Happy Monday! Welcome to a new week….and how was your weekend? Ours started off great and then went rather downhill. Weather-wise:) What a gorgeous day we had on Friday. It was so nice, we decided to go for a small hike/long walk at one of local battlefields. I was looking for some signs of fall – particularly some pretty colored trees. There was not much color yet. I did manage to find one patch of yellow leaves. Rather hidden among the trees. Everything else was still rather green. There were some pretty views though. I will include some of my photos from the day throughout the post, although they may not correspond exactly with the text at the time.
After our very pretty day on Friday, the weather went rather south and Saturday was not only chilly but also wet. It rained all night beforehand and then dripped all day. Not exactly perfect weather for a yard sale. I should not have been surprised. Nothing good has ever come from a yard sale, at least not one in my front yard. In a last ditch effort to redeem all the effort that went into preparing the sale, we tried putting our “stuff” on the front porch. But who did we really think was going to be out looking for used treasures on a very damp and cold morning?
Ah, notice the plane flying over – that white speck in the overwise clear blue sky! We do not live far from the airport….just fyi. And, yes, the yard sale was a complete bust. Lesson firmly learned. Everything was taken from the porch straight to the car and will be dropped off today. Either for donations or to a nearby consignment store. Good-bye treasures……
One more pop of pretty color. A pretty random wildflower – perhaps a weed – growing among all the brambles and overgrown brush. Grow where you are planted, right? Those wildflowers brought back a memory. When our children were little, we often would take a long walk through our neighborhood after dinner – before bath and bedtime. We would put the youngest in an umbrella stroller. The two older ones would run along the paths and Hubby and I would just soak in the joy of it all. And smile knowing how tried (and ready for bed) they all three would be when we got home!
On one such walk, the wildflowers just seemed to be everywhere. Official wildflower season, I suppose. The kids were delighted and picking pretty-colored flowers along the way and bringing them to their brother in the stroller. He was about 21 months at the time. (That would make the other two about 4 and 5 1/2.) Everyone was so delighted with those flowers. They were also, as expected, nicely tired when we got home and quickly went to bed. The next morning, Tyler (the baby) was covered, literally head to toe, in red welts and rash. He almost looked like he had measles. He was so miserable, an off-hours pediatrician visit was necessary. He was covered in hives – a reaction to some type of plant. Um, wildflowers maybe?? Sigh.
Funny story now…but, he was quite pitiful. That is not a farm (above) but is one of our country’s Civil War battlefields. Apparently they bale the grass there. I have no idea who gets those bales or where it all goes but, they were everywhere. Hundreds of them. And for about two hours, I felt as if I actually lived somewhere bucolic, pastoral or even pretty. A girl can dream!
My weekend was also supposed to include some southern gospel music. Some friends and I had an evening planned for dinner and then a local concert. One of our friends is moving in a two weeks and we were looking forward to one last memory. It was a memory alright. The website I use in order to learn about and follow different concerts…..well, it failed me. I received multiple emails telling me Friday night’s concert was at 7:30 when, in fact, it started at 7:00. We arrived late (duh!) and one thing after another, we ended up leaving without hearing one song. Or even one note of a song. So incredibly disappointing. I don’t think my friends will have me making the plans any time soon. At least not the important ones.
Here’s to plans going a bit more smoothly in the week ahead. My week includes a luncheon after tomorrow’s Bible study session (a pasta potluck in honor of National Pasta Day!), a monthly breakfast midweek, and scripture assembly on Thursday and Friday (morning and evening!). I also received a pumpkin bread recipe from my blog friend, BillieJo. I asked for suggestions last week, and she responded. Isn’t blogging great? I’m so making that this week! And then I should be ready for nap. Much like our sweet Juju was after walking the battlefield with us on Friday. She was loving her life while we hiked…and then she crashed:) Have a great week, friends. I hope you will come back on Thursday.
Your yard sale…UGH. I detest them too, even though I grew up having them. We’ve had like one in our 27 years of married life. I hate to hear that yours was such a bust! And how sad about your concert…that’s such a shame, I know you’d have loved that. I love the pictures of your walk and hearing the story about Tyler. I thought you were going to say he had poison ivy- it’s on my mind since two of our sons have it and are on medication for it at the moment. We’re all horribly allergic to it! I hope your week gets started off better than how the weekend went!
What a shame about the yard sale. We´ve had one. It was OK-sh. I made some money and got rid of some things but it was not the best experience for the time vs. what we got out of it. Now your walk on Friday sounds nice and the pictures depict a very pretty area. When you said you were heading to a local battlefield, I assumed you meant a historic one and not a current one… When you don´t live in a historically significant place, it´s easy to forget that such places exist. Your week ahead sounds nice- I hope that it is a great one!
Sorry to hear about your yard sale. We had our 6th rainy weekend in a row and while it’s not currently raining the sun is not in the mood to come out at all.
Beautiful photos!
Your premonition about the unsuccessful yard sale was accurate and I suspect may the last time your husband mentions that you do one!
That story about the wild flower reaction! Oh my goodness, I wonder which flower was the culprit? You must have been so shocked when you saw that the next morning!
I am sure that those leaves will soon be turning all the autumnal colours – be sure to share some photos when they do.
Hello! Oh, I cannot wait for you to try the pumpkin bread! It is one of those things our family loves and associates with home. I remember seeing the recipe in one of those little books by the checkout years ago, and I almost tossed the whole thing because none of the recipes appealed to me. Steve saw the pumpkin bread recipe and commented that it sounded good. I couldn’t imagine chocolate and. pumpkin, but I tried it. And the rest is history! I hope you enjoy it! Sorry about the yard sale. Have a cozy evening, my dear friend!
You concert plans sound a lot like how our Sunday afternoon plans went– we were all meeting up for a Scare Fest my sister found in the paper but we never actually found the Scare fest! We ended up stumbling upon a small little market and then walking along the riverfront instead. Very nice but not at all what I think my sister and her family had been planning on seeing.
Hi Jennifer~ It sounds like a perfectly delightful week-end! I would love to someday see the battlefields! Funny story about the hives… poor little guy! I have gotten many wonderful recipes from Billie Jo’s blog… I have loved them all. Your pictures are so beautiful! Thanks for sharing. Hugs, Barb