Thursday morning this & that

Did I mention that I'm off work this week?

It's February intercession and the schools in our district are closed. It's nice to have these extra breaks in February and October, not connected to any holiday. This will be the last time I have a whole week off to myself, because after next week my husband will be retired.

He's looking forward to it and I'm really happy for him. The dogs and Marco are going to love it! Nothing makes them happier than to have one or both of us at home with them. Poppy has followed me everywhere this week, even to the bathroom. She sleeps curled up tight against me every night. George isn't nearly so clingy, but he likes it when we're around, too. 

Poppy has this thing she does when we get home from work: she takes a running leap across the threshold of the back door, and lands on the sofa six feet or so away. It's her way of expressing joy and excitement at seeing us again! Pretty soon she'll only be doing it for me!

Some of my tomato seeds have sprouted! Before Gregg left for work this morning, he pulled out an 3ft aquarium light fixture that I'll set up somewhere in the house for the tiny sprouts. The peppers still haven't made their debut, but they usually take longer anyway. And if all goes well, I plan to do some work in the garden this afternoon and also sow some lettuce seed. In addition to my standard lettuce Merveille des Quatre Saisons I got a free pack of lettuce seed with my Baker Creek order this year that looks really interesting: Yedikule. I'm really looking forward to fresh greens.

Here's a photo I wanted to share before I sign off. Miss Luella's tree next door is in full, magnificent bloom, and I got a close up of some of the flowers. They're so beautiful.

I spoke to one of Luella's daughters the other day, and the family is selling the house to one of her grandsons! His name is Evan and he's a lovely young man. We're so pleased that the house (and the glorious tree) will stay in the same great family! Evan and his girlfriend Stacy plan to move in next week. They're going to be wonderful neighbors!

Neighbors

Our elderly neighbor, Luella, passed away suddenly back in January. She and her husband bought the house next door to us in 1971, so she lived there for over 50 years. She was a sweet lady and a good neighbor to us, and we miss her. Yesterday a lot of her family convened at the house and seemed to be cleaning things out. Boxes and small household items were loaded into cars and taken away. My best guess is that the estate is finally almost finished with the probate process, and they're taking the first steps toward selling the house. All three of Luella's children grew up there, so I imagine there's a lot of stuff to be sorted. It's been nine months since Luella died.

Nine months.

Yesterday the lovely young couple across the street brought their newborn baby girl home! Some family members (one of the new grandmas among them) decorated the porch with pink balloons and a big banner that says, "It's time to celebrate baby Georgia!" ahead of their arrival home from the hospital. They also tied a huge pink bow to the mailbox, a tradition around here that announces that there's a new baby in the house. It was all very sweet.

I got a small gift for our newest neighbor (books, my standard gift for new babies) and a card for the new mom and dad. I left everything in a bag by their front door, since I didn't want to knock and disturb them at such a special time.

The life of our neighborhood goes on.

Church ladies

There's a certain breed of little old ladies here in the South that are slowly going away, never to be replaced. I was thinking of this the other day when I read Tom's recent post titled "Vanished ladies". The women I'm talking about are very different in some ways than the ones he describes, but I understand his nostalgia when he thinks of them.

My friend Marla's grandma is a good example. Miss Mildred (around here we call elderly folks Miss or Mr. Firstname as a mark of respect) is 94 years old and the matriarch of her family. She's gentle, sweet, soft spoken, and in the old-fashioned sense of the word, a real lady. On the other hand, she grew up on a farming family of modest means (like most people of her generation around here) and knew all about hard work.  In her old age she's become one of what we call "little church ladies" because they're deeply involved in the workings of their church, doing lots of unpaid (and underappreciated) tasks behind the scenes. 

My neighbor was one such lady. She passed away unexpectedly last weekend.

Miss Luella was a couple of months shy of her 84th birthday. One of her daughters called me last Monday to give me the sad news and thanked me for being "a good neighbor" to her mama. I was shocked to hear what had happened to her. Apparently, she went out to get her mail on the previous Friday afternoon and stumbled coming back up the steps to her door. When she stumbled, she fell and hit her head on the headrail. She went inside and told her daughter (who had been staying with her for the past year) what had happened, and insisted she was fine. Nothing hurt, she felt good, and she didn't even have a bruise. She was fine all that night, fine all day Saturday, and Sunday morning drove herself to church, still feeling fine. 

On Sunday night, all of a sudden, she said she'd developed a bad headache. Her daughter asked her how bad, based on a scale of 1-10. Luella said, "Eight. I sure hope I'm not having a stroke!" Of course, the daughter called an ambulance. By the time it arrived, she was becoming unresponsive, and was brain dead within the hour. In the early hours of Monday morning. there was nothing left to do but take her off life support. She was gone.

You probably know where this story is headed. Miss Luella had an undiagnosed brain bleed from her fall two days prior. The doctors said that even had they known about it, they probably couldn't have prevented her death. The capillaries in her brain were thin due to age, and she was taking a lot of blood thinners.  

I've been so sad about this all week. The night after she died one of her young adult grandsons rang our doorbell to give us the news, not realizing his aunt has already told us. He cried and said that Gregg and I had been really good neighbors to his grandma and thanked us again for looking out for her. (We didn't do much; usually Gregg would try to roll her big garbage can out to the street on the morning of pickup and then back under the carport afterwards, and occasionally I'd stop by with tomatoes or lettuce from the garden or we'd chat over the back fence like neighbors do). She had a large, tight knit family that were always gathering at her house. She was lucky in that respect. I guess she was lucky, too, to live such a long happy life surrounded by loved ones, and then to die so suddenly and easily without any real declining health to make her last days miserable. 

She's going to be dearly missed as a neighbor. She bought the house next door to ours back in 1971 with her late husband, so she's been here longer than I've been alive. Her house is the one with the magnificent magnolia tree that blooms so beautifully each spring. It already has big fuzzy buds all over it, just waiting to burst into its spring finery. And for the first time in over 50 years, she won't be here to see it.

I posted this photo on Facebook last year and tagged Luella. I said, "Your tree is glorious, as usual!" and she replied, "Thanks! It is. Only God could make something so beautiful. Happy that you're enjoying the tree with me."

May she rest in peace.

 FLORENCE – Luella Morris Caulder, 83, died Monday, January 23, 2023, after a brief illness.

          Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m., Thursday, January 26, 2023, at Northgate Baptist Church followed by entombment in Florence Memorial Gardens Mausoleum.  The family will receive friends from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, at Waters-Powell Funeral Home.

          Mrs. Caulder was born in Lake City, SC, a daughter of the late Clarence Douglas and Eula Mae Morris Clark.  She graduated from Lake City High School as class salutatorian in 1957.  She was the attendance clerk at Savannah Grove Elementary School in Florence for 29 years.

          She was an active member of Northgate Baptist Church and sang in the church choir.

          In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband, Raymond Nathaniel Caulder.

          Surviving are her children, Wendy Caulder Davis, Jill Caulder, and Douglas Caulder (Kelly), all of Florence.  She is also survived by her grandchildren, whom she loved dearly, Johanna Davis Jones (Steven) of Darlington, Evan Caulder, Harrison Caulder, and Kathryn Caulder, all of Florence; her sister, Miriam Blackmon, of New Zion, SC; great-grandchildren, Gaven Yarborough, Bailey Yarborough, Carson Yarborough, Gavin Jones, and Kennedy Jones; a great-great-grandchild, Levi Felder; and a number of nieces and nephews.

          Memorials may be made to Northgate Baptist Church, 1217 N. Ebenezer Rd., Florence, SC  29501.

Nosy neighbor (me)

The house across the street from us just got sold. We were sorry to see that the young woman who lived there had put it on the market at the beginning of the month; as neighbors go, she was perfect. She was friendly but kept to herself, had a cute little dog, quiet, and her front yard always had something pretty blooming. The trees behind her little cottage are gorgeous and frame the house just right, obviously someone was very skillful in pruning and trimming. We've enjoyed the view since we moved in and we're really hoping the new owners don't mess it up. Yesterday there was a strange new car in the driveway and I did my best Gladys Kravitz imitation, peeking through the blinds to try to get a glimpse of the newcomers. No luck. They drive a large, shiny black Toyota SUV but that's all we know so far. Once the moving in process is complete I'll walk over with a box of goodies from a local bakery and introduce myself. We want to get off on the right foot with new neighbors. I certainly don't envy them the task of moving this week. We've had a crazy heat wave and it's more like the middle of July than the end of May. It's sweltering out there as I type this, with temps today reaching almost 100 degrees. Ugh! Moving is hard enough without sweating buckets the whole time. 

Speaking of the house across the street, it went way up in value in this crazy hot seller's market. The woman who sold it had only been here three or four years and it went up about $30,000 in value and was snatched up within days of being listed. I keep hearing stories about buyers offering well over the asking price just to get a chance to buy. I'm so glad we got in here when we did, we couldn't afford it if we had waited any longer. The neighborhood is changing and becoming a little nicer than it used to be. Several houses have new owners and lots of people seem to be painting and upgrading and landscaping more these days. That's nice. It's a pleasure to see these old houses getting lots of love and young families moving in and so far all of the new neighbors have been pleasant. The jerk behind us lost his wife last month, a fact that made me feel sorry for him even though he was so nasty to us when we first got here. He's well into his 80's and I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't want to downsize now that he's a widower. I hate thinking of him living alone now and possibly being lonely, but I'll never feel comfortable having even a basic neighborly friendship with him after the way he acted. Maybe when he does leave nicer folks will buy the house. 

Hey! I just looked outside and there's a large black truck that has joined the large black Toyota SUV across the street. Hmmm. Still no sign of the new owners.  Wonder what that means? Both of the vehicles are large and new and shiny black. It's not much to go on! So I'm off to continue spying through the blinds to see what I can see! I'll report back later. Haha.

Easter weekend photos

 I took a few pictures the other night when my friends came over for our little belated birthday/vaccination party. 

First, the table with my china rabbits, the birthday cake, and the punchbowl full of Sparkling Strawberry Margarita punch.

Did I mention that Marla, Martina, and I made plans to dye Easter eggs? We thought it would be a fun activity for the day before Easter. They both brought over a dozen boiled eggs (I'd prepared my own dozen the night before) and I supplied the cups of dye. We really had fun with this! Martina said she hadn't dyed Easter eggs since she was a kid. Marla planned to go home afterwards and dye more with little Carsen, since she's finally old enough to appreciate the activity.

Speaking of Carsen....she's just as fascinated with the big aquarium as she's been since infancy. She spent the whole 30 minutes or so she was at our house looking into it.

Except, of course, when the two toddlers were finally reunited!

Buddies.

It was certainly good to see my friends again, but I must admit it felt a little awkward at times. There would be sudden silences when no one could seem to think of anything to say next. Halfway through the party, I had to go sit on the porch by myself for five minutes or so. I was feeling a tiny bit overwhelmed. (Marla and Martina were inside having a spirited conversation about something so I don't think they noticed). They both went home a little earlier than normal, and I think we were all tired. Everyone acknowledged that we've gotten out of the habit of socializing in person and it just feels a bit strange. Who knows how long it will take before seeing friends will feel normal and comfortable again? Still, we had a good time and hopefully this is the start of more ordinary life again!

My neighbor Luella is back in the hospital. I woke up early Easter morning to the sight of an ambulance taking her away and we've been really worried about her. Today I texted her just on the off chance she or her daughter might see it and respond and let us know how things were going. Well, Miss Luella herself texted me back! She says she's very weak and will be in the hospital for a few days, but despite all that she seems to be in good spirits. I texted her back and told her how pretty her yard looks today, and she asked if I could snap some pictures and send them to her. Could I?!

The 50+ year old magnolia that had all the gorgeous pink flowers this spring now has the nicest green leafy shade.

She was so happy to get these photos! I told her to hurry up and get well and come back, her little house misses her! :) 

I hope you all had a nice Easter (if you celebrate it) or a nice spring weekend!

Last of March, first of April

 Gregg finally suggested a birthday present for me that I was excited about--a new hammock to replace the one that wore out years ago. We still had the big metal hammock stand to hang it on stored in the garage. I picked out a red quilted one and we brought it home on Sunday. I've been relaxing in it every afternoon since!

It takes up half of the back porch, but I love it. With the screens keeping mosquitoes and bugs out and the ceiling fan to keep a cool breeze circulating, the porch is that much more comfortable and fun. My porch is my happy place.

This hasn't been an altogether happy week so far. A woman who works in our school library got devastating news about her beloved dog over the weekend and they had to have her put to sleep on Monday. The family is heartbroken, and I feel terrible for them. Then I embarrass myself by starting to cry every time I talk to Robin (the coworker) about it. I guess the loss of Ginger is still too fresh for me to interact with others experiencing pet bereavement right now. It seems to have triggered a load of fresh grief for me. It's strange. And hard.

Something else is happening that's bothering me. My 83 year old neighbor has been very, very ill all of a sudden. Her birthday was the Friday before mine, and we noticed lots of her family's cars at her house over the weekend. Since her kids, grandkids, and even some young great-grandchildren all live locally and come over a lot, we didn't think much of it at first....but then this week started and there were still cars there, and one of her daughters was spending the night. I finally sent her a text, just checking in, and found out that she had been in the hospital for 8 days and wasn't released until her birthday! We had no idea. Her daughter is staying there at night for the time being to keep an eye on things. Apparently Miss Luella had pancreatitis first, then a preexisting heart arrhythmia starting acting up, and then she caught pneumonia. Eight days in the hospital! At her age, that's scary stuff. She said that she's very, very weak and is having a hard time eating and drinking enough and can't seem to get any energy back. No wonder! I've been trying to think of something we can do for her, but all I can come up with is maybe fruit and flowers? I don't know what she can or can't eat, but a small basket of fruit seems harmless and some bright flowers might be cheering. If anyone reading has any suggestions I'd love to hear them! Of course I've told her that we're right next door, day or night, and to please call if she needed anything at all. I also offered to run any errands she might have. We've tried to think of other stuff that might help, but her family seems to be taking excellent care of her. Gregg did roll her garbage can back under her carport the other morning. We can't think of much else at the moment. I imagine her recovery is going to be long and hard, and once her family isn't there day and night maybe we can do more for her. But again, any suggestions are welcome.

On a happier note, Marla and Martina are coming over Saturday! And Marla will bring little Carsen over for the first hour or so (her daddy will come pick her up after a little while so the party can continue baby-less)! I haven't hugged that baby in over a year. She's about to turn three, so that's over a third of her life so far.

This was back in January. See? She's a little girl now!

It's going to be a fun time. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again, and there will be birthday cake, and so my birthday celebration continues. Today is a half day at work, and after that we're on spring break. I'm looking forward to it.

Welcome to the neighborhood (not!)

One afternoon a few weeks ago, before we started moving our stuff over,  I was at the new house cleaning, and I met the first of our new neighbors. It was a guy named Joe, and he seems really nice. He owns the house next door, which he inherited from his aunt who passed away a little while back. I said hello while he was out sweeping the porch (he's been trying to sell the house) and we struck up a conversation and immediately hit it off. I was disappointed when I found out he doesn't live there, because that would be at least one good neighbor!

Then on the day the movers were bringing our furniture in, I heard a cheery female voice call out "Yoo Hoo!" from the foyer. It was the lady who lives on the other side of us, come to introduce herself. She's a pleasant widow who's lived in her house decades now. She said we were going to love the neighborhood, that it's quiet and safe. Her (many) children grew up in her house and all of them live locally and visit regularly, and so do her grown up grandchildren. A thoroughly pleasant and decent lady--by this time I was thinking that we had hit the jackpot on good new neighbors.

I was wrong.

There's a creepy old man that lives behind us (our backyards are separated by a fence) who has come to our door three times in three weeks to complain about our dogs barking and disturbing him and his wife....during their 1pm to 3pm afternoon naps. He keeps insisting that we need to put the dogs inside for those two hours every day and refuses to hear us when we try to tell him that we work doing the day and can't be at home to accommodate him. It's really weird.

The first time he showed up at our door was two days after we'd moved in. I was in the shower mid afternoon and someone started ringing the doorbell, over and over. Of course I wasn't in a position to answer it at the time and by the time I got out he was gone. About 15 minutes later the doorbell rang again, and when I finally made it to the door I found a small old man with a big bouffant of white hair taping a letter to the front door. It said (and he said, too) "We've lived here 50 years. Your dogs' barking disturb my wife's naps, and she's been ill. We nap between 1 and 3 in the afternoon and we'd appreciate you putting your dogs inside. We're Christian people." Of course I was horrified that my dogs were disturbing a sick old woman, and I told the guy I'd be happy to do whatever I could to accommodate him on the weekends, but we work during the week and our dogs don't stay inside when we're not here. They have the porch and backyard during the day, and then they spend every night in the house, so I know they're not disturbing anyone at night. What they do during the day is something we have limited control of.

Well, it was like talking to a brick wall. He kept repeating that he wanted us to put the dogs inside and that they'd lived here "for over 50 years" and "we're good Christian people".  It was strange. Gregg and I talked about it, and I even considered baking the guy and his wife a plate of cookies and including an apology note....because, again, as weird as he acted (only two days after we moved in, remember) the last thing I want to do is disturb our neighbors. We want to fit in to the new neighborhood and be on friendly terms with everyone. We were really bothered by the whole thing.

Then two days ago the man showed up at our door again. This time it was Gregg who was home alone. The guy got really weird this time, repeating over and over a demand for us to put the dogs inside from 1pm 3pm every afternoon. He wouldn't acknowledge anything Gregg tried to say in response, and even got vaguely threatening..."I don't like to cause trouble for people" "I'm a Christian man and I hate to start trouble, but....." and similar things repeated multiple times. He also asked where we had lived before, and when he got a vague answer, he actually had the nerve to ask
where exactly we had lived! I'm proud of Gregg for holding his temper and his tongue. He was furious by this time and had to struggle not to go off in a way that old man wouldn't have soon forgotten. He says he doesn't know if the guy is suffering from mild dementia, or is just a nasty old crank, but he's got one more time to show up on our door and we'll be putting a stop to his harassment.

I talked to the sheriff's deputy assigned to the school were I work and asked for advice. I'm slightly scared of the crazy old man--not that I think he'll do anything to us, but what if he's nuts enough to do something to our dogs? The deputy told me that 1. Our dogs are perfectly free to bark nonstop during the day. If it were happening all night, every night, then that could be a noise complaint, but they're not even outside at night. 2. The next time Mr. Crazy shows up at our door, tell him "We're not going to resolve this. You're going to have to accept that. Now get off our property, and don't come back. You are not welcome here." and shut the door in his face. If he comes back after that we can file a report on him for trespassing, and he'll get a friendly little visit from local law enforcement. 3. If something happens to our dogs, the legal consequences will be severe. I have a copy of a letter the guy wrote us (dated) and I have the deputy's word that he advised me about this situation on x date.

I'm sure it's not going to come to all that, but this whole episode has been terribly unpleasant. Our poor dogs have had a hard enough time adjusting to a new house and yard and neighborhood, and now the neighbor behind us is a loony old geezer who hates them.

I'll keep you guys posted on the progress of our new neighborhood feud. Sigh.

Oh, and there won't be any Christmas cookies or cards going to that house!

No rest in this house!

After a very late night at work (I didn't get home until after 11pm) I set my alarm to sleep as long as possible this morning. I have to be back at work at 11am, so I set my alarm for 9:30. That would give me time to drink a cup of coffee, shower, and drive there. I didn't make it to bed until almost 1am, since I can't go right to bed when I'm keyed up from work, but that should have still meant a little over 8 hours to rest. Right? Wrong!

First Marco started to screech for attention. He's usually pretty good about being quiet in the morning, but not today. I think when Gregg left for work he decided it was time for me to come uncover his cage and let him out. Then my jerk neighbor started up with his lawn mower. This is a guy who regularly runs his lawn mower, weed trimmer, and table saw at the crack of dawn. In the summer, when it got really hot by noon, I could kind of understand him wanting to get an early start on that kind of stuff, but not now that the weather is much more mild. And even in the summer, it's pretty inconsiderate to crank up power tools before 8am! I don't think he has a job, at least not one that he leaves his house for, and you'd think that after 6 years of living beside us he'd notice that I often get home very late at night. I think he just doesn't care. He's never been very considerate, and neither is his wife. They don't bother to speak or wave hello if we see them outside, even after several years of close proximity.

Oh well. At least I have time for an extra cup or two of coffee. I'm going to need it!