Time To Ease Into The Weekend

 Hello, Hello,

I sure hope this Friday morning finds you ready for the weekend and doing what you enjoy.  I do plan to just ease into the weekend and enjoy it.  Does anyone have plans for Father's Day?  Colin and Fletch will spend the afternoon together watching some movie.  Mailing is taking Iris shopping (early training!!) and I will have a blissful (hopefully) afternoon alone.  Later I will head over to C&M's to join everyone for dinner (I think we are just going to order out).

These gorgeous calla lily plants are at the front of C&M's house.

The yellow color is so strong and vibrant.  I tread carefully up their sidewalk though as there is a resident snake always nearby (and y'all know how much I dislike serpents!!).  It can often be found next to the front step or further down in the herb bed nestled in the mint.  Only a garter snake, but still....

Our trumpet vine has started to bloom and yesterday afternoon I spotted my first hummingbird of the season going from blossom to blossom.

Next to the Seven Sisters Rose.  This trumpet vine is one Fletch put in years ago by our clothesline tree.  The tree is now completely dead and (Fletch swears) the only thing holding it up is the trumpet vine!  As pretty as the blooms are, this plant is a real PITA.  It sends out runners all over the place so that weekly we have trumpet vine shoots coming up all over our backyard.  They have even gotten as far as the garden which is on the opposite side of our yard!

This morning has already found me a little busy - changing the tablecloth and napkins, watering the houseplants.  Just small chores, but all needing to be done.  A little later I will head out for errand running.  I have a book to drop at the library, a list for Trader Joe's and another one for a few miscellaneous items from our regular grocery store, a list for the liquor store.  I think (hope) that's it.

It feels muggy and steamy already, so I'd like to get things done and then have the balance of the day to relax.  I promised Fletch I would make BLTs for lunch and I need to figure out what dinner will be.  Other than that, I'm hoping for stitching and knitting time with a good dose of reading included.

May your weekend find you relaxed and enjoying life.  And, Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!

Weekending

Good Morning!


What a fun, wonderful weekend we had.  We left home Saturday morning and headed up to Colin & Mailing's where we met them, Mailing's parents and her sister.  Then we all headed north to Hickory Run State Park.  It was a gorgeous day with not one cloud in the sky.  It is about a one and a half hour drive from Colin & Mailing's.


Our first stop was a parking lot near Hawk Falls.  That was about a half mile hike down to the Falls and then a half mile back.  I did not get a picture of those Falls, but at one point I heard someone singing on a cliff above me - it was Colin who had run up the cliff like a goat and was peering down at us:

He was scampering around all day - like he was 6 years old.  Fun to see.


Next we drove to another parking area by a lake and started our hike.  The Mountain Laurel were in bloom:

The trails overall were not bad.  The most arduous one wasn't nearly as bad as some that Fletch and I have hiked, but the name was enough to put you off:

You can see what a beautiful day it was with a blue, blue sky and no clouds!  I was glad they had put some steps in this section of the trail:

We found a shady alcove to stop for lunch.  Colin & Mailing had packed it all:  sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, dill pickles, apples.  It all tasted so good.  We came upon a dam and falls that had been built by the CCC:

Very refreshing.  We saw some enormous tadpoles in one area, saw folks fishing, heard birds.  Luckily we came upon NO snakes!  We ended up hiking about 8 miles and my feet had blisters in new places after that! 


We wound up back at Colin & Mailing's for dinner:  a delicious Tagine, an arugula salad with a lemony vinaigrette and tri-colored couscous.  Delicious.  They made cantaloupe sorbet for dessert.  It was the perfect Father's Day celebration and I'm so glad we went on Saturday rather than Sunday (which got pretty hot).  My legs are still a little sore from the hike.


I did a little knitting over the weekend, but not much.  The heel is finished on the second sock and the gusset stitches have been picked up, but that's all.  I did finish "Never Caught - The Washington's Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge" which I highly recommend.  A very interesting read (and certainly shows a different side of George Washington than you get in school).  I've started reading This Book which, so far, I'm enjoying a lot.


Fletch is retired, but he still has a few clients who call him periodically.  Friday he worked for one couple and brought home from their garden this gorgeous Asian Lily:

Just look at all those blooms...and more buds!


Today is forecast to be near 100 degrees!  I'll be taking it easy as much as possible.  Hoping you all had wonderful weekends.