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Jogging on the River Thames

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Jogging on the Thames

I truly enjoy exercising in both cardio and strength
training. Physical exercise invigorates my body, mind, and spirit. My favorite
cardio is jogging. I started jogging on a regular basis about four years ago.
We have approximately 13 mowed acres, and we utilize about 8 of those acres “manicured”
to use as a jogging track. In fighting middle-age fat, we’ve also had to up our
jogging time to approximately 45 minutes to help keep our weight off. The
sights and sounds of the mountain and fields keep us occupied, and often times
the 45 minutes pass by very quickly.

The deck of the Crown Princess we were on two weeks ago was
very “cut up”, and did not have an extensive track to jog on. Its only complete
track was tiny: 16 laps made a mile! It was terribly
boring. Sean and I started jogging up and down stairs and meandering around the
decks to make the 45 minutes go “faster”. When we returned to London for our
last two days, I needed a place a jog. What was I to do?

We were thankful to get a motel (the Park Plaza at
Westminster Bridge…I recommended it to everyone) in an excellent location. It was a block behind the
London Eye and the Thames River. Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben
were in view from our motel room. We had seen joggers
every day and at all times of the day in that area. On Thursday morning
(6-16-2011) in London, I woke up about 6:00 a.m., and I decided to jog around
the river.

For 30 minutes, I jogged from the Westminster Bridge, beside the
London Eye, over the Embankment Foot Bridge, back along the river, and returned
to the London Eye side.

It was awesome! The two things I kept imagining were the Elizabethan era ships coming and going from that area, and all their Age of Exploration
cargo ships emptying their riches from “newly found places” and the Ancient
Female Warrior, Boadicea. Boadicea is on the Parliament side of Westminster
Bridge. Boadicea was queen of the ancient Iceni who fought against the Romans
who had taken over their lands. She lost and was killed in A. D. 60, but she was heroic none the less. I jogged under her statue and thought of the courage of this beautiful and regal lady.

File:Boudiccastatue.jpg

When I finished jogging, I couldn’t help but consider the
stark contrast of my house’s calm, quiet fields with the ancient, rich history of London’s
River Thames, but it didn’t matter. Both are awesome places to jog! ;o)

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Katydids!

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The sound was a week earlier than what I am use to: the symphony
of the katydids! On Monday evening, I stayed outside late with the wonderful
light we are blessed with in the summer. I had mowed, pulled weeds, and took a
quick, refreshing dip in the swimming pool before getting ready for bed. As I was drying
off beside the pool, I heard a familiar “katy-did” up on the mountain behind
our house. I couldn’t believe it! Thirty minutes later I took our dachshunds,
Buddy and Sophie, outside for their pre-slumber jaunt, and I heard a symphony of
katydids. Like the whippoorwills, the music of the katydids brings back so many
childhood memories. We had air conditioning, but our household enjoyed open
windows and fans during cooler, summer evenings. I cannot count the nights I
was lulled to sleep to the musical masterpieces of the katydids. Now, like I
said about the color of dogwood tree’s flower petals predicting the type of
winter/snows for the next year, in a bygone era, there were predictions that katydids announced that it would be 10 weeks before the first, pre-fall frost; we will see! ;o)

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Father’s Day

. Family, Holidays . , , ,
Georgie Caylor, Oliver Haven Caylor, & Haven William Caylor

Georgie Caylor, Oliver Haven Caylor, & Haven William Caylor-Brown -March 1982

Father’s Day

I’ve got to convert the pictures of my father to JPGs so I
can put them on the computer. I will write just a bit about my father today,
and hopefully you all will see him in the very near future. He was Oliver Haven
Caylor (September 19, 1939 to May 28, 1982). He died three weeks after my 16th
birthday. This is my 30th Father’s Day without him. He was such a
wonderful father and Christian example. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and
he was always making up words or changing arrangements to popular songs:
something I’ve found myself doing the past 30 years too.

He enjoyed hunting, but his passion was fishing. While most
of my friends spent family vacations at the beach or going to the mountains, we
spent family time while bass fishing around North Georgia and Southeast
Tennessee lakes. My absolute most precious memories of my father are of him and
me raising two Black and Tan Coonhounds (Copper and Chief) and teaching them to
hunt squirrels. He and I had the same love of the outdoors, and we combined it
with my hound dogs to spend our “father and son time” together. I dearly miss
him, but it is such a blessing that the healing love of God and the Holy Spirit
coupled with time heals and fills the empty spaces the death of a loved one
leaves.

I was so blessed to have a father who taught me love and
respect for myself, my family, the environment, human-kind, and most
importantly love and respect for God through Jesus Christ. My Daddy was
absolutely wonderful, and I love him very much. Happy Father’s Day up there in
heaven, Daddy!

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First Few Days on the Sea

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Loch Ness

Hey
I didn’t catch up on Saturday. LOL . We had a great day at sea on Saturday. It’s a little cool, but so it is this time of year in the British Isles. On Sunday we made our visit to Edinburgh, Scotland. It is so beautiful and unique, but it is often gloomy. The first time I was ever there it was in 2007 in August with Sean, and we had one sunny day out of 5! I love Edinburgh Castle. The most famous resident was probably Mary Queen of Scots, but she mostly lived in the castle, Holyrood a mile down the hill from Edinburgh Castle. The whole day was breezy and cool, but we enjoyed the city.

Edinburgh Castle

Monday we were in the Scottish Highlands. In a previous blog from April, I mentioned the Cherokee encoding for the love of nature. The Scottish part of me has that encoding of mountains. My family members such as the Alexanders, the Wimpys, and the Browns were immigrants who had come from Scotland and settled in the Virginia mountains and the North Georgia mountains. Oral history from our family says the Alexanders came from Scotland during the 1600s. As we traveled through the Scottish Highlands around Loch Ness on Monday, I felt as though I was “home”. We had a lovely time, and I know I want to go back and spend lots of time there and hopefully Carter and Ammon will feel as I do and learn about their Scottish heritage as well.

Tuesday has been spent in the Shetland Islands. We are ported at Lerwick, and we got to see some Shetland ponies today. However, we were told not to pet them. Ammon and Carter enjoyed seeing them none the less. Hoping all is well in your worlds today and God bless you all. Chat soon. Haven

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Catching up: London, England

. European Destinations . , , , , , , , , ,

Catching up!

I think I will be able to catch up this Saturday. We disembark from South Hampton Friday, and we will have a Day at Sea this Saturday.

We are all doing well, praise the Lord! The flight went well, but, as usual, going 30 hours without sleep can wreak havoc on a person’s mental functions. However, we did have a Thames River Cruise and we spent 30 minutes on the London Eye our first day. Monday was a good day touring The Tower of London. Tuesday was spent at Westminster Abbey as well as walking around Trafalgar Square. On Wednesday, we traveled to Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth was there somewhere, but she didn’t come out to see Carter and Ammon (her loss…LOL). Later in the evening, we also tried to go to The Hard Rock Café, but it was way too crowded. Enjoy some of our favorite photos so far. Hopefully, I will write more on these places on Saturday.

Westminster Bridge/London Eye

Tower of London

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

Windsor Castle

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Pool time!

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When we swam Sunday evening it was chilly. Ammon
enjoyed the pool. She would swim for about 30 seconds or a minute then she
would say, “I need to get out.” She would then sit in our lawn/pool chairs for
a few seconds then say, “I want to swim!” , so then she would run back to the
pool steps where I awaited her with open arms. Carter stayed in the pool for
two minutes, swam to the side and firmly stated, “I’m cold, and I want to go
in.”

However, on Wednesday when it was warmer and the pool water
was warmer, our friends, Lizzy and Gavin, came for a visit, and they played
soccer (thanks again for the net help, Gavin) and swam with Carter and Ammon.
They had a ball! All four enjoyed the swim, and Carter finally decided that he
liked the pool. Good start to our pool season!

Our Pool!

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Busy, busy!

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Vacations can be so enjoyable and relaxing, but preparing
for them can be exasperating. Before
listing what I have to do, I have to say that I am so glad we have our
dear friend Guy to come and house sit while we are gone (the animals appreciate
it too). We are also so grateful that my mother and my sister come several
times a week to check on things as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now,
leaving home for a vacation is better in the winter when we do not have as much
yard work to do, but mercy, mercy: The mowing (13 acres), the weeding, the push
mowing, and spraying Round Up. If we didn’t do the before mentioned things, we
would come home to a jungle with copperheads and rattlesnakes running through our
yard. We also have the cleaning, the washing of clothes, the carrying out of
trash, making sure the four hound dogs have plenty of food, making sure the
cats are taken care of, making sure the dachshunds will have all the exercise
they need, and a whole list of things I am forgetting. If it isn’t bad enough packing
my own things, I have to pack Carter and Ammon’s  things too . You all who are parents know whatI’m talking about! Oh, me, it will be so nice when we are finally on that plane
to London this weekend and all this preparation is over! Wish us luck and pray
that we have a SAFE and enjoyable trip.

luggage 1

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Goldfinches

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Folks, I love the color YELLOW. I have also been known (with
frequency) to have rooms in a house painted yellow. Yes, it is bright and helps
my mood index. The color makes me happy. Now, I cannot wear shirts that are
yellow because with my ruddy complexion the two colors really clash. However,
if my shirt has a yellow stripe, I can “pull it off” LOL (Dolce and Gabbana are
going to read this and BEG me to be a fashion editor for them!)

The summer before Ammon and Carter were born was the last
summer we had the bird feeder going “full force” (before the squirrel debacle
where they broke our bird feeder). We had a multitude of goldfinches coming to
the feeder. I remember the summer vividly because the parent goldfinches taught
their babies to fly in the back of our house where our pool is. I could tread
water on my back, look up to the sky, and watch goldfinches zip above. It was
such a treat!  Well, they have started coming back again since the new feeders are up, and it is amazing how the whole yard around the feeders LIGHTS UP when there is a goldfinch  perched there: It brightens the area, and it brightens my soul.

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Happy Monday/ Exciting News

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Has anyone heard of, have knowledge of, studied about, or
been to Waltham Abbey in London, England? Well, I plan to visit it during my
upcoming visit to England. The family and I are doing a round-trip cruise of
the British Isles. It will be our first with Princess Cruise Lines. It will
Ammon and Carter’s 7th cruise! Okay…back to the Abbey

Folks, this abbey will probably be dum, dum, dum,… the
setting to Haven Caylor’s first novel! I will divulge pieces at time between
now and publication (probably late autumn), but the time is late 12th century (approximately A. D. 1190) and the majority of the setting takes place around an abbey. Now, Waltham Abbey will only be a physical plan because my setting is fictitious. My novel is historical fiction. The story-line itself is about life, love, friendship, and our relationships with the Lord Almighty.  The novel may take place in the Middle Ages,
but it’s themes are timeless and 100% pertinent to the 21st century.

Please, if you do have some information on Waltham Abbey or
have friends/family who are Medieval Times buffs send some comments/help my
way.