nice trip

Over the long weekend, I drove down into southern MD to visit a friend.  Deb and her husband bought a house down there last year, I think.  They have a huge yard full of pine trees and poison ivy!  Actually it could be a wonderful yard, but it needs LOTS of work.  Deb isn't a gardener, as I am, but she has plans for that yard.  Anyway, one of the reasons I went down to visit her was to help her find plants to put into pots, to give the place some color.  I'm not really a gardening expert, but I can help those who are truly beginners. 

It was a great weekend.  We spent the better part of Saturday going to yard sales and flea markets, as well as picking strawberries and visiting a plant nursery run by the Amish.  Lots of herbs, which is what Deb was interested in, and many other plants.  Needless-to-say, I bought some, including three Rex begonias and a plant that is a member of some grain family.  It has a dark brown bloom - fascinating. It's in the back of the photo.  The strawberries are wonderful - the sweetest I've ever eaten.  I have a few un-hulled ones in the fridge and two bags of frozen ones, to be used on top of ice cream and for shortcake.

We went to a huge flea market place that had a wide variety of items - antiques, new flea market stuff, even a lovely gift shop in one building.  I bought a light-weight blouse that was hand dyed, a denim cowboy hat and some fabulous earrings.  Saturday night we went out to dinner in North Beach at the Westlawn Inn.  This is a very posh restaurant with a small dining room and an area that is like a stage.  The entertainment that night was a husband and wife musical duo.  He played keyboard (and was very good) and she sang old love songs and other soft music.  The group of women I was with, included a friend of the singer, which is why we ate there, I believe.  Anyway, the food was excellent.  I had delicious asparagus (I usually hate it ), scallops wrapped in paper thin cucumber slices and rice with a mild lemon flavor.  The group I was with consisted of  four of Deb's friends.  They were really nice women and made me feel welcome, even though I had only met one of them previously.  It was a wonderful evening.

One my way home Monday, I stopped at the Chesapeake Marketplace in St. Leonard.  Only went through one building, as I wanted to get home. I bought the glass dragon there.  It was there that I discovered my bank card was missing.  Details of that are on Facebook.  I'll just say that I was right in thinking that I had left the card in an ATM.  The machine grabbed it when I didn't take it out.  I wasn't sure if that was what I had done (or actually NOT done), so I spent some time worrying about it.  I tried to call the bank yesterday, but their automated system wouldn't take my information because I didn't know what my ID was.  That was frustrating, but 'all's well that ends well.'  I called the bank this AM and they will send me a new card.

Last night, my new neighbor wanted to get our lawns mowed.  He doesn't have a lawn mower and I have a push mower that I stopped using, as it wouldn't cut my grass.  He used it and it worked fine.  Obviously operator error!  Actually, I think it's because he went fast.  When I used it, I went slowly.  Anyway, we have worked out an agreement.  He will use my mower to mow both lawns and I will do the edging with my weed wacker.  The only down side of this is that I'm sure I will be trimming my grass much more often that usual.  I usually don't mow all that often, but I have a feeling that my neighbor will do it every week.  It does look nice, however.  The dark orange lilies were still just budded when I left on Friday.  Look at them now!