First Warm Day of 2010 in Dublin, GA

 It is sunny and very warm with a pleasant breeze here in Dublin today.  The temperature reached 81 degrees, according to my temperature gauge. The remainder of this week, sunny and in the mid to upper 80s. Yippie! It is about time! John is working in the 'basement', the sub-level dirt floor room in the back part of the house. He is pumping out the 2-3' of dirt/mud and plans to use it to fertilize the yard. He has about 1/3 of the dirt/mud pumped out. He will be getting to a section of the room where he thinks he will find not only more river rocks and bricks but other interesting finds from years gone by. He is like on a archaeological dig, playing Indiana Jones. He found an old toothbrush today. I have not gone down in there. I don't mind getting dirty, but not muddy. I will save that for the yard work I will be doing.

Speaking of yard work, the white lilacs are in full bloom and a few of our yellow daffodils. I plan to plant some Texas Blue Bonnets shortly. John will be getting a tiller to tear up the yard so grass can be planted. The red tip stumps on the side yard will be removed and the holes filled in. So once tax season is over, we will be taking a short vacation and return to work on house and yard.  Middle Georgia Heating and Air came out to change out our heating and air filter for the first time since we had the unit installed last fall.

Last night I played tennis at the newly resurfaced tennis courts in Stubbs Park. The new courts were also complete with new nets and windscreens. Once lighting upgrades are done, the courts will be perfect. Now,  I don't fear for when I might fall into a cavernous crack when I stretch to hit a ball anymore.

That is all for now. Get ready for another active season at the Hardy Smith House. Keep checking my blog for updates.

My New Adopted Home: Living in Dublin, GA and in the 137 year old Capt Hardy Smith House: St Patrick's Parade and Festival- Dublin, GA

My New Adopted Home: Living in Dublin, GA and in the 137 year old Capt Hardy Smith House: St Patrick's Parade and Festival- Dublin, GA

This is an awsome find

John just showed me a silver like coin that he found while digging in 'basement' in the back part of the house a few minutes ago. The find is one of the most unique items John has found because it gives us an idea that perhaps Capt Hardy Smith had a lumber business and used the coin to attract new customers.

Enjoy the pictures.

The 2010 St Patrick's Day Festival Incident

Hello all.  Good afternoon. My blog entry is about my experience attending my first community service meeting at Dublin City Hall last night with regard to the incident at Stubbs Park last Saturday afternoon. What I am about to say is my opinion only. I found out about this meeting on moments notice. By going to the meeting, it helped me understand what the City of Dublin and what the community plans to do to insure patron safety at future events such as the St Patrick's Day Festival. It helped ease the confusion that I had along with countless others who felt the decision to close the park early was the right thing to do.  Attending the meeting gave me a  inside look as to how the community and the decision makers think and work.  Before the meeting started, there was a prayer and pledge of allegiance. To me it was a breath of fresh air.

Living just a couple of blocks from Stubbs Park, this incident, no doubt brought safety concerns to my mind again.  About a year ago, I moved from a city of nearly 4 million people to a town of 17 thousand. For those who lived in Dublin their entire lives, it is easy to become insulated, complacent and comfortable, thinking, it cannot happen here, but at the same time, we are in the 21st century, you have to be realistic and adjust to the times we are living in.

Living in the Atlanta metro area for 14 years, had taught me a lot about safety, most of which is common sense. No matter where you go, you can never entirely let your guard down. Wherever there is a sizable population of people, there is potential for crime. My impression, at the meeting, what happened at Stubbs Park, woke up those in authority to the gravity of the situation, in that it needs to be addressed and resolved in a proactive manner so that an incident like this does not happen again nor become something that could spiral out of control at other events.

With the large number of patrons attending the festival, only 3 police officers were inside the fencing and 2 were outside, with one patrol car driving around for crowd control and traffic. There was a sheriff trailer within short distance of where the incident took place. Those officers were off duty conducting some sort of training. Nevertheless, having more police presence at future events, will send a strong signal to those who want to start trouble, that acts of stupidity will not be tolerated and that they will be dealt with in a swift and expedient manner. Relocating the event is not an option. By doing so, it sends the wrong signal and is unfair to the community.

What happened even took the police by surprise. I was in the park when the incident happened. I saw a man be led away in handcuffs. We sat down under a tree to enjoy our meal then the next thing I saw was a kid jump across the creek, which made me to believe something was up but I did not pay too much attention to it until the police told everyone to leave the park immediately.

Being a new resident of Dublin has not changed my overall impression of the town itself, it just reminds me to be alert, remain vigilant, pay attention when it comes to safety, while at the same time, enjoy what Dublin has to offer. Moving from Atlanta to Dublin has definitely deceased my overall stress and enhanced my health. I am becoming more comfortable as I get to know  people and become involved in the community.

The bottom line is that I feel keeping the event where it belongs is where it should stay. I don't feel any less safe because of what happened. Times we live in are different now and this incident is a wake up call to adjust because Dublin cannot afford it economically.  So for all of those visitors who came but had to witness or experience this unfortunate incident and have any lingering doubts about Dublin's ability to handle large scale events in the future, don't let that stop you from visiting this beautiful little town. Please continue to come to Dublin and support our community. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for reading my blog today. Continue to check back on what I am doing in Dublin and with the Hardy Smith House.

St Patrick's Parade and Festival- Dublin, GA

Today, March 20th, marks the official start of the Spring season. The first day of Spring occurs when the sun passes above the equator (in the northern hemisphere) and begins to rise higher and higher in the sky as each day in the season progresses towards summer. The days lengthen, the sun's rays get stronger, the birds, bees and bugs come out of hibernation, marking the start of a new birth of all living things. The bees at the Capt Hardy Smith House know Spring is here. Check out all the mounds they are making in the front yard!  I noticed those mounds in the front yard on March 18th, so the bees were off by 2 days, hah!

Don't forget the sunscreen when heading out at this time of the year because the strength of the sun can be deceptive.

It was a sunny, warm and beautiful day for a St Patrick's Parade and Festival in Dublin, GA today. The weather couldn't be more perfect. The sky was blue and the winds light. A few clouds showed up later in the day. The month long celebration is nearing a close with the climax of today being 'Super Saturday' on the calendar of events.

I could not sleep last night because vendors were setting up shop, one of which had a loud generator in the parking lot I could hear from the bathroom. Around, 4am, the street cleaners came past the house and woke me up. Then around 8am, activity from the vendors making their last minute preparations to open before 9am caused Max, the doberman, to bark as people were walking through the parking lot. I thought, I am getting up, no more sleep for me today. The vendor with the camper and loud generator had a little Chihuahua dog that got loose and ran around the house. Max was going crazy barking at it. Of course, Lady, my dog, was still in the bedroom with me, oblivious to what was going on outside. So I got up and got dressed in my St Patrick's Day shirt and accessories to prepare to head over to Stubbs Park to check out the vendors before the crowd would come after the parade.

There were a lot of vendors displaying varying creations and works of art from  Hummingbird feeders and wind chimes made out of bottles, beautiful jewelry to beautiful wooden furniture carved from driftwood in combination with other native timbers of Georgia.

There was plenty of food and drinks to munch on so nobody would go home hungry..No alcohol at this event! There was music, singing and dancing too. At the entrance to the park, there was a rock climbing wall, slides in different sizes, bungee

jumping, a mechanical bull and other carnival type rides.

The parade started around 11:30am and ended around 1:15pm. The flow of entrants were continuous. Marching bands from all the local schools showcased their talent. Local politicians running for office came to drum up support from the crowd along with area businesses, civic groups and community churches displaying their floats in creative splashes of spring color. The police came through displaying their fancy cars, cute ATV's and mobile two wheeled sidewalk riders as I call them.

 Elle Mae (Donna Douglas) from the Beverly Hillbillies came to the parade this year as well as last year.


A new float this year that I personally liked was 'The is no place like Dublin' float. The theme was of the Emerald City in the 'Wizard Of Oz'. Dorothy, The Scarecrow, TinMan and Cowardly Lion, and Toto came.

 

Mr. Pig from Piggy Wiggly along with the KFC Big Chicken, the Chick Fila Cow and a stray roaming clown were visiting with the younger members of the crowd. Candy was being tossed in all directions like a Mardi Gras bead throwing conquest.  Quarter horses and riders in full western wear came parading through to finish up the long, nearly 2 hour entertainment extravaganza. The parade was free and so was the parking! All John and I did was walk a couple of blocks, set up our chairs and we were good to go. The sun was warm and I forgot the sunscreen, so I got a little sunburn. Compared to last year, the parade seemed longer and several thousand people lined the streets and attended the festival afterward. 

All the parking lots within a few blocks of the house were jammed pack full of cars from all over Georgia and even out of state visitors too.  The picture to the left was taken of cars parked on the lot on the west side of the Capt Hardy Smith House. The blue house in the picture in the above right is the Capt Hardy Smith House.  Parking was at such a premium for the parade and festival that cars were found parked at the drive through window areas at Morris Bank across the street from the house! No one parked in our yard except me.  I found a few bits of trash that people threw in the yard after everything was over. The festival at Stubbs Park unfortunately had to close early, around 3:15pm or so, because a couple of fights broke out causing a stir. The police thought it best to close the park and end the festival early for safety of all patrons visiting. Unfortunately for the vendors, they had to pack up and go home with two and a half hours of lost revenue. Almost all the vendors were gone by 6pm and downtown Dublin was almost completely quiet again.

All in all, it was a fun and full day. I look forward to it next year.

Enjoy some pictures from today's event. Keep checking my blog for things going on around Dublin and continuing projects at the Hardy Smith House.

 

St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, GA

Sunny, pleasant day in Dublin, GA. The temperature reached in the low to mid 60s. John and I went to the St. Patrick's Festival Balloon Fest balloon glow at dusk tonight.  From what I understand the balloon glow marks the official start of the nearly month long celebration of everything green and Irish. Check out the below link for all details:
 http://www.saintpatricksfestival.com

Not only does the St Patrick's Festival remind Dubliners and visitors that spring is around the corner, so do the sounds of crickets and frogs coming out of hibernation. 

After the balloon glow, we went to out dinner then home to relax for the evening.  John is nearly the end of his excavating activities at the back part of the house. Check out his blog for his latest finds. We plan to use some of the bricks and river rocks to build a front walkway and other yard accents.

Today marks the end of another quiet day at the Hardy Smith house.  Activity will be picking up once the warm weather comes and stays awhile so keep checking my blog for the latest new projects.