Surprise visitors

Yes, actually two! The first visitor was Sophie, a lady I knew for many years but had never met. She is a marvelous accomplished quilter. For many years she was posting monthly quilt block patterns on BLOCK LOTTO. Her patterns were fun, easy to follow and I learned a lot. I even won a few times. One is hanging in my living room and I am looking at it right now. It was so much fun.

Right now she is driving criss-cross around the US and luckily she decided to stop in Virginia. She arrived shortly after lunch.

We had no trouble finding things to talk about. After a while it was time to drive to the James River Cellars and Winery. That was the place where she was staying for the night, a free "camping" place for the night, booked through Harvest Hosts. Because it is free you should purchase something. Fair enough.

In Summer they have an event "Fridays at the Pavilion" from 6 to 9 with a live band. Since we wanted to do a "tasting" (the purchase) we had to be there before 7 pm when they stop doing that. 

The flights were very nice and we all had selected differently from the large list. The board was nice because they could put the abbreviated names on it. 

It was time for Sophie to take care of Jonny, her 19 year old cat. At home we watched a little TV in the loft but when I went downstairs at one point I almost got a heart attack. The second visitor!

There was a baby snake wiggling on the floor. I was barefoot and it looked like a baby copperhead. Poisonous. The babies are supposedly worse than the adults. I didn't have my camera, so could not take a photo for identification. I did not want to take my eyes off of it because if it would disappear (like behind that chest of drawers) I would not be able to sleep.

I found a large plastic pitcher and managed to put it upside-down over the snake. Then I looked for something heavy to weigh it down. Now I definitely could not identify it any more. At this point I called to James upstairs what was happening.

As you can see in the above photo, I got a large piece of alufoil and taped one edge to the tile. Now I could pull the jug gently with the snake over the foil. Then I pushed the edges of the foil all up. 

Finally I remembered that the snake expert, who had taken care of the adult copperhead on our back patio a few years ago, had used a bucket similar to that yellow one which we had in the garage. I carefully put the jug with the foil into it.

Next morning we decided to have a look. We carefully removed the jug.

And then the foil. When I took several photos, the identification said that it was a "brown snake". Harmless. So we released it outside. And yes, I felt much better.

When Sophie came we went to Lewis Ginger Botanical Garden. There was some construction going on for a new exhibit. This looks like it is going to be a turtle in the shallow pond. There was a man in the turtle working on it.

Here is only a collection of my photos. This plant was in the orchid house. Its flower looked just like the ones on my houseplant which has totally different leaves. I was curious.

Reminders what make make a good perennial in our yard. Trying to simplify our lives.

After a while it got quite hot and it was also lunch time. We decided on JJs Restaurant close to our community because we know we can sit outside in the shade. It was lovely and we enjoyed the food.

After a cup of coffee at our house it was soon for Sophie to leave. She had to find her next place for the night. 

Today, Memorial Day, we are quite lazy. I made great progress on the monthly church newsletter and decided to spend a little time in my sewing room. A girl has to have fun sometimes. James was ready to start "his yearly job" of wrapping the Chrismons which are done.

I think I was the lucky one twice.

After some rain we also had some time on the front porch. Love looking at my container with the three different kind of fuchsias. 

The next two photos were taken on May 18 of our two hydrangeas. We were eagerly waiting for them to bloom. We had been very happy when we had seen the first sign of a flower because last year we had none. Not even one which was probably because of false pruning by the landscapers.

These were taken Saturday, after our house was power washed, something the HOA schedules. Oh no, heart brake. There must have been some chemical. I tried to wash them down as good as I could once I noticed it. Now, fingers crossed.

And this is it for now. Wishing you all a very good week.

This and That

It is strange. We were very busy since we are back but not really for blogging. I blog for myself. My history. 

We were busy with our boys "from across the river". Germs seem to be going around in their school. It almost seemed every other day that somebody could not go to school because had thrown up the night before or had suspicion of pink eye etc. We hope we could make their time with us still somewhat fun. Most of the time they are eager to do something.

We made it to a game too. The twins play baseball. They won this one. It was a nail-biter. 

The weather acted like a yoyo. But it is getting more and more summerly. On May 12 we saw our first hummingbird and she complained that there was no food. She knew exactly where it was last year (see the blue arrow I drew?). So in I went and cooked a batch. After it had cooled I hang it up and it didn't take long until she was back. No photo though.

It was a very eventful month for our sweet William in Nashville. He turned 14. His mother went with him to an archery place because they both like it. He shot a bulls-eye. Obviously a good birthday!

We like to write letters to him because he says he likes getting them. We included our photo in the birthday one.

William's month also included his confirmation on Pentecost and a few days later his graduation from middle school. Helen had sent us the link to their church's zoom streaming so we could watch it. We are so looking forward to seeing them soon.

Yes, our friend Julie had a birthday too. The three of us had lunch at a Mexican place. Yes, they sang for her.

Ah, and this was exciting. May 20 we found this in the mail box. Almost exactly a month earlier we had been in Portugal and had a visit at a tile studio (click here for the blog). It had been so much fun. If I lived there, I could see myself spending more time in the studio. You can make your own designs too for which we had not the time of course.

Ha-ha, should I ask "who painted the left and who the right one"? The left is a sail ship with 3 people sitting in it and birds flying around. 

Back home

Tuesday April 23

Time went so fast. Every day so full of exciting/nice things. Packing to go home is easy and we had time to have our breakfast in the hotel. OAT brought us and another couple (same flight) to the airport. Everything went well and our flight left Lisbon punktuell short after 10 am. Unfortunately I didn’t have a window seat (we both had aisle seats) so this is the best I saw.

Oh my, no other airline food photos except this. OMG, this was so good. Cacao Truffles! I wonder whether they are available here somewhere?

Yup, across the aisle.

We arrived punktuell too. We got our steps in ... from the plane ... through the passport area ... getting the suitcases ... finding where to drop them off ... to another terminal. But everything worked well with the flight leaving Newark. And I had a nice view of the Big City!

An hour and a bit later this greeted us at our final airport. 

And now this trip is "history" too. Or should I say "part of our memory"? What can I say? I think I said it in every blog how much we enjoyed it. Small ships, small groups is the way for us to go. OAT has a unique way for us to be "travelers" and not "tourists". And the trip leaders make you feel like family. Ours, Joana, was so sweet, funny and incredible knowledgeable about what she was visiting, history and all.

And now we try to settle down again. Unpacking the suitcases. Doing the washing. Luckily James does the folding (even mine) and putting away of the clothing. All the other things on the diningroom table took a little longer to find their places again. Yes, stocking up the fridge etc etc.

April 25 - James was washing off the yellow pollen of some patio covers and guess who he found.

Not the first time that Freddie liked to hide in one of the covers. Few days later he was back in the cushion box.

You get the window washers when you can. They are firemen, they have to coordinate their time off, and when they call with a timing suggestion you say yes. They do a good job, including that foyer lamp.

Still "living" our last travel experience. A girl has to have her fun. Do you remember THIS BLOG in Barcelona when one of our tapas was a 'cheese flower'? 

You need a tool called 'Girolle' to do it. It took only two days to get it from amazon. To get the cheese 'Tête de Moine' (a goat cheese, actually Swiss) is more difficult. It is quite expensive. I googled for a substitute suggestion. We went to our upscale supermarket Wegman's and came home with half a p'tit basque which works very well and the taste is how I remember it. 

I playd a bit with the presentation. 

And of course I have to report on our garden. These photos speak for themselves.

We can continue with short sleeves and sandals, at least most of the time. James' condition has greatly improved on the trip. I keep saying that it was the best PT he could have had. We are so happy about it.

The above photo was taken May 1. Still trying to catch up with everything.