Happy 40th Mary

Mary is getting a little help from her youngest to blow out 40 candles. We all went to church, then after lunch Uncle GP loaded up his Jeep trailer and pulled it with the tractor...down through the woods and past the big hemlock, through the boggy arean and back to where the beavers have their dam. That gave me a chance to get the cooking done for the big celebration dinner.

Right before they left, Micky Mouse gave Grandaddy a call to tell him he was looking forward to having this entire crew on the Dream in a few weeks for a trip to Nassau and Castaway Cay. The kids have all received their message already so were excited to see Grandaddy get his call.

Monday, Teen took the three of us sisters to lunch...then we all had hour massages. Too bad she was the last one of us to turn 40!!

So after hosting 8 adults, 4 wild indians, and two dogs for the day....Go Postal and Banjo will probably relish the quiet today. We did have some time Monday afternoon to start laundry, wash three cars, get the tomatoes all staked and go see the new Piraetes of the Carribean movie. So a very full three day weekend, just the way I like it.

Goodbye Zorro

We lost Zorro yesterday. It was quite a shock because he had just had a great visit with the new vet in Yadkinville. But he was almost 12 and I trust he just slipped away without much discomfort. I will miss his little inquisitive face to greet me each time I entered my quilt room in the barn. This is the spot I would always find him if I went out in the morning...he loved to perch on his gumdrop pillow (a present just for him when we got married from Salem Stitcher) and watch the squirells at eye level in the trees. He now lays to rest beside his best buddy Z kitty. Go Postal and I will miss him a lot.

Dash Game

Friday night was a perfect evening for a ballgame. The ski club had 26 tickets and my sister and nephews were in the next section with tickets the boys earned for reading books. Buddy came by and sat with me for part of the game....it could have been because I had a full bag of popcorn!

Mother's Day Wildflowers

Go Postal and I headed to the mountains with friends yesterday. We would give anything to have an afternoon with our Mom's but since thats not possible, I hope they looked down on us and enjoyed the views. We were off the Parkway just past Julian Price park and had a great show of Spring wildflowers. My Mom would freak if she saw us sitting here...but its not as scary as it looks. This Cragway trail has several senic overlooks just like this.

This trail was full of painted trilliums!

And what a treat, Lady Slippers!

Sweet little clump of Iris

I know my Mom would love GP and I would have loved his Mom....if for no other reason than she formed him into the man I love!

Happy Star Wars Day

"May the Forth be With You"

Its Star Wars day, I can honestly say when I saw this movie in 1977 with my Dad....I was hooked. I have now sent all my nephews and neice through Jedi training camp, made a Star Wars quilt, ate Darth Vader pancakes, dressed up as Princess Leah for Halloween, and watched the series countless times. I hope that they will continue by leading their little ones someday through this wonderful story of good and evil and friendship and diversity.

Quilting and Hiking...Great Weekend

I left Thursday and met my buddies at Black Mt for a mini-retreat, its normally three nights but I had a company trip to attend at Lake Lure so was only able to stay one night. But I got a lot done in 24 hours....this baby quilt for a nurse friend of Mary's, my $5 quilt block for the month and put the string blocks together for a Nuero Science ICU donation quilt. But above all else, got to laugh and visit with a bunch of cool quilters. Salem Stitcher, Mrs Goodneedle, AG and I also squeezed in a hike to the top of the overlook. It was a beautiful day for a hike on Friday.

Go Postal had a baked potato with the quilters Friday night, then we headed down to The Lodge on Lake Lure. CMS had rented the entire 17 rooms for an agency trip and it was great. Saturday we set out to Chimney Rock...here we are from the top. And if you are wondering...yes we hiked because the elevator is down for rennovations. About half the group made it to the top and again we had a great day for a hike and got to spend some time with each other outside of our normal work setting.

There were also two canoes at the lodge so we set out for a quick tour of the lake. Needless to say I was a whipped puppy by late afternoon, but remembered the claw foot tub and lavendar bath salts in the room......Look at the view of the lake from the tub, couldn't be a better way to cap off the afternoon and recharge for dinner.