Fall classes and tours

Bob and I are all registered for our fall classes and tours with OLLI.   I will be taking an 8 week course on Shakespeare’s Comedies.  I’m not a huge Shakespeare fan but I have heard so many wonderful things about the instructor and how fun and interesting he makes the class that I decided to try it.

Bob and I are both taking an 8 week class called “In Conversation” where they bring in a different person each week to talk to us.  Topics are varied – political science professor, superintendent of schools, history professor, folk singer, philosophy professor, governor of the Federal Reserve, music professor, etc.

Bob is taking a 4 week class to improve his lap swimming and he is so excited he can hardly sleep at night.

Our one time Friday tours are “Mysteries of the Hunley” the Civil War submarine, Natural History at Paris Mt. State Park, Comparison of Italian Gothic and Italian Renaissance Art at the Bob Jones Art Museum and Learning to Appreciate Paintings. Bob and I will be seeing the Hunley in September when we are in Charleston so that should make the talk and seeing it extra special.

Quite a variety of courses and tours and we are really looking forward to them.   They start in mid Sept.

Hurricane Irene

For those of you who are wondering how Hurricane Irene might affect us, we live four hours inland so if she does come up the SC and NC coast what they predict where we live is 1-1 1/2 inches of rain, maybe Saturday afternoon but it is still to early to tell.   Let’s hope she goes out to sea and misses Savannah and Charleston and the other coastal cities.

Mary Whyte at the Greenville County Art Museum

Friday as part of the Newcomers Explorers group Bob and I had the great fortune to go to the Grenville County Art Museum and see the paintings of watercolor artist Mary Whyte.   The exhibit is 50 paintings and is called The Working South. http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/microsites/whyte/index.html

This was our first trip to this museum.  What made it extra special is that the artist was there and she spent about half an hour talking about how she came to do this series and how she met the people she painted.   Her husband did the frames and they are expertly matched to each work of art.  Her explanations added so much to our appreciation and understanding of her work.   She even came and had lunch with us afterward.   Later this month several of the people she painted are coming to see the exhibit.   I can’t imagine what that will be like for them.  A very rewarding morning.

Smoky, the cat, is better

His medicine seemed to work quickly and once Bob and I figured out that he would take his liquid antibiotics if we put it on his canned cat food things have gone fine.  For such a gentle cat he sure can fight not to take his medicine.   Although chubby he is also very big and strong.   He seems back to his old self now, thank goodness.  Thanks to those of you who expressed concern for him.

Smoky is sick again

Bob and I could not find Smoky last night.   We didn’t think he was outside.  We called and searched inside and outside of the house all night.  No Smoky.   This morning when I got up, no Smoky.  Bob had looked under our bed last night but didn’t think he saw him.   This time Bob got the flashlight and sure enough, there he was and he really didn’t want to come out.   If it was Sabrina it wouldn’t be strange that she was hiding because she does that all the time.  Smoky doesn’t hide.   He wouldn’t eat or drink and was even more laid back than usual. 

At 8:45 this morning we took him to the vet.  We really didn’t have much to tell her except Smoky wasn’t himself.   They did some blood work and it looks like he has an infection somewhere.  He doesn’t seem in pain, doesn’t limp, doesn’t cry, there is no wound, he uses his litter box so that’s all they could figure out.  They gave him a steroid  injection to improve his appetite and make him feel better and started him on antibiotics.  We have a horrible time giving Smoky pills so this time we have a liquid to give him twice a day.   Please wish us luck.

This afternoon he seems a little more himself, sitting by me when I am downstairs painting and eating and drinking a little.  Poor guy.  I sure wish we could figure out what makes him sick with these infections.  He is such a sweet fellow with the best disposition.  I feel so bad when he is sick.

 

Photos for you to enjoy

I want to decorate a couple walls in a hallway with photos of the area and places we have traveled so I have been sorting through photos.  I thought you would enjoy them also.   A good note to end the week and start the weekend.  There are two more still to take of the bridge and Falls Park in downtown Greenville.   I can’t believe with all the trips we have made there I don’t have photos.  I also have some cd’s to go through.     Enjoy.

https://picasaweb.google.com/fchoban/BestPhotos?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJqq1uKRt6mS2gE&feat=directlink

This photo is of pretty little Lake Placid on Paris Mountain, literally in my back yard, less than 5 miles from me.   The lake is a beautiful one mile walk with no hills.   Lovely any time of the year.

More good press for Greenville SC

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate’s Lifestyle ranked Greenville No. 5 for versatile dining and nightlife, along with having a median home price of $134,875. Standard and Poor’s gave the city a AAA rating and Forbes magazine said Greenville was one of the top 15 cities for young professionals.

Recent changes at the Greenville Airport, like bringing in Southwest Airlines, has significantly reduced prices and increased traffic.   It is still not the least expensive airport but much improved. 

The Greenville Zoo, which is on our list to visit this fall, is part of a prestigious accrediation program, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) placing the local zoo in the same class with zoos in San Diego, Cincinatti, Atlanta and Walt Disney’s Animal Kingdom.   There are only 223 AZA certified organizations in North America, United Kingdom and Australia combined.  I was pretty impressed with that.

Of course it is not perfect but the town is trying and succeeding at doing a lot of things right.   Bob and I have never thought for even a second that we could have found a better place to live.

Peaches

I’ve been talking about how delicious the SC peaches are.   Just read this info in a local magazine.  South Carolina will produce 90,000 tons of peaches.   Georgia, the peach state,  40,000 and California 815,000 tons.   That’s a lot of peaches.

SC is excited that an agreement signed earlier this year by the US and Mexican governments will now alow SC peaches to be sold in Mexican stores.  This deal has been in negotiations for years.  Mexico had concerns about invasive pests from the Southeast. 

Greenville Wins Another Award

 

Greenville ranked No. 1 micro city for the second year.

Staff Report
Published July 26, 2011

FDI Intelligence ranked Greenville as No. 1 among the top 10 micro cities of the future.

The ranking was based under six measurements: economic potential, human resources, cost effectiveness, quality of life, infrastructure and business friendliness. Cities scored up to a maximum of 10 points under each individual criterion, which were weighed by importance to give the overall scores.

The 10 micro cities have less than 100,000 residents. An independent collection of data by the FDI Intelligence division on 405 cities across North and South America was used in compiling the list.

A busy Tuesday

We had a busy day yesterday, unlike all those other days we sit around and do nothing!

The Travelers Rest Business Association meeting and lunch was at noon. For such a little town,   I’m still amazed at the attendance at these meetings.  There were 50 people there including at least half a dozen guests. 

At my table there was the owner of the new ice cream shop in Travelers rest, Trailside Creamery, which is on the Swamp Rabbit bike and walking trail.   They have their own mix of soft serve with many flavors, gluten free, high fructose sugar free, nut free environment.  The soft serve usually has only 5 natural ingredients.   I haven’t tried it yet but will soon.   Sounds like a winning combination.  A marketing Representative from a new weekly and monthly publication, Community Journals,  was quite interested in possible stories for Greenville Newcomers and Woodworkers Guild.   I try to promote those two organizations with everyone I meet.  A new Company that does advertising logos etc. told us about his business and his regular job running a kids/adult camp nearby.  I didn’t hear the name of it but I know I have driven by it.  Apparently it is better known all over the country than known locally. 

There is so much community spirit in this group.   One part of the meeting they ask if anyone has stories to tell about how someone in the group recently helped them.  For example one guys computer seriously crashed and the local tech repair company had it up and running fast.   A couple people had medical problems and health care people got them in immediately, one accountant needed help to fix a clients payroll mess and called another member who had great contacts and she was able to help her client much easier.   It feels so good to see community support like that.   I’m still not used to the opening and closing prayers but thats SC.

Lunch and another beautiful ice sculpture was provided by  The Catering Cru.  I talked to them last month about the possibility of taling OLLI and/or Newcomers groups to tour the kitchen and get an ice carving demonstration.   Very nice people.

Our speaker was a student from Furman, a young woman, who did a two semester social art project.  She called it “The 12 mile hub” and it is a mythical place similar to TR, with lots of history and spirit and what you can do to promote that.   She spent a semester interviewing people in TR to get their stories.   She was a great speaker, having to make major changes to her presentation when no one could get the powerpoint presentation to work, and her project had everyone in the audience spell bound.  This young woman has a great future and I think we will see the results of her ideas in TR.

Came home for a little while (had a nap) and then left to pick up our weekly produce at the Furman CSA (Community Supported Agrictulture).  More tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, mint, potatoes, rosemary, Swill Chard, corn.  From now until the summer garden stops producing we can just come and pick up whatever they have.   The fall crops will come in late Sept.   Spinach, brussel sprouts, various squashes – I guess about 40 items.   This one is only $60 so I think we will give that a try.

Home for a quick supper and then we left to go back to Furman for the third Civil War to Civil Rights class.   I will tell you about that in my next post.

Finally the temperature has lowered into the 70′s and we enjoyed a glass of wine out on the screened porch before we went to bed.  It was a busy but nice day.