Today was such a beautiful day I had the urge to get out and explore, take photos and just get lost in history. At first I thought of a church tour but there are just too many here. The Georgia skyline is literally dotted with steeples. So, I began checking historic churches, which led to historic buildings, then narrowing it down to nearby cities and finally I hit a winner.
This visit was not about patriotism or politics but about my love of cemeteries. There is so much history written on grave stones and in the case today, much more that was left unsaid on the unmarked stones of the soldiers who fell in the battles around the cemetery. So many were never identified and lay in graves there, acknowledged in the only way humanly possible without the modern science techniques we use today.
Another thing that I love to see when I visit a cemetery is the birds that live there, so often lighting on the head stones and posing there or squawking until I take a photo. Many indigenous peoples have beliefs that include birds being messengers from the Spirit world. I like to feel this is true. If it is, then there were a lot of messages coming at me today. Here are the best of the images I got while we walked around.
A different kind of winged messenger
There are always mockingbirds
I loved this broken headstone
A loving pair
The tail seemed perfectly aligned with the stone
This was a first!
If you hold your finger on the bottom of the photo you may find a caption!
It was getting late, so we headed over to the second stop on our excursion. This one should catch your eye, Dan. I think it was your kind of place. 😉
I have more photos but not enough time to edit and put them in this post. I also feel this might be one of the best put together museums that I have ever visited. It truly warrants its own post when I have the chance. Meanwhile, here are a few of the highlights. If you are ever in Kennesaw, and if you love trains or history, be sure to stop by.
The General
The General of the Great Locomotive Race
Making trains. Look where it’s made, Dan!
I loved this story
Owney the train dog
The one on top is a real Flintlock Musket. Color me impressed
Then we were hungry so headed in search of food. We found a new little place called The Nest and grabbed some cold beer and Barbecue. I had mine in tacos. I hope your Free48 was beautiful. Got a busy week ahead so you may not hear from me for a bit. Have a great week and stay cool, in all ways. 😎
Sup-pose you want to grill burgers for the big holiday. You know, the one that falls in the middle of the week and you can never get additional days off around it so you either pretend you aren’t going to, but get really drunk and just suffer through the next day-OR-you act all grownup and just enjoy a mid week break with some good food and try to avoid the crowds (although you dream of seeing fireworks from the rooftop in DC or Lincoln like your kiddos are doing). Since we sup-posedly wise up as we age, I felt it prudent to stay in this year. Perhaps I didn’t care about missing out. Perhaps I wanted to snuggle in with hubs and be creative and do all those things I miss out on when I am just bustling around. Either way, we wanted burgers. Did I mention we were avoiding crowds? That includes the maniacal scene that would be playing out in every grocery and conveninece store across this great flag-waving holiday-loving fireworks-exploding country. Now, just sup-pose two very sup-eriorly intelligent humans (insert crying laugh here 😂) were not prepared enough to pick up hamburger buns from the store.
I mean we are trying not to eat a lot of bread, especially processed white killer bread. But you really are sup-posed to have that junk on this auspicious holiday. Hubs offered to go to the store-half a dozen times or more-but he seemed so serene sitting there over his puzzle and I didn’t want our day ruined by a cart-pushing wise mouth or grocery employee with a grudge for having to work. What to do, what to do? Oh! I’ll just make some. I mean, I have been trying to find a good bun recipe and so far all previous attempts had been mediocre. What better time than a free day with no pressure?
Now, even though I still have a shelf full of my favorite cookbooks, I must admit to using the internet for recipes more often than not. It is just so easy and I can actually combine ideas that way.
A word to the wise and unaware here. A lot of people out there can’t cook; and often this fact spills over into their recipes. I can only hope it was typing ommissions because obvious things like baking powder left out of a cake recipe is going to really tick off that person trying a 27 ingredient Chocolate Decadent Roller Coaster Fudge Cake recipe for their big party. Thankfully, I have been cooking long enough to recognize an obvious ommission, but in others the ‘missing link’ was not as obvious. This time, though, I found what I think is the perfect sup-per sandwich roll. If you love burgers and have a breadmaker, you can easily have these in about 2 1/2 hours. Bon Appetit’!
This #SoCS post is brought to you by Linda Hill . Visit her blog for the prompt to meet other consciousness revelers and read about her new book! Today’s word was ‘sup’.
I found the recipe at Genius Kitchen and have saved it to my desktop so as never to lose it. I hope. 😏
I added sesame and poppy seeds after the egg wash and used olive oil as well as sea salt. It looks like a recipe you could play with. I have not tried my Bob’s Gluten Free flour mix yet as I wanted to test the integrity of the recipe first. OMG! We loved them. Have a look.
This dough did perfectly in the breadmaker which I have had for almost 20 yrsYou could so so much with the dough which is slightly sweetAt first I feared that they didn’t rise enoughBaking always finishes off the risingI know. I was trying to get their best side.Can you smell them?Okay, a perfect burger made using our gifted Omaha Steak patties too. There’s Barb’s contribution Dan!Of course I had to make homemade Thousand Island dressing, for that Big Mac effect.😉I even shaped a few hoagies knowing we would have Italian sandwiches the next day-old Pizza Hut style. Yuuum!
Yeah, even though we no longer eat fast food, you can see how my food memories have been shaped by them. 😜
I hope you all had a relaxing and/or fun holiday and enjoy an even better #free48!
Oh. We heard lots of fireworks going off in surrounding neighborhoods, but his was the extent of my visual; and I had to brave the mosquito hoard to get this one! Yep, I was a total whimp.
One of the things about the modern mindset that infuriates puzzles me is the concept that nature is cruel and animals that eat other animals is awful. They have been called killers, brutes, a menace, etc. Now, I am no extremist and understand the need to keep the wild things at bay with regard to the general populace; however, from my personal point of view, anyone who isn’t a dedicated practicing vegan has no room to throw stones at the carnivores who inhabit this planet along with we humans but simply happen to place lower on the food chain.
Question in point? What do you think when you see this photo?
Zippy is adorable. Right? Of course he is. He also procreates faster than a rabbit. He and his family have the potential to leave droppings and other highly undesirable things under my porch, in my attic and within our walls. He digs up my potted plants daily. I love him. I give him walnuts from my precious stash.
Now, what do you think when you see these images?
CkP Photos
All hawk photos copyright CkP
This is a juvenile Broad Winged Hawk. We spotted it 2 days ago while on an outing. These birds are magnificent. I am in awe of hawks and have a great respect for their fierce hunting skills. I love to capture photos of them looking down at me, their expressions both curious and frightening. Do I look like a possible snack? In many places they are considered to be a menace, as well as eagles, due to their ability to hunt fairly large small game and, at times, that has included small pets. While I feel that is tragic, I don’t think they warrant being called killer birds. For, if that were true, we should surely be called “killer humans”.
Often I show these kind of images to people who cringe and say, “Oh my God that’s horrible.” These are also the people who love slasher movies and Dexter.
Not only do we hunt voraciously and often for pure sport, but we also raise animals for the slaughter, plan the preparations for eating it and then brag about the results.
These birds are efficient, not leaving anything behind and even clean themselves afterwards. See his “beak pick” in the second to last photo? There is no eating for snacks or overeating leading to obesity. They are surviving. We could take a lesson or two.
Cute huh? Adorable I say.
Still cute? Tasty looking I’d say.
No, I am not vegan. Most of the time I can take or leave meat. Sometimes I crave a good burger or pork chop. And who doesn’t love bacon? My point is that I wish humans would stop being so ridiculous, ignoring the truth of who and what we are in the food chain. If we could accept one small part of the truth of life and its process, then perhaps we could learn to accept other fears about life processes that are ridiculous when taken down to the their core. We are all the same in this living, breathing, cellularly connected Existence.
Now, go out and grill some dead animals if you must. Just remember to appreciate and not waste what they gave for you.
❤️🥂
This post brought to you by Linda Hill and #1LinerWeds
It has been a practice of mine for quite some time now to seek out small miracles which can turn things around-a moment, a day or an event which otherwise seems bleak. The last few weeks have been very trying and painful for my family in many ways; and although I am not right there with them physically, my heart still aches and longs to turn things around and make life beautiful again for everyone, so thoughts and prayer must suffice in this moment.
I also had a birthday over the past #Free48. My ‘Birthday Buddy’, my son who shares the same birthday, was not here this year and that added to the prospect of a bleak celebration. But, as is always the case, Nature stepped up to the plate and presented me with some magnificent bits of brilliance to say, “Happy Birthday!”.
With well wishes from friends and phone calls from loved ones, including a birthday song from the grandkids, it was-as always-a special day.
This early gift from my sweet sister kicked things off!
Thank you Omaha!
All I really cared about was getting outside to take some photos and having a nice meal somewhere that someone else cooked. 😉My dear hubby, as always, was a willing partner and smiled through it all-even the humidity. It really wasn’t too bad in the early part of Sunday. Here are some of my favorite things from our excursion.
Where’s Waldo? This bush was covered in bees. How many can you find?
I got some great closeups!
Although the Spring flowers were diminished, there were still some beauties..
In the gardens
There were no swallowtails but these lovelies were everywhere.
This is Barrington Hall historic house in Roswell. I nver go inside. I just love the grounds.
The grapevine was thick and lush over the arched walk this time
Barrington Hall. Mr. Barrington founded the city of Roswell, GA
These are like tiny Japanese lanterns
Then I heard it. That familiar cry that sends me running like a crazed shopper on Black Friday. There is no mistaking a hawk’s screech. When we turned around there was a huge one flying low across the front of the property with its lunch in its claws. Seeing where it lit, I stealthily crept over to stand beneath the tree for some photos. I will spare you the gore (in this post) but it always amazes me to watch these birds methodically eat. He left nothing behind either, not a hair. We looked it up later to find this was a juvenile 😱 Broad Winged Hawk.
So beautiful
This bird was huge
If you look closely…
Please don’t tell Zippy! 🙊🙈He showed up to say Happy Birthday too!
I got my dinner out at Yardhouse. Plus a free birthday dessert! So yummy.
Shrimp, Lobster, Crab and Artichoke dip.
Mediterranean Salmon. The seasoning was too salty but it was all good. That is a cilantro aioli sauce. Very tasty! Over toasted quinoa and kale.
My treat! They called it a chocolate soufle but it was more like a brownie-better yet!
Pomegranate Sangria.
And yesterday there were a few more surprises from friends at work. And hubby stepped with a few surprises he said he didn’t have time to get over the weekend with me hanging around. 😉 He’s so good to me.
Publix Fudge Cake! Oh my….These are a few of my favorite things….This lady and I usually share a burrito like this on Fridays. This one was all mine! The flowers came from her beautiful yard!
This?
A gift from my oldest. A hands free gadget for my crafts, like jewelry making. I think it looks like Doc Oc from Spiderman! 😀 I thought you’d like it, Dan!
Well, there it is. Brilliant Birthday. I hope everyone has a better than anticipated week. Ours begins with a no tolerance hands free cell phone law in place. Should be high revenues for the state of Georgia! 😏
Hugs! 💕
This was in my head when I woke up. Now it can be in yours too!
"I have enough time to rest, but I don't have a minute to waste". Come and catch me with your wise words and we will have some fun with our words of wisdom.
Dreaming Reality 
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