NANA NOTES

ANNUAL DOVE HUNT 2009

The only day we dove hunt is opening day.  It turns into an event very quickly.  It's usually family and a few close friends from out of town.  Having nine grandchildren that love to hunt already makes a crowd!  The week before opening day is like the day before Christmas!  Everyone is hustling around getting shells, looking for just the right hunting clothes and making sure their guns are ready.  I'm usually making trips to the grocery store and more trips to the grocery store and cooking for several days getting things ready for the big "dove cooking".  I can only remember one year that I had to make a run to the grocery store for CHICKEN!! 

                 Top picture Jody 3rd from R; bottom, Sam B. 3rd from R.

Jody and Sam B. took turns taking pictures so that's the only difference in these two pictures.  I didn't want to leave anyone out.  There were five other hunters but they were gone when this was made.  Quite a motley looking crew!!  They came through with the product though.  Ed said it looked like "restaurant quality" and I agree.  After being on the grill for a while cooked by expert cooks they were delicious. Nobody does it better!! 

Ed's Fly Fishing Trip

During the days that we were melting here in Mississippi, Ed and some friends were fly fishing in Montana, Colorado and Utah in 40 degree weather looking at snow capped mountains.  Doesn't that just hurt your feelings!!  :)  I finally got the pictures today.  He had called most every day with stories of what they were doing and what they were seeing [and giving me weather reports which I did not want!!!] but the pictures do not do his stories justice.  The excitement in his voice told me that the water and mountains were as beautiful as anything he had ever seen and that they were having a wonderful time.  Here are a few shots of the trip.  He said there just wasn't time to take pictures--they were too busy fishing and "looking" to be photographers.  

Ed said some woman passed by and offered to take this picture.  Left to right: Yancey, John, a guide, Vin and Ed.  Look at all the "stuff"!! The mountains are beautiful. 

This is the Green River and the water was so clear.  Ed said in some places it was 15 feet deep and you could see fish swimming everywhere.  This river is in Utah.  

One day for lunch [which Ed always bragged about] they stopped on the side of the river and had a picnic--chairs, tables and all.  I can't remember what they had but the other night he said he wished he had some of the cookies that they had that day!  He always makes the food sound so good. He sent me a video [from his phone] from Old Faithful. If I could figure out how to get it on here I'd let you see it. Awesome is the only word I can use for how it looks.

Thanks to Susie (who went to Belgium and Paris) and Ed who toured the West, I've had two good vacations this summer and didn't even have to leave home. No packing and no stress!  The best way to do it and I got happies from both trips!!

BOYS AND THEIR TOYS

Josh has told me several times that he doesn't want his life posted on my blog.  The other day when he left with his "handbuilt modified racing fourwheeler" he told me that I could blog this one.  I'm not too crazy about the idea of him racing anything that looks like this but I have seen him and he does wear protective headgear and a vest.  What impresses me more than anything is that he has taken parts that have come in boxes by UPS and FedEx and built this vehicle piece by piece.  His patience is amazing.  It's been taken apart and put together more times than I can remember--or maybe other ones.  This is the third or fourth one he's built.  To quote Cagney who went to Louisiana this weekend to watch him race, "he's like a rock star in this circuit".  This machine will go 300 feet in less than 3.4 seconds.  It has to be a man thing because that scares the @#$% out of me!!

 I think he said he about broke even this weekend! Congratulations, Josh!

BACK TO THE BALLGAMES

I jumped ahead of myself with my posts but I thought Easter was a timing thing.  On Saturday my brother and his family and I went to Sam and Hayden's ballgame.  Sam plays on one team and Hayden on the other.  That is something I definitely can't handle. I spend all my time yelling for both boys and people get confused.  How can I not be for each child?  They both played very well [except for the time Hayden got Sam out on first base!!]. I teased him about it on Sunday and he just grinned at me.  They both can hit the ball and do well in their positions.  At one point I told Jennifer that Sam "had left the building".  He was getting tired right at the end.  He's the youngest child on his team--he's playing with kids older than he is.  Sam's team won but only by one run.  The coaches are to be commended for the work they do with those children.  They're patient and helpful--especially Ms Marla.   Sam was really into the game when it started--see his "eye glare tape"!!  Hayden was ready too--watching over first base.

I think this was where Sam hit the ball and Hayden got him out at first! Oh, didn't like that!!

Hayden got a lick on this one and made it around to third.  He had a huge smile on his face.

Bryden decided that he wasn't going to play this year.  He's just as happy watching his brother and playing video games. And with a face like that, ya gotta love him too!!

SCORE ONE FOR JODY!

First of all, if you are "animal sensitive" please move on.  We live in the country and the sport of choice is hunting.  I would rather hunt with a camera than with a gun, but I live on a farm with lots of guys.  It's the passion here and it consumes most of the time--planning, planting and getting ready.  I even have a sign outside our back door that says "Welcome to Deer Camp". :)  Jody's oldest son got a doe last weekend. Today Jody came in and wanted Dooley to "trail" for him. [Dooley is my Scottish Terrier!!]  He didn't really need him but he and Ed wanted to see if he would do it since Scotties were bred for hunting. [Not Dooley!]

Of course there is the "group" picture--Dooley, Ben, Ed, Sam, Graham, Jody and Sandy--with the poor deer on the ground.  What a bunch of guys-oh, Sandy is a girl.

  

Then comes the weigh in!  This old boy weighed in at 230 pounds. They were excited!

After the weigh-in comes the cleaning and I was out of there.  A bunch of guys with knives and a dead deer just don't appeal to me.

When they all gather in tomorrow for Thanksgiving there will be more hunters.  I'm sure the game will be on to beat Jody's measurements!

After all, isn't that what it's all about-the search for "the big one"!!

HGC BIKE TEAM PARTY

Racing season is over and the "biking boys" always want to get together to eat, talk bike racing and have fun. They bring their wives, children if they want to and always their appetites!  We look forward to it almost as much as they do!   They know that Ed will always have something good cooking on the grill.  His whole rib eyes were delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The guys come from Vicksburg, Jackson, Brookhaven and New Orleans. Ed's been sponsoring them for over 20 years. I lovingly refer to them as "the children". They have so much fun! The wives don't always travel with them and that's why it's so important to us that they come to this party. 

 

 

 

Even the teenagers enjoyed themselves.

 

 

 

 

The guy at the end of the table is the "dictator" of the group. They're a winning team so it works!

 

 The food and conversation flowed freely.

The Herrings, Cowarts [minus Jennifer, she wasn't feeling well] Strouds and  Pucketts all came and ate with us. We all enjoy a good meal!

 

Ben, Graham and Sam watched a movie while they ate. They enjoyed a deer hunt before the supper.

  This group was all smiles after cleaning their plates.

 

 

 

 

The newest member of HGC Bicycle Racing Team--only 12 weeks old and ready to ride!  He's already looking forward to next year's party! And so are we!!

HOMECOMING PARADE

No, I'm not a football fan and I didn't have anyone involved in the Homecoming Parade [but Jennifer who organized it]. Our friends from Natchez came over in their Dusenberg to drive one of the girls. I guess that's my only connection. It took me longer to drive from home to get there than the parade lasted but it was fun.  Jimmie Lou, Libby, Sam and I sat in the back of the truck and took pictures.  All the kids on the floats were hollering out, "hey Sam"! He just grinned! :)  All the girls looked pretty and the floats were nice.  The ROTC and band did a good job too.                                                             

Franklin County ROTC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Franklin County Band

 Freshman Maid [in Libby's new car]

Freshman float

   

Sophomore maid

   Sophomore maid

Sophomore float

Junior Maid

  Junior Maid

Junior float

    Senior float

Future Bulldogs float

FHS Cheerleaders

   

The Dawgs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Football maid

 

 

 

Homecoming Queen

 

 

Football Princess in the Dusenberg!

 

 

 

Let's hope the Bulldogs win tonight!

 

 

 

 

 

ROAD TRIP

 

Does this tell you where the road trip was?  You guessed it!!  The MS Braves game in Jackson--all 16 of us--Herring's, Cowart's and a couple of tagalongs!  What fun we had.

We were there early and got team playing cards. The kids enjoyed watching the teams take infield practice. 

The boys got to see the famous "Crawling Coach" [in the camo shirt].  He got thrown out of the game after we left.

Shelby was up for the game--her sign was ready!

The Braves didn't fare so well that night due to a home run by the NC Mudcats but we all enjoyed the "big league" atmosphere!  The "eyeball" race deflated but the "human bowling balls" were right on target. We left for the beach after the 7th inning stretch and missed the fireworks but everyone said they were awesome!  Thanks, Papa for the fun night at the park!

2008 TOUR OF BELIEZE

And I quote, "Herring Gas Cycling Team shows out at International race--rides with the big boys and holds their own."    Ed Herring    

This blog will probably be one of which I know the least about the subject matter of any I have ever written, but it's written from the heart!  The Herring Gas Cycling Team has just returned from Belieze after a 5-day road race where they competed with teams from several countries. Herring Gas has sponsored this team for over 20 years--the longest single sponsor/team association anywhere. Team members have "come and gone" but the core members are like family to us.  We get together a couple of times a year with their families to cook out and listen to LOTS of bike race stories!   Our guys did quite well for themselves at this race:6th--Bain Foote, 8th--Michael Olheiser (King of the Mountain--polka dot jersey); 24th--Frank Moak; 29th--Ryan Boudreaux; 32nd--Tim Regan; 53rd--Chris Alexander; and 65th--Kenny Bellau. The guys said they were treated like rock stars--I guess they felt like them too--signing autographs! :)  I doubt very seriously that they had time to look at the scenery.

It would be cool to think that someday we might be watching some of these guys riding in the "Tour de France".  For now, we'll just have to wait for the dinner to hear all about this tour.  You can go to Herring Team to see what they have to say about the race.

IS THIS "BABYSITTING"?

While Jennifer and Shelly are gone with Ben and Sam, Graham and Ryan are staying here.  Graham is playing in his last ballgames.  Last night we got to go and watch.  As you have read in Jennifer's blog and sometimes mine--these ballgames are family affairs--all of them are involved one way or another. Tiffany's [DIL] team had finished their games so we sat by each other.  She's helping coach the 8 year old All Stars with her brother.   Bryden and Hayden  [GSons]came and sat by us for a little while.  You can tell by their eyes that they are constantly up to something. Abbey was around but didn't stay long enough to get snapped.  Emily was gone and Shelby was somewhere doing something!  GRAHAM was on the field!   Doesn't he look sharp in his catcher's outfit?  He's such a good team player.  He helped his team win the game and we look forward to another good game tonight.

UPDATE:  Heard from Shelly today.  The yearlings sold.  Ours sold for $1500.  He thought that was pretty good.  I want twice that for the two year olds but we'll see.  Seems like when we get into something the bottom falls out!  Good thing we don't have any land in Florida!

BEING A GRANDPARENT ISN'T EASY. . .

especially when it comes to ball games and you have three grandchildren playing against each other.  Where do you sit?  People here take their baseball seriously--much more so than I do. I love watching all the children and I can't help but holler for all of them.  You know I love little boys and they are all just so cute.  There are a lot of little girls playing too.  Bryden and Shelby played against Ben tonight.  Both sides played with enthusiasm.  Ben's team just happened to end up with more runs on the board.  Had the time not run out it could have ended differently.  The best part of the whole thing is that all of the children are learning how to play good ball, how to be good sports and be respectful of one another on and off the field.  (The grown-ups on the field--who were the children I used to watch play--have grown up to be very nice people.)  We as parents must have done something right.  When all you see on TV and read in the newspapers is bad it's very refreshing to watch a ball game with so many cute kids--especially if a lot of them are yours and on both teams and you don't know where to sit!!  :)

WOOHOO BULLDOGS!!!

THEY WON! THEY WON! OH MY GOSH, THE BULLDOGS WON!!  BULLDOGS 17--COLLINS 13--WAY TO GO DOGS!