What makes me smile? My grandson, Coleman makes me smile. Spending time in any one of our Warm Places makes me smile. Spending time out in nature, especially with Coleman, makes me smile and feeling all warm inside. Coleman loves to spend time by the Catawba River. There are several different areas by the Catawba River we enjoy spending time at. This week we enjoyed spending time on a warm sunny afternoon at Riverside Park and Greenway. It makes me smile when I am able to watch Coleman having a Funtastic time playing by the Catawba River. On this day he was having a fabulous time playing in the sand along the banks of the South Fork Catawba River at Riverside Park and Greenway.
Here are a spattering of photos depicting some of what makes me Smile and Warm Inside in one of our Warm places.
For the past few months, we have been in unrest. I live with my daughter and grandson whom I take care of while she works. Up until recently (like three months ago) her husband (who never liked my being there) was also in the home. He moved out leaving my daughter with a whole heap of debt and a rental amount she could not afford without his assistance. He really didn’t think he should contribute to the financial obligations before he moved out and definitely didn’t think so afterwards even though his name was also on the lease. this made it difficult for my daughter to find another place to live; one in which she would be able to afford. Thus, creating extreme hardship and high levels of stress and anxiety.
A Pile of Pumpkins Ready for Children’s Pickin’
After much searching and reaching out to anyone and everyone she finally found another place for us to move to. Just one catch, the landlord was still working on the house, and she didn’t have the financial resources to move in immediately. Therefore, we had additional expenses of staying in a motel for a week until everything could be completed to satisfaction. during this transitional period my grandson was missing several days of kindergarten and speech class.
So, what do you think I did? Since we couldn’t provide transportation to his school, I took him to enjoy one of his favorite pastimes, hiking. Coleman and I went hiking three days in a row to his delight. In the mist of trials, it was a blessing to enjoy being out in nature spending quality time with him. Our motel for the week was a short distance from his favorite hiking place, Anne Springs Close Greenway. Therefore, where else would I take him but to the Greenway, of course. These Pumpkins were seen on our fourth day of hiking. They were situated at the Lake Haigler entrance to the Anne Springs Close Greenway. The Greenway also had other fun Fall/Autumn activities set up for the children to enjoy. During this week we visited three of the five entrances to the Greenway. Each entrance offers different trails and activities for visitors to utilize and enjoy.
Who Wants a Pumpkin?
I am extremely grateful for my daughter and her strength and persistence in searching and locating a place for us to live and feel at peace. Home is the nicest word in our vocabulary right now. We are all thankful for having a home to live in. Thankful to be out of the motel. Thankful to be out of turmoil. Thankful to be relieved of a heavy load of stress and worry. I know, all our troubles and worries should be laid in the hands of God, our Heavenly Father. It is difficult sometimes to lay everything at his feet and not continue to worry.
We (mostly me) still have a tremendous amount of unpacking to do but alas, it will all get done in due time. I am still processing the fact that we have a home to live in. Understanding that we are all safe and can relax and enjoy our home (it is a rental, but it is our home for now). Coleman has his own little room, with his own bed (he had been having to share mine). He has a fairly good size yard to play in and we don’t have to worry about him not having enough space to run and pay. This home is a blessing, and I am truly thankful for being allowed to share it with my daughter and grandson.
To play along, go to your photos file and type that number into the search bar. Then post a selection of the photos you find under that number and include a link to your blog in my Numbers Game blog of the day. If instead of numbers, you have changed the identifiers of all your photos into words, pick a word or words to use instead, and show us a variety of photos that contain that word in the title.
All my photography this week has been done with my Apple iPhone as we have been in transition, moving from one place to another and having to stay at another place in between locations further a week. Therefore, I am choosing a theme of Coleman in the Greenway fur this week.
The construction of the new school is coming along nicely now that spring is on the way. You can observe the different sizes and shapes of the windows taking shape in the school buildings.
Includes Water, Blue, Green, Yellow, Trail, Landscape, Space.
Photos 1-9 are all of the Pond at The Schiele Museum of Natural History in Gastonia, North Carolina. Photo 10 is of the North Carolina Mountains displaying both Autumn 🍂 Colours & Winter ❄️ 🥶 ❄️Snow.
We have been active this week more than other times recently. We’ve made several visits to The Pond at the Schiele Museum and today we did a double excursion and visited the Warlick YMCA as well.
The first three are of water reflections in The Pond while the last two are of Robinwood Lake at the Y.
Coleman and I walked around the Pond at The Schiele Museum of Natural History’s Nature Trail on Saturday after participating in the Dinosaur Day’s activities. I was fascinated by the turtles in the Pond while Coleman moved onto the Playscape area to have some FunTime in the sand. I stood there for a few minutes watching the turtle move (his/her) head & tail around to catch better rays of sunshine.
As Coleman and I stepped outside our front door we had unexpected visitors greet us before we sojourned on a short walk around the complex. These unexpected guests were overjoyed to show us some loving.
Around 5:30pm this evening:
The first two photos in the slideshow below were take around 7:25pm from the back patio. The rest were taken between 7:30 and 8:00pm tonight. Notice how quickly the weather changes our view.
Setaria pumila is a species of grass known by many common names, including yellow foxtail, yellow bristle-grass, pigeon grass, and cattail grass. It is native to Europe, but it is known throughout the world as a common weed. It grows in lawns, sidewalks, roadsides, cultivated fields, and many other places.
In the USA, the name ladybird was popularly americanized to ladybug, although these insects are beetles (Coleoptera), not bugs (Hemiptera).
Now, the word ladybird applies to a whole family of beetles, Coccinellidae or ladybirds, not just Coccinella septempunctata.
I had not seen any ladybugs 🐞 around our area in a very long time. Today as I was reaching for an item out of an upper cabinet this ladybug 🐞 landed on my arm and then proceeded to fly onto the overhead lighting. Couldn’t get that good off a shot looking onto the light fixture to obtain a shot, but at least I tried.
I decided to do a slideshow for this post to show the change in the sky from mid-week through the weekend. If you look closely, you’ll see more than blue skies cloudy skies.
I normally try to take photos as we go hiking in our neighborhood, along the various trails and sometimes we hike more than one trail in a given day. As always my hiking buddy is my (recently turned 4) grandson, Coleman. He loves spending time outdoors especially when he gets to go hiking in the woods, along the creeks, rivers, and lakes.
On this particular day we rode the transit bus from near our home to the Avon Catawba Creeks Greenway. We hiked the Greenway seeing many amazing sights along the way. We hiked the entire 2.7 mile paved greenway. The Avon Catawba Creeks Greenway connects Lineberger Park to Ferguson Park. The Catawba Creek Greenway portion runs through wooded and open creek areas between several residential areas and junctions at the Avon Creek Greenway. Combined, the Avon and Catawba Creeks Greenway is approximately 3 miles. We ventured over onto Robinwood Road from the Greenway and on down to the Gaston County Warlick Family YMCA to continue hiking some more after a bit of a rest and a snack while overlooking Robinwood Lake.
Photo Credit: (c) 2023 Deb L. Waters … All Rights Reserved.
Camera: iPhone 14 Pro Max and Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF-S18-55mm lens.
God Bless. Thank you for sharing your time as we hiked along the Greenways to the Warlick YMCA. It was a pleasurable afternoon. We appreciate y’all and any thoughts you’d like to share.
On this day Coleman and I hiked from Avon Catawba Creeks Greenway to the Warlick Family YMCA approximately a 2.5 mile hike. Coleman enjoys hiking with me, he also loves to test out the fitness equipment and Pull Up a Seat wherever he chooses. It is good to sit and rest occasionally along the trail.
Coleman on Fitness Equipment Coleman on Fitness EquipmentAvon Creek Greenway Coleman at an Outdoor Table Warlick Family YMCAColeman on a Slide Warlick Family YMCAColeman Resting before getting on a bus to go home
Welcome Cee and thanks for taking on the Which Way Challenge. I appreciate you and am looking forward to all you have to bring to challenge us on our Which Way Challenge adventures.
I’ve held off posting a which way challenge knowing you were taking over. Most of my “roads” are trails Coleman and I hike. I hope you’ll enjoy comingalong on our Which Way hiking adventures.
I know only the first photo has an actual road in it, however, Coleman and I mostly travel on dirt pathways. We walk most everywhere, sometimes riding the bus to get to a location where we plan to hike. Hopefully next time I’ll be able to be more in tune with the theme.
Coreopsis lanceolata is a North Americanspecies of tickseed in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the Eastern and Central parts of the United States, naturalized in Canada, the Western United States, Mesoamerica, South America, South Africa and Eastern Australia. It is found in open woodlands, prairies, plains, glades, meadows and savannas.
Rudbeckia hirta is a short-lived perennial that should be treated as an annual. It may likely endure few winters, but will often self-seed prolifically. The flowers are showier than other Rudbeckia species and have been widely hybridized. (Clemson.edu)
Gfpacificbee’s Insights & photography 