And the hail came down!

I've seen hail befoe. This seemed a little larger than usual. And it kept coming. The pounding got the attention of Don and Ryan who were down in the basement replumbing. Ryan ran up to the house with a piece of cardboard on his head yelling, "Where are the car keys? We've got to get Chris' van in the garage." By then the hailstones were large and hurt when they landed on your feet. Afterwards it looked like it snowed. Of course, in a few hours it was sunny and warm again.

It was a sunny day. Sunny and hot. Then a large dark cloud loomed in the sky. it became darker and then......plink, plink, plink....the hail began. First the little taps on the roof got my attention. And then the larger bangs. Louder and faster. Looking outside I saw hail bouncing on the porch.

SORRY...YOU HAVE TO READ THIS POST FROM THE END TO THE BEGINNING TO MAKE ANY SENSE OF IT. I HAVEN'T USED THIS METHOD OF BLOGGING FOR AWHILE AND I FORGOT THAT YOU HAD TO PUT THINGS IN THE REVERSE ORDER. WHAT A PAIN!

a little rain here, a little rain there

Ok, here's the difference in weather between Bradford, PA and Seymour, TN. After a wonderful week of sunshine and hot (95 yesterday) weather today the big black clouds rolled in. It looked threatening. We could see the rain coming. Thunder soon was booming and a few lightening bolts ran through the sky. It got dark and the rain came down. Sounds like Bradford, doesn't it? NO.....No.....NO. It rained for about 15 minutes, blew over and the sun came right back out and dried everything up. Just a temporary inconvenience. In Bradford it would have been a totally rainy day that lasted the whole day long. I wanted to take a picture of the storm, but by the time I thought of it, the storm had moved on. My son, ryan, told me that they never talk about the weather down here. No wonder. it's always sunny. Up in Bradford we talk constantly about it because it dominates our lives. In the winter we make our plans around the weather. Will it be snowy? Will the roads be icy? Will a blizzard cause us to get stranded somewhere? Will it rain next Tuesday when I want to plan a picnic? Will it be too cold to eat out today? There are always reasons to check the weather channel so we can plan our life. I've discovered that this creates extra stress that people down south don't seem to have. Lucky them.

A little splash here, a little splash there

The temperature was in the high eighties. The sun was hot and the water was cool. And the kids were in the new wading pool that nana had bought. Sean had company yesterday. My sister Diane, hubby Jeff, and two of her children,their spouses, and grandkids came to visit. Molly, Jackson, and Sean had a ball in the pool.It's always a lot of fun when the family gets together. We had a great picnic with some good pork b-b-q that Caron brought over. Molly and jackson even took turns riding Sean's four wheeler.

Ah

Ah, (that’s me sighing with pleasure). Yesterday was finally a beautiful, partly sunny, almost hot spring day. I opened the French doors and took my breakfast outside on my bistro table. Then I washed all the summer pillows, covers, and seat cushions and put them outside. I put up the curtains which frame the breezeway.





The porch swing felt fully dressed with the colorful additions. In fact, it was so comfy, and I was so comfortable that I barely left the swing all day. I gathered my Oprah magazine and my new Alexandra Stoddard book about enjoying time around me and spent the day sipping tea and reading.






Oh, there were I few moments I felt guilty and hoed some weeds from the bank, breaking the head of the hoe in my exuberance. But since I knew the weather forecast for the next week shows rain and more rain I had to seize the day. It’s been a long time since I have taken a whole day just to relax.

Photoshop fun

Today we were still working on preparing the courtyard for summer. Don is putting up the new lamp light that I bought at Lowe’s. I hosed the apple blossom petals and yellow pine pollen from the courtyard. Things are looking good. Now all we need is great sunny weather!

Come, my love

Is it spring yet?

With the seventh straight day of rain, it’s hard to think about spring. The hills are getting a beautiful lime green and the blossoms are blooming. Today Don and I carried the summer outdoor items up from the basement. It’s nice to see my little table and chairs on the breezeway. Above the lion fountain is the crest that I bought in Virginia at Hobby Lobby.

Signs of Spring

Everyone looks for signs of spring..the robins, the tulips…the daffodils. But our sign of spring is that the black bears come out of hibernation and begin to wander around the neighborhoods in search of free bird seed at the feeders.
   Last week we had a mystery. A portion of our fence was knocked completely down in one spot. We were not sure of how it happened until yesterday when it was knocked down in the exact same spot. Sadie was sniffing around aware that the bear had visited inside our fence. One of the reasons we put up the fence was to give Sadie a safe place to run around. But another reason is that the bear had frequently been in our yard, walking around on our courtyard, and even once swimming in our little pond. Once the fence was up I felt a little safer. Now I’m worried that he is going to make visiting a habit. Sadie spent all morning sitting by the fence waiting and guarding.

Kinzua Kuties

Yesterday the Kinzua Kuties (formerly a Red hat group) had our monthly outing. We traveled south of Erie, PA to the Riverside Dinner Theater in Cambridge Springs to see “Social Security”.
Lisa, Kitty and Joan sat down for a cup of coffee before the performance. We were served a lovely generous meal in the theater. Here are the girls checking in. The Riverside Inn was a famous destination.

In 1859, a well driller in nearby Titusville, named Col. Edwin L. Drake discovered oil. This discovery triggered "black gold fever" among French Creek Valley residents, inspiring many of them to look for oil, in the hopes of striking it rich.

One of these oil seekers was a local physician, Dr. John H. Gray, who owned a large farm right on the banks of French Creek. One day in early 1860, as he was walking along the banks of French Creek carrying a metal probing rod, he stopped to "lean and contemplate." When he did, the rod suddenly sank into the ground. Dr. Gray pulled the rod from the ground, thinking he had struck "black gold", but a jet of crystal spring water spurt forth instead. Doctor Gray then forced an old gun barrel into the opening, and the water flowed freely for the next 15 years. Although Dr. Gray was not too excited about this "water discovery," it was the turning point for the quiet little town of Cambridgeboro.

Soon, rumours began spreading around town that the men who worked on Gray's Farm and drank from the spring never got sick or were cured of diseases that they had. In 1884, Dr. Gray took a patient to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and was struck by the similarity of its water and that from his spring along French Creek.

Once home, he began prospecting in earnest, making more openings in the soil and discovering four more jets of the same "charged" spring water. He then began testing the water for medicinal purposes, treating cases of dyspepsia and kidney and liver complaints. He wrote that the "waters, unassisted, affected many cures."

Determined to give the world the benefit of the water's healing powers, Dr. Gray erected a spring house and began selling mineral water at a "nominal price." Cambridge Springs became the first health spa.

Apple Blossoms

Come, my love and we shall meet
Where apple blossoms touch your feet.

Our crab apple tree is always the most glorious in the spring when the pink blossoms scatter with the wind. Our tree is very special because Don grafted regular apples to some of the branches and they bloom white.

Virginia weekend

It’s always nice to get away. I was hoping for warm sun in Virginia when I visited my sister over the weekend, but unfortunately I brought the Bradford weather—gray skies and chilly temperatures—with me. That didn’t damper my spirits in the least. We had a wonderful weekend.

On Thursday when I arrived the sun was out. I took a few pictures of Linda’s beautiful new deck. She designed it herself and it was nice that she could use a gate that her late husband had found in her design.

This is a view looking out the other direction.

She hasn’t completed her summer decorating yet, but recently had a new patio door installed.

Here she is watering her new herbs that I gave her.
As you enter her house there is a baker’s rack decorated with spring things to greet you.

Linda made steak kabobs for dinner that first night.
She put them in the oven and we had a strange thing happen. The oven locked us out. We couldn’t open the door at all. We read the directions, but there was no way that we could open it. Our food was trapped inside. We shut off the oven, but the door still wouldn’t open. Finally we touched a few buttons and got it opened finally. Linda is having someone come out to fix it soon. She has had a lot of trouble with this oven.

Downtown Fredericksburg is a great shopping town. There are a lot of little gift shops.

And restaurants and pubs.


In this store..Legacy..I bought a dove birdcage.





Inside one of the stores. Now don’t you know why I love it so much?
 
Having cute store windows is a source of pride. This fairy was in the front of a hair salon.

Another fun thing we did is go to a used jewelry extravaganza. There were pins, bracelets, necklaces, rings, scarves, and purses. We went early to the mimosa brunch so we could have first dibs.
There was a breakfast casserole, scones, fruit compotes, ham biscuits, and orange juice. There were also door prizes. I won the purse holder in the box. Linda won a worry doll.
I forgot to take my camera when we went to the Art Festival in the park. There was also a Farmer’s market.

I had a wonderful weekend in Virginia.