Five Faves and a Bonus

All of a sudden, I realized, "It's time for Friday Fave Fives"!  What happened to the week?  Because it has been a bit unusually warm here, I haven't been paying as much attention to what day it is.  Mostly I've been staying inside enjoying the AC.  However, the week has had many blessings besides the air conditioning.

1.  Lunch with The Professor's sister.  We live in the same town, and sometimes it's just fun to hang out together.  The three of us ate our favorite burrito place after church services on Sunday.  I'm truly blessed to have a fun and witty sister-in-law.

2.  During the summer our church does 'Wednesday Night Dinners'.  We assemble and enjoy a meal together.  Everyone is welcome and there always lots of visitors.  This week, it was Taco Wednesday-the food was fantastic.  And then the evening was topped off by a concert by a local Blue Grass Band Brush Arbor.  It was great!

3.  I was sitting near a mom and her little daughter.  The four year old was mesmerized by my knitting needles.  So I offered to knit her a hat.  She was so cute.  "Any color hat is fine," she said as she smiled shyly.  Finally, she decided that light blue would be fine.  So now I have some light blue yarn and I'll be casting on for a sweet girl's new hat.

4.  I've been trying stay motivated and busy even in the heat.  So I have declared the rest of the summer as 'Focus on One Area' Time as I declutter and clean around the house.  Right now I'm focusing my attention on PAPERS.  I discovered a couple of file folders that could be passed on to the people who will be taking over my classes.  Also, I cleaned up a bunch of random papers on my desk.

5.  The sweetest part of going through the papers was rereading a bunch of cards and notes from my students.  I know I don't 'need' to keep them, but reading them gives me great joy, so I keep them.  If you had been  a little bird in the window, you would have heard me saying, "Awwww."  And "Ohhhh, sweet."  And "Sniff, sniff."  I think I'll keep them forever.

A little bonus--my milkweed plants have been thriving, which is a good thing since this week the monarch caterpillars are back in force--I counted nineteen of them on my four plants.  Fortunately there are adequate leaves for those ravenous things to consume and they have been doing just that.  The milkweed doesn't LOOK like it's thriving, but I know that as soon as the caterpillars depart and make their cocoons, the plants will put out more new leaves.  I spotted one butterfly hatched out already.  I love hosting the monarchs in my garden!

Summer Adventures

Wow.  It has been quite a couple of weeks.  Not much down time for blogging, but lots of time for family!  Here is a catch up Friday Fave Fives.

The mid Atlantic East Coast is a lovely place.  But the time spent with family was the best.  Within two weeks, we spent days with all of our grandchildren.  That never happens!

Hiking in the woods.  While the children played in the water, The Professor and I escaped for a hike in the woods.  What I love about Not-Southern-California nature hikes is the shade provided by the tree canopy.

Annapolis, Maryland.  The Professor had never been to Annapolis, so we took an excursion there one day.  The children were mesmerized by the harbor filled with boats and jellyfish.

The adults enjoyed the history and architecture.  Annapolis was at one time the capital of the United States and is still Maryland's state capital.

Train museum.  It was our wedding anniversary and we were asked what we wanted to do.  Why, visit a train museum, of course!  Hurry!  We have a train to 'catch'!

Train heaven!

Getty Villa.  After returning to the West Coast, we quickly prepared for a visit from our PAL.  On her list of places to see was the Getty Villa since her Auntie Mimi had never been there.

Seashore.  Little desert girls need a seashore visit, too.

Willow's Two Weeks Away were filled with adventures and children!

An East Coast Sojourn

I am writing from my daughter's living room.  Last week, we were visiting Daughter #1 (Older Daughter) and this week we journeyed even farther east to Daughter #2's home (Younger Daughter).  This is a yearly (or more frequent) event, this visiting east coast family.  These are my Friday Fave Fives for this week.

1.  Of course, I always have to state that my first fave in traveling is arriving safely.

2.  Time with our grandchildren.  We picked raspberries and fed horses at the farm of a friend's friend.

3.  Theater in the Park.  We watched The Countess of Monte Cristo.

4.  Hiking in the woods

5.  I love visiting places where there is lots of green!

(Next post--photos of other grandchildren!)