Gone Mudding...Yet Again!!!

It would seem we are 

not strangers to the phenomenon 

called mud.
It actually seems to attract us...

not sure why.

But we have found Virginia mud to work just

like Pennsylvania mud.

It is dirty and slippery.

Let me begin at the beginning.

You see, 

several months ago I discovered a music

festival of the kind that Chelsea adores happening

near Ashburn, Virginia.

It seemed like a wonderful opportunity for time

away and to allow our sweet girl to enjoy

one of her favorite activities.

This time big brother, Jonathan, would 

be her companion at the actual festival.

Warren and I have outgrown such foolishness.

LOL

I think it was the MUD festival

called Creation 1989 that cured us.

Our day yesterday got of to a bit of a 

halting start when I ...ahem...

swallowed my crown.

You know, the kind the dentist puts 

on your tooth?

It was a temporary crown that would

have been replaced sometime in the next year

or so anyway....but heading out for 

a weekend minus this tooth covering

really wasn't on the agenda.

Thankfully it really doesn't hurt and as long

as I remember not to chew on it I should

be ok until I can see the dentist next week.

So....then we headed out.

Fighting our GPS and torrential rain all the way to 

Virginia......

You can see the rain just beyond the Bobblehead Jonathan attached to the dash board for this trip.  Don't even ask...I don't know.

There was more frustration as we would 

search for Starbucks noted on signs on the highway

only to find them invisible when we got off the exit.

Grrr....someone needed their coffee.

She has a very nasty cold and yesterday was 

the worst day. 

She was miserable.

Finally, after several attempts we arrived

at a Starbucks.

All became right with the world.

There is something wrong about that

but that is a whole 'nother post!

LOL

We found our hotel....

HILTON's HOMEWOOD SUITES.

Remember that.

This is where you want to take your

family when you travel.

Can you say

Kitchen, Living Room, Bedroom

and Bath.....

for around $100???

They also have guest laundry facilities,

business center, workout room and 

a very, very nice breakfast which is 

included in the price of your room.

This morning I enjoyed a waffle, potatoes,

bacon and juice.

Chelsea had oatmeal with raisins and 

gorgeous looking walnuts.

Also available were eggs, fruit, pastries,

yogurt, granola, cereal and more.

O.k. that was the commercial portion of 

this post.  But really, this is the third time we have 

stayed in one of these hotels and we are sold!!

The only downside to this one is that it is 

most directly on the flight path to Dulles International Airport.

The planes nearly kiss the roof every time they go over.

But....even so we slept perfectly fine.

So....back to the story at hand, 

which by the way, I am telling as much for our 

memories as for your benefit.

We headed out to take the kids to the festival

and thought we would never find our way back

due to the most roundabout way the GPS took us.

But as we got within the last ten miles 

of that journey things became magical.

How to do this justice?

I don't know.....

Imagine that time of the day where the light

gently touches everything leaving it with 

a soft glow.

Now imagine long acres of fencing with groves of 

trees gracing gentle hills dotted with black 

angus cattle.

The greens could not have been more intense

and as the road wound through this countryside

tears came to my eyes from the sheer beauty of it.

Alas, I have found another spot on this planet that 

is at least as beautiful as some of my favorite places 

in Lancaster County.

So green that Jonathan announced this was a place

he could happily live....

that is saying something. 

He, being very committed to the beauty of Potter County.

We MIGHT go back that way today to 

get some photos.....

it is under consideration.

But, I digress.

You see, as we were preparing to leave the hotel

we put the address for the Concert site into the 

GPS.  It gave us a message we have never seen before.

"Cannot get to this location with the preferences 

you have set."

We quickly looked to see what unusual settings we

had that would make a location unreachable.

Ah...we had asked it not to take us on any dirt roads.

Apparently we were about to travel on at least one 

dirt road because after changing this preference 

the GPS was happy.

We found the dirt road.

Well, we found a road that had been dirt and 

was now completely turned to mud.

Then we found a long line of traffic waiting on this

road of mud.

A narrow road of mud with an occasional 

car headed in the other direction causing the 

entire row of waiting cars to move to the 

perilous piles of mud at the road side.

Thankfully no one got stuck as we 

moved slowly, stopping often, 

toward the event site.

It became clear that the parking and the 

concert stage were far, far apart.

I begged Warren to ask if we could 

go closer to drop the kids off because I 

had to show my ID to pick up the tickets we had 

purchased.  At a tent, near the stage.

Thankfully, they let us drive down the sodden road

and up the hill to a spot closer to the tent.

(About a quarter of a mile)

Along this way families

and youth groups were sloshing through mud

and puddles and walking in front of us,

beside us and behind us.

Not an ideal situation.

Finally, we arrived at the "top" of the hill

behind two stuck vehicles and a big bus.

Warren said there was no way he would pull into the 

field where cars were being parked with promises

to pull them out later.

Jonathan, Chelsea and I got out and waded though

ankle deep mud to the tent.

I'm thinking that this is ridiculous because we were 

planning to come back for them at 11pm.

Things were only going to get worse.

But, this was what we had come to do

and we were going to make the best of it.

After saying goodbye and making arrangements

for a general meeting place at 11pm we left.

My heart pounding.

Did I mention they had not eaten dinner?

I assumed, incorrectly, that we would pass something

on the way....nope!

But surely they would find something there.....

I crawled gingerly back in the van trying to keep my mud encased

feet from touching anything of import.

Warren was so calm and sweet when he 

said that it was just mud and we could clean 

it up....obviously he was beyond himself.

He would normally avoid this at all costs...

but what could he do, really?

So, obviously, we couldn't walk into a restaurant

like this...I mean they would likely just toss us out.

So...back to the hotel to wash my one and only 

pair of shoes in the sink.  We were only going to be 

gone a short time....why would I need more than

one pair of shoes?

Sigh....

Finally sometime after 8pm we headed out to find 

dinner.  Bertucci's fit the bill.  

It was close.

The food is good.

And ....did I mention it was close?

We took our time with the salad and bread

and were leisurely eating our main course

when the cell phone rang.

The kids had had enough.

They were about to begin the trek down to 

our meeting place.

We told them we would see them in about an 

hour.  One would have thought we could

make it in that time.

However, the fog had rolled in and formed

a blanket around all of that beautiful scenery.

The going was slow.

And then there were flashing lights ahead.

This didn't look good.

It wasn't.

Some of the young people from the festival

had crashed their SUV.

We found out later they were fine

but we sat on the road for about 20 minutes

while the accident was cleaned up.

I was somewhat concerned about Jonathan 

and Chelsea now waiting way past the time

we had agreed to meet but as there was 

nothing we could do I tried to put 

my mind at rest.  

Finally, we followed the tow truck and 

its occupants up to the festival site where the

four young men piled out, obviously shaken.

I asked them if they were ok and they responded 

to the affirmative.  Such a blessing!

Jonathan and Chelsea had not been bored

while waiting for us.

Apparently due to their location they had 

been serving by answering questions, directing campers

and Jonathan had helped to push at least one 

car out of the mud.

A little bit of the mud....the rest is still in the car.

You don't want to see his shoes. We are going shoe shopping.  He needs them for work tomorrow night.

They both chattered away about the day

but had not gotten anything to eat and were

starving by now...after 11:00 PM.

Having thought ahead we had asked our 

server about local McDonald's.

We already had one scoped out and in the 

GPS by the time we picked up the kids,

slipped and slid our way down the road, 

then squinted through the fog and 

made our way back to civilization.

It was so good to get back to the hotel

and return to our beautiful room and soft

comfy beds.

That, my friends was day one of our

adventure.  Day two began with 

Chelsea speaking softly in the dark....

"I don't think we need to go back today.

I'm just not up to all that mud."

OKAY!

That works for me.

Don't know what we are going to do today.

But we'll have fun together.

We might end up in DC or Baltimore

or perhaps just go to a mall and shop...

I'll let you know...

Later!

Bandit Wants to know....

  When we can play Dirty Marbles again....

She watched our every move.

Even anticipating who was going to play next.

She was so funny.

You Crack Me Up....and Lift My Blogging Spirits

So you've noticed that I've been blogging

less frequently and you've tracked

me down on Facebook to tell me about it....

I love you for that!

I'll try to do better.

I mean after four years of daily 

blogging I'm really slacking.

Totally dropping the ball here.

LOL

Let's see if we can catch up.

Chelsea began her new job on Tuesday.

I think she will do well there.

Everyone is super welcoming and kind.

Unfortunately she woke up with a cold

that morning and wished that it could have 

been different....

but she made it through like the trooper she is.

Yesterday she dragged her tired self

to the Ladies Bible Study to teach the 

precious children.

I'm so glad she is doing that.

Last week I was able to 

capture the stray black kitten 

that had been terrorizing the 

neighborhood for a few weeks.

I had been oblivious until the "non cat lady"

in the 'hood asked the "cat loving lady"

in the 'hood if she could get in trouble

for shooting this kitten.

Wrong person to ask this question...

or perhaps a cunning move on her part.

I'm thinking it was a carefully thought out strategy.

This set off a chain of events that involved

children chasing the kitten with a fishing

net every morning and night.

For some reason this did not make the

kitten more friendly.

But finally it became more hungry than 

scared and since I did not have a fishing

net raised over my right shoulder it came

into the garage and proceeded to eat

food put down for our cats.

It was quite simple to begin petting it and finally 

pick it up.  Cute little black kitten.

So I proceeded to do what I so often do.

Got Georgia involved.

She's so convenient and is an animal lover.

I took the sweet mewing kitten to her back porch

so we could get acquainted.

Three very curious dogs made it a bit 

hard to accomplish here.

Now, the end result was that the boys with the 

fishing nets have a sweet new kitty to love

but they don't have to 

run wildly after it every time they want to play.

We are all quite happy with this 

turn of events.

On Monday evening we were at Creekside 

Cottage when some very scary events unfolded

involving their girls and their horses.

I'll let you read Lindsay's take on it.

I was praying...praying....praying.

I've been hearing from friends left and right.

It is going to be a busy couple of weeks

while I get to visit and chat with some I've not 

talked to in quite a while.

That is crazy good.

Mister moved out last night.

No, not my mister...

THE DOG, Mister.

We found him a home with a young

married couple who know and love dogs.

They visited a couple of hours on Sunday 

night to meet him and then called Tuesday

to say that he was welcome at their home.

I think he is going to be very, very happy there.

I am very relieved to have him in such a 

wonderful place.

And as friends of the family I'll still get 

to keep up with him.

I have a stack of library books that I wish 

to read but I can see that I'll have to renew 

them if that is to happen.

One of them is the book 

Safely Home

by Randy Alcorn.

We read it a couple of years ago

for our book club and I loved it.

It is time to reread it.

If you have not read it yet...

I highly recommend it.

Highly!

I've been frustrated,

like everyone else,

by the economy

and the stumbling attempts to 

fix it.  Man, can they make any more

bad decisions?

I'm not sure there are many left to make.

Some days I wish I didn't understand it so 

well so I could just stick my head in the sand

and put my trust in the powers that be.

But no.

That isn't going to work.

So, you see, all of these things rattling

around my brain and they all seem so 

ridiculously normal and unblogworthy....

but if it keeps us in touch

I'm willing to share.

I'll try to get out and get some photos

of the outside world.  It has been a changing

place...Chicks growing up...

Mulch being spread....

Still haven't gotten the deck furniture

painted.  So much to do.

But I'll see what I can do.

So...know that you are loved

and more than appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to give

me a little kick in the backside.

It is nice to be missed.

Better Than Expected

A bit more than a week ago I celebrated

a birthday.  My husband decided that my gift

should be a large non-stick skillet similar to the one

we recently retired due to flaking Teflon.

I used this size pan several times a week and 

was at a loss for what to do without it....

although I think some here were just as 

happy the "one pan meals" quit happening.

Flash back to the Farm Show in January of this year.

Chelsea and I sat and watched a cooking demonstration

with "Waterless Cookware".

The demonstrator did an excellent job of showing

the product and had both Chelsea and I wanting 

the whole set....

until we saw the price.

Then we said....

"Well, someday I want that!"

I was so impressed that I came home and 

studied it farther.  Unusual for me...

I'm usually on to the next thing.

So, when we were looking for a new large

non-stick skillet I mentioned to Warren that 

I would be interested in comparing prices and 

sizes with this set.

Come to find out the prices were very competitive

with an anodized skillet but improved even more

if we bought the entire cookware set.

Note:  This was not through the company we saw

demonstrating at the Farm Show....sadly.

But, through an online distributor who is allowing

us to preview it before buying it.

The entire set of 7 ply Surgical Grade

stainless steel

cookware is $400.00.

I know that is a LOT of money.

Especially for us.

But, the skillets that we were even willing to 

consider were approaching $100 and weren't even

of the size and quality we were hoping for.

Some cash birthday gifts 

and money from candle sales have been

added to our "budgeted" amount 

and yippee....

we can do it!

This cookware saves money by cooking

very efficiently, offers more nutrition in the way that

it cooks and is so much fun in that I can cook on 

multiple levels at one time when I stack it!

There is no Teflon to flake and eat!

Chelsea's stir fry came out delicious and 

was a breeze to clean up.

As long as I remember to never

turn it up past medium

to medium high

we'll do great!

I'm sold!

Completely.

And then there is this bonus....

Warren thought those egg poaching 

cups were useless....

But I showed him!

Tealight testers....

they are perfect!!

LOL

So Thankful!

Last week was tough!

It was the week that our homeschool

co-op started back up...
without us! (Gasp!)

It was a week of self pity

for friendships "lost" and a change

in our daily routine around here.

I love teaching.

I miss teaching my children and others.

However, I am moving into a new stage

in life and unfortunately I am not always

headed there gracefully.

Add hot flashes and cyst pain to the mix

and it would be no wonder if all my friends 

ran for the hills.

However, that is not what happened.

One friend "Facebooked" that we should 

go out for dinner next week...YES!
Our friend, Melissa, joined us for
coffee night at Starbucks....

Another blessed me through a facebook

chat....One who lives in a faraway state is 

coming into town and has asked if we can get together.

Two at church asked yesterday about us getting 

together....
God blessed me with an afternoon
and part of an evening with my friend,
Kelly, whom I have dearly missed
as our time together has been scarce.

Ummmm....and I was mourning friends?

What a dolt I am!!

Well, certainly there are some that I just won't

have opportunity to see weekly as I was 

used to....but I am certainly not without friends.

God has blessed me, richly, with a boatload 

of dear women in my life.

I count you among them, 

unless of course you happen to be 

my Uncle Chuck or husband, Warren....

perhaps my son, Jonathan.  

Those are the men I know read here.....

I wouldn't call you women.

LOL

I would count you among my friends

though, Uncle, Son and Hubby.

It is tempting to see these times of change

as the enemy....

but I hope to find this time as one of 

stretching and learning new things.

Cultivating deeper friendships.

Are We Ready?

 Bear was ready to head home from the mountains.

He enjoys being there....

but he is a homebody.  

The morning we packed up

he was making sure he didn't get left behind.

Let that be a lesson for us....

Are we ready?

We certainly enjoy many things about our lives

here on this earth.

But we can be sure that that God's 

eternal plan

for His saints is way better.

One of these days....

we'll be leaving!

And we won't be driving.

Fall is In the Air....And Pumpkins Line the Driveway

 My former scarecrow guy, 

affectionately known as 

"the Country Bumpkin"

was ahem....shredded by our dogs

a couple of years ago.

Last night while walking through the 

local pharmacy I saw him.

In all of his Country cuteness.

And he was half price.

He had to come home with me!

 This afternoon I had a bunch of errands to run.

This was on the list.....

 When we heard the temps were going to get 

more comfortable for work out of doors

we decided to get the gardens cleaned up and 

decorated for Fall.

 So, I went to my favorite Pumpkin wagon

just outside of Strasburg and got my one dollar

pumpkins....and then to Agway and got some 

mulch.  Jonathan, Chelsea and I will do 

some yard work tomorrow and focus 

on some particular spaces in the yard that

are just plain ugly right now.

 We'll spread these pumpkins far and wide

until Thanksgiving Day when they will

meet their end with much fun and ceremony.

 It is a tradition now.

A very fun tradition.

 The Country Bumpkin wants to know....

"Got Pumpkins?"