New Fire Station

This is the new fire station being built near downtown Tuscaloosa on Greensboro Ave. It's really big because will be replacing two fire stations, numbers 1 and 5. It has a pretty copper colored roof that really shines in the sun.

True Colors

Today is the Iron Bowl, the football game between the University of Alabama (my alma mater) and their state rival, Auburn University.
Roll Tide!!!
Final Score: Alabama 36, Auburn 0
This victory is particularly sweet. We haven't beaten Auburn in YEARS. AND, we've NEVER beaten Auburn in our own beloved Bryant Denny Stadium. It's about time! The curse is broken!

Skywatch Friday

Fall leaves against a blue sky. Looks like a few green leaves are still hanging in there.
For more skyward views, please visit SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Turkey pic from last year. This year's is in the oven. Hope it turns out 'fit to eat.'
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Riverwalk

Tuscaloosa's Riverwalk is a 3-4 mile walking/biking trail along the Black Warrior River. It includes a couple of nice parks and the boat launch of the Bama Belle.

First Day of Thanksgiving Break

I spent the day at my parents' house with my favorite kiddos.
Niece is sick & can't play outside. :( So, we made leaf rubbings and cut them out. She likes the blue ones best. Nephew's favorite cousin/best bud left town for the holidays. Then, it poured down rain. Mom says you can NOT ride your four wheeler in the pouring rain. Unfortunately, that was AFTER he had already made a round or two and was soaked through to the skin.
On the ride home, disappointed nephew said,"It wasn't much of a day."





Thanks to Kathleen at Southern Artistic Touch for tagging me. Be sure to visit her blog. Her posts are always intersting, plus she's an artist AND she plays James Taylor on her site!


The rules of this Meme are:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.




Six Random Things About Me:


1. I play piano. Not a virtuouso, but I can rock the Baptist Hymnal.
2. I love old/vintage/antique stuff. I'm pretty sure I was born in the wrong decade.
3. My sense of smell is my superpower. It is also very annoying to others.
4. Organizing things makes me happy. Ironically, I married Mr. Disorganized.
5. I'm a PK. (preacher's kid -- but I'm one of the ones who turned out okay)
6. I'm a treehugging, recycling, reducing, reusing, conservative. I know, go figure.


Tagging the next six:
1. Tanya at Around Roanoke, VA
2. PJ at Pensacola Daily Photo
3. Halcyon at Jackson Daily Photo (who just returned from China)
4. Helen at Mainz Daily Photo
5. Antonia at Sofia Daily Photo
6. Lily Hydrangea at Long Island Daily Photo

Skywatch Friday

Cloudy winter sky view from Amicalola Falls State Park in the North Georgia Mountains.

Please visit this link for other Skywatch Friday photos.

Countdown to Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving...a time to give thanks.

Also a time to use the dining room and the good china. :)

View from the Top (2)

I took this from the top of the courthouse this summer when I had jury duty. This is facing northwest. You can see the bridges to/from Northport in the background. (upper right)

Thankful

I know the stores are full of Christmas already, but I don't want to skip Thanksgiving. We all have so much for which to give thanks.

Psalm 100 (King James Version)

1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Fall in All Its Glory

The Tuscaloosa News

This new modern building is the home of the Tuscaloosa News. They moved in a few years ago from an old building where they'd been since 1959. This building faces the river and will soon overlook an amphitheatre. The Tuscaloosa News is now owned by The New York Times. Oh, the irony.

Happy Veterans Day

On Veterans Day I'm so grateful for this country and every single person who has served it in the military. This picture is from the service for my father-in-law, who served in the Marine Corp and had the full ceremony at his funeral. Today I think of him and my own Daddy, who served in the Navy. Their generation signed up if they weren't drafted first. It was expected.

I'm also thinking of my Daddy's brother who received his draft papers on his 18th birthday. He was in 11th grade. He left high school and after basic training went straight to the front lines in World War II. When he came back with his high school buddies that made it, they were allowed to go back and finish high school. He was a true American Hero. He never talked about it. And we weren't allowed to ask. He died a couple of years ago. I wish I had told him how proud and grateful I am. That's the first thing I plan to tell him when I see him again in Heaven!

Tree Ablaze

I'm savoring every single day of Fall and taking in all its color I can before the stark days of winter. I pass this lovely flaming tree every morning on my way to work. This is another drive by shot. I cropped it so you couldn't see the power lines! :)

Another Kind of Art

Since I shared my Grandmother's sewing box earlier this week, I thought I share a bit of her handiwork. I loved this doily so much, I had it framed. She would have laughed and said that was a waste of money.

(sorry about the flash spot, amateur photography...)

Not What It Seems

-A beautiful long drive lined with water oaks

-A stately white columned building with a domed cupola

Not exactly what it seems...not an antebellum plantation.

Just looking at these pictures, you might never guess that this is Bryce Hospital.

Founded in 1861, Bryce Hospital is an inpatient psychiatric care facility with adolescent, adult, and geriatric units. The property borders the University of Alabama, which is in negotiations with the state to buy it.

Bryce has a very interesting history and is listed on the national historic registry. Wyatt vs. Stickney was a class action lawsuit filed in 1970 on behalf of an adolescent patient at Bryce. That case "formed the basis for formed the basis for federal minimum standards for the care of people with mental illness or mental retardation who reside in institutional settings." -badly needed standards that were long overdue.

Skywatch Friday

Full moon over suburbia, regrettably in a neighborhood without underground utilities.

Click here to enjoy other Skywatch Friday Photoblogs.

Old Sewing Box

I mentioned a few posts ago that I love old sentimental family stuff.

Here's a card box that we found in my grandmother's home after she moved to Heaven.

It's filled with little scraps of her tiny crochet work, thread, empty spools, needles and a couple of old wrinkled embroidery patterns. My grandmother and the women of her generation could do it all. She sewed clothes, quilted, crocheted, knitted, embroidered, and tatted tiny lace. Amazing.

Horne's Bar B Q

If you've ever been to Tuscaloosa, this great neon sign on 15th should be familiar. Horne's Bar-B-Q on 15th street beside Forest Lake was around way before fast food. That's their chimney in the background. The restaurant is still in business but under a new name, Mike and Ed's. Click to enlarge so you can read the sign - Beef Pork Chicken, then the round part says Hickory Smoked and has a picture of a pig dancing over a fire! Hilarious.

First Chili of the Season

Last week was our first real cool snap (that means cold weather, y'all) and the perfect opportunity to make chili.

I used a different seasoning, so this pot turned out extra spicy.

It made me think of a couple of family sayings.

My Daddy would say, "Woooo, that'll take the hide outta your mouth."

My mom-in law would say, "If we eat this, we'll have to straddle the creek!"

Homecoming Parade

Waiting for the parade to start!

Big Al and the Alabama Cheerleaders!


The drumline for the University of Alabama's Million Dollar Band

College of Nursing float

Alabama 35, Arkansas State 0
Not exactly a fair matchup, but hey - it was Homecoming!
Roll Tide!

Edited to add: WE'RE NUMBER 1 !!!! RRRROOOOLLLL TIDE

Trick or Treat

LOTS of trick-or-treaters came to my house Friday night.

Aren't they cute!

Thanks again to Tanya for the Kreative Blogger award.

Six things that make me happy:

1. My husband

2. My niece and nephew

3. My cat

4. Books

5. Teaching little children to read and hopefully love books

6. Old things, especially sentimental old family stuff

Six Bloggers I'd like to pass this award on to are:

1. Dot at Strolling Through Georgia

2. Kathleen at Southern Artistic Touch

3. Rambling Round at Selma Daily Photo

4. Southern Heart at Good Abode-Photos of Memphis

5. Kim at Seattle Daily Photo

6. Knoxville Girl at Knoxville Daily Photo