We Love Our Mimosa!

I am not talking about the mimosa that you sip! I never have had the mimosa drink which is composed of 1 part champagne or other sparkling wine and 1 part thoroughly chilled orange juice. I am willing to try this concoction! Anyone is welcome to stop by with a glass in their hand.

The mimosa that I am now seeing is the spectacular tree that is currently blooming over the koi pond. You will recall that this tree was delivered many years ago in a Styrofoam cup by our friend Brittany Stewart.



The flower garden is going through the cycle of life with the day lilies and bee balm in full bloom. I can not believe that tomorrow is the last day of June! I am always commenting on how fast time dissolves when you retire.

Try it and you will see!!!

Picnic on Fallen Timber

Yesterday Grandma Great, Judy, and I had the pleasure of visiting Miss Diana on Fallen Timber. As you see, we had a gourmet meal of roasted chicken, pasta salad, baked beans, and watermelon. We finished off the meal with coconut cake.




It was a beautiful day and Diana invited us for a swim.


At 86, Grandma Great is still able to enjoy the pool.


Diana and Judy remind me of a couple of school girls enjoying each others company.


Many thanks to Diana for a great afternoon.

The 5 K Race!

The 5K race was a new event for the Festival this year. Denae Dobbins is stretching to get ready. There were over 70 participants. The daughters, son-in-law, grandkids and dog are Ruth Chisler's family members who were in from the South for a visit. They are a wonderful family.

Long-time runner, Jim Bailey was one of the race organizers.

The race was expertly started with the help of the GSC athletic crew. It was a beautiful morning.

Get ready... get set........

And they are off!

Here comes the winner of the race. The lad is on the GSC track team. Are we surprised?

I have sent an email in requesting the champion's name and I shall supply it as soon as it is received.

With our winner is Shantelle Harkleroad, who was the force behind the run being so successful.

Here comes Steve Holbrook into the finish line.

You have to love roommates that join in events like this. Sarah and her roommate ran a great race.

Sisters Jennifer Borsch and Judy Holbrook are celebrating the finish. It is Jennifer's birthday, and this was her first race. What a way to celebrate! You have what it takes, Ladies!

The Burkowskis ran and did a fine job. Let's give a hand to the English professors!

The 5 K race was certainly a success. A big thanks to all of you who made it happen!

West Virginia StateFolk Festival 2010

Yes, folks, the Festival is in full swing. Musicians are gathering and prepared for a weekend of great memories. No rain in sight, but extremely hot on Saturday! As you can tell the dance platform is feeling the vibrations of the square dancers.


I thought this morning I would share with you a few of the wonderful folks that are a part of this year's Festival. Below is our artist friend, Debbie Adams. She is a wonderful crafter.


Crafts and music are on the agenda, but what about food? Yes, you see Fred Moore sampling an Italian sausage sandwich.

The Common Place Restaurant is a great gathering place and serves good food. Miss Kelly always has a smile on her face. Stop by and tell Kelly that you saw her on the Meads blog!

Carl Baron is showing the sampling of the famous sarsaparilla. Carl is a talented musician and singer. He is also a great supporter of the Festival.

We can not say enough good things about the town's maintenance staff. They are excellent workers and the Festival could not function without the town's support. Stanley will be on Main Street controlling the traffic. This is another person you should thank when you are downtown.

This is Louella Stalnaker and friends. It is so great to see all the visitors and especially it is wonderful to see our local folks. Louella (in the center) helps with the Job's Temple service on Sunday. Beside her are her sister Janice and friend Alice Castleberry.


Below is Judy with the lady who was honored at last year's Festival. Patty Looman is a treasure and has kept the heritage of the hammered dulcimer alive and well in West Virginia.

Here is Jordan Knight, wearing my hat! Jordan is a special friend.

This year's Festival is dedicated to Jack Conrad and the Conrad family. Jack passed away several weeks ago. Charlie and Kathy Conrad are part of the Conrad family being honored this week.

A Folk Festival is not possible without old time music. The folks below, Mack and Thelma Samples, are certainly part of the Festival tradition.

A Truly Geriatric Phone!

Yes, Dear Hearts, our friend, Dave, shipped us this photo of a cell phone which all over 40 years of age may relate. Young folks will never know the joy of placing your finger in the circular openings and moving the dial clock-wise. I thought the ole iPhone is great with its finger slide feature. How could I forget my old friend - the rotary dial phone?

When I was attending Spencer High School in the mid-sixties, I remember our telephone number was 89. The telephone during this period had no dial - just a nice lump of Bakelite with a handset resting on the top. Now, to even call next door, we have to enter at least ten digits on the keypad. I have not told our kids about the wonders of a thing called "the party line" or when there was no dial tone. A friendly operator would answer once you picked up the handset. She asked for the phone number of the person you were calling and then connected you personally. Oh, the telecommunication memories!

Geoducks

I have been thinking about our Davis family living in the Northwestern part of the US. Washington State brings back so many memories. My grandpa Davis and I would venture at low tide to collect "gooey ducks". Grandpa loved to teach me how to quickly dig for these mammoth mollusks.

For you guys who are not familiar with "gooey ducks", here is a brief lesson. Native to the northwest coast of the US and Canada (primarily Washington and British Columbia), the geoduck is the largest burrowing clam in the world, weighing in at an average of one to three pounds (0.5–1.5 kg) at maturity, but some weighing over 15 pounds (7.5 kg) and as much as 2 meters (over 6.5 ft) in length are not unheard of.
Geoducks are one of the longest lived organisms in the Animal Kingdom. They have a life expectancy of about 146 years, with the oldest recorded at over 160 years. Scientists speculate that the geoduck's longevity is the result of low wear and tear. A geoduck sucks water containing plankton down through its long siphon, filters this for food and ejects its refuse out through a separate hole in the siphon. Adult geoducks have few natural predators, which may also contribute to their longevity.

The unusual name of the clam is derived from a Lushootseed word gʷídəq meaning "dig deep", and its counter-intuitive spelling is likely the result of poor transcription rather than anything having to do with ducks. Alternate spellings include gweduc, gweduck, goeduck, and goiduck. It is sometimes known as the mud duck, king clam, or when translated literally from the Chinese characters 象拔蚌, the elephant trunk clam or "penis clam". As you can see from this fellow below, he is holding the clam in an almost an "X" rated position. Of course, I never staged any of these strange pictures when I was growing up!!

I really do not remember Grandma or Grandpa Davis cooking these critters. The memories of collecting is, however, still fresh in my memories.

It's Butterfly Weed Time!

Yep, it is always so neat to see the flower heads of this wonderful plant. The butterflies have been really active feeding on the copious nectar of our crop of butterfly weeds.

This plant is the larval food plant for the Monarch Butterflies.

Last year's plants were diminished, as you recall, by the arrival of a "flock" of milkweed bugs.

Soap Sculptures

Yes, the bar of soap above is a product of Culinary Sculptures which do a great job in sculpting food, vegetables, and even soap. I used to carve soap when I was growing up and a member of the Cub Scouts. I made poorly carved bears and even a fish! Ivory soap was the product of choice when carving.

My meager efforts can never come up to the standards of the soap sculptures seen below.