Back Track To Wednesday

I am a little behind on my blogging.  Wednesday was Sadie and Allie day.  Once again, we went to the free movie in town, Paddington Bear Goes To Peru.  I would not recommend it for an adult.  Sadie and Allie said they liked it but I think it was more the atmosphere of the movie theater.  I bought the drink and popcorn for them again and was again unable to control the speed at which Allie drank hers.  Two more trips to the bathroom.   After the movie I told them I was going to a boring store.  Virginia had taken them to the Big Bin Dealz Store before and they were not impressed.  They kept saying, couldn't we go to Walmart?  No, I want to go to the $1 day at the boring store.  

Well, it wasn't so boring after all.  I found this costume for Sadie.  

And I didn't get a picture, but a similar dinosaur outfit for Allie minus the head and feet.  She wore it all around the store and had a great time with it back here.  She even wore it home.  

And Sadie picked out two giant spiders.  I don't know what Virginia will be doing with those.  

Back at the house, we baked cookies.  It had been awhile since we used the Easy Bake Oven.  They were very good at taking turns on mixing and adding ingredients.  

They spent the rest of the hot afternoon playing in the water.  They started before I could even finish blowing up the pool.  Another fun day at Camp Mimi.  

 

Roofing Crew

We have an old shed with an old roof.  Some of the tin was blowing up so Joe had thrown an old tire and a fence post up there to try to hold it down.  Yesterday he asked if I could help him fix it. 

There really wasn't much to work with.  He had brought a piece of tin from some other old shed to repair it with.  The repair piece was only slightly better than the needing repair piece.  

Then it turned out the rafter on the end wasn't solid.  It broke while Joe was hammering in nails in the tin.  I guess the outcome was better than what we started with.  But I don't think you would want to hire us as your roofing crew.  
 

Happy Semiquincentennial

 

Everything But The Cat

Today I photographed all the animals except for Kit Kat.  

When I walked to the barn to feed Draper, her and Golden Boy (not his real name yet) were in a perfect spot for a picture.  

We had to get some cattle up and on the way I took this photo.  I thought it looked a little like the Pacific northwest.  

The cattle when they are in this field, always pick the steepest part to go over when we have to get them up.  When I stopped to catch my breath I took this one.  

"That's not an animal" you might say.   

But I beg to differ, Maggie is one of those rocks. 

 

Peak Purple

My flower border is at its peak purple. 

With this drought and run of 100 degree days, this won’t last much longer. I did water it today hoping to enjoy it a little longer.  I have...

Bee balm

Gladiolus 

Butterfly bush

Russian sage,

Salvia,

Drumsticks,

Sea holly, 

Phlox,                                        

                                              

Coneflower, 

    

And lavender. The boarder is starting to fill out.  My goal is a traditional British border.  I am getting there. 
 

Camp Mimi

I got to keep Sadie and Allie again yesterday. 

The weather was/is hot!  We do not have air conditioning. I was worried that it would be a problem. I tried to think of things they could do that wouldn’t make them too hot. But it didn’t matter. They never complained and just did what they wanted. 

With all the talk of Joe’s hiking trip I thought I would get out Virginia’s old tent. She won it in 4th grade for reading the most books. They had a ball with it. 
                                          

They were bringing so much stuff out to play with that I finally said they had to take something back for everything they brought out.  It was another fun day. I sent home two tired and sticky children. 

Overnight Trip

Joe had never been to Brevard to see Emily and Keiran’s house. This weekend he finally got there. 

Parts of the drive are really beautiful. 

After getting there, touring the house and yard, we went for a walk around the neighborhood and to downtown.  We stopped at an outdoor store and Joe tried on some hiking boots and backpacks.  No purchases were made.  

Emily took my picture at the White Squirrel Shoppe.  

It was a very pleasant town to walk around.  

On the way back, I spotted this unusual shaped flower.  Apparently, it is a gooseneck loosestrife.  They look exactly like geese.  

Emily and Keiran have a passion flower plant.  It is lovely.  It is making me consider trying one.  But they said it spreads, so I'm not sure I want to deal with that.  

Emily had asked Joe to bring a chain saw.  He was able to cut all of the unwanted trees and limbs.  Homemade pizza was for supper and Carol joined us for an evening of Scrabble.
Saturday morning we headed to Pisgah National Park for a 6 mile hike.   

Joe carried Emily's backpack for practice.  Are you wondering yet why all this hiking gear? 

Anyway, it was easy hiking. 

With a beautiful view at the top.  This is a view of Looking Glass Rock.

We got a togetherie. 

And a nice picture of Emily and Keiran.

And even a decent one of me and Joe. 

 

Joe spotted this damsel fly,

and Keiran saw this Click Beetle.  I have never heard of one before. 

And there was a very cute squirrel eating a mushroom. 

                                                 

There were lots of huckleberries.

I ate a few handfuls.  

It was a very nice hike. 

Back at the house Keiran wanted to show Joe how light and easy his tent was to set up.  

Then we went to REI and Joe made his first purchase towards his hike, a pair of hiking shoes!

I found out a couple of years ago that he was wanting to hike the Appalachian Trail.  Keiran suggested that he start smaller, The Long Trail in Vermont, 272 miles.  The plan is for Joe, Emily and Keiran to do the hike in August.  We are still trying to get Mitchell to go too.  I get to stay home and take care of the farm. It is starting to get real now.