Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year 2010


Another year come and gone...and another Laughing Horse Award from Yorkshire Pudding!

I'd like to thank my parents, my agent, and all the little people that helped me achieve the success that warrants a Granddad Blogger of the Year award from Yorkie!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Annual Post Christmas Post




Christmas 1956...from left to right: Linda, Thom, me and Diane. (This was several years before Thom broke his radio and somehow convinced me to trade my good radio for it.)

It's now 53 years later, and Beatrice is older than I was when that picture was taken. And judging by this clip and picture, I'd say the technology has improved somewhat. You couldn't even take movies with your phone back in those days. I just don't know HOW we survived!




Each year, there seems to be a Christmas gift that stands out, and this year is no exception. It turns out that Dorothy hired an artist go out to Wyndanwood to create two oil paintings. It was left to the artist to determine the views, and surprisingly, the pond did not make it into either painting. But they are just beautiful, and my challenge is to find an appropriate place to hang them. These photos do not do justice, but feast your eyes...


Thursday, December 24, 2009

Season's Greetings 2009



Another year has come and gone. But this has been good a year, capped off by a trip the the Bahamas, whence we returned last night.

The trip began last Friday, and it didn't start out very well. We arrived in Nassau at about 2:30 in the afternoon, but our luggage was still stateside. The next flight from Atlanta was coming in at 4, so we decided to wait for that flight, hoping that our luggage would be on it. We headed to the airport bar, where I enjoyed a few cold Kaliks, and Dorothy had a Pina Colada. Unfortunately, she was not feeling well, so she drank about half of her drink, then found the most comfortable accommodations she could and laid down while I stayed at the bar.

As 4 o'clock neared, I went back to the Delta Airlines counter, and the agent told me the flight was now delayed until almost 6 o'clock, and he could not guarantee that our bags would even be on that flight. So we hopped into a cab and headed to Paradise Island.

We stayed at the Riu Palace (next door to Atlantis), and this is the first all-inclusive trip I've taken. And when I say all-inclusive, that is exactly what I mean. All food and beverage was included in the price, including 24-hour room service. Considering Dorothy's status, and the fact that we couldn't clean up to go have dinner, we ordered room service, and we didn't have to wait long for a nice meal of salad, a club sandwich and chocolate cake. Our luggage arrived at 11:30 that night.

The rest of the trip was about the beach, and two trips to Nassau - one by taxi, one by ferry. The weather was not ideal - it was windy most of the time, and I don't think it even got to 70 on Monday. But there was much less wind in town than at the beach, and we did see some sunshine. We also saw the little drummer boy of song...appropriate for the Christmas season.










We took several walks along the beach, and it is one of the cleanest I've ever seen. It is also the softest - it's actually hard to walk the beach because you sink deep into the sand, regardless of whether it's wet or dry.










So, after 6 days of Paradise Island, we returned to Ohio, and as usual, my living room is decorated for Christmas. Dorothy's theme for the tree this year is, appropriately, Wyndanwood.



Wyndanwood is all about trees and nature and fish and other animals.












This Christmas will be special, because it will be Beatrice's first Christmas at Grandpa Sam's house. Her stocking makes a nice addition to the mantel!

To all who read this, Merry Christmas and all the best for the coming new year.

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Those Crazy Belgians

This scene is from the main train station in Antwerp, Belgium. You've got to smile...

The Sedated Ape

I ran across The Sedated Ape a few days ago, and it is one of the most entertaining blogs I've ever read. It's not for the faint of heart, and if you can't abide a bit of foul language, you'll probably want to avoid it. But anything that makes me laugh out loud is meant to be shared!


The Sedated Ape has earned a spot on the Official Golden Hill Blog Roll.