A visit to Augusta, PAX and Shaken not stirred.

I spent some time with friends in Augusta GA last week.

What a week it turned out to be.

 Before the Storm

My Sweet Husband took all the photos from our place this week. 

I was in Augusta GA. 

This was an early morning shot before Winter Storm Pax arrived.

It Begins

If you look closely at this picture of our old barn, you can see the snow falling. 

Snowfall in the Woods

If you have visited my blog before, you probably know our home is in the Sumter National Forest.

These trees are on the edge of our property. 

Meanwhile, In Augusta we were getting ready.

Josephine  in Pink

Joe started out in pink. Then, possibly in honor of the Olympics,

She changed into a ski sweater. 

Molly in Pink

 Molly is a silly girl. I said Smile Pretty.

Pogo

Pogo was busy being petted. 

Riley

Riley is another silly girl.

Smile Pretty 

Toby

Toby is the only boy in the house. He is tiny and very cuddly. 

AKA Luigi

When we woke up Wednesday morning, the roads were ice.

I nearly fell on the way to my pickup, then the doors were frozen shut (not the locks, the actual doors) I called my boss and stayed put. 

We played video games on the Wii, Mario Party is one of my favorites I also like Mario Cart.

The same friend who crocheted Joe's pink dress, had a bit too much time on her hands, that is how Toby ended up impersonating Luigi. 

Heaven Lei

As you can see, she is not wearing a jacket. 

Maybe because her own black coat is so lovely. 

She likes to play in the snow (doggie's door and very high fence).

Thursday morning, when I was the only one up, she came in from outside soaking wet. Then made a beeline for my nice warm lap.

Good thing she is so darn cute.

Norma Jean

Norma Jean lives there as well. She is a very large and very silly black puppy. She did not wear a jacket either and I did not manage to get her to hold still long enough to take her picture. 

Bird Bath and Ice

See how thick the ice is on the branches. At times it sounded like cannons going off, trees and branches snapping. Then the power went out. 

Frames in the Garden

We do not know yet how much damage the weather did to their garden. 

High Branches

 Luckily, none of these came down.

Close Up of Ice on Branches

See how the trees are bent over?

Meanwhile back in the woods

I returned home Friday evening after dark. Most of the snow and ice was gone. 

My Sweet Husband went out in the cold to get pictures for me while the storm was still going. 

Camellia Buds in Ice

Some survived the cold, but we will not have many blossoms this year. 

Daffodil Sprouts

I checked, they all appear to be fine now that the snow is gone. 

Home
Friday evening when I was sitting safely at home eating dinner,
we heard a roar, then a rumble and the house started to shake.
An earthquake. According to the news, the epicenter was about 45 miles away.

Me, I feel lucky.
My family, friends, and home are all fine.
I have heat, power, hot water, good music playing and good food in front of me. My Sweet Husband just brought me a very full cup of very hot tea (my favorite kind), and I know that I am loved.
What a week!
Cheers
Kat

Toys!

Meow!

The newest resident at Kat's Corner.

This is Vickie, she is sweet and never fusses. She does not scratch the furniture (Neither does Spontaneous) or ever have to be fed. She doesn't actually do much of anything, she is a virtual kitty on my Ipod Touch.

Toys!

We all need ways to escape from the world on occasion. Play is quite therapeutic.

It helps keep stress related illness and grumpy spells at bay. Physical play, sports, long walks, or even just goofing off are great, but when the weather is wet and cold (again) it is nice to stay inside.

If you have been looking at this blog for very long, then you probably know how fond I am of my computer and my camera. Well, I have added a new tool to the set. My Ipod is both tool and toy. I can read homework on it, use it to post this blog (although typing is a little slow on it), check my email and lots of other things. You can add applications or apps to it to make it do even more stuff. I added a yellow pages, now when we are out goofing off, all we have to do is pull into a McDonald's or Starbucks parking lot (to hitch onto their Wi-fi) and I can look up the local pizza hut or what ever.

Can you tell I am having fun?

This is the virtual cat doing what she does most of, sleeping (one more way she is like Spontaneous). 

 This is another one of the games, it is called "Angry Birds Lite". Lite is the free version. I know why it is so popular. The idea sounds quite dumb, you use your finger to aim and pull a slingshot loaded with a bird. It flys into different structures full of green pigs. The object is to destroy the structures and the pigs. It is amazingly addictive. It is one of many new Physics based games, how you aim and how far you pull back actually make a difference.

While I am having fun, I wonder what my Dad would have thought about it. He loved technology. I remember when I got a transistor radio back in the 70's. It was round with a picture of a peace sign that was also a tree. It had a chain and you could wear it around your neck but it was heavy. It was probably 5 or 6 inches around. Dad took the back off to show me what it looked like inside. He pointed out resistors and how tiny everything was.

Dad was interested in the space program, he said it was encouraging scientists to do things better. He said that trying to make things smaller and lighter for the space program is how they managed to make my transistor radio so small. (For a little more on the space program and my Dad, see one of my favorite posts Space Cadet). No wonder I am a bit of a Geek. I am quite sure that if my Dad had lived a little longer, we would have had one of the early home computers. (We did not have a color TV until 1974 though because the old Black and White "worked just fine". He was thrifty). The picture above shows just how far we have come. I put 96 hours worth of music on this thing and the entire collection of Sherlock Holmes Stories as well as a bunch of other stuff and I still have plenty of room. It is tiny, less than 1/2 an inch thick yet I have no trouble reading on it. Yes, I am enthused. I can and already have been reading other blogs on it too. Several of my favorites are bookmarked. The case looks red, but it is actually pink.

I still appriciate the old fashioned. I can step outside and see sights like this without any technology at all. My home is another of my great stress relievers. I am very lucky to live in such a lovely place.

Technology helps me to share the beauty.

 Have you noticed how much pink is in this post? Good think I like pink.

Early morning Kitty.

This is my relaxation coach.

Spontaneous says toys are ok, as long as I don't stop petting her to play with them.

So, what do you like to play with?

Kat

Antebellum Autumn.

Each day here in the old antebellum is a little prettier this time of year.

The sun is shining, but it is cooler.

My leaves are slowly turning.

 The early morning light shows off our house nicely.

 This side view shows how red the dogwood is getting.
See the little tree in front? Nicely yellow.
Plenty of leaves on the ground.

 This is the same dogwood just a few days ago, pretty but not as nice as it is right now.

The little tree, to the left in this picture, is still quite green.

 Even the lizards are putting on their autumn colors.

Ok, so maybe he is really putting on his, hide on the brick, color,

but it looks like autumn to me.
(Don't you think he looks just a little grumpy?)

I took this one in Greenville last weekend.

Look at all that red!

My friend Brian the Cat writes from that part of the world.
I bet he would like my lizard.
More pictures to come,
autumn is just starting around here.
Cheers,
Kat

Column Envy

My new blog heading reminded me there was still one more Blog from Rome I wanted to write.

It seems as if every building in Rome is either marble or has columns on it.

The Pope has some great columns.

The war memorial and museum has lots of columns.

You can climb stairs to the top and look out over the city from here.

All these columns!

This ancient front porch is rather spectacular.

I wanted to take this lovely column home, but didn't think it would go in the carry on (My Sweet Hubby loves me enough to pose for silly photos, just because I asked him too).

When it comes right down to it, I think I like my columns better. I love to travel but their is no place like home.

Cheers,

Kat

Waiting

I have taken the last final.
Now all I can do is wait for the grades to be posted.

I have excellent company, while I wait.
Spontaneous is very good at waiting.
All cats are, we could take lessons.
I have a lovely place to wait.
Hope your day is as nice as mine has been.
Kat

The rest of my early moring walk.

I will pick up at the pond from my last post, (cue the sound of geese).

I can see home in the distance so turning my back on the pond, I head for it. In a few weeks you will barely be able to see it from the main road (that is fine with us).
This picture is a close up of our big elm. It gets these lacy little buds before the leaves come in. How pretty is that? I think spring is saying, hang on, I'm coming.
There are what sounds like a couple hundred other birds flirting in the trees as I walk past. I could not even begin to guess how many kinds. They are apparently all camera shy this morning and will not let me get close enough to photograph. It reminds me of the mountain ladies from Morocco, I have several photos of their backs as they whirled away to keep me from taking their picture. These silly birds won't even let me take pictures of their backs.

Excuse me for just a minute, I need to put a lady bug outside.

O.K. where was I, oh yeah, by lunch time, the sky on one side was as blue as could be, on the other side, it looked like trouble coming. My Sweet Hubby and I decided to head out for our walk a little early. This picture was taken shortly after we left the house. I love the details in the clouds, see how they look like they are mirroring the shape of the frame?

More clouds, so many shades of blue. This looks like a meadow, it is a field of baby pine trees. This particular batch is a couple of years old and a few are nearly three feet high. I love watching the cycle of all of this, not just in seasons, but in years and hopefully, decades.

The clouds started to look a bit more threatening so at this point, I put away my camera and we headed back to the house.

Excuse me, I need to go put another lady bug outside.

Nope, that is not snow. My camera actually managed to catch the raindrops. They were coming down so hard! My Sweet Hubby and I timed it just right, we felt a drop or two as we got to the yard, but that was it. We have had so much rain lately, our yard is saturated.

OK, here is another one, I wonder what these guys got into that causes the white specks? Oh well, out he goes.

It is hard to justify complaining about the rain when it results in things like this. The tiny flowers in the center are on the biggest of my rosemary plants. This is the first time it has bloomed!

Camellias from the side porch, after the storm.

Remember the old rhyme:

March winds and Aprils Showers,

Bring forth Mays Flowers.

We are a little ahead of the game here. The best part is that even with all these signs of spring, it is still cool enough for a nice long snuggle in the morning.

What? Another Lady Bug?

Oh my, out he goes.

Cheers,

Kat