~ The Blue Ridge Parkway '09 ~

Today we went on our annual drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's one of my most favorite places on earth. It's a part of the Shenandoah National Forest, I inserted the link to the official web site if you'd like to know more about it. It's an hour and a half from our house so it makes for an enjoyable day trip.
We have gone at other times during the year but Autumn is a favorite time to go for obvious reasons!
There are many look out points to stop in. Today was a busy day up there as there were many people doing the same thing as we were.





Husband and me.












As many look out points as there are, I always seem to see prettier scenes along the highway and am always looking for a safe place to stop and snap pics.
Husband wanted to go to a nearby place called Crabtree Falls so we turned off the Blue Ridge Parkway and continued on. Along the way I spotted this AWESOME cabin! Once I stopped to take the pic I noticed a truck in the driveway and realized that it's someone's home, oops! It was just so cool lookin' I had to take a pic so I quickly snapped and hurried on along!
Crabtree Falls is a beautiful and picturesque place that is mainly for hikers but even I can make it to the first level! Husband goes up further but I am content right here.
You better not have a full bladder though with the sound of the water fall and all, LOL. It's a very pretty place, if I were either younger or in shape or both I'd probably have a go at the hike.
So once we had our fill of nature for the day we decided to head on home with one stop along the way at the Covesville Antique Store. What day trip would be complete without a stop in antique store anyway, huh? I didn't buy anything but I sure could have! ha!

I was able to listen to the NASCAR race on the way home on the radio and caught the last fifty laps or so on tv when we got home....can't miss the race ya know!

Well that was my Sunday, I hope you enjoyed reading about it, have a great week everyone!

~ Our Day in DC ~

Yesterday the 5 of us (myself, husband, both boys, and daughter-in-law) all went on a day trip up to Washington D.C.....Relatives of mine (cousins) from Southern California were on vacation, touring New York, and decided to make their way down to D.C. to see the Smithsonian Institute. So being just 2 hours away, we decided to drive up to meet them. Erica, my DIL, had never met any of our family because they are all in So.Cal. so it was nice for her to finally meet some. I'm afraid I didn't take but a couple of pictures but I managed a pic of The Hope Diamond in The Museum of Natural History:

It's a very popular exhibit.


The Smithsonian Institute is actually several museums that are on both sides of The National Mall. I took a picture as we were going from The Air and Space Museum to The Museum of Natural History.


Walking across The Mall you have The Washington Monument at one end, the Capital building at the other end, and there were all sorts of activities going on in between.






























Here's a tip if you ever want to visit these museums, DON'T EAT THE FOOD!!....OMG it was AWFUL!! It was really really expensive and super nasty!! The larger museums have their own food venues inside and they all looked pretty bad....we took a gamble on what looked to be the best one and it was horrible horrible horrible in every way! So either eat before you arrive or just be hungry! LOL

Today I will be playing catch up, it's amazing how far behind in everything one can get from being gone just 1 day! Have a great week!

~ Lots of New! ~

I've just finished updating my site with lots of fresh new goodes and among them are these gorgeous Christmas cards that I wanted to show you, the pictures are totally frameable, they're soooo pretty!

~ New Goodies and a Treat ~

Happy Tuesday! I've gotten a couple new things over the past few days that I wanted to share with you!

In Monday's mail was a doll I purchased from Jenn of Rabbit Hill Primitives. The doll's name is Hannah and oh my goodness is she ever special!! I think by now you all know that I love primitive handmade dolls, but not just any doll will do mind you, they have to speak to me, well a few days ago when I first saw Hannah I knew she was special. She is so petite and wonderfully drab and old looking, and even more special in person, I just love her! Right now I have her sitting on my coffee table so I can look at her when I'm on the sofa watching evening television. Isn't she awesome?

In Saturday's mail there was a sign that I purchased from Kath of All Things Prim. It says, "PRIMITIVES Simple Treasures Of The Past". She does such lovely work! When I first saw the sign on her selling blog I thought to myself how much I'd love to have it but I didn't think that I had anywhere to put it. However, after taking a stroll around the house I spotted a place for it so I decided to make the purchase.


The spot is right above the bowl rack that is above the dry sink in the breakfast nook. I think it looks really nice there, don't you?















Then the last thing I wanted to share today is a recipe of sorts that I got from Sarah's blog, All Roads Lead Home. Thanks for posting about it Sarah! It's my kind of recipe, something I can actually make, LOL. You get a bag of candy corn (I like Brach's) and a jar of Planter's salted peanuts (I went with lightly salted) mix the two together in a bowl and there you have a yummy October treat!
The flavors and the textures go really good together. The flavor kinda reminds me of Big Hunk minus the teeth pulling effect, LOL. Do they still make Big Hunk? I haven't looked for that for years!

Well that's all for now, still waiting for cooler weather here in Central Virginia....the nights have begun to cool down a bit but it's still much too warm during the day to suit me! Have a wonderful rest of the week and find joy in whatever you do!

~ My New Chair ~

Well my rocking chair got done sooner than I expected and it is now home and in its place!




It is done in black over red with a slight crackle finish to it.






It even looks good with my silly mauve carpet, ha!




Now I think I need to find just the right little pillow to set in the chair, something that husband will have to move everytime he sits in it, teehee!