The Dacha

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Catch Up Thursday

some eye candy from the garden

I can't believe it is already THURSDAY--what a crazy week we've had here. What with building one-act play sets and then trucking them to competition, and traveling to the state cross country meet, nothing of the mundane like clothes washing or cleaning up has been done. The inhabitants of Maison Cou Rouge are running out of clean underwear....laundry must be done soon!!

Girl ran in the state cross country meet and did amazingly well. She cut 2 full minutes and then some off her personal best 5 km time. She ran the very hilly 3.1 mile course in 22:45--finishing 15th in the state, out of over 150 girls participating. Not bad for an 8th grader. And her team finished 6th overall. They are already looking forward to next year!

And we have just a quick moment to catch our breath before travelling on Saturday to Atlanta for Grumpy Guy's 30th high school reunion. It should be ...er...interesting for me and the significant others of the all-male military prep school class of 1977. We're missing the festivities on Friday night due to football.... I'll report back later.

Until then, here are some shots of the by-now-familiar-BHS varsity cross country team...

Race day breakfast at Po'Boys

Pre race jitters

The start- BHS girls in the boxes

Friday, October 26, 2007

Tennille BBQ Blast and Tech Football

We've been so busy 'round here at MCR that I haven't even talked about the amazing last weekend here--

First up --the First Annual Tennille BBQ Blast.

We live in a little town just south of the county seat. It used to be an important stop on the railroad trek to the cotton mills, but now is a sleepy place. In an effort to attract more business, the city council formed a Downtown Development Authority six months ago. Grumpy Guy was asked to serve and found himself selected chairman.

The BBQ Blast was the second fundraiser of the year for the newly formed DDA. And a blast it was. Friday afternoon, ten teams rolled into town to begin preparing for the BBQ-sanctioned judging.

Smokers fired up, and the smell of wood burning and pork fat sizzling filled the air.

Here's the Chief of Police with a whole hog competitor.

Brentwood did not have a game on Friday (open weekend), so we were able to attend the concert by a fabulous local band, Tommy and the Hot Rods.

They played a little of everything, and were thoroughly enjoyable. GG's back was acting up, but that did not prevent him from dancing with Girl (hard to get them focused when they twirl so fast...)

In between sets, the emcee held a hog calling contest.

One of the finalist was a friend, who-believe it or not- is a lyric soprano...

Then there was "Miss Pink Sweater".

GG and I watched her all night long as she ran back and forth to the liquor store for another beer. She never got out of hand, but was OBVIOUSLY having a good time. Needless to say, she won the contest, and fulfilled her Friday night fantasy of dancing with the band.

Saturday morning, GG went to supervise the Blast, and Boy and I, along with a friend, travelled to Atlanta for GA Tech's homecoming football game against Army. A friend of ours, a Tech alum, gave us the tickets in the hopes of luring Boy to Tech for college. (It's working). We had fabulous seats, and got to see a cool parachuting demo.

Had the chance to spot a former Brentwood cheerleader who now cheers for Tech. She's the cute blonde (that narrows it down) with her face to the camera.

And Tech won. Great game.

The Blast was a great success--and people around here are already looking forward to NEXT year's blast. A good time was had by all!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Region Cross Country

I wrote this article for the local paper last night. I've edited the kid's names to initials (not that I don't trust all y'all, but you know what the internet can be....) Just so you know, Girl was running with tendonitis in both legs--her knees and calf muscles are inflamed and nothing will help but rest, which will come after next Monday!! She was happy with her seventh place showing.

Cross Country Eagles Soar at Region

Twenty-one runners make up the Brentwood Eagles’ cross country team. Going into region, the injuries were varied:

Twelve sets of sore feet, eleven inflamed tendons, ten painful shin splints, nine nasty blisters, eight aching calves, seven tight lower backs, six strained hamstrings, five sets of nerves… four ingrown toenails, three nasty head colds, two sprained ankles, and a hip needing daily physical therapy.

Cross country running isn’t for wimps.

With an admirable display of guts and heart, the varsity boys’ cross country team placed 3rd in region, and the varsity girls were region runners-up – both amazing feats.

Days of inclement weather in Athens had left the Monsignor Donovan cross country course a soupy mess. Puddles and cascading water made the very hilly terrain even more daunting. New tree roots were exposed and unmarked, and the Georgia clay turned into slippery muck.

Of the six varsity boys, AB was the lone injury-free runner. CS was unable to run, sidelined with a stress fracture. GP ran on a sprained ankle. ST was dealing with a flare-up of juvenile arthritis. JB fell on the course and finished with twisted ankle. And SB’s injured hip had required daily physical therapy for two weeks, leaving him unable to train.

But the boys pulled together, dug down deep and were proud with their third place showing. AB placed third individually.

The varsity girls were in a little better shape, injury-wise. CP was unable to run, having been sidelined by a skateboarding accident. JV runner AG was drafted to “run-up” in varsity, having never competed in a varsity race before. Girl, MB, HH, and SS completed the 5-woman team. That’s three eighth graders and two sophomores running for region. Against Gatewood, whose girls’ cross country team is legendary in the STATE.

They have every right to be proud to be region runners-up. AG placed third individually, and SS placed fourth. All the ladies threw their hearts and souls into the race, and it showed in a brilliant display of teamwork, pacing and timing.

Brentwood’s JV runners ran well also. With AS in a cast with calcaneal epiphysitis in his heel, the boys were down a man. AP, WH, JT and WA competed in fine form, with WA finishing in third place and AP in fourth place. The girls were also down to four. HC and JT fought to the wire for third and fourth place (it was a dead heat until the last step when HC’s longer legs made the difference), and KT and CB finished in admirable time, although caked in mud.

For their efforts, all 18 runners who competed in region qualified to run at the state cross country meet in Macon on October 29.

Coaches LA, DB, BB and JS are to be congratulated for their hard work in encouraging, motivating, and pushing this team toward success.

Eighth grade girls- GO LADY EAGLES!!!!!

This very young cross country team has a very bright future.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Wooly Wishes

One day, I will get to go to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival--aka simply as "Rhinebeck" (as it is held in Rhinebeck, NY)

Until then, a wonderful Farside cartoon from Saturday (did Gary Larsen know this would be Rhinebeck weekend??)

"Henry! Our party's total chaos! No one knows when to eat, where to stand, what to.....Oh, thank God! Here comes a Border collie!"

On the calendar....October 18-19, 2008 NYSWF in Rhinebeck, NY!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Kaolin Weekend

It was a wonderful weekend for the Kaolin Festival here in Washington County. For those of you who do not know what kaolin is.... (thanks to Wikipedia):

"Kaolinite is a clay mineral . Rocks that are rich in kaolinite are known as china clay or kaolin. Kaolin is used in ceramics, medicine, coated paper, as a food additive, in toothpaste, as a light diffusing material in white incandescent light bulbs, and in cosmetics. The largest use is in the production of paper, including ensuring the gloss on some grades of paper. Commercial grades of kaolin are supplied and transported as dry powder, semi-dry noodle or as liquid slurry.

Sandersville, a small town in Georgia, USA, holds an annual kaolin festival every year. Sandersville has huge kaolin deposits throughout the town and the surrounding areas. The town is based on the kaolin industry."

The annual parade is one of those small home-town events that make this such a wonderful place to live. It seems that everyone in the county is either IN the parade, or comes to WATCH the parade. This year, the Maison Cou Rouge family had one in, one helping, and two watching.

ENJOY!!