Dillard, GA March 28, 2016

Bob had the surgery on the 22nd to remove the growth.  He was out of the hospital in two days, and began to recover.  We spent a quiet Easter together.  My brother, Bobby, was up from Florida visiting his daughter in Tucker, GA. We decided to meet for lunch Easter Monday at The Dillard House Restaurant in Dillard, Georgia.  It was a little over an hour away for each of us, and a beautiful ride on mountain roads.  We had been in Dillard years before, but never went to the restaurant.  It is situated in the mountains and features southern cooking served family style.  The grounds contain cabins and hotel rooms, swimming pool, a small farm zoo, and horse stables.  It was perfect weather, and we really enjoyed our time together.  The next day, Bob met with the surgeon and got the pathology report of the mass that was removed.  It was a rare fungus found in the Ohio Valley area.  The first thing that came to mind is that Bob went to Ohio a year ago to buy our travel trailer.  The fungus is known to grow in people with weakened immune systems, which Bob has due to his rheumatoid arthritis.  He will hopefully learn more when he sees the pulmonologist mid April. 
Despite all his problems, we feel he is lucky he had the ruptured appendix.  The fungus might not have been discovered until it had spread which could have been fatal.

 



View from the front of the Dillard House

Bobby and his friend, Valerie.  Valerie is the sister of Bobby's long time neighbor and friend, Gail.  Valerie lives on an island on the Penobscot Bay in Maine, but is escaping the winter in a condo in Florida.

Bobby's four year old grandson (my great nephew) Owen showing Valerie his art work.

Bobby's daughter, Jenna (my niece) getting ready to feed the goats at the farm.

The goats know goodies are forthcoming.  The Shetland pony is hoping for a treat, too.

Look out, Owen!  One of the baby goats escaped!  Kids will be kids, right?

Bobby treated Owen to a horsey back ride.  Bobby had to walk the horse around the riding area.  It took Bobby a few times to remember to stay within the approved area and to have the horse go where Bobby wanted it to, not the other way around. The Dillard stable offers trail rides. Minimum age is 6.  Bobby promised Owen to go on one once he is old enough. Maybe we will join them then.

 

 

Valerie and I hit it off like old friends.  Hope to see her again soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Mountain Trip March 16, 2016

We decided to finally take our ride into the mountains on Wednesday, March 16th.  Our first stop was the rock outcropping we had found a few months ago when I realized I didn't have a battery in the camera, and we cut our trip short.  From there we went to  Caesar's Head State Park in Cleveland, then Jones Gap State Park in Marietta, and then to Table Rock State Park in Pickens.  Since the main activity at the parks is hiking, we did not stay long at any.  On the way back, we stopped at a little mom and pop restaurant in Pumpkintown that has been owned by the same family since 1938.

 

  

 I didn't want to take chances and go much closer to the edge!

The Blue Ridge Mountains are in the distance.



The overlook on the escarpment at Caesar's Head State Park.  Highest elevation here is 3208 feet. The mountain is said to be named after a dog owned by an early mountaineer.



The rock cliff on which the overlook sits.  Table Rock can be seen in the distance. 

 

You'd better not sleep walk if you lived here!

 

A view of the road on the GPS coming down from Caesar's Head

 

A view of Jones Gap from the stream below.  Access to the summit is by hiking trails only. The area between Caesar's Head and Jones Gap is known as the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area and covers 11,000 acres.

Trout fishing is supposed to be excellent in this area of the Middle Saluda River

Looking downstream



A waterfall along the road on the way to Table Rock

Table Rock.  The Cherokee believed the Great Spirit sat on the peak on the right and ate meals off the "table" on the left

Table Rock as seen from the park headquarters below

The land around the park headquarters contains a large lake with a fishing pier, picnic tables and a boat ramp. These beautiful places are within an hour's drive from Townville.  I'm sure we will return here another time.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

St Patrick's celebration in Calabash, NC 2016

 Several months prior, our friends, Jay and Paul, had invited us to their annual St Patrick's Day bash at their home in Calabash, NC, for March 13th.  We already had reservations at a condo in their gated community, Brunswick Plantation, for the 9th thru the 10th.  Although neither of us were up to snuff, Bob was insistent that we go.  He felt we could use the break before the pending surgery on the 22nd.  I don't know how Jay and Paul do it....they had a feast for 40 guests with corned beef & cabbage, turkey, spiral ham, several casseroles, desserts, and a full bar.  We tried to help them as best we could, but mostly all we did was bend our elbows.  One surprise was seeing Jay's cousin, Marty, whom I had not seen since 1967.  It was also great to meet his wife, Arlene.  We didn't do our usual beach or shopping or restaurant stops.  If we weren't at Jay and Paul's, we were chilling at the condo.  Too many trips to the ER had taken its toll.

 

This is the closest we got this trip to the Grand Strand at Sunset Beach

Leprechauns (left to right: Paul, me and Marty) toiling away  the night before the party

Arlene adeptly icing cupcakes after icing the whiskey cake Jay had made.  

 The piece d' resistance...Irish Whiskey cake.  Both batter and icing contained a generous amount of Jamison Irish whiskey.  Don't eat and drive!

 Two more  leprechauns before even  having any cake!

Jay and daughter, Erin, who teaches high school Social Studies at a school near Brunswick.

Arlene, Marty, Jay & Paul.  May the road rise up to meet you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Early March 2016 Townville SC

Follow up with the surgeon showed that Bob was healing well from the appendectomy, although it left him feeling very weak.  The doctor scheduled a pet scan for March 2nd.  On the March 4th appointment , the doctor said the mass "lit up like a neon sign" on the pet scan  which was indicative of cancer.  He ordered a biopsy for the 8th with a follow up with his lung doctor on the 9th..  Bob's son, David drove up from Florida to visit on Saturday March 5th, along with his lady friend Amanda, and one of Bob's grand daughters, Emily (15). Amanda's parents live near Atlanta, GA, so they were spending the evening there before returning home Sunday.  Bob's daughter, Debbie, came in from Lafayette, Georgia, and we got to see her Saturday evening and Sunday.  Thankfully, the biopsy showed that the mass was not cancer, but the pathologist could not figure out what it was, and the surgeon  said it would still have to be removed.  Surgery was scheduled for the 22nd of March...the third surgery in 3 months, each on or around the 22nd.

 

Bob and David

 

Emily on left and Amanda on right.  Emily is a great softball player on her high school team.  Amanda, who has an MA in sports administration is currently teaching 4th grade at an inner city school near Orlando.

Debbie and Bob.  She is currently pursuing her nursing degree in the hopes of working in the trauma unit.  Hopefully her father will never be one of her patients!!!

 

 

 



February 2016 Townville SC

I have never been fond of February.  Always seemed to be a down time.  But,  I  decided to get an electric keyboard, even though it would be a challenge to find room for it.  I have had a piano or keyboard of some sort since I was 13, and even though I can not play well, I missed having one, especially during the holidays.  Bob was feeling better after the pacemaker operation until around the middle of the month when he started feeling like he was having chest pains again.  So, we were back at the Anderson ER on the 16th of February.  Since he described it as an indigestion feeling, he was given a "gastric cocktail". That made him feel better, so no other tests were done, although at first the doctor was going to do a cat scan.  Three days later Bob started feeling really bad,  and we were back in ER on the 20th when the pain had gotten unbearable.  His appendix had ruptured.  He was operated on and spent the next 7 days in the hospital.  He said it was the worst pain he had ever been in.  But the bad news didn't stop there.  The scan done in the ER showed a "mass" on his lung.  The surgeon said we would deal with that once the appendectomy crisis was over. Bob had a lot of poison in his system.  In retrospect, we think the doctor was concerned that Bob might not make it.  Thankfully, he did.  But, it was not a good way to celebrate our one year of being in Townville.  And, now we needed  face the issue of the mass in his lung. 

 

The keyboard has a program where you can play along to recorded songs or rhythms, and no matter what notes you play, it sounds good.  Here is Bob, who has not played a musical instrument,  jamming out BAS (before appendectomy surgery).  The keyboard was later moved to a better place in our bedroom.

Got milk?  A calf and her momma at a nearby farm in Townville



January 2016 Townville, SC

Every new year brings promise of good things, but 2016 did not start off well.  Bob woke up about 3 am with chest pains, and so we went to the emergency room at the hospital in Seneca.  A cat scan was done done to determine there were no blood clots, and although his heart rate was low (in the high 30's),  he was diagnosed with angina, given a prescription, and was sent home with instructions to see his heart doctor.  He wasn't happy with his cardiologist in Seneca, so he switched to a cardio group in Anderson who scheduled a stress test for him January 25th. But, on  January 21, he was back in the ER, this time in Anderson, with chest pains and almost passed out.  His heart rate had fallen to the low 20's.  I thought I was going to lose him, and later he said he felt as though he had an out of body experience. The new heart doctors scheduled surgery for a pacemaker the next day.  So, on Bob's birthday, the 22nd, he was given the gift of life.  It snowed while we were at the hospital, but by the time we got back the next day, most of it had melted.  We did not do any road trips to speak of this month.  We were going to try to get to the mountains, but on our way up, I realized I had forgotten to put the charged battery back in the camera, so we turned around and came home.

 

The campground January 23, 2016

Snow people in Seneca

 



December 2015 in Townville

Christmas came all too soon after getting back from our trip to New Jersey.  It was somewhat of a challenge trying to get our favorite decorations arranged in the smaller space,  but everything worked out well.  Plus, one  of our neighbors, Jackie, introduced me to "junkin' "- her name for hitting thrift stores looking for great bargain finds.  

 

 

Jackie & a trunk-a- junk

 

 

Bob hanging Christmas lights - something we never had in Bonita

A redneck sleigh

 

Although there were many Christmas items we had to leave behind when we moved, Buddy the Snowboy, was not one of them.  Our fireplace mantle also had space for some old favorites.