fairy houses and craft sale at Anne Marie Gardens

Friday, I drove down to southern Maryland (Lusby area) to visit my friend Deb.  As usual she had plans for what we would do.  Some of those plans had to be modified a bit, as her daughter-in-law was having a baby!  My friend and her husband were keeping their older grandson (age 3) and the dog, while the new parents were at the hospital.  The little boy is very cute, but he does have a mind of his own (what 3-year old doesn't?).  We still managed to do quite a few grown-up things.  Grandpa minded the baby some of the time.

Friday evening, we went out on a converted oyster boat for a little cruise around the harbor.  The weather was clear, sunny, but not too hot.  After that, we browsed around in the Maritime Museum, looking at an art exhibit there and checking out the gift shop.  We ate dinner in Solomons, at a very nice restaurant in, specializing in Italian food and sea food.  We sat on the patio, by the water, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.  They even had live music - a fellow playing guitar and singing older songs.  The music  made a great background for conversation.  The food was excellent; we tried a white wine that was new to me, and sat around chatting and sipping wine until 8 PM.  Before we left to drive home, we crossed the road and watched the sun go down behind the big bridge at Solomons.   I just wish I had taken my camera!  It was a beautiful sunset.

Saturday, I had a table at the Maker's Market held once a month at Anne Marie Gardens.  If you are ever down that way, I recommend stopping at the Gardens.  They have a trail through the woods, with interesting statues and carvings along the way.  Nice gift shop there too.  Saturday, they had 'fairy houses' on display along the trail.  Here are  photos of a few of them.  Local artists made the houses.  They do this every year.  All the 'houses' were very clever.

The craft sale was not very successful from my point of view.  I sold a few pieces, but spent more money buying other folk's crafts than I made selling my own!  Not unexpected.  Still I had a nice shady spot for my table and it was fun chatting with folks that came by.  My friend knew a lot of the buyers as well as many of the sellers, so we had conversation with many folks.  Southern Maryland has changed over the years, from the time Kate went to St. Mary's College there. (about 20 years ago!)  Many retired people have moved down there and the stores and restaurants reflect that.

Saturday afternoon, we stopped by the hospital to see the new baby and then headed out to find a particular nursery (for plants, not babies) that Deb and I have been to before.  We were disappointed to find they were closed.  It's run by an Amish family and there was some sort of church thing going on all weekend.  We did stop at a couple of places on the way home, including a very nice antique/interior design store.  And yes, I bought a few items.  Got a decorative birdhouse, dirt cheap.   Went out to dinner again that night.  Not as good a dinner.  We split a steak topped with crab imperial.  Unfortunately, the steak was full of gristle.  The salads were very good, as were the potatoes and the crab meat, so we didn't starve!

Sunday, we had the three-year-old again, but managed to leave him with Grandpa for a couple of hours while we went to an antique store and ate lunch out.  I only bought one little glass bottle (crackle grass).  This was probably a new record for me for minimum purchases at antique stores!  Actually, that's wrong - I bought another birdhouse, but that wasn't at the antique store, but at a small craft store on the same property.




Before I left, I helped my friend a bit with some gardening.  We visited her garden plot.  It's new for her this year.  I really don't know much about growing vegetables, but I offered what advice I could.  She has lots of green tomatoes on her cherry tomato plants.  Should get a good crop there.  Back at her house, I planted some basil and other plants she had bought.  The yard there is almost totally shaded, so it's hard for her to grow flowers.  And, the deer come out of the woods across the street, so most flowers don't do well there.  Hopefully, some of what we planted will survive.  I headed home mid-afternoon.  I had watering to do when I got home, as we didn't get any rain to speak of, over the weekend.  It was nice to be back in my own bed last night!