Hey Julle, it's July!!

For those not in the know, "julle", is "you'all, ya'll, you's, all of you" etc, - you get the picture - in Afrikaans. Ja-nee, once in a while, I 'spreek die taal' just so's I won't forget, jy weet? (ya know?)
We had a nice Independence Day last week this time. Our fireworks and ETSO concert was on Thursday evening due to Sabbath falling on the 4th this year. The 'kids' all went to Beech Bottoms again - 4th time in a row for some!
This is what they call the "hot-tub".


Both photos are taken of some of the shallower sections of the river. Upstream we were swimming in a pool at least 8-10 ft deep.

Too bad we live so far from natural waterholes and swimming opportunities. Guess I was spoiled having lived so long in the Cape only minutes from the beach! (Mom, did you hear that?)

Here's a lovely family picture of M and D.
D has been swotting like crazy for boards on Aug 4 and M has been taking master's classes at the university. Can't believe their time is almost up and they'll be going back to AZ in 2 weeks! Time passes waaaay too quickly.

And now for the crowning piece of my engineering and woodworking creations from the last 2 weeks. A little (here, unfinished) greenhouse for early starts and maybe even a few over-wintering plants....we'll see! The empty pots are merely for encouragement!


And the funny looking boards in the front are to try and keep the cats out while still building.



Since this I've added wood bracing across the top, a fold-down door and more plastic in various places. These photos are more of the proto-type so.....keep posted for more exciting photos of the final solution creation!

Next week will be the "2 VBS" week of hecticity. Will keep you posted if we survive!

Johnsons enjoy June

Camera cam again.
June 9, 2009

In Tennessee there's no other way to fully enjoy summer than to swim. Here are A and C in the indoor pool on their way to the showers from the outdoor pool. (You know, can't pass 'Go' without collecting $FUN). Guess I didn't take their pic in the outdoor pool.



Summertime portrait - cello practice.


Mary, Mary, quite contrary....


And here is my compost bin....we hope very productive.


Last w/e (10th - 14th June) we spent in West Virginia at a "True Education" conference. Providentially some folk had just acquired this old school at a good price - fully furnished with everything needed for similar conferences like this one, and for an agricultural school they're planning to start here. There is also a beautiful farm next door which they had also just purchased. I'm really impressed with WV. Who would have thought!!?


Inside the gym - all the chairs, tables, and other furniture here and available for use!


C and D. D is such a little MAN!


We camped in the van - very comfortable. In the gym was a full industrial-sized kitchen with everything needed - very convenient, as D would say!


Little baby sparrows. When we first got there, there were 4 little eggs in the nest. The next day one had hatched and by the next, I think 3. Hopefully the 4th also hatched later. The babies are here lying on one of the eggs. I was quite impressed with the tenacity of the mother as she had to contend with an onslaught of little kids peering into the nest at very regular intervals!



McKee picnic June 5. Here are C and R on the Ferris wheel - scary!!


And lastly, a snake by our swing stayed in this position for about 10 minutes before finally moving slowly off. Maybe it got muscle fatigue by that time! I know it thought it was nicely camouflaged.....C got the fright of her life when she went to swing and saw that 'thang'.


And so, from our busy summer life, we bid you 'adieu'.

Growing Garden

We start out with the camera cam. This is from
May 30, 2009.


And now here is our growing garden - Amazing that today is SUNNY, Yay! Please ignore the weeds - it's REALLY been too wet to weed, I promise!



If you look carefully you can see our green tomatoes.


Green pole beans after about the 3rd planting!


Zucchini, yellow squash and cucumber (I hope!), plus beans, peppers, basil etc in the right background. Again, please ignore the green "haze" on the ground.


Tomato and corn.


Our volunteer bachelor buttons, and the birthday willow in the background.


And that is our garden update.
Happy Sabbath!

Salamandar Salutations

Looking healthy and well-fed. They must just be slow growing, I think.




Our baby, Sallie, has left us with an empty nest (well, terrarium anyway). Last week I took her down near the pond and let her go. She was very anxious to get away and scurried under the leaves as quick as she could. S took a few last photos.

Isn't she sweet?

Rain, rain, rain.....that's been our story for the last 6 weeks! Our clayey soil is struggling to cope and I just hope bell peppers and tomatoes and all our other vegetables actually like growing in standing water....

More later!

May Mercies

Today we had the third major fire in this neighborhood within 2 months, right next door. Yep, had to call 911 myself . The teenager next door (below us) decided to burn an old abandoned trailer himself, guarding it with a hosepipe. Oh yes, the foolish things we do when young! In the meantime before the firetrucks got there (over 10 minutes), we kept it from spreading with our hose and a bucket - did a right good job even if I must say so myself.

Unfortunately I only thought to get the cameras after the fire was practically out. Missed the blazing inferno...shucks!


So - we are grateful for the mercies of a contained fire that had a lot of potential to do great, powerful and destructive things! I hope this ends the streak of fires on our street!

Since I haven't blogged for several weeks I'll catch you up on some of the main events. Lots of music recitals and concerts (for which I don't have TOO many still pictures); another investiture with its party; our CHE year-end party (including a baby raccoon); a picnic at a Gymkhana/Horse show; and other odds and ends of the past month.


We sat by the horse arena with our picnic "basket" on a most beautiful, gorgeous spring day in a very idyllic place on a horse farm, and enjoyed all the events. I think this was end of April. This was a perfect day - warm but not hot; lightly breezy but not windy; no mosquitoes, no humidity, no rain. Yes, a perfect day!


Some of the "free" horses peacefully grazing, after first standing at the fence looking longingly at the competitors.



Waiting around for the next class to begin? or perhaps receiving their ribbons, I don't remember.


A sleepy, orphaned raccoon gets admired by fascinated kids. (May 19)


A gaggle of girls at a photo shoot. (year-end CHE party, May 19)


Peonies from our garden - ah, the memory of its delicious, fragrant aroma...



Orchestra does the church service (x2) April 25, 2009.



McDonald Road Investiture, May 2.



And here, if it's real, is a photo (distributed via email) of a very rare sight in Cape Town - a thunderstorm, supposedly one morning. Lovely, dramatic photos though, photo-shopped or not!!


Sorry about the "webcam" - and oh yes, we have a vegetable garden put in - you'll definitely need updates of that. So, next time I hope to catch you up, but as you can see, we're being kept out of mischief, and that's the main thing, right? Right!!

Why I love the South

Hey ya'll, if you're not from the South, you'll appreciate these wonderful pics ("borrowed" from the internet) showing what life is truly like for us-all down here. We hope you'll better be able to understand our ways and appreciate our incredible, awe-inspiring and intelligent ingenuity. (By the way, following are my own comments on them - I won't blame the internet for those!)

This one is self-explanatory.


How else do you think we feed them?


To be sure, there's one of them signs for real about 5 miles down the road from us!

and again and again and again....

Hey there, sis, have you noticed a drop in population around here lately?


Well, it doesn't snow much down here - gotta make do!


Worthy of Africa itself!


Is this for church?


I'll "git yer"! The Southern version of "Facebook" (or is it a "twitter"?)



Works for me! (but I'm sleeping down below)


Ain't nobody broken in yet! That alarm sign works every time!


Cain't see through it but it shor keeps out th' cold!


Anuther great weekend ahead!


Hope your weekend is great too.
Bye for now!

Life's Little Lovelies

Before April completely bi-passes me, I must discipline myself to sit down and chronicle another couple weeks of spring madness. First off, 3 weeks worth of spring house "cam" pictures.

The first, April 13:


The next, April 17:


The last, today, April 24:


So, our azaleas are in their amazing peak now:



A couple weekends ago was S's Almuni (also known as Alumni) weekend.
It's nice to know he comes from such an outstanding academic institution. Frankly, we wondered , at first, if it was actually a Trekkie convention. But then we saw some friends, and even relatives, so we knew it couldn't be!!


During groupie, uh, group photos, this little doggie came all by himself and sat himself down to get his little mug in the picture! What a smart hound! (Sorry my camera made all these blotches on the picture - one right on his nose!)


C has had and will have, a number of performances and recitals in these two weeks (last and next). On Tuesday night she played her violin in a recital for the first time - Witches' Dance, and did very well. Tomorrow she plays cello in orchestra and promises us this will be spectacular! She's especially excited about two gavotte's by JS Bach. Then next Thursday will be another recital on cello. We haven't quite decided whether to play the Adagio or the Allegro of Marcello's something or other. Since it's an end-of-year type of recital, there'll be about 40 kids playing so we'll have to choose something relatively short.

Oh yes, some more big news is that we have the garden ploughed and quite a bit put in already. It's been so wet lately we haven't been able to do much. Here's Mr Allen doing his thing.

And here is another of C's house creations - this time some kind of tent over an old playset found abandoned when we moved in 5 yrs ago - it has finally realized its destiny!


And that brings us to the end of our lovely spring photo album for now. Next time watch for "Reasons I'm glad to be from the South" funny photos gleaned from the internet grape vine.

Happy Sabbath ya'll!

April's Aim At Assiduous Alacrity

(OK, I did have to verify several words myself, so don't feel bad.)

Happy Birthday to a certain very special family member!! Hope you're having a wonderful 4th of the 4th as we always say!
We've had a very busy time the last few weeks so will start adding photos now to give you the picture. Talking of pictures, I need to start the camera "cam" again as our azaleas are starting to show little buds and peaks of pink, plus the trees' leaves are starting to come out again - just in time for another hard freeze tomorrow night! Hopefully not - that's what happened two years ago and it wasn't a pretty thing.

Last week sometime we had one grand "investiture" and C got a bunch of Sunbeam honors - now added to these on the sash below.



A gaggle of girls pose for a picture. (This is barely half of the Sunbeam group which was very difficult to round up in all the excitement!)



This event was on March 15 (the Ides, you know). It was pouring down rain most of the day and quite chilly but the kids had a blast as usual.


That evening good friend, Jan, from "afar" (Macon) came to stay. We had a nice visit and I got a lot of good school ideas. She is so creative!



A couple of C's Lego creations lately.




A field trip to the zoo. A, C and H (as in ACHoo!)


And here's our sweet baby, being so good (sitting in the cat's bed!)



C's class has been doing some sewing on the machines lately at the CHE Home Ec. class. She has thus made a pillow, an apron, a scarf blouse and is now working on a skirt. Previous to this they were working by hand so this is a treat.


Well, if that ain't enough doings....I dunno fer ye!
Happy Spring!

Forsythia Forces Feigned Fatuity

while Knight in Matte-like armour slays ferocious lion - beware the Ides of March


and all other Ides....

Skyviews and Other Views

Although we're not members of the official Skywatch, these pics of the recent Shuttle launch (March 15), taken by S who's down in FL (taking a 4 day class), are beautiful and unique. Taken from Avon Park.

Solid booster break-away.









The smoke cloud lingers in the last sunlight.


Still glowing.



And now for something completely different - Dragons (also from FL)


A "little" alligator.



And a big don't-mess-with-my-baby mama alligator,



or I'll EAT you!


And here are some videos of the penguins at our recent visit to the TN Aquarium.



one more:


and ooonnnne more:


And last but not least, our cute little salamander has lost her gills and is now officially a landlubber! We have made a humus habitat and she seems content to burrow into it, at least all day - who knows what she does at night! We've given her cut-worms, grubs, snails, her old triop food and roly-poly beetles to eat....we have no idea if she's eating them 'cos they burrow under too. She's about 4cm or around 2 inches long now - unfortunately about as big around as the cut-worms I put in there - wonder if she'll attempt to attack them!? - or vice versa?
I'm calling it a "her" because her spots seem more gray than white. She is now "Sallie". If the spots turn white, hmmm, maybe Naaman!


And that's all for tonight folk! Remember to dress in green tomorrow!