the epitome of summer

The smell of freshly cut grass. Homemade ice cream. Sunsets on the East River.Goodies from gardens. Sandy cars. Invitations to pools by the rivah (Rappahannock River)
Cold beverages on warm afternoons. Watermelon & steamed crabs. Spontaneous boat rides to dwindling islands. (Hole in the Wall)

Swimming by New Point Lighthouse. Tomato sandwiches & the smell of basil. Tired children from hours in the pool. (Carys)

Fried fish & cucumber salad. Blueberry pickin'. Exploring state parks. (Belle Isle State Park)

what's all the hoopla about?

Yesterday, Southwind debuted Hoopla Pale Ale, a beer created by Kyle Hollingsworth, home brewer & keyboardist for String Cheese Incident. And in honor of it, folks gathered across the street from the restaurant on our county's courthouse green to do some hooping.

Hula hooping has long been on my list of things to learn to do. Oh how I've tried, never being able to keep the hoop going. Well, all that changed yesterday. After a couple simple tips from the instructor, I actually kept it going for the longest EVER.. at least 30 seconds! Ha! So of course, buying this "magic" hoop that's weighted (with water I was told)was required.

It was a fun time, watching the younger girls swapping tricks & using 4-5 hoops at a time. Others were catching on pretty quick, so proud of themselves.
The day was hot & after working up quite a sweat, we cooled off on the porch with a Hoopla, of course. Cheers to hooping!

just say noseeums

This evening, Terry & I decided to take advantage of the low humidity weather we've been having. We grabbed some take-out from a fairly new restaurant in town & hit Bethel beach. We brought our high-tech sound system with us so we could tune in to our favorite NPR program.
When the weather is clear like today, you can vaguely see the eastern shore (12 miles away) across the bay. And Wolf Trap lighthouse, which shines in the sunset lighting.

As the sun began to set lower, we could slowly feel them.. noseeums. Grr! Dusk is usually the worst time for them. They can make a nice evening turn pretty awful, pretty quick. I think I would almost rather have mosquitoes. Of course, there's always Deet. Terry won't use that stuff at all, since being super sensitive to it, can taste it after applying it on his skin. And the natural insect repellent just doesn't work.
We stayed as long as we could comfortably, headed home & tried the dock, which didn't last long, either. Funny how something so small can be such a nuisance. Shouldn't I be used to these little bugs by now?

festival season

On Saturday, we went to the 63rd annual Gwynn's Island festival here in our county. There were the usual craft & food vendors, live music, tents of local groups & artists, & Bubbles the Clown. Walking around, we ran into friends that we see all the time & some that we haven't seen in months (or years).

Hannah & Layla with cotton candy fingers

Yesterday, we traveled south with our friends, Raquel & Arthur, to the Bayou Boogaloo & Cajun Food festival. And I was especially glad to have this day with my friends, since they'll be moving by the end of summer. I will miss them, but am happy they are moving forward.
Mainly, the 70 mile trip was made to see one of Terry's favorite singer/songwriter/guitarist, Anders Osborne. And boy, was he worth it! He's known for his deep blues slide guitar & soulful singing. I was so close to him, I swear his sweat beads were flying on me. Eww! ;) On top of playing his rocking originals, they did Grateful Dead's "Fire on the Mountain" & ended with an amazing version of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer". Many times throughout the show, my arms filled up with goosebumps.

Since we arrived late on day three of the festival, they had sold out of the spicy boiled crawfish that Terry was hoping to eat. He was bummed, but we still enjoyed some tasty cajun foods. They also had Abita beers on draft.

Our friends, Bradley & Elisa, & their adorable boy, Yaunder met up with us there, too.

We also caught Bonorama, a brass funk band from New Orleans, & the Funky Meters, who closed out the day. We headed home, exhausted from the sun but happy from our fun, music-filled day.

easy living

It's happening.. again.
The late sun-setting days are bringing less time on the computer. It seems like there's only been enough time to jump online for those needed daily check-ins. Drafts of unfinished posts from the past couple weeks are filling up my "edit posts" box.
So here's a little visual catch-up for ya.

At Chris & Sara's

Terry finally holds Josey!

Tin Can Alley

Father's Day


Grilled fresh wahoo & veggies at my friend, Mike's

Mercy Creek at Port Warwick's free concert series

tin can alley

Here's another spot in our county, on Gwynn's Island, that rarely crossed my path growing up.

We've been there a few times already this early summer (or well I guess technically, late spring). The sandy bottom & deep water have made for fantastic swimming!

Lilli even got Terry in!

There's limited parking & not too much space on the beach, but the jetties somewhat help create more of a feeling of privacy. It's been a nice place to go after work for a quick swim & to catch the sunset. We even met a man & his two grandchildren there who drive almost 45 minutes just to get to this special place.
I think this is where we'll be going more often this summer. Let's just hope the stinging nettles aren't bad this season!

for Peyton

Today is Holly's baby shower. So, this week I made a wall hanging for the nursery. Holly knows I'm making it, even telling me which colors she wanted. But I don't think she knows she's getting it today.
I started by taking pictures of Peyton's bedding & tried to make it similar.

I printed out the letters on the computer & cut them out. Then I traced them onto the fabric & cut them out.

For the owl, I hand sewed button eyes & a beak. For the birds, eyes & beaks. Then chose pink as the border.

To finish it up, green tabs were added.

I can't wait to give it to her!

a mother/daughters babymoon

It was my sister's idea. A few months ago, she mentioned how she wanted me, her, & my mom to get away for a weekend before her baby's birth. So this weekend, we did just that. After some discussion, the Outer Banks was chosen as our destination.
My mom & I left early Friday morning, meeting & picking Holly up along the way.
Our first stop was the beach, of course. It seemed like the right place to go while we waited for our room to be ready. The laughs started that first afternoon & didn't stop for the next two days.
On Saturday morning, we drove in Manteo & unexpectantly caught their Dare Day festival along the downtown waterfront. There were many vendors offering furniture, jewelry, a hand gliding simulator, clothing, photography, & foods of all kind.
Holly bought a diaper bag in her favorite color orange, while Mom & I stopped at a wine tasting booth. She had to buy 3 bottles after the wine reminded us both of the grapes from the vines her parents had many years ago. We listened to some of the live music as Holly & I ate our grape snowcones, realizing on this trip how much we have in common, more than we knew.

For lunch, we enjoyed sitting outside at the Full Moon Cafe. Their house tossed salad with added fresh tuna (Yum!) & a couple of tasty beers were perfect while watching the crowd.

The afternoon was spent at the beach. Before going out for dinner, we savored the sunset (& some wine) on the hotel's oceanfront balcony.
After dinner as Holly rested, Mom & I took a walk on the beach where we saw a man propose to his girlfriend next to heart-shaped lighted tea candles. How beautiful!
On Sunday morning, we got up early. We went out for some breakfast, did some shopping & headed back to Virginia. This was an unforgettable weekend & I feel so grateful to have these women in my life.

Delfest

This past Memorial day weekend, Terry & I went to the 4th Annual Delfest. We left Thursday morning & arrived into Cumberland county just in time for a rain shower (or two). Set in western Maryland with the Potomac river flowing alongside, the site is beautiful with easy walks to & from your campsite & the two stages. It rained off & on that first night, just enough to make everything perfectly muddy. They moved the night shows inside, which is where we saw Donna the Buffalo (one of Terry's faves) & the Infamous Stringdusters.
Friday morning, as we were making our breakfast of scrambled eggs & sausage, the sun was shining & things started to dry out. However, it wasn't to last & as the Travelin' McCourys were finishing up their set, the rains began again. Fortunately, there are grandstands conveniently located nearby to hide out in. And really, the rains & mud brought everyone together, with some folks making it even more fun.

The show must go on & we trambled back out to catch Chris Robinson (of the Black Crowes), who I had never seen & really enjoyed. That night, Preservation Hall Jazz Band (who have a reputation for presenting the traditional New Orleans sound) w/ the Del McCoury band were onstage & I was happy to be a witness to it. Wow!

Late night was Old Crow Medicine Show. So much great music!
The festival is a blend of family-style & late-night partiers, young & old. They had yoga, many children activities (including tie-dye) & music, raffles, vendors with crafts & food. There were lots of children & we know how I loved that.. making for many "subjects" to snap. This little lady & I enjoyed some dancin' & smilin' together. :)

Terry & I ran into a few people we knew, including Erin, one of my roommates from living in Charlottesville. It was great to see her & meet her twin boys.
We made it to the river one day & I loved this guy's spot.

The sun stayed out the rest of the weekend & on Saturday, we caught Trampled by Turtles, Emmitt-Nershi band, Scythian, Railroad Earth, Del McCoury Band (host of the festival), & Warren Haynes (who shockingly put me to sleep). Whew! Just walking around, though, there's always pickin' going on somewhere.


On Sunday, in between catching Psychograss & the Punch Brothers, our neighbors & friends by the end of the weekend, helped pull our car (should have taken my Soob) out that was stuck in mud. We left that evening, vowing to make Delfest our annual Memorial day weekend tradition.

baby talk

On Saturday morning, my parents & I left early for Richmond. I had a Teacher Assistant training at a Montessori school, which was conveniently located about 2 miles from my sister, Holly & brother-in-law, Josh's home. So while I was learning more about the Montessori method (& loving it even more), my parents were helping with the nursery & moving furniture. After my training, we drove out to look at & ended up buying a changing table that my sister found on Craig's list. Here's a sneak peek of the nursery. (Stay tuned for a new crafting post, as ideas for a "Peyton" tapestry are brewing).

We stayed the night & my dad (being the man he is) had some fun with the baby's shoes.
My sister looks beautiful & it's amazing to me to watch her belly grow & to discuss the baby's arrival. I'm so excited to be an aunt!

We all went out for breakfast Sunday morning, then my mom & I helped Holly register at Babies R Us. That took quite awhile, as you can imagine. ;)

ready for summer recycled skirt

Some friends of ours gave us a bag of clothes they no longer wanted (thanks Chris & Sara), which we LOVE to receive. Going through the pile, along came these colorful, worn-in shorts.

Without even asking him, I knew Terry wouldn't wear them. I was right & they've been sitting in our "take to thrift store" stack. My eye caught them this week, however & I thought Hey I like them, why not make them into a skirt. And so I did.
First, I cut the hem up the middle of the legs & sewed it together. For a smaller gal, that would have been it.. ready to wear.

But for this plus-size lady, panels were needed along the sides. Deciding on purple, I found a couple different fabrics. I measured them out, cut it up, & added them on. And that's that.

Bring on summertime!

beer & sausage festival

This weekend was a busy one for our small county. It was the annual Tour de Chesapeake-(Bikes, Bands, & the Bay). Bicyclists from all over camp & bike around our little gem on the bay. I believe bike routes are anywhere from 20-80 miles. To provide entertainment for our visitors, local groups & restaurants will host a variety of events throughout the weekend.
For the past three years, we have taken advantage of the Rotary Club's Beer & Sausage festival. With four tasting tables from 6 Virginia microbreweries, it's always given us a fun time! And last year to make it even better, they added Mercy Creek, who were back this year as well.

Usually, the festival will take place behind the public library, but due to the weather they decided to move it into our art school at the last minute. I was kinda bummed, but was happy to learn we could still be outside.

The two bites of the hand-crafted Virginia (lamb) sausage I got were really good! Boy, those things went super fast. Folks seemed like vultures just waiting & watching to scoop them up.

Quite a few of our friends made it this year. The big joke among us was the 2 ounce cups they provide for the tastings. However, one can go back to the tables as often as desired. ;)