Feeling a little bit better every day it seems. Woke up pretty early for some reason, considering it was after 2:00 this morning that I went to bed. Just restless I guess, that and all the sleep I've been getting these past couple of days while recovering. Even at that late hour it was still at least another hour before I finally drifted off to sleep. So it was a surprise when I woke up at 8:30 a.m. today. Rather than succumbing to sleep, which is what my body wanted to do. I went ahead and got up rather than get started in a routine of 'really' late nights and equally late mornings.

   So up it was, though I still wasn't all that hungry for some reason. Read the comics, did the crossword and checked out email and facebook. Nothing of any great note in any of it, but still comforting to be slipping back into a real routine again.

    Finally made it into a shower and cleaned up as well as did the few dishes that I had dirtied in the last 5-6 days. For the most part that meant a few knives and forks and a mug for my tea.  Around two this afternoon it cleared up enough that it felt like a good time to get out and about. Had bought two one pound packages of dried beans at the store yesterday with the intention of making a really big pot of beans with some home made cornbread for dinner this evening. With that in mind I had set the beans to soak in water in my biggest kettle last night. After nearly 12 hours of soaking that had swelled to more than twice their original volume and I could see that I might have to break the original batch into two smaller ones. But first I needed to go off and find some cornbread mix to go with it.

    With nothing better to do while out I was also keeping my eyes open for a cheap hair cutting place. No real hurry about it, but it is certainly long, long over due. Since it is one of my least liked things to do however, I didn't feel too bad that I didn't run across a Cost Cutters or some similar place before getting to the grocery store. Picked up 4 boxes of 'Jiffy' cornbread mix and a couple of cartons of vanilla yogurt. I found long ago that if you substitute some, or all, of the milk for yogurt, the cornbread came out richer and creamier and didn't feel as 'gritty' in your mouth. Once that was done I went ahead and found a local McDonald's for a quick bite of very late lunch.

    Back at the trailer I went ahead and put the rest of the bean stuff together and got it started simmering on the stove. Did have to break it into two batches as it was too much for my largest, I think 7-8 quart, pot. Also had to cook them at different times because, while my stove does have three burners on it, only one of them is adjustable to anything other than high. Not a problem though, as there were plenty of hours in the evening to get it all done.

     Got it all finished up about an hour ago and did at least have a taste of it.... but really still not all that hungry for anything yet. Will wait until tomorrow to make my pan of cornbread and then have a good time eating a couple of bowls of it. I had bought and used a package of 'smoked' ham hocks to cook with the beans and along with the spices I used it really turned out quite good. Just waiting for it all to cool down enough now to put it in the fridge, as well as get a couple Tupperware bowls of it put into the freezer for later.

    Have been working on photo's for most of the night as well as reading a new book when things got slow. Will likely finish the book up later tonight or early tomorrow, but there are still billions and billions of other good ones out there to find and read.

    Got a few pictures from last weekend put together and have them posted below. They are of a trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens that my friend Rima and I did last Saturday. We decided to take a few hours off from dancing and spend some time outdoors in the beautiful autumn weather. It was a wonderful little journey, even though there were not many flowers to see this late in the season. Enjoy!

Atlanta Botanical Gardens - Nov. 9, 2013

It being mid November already the whole staff seemed to be busy in getting out Christmas lights and putting up decorations for the season. I found the contrast in light between these unlit lights and the fall colors of the trees and grass to be interesting.

I like seeing the white of the lights set off by the different fall leaf colors.

Just inside the entrance they have an elevated pedestrian bridge in a design similar to one I saw in Greenville, SC a couple years ago. Notice that the cables used to hold the bridge up with are only attached to one side of the bridge. You also see that there are several cables that are attached to lever arms on the same side,,, that also put a downward 'moment' on the structure. A very ingenuous design that is always fun to look and marvel at.

Another view of the support poles and several of the guy wires.

They had these cute little wood and metal stools located along the bridge in several spots. They are actually quite comfortable.

Rima also had to take a picture.

A nearly hidden water feature.

This is just a great little fountain. Look closer and see how leaf shapes make up most of the face and head while there are also small little caterpillar like creatures hidden around the sculpture.  

In one of the bog areas they had a whole bunch of temperate 'pitcher plants' of some kind. Most had water in the pitcher part, and many of them had trapped insects inside that they were slowly dissolving and consuming as food.

Some type of grass that looks somewhat like wheat. But I don't think it is.

A very pretty little gazebo like structure.

 

They had one section devoted to actual edible garden plants such as cabbage, beets etc. Around the perimeter was this whole trellis of espaliered fruit trees. I just love how these things are trained up onto individual wires. The apples, by the way, are blown glass ornaments.

Rima in front of a whole bunch of tropical orchids.

Inside one of the tropical green houses. I couldn't decide of this was one huge leaf, or lots of individual leaves all jammed really close together.

 

 

Some type of tropical pitcher plant.

Note how you can see a bit of water at the bottom of each of these. I also liked the little hinged 'hood' that each of them had. Not sure if they could move it to close off the tube or not.

Some type of orchid.

 

I have no idea what this stuff is.... but I think it looks really neat.

 

Another small water feature.

 

A fountain with a 'Chihuly' glass sculpture on top of it. For some reason it reminded me of some wild Medusa like figure with crazy hair that had been turned into glass instead of stone.