Category: Experience

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May 23 – Walk Through Gibbs Gardens and Ball Ground, Georgia With Me!

Sunday was nothing short of fabulous! I’d visited Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground, Georgia with my sister-in-law in April 2022 on our way to Asheville, North Carolina for a girls’ trip over Spring Break. The daffodil hills and the flowering cherry trees, at that time, were in full bloom. The thing about Gibbs Gardens is that no matter when you go, there’s something different on the blooming menu. Even their website tells you what is currently in bloom and lets you scroll pictures taken the previous week or so.

So I texted my driver early Sunday morning from my side of the bed: Want to go to Gibbs Gardens and stroll through the wildflowers and poppies?

Sure, he texted back across the dogs snoozing between us.

I can be ready in 15 minutes, I replied, prompting a mad dash race to be the first one dressed.

We tied for the win. Jeans, shoes to climb the hills, sunglasses. We set out on the one hour and 45 minute drive north as I bought tickets en route online just in case they were nearing garden capacity. During peak season, I didn’t want to take any chances.

We took in the sights – the Manor House, the Japanese Gardens, the poppies and wildflowers, and the rose garden. The highlight of the day was a hummingbird’s appearance in the wildflower garden, where I was able to capture a few seconds of video before it flew off to another section. The butterflies were flitting about in rich abundance as we strolled the gardens, and the dragonflies darted around shimmering their wings faster than twinkle fairies.

After our visit to the gardens, we drove into Historic Ball Ground for a visit to Feather’s Edge Vineyard where they were having live music as we rested and cooled off with fresh mint mojito wine slushies, and then on to The Ball Ground Burger Bus, a hamburger joint made from an actual bus that ran its last route in Atlanta, Georgia in 1965. We saved room for ice cream after dinner, since our indulgences had already left no room for any more guilt.

Come stroll along with us as we show you the sights on a photo tour.

I’ll be re-living these moments jam-packed with memories for a long, long time! We’ll return in the fall when the bloom list offers a whole new lineup of sights to enjoy.

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May 22 – 135 Things to Do on a Rainy Day in a Camper

Diamond Art, photo from https://img.staticdj.com/0853734d0ffc66143b35281000e6c478.jpg

I came across a fascinating Facebook post this week on one of my camping groups. A Girl Camper member stated she needed a rainy day hobby and invited others to share what they enjoyed doing. There are currently 687 responses, but for a rainy day wish, the feedback was phenomenal. I wanted to share the ideas that were posted as a list post today. I won’t name people, since the group is private, but these ideas are completely credited to the girl campers of the world, who are a creative and adventurous bunch!

  1. read
  2. crochet
  3. knit
  4. sew
  5. plan the next camping trip
  6. macro photography
  7. watercolours
  8. embroidery
  9. draw
  10. journal
  11. listen to the wind
  12. listen to music
  13. listen to audiobooks
  14. diamond painting
  15. nap
  16. make leather items
  17. play video games
  18. adult coloring books
  19. play the ukelele
  20. color with gel pens
  21. paint rocks to leave for the next camper
  22. scrapbooking
  23. sudoku
  24. crossword
  25. dot painting on rocks
  26. color by number
  27. paint by number
  28. quilting
  29. canning
  30. people watching
  31. jigsaw puzzles
  32. cross stitch
  33. make jewelry
  34. watch old movies
  35. plastic canvas stitching
  36. make knit hats to sell
  37. write your life story
  38. loom knit
  39. make wind/sun catchers
  40. sew towel golf cart seat covers
  41. Play Yahtzee, Uno, Scrabble Go
  42. Play guitar
  43. paint notecards
  44. needlepoint
  45. board games
  46. card games
  47. fish
  48. drink and collect wine corks
  49. word finds
  50. Chuzzle on my phone
  51. bedazzle my clothes
  52. paint scenes where we are camped
  53. Bead Christmas ornaments
  54. make car air fresheners
  55. make cups, tshirts, wooden signs
  56. singing
  57. study bird identification books
  58. study flower identification books
  59. study foreign language on Duolingo
  60. play solitaire
  61. plan menus
  62. reorganize the camper, clean cabinets
  63. make mosaics with old costume jewelry
  64. listen to podcasts
  65. work on Lego sets
  66. play cribbage
  67. watch a Netflix series
  68. make a camper or log cabin from wine corks
  69. shop at local thrift stores
  70. try new makeupn techniques
  71. plein air painting
  72. cook something new
  73. meditate
  74. yoga
  75. latch hook
  76. dance
  77. walk in the rain
  78. fire writing (pyrography)
  79. go out to eat
  80. make knee blankets to donate to the nursing home
  81. zentangling
  82. neurographic art to destress from andrea.nelson.art on TikTok
  83. play indoor bowling
  84. write letters to friends
  85. whittle/woodcarve
  86. organize digital photos
  87. spinning wheels (wool) with travel spinner
  88. train the dog
  89. macrame
  90. paper crafts (origami)
  91. make gel prints from leaves and flowers
  92. go to a local winery
  93. make cotton loop pot holders to give away to fellow campers
  94. catch up on work
  95. geocaching in the drizzle
  96. wire wrap stones
  97. make tinctures with essential oils
  98. Bible Study
  99. daydream
  100. pray
  101. song writing
  102. poetry writing
  103. surf the web
  104. work on Geneaolgy
  105. look for a dog to rescue
  106. English Paper Piecing
  107. Pedicure
  108. Manicure
  109. Facial
  110. stained glass
  111. make doll clothes
  112. make buntings
  113. bullet journaling
  114. rug matting
  115. clean a cupboard
  116. brush the cat or dog
  117. Tjhoko painting
  118. make tags with rubber stamps
  119. mandala painting on garden bricks
  120. update your blog
  121. visit a museum
  122. listen to the rain
  123. look at magazines
  124. crochet a temperature blanket
  125. make paper beads
  126. punch needle rugs
  127. put a wood model together
  128. brew a big pot of coffee and drink it
  129. weaving loom
  130. art abandonment – something for the next camper left behind
  131. make decals on the Silhouette machine
  132. press flowers
  133. make bookmarks
  134. call someone to talk
  135. text people to say you’re thinking of them

There’s simply no way to be bored when you’re camping in the rain!

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May 20 – Propagating Hydrangeas

Successfully rooted hydrangea

A few years ago, a childhood friend on St. Simons Island gave me a hydrangea she’d propagated from her own plant in her yard. I was home visiting, so I brought it home to middle Georgia and nurtured here on the farm until it took solid root. I put up some hideous plastic fencing around it to keep it safe until it got past its first year, and for the past couple of years it has bloomed magically in shades of brilliant purple, violet, and blue.

I clipped it back earlier this spring and stuck the clippings in a large pickle jar to see if I could create several smaller plants from these prunings. I think it has finally taken root, since I see new growth on the leaves.

Today, I’ll try my hand at transplanting these rooted stems into their own containers with fresh potting soil. I’m hoping to plant some more of these on the farm in other locations – namely, out in the butterfly garden. Butterflies are attracted to hydrangeas as nectar plants, and hydrangeas are a great choice because unlike annuals, they live for years and are fairly low-maintenance plants. I found a helpful resource, and can’t wait to get started with my hydrangea expansion project. I plan to leave them in containers until late summer or early fall and see how they are doing before making the decision to put them in the ground.

I’m learning new things about plants all the time, and I’m particularly excited about propagating this hydrangea that was a gift from a childhood friend.

Propagate Hydrangea Cuttings {99% Success Rate}
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May 19 – No Prayer too Big or too Small

I thought I’d share a few photos of wildlife on the Funny Farm I’ve seen throughout the week. This week has been stressful, finishing testing and analyzing data, along with the other general parts of wrapping up a school year. It’s nice to come home and walk the dogs and breathe fresh air and forget about the demands and deadlines, if only for a few minutes.

Carolina Wren on the front porch, gathering nesting materials

Carolina Wren, singing, singing, singing

Mourning Dove

Funny Farm Bunny – there is a colony of them that lives down at the end of the driveway.

Funny Farm Finch

Carolina Wren singing a morning song

Deer (picture taken through a screen)

Northern Cardinal

May 18 – Hawk in a tree, Johnson Funny Farm

Hawk in a tree (just left of center) – funniest thing: I said a quick prayer, “Lord, I would love to see a hawk today.” I always feel my mother’s presence when I see one. I did what I always do: I pulled into the driveway, turned off the air, put the windows down so I could drive slowly, hearing the gritty crunch of gravel under my tires, and began inching up the driveway. I first saw a tufted titmouse, then a robin. As I approached the top of the hill, I caught a glimpse of a large upward wingspan swooping up off to the left. I grabbed my camera, and for one moment the hawk took it all in and the next swooped off back into the deeper woods. I caught one photo, here, and one of just his tail as he flew away. What a beautiful moment – a prayer for a hawk sighting, a hawk, and the feeling of the presence of my mother. No prayer is ever too big – or ever too small!

TGIF! Cheers to weekend fun and relaxation!

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May 15 – Global Big Day – Part 1 of 2

It’s 9:00 Saturday morning (May 13), and my husband and I are seated in the Country Kitchen near Pine Mountain, Georgia having breakfast.  Many camping folks get up and start a fire, “brew” pour-over coffee, and sizzle bacon and eggs over a campfire or outdoor camper kitchen, awakening all the tent campers and anyone sleeping with open windows to a mouth-watering stirring of a new day.  

Not us.

Fueling up for a day of birding at the Callaway Gardens Country Store

We’re heading out birding for Global Big Day, so we came to the Country Store for their famous Callaway Gardens signature grits, scrambled eggs, sausage with sage, buttermilk biscuits with muscadine jam, muscadine muffins, percolated coffee, and iced water in lidless mason jars.  We finally got a window seat on the top of this mountain after all the times we’ve wanted one, and as luck would have it, it’s foggy outside and we can’t see fifty feet out. But it’s okay – we’re busy filling up on food for when the fog lifts.  It’s going to be a big day full of feathered species as we work together with Merlin Bird ID and the eBird app to create checklists of bird identifications at birding hotspots nearby to help researchers track bird migration patterns and species population densities.

Praying for the fog to lift while we eat – it’s hard to go birding in foggy conditions.

I completed the free eBird Essentials course on the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology eBird website Friday night – something I’ve been meaning to do since I opened my account and created a profile – and then texted Fran Haley to see if she was planning to participate today, too.  She is.  It’s her birdday birthday May 13, and she and her husband are journeying to a dam to see if they can spot any eagles.  

Complete eBird Essentials Course: Check

I submitted 3 checklists (one for each morning Schnoodle walk on the back loop of F. D. Roosevelt State Park Campground), with 15 species combined, before breakfast.  When she texted at 6:48 (we’re both early birds), shortly after I had returned from walking the dogs on their morning outing along the back loop of the camp, Fran had already  recorded 23 species. I’d prayed she would see some rare sightings on her adventures – the best birthday blessings for an avid birdwatcher!

We finished our breakfast, and right there in the Country Kitchen I found a fully stocked table of 50+ UV Protection adventure hats – just the kind I have been hoping to find. I tried several on, but I couldn’t land on a decision. Both Maureen Ingram and Stacey Shubitz made some helpful suggestions last week about hat brands – Outdoor Research and UVSkinz, and I’d gotten both too busy and too tired over the week to give either more than a passing glance. I remained as lidless as my Mason Jar after trying on several kinds and not finding one that grabbed me.

But alas, there are still birds to count and trails to hike, so off we go!

Indecision is a decision of NO.

I’ll share Part 2 of the day’s adventure – and the species I found present on Global Big Day – tomorrow. For now, we are headed over to Dowdell’s Knob to begin hiking at the trail with the boys.

Ready,

set,

let’s count birds!

Boo Radley, Fitz, and Ollie – clearly looking to help spot birds!
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May 14 – My Mother’s Daughter

I’m so proud to be my mother’s daughter! She was one of a kind, ever conscientious and always protecting all of us. She was a seatbelt enthusiast, a nighttime curtain puller, and an avid door locker. So when someone tells me I’m just like her, I am reminded how fortunate I am! Remembering Mom today on this 8th Mother’s Day without her. Hug your mom if she’s still here – tomorrow holds no guarantees!

My mother in the early 1960s
My Mother's Daughter

at the Dames Ferry
dump station
at the top of the hill
two and a half days worth
of our waste
sliding down 
a three inch hose
from the belly
of our camper
into the waste tank

you stepped to 
the back to check
the spare tire

I looked out over 
the lake 
at the bottom of the hill
and panicked
thinking you, too, 
might slide

ran to the truck
set the emergency brake
announcing in a high pitch

I SET THE EMERGENCY BRAKE!
for all to hear

to let everyone know you were safe

not about to get flattened
and drenched in pee
sliding all the way down 
to the lake

you walked up the hill
wiping your hands with
a glove
chuckling your 
secret knowing smile
satisfied with yourself

I searched your face

you raised your eyebrows 
in answer

I love you
you said
kissing my cheek

and there's nothing wrong
with this
but 
you 
are
your
mother's 
daughter
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May 10 – Empty Nest

I watched a baby bluebird hatch the night of a poetry reading two weeks ago, and the trio has flown, except for one egg that never hatched. Joy and grief in the same nest. Life is like that. Laughter and tears, joy and despair. 

empty nest

that tiny bluebird
I watched hatch two weeks ago
has taken to skies

one little sibling
requiem in eggshell blue
heavenly flight of its own
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May 9 – Put a Lid on It!

Kings and Queens are famous for their hats.

Everyone, it seems, was wearing a hat last weekend – at the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky and on the opposite side of the pond in England, and all points in between at those smaller parties the commonfolk threw to celebrate these events. I chose a sun hat purchased at Marshall’s for $16.99, designed by the swank San Diego Hat Company to go with my no-frills weekend, just in case anyone is wondering, and although it was tempting, I didn’t adorn it with little hot glued horses running around the brim – or oversized flowers or bows.

A fancy Kentucky Derby hat, perfect for sipping a mint julep and watching a horse race

It got me thinking about all the hats we wear. Last summer, I sent adventure hats to the coastal grandkids – to wear on the boat, at the beach, in the kayaks – anywhere adventure calls! I got the kind with a chin strap so they wouldn’t lose them.

I sent these hats to my grandkids last summer – adventure hats!

Ironically, I lost my son’s borrowed boating hat when my cap caught a breeze on a fishing trip in April. I’d needed my own chin strap.

I recently bought a new sun hat for kayaking and camping to replace the monogrammed one that a student gave me back in 2010 as a teacher gift – I’d given it a hard look and realized its age, like a teacher ready for retirement who has been worn slap down through the years. It was time for a new one!

The hat I lost boating, before it was windswept into the ocean and forever lost at sea
Camping Hat (my Kentucky Derby/Coronation Day replacement hat)

Bartholomew Cubbins knew a thing or two about hats. Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses know that head pieces such as crowns, tiaras, and hats make statements. The most famous crown of all time hung on a cross as a place in Heaven was built for us.

Kate and William sporting a tiara and a cap
Crown of Thorns – a symbol of the greatest sacrificial love of all time
A Kissing Fish hat for all our throw-backs
Golfing hats

Ice Cream Hats
Napping hats
Bicycling picnic hats
Marshmallow Roasting Hats
Swinging Bridge Hats
Stick-Your-Tongue-Out Hats
Ugly Sweater Run hats (with my son acting like a dancing reindeer after a morning run several years ago)
Kite Flying Hats
Birthday Hats
Magical Old Silk Hat that Made a Snowman Dance

I shared a recent post where my dad entered a synagogue in Capernaum and he and his friend had forgotten to remove their Atlanta Braves caps (the monitor smiled and tactfully gestured for them to remove them), and it got me thinking about all our hats. With all the hats we wear, literally and metaphorically, what are your favorite hats? Please share your best hats and hat stories in the comments, and if you have any great hiking hat suggestions, I beg your secrets!

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May 8 – Duckgazer Window

We were camping at Dames Ferry in Georgia this weekend when our 3 Schnoodles became captivated with the ducks flitting about in the waters of Lake Juliette.  The stargazer window over the bed of our Little Guy Max never fails to hold wonder - whether stars or ducks, whether night or morning.  There is always an exciting world to behold outside that window!  

Move Over, Stargazers!

duckgazer window
curious schnoodles camping
flop-eared wonderment
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May 7- Holy Ground

My father, Reverend Dr. Felix Haynes, Jr., shares his sermon from a few weeks ago, as he reminisces about Holy Ground and his Holy Land travels with my late mother, Miriam, where they walked the streets of Capernaum. They traveled with members of their church to the Holy Land several times, most recently when they lived on Hilton Head Island, SC in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Capurnaum
ON CAPERNAUM 

The setting of today's sermon is Capernaum, a very strategic location for travelers in Jesus’ day, always bustling and busy. It was a well-constructed city built 200 years before Jesus’ birth. The structures were made of unique materials, stone and plaster. Capernaum is situated on the picturesque Sea of Galilee. Just to the north, an easy walk begins the grassy slopes of the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field…” 

I remember well our visit on tour. As you enter, you see tall trellises with Bougainvillea growing in splendid floral beauty. Miriam walked over for a close look at the deep red and purple blooms, her eyes sparkling in complete wonder. Laurie Atkins, a member of our church traveling with us, joined her and pondered the amazing beauty. 

As your walk the cobblestone streets, you observe the archaeological structures and artifacts that tell a story of rich biblical history. Capernaum is an education in the ministry of Jesus. 

The two most striking sites are the synagogue and the ruins of the home of Peter’s mother-in-law, where Jesus healed the palsied man. There is a bench on which Jesus probably sat when he taught at the synagogue on that memorable day. The flat roof was made of a sturdy mud-cement compound. This would be a “patio” where on warm evenings one could catch the sea breeze. 

Holy ground!

Jesus considered Capernaum a “home base.” The house is a three-room structure, one for sleeping, one for cooking and eating, and one for animals. There was also a courtyard. Today, a church has been constructed over the ruins of this house with a centered glass floor area where you can look down and see the interior where Jesus healed the palsied man. When my colleague, Woodrow Hudson, and I entered that church, we had forgotten to take off our Atlanta Braves caps. The monitoring priest smiled and tactfully reminded us to take off our hats. 

Holy ground!

I did a short message on the four friends who brought their friends to Jesus to our tour group. 
We moved about reflecting, remembering, and privately worshipping. I joined my dear wife who said, “This is one of the most beautiful and sacred places I have ever been.” 

Holy ground. 

And I stand there again every time I remember Capernaum.

We got on the bus to travel north toward Mt. Hermon. This scene remains vivid in my mind: Laurie Atkins looked out the window at the flowers in the field on the mount of the beatitudes, still struck by the Bougainvillea of Capernaum and musing.  Mr. Laurie Atkins was the town engineer of Hilton Head, responsible for irrigation and all the lovely landscapes in the main streets of Hilton Head Island in those days. He said to me, “I wish I could get truck loads of dirt from this place to take home with me.” 

Holy ground! 

I have truck loads of memory from Capernaum, …the most beautiful and sacred memories…”
Bougainvillea at the entrance to Capernaum, the Town of Jesus

I do not own the rights to the video below.

Joy Gardner sings Holy Ground in The Holy Land