Hurricane Frances to ruin Labor Day?

The National Hurricane Center / Tropical Prediction Center is predicting a possible landfall with Hurricane Frances on early Sunday morning in Florida....of course, that is still several days away, so forecasts will probably change. I plan on being on the Suwannee River in south Georgia and north Florida Saturday-Monday. Hmmmm....could be a wet weekend.

Maybe the forecasts will change.

A shot of all of the tents from this past weekend's BBQ contest in Manchester, TN
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Weekend marathon

The weekend was crazy. I went up to Manchester, Tennesse for a week of BBQ. I was a judge at the Smokin on the Square BBQ contest. It was the usual bit of craziness....32 teams competed. Plus we had a huge lightning storm pop up that forced all of the cook teams to abandon their smokers and head inside at the urging of the police due to lightning and a tornado a few miles down the road. But it passed without too much damage, and it was back to cooking. The town also had a nice community festival that was a lot of fun.....arts and crafts, music, parade, fireworks, etc....

So it was time to come back home from Tennessee and thought I would make a trip over to visit all the relatives at the family campsite on the way back. I called my parent's home the night before and that morning without any results, so I knew that they were there...and even if not, there is always a bunch of relatives up there on the weekend. (this is family owned property that everyone goes to as a weekend retreat) So I detour across the twisty mountain roads to arrive at the campsite and not a soul is there. Nobody. My mom and dad have been looking for property to buy to eventually build a cabin on, to retire in. So I figured that they might not be at the campsite, but somebody would be there. Nope.

As it turned out, my folks found a piece of grassy bottomland (a little less than 5 acres) in a valley way up in north Georgia, about 2 miles from the North Carolina line and decided to put a bid in on it. So they left to go home about 10:15 that morning. I arrived about 11:00. A distant cousin of mine's husband died, and all of the other relatives who regularly camp up there decided to go to the funeral. So I ended up scribbling a note and leaving it on my folk's camper.

Then I decided to drive up the hill to see in my aunt was in her cabin. It has been a few years since I was last there. And that one time was the only time that I ever had been to it, so getting there was a bit sketchy. I took a wrong turn and got a bit lost.....ran off the road in the ditch when trying to back down a narrow driveway....got back on the right road.....and eventually found the cabin. Nobody home.

So I gave up, drove to Cartersville, visited with my grandma, uncle, and aunt for a bit. Then started home to Macon. I-75 came to a snail's pace around Marietta, then I made it through downtown, and thought I had it made. Then somewhere around the airport, I read on one of those DOT electric signs above the interstate a message that said, "ACCIDENT 2 MILES SOUTH OF HUDSON BRIDGE EXIT, SOUTHBOUND I-75, ALL 3 LANES BLOCKED"

Great! So I figured it best to try my luck going to Griffin on the US Highways. Good idea. Then I came to Barnesville. Now there is a highway that goes from Barnesville over to Forsyth.....and that is what I wanted to take. Except that apparently the population of Barnesville must be illiterate, because they didn't bother putting up any signs pointing the way to Forsyth. So I come to this sign saying Roberta is up ahead. Rather than go that far, I decide to strike off east, figuring that I would eventually pop out somewhere that I would recognize.

200 cows, a cornfield, 3 stray dogs that chased my truck, and 3,492 potholes later, somehow came out at the town square in Forsyth. The remainder of the trip from there home was uneventful. I ended up home about 7:15pm.

So it took me just over 4 hours to drive up there, and I spent almost 11 coming back...less 2 at grandma's house.

Chickens Missing

Over the past week, I have had 2 hens turn up missing. I did find some feathers from the first, and then this afternoon, I heard a gunshot from next door. My neighbor spotted a neighborhood dog (not one that really lives at any one house) with one my chickens in its mouth running off.

He went in and got his shotgun...not to shoot the dog, just to try to scare it off. Afterward, I talked to him and he said that he had previously called the animal control folks for the county about the dog. I placed a call to them too afterward, but the officer only works days. So I left my cell number with them. I know that all animals need to eat to survive, but maybe this dog can eat at the pound till someone adopts him.

Hopefully, he will be able to catch it and solve the problem. If not, I may need to take more drastic actions....something that I would not rather be involved in.

So I am down one Plymouth Rock and one Jersery Giant hen. Bummer.

Flip flopping in the kayak

I took the kayak down the Ocmulgee river yesterday with a bunch of the GWS folks. Seven of us took swims (note that I am including myself in that count). And for those readers who have a fast internet connection...or at least some patience on a dial up connection....can view a short video of this by clicking here. I had my digital camera strapped to the kayak deck...and you get to see the rapid, the roll, the underwate, and the recovery. You will need to have Windows Media Player to see this file.

Two other problems were caught on the camera, although from a distance, so it is not so clear.

Tom & Ben and Cecil and Sid

Eating out

Went to town with friends for Chinese...very tasty stuff. And stuff is the key word...as in, I am stuffed! Tomorrow is Friday....hurray.

SeatGuru.com - Your Enlightened Guide to Airplane Seating

SeatGuru.com - Your Enlightened Guide to Airplane Seating is a great resource for the frequent flier. It works with most browsers...but not all. You first select the airline, then the particular airplane that your flight uses. You then get a nice diagram of all of the seats. My moving your mouse over the different seats, you get a description of that seat. Great comments are given about little details that you might not know when booking the flight....such as no window, extra leg room on this seat, very noisey location, seat doesn't fully recline, etc...

I got a new rooster at the flea market today. Hopefully, he will work out with the flock. So far so good. I will probably keep them all in the pen for a few days before letting them bck out into the backyard, as usual. If you click on the little photo, it should enlarge it, so you can see him better. His previous owners did keep his wing flight feathers clipped, so his wings are a little short. That will grow back in the next time he molts (once a year or so). As to his breed, I think he is a mutt. He exhibits traits of several different breeds....large, dark comb, feathered feet, and so on. But I still think he is a handsome bird.
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Brrrr....ok, so it isn't that cold. But 63 is quite cool for an August morning. The record low is 60, so very unusual. It is still supposed to be 88 this afternoon....but that is a lot better than the 100+ that we have had recently. I am off to try to get the grass cut before it gets too warm this morning. How exciting is that?
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Tomorrow is it....the teachers have been back in the classrooms for a few days now, and tomorrow the students return! Summer is officially over...except for the heat. It was again in the upper 90's today.
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All ready for bed
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Some of my ladies strut their stuff
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