouse ~ notice the red rag, displayed to let folks know when it's in use! :)



















~~~



And this...sure hope that's true!

~~~

After leaving the Rawlings house we went on just a few miles to The Yearling restaurant! We have been here a few times before and have found the food to be very good. This time mine was especially tasty...lol- tho we waited a full hour to get it served! I didn't mind that as it was an interesting place to be spending time! The building is an old house with rambling rooms and lots of antiques throughout! I don't know the history of the building so I will have to research it! (For my own Info)




Here we are waiting ... Oh! And this guy was playing some blues music to entertain guests! I had to get his picture- of course!











When the food finally came it had been well worth waiting for! :)

(Right, Charlie?)







I had a shrimp sandwich on a great hoagie -type bun! Had never had a shrimp sandwich before and it was delicious! :) I turned down the Gator Tail appetizers on the menu! Although I'm a Florida Cracker type girl I can't bring myself to eat Gator Tail!

Another good one for the old farm folks!



Love,

Junie

Bits and pieces of my night

Oh!
Yes, as expected...the little nap of yesterday afternoon prevented my getting to bed early...or even considering it! I knew it would...but -oh, well!! That's just the way it is these days and I can't worry about it! I'll sleep when I feel like it-and blog when I feel like it...or read or do music listens or whatever strikes my fancy- on my own time schedule ~ when I feel like it!

The sleepless time was well spent and the night of music ended once again with my favorite Rock band - The Who!

... Watched some Videos... 'See Me-Feel Me- Touch Me- Heal Me' - at Woodstock. Great fun!

This band has had a fantastic career and I'm so happy I finally got to see them last year...( Yes, pretty much at their end, I believe!) Am still looking forward to the DVD from the concert that we saw in Tampa last year.

...and my reading time came, too- I'm into Stephen King's latest book... 'Duma Key,' which is set on Florida's Gulf coast (not his more often used, Maine coast) This book, as could be expected, is shaping up to be an intriguing read! :) I wouldn't expect anything less from Stephen King!
This book has more than 600 pages! Yikes! Will take me forever but it will be an adventure, I'm sure! Stephen King has been one of my top favorite writers for...oh - a very long time! I have read almost everything he has out there!

My OTHER #1 writer is Dean Koontz. These 2 have gone far toward keeping me entertained on my sleepless nights for the past 30 + years. I'm just guessing at the number of years but, surely, it must be close to that!

Before that there were others, of course, because reading has always been a big part of my life! Having a book by my bedside has been the normal thing all of my life! Poe was one of my earlier favorites! :) You get an idea of the kind of stories I like, ehh?

:) So enough rambling for now. I have to do dishes and then consider what Time I need to take up my book and start the journey toward my night!

~~~

Oh, and
Valentine's Day is near. ...Charles and I have no plans and, in fact, I have not even been able to shop for a card or gift for him! I have been without a car for almost 2 weeks now- so that's my excuse :) My grandson had to borrow my car while his truck is in the shop!

(Yes! I'm not a bad Ginga! )

Anyway, about the Valentines...I will just have to tell him I love him, I guess! That'll work! Maybe it will!


( There will be Valentine poems on my poem site)

~~~

Have a good night!


Junie

A day in the life~1~25~'08

Had a good night's sleep with the new sleep aid- though a bit groggy for awhile this morning! I took just a half and that's all I will ever take...if I continue with this!

Actually, I probably would have slept without anything- as I had a long, enjoyable night of my music listens! :) Didn't wind it up until almost 1:00...but that's the best time for me to give it up!

This was my shopping day but first I went to visit my sister for a couple hours. We had a good time talking and having a light- early lunch. After an excellent tuna salad sandwich and a home made brownie I then went on to Wal-Mart!

... I didn't buy much except the essentials this time! I DID search out the music section but nothing grabbed my attention today in CDs or DVDs. I am still hoping to replace that Beatles- 'Help' DVD- but they haven't had any more copies! I should go online to search, I guess! (I bought this awhile back -only to find one of the disks defective - so I had to return it!! ) Hated that! :(

Oh!! But this book by Stephen King was on display and I had to get it!






King and Koontz are my favorite writers...well- 2 of my favorites! Charles got me this latest Koontz book for Christmas and I just finished reading it! I enjoy both of these guys very much and have for many years- have read almost everything each of them have written!! Of course I'm never out of a book to read...but King- right after Koontz - seems fitting! Perfect timing! :)


Didn't have to cook dinner tonight as I had this meal left over from last night! That was good to know because a trip to Wal-Mart is a day's work, in itself! This Rigatoni was was good last night and good again tonight! Not one of Charles' favorite things...but he managed to do ok with it! ;) Both nights!










Tonight I plan to get into this new Stephen King book!


Tomorrow-perhaps a Victory ride. ;)






Love,

Junie Rose