Blue Ridge Parkway

Thank you Mom, Maggie & Dad for offering Kurt and I a few days to slip away before our lives get busier this Fall....We missed everyone and also had some wonderful days and found some spots to come back to this Fall during the Live and Learn Conference with the whole family. We know and heard of the wonderful days they had while with you, thank you for loving them like that! We camped along the Blue Ridge Parkway (yes it rained, it always does when we camp!), saw lots of wildlife, even a black bear!, went on many hikes, ate good food over the fire and in some local restaurants, remembered how to talk without interruptions:), toured some of Asheville, enjoyed just being and ended our time pampering ourselves at Spa Shoji, wow! We want to tour the rest of the Blue Ridge Parkway one day...Thank you again!

Settling Back In

Settling back in to life at home.....We had our first cucumbers and snow peas when we got back home. We had squash before we left and the strawberries were done. I was so excited about these cucumbers and they were so delicious with mayo, balsamic vinegar and a little sugar, we all ate them up. I know by summer's end we will be groaning at cucumbers. Rocky (alex's beardie) is enjoying the salad greens from outside so much better than the kale from the store. We also had our first blueberries when we got back home, so juicy, but all the blackberries were gone:(--glad we made that final blackberry cobbler before we left, before the birds ate them all....We finally cut open a coconut for emma to have a coconut shell bowl, she was inspired to make a story about a coconut "egg" for her friend Ellie's birthday. The coconut milk and meat were yummy!

50th Hastings Reunion at Grayton

Thank you to all our family and friends for the memorable week at Grayton..........the dinners, the floats in the ocean, the pool time, the boat rides, the drum circle, the games, the showers, the bonfire, the sandcastles, the chairs and tents. We send you all another hug and thank you for making memories with us! I'll share some more Grayton photos in next post. Grayton has changed mucho in 50 years, but the week really hasn't, not the parts that matter anyway...

Grayton Photos Again

Outdoor showers, i want one at my house!.....Rosie the Riveter visited with us.....and on the last day near the ocean in these lovely chairs from Terry we finally found Emma's hermit crabs she had been looking for all week!

More Grayton

Grayton 2008

More ATCs from Day

Kristy-Jane's ATCs

Our friend Kristy did these "anime portraits" from live models. I have to get her to do one of Alex, Emma & Owen another time. They are lovely!

Some ATCs from the Day

ATC Day!

Thank you to everyone who came to the ATC Day today, here at our house. We hope to now have one every month or so. We were introduced to ATC cards at one of the LiveNLearn Conferences and didn't get to fully explore them while we were there. My mom won the ATC basket at the last conference and gave it to me and I have been waiting to use it. We had lots of folks coming by all day, creating and playing. I didn't get all the photos that I wanted of the hundreds of cards that were made, but have some highlights to share in the next posts. Please join us for the next ATC day sometime in July.... The hit with the kids was the laminator. We have one for our business and the kids often use it to preserve a special piece of artwork so that it is indestructible. Strangely last fall, on our doorstep from Office Depot arrived 1300 business size laminating pouches. We did not order them, and if you have ever dealt with Office Depot customer service, we got nowhere on getting them returned or explained.........we were not charged as we never placed an order for such an item, and decided they must be meant to be here for some reason........The kids found one of those reasons to day with unbridled creativity. Here is some more information on ATC Cards.

Fairy Circle

We discovered this "Fairy Circle" in the empty lot across the street last night. The diameter was 8 or more feet across. It is stretching out into the road. I have always loved mushrooms, more than flowers I think! They are just one of those things that makes me squeal when I see one. It was interesting today reading all the lore about fairy circles as well as the science behind the fungus doing what it does. Then in a couple of days later we saw another one down the street from the car window, it had those red spotted mushrooms! By the time we went back later to take a picture or the next day, someone had cut all the mushrooms off:(. I don't recall ever seeing fairy circles around here when I was younger, but we know the signs to look for now (greener grass ring or browner grass ring) and are going to be on the lookout! Major, our dog, was the only one who decided to enter the fairy circle after what we had learned, we hope nothing ill befalls him!