End of November 2013

November 2013 is now gone.  Just our pictures are left.  It was a good month.  The weather was kind and we went on several trips, near and far.  Ten days after returning from New Orleans, Key West and Memphis we flew to New York City.  I have not downloaded the pictures yet only the two below.  Walking in Central Park in New York on a sunny afternoon was uplifting with all the fall colors still there.

Before we left New York City we walked along Riverside Park and the river - it was exhilarating. 

In my last three posts I showed the trips we took close to our house in early November - at Lake Allatoona, Allatoona Pass and Lake Acworth - all of them terrific outings.  It seems that this past November the fall colors were more radiant than ever and this cheered our spirits.

On a Sunday afternoon in mid-November we drove to an antique and flea market in Atlanta, the "Scott Antique Market."  The second week-end of every month this market brings many antique dealers and collectible vendors from several US states.  The market covers two huge buildings and more vendors are set up outdoor.  We have been there on and off for the last twenty-five years and have bought some interesting items.  Now, we do not buy much but enjoy looking at everything while getting a good walking exercise.  There is such a variety of goods there.  (Please click on collage twice to enlarge.)

Outdoor is more like a bric-a-brac.  It is a lot of fun to look at all the choices from books to hardware and including the kitchen sink!

There are a couple of restaurants in each building and fruits and veggies can be bought ouside the market as well as the baskets to display them.

The week before Thanksgiving we spent another afternoon walking close to home - about 3 miles or so away or a 9 minutes drive.  We had been driving in front of an old farm house for years and just realized that our county had bought the property.  It is being developed as a park.  So we parked in front of the 1864 house and walked around.  This house is called The Green-Bullard House or The Green Plantation.  There is an historical marker in front of the house.  (Click to enlarge to read the marker.)

Since it was still early that day we decided to drive another mile or so to another park, Lost Mountain Park.  The park is close to the Lost Mountain Community (about 12 minutes from our home) where another Civil War Battle was fought (there are many battle sites around our house...)  It think the 2000 ft hill is called "Lost Mountain" because as the terrain goes up it is hard to distinguish this mountain and it becomes lost to view.  We had discovered a small lake in the back of the park once so we drove there.

There is a trail going into the woods and across a small creek.

The trail also goes all around the lake.

It looks like some people fish in the lake as I saw some fishing lures hanging from branches.  You can see the little red fishing lure in the picture below.  It looks like a tiny red ball hanging in the air.

There is a small house at the top of the hill in the picture below - Lost Mountain is in the background.  This is the Senior Center.  We had never visited it, so we went inside this time.  We admired the wood workers' skill.  The plate above the chimney reminded us that Thanksgiving was around the corner.

A few days later we departed for Tennessee.  We celebrated our eldest grandson seven years' birthday.  He loved his chocolate cake - we did too.

For dinner, the birthday boy had chosen a Japanese hibachi steakhouse restaurant.  I had never been to one and was fascinated by the speed of the teppanyaki chef.    His hands moved so fast that it was hard for me to take pictures (would you believe I took 79 pictures and those below are the only passable ones?)

The children, and the adults as well, looked on, captivated by the chef's cooking maneuvers.  The soup was light and well seasoned and my dish, shrimp and scallops, was delicious.

The next day, Thanksgiving, was started with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television.  Just two weeks earlier we had been there, at Macy's on 34th Street in New York City.

While some of us were watching the parade, others were busy cooking for the big meal such as making pumpkin ice cream, setting up the festive table then assembling all the succulent dishes.

We had reasons to be thankful this year - many reasons but two stood out for me.  The most important one was the good news our daughter had told us about our little granddaughter.  She was born last May with a heart murmur (see her picture in my post here .)  Her doctor pronounced her totally healed, with the murmur gone.  The second one was about me - I had a biopsy several weeks ago as the doctor was concerned about fluid in my stomach.  The results came out "normal."  I certainly was thankful to be normal.  The collage below include one photo of grandson number two, one of grandson number three and three photos of our little granddaughter - including one where she is sleeping in our nephew's arms.

November was a good month indeed!  Now we will be waiting for the end of year Holidays coming up very soon.