Splurging on the Hodgepodge

Joyce asks the questions, and we provide the answers. See how others answered at From This Side of the Pond. 

1. It's National Splurge Day...what's something you might splurge on today? What have you splurged on recently? 

Define "recently". Amazon deliveries have been a regular occurrence at my house, but I'm slowing down now. I've been splurging too much on tv lately, my most recent series I'm watching is "What We Do In the Shadows". Quirky, funny, at times a bit disgusting but I'm hooked. 

2. Do you have a beach bag? What's in it? Is a trip to the beach on your summer bucket list? Do you have a summer bucket list? 

I don't have a beach bag and I prefer to go to the beach in the winter when it's not crowded or hot. The only thing on my summer bucket list is to paint my bedroom and hang some curtains. 

3. What's a song that makes you think of a summer past? What comes to mind when you hear it? What memories does it stir up for you? 

"Brandy" is one that comes to mind right away. "Summer Breeze" is another one. They remind me of summers past when my days were filled with the swimming pool. Seeing beach towels and blankets spread out in the grass, hearing the spring of the diving boards, and the smell of suntan lotion. Those were the days!

4. Sushi-yay or nay? Have you actually tried it? If you love it what's your go-to order? 

I'm definitely NOT a fan of sushi. My boys like it, but I give it a definite pass. I tried it but didn't like it. 

5. I own a ridiculous amount of ____________________________________. 

Books. I'm trying to do better but I have at least half of a bookcase filled with books I need to read.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Oh my. I'm so far behind with my Ireland posts! I managed to get another post out on Flyin' the Coop but I'm only halfway through the first tour I was on. The information here will be slightly different so make sure you check out both of them.

The Hodgepodge is Heatin' Up

Joyce asks the questions, and we provide the answers. See how others answered at From This Side of the Pond.

1. Something you learned from your father? 

Before my father passed away we had a lot of conversations about different things. I learned a lot about him, things that I had no idea about his life. One of the things he taught me while sitting on his back porch that I carry with me every day is how to identify a cardinal's song. They have different songs, but the one that always makes me smile is when I hear one singing, "Pretty, pretty, pretty". My dad, who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket (for real...no exaggeration!), would do his best to sing like a cardinal. 

2. Do you like onions? Raw or cooked? How about onion rings? What's something you love to eat that calls for onions? 

I'm not a big fan of onion rings but I think onions add a lot of flavor to different dishes. I don't guess "Funyons" count, do they?

3. It's officially summer (in the Northern hemisphere)...your favorite and least favorite things about the season?

Most favorite: being out of school for the summer (no-brainer!)

Least favorite: the heat & humidity

4. When you think about the summers of your childhood what are two or three things that come to mind? 

Walking to and from the local swimming pool and playing outside. We didn't have air conditioning so we played out under the shade trees...a lot. And spent a lot of time at the pool.

5.  A hot mess, the heat of the moment, beat the heat, if you can't stand the heat, catch heat, in a dead heat...choose a 'hot 'phrase and tell us how it applies to your life right now.

This one has me stumped. I guess I'll go with "beat the heat" since I walk at 6:00 a.m. before the heat settles in.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

The past couple of days have actually been pretty nice, in fact, the mornings were cool...I didn't even break a sweat while walking. It's not going to last, though. The upper 90's are forecasted for the rest of the week.

 

Bustin' Out All Over Hodgepodge

 

Joyce asks the questions, and we provide the answers. See how others answered at From This Side of the Pond.

1. "A daughter's a daughter all her life, but a son's a son til he takes a wife." What say you? Elaborate.

Not having any DILs, I'm going purely on speculation here. I don't think that's accurate. I think your son is always your son. In fact, I think I saw and talked with my sons more when they had serious girlfriends than I do when they don't. 

2. Something you've seen recently that was 'cuter than a June bug'? 

My sister who is 18 months older than I sent me a video of her grandson who is just a few months old. She hasn't laid on him yet since he is in Europe, so videos have to do for now! He is just adorable and is very vocal, which is precisely what this Speech-Language Pathologist likes to hear!

3. 'You can't buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream and that's pretty much the same thing.' Agree or disagree? Last time you had a serving of happiness ice cream?  Dish-cone-milkshake-sundae...which one do you choose? 

Oh, how I love ice cream! When I eat it now, I can't eat a whole bowl and have to tone it down to just 1 scoop. If I didn't have any dietary restrictions, I would go for a big ol' milkshake! There was an ice cream place down the road from where we lived in SC that had the best shakes...the peanut butter & chocolate shakes were amazing!

4. What is one way/area in which you're currently 'swimming against the tide'? 

My motivation to do anything has completely left me this summer. Maybe my body just needs a break from the structure of the school year. I get up in the morning (right as the sun is coming up) and do my 30-minute walks and then go to morning mass, but other than that, I just don't feel like doing anything. 

5. Three things you're looking forward to this summer?

Summer is already here for me. I still hope that CH & I will go camping for a couple of days. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Due to my lack of motivation, I've been binging on shows. I just finished The Last Kingdom. Oh my, that Uhtred is a beautiful man! I really enjoy shows that have historical significance, so I will google the people in the show and the places for information. If you've watched it, you may be interested to know that Beocca is a saint. There is a St. Hild and I thought it was the same Hild portrayed in the show, but Hild was born about 200 years after St. Hild passed away. 

A Patriotic Hodgepodge

 Head over to Joyce's to add your post and see how everyone else answered this week's questions.

1. We're approaching Memorial Day Weekend in the US of A...will you mark this in some way? If so tell us how. According to a list found here some things you might do in honor of Memorial Day would be-shop in a Veteran owned business, learn to play a patriotic song, watch the Memorial Day concert, take a virtual tour of the White House, write a letter to a soldier or a soldier's family, fly a flag, attend a Memorial Day parade, donate flowers for a soldier's grave, put together a care package for a soldier, and take a moment of silence at 3 PM (the National Moment of Remembrance)....of the ideas mentioned are there any you will try? 

Take a moment of silence at 3:00 PM. I don't know that there are any Memorial Day parades around here, which is really sad. After being a marching band member for high school & college, I don't love a parade!

2. What's something recently that made you 'come to attention?'

Oh, absolutely! I had an extremely rough end of the year; one that really made me think that it may be time to retire. But I'm still laughing, so maybe it's not time.

3. In what area of your life do you need to 'soldier on?'

See #2! 

4. As a long weekend approaches and summer draws near, what's a favorite food from your childhood you think about adding to the menu? 

Watermelon.

5. Your favorite patriotic movie? 

The Patriot. Part of that movie was filmed in the SC town where we lived, and Mel Gibson (before he lost it) showed up to Mass one Sunday. However, CH saw him & didn't let me know so I didn't see him. I just have to take CH's word for it.

This may not be considered a patriotic movie, but The American President is one of my all-time favorite movies.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

CH & I had a lovely getaway weekend. We went camping at a State Park we haven't tried out. Watch for a post on Friday!

Here are a few pictures I snapped over the past few days:

A hawk sitting on the top of the church.

Who can resist sidewalk chalk? I caught this "senior" man (who is one of our former city commissioners) stop, pick up some chalk, and make a contribution to the sidewalk in the park where I walk Gurl Dogg.

Speaking of GD...I walked out of my home office and caught my guard dog napping.

This squirrel was perched on the knot of a tree for a long time. I thought his position was quite interesting.

Planning Out the Summer with the Hodgepodge

Head over to Joyce's to add your post and see how everyone else answered this week's questions.

1. Realist, idealist, optimist, pessimist...which one are you? Elaborate. 

I'm each one at different times. Sometimes I can be a realist, although most of the time I'm an idealist. I look at the world a lot through rose-colored glasses and choose to not allow things that are happening rob me of my joy. I'm an optimist...except when I'm being a pessimist. I like to think the best of everyone until I have a reason not to.

2. What's something currently on your wish list? 

The main thing is to just relax. That may not be what Joyce was looking for here, but that's all I've got right now!

3. Three things on this week's shopping list? 

Well...since I haven't made out my shopping list for the next couple of weeks yet, I'm winging this one. We're camping this weekend so I'll definitely have some items we need on the list.

4. According to Trip Advisor here's a list of the top ten things to do in the US this summer-

Chicago Architecture River Cruise, Skip the Line Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Tour, New York In A Day guided sightseeing tour, Charleston's Old South Historic Horse and Carriage tour, Grand Canyon helicopter tour, Full day iconic sights of LA, Beverly Hills, Beaches and more, D.C. at Dusk guided night tour, Beneath the Streets Underground History tour (Seattle), New Orleans Swamp and Bayou Boat tour, Gangsters and Ghosts tour in Chicago...read more about each excursion in the link here. 

Of the ten attractions listed which do you find most appealing? Have you already experienced anything on this list?

I've done the horse & carriage tour in Charleston and have been in DC at dusk (dusk is the only time to see the Korean War Memorial) but that's it. The Beneath the Streets Underground History Tour in Seattle sounds appealing. We're having to ditch our original plans of going to Banff, Canada, so this has given me an idea of what we can possibly do for vacation! Thanks, Joyce!

5. Besides home and work where do you spend the most time? 

Not to sound like a "Church Lady", but...church. I love going and sitting in the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel for a bit of time. It's so amazing to just sit and be still. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 Summer vacation is HERE! Even though I have a somewhat busy summer with our Council of Catholic Women Convention at the beginning of June and surgery at the end of June with some appointments in between, I'm so looking forward to not worrying about meetings, paperwork, and planning therapy. I also have a huge decision to make before June 14. Next year is the first year I'm eligible to retire, so I'll be spending time in the Adoration Chapel asking God what He wants me to do. I don't want to leave too early, but I don't want to wait too long to make my exit. This decision is a lot harder than I expected it to be.

Sweet Summer Hodgepodge

Well! I haven't participated in this in quite some time. Joyce is back at the Wednesday Hodgepodge! She gives us some questions to answer, then invites us to link up with other bloggers to see what we have in common with each other.

1. The sweetness of summer...where have you found it recently? If you're in the Southern hemisphere, feel free to tell us about the sweetness you're finding in winter.

Kicking back, nowhere to be, and eating melons!

2. Take your sweet time, sweet tooth, home sweet home, short but sweet, the sweet smell of success, sweet talk...choose a sweet idiom and tell us how it fits your life currently?

"Take your sweet time". It's summer!

3. Sweet as honey, sweet as sugar, or sweet as pie, which phrase do you use when a sweet phrase is called for? What's the last sweet treat you indulged in?

Sweet as honey. I may have snuck a cookie (just one, though!) after lunch one day. For the past month, I've been trying to eat like I know I should to keep my sugar in check.

4. First thing that comes to mind when you hear the word fidget?

Those crazy fidget spinners that were so popular a few years ago!

5. Share with us one of your favorite childhood travel memories.

We would travel to Texas every other year to see family. One year, my dad had this idea to save money on the way down and camp. It would have been great except that there was a horrendous rain that night and the campground flooded. So, we packed up and got back on the road. It was kind of scary (especially when my mom drove!) but nice to get to my aunt's house ahead of schedule. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

It's so good to get back into the Hodgepodge! Just in time for school to start back up...teachers go back in a week and the kids come back (staggered for the first week) the week after. I know this is very controversial, but I'm looking forward to seeing my students in school & getting back to a regular routine. Am I scared or nervous? No, not a bit!

A "bonus" random:

I've been slowly (veeerrrry slowly!) recapping our vacation from 2019 to the Canadian Maritimes. To check it out, click on the "NH & Canadian Maritimes" tab at the top of this page. I hope to have several more entries soon so I can start on an adventure we hope to have in 2021!

There's Only So Much Grilling You Can Do

Summer suppers in the South. It can be challenging because there's only so much grilling you can do to try to keep the heat out of the kitchen.  A friend who lives in the Pacific Northwest (or maybe it was my friend in New England. Either way, she's not from around here!) asked what we fix during the summer. I don't know what everyone else does, but here's one of our favorite summer suppers.

Special thanks to MS for letting me use his plate for the picture!

I found this recipe on the Betty Crocker website, so of course, I tweaked it just a bit. It's called Layered Summer Pasta Salad. The ingredients: Romaine Lettuce, broccoli, carrots, plum tomatoes, ranch dressing, and Suddenly Salad. I just chop up some Perdue Shortcut Southwestern Chicken to make it a meal. The chicken is already cooked and in strips, so it makes it a real "shortcut"!

The Directions

• First, fix the Suddenly Salad.  The recipe calls for the ranch & bacon one, but personally, I prefer the Chipotle Ranch, It really doesn't matter which variety you use. 
• When the pasta is cooked, rinse with cold water to prevent it from cooking further.
• In a bowl, mix 1 1/4 cups Ranch Dressing with the seasoning packet. Then add the pasta and the cut up chicken. 
• In a salad bowl, place the Romaine (or whatever greens you want), broccoli, and carrots. Add whatever veggies you want in there.

Since it's called a "layered salad", you're really supposed to layer the pasta mix on top of the green salad but we've found we like it better keeping them separate. That prevents someone from only getting the pasta...or the salad.

• I slice the tomatoes and put them in a bowl.
• Everyone serves themselves by layering the green salad, then pasta salad, then adding tomatoes (or bacon bits) on top. 

I usually have some kind of crackers or pita crisps to go along with the salad.
There you have a quick, easy, Summer Southern Meal!

A Most Delectable Treat (for Adults)

Picture courtesy of Picjumbo

Last summer when I was in New Orleans for a conference, I had the most delectable treat (for adults). When I went to MS' graduation in Baton Rouge, I had to indulge because I haven't seen anything like it around here. It's perfect for a hot summer day, or after taking the dogs for a walk in the evenings. Do I have your attention?

Frosé. What a treat! I knew there had to be a recipe out there somewhere that wasn't too difficult, and I found it on Bon Appétit. What is Frosé? It's frozen rosé. (Duuuh!) The first time I made it I used Pinot Noir. It was good, but not quite what I had in Louisiana. For one thing (and I probably got the wrong kind...I'm definitely not a wine connoisseur!) it was dark. It was still really good and I would definitely make it again, but using a straight up rosé is where it's at!

It is time-consuming but really easy and very much worth it. I took some to a friend's house when a few friends got together & they all enjoyed it. I took the recipe on Bon Appétit & tweaked it just a tad.

First: Pour a bottle of rosé in a 9X13 pan and put it in the freezer for at least 6 hours.

Before you take it out of the freezer, boil 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar until clear. Make sure you stir it while it gets to the boiling point. It doesn't take long for the water to boil, so make sure you don't walk away!
After the water boils, take it off the heat and put in 8 ounces of cut up strawberries. Let that sit for 30 minutes on the counter. I've let it sit longer than that just to give it a little more oomph!

Strain the strawberries and put the strawberry infused syrup into a container. Put the container in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Don't throw the strawberries away...MS  likes to put them over ice cream!

After the syrup has been in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, you're ready to assemble! Take the frozen rosé out of the freezer and chop it up just a little bit...enough for it to fit in a blender.

To the blender add: 1 cup of crushed ice, the simple syrup (the original recipe specified the amount but I think adding all of it makes it taste a little better), lemon or lime juice (I didn't have any lemon juice but had a bottle of Key Lime Juice...again, I didn't measure; I just put a couple of long squirts in), and the shards of rosé. Blend until well mixed.

This is my "antique" blender that we received when we got married...34 years ago! Since I took this picture, I had to throw it away (the base was cracked) and buy a new one.

Put the blender pitcher in the freezer for about 35 minutes. Take out and blend again. The site says that you can store the finished product in the freezer for 1 week. The batches I've made haven't lasted that long so I can't attest to that.
I would highly recommend this most delectable treat (for adults). If you're in the NOLA/Baton Rouge area you'll definitely want to try it. This homemade version is pretty close to what you'll get there! Cheers!

More Frosé recipes:
Meet Frosé
Frosé (This one is interesting...it uses grapefruit juice)
Boozy Frosé (no crushed ice but includes vodka)

Hot Enough For You? {Wednesday Hodgepodge}

Things are steamy here in East Tn. Is it hot enough for you where you are? If so, stay inside, crank that air up, and read up on the answers to the questions  Joyce provided for us!

1. Summer is upon us this week in the Northern hemisphere. Tell us three things on your summer bucket list.
1. See my son graduate from Law School. (Check)

2. Spend time with Robert's uncle when they visit in July.

3. Spend a few days in Nashville for a conference.

2. Something fun you used to do as a kid in the summertime?
I went to the Small Town's pool almost every day. My mom made sure we had season passes so that's where a good part of the summer was spent.
The neighborhood kids used to come to our yard in the evening to play "kick the can", "hide and seek", or "rolly bats". We'd play until it got dark. Good times!

3. Rooftop or backyard? Why?
Backyard. I don't know that I've ever spent any amount of time on a rooftop.

This is a really cool backyard in New Orleans. There is a stage set up for jazz:

You go in, select your beverage(you can also order some hors d'oeuvrs)  and find a seat outside. This is a view of the back of the building:

4. Do you read food labels? Place importance on them? Make an effort to find out/care about where your food comes from?
I mainly look to see what the serving size is.

5. A song you'll have on repeat this summer?
I don't know that I'll have one. I rarely just listen to one song over and over.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
As I mentioned in my previous post, this summer is sooo different than last summer. There's a lot less stress, for sure! I've read, watched some shows (The Ranch & Shetland), and done some writing. I'm still walking the dogs around 5:45 a.m. The squirrels are still asleep, but a family of raccoons crossed the sidewalk a couple of mornings ago. I didn't even think about that possibility!

Summery Wednesday Hodgepodge

Joyce comes up with a few questions almost every Wednesday for us to answer...kind of like a virtual meet & greet! 

1. The first day of summer rolls in later this week. What are ten things you'd put on your list of  quintessential summer activities? Will you try to manage all ten this summer?
10???? Are you kidding me??? I just want to get through this kitchen renovation before I go back to work on July 24th! I can't think about what I'd rather be doing; I just want this to be over so I can start enjoying my new beautiful kitchen.

2. Do you collect seashells when you're at the beach? What do you do with them once you get them home? What's your favorite place to comb for seashells? How many of these 'best beaches for hunting seashells' have you visited? Which one would you most like to visit?

Calvert Cliffs State Park (Maryland), Jeffrey's Bay (South Africa), Sanibel Island (Florida), Shipwreck Beach (Lanai Hawaii), Ocracoke Island (North Carolina), Galveston Island (Texas) and The Bahamas
I'm not much for collecting or searching for seashells, because of the clean up after to make sure they don't smell. I do enjoy looking at them while walking the seashore, but that's about it.  When we were at the Outer Banks last year, I did keep a look out for sea glass but had no luck.
I went to Ocracoke last summer, and I went a crappy band trip to The Bahamas my senior year. I don't think I've ever been to Galveston Island; if I have it was when I was really little & I obviously don't remember it. There are so many other places I'd rather go than the ones listed.

3. At a snail's pace, shell out money, come out of your shell, go back into your shell, drop a bombshell, happy as a clam, clam up...which 'shell' phrase could most recently be applied to some event or circumstance in your life? Explain.
Wow. This renovation seemed to be moving right along, but now it's at a snail's pace and I foresee that I'll have to shell out some money. CH is causing me to come out of my shell to get what I want when I'm happy as a clam to clam up and let him drop the bombshell. I just want to go back into my shell and come out when it's over.

4. What summer activity do you dislike? Why?
The Small Town's "FreedomFest". For starters, they're having it this Saturday, which is over a full week before the 4th of July. The fireworks have Laika hiding behind CH's chair, shaking like a leaf. 

5. What's something you see as quickly becoming obsolete? Does that bother you?
Trick or Treat. It's sad that this country has become such a place where the kids can't have the memories or fun that we had when we were growing up. Or, that Halloween is seen as "the devil". People need to lighten up.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
Look at this sweet girl:

We have a year-long house guest

Looks like she'll be staying with her grams for a year until MS gets through with Law School.  We're having an adjustment period, but she's settling in, and Laika and Pepper are learning to tolerate. It was pitiful when MS left on Sunday: Girl Dog kept running to the living room window, looking out and watching each car as it went by. Hopefully this year will go by quickly and they will be reunited.

{Wednesday Hodgepodge} Secrets Told

Joyce came through with more questions for us this week. I love the shorter format! Click here to join in, or to just look around and find some more blogs to read.

1. What makes you feel accomplished? Explain.
It's the little things: finishing a book, cooking a good dinner, playing a new piece of music on the piano, getting through Mass playing my flute without any mistakes. And keeping plants alive:

They aren't dead yet!

2. If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? Tell us why.
Pope Francis: Here is a man who is changing how the world views the Catholic Church. I don't think he'd agree to come on, though. He's pretty busy and doesn't do talk shows.
Jeff Gardner: I met him at our regional Council of Catholic Women Convention a few weeks back. His mission is to bring the plight of persecuted Christians all over the world to the forefront. If you missed it, you can read about him here, or you can find information about his cause here.
Harry Conick, Jr.: What. A. Guy! He probably wouldn't come, either, since he's busy with his own talk show.

3. Do you have a great burger recipe? What's in it? What do you like on a hamburger and where is your favorite spot to order one out?
My burger recipe is going to the Publix and getting one of their ready-made burgers from the meat department. Now you know my secret.

4. What's the biggest anxiety producing thing you do on a regular basis?
Right now it's making sure I get to appointments on time; I tend to "lollygag" during the summer.

5. This is the last Hodgepodge of May. Tell us about your summer plans.
I've already been out for 1 1/2 weeks, and I've been busy with things that had to be done. My summer plans consist of my kitchen remodel (I'm writing "State of the Kitchen" segments on Thursdays; you can read the first installment here.) I'm heading down to New Orleans in July for a speech conference, and then I will be gearing up for another school year. Summer just isn't what it used to be, or as long as it used to be. I'm looking forward to the day when every day is summer!

6. Insert your own random thought here.
We had a horrific storm on Saturday night; winds between 70 & 80 mph. As a result, there are a lot of trees down; trees on houses & power lines. Living on 1 of the main roads in the Small Town, our power was back on Sunday around 2:00. My dad's house had power Tuesday, but I think my sister who lives down the road from me is still without it. It's an absolute miracle no one was hurt or killed. It wasn't a tornado; the weather service is calling it a "derecho". Luckily, the tree service that I had been waiting over a month to clean out some trees came through and called me Friday morning to see if I was going to be home; they were in the area and had time to do the job. We had a branch that was touching the living room window, so I was mainly concerned about that. I think that saved us from any damage. This was our extent:

I made it a point not to complain about our internet being down; there are still a lot of people without power, and quite a few people who aren't able to live in their houses. 
I'm going to stop there since this is supposed to be a quick, random thought and not a post in itself!

Vacation 2016: Time for R&R

Originally, we were going to stay in the Black Hills until Tues., but we didn't think we'd have quite the time in Colorado that we wanted. We ended up leaving on Monday, driving to Steamboat Springs, and setting up camp. Getting there was quite the adventure. At first, the scenery was nice to look at.

But then, it got a little old...just about the time the wind kicked up. Seriously, I'll take the drive through Mississippi any day over the drive through SE Wyoming. When we stopped for lunch, I asked the girl if it was always that windy, and she said that it was much worse the night before. How do those people live there???

And what the heck is a "port of entry"? Oh, the things you see in different parts of the country! (I just googled it...it's something to do with permits for truckers.)

After getting out of the wind (finally!) and past the forest fire (sorry, no picture of the smoke!), we made it to Colorado.

It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but pretty just the same! 

CH reserved our campsite for us at a campground he stayed at when he rode the Continental Divide on his motorcycle. He couldn't have picked a prettier spot. We stayed at Steamboat Lake State Park, about 30 minutes from Steamboat Springs.

Our site was on the island section of the campground. During my first visit to the potty (it wasn't flushable!), I saw a lot of little holes. I asked CH what they were, and he said they're chipmunk holes. WHEW! My first thought was that they were snake holes! They provided us with a lot of entertainment! 

It was a very relaxing couple of days. The first morning, there was frost on the ground. In July.

We walked around and I got some amazing pictures...one side of the lake had incredible reflections in the water:

While the other side appeared to have "Smoke on the water":

We drove back into Steamboat Springs to grab some groceries to last us for a couple of days and get some lunch while we were in town. The town reminded me a lot of Asheville, NC. The place where we ate was okay, nothing to write home about.

Later that day, our friends from England met up with us to spend a couple of days. If you'll remember, we met up with them in Cades Cove a few weeks ago, but we forgot to get a picture. We didn't forget this time:

We had a good time relaxing, talking, and taking a hike. I didn't take my camera with me on the hike, but the main attraction was the fields of flowers around the lake. They were just gorgeous. And the flowers were everywhere.

We also got to see some of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen (The Keys included!):

There were a couple of bucks that visited every evening:

Hahn's Peak was always in sight. CH talked to someone whose daughter & son-in-law snowmobiled up as far as they could, hiked the rest of the way, then skied down one winter. We could tell there was something at the  top; we found out it's a fire tower.

After a couple of days in Colorado, it was time to head back to East Tennessee. Our friends, if you'll remember, are on their way to an adventure in Mexico and South America. They just happen to have a blog! John is quite the photographer, so you'll see some incredible pictures.

I have a few more pictures from the trip home; I hope to have them up in the next couple of days.