Quick trip to Nashville

It is nice that we can see Helen and William now more often too. 

When William had gone back he asked me to take care of the apple tree. I promised I would but only until we were bringing it to Nashville. He sent texts asking how it was doing. I took a photo for him to see how much it had grown.

Ah, so pretty. I planted it into a patio container. Wished I knew what this plant is. It bloomed all summer. 

Monday the 18th we got up early and went on our way. We were lucky with the weather. It was a lovely drive. But it was also a very looooong drive. Lunch was a footlong from Subway we shared in a rest stop park.

When we arrived we were also greeted by Theo, a cuddly dog which Helen was taking care of for a couple of days.

I think William took this photo with my camera. It's a strange perspective. 

Helen had taken off work and we worked on sorting the old place out. The new place looks nicer every time we visit. Unfortunately on Friday James was suddenly in a lot of pain. He must have carried something a bit too heavy. I was sure it was what I had a few years ago: Sciatica. Sarah suggested an Urgent Care place and I took him there. They gave him 2 steroid injections but they didn't seem to have helped at all. 

We had wanted to have dinner with William's dad Ben but James just felt he couldn't handle it. So we had a take-out instead. After dinner we had to admire the sundown from the "party deck".  It was a nice evening.

Saturday morning Helen and I got up early. She had a garage sale with all the things she/they didn't need any longer. Making good use of room and not cluttering up is so important. I must say that it was quite a lot of fun. Especially the young couple with the two little boys. All 4 of them kept finding things which gave them joy. The mother found a part of a Ninja kitchen thing which had broken of hers and she was almost giddy that she had found the replacement now. 

In the afternoon James had some good time (thanks to Ibuprofen) and we went to the other townhouse again to have a look and think about whether there was any furniture or things we wanted to keep and what to do with it. We liked these chairs and always found them comfortable. We seriously were thinking to replace ours in Virginia with them. Unfortunately the wood is not a good fit with our other furniture. Sigh. But we measured them so we could think about it. This photo taken for the color.

Sunday morning at 5:30 am we were on the road again. We could sleep longer because of James' pain we were awake early. Strangely enough the drive was not bad because the heated seats were like a miracle to him. 

The obligatory photo at the Virginia Welcome Center. 

I don't very often go into the centers but did this time and enjoyed this display and the explanation of one of the 2 attending older ladies. The E on the right is made from soles of hiking boots as a symbol for hiking. The V paddle stands for canoeing or watersport. The O is a bicycle wheel but she didn't know what the L means. Well, the state slogan is "Virginia is for lovers". 

There were other interesting things but we had to continue to get home. 

The weather was still in our favor. We had thought that the traffic would not be heavy since it was a Sunday and it wasn't on most of the way. But three crashes on different parts of the 600 miles gave us red lines on the GPS and notices of delayes. But it could have been worse.

Now we try to get James fit for Sunday when our visitors from Germany are arriving. So looking forward to it!!!

School starting for one, not for three

William had only a very few days left of summer vacation. 

But it was not time for his cousins yet. We spent more time with them in a few days than all summer long. First event: picking Caleb up from a sleep-away camp of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia where he had been for 2 weeks. It was quite a way to drive but when we were finally at his house the dogs greeted him with enthusiasm. 

 

But then they saw something in the front yard and barked their little hearts out. 

And this is what they saw.

Of course the boys were excited to celebrate their mother's birthday.

Yes, THE season is finally here. Zwetschgen! Called here either Italian plums or prune plums. When I check at the proper time at the Publix supermarket close to our house they will order them for me and call me when they are in.

And whenever there was time I was busy experimenting with my recipe and baking gadgets.

It started out as a sheet cake but the cut portions look so messy when put on a plate. I didn't like the cupcakes. But when I found the silicon mini loaf form I was hooked. Sorry, no photo of the finished "mini loafs".

Other day before school starts. This day we start with breakfast at Kitchen 33. I would say "success".

On the way home I wanted to stop quickly to get more plums. The boys agreed so easily ... no wonder, I learned they each are allowed to select a cookie at the bakery. 

Yes, the day goes better if you have a project. We went to the Dollar Tree store and got these white/cream candles which we decorated with colored markers and German special wax material I got for a church project. Big success. Of course they begged to light them. 

Another day we went to the Botanical Garden. That too was fun.

I really should have a notebook to write down when a meal in a restaurant was really good. Loved the bowls we had ordered at Torchy's Tacos. 

You all know how hot hot hot our summer was. But a few days I tried to do some gardening. This little snake baby was under a small flower pot right next to the front door. It was the size of a really large earthworm. 

Friends, I have come a long way from being a city girl! I welcomed it because it is a "good snake". 

Not so happy about whoever is digging deep holes in our planters. Cleaning up the dirt every so often is really no fun. 

I thought of installing a camera and we even went to Best Buy to get information about it but we run out of time. Here is the photo I took when I tried to figure out a good place "in case" we would buy one.

We run out of time because we were driving to Nashville. We left the very day school started in our area. These three will be busy without us.

Are we not blessed?

William in VA - just a few more days

How quickly one forgets what happened. We came home Thursday and just unpacked etc. Nothing more to report (I spoke wrong at the end of the last blog).

It was Friday when  we decided that we should go to the VMFA, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. James and I have been members there for many years. 

Here too are interesting stories to read with the displayed items.

Had to spoil the boy one more time and go for lunch to Sushi Masa again. It was even more fun this time because we had a better idea what to order.

In the evening we drove to the Atlee Little League Park for Colin's baseball game which was supposed to be at 5:45 pm. 

Just then the sky started to rumble and we gathered under the big shelter. We were told after a while though that we all should shelter in our cars which would be safer in a thunderstorm. Well, it really started to storm after a while. Sarah and we too happened to have parked under some power lines. One doesn't notice these things in good weather. We decided to relocate. But then the game was called off.

Saturday James and I went to the church for the St. Martin's Project (making sandwiches for people in different shelters). Friday's game had been rescheduled for this morning at 10 am and Sarah had offered to pick William up on the way so he could watch it. It all worked out. 

James and I went when we were done and could watch "our team" win. It was quite exciting.

Usually Sarah cuts William's and James' hair but it didn't quite work out this time. His visit is just too short. We stopped on the way home at a Great Clips place and he was happy. His Mom will be too. It's something taken care of.

In the afternoon/evening we had things to do. Wash his clothes and prepping for packing. We watched some TV but at 9 pm we (all 3) were restless and decided to go for a short walk in the neighborhood. It was very lovely, balmy with a light breeze.

Sunday of course we went to church in the morning. His plane nonstop to Nashville was scheduled for 5 pm. We had never used Allegiant before and did exactly what we were told, especially since he was a minor flying alone. This airline does not do "unaccompanied minors" but 15 years and over he can fly by himself.  I had done the check-in and printing of the boarding pass at home. They were very nice at the counter. James and I got a pass so we could go with him through security all the way to the gate. That was nice because there was still a lot of time until the flight. Security didn't take long.

And he got a very nice seat (4A) since he always likes window seats. There is his plane being pushed away from the gate.

Yes, we waited until he was in the air.

And when we were at home I could watch the progress on my phone.

For being a grandmother and my age I think I am not doing badly. Yeah, love my gadgets. Often I think how much my father would have loved all the things possible today. What would he think about that his great-grandson wants to become a pilot. After all, he had learned to fly a plane. Sad that it was because of the war. 

And now we want to say THANK YOU to the parents Helen and Ben for letting us have this time with William. I feel confident to say that he enjoyed it as much as we did. And THANK YOU to God for keeping us all safe when traveling so many miles.