Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

     Wishing you good health, happiness, and success in the coming year and always. Happy New Year!

Count our Blessing as we Should

   Today I had some time off from work and decided today to  meditate, write in my journal  and count my blessings.  I had a lot on my mind and had been complaining all week about all the things that had annoyed me ...Like my bills, a flat tire, a cold that just wouldn't go away and not enough time to get all of my Christmas shopping done. ..These complaints took a back seat when I heard about a tragic story on the News concerning 20 little children and 6 teachers that were gunned down in Newtown  Conn, Friday, by a young troubled man by the name of Adam Lanza. http://news.yahoo.com/evidence-hints-deadlier-plan-conn-massacre-195025644.html

My heart and prayers goes out to all the parent's and the families who lost there loved ones in this tragedy during this Holiday Season..... My prayers also goes out to my co-worker Sarah, who lost her mother to cancer on Monday..And our dear blogging friend... Lorraine of Flower Lady's Musings
http://flowerladysmusings.blogspot.com/  who lost her husband DH...also to cancer. 

May we always focus on the good
And count our blessings as we should.
May all our complaints depart
And thank God with a grateful heart.

Our troubles may be the same,
But we can still praise His good name!
Our load may be hard to bear,
But thank God, the Loadbearer is there.

We will forget to complain
And not mention life’s pain,
If our days are filled with praise,
And we thank God in all our ways.

Don’t think that things are so bad,
And don’t live with a heart so sad.
Countless blessings are ours each day.
Let us thank God when we kneel and pray.

Gene Griffin

A Good Deed

 A New York City police officer is photographed giving boots to a homeless man on Nov. 14. (NYPD/Facebook)

 

 This story touched my heart as well as many others across the nation. It is featured on Yahoo's front page and the NYPD's facebook page see link below.

 http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/nypd-boots-homeless-man-photo-145219581.html

 It is not often that one gets to capture or witness good deeds of the heart and what makes this deed really special is that it is done by an NYPD officer.

This is not to say that officer's do not do good deeds... what I'm implying is that it is a wonderful feeling to witness a ..Man in blue 

helping someone in need...for it restores our faith as citizens in our  Men in blue.. as well as humankind so I found it fitting to post a tribute to NYPD officer Lawrence De Primo in a poem written by Audrey Heller.

        

A Good Deed

Don't let a day go by, without acknowledging,
someones good deed. We all like to hear nice
things as it helps the one, who's in need. It's
not very often, one will go out of their way, by
being nice. It's something, one should do often
and not have to think about twice. Who doesn't
thrive on kindness and being noticed, once in a
while? All it takes is a firm shake of the hand and
a warm and cheery smile. You get enough of
those, who live in their own world and haven't
anything, nice to say. They go around, feeling
miserable and it rubs off on you, some way. As
long as you're able, be kind and pleasant to
someone and in the long run, it will be returned.
This is a very good lesson, all of us, should have
learned!

Audrey Heller

Highlights of Downtown Spartanburg

My co-worker invited me to come listen to his band.... " Good Chemistry" play in the downtown Spartanburg Square.  There were also horse and carriage rides, cold drinks and restaurants near by if you wanted refreshments, lunch, or dinner.

To catch a Hummingbird

 

Above: Madevilla vine

Hummingbirds fascinate me beyond words. I fell in love with them several years ago during one of our family reunions in South Carolina. When I got back home I bought hummingbird feeders and placed them in my backyard near the Weigela bushes... because, once in a blue moon I would catch one feeding from their blooms. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned in to Month; The Hummers were a No show that year.

   The following year I did some research and learned to plant the flowers that hummingbirds liked. Mexican Zinnia's was a hit and so was Mandevilla's and although the hummers would only sip for just a second and zip..I was happy to catch sight of a few. I saw at least 4 before the summer was over.

Here in my new town (South Carolina)  I have tried to do the same. I bought a Mandevilla and placed it on my patio a month ago... No hummers showed up..... But  yesterday..Walla! 

I spotted a  female hummingbird hovering around my Mandevilla... However for some reason it didn't hold her interest and she flew off...But the sight of her excited me enough to go out and get a feeder. Later around 6pm the same day... I got a visit from a male hummer...Yahoo! The following day three more visits between 8am and 6pm.

 Now if I can just find the time to catch a photo of a hummer at my feeder...It would be the icing on the cake.... Stay tuned.

 P.S. Male hummers are smaller than the female.

Thank you for stopping by..

Sunday surprises

Sunday was a beautiful day I and decided to use this day off to  have a  picnic with my sisters and niece at a private park called Milliken.

Miliken is one of the parks I visit often because it's nearby. The small park has lots of singing birds, turtles, ducks,  geese and other wildlife that pass through... 

However the down  side is that one has to travel up a hill for quite a distance ..then down the other side to get to the center of the park.

I had tortured myself before to enjoy this little park and wondered why this day felt a little different... there was an odd feeling in the air.... A surprise or two, was waiting for us on the other side of the hill.

  

My picnic menu was... fresh chicken wings and bratwursts for barbecuing along with toss salad, sweet tea, potato chips and chocolate cookies to name a few. Up the hill we went and down the other side to meet.....

Surprise # 1.... Two ugly geese.    

These geese was watching and waiting for us to come down the hill. As we got closer to them, they began to encircle us.... Squawking as they lowered their heads in a threatening manner.

I had never seen this specie of geesse before... They were quite menacing in look and behavior. Thier bills appeard sharp and hard enough to crack open a coconut.  We froze as they approached us. 

"They want something my sister screamed, they know we have food!  The squawking got louder so I reached into my bread bag....Ripped it open... threw some pieces and Ran!

My 2 sisters and my 4 year old niece took off like jets in a airport...leaving me behind to fin for myself. As I ran I threw bread to my left and to my right to keep them at bay but they gobbled up every peice I threw within seconds; they were catching up and I began to panic which caused me to tilt and spill my picnic goodies from the cart I was pulling.

Calm down I told myself... just find the other loaf of bread..
Once I found it I flung whole pieces like flying disk, then took off running in a Zig Zag pattern, for some reason that tactic worked..

They stood in the distance watching me in awe... Maybe they thought I was a specie they had never seen before.

I reached our designated spot and plopped down on the blanket under the tree. I was now hot, sweaty mosquito food. But that's okay...   I'll take mosquito bites over a gooses bite any day.

Surprise # 2.....    We get out the grill and light the charcoal ..... Ahhh we catch a nice breeze and sit back and rest a little.... Then this walks by....

He walks by with his large goofy dog and gives us a half grin and a wave... We watched him in the distance as he continued to stare at us as he crossed over the hill and down the other side...  Minutes later this arrived.

" Good afternoon folks, I see something wrong with this picture. That right there, ain't Gone Fly. We look in the direction of his point and back to him again. 'I don't mind you picnic-kin, but you got to put that out.. " Oh I said'...Okay we didn't know. "We'll Like I said I can't fault you cuz it ain't no signs up to say that you can't,  but I appreciated if you put that out"....  Slissshhhh! my sister puts it out with a bottle of water and he moves on.

 Well that was that... We could only bring cold cuts when we want to picnic here, I guess we'll have to take our picnickin some place else.  off we go to search for another park. On the way out my sister recalled a park she heard of but never visited. It was called Lake Bowen and on the way out she asked a nice lady if she knew where this park was. She kindly gave us directions up Highway 9.

We liked Surprise # 3

We had never been to Lake Bowen.It is located in Boiling Springs Sc, which was only a half hour or so away. There were picnic tables, swings, Barbeque grills and a play ground area for kids.  Yippie!

We watch boats, Jet skiers, motorcycist and other interesting people who came to watch the boats and enjoy the park as well..

This young fellow I'll call .... Michael, I thought was there to watch the boats as well....Not a Fat chance!  He was there to catch squirrels and other biting creatures.

 Below:  Micheal proudly shows off his creature catching gloves. "I was only minutes away from catching that squirrel he said. "Really I said... aren't you afraid that one is going to bite you? 

    " Nah, I get bit all the time, I once got bitten by a flying squirrel three times!   " But I said... you have scrapes and cuts all over your knees and elbows I think you need to bandage those up..  "Nah, I keep my shirt off all the time I'm used to it... "You know what a snapping turtle almost took my finger off.... and one time... I was chased by a momma crocodile, those momma crocodiles can really be mean.  "I bet they can.. I said. " Okay I'm going back to catch one of those squirrels and off he went.

I had a wonderful time out at Lake Bowie and of course I didn't want to go home, but I had to work the next day but I stayed until dusk.

Below: My niece plays along the shore line.

 As I bid farewell I took one more photo and in the distance... I heard this...

"GET IN THIS CAR NOW!  Wait! Im not ready yet.. I almost caught a muskrat!  Micheal where every you are I hope that you are okay.

Stone Faces

I am just loving these garden planter heads. I found these on another bloggers post. I regret that I forgot where I saw it.  But aren't they gorgeous!

 I will have to make them because I have learned that to purchase one will cost a Arm and a leg! Another blogging friend on another network....

 ( Facebook).. gave me a hint on where to purchase and make them myself.... Once I have the opportunity to make them I will update and blog on it.... check out the do it yourself  kit below in the second photo:
 

Here's the do it yourself kit...you can purchase on Amazon.

Thanks for stopping by......If you should decide you would like to make them as well..Let me know how they came out  because it may be a while before I get to this project..Thanx.

Life is a Journey… Stop and smell the roses along the way.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated my blog…but I’m not gone … I’m just on a Journey. Life takes us all, through routes, paths and detours we sometimes do not plan for.. or expect.

 When I decided that I would move from Michigan to South Carolina last Oct… I expected some challenges along my new Journey…….

 But an ailing aunt ( now deceased ) and a demanding job... have rerouted my path, thus placing a temporary halt to my hobbies.


 However my biggest challenge (Moving from one state to another) is over. I’m discovering new roads, new paths, plants, nature and people. The culture of the south has certainly changed over the last 20 years. People from all over the country and the world are now calling the south their home.

I am happy to discover and enjoy the parks in my area, Burnet, Milliken, and Cleveland, but I’m particularly fond of a nearby park called Hatcher garden, it’s a wonderful treat for my soul after a long week of hard work.... For now I’m working on making my temporary home a place of respite and pleasure… 

 So here are a few updates….My sister planned a fantastic little birthday get away for her 4 year old daughter at the Peace Center in Downtown Greenville.  Psssst…. It was also a secret little get away for us too…The Lion King had come to Michigan  a zillion times.. but the opportunity to see it would escape us..  Now it was here in Greenville and we caught the next train smoking to get those tickets...

   But before the show..We decided to grab a bite to eat. “hmmm…where should we go?

There’s so much to choose from there’s restaurants all along downtown Main street.  The first restaurant we passed or noticed first... was the Nose Dive.

The Nose Dive  is a Pub style restaurant that serves special wines and handcrafted beer. One of their unique foods on the menu is a Hamburger with fried pickles and spicy ranch sauce….. Mmmmm, sounds like a fun place for a girls night out.  I’ll make a date to gather up my crew…

Unfortunately I didn’t get the name of this cute little restaurant… I was busy staring at the cute little tables and missed it.

  

 Right next door to the restaurant whose name I neglected to get, was a Mexican restaurant called Cantinflas.  It had an eye catching Mural and statues adorning the right and left wall as you enter the restaurant. I’ll be back to try that garden enchilada.

Were still walking up Main street trying to decide what to eat…..To the left are my sisters and my niece

  Asian food is one of many cuisines  that  I love ....

.At the Hibachi and Asian Kitchen you’ll get your traditional cuisine of beef, pork and chicken and  have the option of course, of dinning in or take out…..They serve sushi, hibachi and sake “Oh Yum! I’ll be back to try this one too.

    Just Next door to the Orient is another oriental styled restaurant called

Sushi Murasaki…What would you like?… the shrimp dumplings steamed or fried, crab and cream croquette or smoked salmon …. “Oh what is a girl to do! Every restaurant on Main Street sounds lip smacking tasty!

  "Oh- snap!...What’s that across the street. ...It’s a restaurant called 
     “Sticky Fingers” and sticky fingers can only mean one thing
  ( Bar-B-Q!)..our feet are moving a little faster now as we hurry across the street. 

Sticky fingers is a BBQ restaurant that serves hickory smoked ribs and barbecue but as you’ll see there are other options on the menu if you aren’t in the mood for Barbecue.  My little sis decided to order the seafood combo….

                   I’m too cute to get all sticky today, so I’ll try the seafood combo

                                                      
I on the other hand, am never to cute to eat anything sticky when it comes to eating anything barbequed.. that is why you won't get a picture of me eating it....

But I also like seafood so I ordered a seafood rib combo...  My rib came without sauce and it took a minute for me to fiquire out why? I discovered this was done on purpose so that I would have a choice of five or so sauces to try out...


Memphis oringinal, Carolina sweet, Tennesee whisky and a few others but the best in my opinion was the Harbanero.

Don't let the word " hot" fool you... the Harbanero sauce was actually quite mild..but just test a little before you take my word for it, my tolarance for heat may be different....

"

My other sister and her daughter the 4 year old birthday girl had chicken fingers with fried onion and a side of sweet potato casserole that comes topped with peacans..she  allowed me to teast a little and

“Oh- my sweet diggity dog…  Whose Mama can I slap!

The warm, sweet, buttery, cinnamony flavor  blended with the topped peacans was- down right delicious! Unfortunatley I didn’t get a picture of it.

By the way…. I must give a shot out to our waiter whose name was Bo… Hi.. Bo keep up the good work you made our first visit to Sticky Finkers  fun.

In the following pages follow us and the scenes as we head back to the Peace Center to catch the show the “ Lion King” ……


Below:  This Main street statue is setting at the Main and Washington street intersection and is dedicated to Greenville’s first all black high school.
                                                                     
                                                  

                                ( Sterling High school 1896-1970 )

Below: I found these two interesting, I took the photo from the other side of the street , I suppose that one of them is a mermaid I'll have to do some research on it. Il Porcellino (Italian "piglet") Legend has it that if you place a coin in it's mouth and it falls in the grate below it... you will have good luck.... you can also rub its nose for good luck... "Okay piggy I could use a Million bucks stat! The good luck boar was donated to Greenville by the friends of Florance; to learn more about the story behind this donation and the organization click here http://www.friendsofflorence.org/projects/youngfriendsofflorence      I love the birds, boat, the fly dude and his dog staring out at me at the Marry Praytor Gallery

 

                                  A fountain outside the Westin Hotel

Below: Me and the birthday girl have a chat with Mr. Poinsett.
Joel Roberts Poinsett was a Physician, an American statesmen and botanist. He  introduced that popular Christmas flower we call the Poinsettia in his honor. The Poinsettia is a specie of Mexico and Central America.


( 1779-1851 )

Above: outside dining at the Nose Dive

Further up we pass a tee-shirt shop called Delta Fun Tees..
 I'm never to old for Mickey. I'll be back for that tee-shirt.

 

We're getting closer to the Peace Center and are now passing the sights and sounds of the Reedy River. There's activity's and restaurants to enjoy on the Reedy river as well.  

We're there Yea! My sister's and birthday girl ahead of me.

I really love the colorful banners and the cast. But I was especially fond of the characters Mufasa and Simba. I don't have Papa Mufasa's banner but have his son's below: How does a Lioness express that a Lion dude looks hot in the cat world?

"Ooo Simba what you like?... Water Buffalo?...Zebra? You know us lady lions will catch what you need to keep them muscles strong...Roooaaaarrrrr!

Once we enter the theater we were told that no photo's would be allowed during the show...Darn It!

 We'll have to settle with what we got...So we took more of these.

The souvenir stands

I bought a Lion King mug you see pictured above and the tote bag below:

My kid sister, my niece and myself.

Thank you for stopping by Vetsy's View... please leave a comment.
Catch the Lion King when they visit your town..I promise they will not disappoint you'll want to see again and again!. There's lots of things to do in here in Greenville and the Upstate Carolina's for more info
 click here: http://www.upstatescusa.com/