The Old Homestead

You may remember that the last time you saw our house it was a kinda dirty gray because of the concrete sheeting ... that replaced the yellow look of the house wrap ...that replaced the brown look of the plywood ... that replaced the blue look of the foam insulation ... that replaced the blue look of the masonite siding.  

And now we are adding the mesh material in preparation for the stucco...

Rosana has been the main "stuckie" rolling on the glue that will hold the mesh...It has been a challenge to put it in place...Sometimes it doesn't stay when you least expect it...But she always comes up smiling...I don't know if it is because she is enjoying her work or it is finally happening, or both!Then comes applying the stucco which has the consistency of oatmeal...and you know how much I like being alone on the top of a ladder!!!!!But the days have been nice as of late...and Rosana's flowers have been beautiful, that is the late ones like this Dahlia....and the Morning Glory (those are her Mums in the background).We are under constant survelliance by the neighborhood, and the pesky creatures that abound....But we have finished the front and at least half of the south side.  Incidentially, the color change is due to a change in the Base Coat tint we were not aware of.  Not to worry, the Finish Coat will all be the same color!

Also, we wanted to share a fine view (albeit upside down) out of our bedroom picture window of our colorful backyard....could be one of the main reasons why we added the huge windows....Trying to get everything done while the weather cooperates.  Wish us luck and good weather.

Relaxing Drive

It's always nice when one can just sit back and enjoy the ride. :-)  Rosana has been coming with me of late as I stroll around the country side of North Alabama on inspections. 

We were headed home after a long day that had taken us from Huntsville, to Decatur, to west of Cullman, to Arab, and east to Crossville at the end of the day. 

The sun was setting as we crossed Guntersville Lake.

I couldn't take my eyes off the peacefulness of the boat docks along 431 north of Guntersville. :-)

Nice way to end a long, busy, and enjoyable day with some pretty good company!  :-)

Justin's Big Night

Justin had a birthday about a week ago (too much activity to get the shots posted until now, sorry). But it was a BIG family gettogether at the Foroughi Fun House and Resort!

He got some great presents... but one of the very bestest ones was obviously one that took the least room....CASH!!!!
The winning present appeared to be a liquid-fueled rocket that was assembled in the Foroughi's rocket preparation chamber, I am sure much to the delight of the facility manager (Diana) - Ha!

once assembly was complete, pre-launch preparations and fueling continued down range, i.e., just off the back porch in front of a throng of onlookers.


Countdown was not too accurate, and the photo staging area was a long-way off due to the potential of lauch debris striking the camera and photographer...and the recovery crew of brothers and uncles and had a great time.

As the evening wound down, we all retreated to the launch complex lounge for family silliness, and togetherness.

It is pretty much guaranteed that there will be more such happy gatherings:-)

Some More Little Buddies

I frequently send Jameh and Taleh these images as I travel around from farm-to-farm, and I just wanted to share the little delights with y'all.

Guess which one Jameh liked best...and I thought it a little freeky that the butterfly was looking at me while I was looking at him looking at me........

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Hummingbird

I just wanted to share with you other images of the Hummingbird outside our bedroom window.
Nice screensavers. :-)

Ramblings

We've been out on the trail for a few days...all a little short of the stucco work...but we'll get to that in the next few days certainly. Anyway, this week we all put in a 15-hour day going thru Jasper, Alabama near the far-side of Smith Lake...

and then off to Millport, Alabama which is in really rural Alabama a stones throw from Mississippi. R was driving so fast to keep me on schedule that I couldn't get the shot of the huge, three-story Antebellum mansion with the lake in front, the Cedar Tree lined curving cariage way up to the second-story portico entrance, and the blond-tressed carriage horses roaming around inside the four-rail gleaming white wooden fence (not to mention the huge 24-row pecan tree orchard next door, and the little road-side lemonade stand, 5-cents a glass!) R and Lucia didn't see it!

About mid-day we went back across country to Gordo, Alabama and back home.

Once we got back, there was some great news for the FAM...Calling Dr. Nurse Tyson....Calling Dr. Nurse Tyson....

In recovery now from the big road trip, and waiting for another one this week, trying to rest my weary eyes on some of R's flowers in the back yard...

There was a wonderful surprise visitor this morning!

So I can only hope that we have more pleasant surpirses as we finish off a long, long week.
Speaking of "fly away, fly away" (re: Seals & Crofts, "Hummingbird" visit pandora.com), Brian comes home from Ecuador on Monday, and Lucia leaves for Slovakia in about 8 days or so.

Tuna, Chickens, & Burros

Friday was an interesting day in my farm-visit exploits (aka, the part-time farm inspection gig). I started very early...

it was a very beautiful sunrise driving across the mountain top roads south of Huntsville (well, they are "North Alabama Mountains", anyway), and a pleasant temperature at dawn.

One really neat agricultural item of interest that I haven't seen in North Alabama was this hedgerow of Cactus and flowers...more reminiscent of what I saw during our family trips Mexico in the '90's.

As I took pictures and studied the colors and the Tuna (that's what the flowering fruit on top of the Cactus is called), the sun burst into the morning and I could feel the penetrating heat on my back - it was only 6:30 so I knew it would be a rough morning...

and as I wound down my lengthly stay (the poultry/cattle farm covered quite a large area and I walk most of it), I made new friends along the way by talking to the animals...

I must admit that I was a little suspcious of these guys, they always strategically positioned themselves this way, as if they were saying, "OK, I'll take the left leg, Jorge you take the right one, and Manuel, you flank him and we got'em!"

I escaped the stable area safely...to ride herd on another farm another day. :-)

Back on the job(s)!

It has been a few days since we arrived home from pilgrimage and our seemingly endless flight (stop overs at JFK and Detroit). But we're back in the swing of things.
One of the jobs I do around here is to survey properties, and the bigger jobs are in surveying farms. This job gets me out of town and into the countryside which is a very peaceful way to enjoy work.


I get to see a lot of interesting things. The road workers in Guntersville must have told their boss they would be really thirsty!








Yesterday was a very beautiful day and a little cooler (in the low 90's). It wasn't like the 100 degree days we've had since we came home and the landscape is still lush from all the rain while we were gone. This is the Tennessee River about 1/2 mile from our house in South Huntsville. In some places around here it almost seems sub-tropical.

Wrapping Up Day

Hello, everyone. We are all packing frantically - kinda - more like a controlled burn! Yesterday we did get around a little...up to the site of a future House of Worship and we enjoyed saying prayers with a wonderful couple from Arlington, Texas.Then we went out to the Druze Village for a quick stopover. Maria and Jeremy had their farewell at the Shrine with their pilgrim group and down the Terraces one last time as a Pilgrim.

Today we will have a luncheon, a last visit to the Shrines, and catch the train for Tel Aviv in about 10 hours (it's 7:30am here). We don't want to leave, but there are things that have to get done at home.

Getting Closer

Yesterday was a work-day for our service in the Archives, spending a little time walking through the Gardens and lunch with one of Geoffrey's work associates.
For me, I am trying to prepare myself for the departure on Wednesday.
Last night was our next to last night in Haifa. We all were up on the mountain for a group meeting of the pilgrims (this is a fairly regular event for those who know about the pilgrimage schedule).
The weather has turned to summer but the nights are glorious.
Here is a picture of the Shrine of the Bab at night with the Haifa Bay in the distance.
Today, we are going on a little outing to the top of the mountain, and then out to the Druze Village.
This will be exciting (humm) just to watch Rosana bargin and haggle for some stuff. We'll see what the banker has to say (usually not much).

Quick Visit to Akka

Yesterday was one of our last opportunities, maybe the last this trip, to visit Akka (Geoffrey was working :-(.

Maria and Jeremy were visiting the house occupied by Abdu'l Baha and his family inside the prison walls. We met them there and then took a stroll around the city. The white building in the background is the House of Abbud where Baha'u'llah lived for a short time before living outside the prison.
I will leave you for today with a pleasing shot of Bahji.:-)

Dinner with the new relatives

We enjoyed a wonderful evening meal with some of our newest relatives Tuesday, the 13th... Faeghe and Khosrow Rezai (Munib's aunt and uncle, Melanie's aunt and uncle-in-law: thus we're related - Thanks, Maria! :-)

Faeghe was just a whirlwind racing around to make sure we could eat before going to the teaching center for a talk.

Jeremy, Brian and Geoffrey really liked the fare, as did we all, and isn't it great to find family almost anywhere in the world!

It was big hit with me, obviously. Rosana had a great time, too, but she is behind the camera on this outing. And, as always, dear ones, the night time stroll down the Terraces is priceless and magical especially with a full moon.

A Little Catching Up

Yeah, yeah, I know. What has Tim and Rosana and Brian...and now Maria and Jeremy been doing! Maria and Jeremy are busy getting re-charged with their Pilgrimage... while Rosana caught me recovering in the Pilgrim Reception Center...

Brian is serving in the ITC, and Rosana and I have been doing service at the Archives (that's another story) and then we get to walk across the Arc each day for lunch...

The scene from the Arc, as many of you know, is always changing and tremendous...

And we get out to Bahji as often as possible (an hour by sherout), and yesterday we went out (just north of Akka, Israel for those of you looking on maps). Rosana and Maria went walking in the new development area....

and best of all, we were there to see the Shrine and gardens at sunset.:-)

So there is of course more to tell, but that is another entry. More later (I promise).