Walking is the perfect way of moving if you want to see into the life of things. It is the one way of freedom. If you go to a place on anything but your own feet you are taken there too fast, and miss a thousand delicate joys that were waiting for you by the wayside. Elizabeth von Arnim

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Monday, June 30, 2014

A work day and garden pictures

At Villa Vista - second stop on garden tour Saturday.
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65 degrees this morning when I started out walking.  A slight drizzle greeted me as I walked out the door and continued for about half of my walk.  It was so light that under the trees the road wasn't even getting wet as you can see in the picture.
The sun started to come out and then it rained harder and I did get a bit wet but that stopped in about 10 minutes or so and then it was mostly cloudy with a little sun once in a while.  By the time I got home I was pretty much dried out.

I walked the Farm Loop and  stopped to talk to Farmer Bill for a while.  All is doing well at his farm and he's about to get some chickens for that chicken coop he built a while back.

Walked around a town a bit for the rest of my walk.  Didn't see anyone else out.

I walked 6.4 miles
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Pastor Leatherman and Kathy, invited us and 2 other couples out for lunch yesterday after church to Uno's to say Thank You for the work we've been doing around the church.  It was unexpected because after all it is our church and we were more than happy to help.  But it IS nice to be appreciated.  We all had a great time. : )  We didn't get home until after 3 and had just a few hours before we were back at church for the evening service.  I've said this before, but we are so blessed to be part of this wonderful church.
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The tractor was still at church from last week doing the mulch.  Eric from church has an open trailer and he lives just a few miles from us and offered the loan of his trailer to bring the tractor back home.  So this morning we went to his farm first to pick up the trailer.  Then we went to church and finished putting the rest of the mulch around.  I had more to put around the garden by the radio station.  First had to weed again and after I put the mulch down I sprinkled Preen around.  Hopefully that will help with the weeds.  The last of the mulch went around the playground area. 
We then loaded the tractor on the trailer, took it back to HT and then brought the trailer back to Eric and by then it was supper time.  We've had another busy day, but it feels good to have had a good day of work.
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Here are a few more pictures from the garden tour on Saturday.  These are from the Villa Vista, second stop.
 A little cart in the front yard.
Bubbles the talking bird who says, "Hello" to all the visitors.
Fire pit in the back yard.
This picture is from Slab's Place. Thought this was a cute little thing for plants.
We bought a raffle ticket to win this little donkey cart filled with herbs from A Touch of Italy.  Haven't heard anything so I guess we didn't win.
One last picture of a few plants we bought from the Garden Boutique.  The two of the same are called Autumn Joy and the other one is a Lemon Scented Geranium.
Tomorrow I'll show you where I planted them.  No pictures yet.

That's it for today.  Hope your day has been a happy one.
happyone : )
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If the sight of blue skies fills you with joy,
if a blade of grass springing up in the fields
has the power to move you,
if the simple things of nature have a message
that you understand, rejoice,
for your soul is alive.
~ Eleonora Duse
Three Thankful Things Today
  1. Drizzle during my walk to keep me cool
  2. Church friends
  3. The feeling after a good day of work
No time yesterday or today to visit blogs but I'll get around to visit soon.

Tomorrow we have a bit of an adventure planned. 
It should be a fun day!!  : )

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Local Garden Tour

60 degrees this morning, sun and fog just like yesterday.  First walked to the post office and mailed off a couple of Netflix.  Then had a random walk around town and up Barn Sale Road to see how the friendly barn yard steer are doing.  Didn't see Charly but there were lots of others munching away on the grass.  They all watched me walk by and then continued eating.  I always say good morning to them.  It is quite a hike up the hill but then it opens out and I see this.  The picture doesn't do the scene justice.  It is breathtaking in person. That's West VA over there.
I saw a couple of people walking dogs around town and Ken passed me in the truck going to HT and then I saw him again on his way home again.

A nice walk and no dogs, bird attacks or bears on the loose.  A perfectly nice calm walk.
I walked 6.2 miles.
Found a penny.
BTW - my little dog nip bite is healing nicely.  Looks more like a bruise now.
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We had a treat for breakfast this morning.  I made waffles.  Haven't had them for ages.  Didn't have any whipped cream but we did top them off with strawberries and syrup.

Today was the garden tour of 4 local home gardens. You could go to any of the gardens in any order from 10:00 till 4:00.  We started with the closest one to home.

A Touch of Italy
An Italian garden of vegetables, flowers, fruit trees, and grapes.
This is the walk way to the front door.  Those shrubs on the right of the path are the same ones in my yard that I didn't know the name of.  The gardener who lives at this house told me they are called Princess Shrubs.  He is an older Italian man and we enjoyed talking to him about his gardens.
I loved his vegetable garden.
Here is Ken checking out the grape vines on the side of the house.
These two rock rounds are made out of the rocks he came across in the yard making the gardens.
Though the gardens were the simplest at this house, it was my favorite stop today. Everything was no neat and tidy and seemed very doable and I would love my yard to look like this. 

Next stop,
Villa Vista
Windy roads in the woods to get to this next house which opened  right on the lake and it was a huge beautiful home. The lake is behind me as I took the picture.
It featured this water feature.  I took the picture from up on the deck.
Everything was beautiful and seemed like a fantasy place and this stop was Ken's favorite.  I'm surprised myself, that this isn't my favorite too.  There was just something about the Italian one that drew me to it.

Stop number 3
Slab's Place
This one was pretty close to the previous house and was also on the lake. There was a water feature that ran along the whole side of the house.  What a great sound to hear a babbling book in your yard all the time.

Stop number 4
Stauver Oaks
A beautiful old house with a huge porch which I LOVED was in town.
There were some raised vegetable garden on both far sides of the property.  Didn't get anypictures though.
Flower garden on the side of the house.
There were also some bee hives here too, but no pictures of them either.

The last stop was not at a garden but at Garden Boutique were you could purchase plants and garden related items.  It was at Mountainside Marina which is a private place but just for today The Mountain Laurel Garden Club which sponsored the Garden Tour sold donated items for the club.  

The whole day was fantastic and we so enjoyed visiting all the places.  I still have some things to say about the tour and pictures to share of some special displays that caught my eye today, but will post them another time.  This seems to be a lot already for one post.

Hope your day has been a happy and sunny one.
happyone : )
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Flowers always make people better,
happier, and more helpful;
they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.
~ Luther Burbank
Three Thankful Things for Today
  1. Beautiful scenery when I walk
  2. Viewing the gardens and seeing all the beauty 
  3. A perfect weather day for the garden tour - sunny, clouds and a nice cool breeze

Friday, June 27, 2014

A pretty summer day

Stopping under the tree
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After supper last night I went for a little walk and Ken came with me.  We went up to the cemetery by the Drane House to look for James Drane's gravestone.  He built the house in 1800.  I didn't have my camera with me so on my walk this morning I took a few pictures. This simple stone just has the date 1828 and his initials J D.
Right in front of it we found what must have been a newer stone added later and his wife Priscilla's gravestone which you can still read good, right next to his. 
In this picture by the graves you can see the Drane House there in the trees. 
This morning it was 58 degrees with the sun out and also some fog around here and there.  
I walked the Farm Loop and I'm happy to say no sign of the yippy dogs.  Today I must have passed close to a red winged birds nest because a couple of them flew at me a few times.  Dogs, now birds, what will tomorrow bring? : )
Walked around town too.  Didn't see any one else out today.

I walked 6.4 miles.
Found a dime.
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Today Ken stayed home to do some work around the yard and I took off to Walmart to do some shopping.  
Had lunch when I got back and then we did some puttering around the yard, straightened up the garage and had a few breaks sitting on the front porch.  The weather was delightful - sunny, some clouds and nice cool breezes.

For supper we are having Italian hot sausages cooked on the grill with some macaroni salad and will eat out on the deck.

Hope your Friday has been a happy day for you.
happyone : )
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A good example has twice the value of good advice.
~ Unknown
Three Thankful Things Today
  1. No yippy dogs on my walk
  2. Driving my car with the windows down (vee - I wear a ball cap)
  3. A nice summer day
Comment Replies:
Kim - Before we moved we lived 20 minutes from BWI.  Now we live three hours away. 

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Good Fences

Joining Good Fences for the first time today.
To see more fence pictures or post one of your own, you can link up HERE
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Last night we went to Brenda's for supper.  I've talked about the Veggie Sub I get there and how much I like it.  I took a picture of it last night.
I ate half for supper and was going to eat the other half for lunch today,
but I got busy checking things off my list and forgot about lunch.
Too late now, so I'll just wait for supper.

When we got back I walked to the library to pick up a couple of books that were on hold for me.



Then had a little walk around town.
Passed a small cemetery along one of the back roads and walked around looking at old gravestones.  These are the two oldest that I could still read.
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This morning it was 64 degrees and cloudy as I walked around the Farm Loop and a random walk around town.

A farmer at work on his tractor.
I saw Lena and Hilda again walking around one of the cemeteries.  We had a bit of a chat about clothes lines.

Had a little bit of an incident walking along the farm loop.  As I passed by the farm with the 11 plus cats there was a young woman out in the yard with what looked like 6 or 7 puppies at first.  They turned out to be adult little yippy dogs (no offense to you Peanut) and they all ran at me jumping, barking and nipping at me.  I was in the middle of the road by now and though hardly any cars come by a truck happened by and had to stop for us. One on the dogs nipped me on my right calf.  All the while the woman is trying to round them all up, yelling at them and saying to me they're friendly, they don't bite.  I told her, "Well, they don't seem very friendly and  one of them just bit me".  She said how sorry she was and since it barely broke skin I just continued on my walk.  I washed it good when I got home and put some anti bacterial cream on it.  Hope they are all in the house tomorrow when I go by.

The rest of my walk was uneventful and enjoyable.
I walked 6.3 miles.
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Ken headed up to church again after breakfast to finish the mulching and I stayed home with a list of things to do today.  Didn't finish everything on my list but the day isn't over yet.
Some of the things on my list that I did.
  • Baked more cookies for VBS
  • Sheets washed, dried and back on the bed
  • Cleaned up an old cedar chest which I can now use in the guest room to keep extra blankets in.
  • Vacuumed
  • Planned meals and made a shopping list
Hope your day has been a good one with sunshine and cool breezes.  That's what our weather is like today with a few clouds thrown in.  
happyone : )
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You can discover more about a person in an hour of play
than in a year of conversation.
~ Plato
Three Thankful Things Today
  1. The Gift of another day
  2. Great walking weather
  3. Talking on the phone to a good friend

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The start of our first pepper

An almost daisy.  There are lots of daisies in my yard all ready to burst into flowers any day.

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It was 70 degrees this morning with some sun and clouds when I went on my walk.  It was a random walk around town for me today.  

Around one cemetery I saw Lena and her sister in law again and walking around the other cemetery I saw Peggy.

Walked around the little town pond.
Some flowers along my walk.
And some pretty weeds too.
Passed my house and saw that the truck was gone so started walking down toward Happy Trails because I figured that was were Ken had gone.  I thought I'd meet him there and then just ride home with him.  But as I got a mile down the road I thought maybe he wasn't there after all and if not and I had to walk home it would make my walk 3 miles longer so I turned around and headed back home.  When I got back into town Ken did pass me on his way home.  He stopped to say hi and then went home.  Just a few minutes later I was home too.

I walked 6.1 miles
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Ken left to do some yard work at church.  They got a couple loads of mulch delivered and he borrowed the church trailer to bring our tractor there to help distribute the mulch around.  A lot easier with the tractor than wheelbarrows.  There goes Ken off to church with the tractor inside the trailer.  He had to remove the backhoe to fit in inside.
I decided to sit this one out since I wanted to do some things around the house.  

There are five of these shrubs in the front up near the house.  I don't know what kind they are and didn't realize they got these pink pretty flowers.   Since this is our first spring and beginning of summer here at the house we aren't sure what kinds of flowers will pop up and it's a nice surprise sometimes.  We took three other shrubs like these out because it was just too many of them.

The start of our first peppers are appearing so of course I had to take a picture.  See that cute little tiny one starting?
We've had mostly a sunny day but it has clouded up and we have been getting some gentle rain showers.  Good for all the plants and I'm sure all the farmers are happy too.

In the garage are some nice big cabinets and I was using two of them.  Today I emptied an entire one out and rearranged things and ended up only using one of them.  Ken can now have the extra room for some tools and garage stuff. 

Not sure what I'm going to do the rest of the afternoon yet.  Probably go outside when the rain stops.  Always weeding to do. 
Hope your day is a happy one.
happyone : )
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If fifty million people say a foolish thing,
it is still a foolish thing.
~ Anatole France
Three Thankful Things Today
  1. Having a yard and garden again.  I didn't realize how much I missed it when we lived in the townhouse
  2. The start of our first pepper
  3. That I was able to make an entire cabinet clear for Ken.
 Comment Replies:
Deb - No, the bunnies don't seem to be eating our plants, not yet anyway.  They are eating seeds along with the squirrels, chipmunks, and birds in the bird garden though. 

Vee - No, thank goodness!!!!!!  I don't know what bit me but I still have a big red itchy thing. I just went on line and tried to find out what it is.  I'm pretty sure it is a chigger bite.  After looking at some pictures of other peoples bites, I'm thankful that I only have ONE.  That can be number 4 thankful thing for today.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Baking cookies

One of the bunnies that live in my yard
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62 degrees this morning with a mixture of sun and clouds.  Once again I walked the Farm Loop, around the two cemeteries and the ball park.

Walking in the cemetery, I saw Lena who I haven't seen in a while and we stopped to talk.  She lives just outside of town where the turn off to HT is.  She was walking with her sister in law who is visiting.  

Saw a couple of young ladies walking together in town and we exchanged good mornings as I passed them up.

A pretty garden along my walk.  I'd love to sit in that Gazebo with a nice cold drink and a good book and read the afternoon away.
Last night when I was outside I got bit with something on the back of my ankle and boy does that itch.  I didn't want to scratch it while walking because it would have itched even more.  Eventually I stopped thinking about it, until now and I've scratched it so much I made it bleed.

I walked 6.3 miles.
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The second week in July at church is Vacation Bible school and I am one of the cookie bakers for it.  I baked the first batch and put them in the freezer. I made 5 dozen today of the 20 dozen that I will bake.  Of course I'm making Chocolate Chippers, my specialty. : )

Home again today puttering about the house.
Had a brief thunder shower this afternoon. 

Hope your day is a happy one.
happyone : )
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Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.
~ Alexander Hamilton
Three Thankful Things Today
  1. A letter in the mail
  2. The smell after a summer rain shower
  3. Cool breezes

Monday, June 23, 2014

Monday

Poppy
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It was 62 degrees this morning and a little fog was around but it didn't last long and before long there was only bright blue skies.

No unexpected happenings or adventures on this walk.  Pretty quiet out there.  It was so peaceful and still and listening to the happy birds is always a treat.
I saw the woman who walks to get her coffee every morning again but she was way ahead of me and I turned off before I could catch up to her. 

I snapped this shot of my shadow.  I have my shirt tied around my waist which makes me look like I have a skirt on and what a little tiny head I have.  It made me laugh.
Pretty flowers tucked in green along the way.
I walked the Farm Loop, around the two cemeteries and the loop behind the ball park.  I walked this route without going off on any tangents because I wanted to check again the miles for this route.
It was a 6.3 mile walk.
I didn't find any money today, but yesterday I found a dime.
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Yesterday afternoon we were up at HT walking around for a while.  Ken also took me for a ride on the ATV showing me a trail he made the other day.  I walked it too.

Today I stayed home while he went back there to cut back some of the overgrowth.  We both realized our favorite time at Happy Trails is the fall.  It is not overgrown which makes it easier to walk, you can see farther, and there are no bugs. 

I walked to the bank and then stopped by The Firefly, a store in town that makes cheese.  Their cheese is delicious but some of it is pretty expensive.  Sometimes they hand out free samples much to my delight, but not today.  You can check out their website HERE and there is also a little video about the store.   I didn't stop there though to get cheese but to purchase two tickets for a garden tour that we will be going to on Saturday which I'm really looking forward to. 

Mowed the lawn right before lunch - I might have mentioned that now I can mow the whole lawn in 45 minutes.

Lunch time I put some cheese on two halves of a square roll and melted them under the broiler after first toasting the roll a bit.  Then ate lunch sitting on the front porch.

There was a nice breeze which kept things cool and comfortable.  The weather has been great here this spring and now summer.  We have yet to put the AC on.  So nice being able to have the windows open.

Ken brought a pile of rocks home with him from HT.  What could he be up to now?

Made some corn bread to go along with some sweet potato chili that I took out of the freezer which I made a while ago.  That will be today's supper.

I got a little knitting done this afternoon.  Haven't done any knitting or other needlework for quite a while. 

Well, that's it for today.  It's been a good one so far.
Hope your having a happy day this Monday.
happyone : )
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It's all about attitude.
If you could trade lives with a happy person,
they would be just as happy with yours.
~ Robert Brault

Three Thankful Things Today
  1. Pretty flowers
  2. Eating lunch on the front porch
  3. Cornbread
Comment Replies:
Deb - If you click on the auction picture you can see all the book titles.
The prison letters are to people who are taking a Bible course and I write to them with some words of encouragement.  Each month I'll get around a dozen names of people to write to.  They are in different prisons around the country.  I got some more letters last night at church.  Kathy, the pastor's wife had asked me to do this and it sounded like something I'd like to do. 

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Goodies from the auction

Barn down near the Drane House.  The picture of the horse and her baby that I posted the other day live there.
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68 degrees when I walked this morning but it didn't feel that warm.  It was cloudy and a bit foggy in places.  Felt like rain but never did until later in the morning.
I walked the Farm Loop and around town.

I saw four deer in one of the fields.  They were all together and looked young.

Over at Farmer Bill's farm there were four young calves romping around playing and I watched them for a while. 

Cow Number 14 lives up the road a piece at another farm.  I've never met anyone who lives there yet.   Her calf was behind the bush.  After I passed by, Number 14 went back to eating the white flowers on the bush there.
Saturday's are quieter than during the week.  So nice to be out walking early in the morning.
I walked 6.3 miles
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Over at the Fire House in Mc Henry there was an auction and right after breakfast we headed over there.  It was an auction to raise money for the new addition being added on the fire house.
One of the items we wanted and bid on was a 20 ton truck load of stone which would have come in handy at HT but it went for more that we wanted to spend.  We didn't get that but did get a few other items.  A microwave (for HT) a box of books, two outside lights, and a little table which I'm going to paint and put in the spare bedroom.
We got all of this for only $7.
Home this afternoon just puttering around the house.  It has been raining on and off and we even saw a little bit of the sun.

Hope you are all enjoying your Saturday.
A happy day to you.
happyone : )
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The human spirit needs places where nature 
has not been rearranged by the hand of man.
~ Unknown
Three Thankful Things Today
  1. Watching the calves at play
  2. Fun at the auction
  3. Ken fixed the front screen door
Comment Replies:
Tomas - I'm thinking you meant to say walk instead of ride?
I walk every day -  no day off. : )  
Only some times in the winter when the weather is just too bad.

Friday, June 20, 2014

A walk down to Bear Creek

Old Barn along my walking route today.
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60 degrees and a foggy morning, a slight breeze and the air was cool.  Took a different route today.  Walked straight through town and down the hill passed the turn off to Happy Trails which is there on the right just ahead.
It was a nice mile and a half down hill.  Then I turned left here by Bear Creek.
Crossed over the creek turned right and went along here. 
The creek runs all along the road and I can hear the water running over the rocks.  When I had walked just a bit over three miles I turned around here and headed back.
Once I got back to the main road I then had to walk the mile and half UP the hill back to town.

There must be some kind of bike event going on because I saw a bike zip by me  followed by a white van.  I saw them going down the hill and at the bottom before a steep incline I saw the bike rider get in the van with his bike and ride up the hill.  mmmmm  Later I saw one other bike rider and later still another bike rider each with their own van behind them.  They biked up the hill.

I was amazed how this tree is managing to grow here on the side of the road in amongst all the rocks.  The roots are all entangled in the rocks.
I only heard the birds along by the creek.  Didn't see any wild life or people either. (except for the bike riders)
I walked 6.3 miles.
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Ken headed up to Happy Trails again and I had too much to do here at home so I stayed home to:
  • Do more house cleaning 
  • Laundry
  • Finish up the notes to the prisoners
  • Finish my book which is due at the library today -  It was book number 25 for the year.  My goal is to try to read 52.  Looks like I have a good shot at it.  This latest book was Death By Darjeeling by Laura Childs.  Good Book.  It was the first in the Tea Shop Mysteries.
All of the pumpkin seeds Ken planted have sprouted.  Here's the beginning of our pumpkins.  Sure hope we get lots of pumpkins.  I'll be keeping you posted.
 In a little while we are off to Brenda's for supper.  Probably for pizza but they have some really good sandwiches too.  My favorite is the roasted veggie sub. 

Hope your day as been a good one and you smiled often.
 happyone : )
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People don't notice whether it's winter or summer
when they're happy.
~ Anton Chekhov
Three Thankful Things Today
  1. A walk down by the creek
  2. Finishing all the things on my list
  3. Supper at Brenda's