Gustav...

Please pray for the people on the Gulf Coast...that the storm surge doesn't wipe out their cities. I heard Mobile was evacuated too.

Yard sales today

I went to a bunch of yard sales with a true professional. Three point turns when spotting a yard sale sign, picking through piles, unearthing deals, triumphantly holding up the perfect find, haggling...Old Eagle Eyes never missed a beat. She even knew all the good pee places along the way.

I did find a George Foreman grill, and several shirts, and some plates. A good day.


A china teapot framed against some camo.



Please throw the ball. Please please please please please please please oh please throw the ball she's coming closer is she going to throw the ball I bet she will throw the ball

A Jack Russell at one of the yard sales. He was having a god day because the customers couldn't resist him and each one threw the ball.

Yard sale-ing!

I'm a-going yard sale-ing tomorrow. Leaving at 7:45 with a friend and hope to find:

--laptop lap desk
--George Foreman grill (small)
--veggie steamer
--round table to put my piece of pink marble on

Wish us luck!!!!!!!!!!

PS if I get really lucky I will find a full size mattress and box spring, unused and still in the plastic. Har har, what're the chances? I'm hoping!

Resurrecting the cartoon pigeon

I had a great time teaching the two little kids at church last night. We had fun looking at Da Vinci's Annunciation, and learning Luke 1:26-38 when Gabriel comes to tell Mary she will birth a boy and call Him Jesus. Boy 1 loved the Annunciation painting of Gabriel and Mary that Da Vinci did. He fell in love with it, looking lovingly at it for a long time, examining each part, noting Gabriel's wings, the landscape.... His pronouncement: "That guy sure is a good painter."

At the end of the lesson when they were coloring the workbook page with Mary and Gabriel in it, they noticed that two pigeons were huddled on Mary's house's windowsill. "Are they dead?" they asked. "I think they're just sitting there," I said.

Boy 2 said "No, one of them has an X on its wing. That means it's dead, like the fish in the cartoons with X's on their eyes." So then they focused on the dead pigeons, laughing as they colored and making up stories on why they died. Boy 1 stood up then and raised his hands and shouted "Pigeons, arise!"

We all fell over laughing.

Code Red. Move immediately to your safe zone

I got a subbing job yesterday. It was the first time I was inside a regular classroom in 14 years. It didn't take long to get back on the bicycle, just like I never fell off. By afternoon we were clicking along, Social Studies mapping lesson well underway, troublemakers identified and dealt with, "good notes" passed out, and vomiting incidents averted. A typical day in the third grade classroom.

Until 2:15 that is. Then everything became atypical.

I had just told them to take out their Social Studies practice books so we could continue the mapping lesson, when the office intercom clicked on. "We are in a Code Red. Please move to your safe zones immediately."

Uh-oh. Code red sounded bad. And I had no idea where the 'safe zones' were. Obviously our classroom had just suddenly become an UNsafe zone. And I had 23 kids to take care of.

I nabbed a teacher passing by in the hall, she said to move to the interior of the school, and when I stepped to the center of the hall and looked down the interior corridor, I saw a sight I hope I never to see again. 100 little bodies were already crouched on their knees head down, along the wall in a fetal position with their hands over their head. Never have so many little kids looked so vulnerable than when engaged in "duck and cover."

A tornado warning had been issued.

It looked so dark outside, and turning back into my class I told the kids to line up and we hustled into the hall. We had them to sit with with their backs to the wall, since the first bunch of kids had been released from duck and cover. I was proud that they moved efficiently, but the words 'Code Red' sparked some to fear. Their eyes were starting to go wide. One little boy who was already dreadfully afraid of tornadoes started to cry. He knew that was what the issue was, "I heard on the news this morning there may be tornadoes this afternoon and I hate tornadoes. I don't want to die-yyyyy" he wailed. That got a couple of the other kids crying, but we calmed them down. All this took about about minute since the intercom came on.

I counted the kids, saw one was missing and asked the para-professional where he was. She had him with her around the banister. OK. I counted them again, and mentally tried to picture how many I could fling myself upon if debris started flying. I looked for glass. I memorized the exits. I searched for the emergency lights. I smiled and told jokes. One little trooper told me one back: he had written during creative writing that he wished he had a green 4-wheeler that went a million miles an hour. "I hope the tornado doesn't destroy my new imaginary 4-wheeler," he said. Awww, what a good sport. The afraid boy started crying harder and was fairly inconsolable, so we brought him to his sister who comforted him. Soon after his mom came to pick him up.

We stayed that way during the usual time to pack up and then right on through the dismissal time. The kids were very good, despite their fear and the increasing stuffiness of the hallway with 400 kids and 30 some-odd teachers crowding every bit of space.

We should be very proud of all the kids and of the teachers in this emergency. Everyone was respectful and the Administrators and teachers had everything well in hand, competently managing the situation in the safest way possible.

Here is a story about the storm from Madison County Journal, with neighboring town of Commerce not so lucky as us crouching inside the halls of Comer Elementary School.


Praise God. It could have been a lot worse.

a typical scene at Comer

Remember, it's just humor

2008 Democratic National Convention Schedule

2008 Democratic National Convention Schedule

7:00 P.M. Opening flag burning.

7:15 P.M. Pledge of Allegiance to the United Nations.

7:30 PM. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

7:30 till 8:00 P.M. Nonreligious prayer and worship: Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton.

8:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

8:05 P.M Ceremonial tree hugging.

8:15- 8:30 P.M. Gay Wedding: Barney Frank, presiding.

8:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

8:35 P.M. Free Saddam Rally: Cindy Sheehan, Susan Sarandon.

9:00 P.M. Keynote speech: "The Proper Etiquette for Surrender" French President Jacques Chirac.

9:15 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

9:20 P.M. Collection to benefit Osama Bin Laden Kidney Transplant Fund.

9:30 P.M. Unveiling of plan to free freedom fighters from Guantanamo Bay: Sean Penn.

9:40 P.M. Why I hate the Military: A short talk by William Jefferson Clinton.

9:45 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

9:50 P.M. Dan Rather receives "Truth in Broadcasting" award, presented by Michael Moore.

9:55 P.M., Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

10:00 P.M. Presentation: "How George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld brought down the World Trade Center Towers", by Howard Dean.

10:30 P.M. Nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton for President by Mahmud Ahnadinejad.

11:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

11:05 P.M. Al Gore reinvents the Internet.

11:15 P.M. "Our Troops are War Criminals", presented by John Kerry.

11:30 P.M Coronation of Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

12:00 AM. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

12:05 A.M Bill asks Ted to drive Hillary home.

RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See the wet leaves? We had rain! By some accounts, 3 inches.


This tiny watering can actually has standing water in it. Yay! Standing water!



Wet hills, yay!

Nobody can spell any more

Or maybe it's the proofreading that's gone downhill. Either way, it's a shame. The sign below fronts a nifty new historic-looking brick complex in Comer. The developer did a spectacular job with it, right down to the awnings. But the devil is in the details, and the misspelled word sort of breaks the spell. For me, anyway.



This one is in Danielsville, on the front of a window on another new development that is another great case of care and thoughtfulness in design. But the spelling...maybe not so much.

I used my windshield wipers today

It's a start...

The drought has gone on so long I'd almost forgotten how to turn them on.

You had to know Hillary wasn't going down easy

On the other hand, the guy is right: Obama isn't eligible.

Obama Sued in Philadelphia Federal Court on Grounds he is Constitutionally Ineligible for the Presidency

A prominent Philadelphia attorney and Hillary Clinton supporter filed suit this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic National Committee and the Federal Election Commission. The action seeks an injunction preventing the senator from continuing his candidacy and a court order enjoining the DNC from nominating him next week, all on grounds that Sen. Obama is constitutionally ineligible to run for and hold the office of President of the United States.

Phillip Berg, the filing attorney, is a former gubernatorial and senatorial candidate, former chair of the Democratic Party in Montgomery (PA) County, former member of the Democratic State Committee, and former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania. According to Berg, he filed the suit--just days before the DNC is to hold its nominating convention in Denver--for the health of the Democratic Party.

"I filed this action at this time," Berg stated, "to avoid the obvious problems that will occur when the Republican Party raises these issues after Obama is nominated.".

Berg cited a number of unanswered questions regarding the Illinois senator's background, and in today's lawsuit maintained that Sen. Obama is not a natural born U.S. citizen or that, if he ever was, he lost his citizenship when he was adopted in Indonesia. Berg also cites what he calls "dual loyalties" due to his citizenship and ties with Kenya and Indonesia.

Even if Sen. Obama can prove his U.S. citizenship, Berg stated, citing the senator's use of a birth certificate from the state of Hawaii verified as a forgery by three independent document forensic experts, the issue of "multi-citizenship with responsibilities owed to and allegiance to other countries" remains on the table.

In the lawsuit, Berg states that Sen. Obama was born in Kenya, and not in Hawaii as the senator maintains. Before giving birth, according to the lawsuit, Obama's mother traveled to Kenya with his father but was prevented from flying back to Hawaii because of the late stage of her pregnancy, "apparently a normal restriction to avoid births during a flight." As Sen. Obama's own paternal grandmother, half-brother and half-sister have also claimed, Berg maintains that Stanley Ann Dunham--Obama's mother--gave birth to little Barack in Kenya and subsequently flew to Hawaii to register the birth.

Berg cites inconsistent accounts of Sen. Obama's birth, including reports that he was born at two separate hospitals--Kapiolani Hospital and Queens Hospital--in Honolulu, as well a profound lack of birthing records for Stanley Ann Dunham, though simple "registry of birth" records for Barack Obama are available in a Hawaiian public records office.

Should Sen. Obama truly have been born in Kenya, Berg writes, the laws on the books at the time of his birth hold that U.S. citizenship may only pass to a child born overseas to a U.S. citizen parent and non-citizen parent if the former was at least 19 years of age. Sen. Obama's mother was only 18 at the time. Therefore, because U.S. citizenship could not legally be passed on to him, Obama could not be registered as a "natural born" citizen and would therefore be ineligible to seek the presidency pursuant to Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution.

Moreover, even if Sen. Obama could have somehow been deemed "natural born," that citizenship was lost in or around 1967 when he and his mother took up residency in Indonesia, where Stanley Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian citizen. Berg also states that he possesses copies of Sen. Obama's registration to Fransiskus Assisi School In Jakarta, Indonesia which clearly show that he was registered under the name "Barry Soetoro" and his citizenship listed as Indonesian.

The Hawaiian birth certificate, Berg says, is a forgery. In the suit, the attorney states that the birth certificate on record is a forgery, has been identified as such by three independent document forensic experts, and actually belonged to Maya Kasandra Soetoro, Sen. Obama's half-sister.

"Voters donated money, goods and services to elect a nominee and were defrauded by Sen. Obama's lies and obfuscations," Berg stated. "If the DNC officers ... had performed one ounce of due diligence we would not find ourselves in this emergency predicament, one week away from making a person the nominee who has lost their citizenship as a child and failed to even perform the basic steps of regaining citizenship as prescribed by constitutional laws."

"It is unfair to the country," he continued, "for candidates of either party to become the nominee when there is any question of the ability to serve if elected."

Berg said that he's acting on his own, not as an agent for the Clinton campaign. Republicans were prepared to file a similar lawsuit after the Democratic convention, he said.

Aw gosh kids are so cute

First week kindergarteners are so little! And cute. We have All-Day Kindergarten here, so the first week of school for the littlest ones is quite a hardship on their tiny bodies. They might leave for the bus at 7:30 or so, be at school all day, and then they come to the after-school club for which I volunteer, and they fade.

This there was a little boy with honey skin and liquid brown eyes with long lashes, just so cute. He had propped his elbows on his crossed knees and cradles his face in his hands as he was listening to the story. His head kept lolling to one side and at first I wondered if he was faking. But then he glanced over, scanning for a teacher, any teacher, and once his eyes found me, he gave me the look.

Moms, you know the look. It's the fraction of a second before the tyke has a meltdown. Meltdown meaning crying screaming kicking in the aisles loss of sentient thought kind of meltdown. I waved him to me and he came running, tears streaming down his face. He plopped down next to me, saying between sobs: "I'm tired! I keep falling asleep! How much longer till I can go home?"

I looked at him, and said, rubbing his back, "15 minutes. Then you can go home."

"Aw..." and he slumped sighing against me..."thanks."

It was the sighing 'thanks' that got me. Gawd, I love kids.

Forget alligators in the sewers, they are swimming FL streets!

Imagine...rising waters, trapped in your house, and you can't swim for it because an alligator may be lurking just under the surface by your front steps...

Flood Victims Warned Of Alligator Swimming In Streets
Homeowners Forced To Use Canoes

MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Homeowners in a Tropical Storm Fay-flooded community were being warned of an alligator swimming in their streets and near homes as record-breaking rain continued to fall Thursday.

Residents on Wickham Road in Melbourne were forced to use canoes to maneuver around their flooded streets.

Several homes were reported to have flooded and some streets near the Kings Hills subdivision had waist-deep water.

There are also reports of an alligator in the flooded neighborhood streets, which is another thing residents have to worry about, Local 6's Jessica Sanchez reported.

"We have removed alligators, we have removed snakes and we've removed all kinds of wildlife," Brevard EOC Director Bob Lay said. "Our animal services and enforcement officers have been doing this all over the county for the last three days."

Some Local 6 viewers sent images of alligators in their neighborhoods -- including one gator captured by animal services.

The National Guard has been called to Melbourne to help with voluntary evacuations.

This is why we need Storm Fay:



These ole dry hills are a droughtin'






Here is Fay's latest track. I live in the upper NE corner of Georgia. Pray we get Fay's life-sustaining rain!

I took a break. Now I'm back

I took a break, having not too much to say. Dog days of summer are that way. But today I have a moment and will share something without further delay.

We are all hoping that the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay will bless us with much needed rain. There's nothing for the cows to eat. The hay isn't growing, the fields are dry and brown. The earth is cracked and the dust blows over the clay hills, mixing brown and red, hovering over the dry roads and dusting the cars with a mixture of earth for which there is no water to wash off.

I signed up for the elementary school substitute list. I have a hankering to teach young children again. I used to be a teacher, but switched careers for a while to writing, consulting, and journalism. Now I am ready to revert to my original love, teaching the young ones. I love working with the tykes on Wednesday nights at prayer meeting, and at the Good News Club at Comer Elementary once a week in the afternoons, so I am looking for a few subbing jobs. They always need subs, I am told, so things look good.

The dog days of summer are still hanging on, it's hot! I am going for an oil change later and I'll ask my mechanic to look at why the A/C is so weak. It blows cool air, but not forcefully and when it's over 85 degrees the AC positively poops out. Ha ha, that's just when I need it.

I haven't been taking any photos lately, it's too hot. And a few weeks ago when I arrived at the River and the Falls to snap some splash, there was no water. It had dried up. Fay, come on up he-ah!

A pretty plant ... THAT KILLS!

A pitcher plant on the tundra at New Brunswick. I was looking at some of my old pics and I've always liked this one. The greenery and softness of the pines contrasts with the deceptive vibrancy of the carnivorous plant.

Oh noooo, Mr. Bill, Don't fall into the pitfall trap!

"Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. foraging, flying or crawling insects such as flies are attracted to the cavity formed by the cupped leaf, often by visual lures such as anthocyanin pigments, and nectar bribes. The sides of the pitcher are slippery and may be grooved in such a way so as to ensure that the insects cannot climb out. The small bodies of liquid contained within the pitcher traps are called phytotelmata. They drown the insect, and the body of it is gradually dissolved."

That's some pitfall!

From the 'this can't be good' department

I wake up to find a war going on.

Russia sends forces into Georgian rebel conflict
Georgia Russian jets bomb air base by Tblisi

MEGVREKISI, Georgia (Reuters) - Tensions over Georgia's rebel territory of South Ossetia exploded on Friday when Georgia tried to assert control over the region with tanks and rockets, and Russia sent forces to repel the assault.

Georgia declared war on South Ossetia on Friday. Georgian airplanes launched attacks against the capital city Tskhinvali and the areas around. A line of vehicles with humanitarian aid was attacked as well. North Ossetian President Teimuraz Mamsurov was in one of the vehicles. There are skirmishes in regions where Russian peacekeepers are deployed. Many civilians are reportedly injured. The UN Security Council expressed concern about the worsening fighting in South Ossetia, but could not agree a Russian statement urging the warring sides to renounce the use of force.

Russian troops enter South Ossetia after Georgia offensive

MEGVREKISI, Georgia (AFP) — A Russian army convoy entered South Ossetia on Friday and Russian planes attacked a Georgian military base, reports said, after Georgian forces pounded the capital of the breakaway province and warned of "war" if Russia intervened.

Russia's three main news agencies said a convoy had crossed into South Ossetia.
--------------------------
I wake up to find rumors of wars going on:

'2 US aircraft carriers headed for Gulf'
THE JERUSALEM POST

Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times. Kuwait began finalizing its "emergency war plan" on being told the vessels were bound for the region.

The US Navy would neither confirm nor deny that carriers were en route. US Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Command located in Bahrain said it could not comment due to what a spokesman termed "force-protection policy." While the Kuwaiti daily did not name the ships it believed were heading for the Middle East, The Media Line's defense analyst said they could be the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Ronald Reagan.

Within the last month, the Roosevelt completed an exercise along the US east coast focusing on communication among navies of different countries. It has since been declared ready for operational duties.
----------------------------
By the way, that 'exercise' just completed was called "Operation Brimstone."

I have been saying for so long we are in the end times. By October we will be in the Tribulation. The end is near!!

Matthew 24:6- "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

Revelation 6:3, 4 - "And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." -

NOW is the time to get right with Jesus. Ask Him to forgive your sins, and ask Him to be the Savior of your life and Lord. Dedicate your life to Him as your refuge and you will know eternal bliss in His presence on That Day!

Alaska is shaking and rumbling!

There have been 171 earthquakes in the Andreanof Islands TODAY. So far. By any measure, that is an unusual number.

The eruption of Okmok Volcano in the Andreanof Islands continues. It went from green to orange on the volcanism watch list. Seismic activity over the past 24 hours remains elevated and continuous volcanic tremor is still occurring. Ash plumes have not been detected in satellite data over that past 24 hours, but it is likely that the volcano continues to generate low-level ash clouds and ash fall over parts of Umnak Island.

In Matthew 24:7, one of the end-time signs Jesus Christ mentions is, "there shall be . . . earthquakes, in divers places."

Earthquakes registering 6 or more on the Richter Scale occurred:

* Between 1897 and 1946; 3 every 10 years
* Between 1946 and 1956; the rate went to seven
* Between 1956 and 1966; the rate grew to 17
* By the 1967 to 1976 period the number had grown to an unbelievable 180!

An increase of 6,000 percent in only 40 years! Never mind the frequency in this decade...

We are in the end times. The birth pangs are increasing. Are you square with Jesus? Do you know Him? Are you saved? He is the only way to heaven. Pray to Him and ask Him to forgive your sins and ask Him to be the Lord of your life.

Sadly, pets are becoming a liability

In this economy...likely anyone with two eyes in their head an a wallet to keep filed could see this coming, but it is so sad. I have three cats myself, and it IS a lot of money to pay for food, litter, & vet bills. But when I took them I made a commitment to them as a living, breathing live thing, and I could never give them up for economic reasons. I guess we four are in this together!

More Pet Owners Seek Aid, Give Up Animals Due to Costs
National Geographic, August 6, 2008

In the fallout from rising fuel prices, job losses, and foreclosures in the United States, many people are facing hard choices about what to sacrifice to stay afloat.

For some, this means deciding whether to give up a member of the family.

More pet owners are struggling to pay for food and veterinary care, and some are being forced to abandon their animals when they move or relinquish them to shelters.

More than half of all U.S. households own a pet and, on average, the annual cost of ownership runs between $400 to $800 for food, supplies, and medical care, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

(visit link for full article)

A simple life full of riches

As I was just now cleaning my bedroom, I stumbled over a pool of kitty vomit. Sigh.

Abby eats and then throws up. Not every time. And not in the same place. But being a two-room apartment, it is never too long before I find it.

I bent over and cleaned it up, and applied Formula 409 for carpets. As I was wringing out the rag, I laughed out loud, thinking about how so many lives are so different, and are judged by different standards.

In America the standards are how much stuff do you have and how big is it (VW or BMW? Skidoo or Yacht?). How much money do you have? How prestigious is your job? By all those standards I am a total failure. I have catch-all jobs or low-prestige ones. I have little money but just enough. I constantly give away my stuff to others who can use it or need it more.

But I run my life by God's standard. Jesus said that the good life is the goal. But of this, He makes it clear what He means:

LUKE 12:15 And He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."

LUKE 6:25 "Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

MATTHEW 6:19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 6:20 "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;.

It's hard to do but well worth it to shift priorities. Any doubt was erased from my mind when I read the blessing that Teresa wrote on her blog:

"I also want to give a huge thank you to my friend Elizabeth. She is clearing out some things at her house. I was gifted with 5 huge boxes of art goodies on Saturday. I took at least two boxes to the church resource room. The acrylic paints she gifted me with are packed in my studio and ready for my fall/early winter project - Christmas Program back drops. I have some things to go to a friend who works with disabled children. I already broke out some magazines for the kids at church yesterday..."

Yay! Kids and other people can use the art things I've accumulated. It was hard to let those go but I haven't used many of them for some time so...I am thrilled to hear that others can use them more. And then I read this:

"I have so much respect for Beth in the decisions she has made in her life. She is incredibly smart and studies many things to broaden her learning. My biggest respect is her faith and Bible Study and willingness to follow God's direction in her life as well as sharing her faith with those she encounters."

'Sharing her faith'...I am so happy! What a blessing those words were to me. I always beat myself up over thinking I am not doing enough to share Jesus with others. I don't witness in the traditional way because I am not in the community much nor have an office environment with a stream of people to talk with. But through writing I hope Jesus comes through and being a living example is another way to share. He has blessed me so much I am grateful for that. After all, He saved me. I am rich and I am having a good life.

I loved my dinner last night

I loved it so much I had it again for breakfast.

I sauteed a fresh garden yellow squash, a garden green pepper, a garden tomato and a local vidalia onion. Meanwhile, on the other burner, I was boiling 3 c water, and in a mixing bowl, one cup cold water and 1 cup yellow cornmeal. When the water boiled, ass the cornmeal mixture. I like doing it that way because it cuts down on lumps as opposed to adding the cornmeal directly to the boiling water.

When cornmeal is set, mix with veggies. Eat! Top with cheese or tomato sauce, but I like it plain and unadulterated.

You could put the mix into a rectangular pan and let set in fridge overnight and then grill or fry squares of it. But this way it's healthier.

Hmm, I think I will make some more for lunch.

Updates on my fascinating personal life

The damson experiment did not work out. I boiled and thus reduced the damsons to a beautiful looking purple meat, and saved the deep purple juice (which the Romans used to use to dye their clothes), but I had no clue how to use them. Suggestions included jam or jelly, or cake.

1. I am not a jam fan, so the typical use for this tart fruit, making Damson jam or jelly, was out
2. I found a cake recipe that included blackberry jello as one of the ingredients and seemed like it would add up to a tasty cake.

However every time I went to pick a few more seeds out of the meat, there were a few more seeds. I'm not saying the seeds multiplied, but it certainly felt that way. And as the meat got more and more stirred around as I picked through, it coalesced, making it harder to see any more seeds. So in good conscience I could not give away a cake that would likely have teeth- busting seeds in them. And I certainly could not eat a whole cake myself. So scratch the cake idea.

3. They require too much sugar to make palatable. I don't like refined sugar.
So in the end I tossed it. I'll stick with peach cobbler. THOSE seeds you can see!
----------------------------------------
Report: New BBQ Restaurant in Danielsville:

Williams BBQ moved from their roadside stand to a nice new building with sit-down seating. They are located right next to my insurance agent, so yesterday after settling this year's vehicle policy I moseyed on over. The place was jammed. I loved the menu. Aside from the fabulous BBQ pork and chicken and sandwiches they are so locally famous for, there were a few other items which drew my attention as I scanned for a vegetarian entree. They offer veggie plates available from the lunch buffet and wait-served at table for dinner. In addition, here are a few other items:

Grilled cheese: $2
Tomato sandwich: $1.50
French fries: $1.50

It's nice to know you can still get a lunch for $3!!!
----------------------------------------
Your daily economic doom:
From George Ure's economic site: I love that he speaks in plain language. I can't understand most economic reports but George tells it like it is-

"In case you were sleeping through that Econ class, the idea with a fractional reserve financial system is that banks and depository institutions have reserves. But what the chart clearly informs us is that not only are the nation's banking reserves gone, but they are now funding their day-to-day operations on....tax dollars and printer's ink!" And never mind the NY Times reporting on the upcoming economic tsunami related to prime mortgages ...

The chart looks like a Brinks truck carrying US "money" drove off a cliff ... so the question of the morning is, have you stuffed your mattress yet?

Lavonia Georgia puts their money where their mouth is

I am proud of them! Wished I'd have known, I would have donated to the cause. BTW, Lavonia is 30 miles from me. People around here take morals and propriety seriously. Obviously, they persisted until they prevailed, and they spent money to do so.

Georgia town buys strip club to shut it down

LAVONIA, Ga. | A small town in northeast Georgia has bought a strip club, but it does not plan to get into the adult entertainment business.

The town of Lavonia could have used nearly $1 million to pay off the bond fund for a water treatment plant upgrade. Instead, officials bought Cafe Risque, which they have long tried to shut down.

Lavonia’s mayor got a standing ovation when he announced the deal at a meeting earlier this week. Crews took down the signs advertising it and burned them in a large bonfire at the strip club site, near a major highway.

Florida businessman Jerry Sullivan opened Cafe Risque in 2001. The city went to court several times to close it, but Sullivan’s lawyers argued successfully that nude dancing was a constitutionally protected form of expression.

Lavonia has since passed an ordinance outlawing adult entertainment businesses.

Sullivan died in 2006, but the club continued to operate. The city was finally able to buy it after negotiations.