Sabrina and Smoky – Southern Cats

Sabrina and Smoky say  “We have been pestering Fay to blog for us.   We know we are the most popular subjects Fay writes about and we think we are so cute you would want to see more pictures of us.”

Fay calls us Southern Cats because we don’t seem to mind the heat so much and has it ever been hot.   Even with our fur coats we don’t mind relaxing on the screen porch on a hot day.   The ceiling fan is on and we have a water bowl.  Fay doesn’t let us stay out too long.  You can see we have life pretty good.

See the squirt bottle on the right.   We get squirted when we try to claw the screen when we are chasing bugs and when we jump on the kitchen counter.  We don’t like getting squirted.

Hope you like our pictures.   We like showing off.

Summer in South Carolina

Floating down the river in an inner tube, stopping at roadside stands for fresh SC peaches (SC produces more peaches than Georgia) and fresh blueberries, summer concerts outside all the time in many cities, lots of farmers markets and neighbors supplying you with all the tomatoes you can eat.  Yum.  I have already made gazpacho soup twice and will make chilled peach soup tomorrow and blueberries over angel food cake.  The melons are also delicious.   Really sweet.

And it’s HOT and HUMID.  It has been in the upper 90′s for several weeks.  Now it is even too hot to be out early in the morning or late at night but I gladly take the heat for such a mild winter.  Feels like our two months in Naples last summer.

Yesterday was Bob’s birthday so we went to the Green River just across the boarder in NC to go floating on inner tubes.   You can go from 1 to 4 hours.   We just did one hour.   It is a beautiful river about 45 minutes from our house.  All tree lined and about 60 feet wide and pretty shallow but very rocky.  The water flow on the river is pretty interesting – it comes from a dam.   At the end is some information form their web site nctubing.com.

Let me tell you about the rapids.  I have never been really comfortable in the water so when I heard about the water snakes and the class one rapids I was seeing this as maybe more of an adventure than I wanted.  They said there was one class 1 rapid in our hour.  Class 1: Very small rough areas, requires no maneuvering. (Skill Level: None).  While there was one there were at least 5 other very rocky fast moving spots.  I got stuck a couple times on big boulders just below the water.   Let’s just say I don’t want to see a class 2 rapid.  Of course Bob thought it was great and he wants to go with our visitors coming next week for 2 hours.

My exit from the river was a disaster.  The current moves fast and is strong enough that unless you have good footing you can’t stand in the water and you can’t have good footing because of all the rocks.   I ended up having to call for help because I was going under.   Very scary.  I was the only one on the river with a life preserver and I’m sure glad I had it.

We went to High Cotton Restaurant in downtown Greenville for dinner.   It was one of the best meals ever and add in a nice jazz trio and we had a great evening.  I am always amazed how many people are out at night downtown.  They have live bands going many nights.   We talked about staying but it was just to darn hot.

Here is info about the river.

The Green River
Why is this river so different?  Most importantly, it is a dam controlled river.  The Green River flows into Lake Summit.  This water is held by the Tuxedo hydro-station owned by Duke Power.  The water then flows through a moderate section of river know as the “Upper Green.”.  After this the dangerous section of the river know as “The Green River Narrows” starts.   A few miles down stream the river passes by a public access area know as “Fish Top.”  Another mile and a half down river the water flows under a large concrete bridge at our campground.  Three miles later the water flows under a second concrete bridge similar to the first.  A mile and a half further the water flows past another public access area known as “Big Rock.”  A few miles later the river deepens and the flow slows as the Green River runs into Lake Adger.

Who does what?
The Narrows section of the river boasts multiple Class 5+ and Class 4 rapids.  Only the most experienced paddlers kayak this section of the river.  Paralysis and death are possibilities to consider before navigating this dangerous section of the Green.
The Upper has a few challenging rapids and best suits a moderately experienced paddler.  Kayaking this section takes local experience in navigating the takeout.
The “Lower Green” starts at the Fish Top Access Area and ends at the Big Rock Access Area.  The Lower has Class 1 and Class 2 rapids.  This 6 mile section of river is where all of our tubing trips take place.

Need recipes using hot peppers

My neighbor gave me about a dozen red, green and yellow hot peppers.  Anyone got any recipes that might use them up like a hot pepper relish?  We aren’t big hot pepper people so not sure what to do with them.

Southern Summer

Happy Fourth of July.  Even though the country is not having it’s best year I still wish it a happy birthday and sincerely wish for better times ahead.

Finally yesterday we were able to turn the air conditioner off all day.   It has been unusually warm, 18 days over 90 and almost all were at least 95.  It is cooler in the morning, around 75, so we can always have coffee on the screen porch.  The ceiling fan makes a world of difference.   Kitties love exploring the deck plants, again, and watch the birds at the bird feeders.  After sunset it cools down to 80 or so and the kitties and I go enjoy the late evening air on the porch.   They LOVE to chase bugs.  Smoky gets so excited and runs from one side to the other watching a moth by the light.  I told Bob I think we have southern cats.   They love sleeping in the chairs on the porch, even when it’s hot.   It didn’t take them any time to find their water dish out there and they both love trying to drink out of my water bucket.   It’s still cooler than Naples FL but I must say a few times I miss the pool we had at the house.

I don’t usually talk sports but news this week that South Carolina won their first ever national baseball championship was welcome news.  It took 11 innings but they won.  The state is so proud of them.  Let’s face it, good news is hard to come by lately.  Also Greenville just picked the name for their new HOCKEY team – Greenville Road Warriors and hired the coach.   First game is October 15.

Big fireworks in Greenville tonight, 75,000 expected.  It will be minus Bob and I.   That’s just too many people.  We had a yummy salmon dinner with honey glaze last night with fresh green beans with honey and thyme grilled peaches with honey and pecans for dessert.  Yes I found some new honey recipes.  Tonight will have a nice grilled dinner  -  I think lamb patties and grilled vegetables or shrimp and scallops with pasta and fresh homemade pesto made with  basil from my garden.  Lots of things from the farmers market.

Speaking of Farmers Market, we have made Saturday morning visits to the large Greenville and smaller Travelers Rest markets.  The TR one has about a dozen vendors with lots of vegies and fruit, fresh bread, organic meats, honey, goat cheese and goat milk products.  It’s close and just the kind of things we like.   There are other markets open daily that I have yet to explore.  We are loving the SC peaches.  We have had tomatoes from my tomato plant a couple times and they taste better now.   My hanging tomato finally has a few green tomatoes.

We drained the hot tub.   Just weren’t using it now.   The lower level is really pretty with 6 big hanging plants and four large floor pots filled with flowers on the lower level patio.  Before we have company the end of July we will have to do a scrubbing of the cement to get rid of the mold.   Even in the sun it grows!

Other than that we go to Furman 2-3 times a week where Bob swims, I do water aerobics. Most days there is an afternoon nap or at least a rest.  I am working on a new little book that Helen is writing about life at Hazel Ridge and Bob is doing his woodworking stuff.  I have events several times a month with Newcomers and we both work on the membership database and Bob is working on security and internet systems for the new Guild building.  Life is good.

Upstate SC town makes a top 10 list

Family Circle magazine is naming Simpsonville SC as one of the 10 best places for a family.   Simpsonville is about 20 miles from us.

Good news for the Upstate!

Check out

http://www.wyff4.com/news/24112375/detail.html

http://www.familycircle.com/family-fun/money/10-best-towns-for-families-2010/?page=7

Thanks Brenda for telling me about this.

Bob’s wood projects

Earlier this spring Bob made a folding workbench for the garage.   It didn’t take him very long and really turned out nice.  It’s so nice to have a bench when you need it but that it takes up almost no space when we aren’t using it.

He recently finished an 8 week class on building a workbench project at Woodworkers Guild  and this week he has been busy making his own bench.   It is going well.  He hired a young man (16) that was in his bench class and is also in his box class is helping him and that makes things go much quicker.

Bob is also taking a 5 week class in making a box.   He is going to make a cherry box for me to store my handmade greeting cards in.   He is really having fun!

This weekend we are going to turn some pens.

Oriental Lilies

The first spring we were here I planted 12 oriental lily bulbs.   Last summer I wasn’t here to see them bloom so this year I have been very impatiently waiting to see what they look like.   Wow.  About half of them have bloomed now with white, light pink and dark pink flowers.   Some of the plants are taller than I am. The blooms last forever.   I should have cut flowers  at least a couple more weeks.  Enjoy.

Notice the little gray kitty Smoky peaking over the table to enjoy the flowers.