Carol's Surprise Birthday Party 12-8-2010

I did it!

After months of planning, making calls, extending invitations, and even making extra trips to the Mexican restaurant in Madison, it happened.

Some 25 of my invited family and friends were able to surprise Carol as we went to dinner on her 65th birthday.

It was held at Pacho's in Madison. We eat at this restaurant weekly and know well not only the owner (Tony) and manager (Santiago), but all the waiter staff including Mayo--our own special waiter for the evening. I arranged thru Tony and Santiago to reserve the separate dinning room where two good friends from church were able to buy the necessary flowers, trimmings, and party favorites to make the room and tables "pop"!

By the appointed time of 6:30--Wednesday December 8th--all guests had arrived and were waiting for our unusual late arrival and on cue, yelled "surprise" as we rounded the corner into the room.

After many photos were taken of Carol with her "deer in the headlights" look and before we ordered dinner, I took a few moments to thank all who attended, participated, and traveled far (Carol's sister Kaye and her BF Allen flew in from DC, my buddy Jim Price flew in from Pittsburgh) for this very joyous occasion.

With the cameras clicking by several during the evening, Carol roamed the room to speak with all. At my request, our server was Mayo whom we have known for some time now--the food and service was great!

As we returned home late at night, Carol went "on and on" how happy she was and that it will be hard to "top" this 65th birthday!

Jim Price

Carol with her "free" dessert.
Greg & DeLynne Colborn

Tiffany McMichael

Booth 217 at Covington Antiques and Stuff

A few months back we decided it would be to our tax advantage to boost our efforts in selling antiques and collectibles. After some extensive research, we signed a 6 month contract with Covington Antiques and Stuff and took possession of booth 217 in same on August 2nd, 2010. Our booth is 8 X 10 and is on the corner of an isle near the back of the large antique mall. The booth came with walls made of 2x4s and lattice work--perfect for hanging items for display.

After moving in, we began to sell items and thru 2010, it has already paid for the $105 monthly rent--including the 12% paid to the mall of all sold items.

We try to match some of the booth contents with the season--thus far in 2010--we have displayed and sold items for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and most recently Christmas. In fact, below are photos taken 11-11 where we just added the Xmas ornaments and other items of of the season.

Deck Rebuild--10-11-2010

October has been designated as "DECK MONTH" here at Little Falls Farm. Why you ask? Simple. The deck needs a rebuild/renovation and October begins the cooler fall season here in the south allowing a more comfortable time to work outside!

What to do? We first thought a new floor with planks made out of that expensive composite would be of order--expensive--but of order in the sense of it's no maintenance and longevity. However, the more this was discussed, the more it was felt that a simple repair of the floor planks that needed replacing with similar treated inexpensive planks would be in order. We did know however, all the railing would be replaced--never liked the cheap look that was there to begin with and most had rotted anyway!

With a game plan in tow, off to my favorite Lowe's--in Madison--and materials were purchased with a $500 budget in mind. Started work on posts support under the deck on Monday Oct 4th. Continued with railings on the 6th (Carol and I had a fun day on 5th with Mattie spending night in Doggy Day Care) and worked more on the 7th most of the day until cousin Gary Willard arrived in later afternoon to spend the night.

I continued working on the deck Friday and Saturday --October 8th and 9th with almost completion. The project BTW included a porch swing and new light fixture. Because I am using new and uncured treated lumber, as son Joe points out, it will be about 6 months from now (May 2011) before the new wood can be painted. The floor will be painted a gritty grey as matches front porch, the railings will be a white, and the hand rails will be the forest green that matches the shutters of the house.

While I do have areas to tweak--here are some photos of the almost completed/renovated deck! To see the new porch light fixture and to enjoy the swing (this is the older swing from the front porch--new chain added)--you must come and see us at the farm! BTW--call first so we can open the gates--LOL!

As I mentioned earlier--my budget was $500. As of today--realizing I must still buy paint--I have spent $709. Keep in mind, this has included floor planks, posts, rails with stringers, handrails, and support joists/posts/concrete slab, chain, fixture--along with three (3) pieces of 4 x 8 lattice for the portion of deck support. I do feel good that while I am over budget slightly, this $709 pales in comparison if I had gone with entire floor replacement with the very expensive composite flooring!

John--the Deck builder--LOL!

Classic Car Show--Covington, Georgia

(Scan of my event tee shirt)
It's that time of the year! Fall! Let me say that again as it sounds to me as the perfect weather season of the year--FALL!!! Many things and events happen during fall here in the south. Two that come first to mind are: Craft shows --especially for you women; and Car Shows for us men--and women!!
Having said that, each year my sweet wife Carol and I usually attend a few car shows and try not to miss the 250 + cars at the Classic Car Show held on the square in Covington, Georgia. This was their 18th year in a row.
The weather was perfect at a mild 68 and very sunny. Did I mention perfect sunshine? Perfect for using the Polarizing filter on my trustee Nikon D40 Digital SLR camera. Notice how blue the sky is!
The car show is held the first week-end of October each year. This year we noticed two things. More cars for sale than ever in previous years. Yea, there's always a few up for grabs where the owner may be looking to upgrade. This year however, there was more of a sense of "urgency" to sale and many, many more on the old auction block. The other thing noticed was there were less number of cars. Even with a local Chevrolet dealership taking up 8-10 spaces to market new 2010-2011 cars including the new Camaro, there were at least 20-30 spaces vacant. Both issues may be a direct influence of the struggling US economy.
On a bright note, a local jewelry store just happened to be open allowing us to stop, browse, and check on a security chain for Carol's Pandora bracelet that was back ordered. To our surprise, the shop owner just happened to find one where others had overlooked. Voila--we all were happy--especially Tutz as she will add the chain once we return home!
After a couple hours of enjoying many "Kodak" moments--a few are below, we left the show and ate a great (but somewhat expensive $30) lunch at Longhorn. As creatures of habit--we ordered our usual--Tutz gets the kid's portion of shrimp with baked potato and I my usual chicken tenders with rice and steamed veggies--all was good but way too much--as we brought several chicken tenders home for my evening salad and a shrimp with the bread Carol loves!
What a fun day. Me, my lovely wife, muscle cars, great fall weather, and good eats! Hard to beat but we'll keep trying--LOL!

In the shop where we buy Pandora charms and accessories.

BTW--this car produces 703 horsepower at rear wheels!

Covington, Georgia old Courthouse on the Square

Carol loves the Camaro

One of my favorite muscle cars--Olds 442.

Beautiful black Chevelle SS with 454

Beautiful black Camaro--either black or red--no other colors--LOL.

Amicalola Falls SP--9-29-2010

On August 21st, 1991, Carol and I took Aaron and Tracy up to Amicalola Falls State Park just outside Dawsonville, Georgia. Just this week, some 19 years and a month later, Carol and I re-visited the falls. While it wasn't as we had remembered, it was a wonderful drive up to the park and a short walk down memory lane!

Carol, John, and Tracy on 8-21-1991
John & Carol 8-21-1991

Following are the photos we took on 9-29-2010!