Slowly getting back to normal

The pandemic is not over yet but so many in our circles are fully vaccinated (including us) that life slowly feels a bit more normal.

Before we went on our little trip our friend July invited us for dinner. She also invited another couple she wanted us to meet for quite a while but it never worked out that we all where free. Patti and Don are very nice and it was a fun evening. Julie is a great hostess as you can see in the photos.

Since the beginning of May we can more and more enjoy our own outdoors too ... until it will get too hot.

When we sit under the awning we quite often see chipmunks and skinks. The chipmunks are too quick for me to photograph (as are the hummingbirds). But I was lucky to take the following photos. Fun. I googled on them and it says that they are friendly and don't mind being handled but they seem to be shy to me. Can't get very close. Ha-ha, google even had a video how to catch them. I think it is just nice to watch them.

The rhubarb made another flower. Sigh. Probably didn't cut it off early enough. But we had a second spoonful of dessert by now (each!).

Oh yes, with hot weather comes watering. Not a problem since "boys" like to play with water.

Our two rhododendrons were the best ever this year.

And the sweet william too.

And the our new addition, the fuchsia, is not disappointing.

I am trying hard not to neglect the few indoor plants I have right now. The porcelain flower must have been jealous about all the praise the outdoor flowers got.

Yes, busy, busy. Had to try something like pasties. Not bad but I wished I could just buy them in Cornwall.

Yeah, when you bake and eat you also have to exercise. At the moment I am not doing too badly. But somehow my pandemic pounds don't seem to want to come down.

I mentioned trying to get back to normal. I organized my quilt group (West End Quilters) to have a parking lot meeting in April. Our church Saint Martin's is now 'hosting' us.

And in May we actually could meet inside. You should have heard all the happy comments the ladies made. 

And I was asked to give a program about the lone star I had made. Sorry, the big one is laying flat on the table behind. I do write about lace and quilting on my other blog though. See tab above.

The next day I had been invited to a luncheon in our neighborhood. Patti was hosting a birthday luncheon for Emily and Julie. We were 5 and laughed pretty much the whole time.

As dessert we had this assortment. Oh my. Such goodies. 

I had kept thinking about gifts for the birthday ladies and the hostess but had a tough time coming up with a good idea. But luckily the previous day had been the WE Quilt meeting. One lady always brings free ranch eggs. Ducks, chicken and other fowl, unwashed sometimes with the occasional feather in the box.

I thought for ladies who really don't want gifts which need to be stored til eternity to share them would be a good idea. And yes, they loved them and talked about them at length what they might do with them ... including blowing them out and painting them.

And Patti brought this to the table. A glass dome displaying a huge empty painted egg, and a nest with little ones. 

Wow, it seems I have caught up with blogging now. Hope I didn't bore you. 

Blogger and Microsoft seem to make a lot of changes. I have to change my three blogs because I was notified that Feedburner will not automatically email the new blog to those who had signed up to receive it. I am not always good at making changes but I have to look into it. Uugh.

Something exciting happened today

Yes, have you ever seen in nature a turtle laying eggs? I love nature. I love animals. Can't help thinking ... this was a one of a kind experience.

We woke up this morning thinking "wow, nothing pressing on the calendar". We have been so busy lately. One reason: the position of secretary in our church is open. That keeps me busy, mainly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. After our first and second cup of tea we decided to go to the botanical garden. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (LGBG) is not far and we have a membership which means you don't feel like you have to spend the whole day to make your visit worthwhile. There is always something different blooming. We saw the daffodils. We saw the tulips. I thought it must be the peonies turn now.

They open at 9 am and that was when we were there about.

Always have to peak at the orchids. They are kind of at the end of their season now but this plant was something we had not seen before. A gardener told us that the "Showy Melastome" (Medinilla magnifier from the Philippines) is a very slow grower and quite difficult. So, that was nice to see.

Peonies scattered around.

We admired the yellow peonies because I had never seen one in yellow. There was just a little tour group stopping at the same time and the guide told her group that it is a tree peony and yellow is rare. She pointed out the wooden part which doesn't disappear like with others which totally die down every winter. 

Yes, and right next to it next to the footpath was a turtle, obvious a pond one. What would it do quite far (for its little legs) from the pond? 

It had dug a hole and was laying eggs! Can't help it. I was excited to witness it. How often do you have that chance?

Of course I had to take some videos:

2021-05-20 LGBG turtle laying eggs 1     (0:48)      from the front

2021-05-20 LGBG turtle laying eggs - 2     (1:00)     you can see it more clearly from the back.

2021-05-20 LGBG turtle laying eggs - 3     (0:52)     she is finished and closing the nest.

We gave the turtle her peace and walked on. I am not font of white flowers but these with the yellow center are pretty like sunny-side-up fried eggs.

I find the section with the pitcher plants always very interesting. Unusual looking. Standing water. Not in our gardens.

On our way back past the turtle. Just before this photo I took video # 3 and she was finished. I was surprised that she actually moved pretty fast.

Now, here is my question: when the little ones hatch, how do they know in which direction the pond is? And which pond since there are several? Another question: how many eggs might there be? Googled! Pond turtles might lay up to 9 or 13. Snapping turtles 20-40 but I don't think that is what it was.

Viewing the last peony close to the exit and time to leave.

We felt so lucky. 

Trip planned by Sarah - part 3

 Sorry part 3 took a little time. Every day work is back. But here it is: The Turkey Hill Experience! A tour of the ice cream factory.

We were just a few minutes early and the boys of course had to investigate the huge cow.

Yup, boys! Or should I say children?

Sarah had booked the tickets in advance for 11:30 am. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It is pretty self-guided and almost a mixture between science museum and play center ... except for the "lab" where we were supposed to be at 12:45. There was a lot to see and do.

Mommy needed a turn too.

The first sample of ready made ice cream. 

Obviously Owen liked it.

Really very difficult to explain what all we did. 

And this is the "lab". Mixology! 

We each got a large cup with plain (unflavored?) ice cream. Somebody with a mic told us step by step what to do.

First a certain amount of drops from a little bottle (front row). Or may be from two little bottles. Taste and adjust?

Then a squirted squirt from one big bottle in the second row.

Then we took turns going to the dispensers on the walls for toppings/sprinkles etc. And then you enjoy your creation!

We were done about 1:30 pm. And this is when we parted from the young family. There was a gas station directly on the parking lot which was very handy since our trip happened to be at the time of the incident of the pipeline blackmail disaster which resulted in gas hoarding by too many people causing empty gas stations. Well, we had no worries after this.

James and I had not planned anything after this but thought we would just follow our noses. We just asked the GPS for the route to Cape Charles VA. The drive was very interesting. In the beginning around Lancaster Va it was very rural. We were sent turn left, turn right, on those narrow country roads. We enjoyed the houses and the landscape. Everything was so pristine and well taken care off.

A few times around bigger cities and construction we had stop and go traffic but it was never so bad that it bothered us.

In Dover Delaware we thought that we should look for an Information place to figure out where we might want to go. We followed the sign but never found it. We parked (at the closed library) to stretch our legs and since it was passed 5 pm and we had had no lunch, dinner came to mind. After all that ice cream we had not been hungry at all. Now it seemed time.

Across the street we saw an office building which also had a hug sign advertising lunch and dinner. It looked good. We repositioned our car to that building but could not find an entry to a restaurant. Finally James saw somebody to ask and were pointed to the door. Frazier's had not looked at all like a restaurant from the outside but actually was a very nice one. We sat outside in the back with view of a little lake, part of the Saint Jones River. Very nice. 

The first thing was a really nice salad and was just the right thing ... after that ice cream (as good as it was). And the cream of crab soup was very good.

We then shared crab cakes and coconut shrimps. Oh yes ...

After those refreshments we were on our way again and around 8 pm we sat outside our room on our little porch with a G+T enjoying the view. We got the last room in that hotel in Dewey Beach and had walked around the block for those mentioned libations. 

Sitting there I wanted to take a selfie but of course I bungled it first (like I usually do, sigh). 

Yes, a surprised face.

Got it, ha-ha.

A little walk to the end of that pier in the previous photos. 

We really had wanted to go to Cape Charles but there was no room in the inn. We stopped there anywhere to get an impression. Quite an interesting little town. We walked around a while hoping to find a nice place for a late lunch but everything was full. Lots of people around. We had asked somebody who recommended The Oyster Farm Seafood Eatery in the Marina. We splurged and did not regret it. It helped that the weather was gorgeous. How can you not like the peace and quiet and view? And the food was nice too.

We shared Thai Fried Shrimp with bell peppers, scallions, cilantro and cabbage, tossed in a sweet Thai chili sauce. Very nice.

Then we shared a Fried Oyster Basket with coleslaw and curly fries AND on a wood plank cedar smoked scallops with parmesan risotto and green beans. 

Ah, it was all so good. From the beginning of part 1 to the end of part 3. We had never decided how long we would be gone exactly but since it was somewhat difficult to find accommodations we thought it best to plan another trip a little more in advance soon and happily returned home earlier then we really needed to. So many good experiences. Lots to savour for a while. Thank you, Lord!