What a lovely weekend!

This has been a very nice weekend.  On Saturday, a friend and I went into Baltimore to visit the Visionary Art Museum.  We had been there before and found it easily.  This time, however, there was a glitch in the directions and we ended up going back towards home on I-95.  We managed to do this not once, but twice, with quite a bit of driving around in the city, unable to find Key Highway.  Finally, we plugged in the GPS and followed its directions.  We also discovered what was wrong with our original directions - they took us off I95 one exit too soon!  Anyway, we did find the museum and had a great time looking at all the very unusual art on display, inside and out.  It's such a fun place!  I highly recommend it for anyone who has a chance to see it, especially if you have children.  Kids love the place!  However, do not expect traditional art.  Notice the word - visionary' in the name?  They mean it.  Deb and I create some unusual ceramic stuff ourselves, so we are exactly the right kind of people to enjoy the museum.  A friend of Deb's had things on display - really fascinating things made of metal objects and other 'found' stuff. 

Later Deb and I walked around the end of the harbor and strolled around on the promenade at Harbor Place.  Lots of folks taking advantage of the beautiful weather.  Everybody seemed happy and carefree.  The only disappointment was that Rita's ran out of everything except Italian Ice.  We were all set for custard.  So sad.

We left Baltimore without further problems.  I can get out of Baltimore, it was just the getting in that was a problem.  Anyway, we decided to go to Columbia and eat at the Cheesecake Factory.  (Deb and I both LOVE cheesecake.)  Unfortunately hundreds of other folks in Columbia on a lovely weekend also wanted cheesecake.  The place was a mob scene and the wait was more than half an hour.  We then tried  P.F.Chang, which is next door.  There the wait was over an hour!  Uno's was next and there we got lucky.  The seated us immediately outside, which is what we wanted.  We practically had the little patio to ourselves and it was blessed quiet.  I had only eaten lunches at Uno's so did not realize how interesting their dinner menu is.  We shared a glass of wine, a couple of appetizers and each had one of their mini desserts.  It was a delightful ending to a great day.  Only problem, once we got home, was to stay awake until a reasonable bedtime!

Deb left for home Sunday AM and I went to church, as usual.  When I got home at noon, I decided to work outside for a few hours.   It was just too nice to stay inside.  My back yard was a jungle!  Really.  I wish I had taken a photo of it as it was then.  Our very wet summer made everything grow like crazy.  The path through the back yard (covered with wood chips) looked like part of the flower beds on either side.  The chips have been deteriorating over the years and plants have grown up in the path.  It was a mass (or mess?) of violets and unidentified weeds.  After I trimmed a few bushes, so that I could actually walk down my steps and into the back yard, I started pulling weeds from the path.  I also did just a bit of weeding and trimming in the flower beds.  After a couple of hours, I had filled two large yard trash bags and was ready to stop.  It does look much better, so I guess it is worth the sore back I have today.  I'll post some photos of the back yard now and the monster coleus on the deck.  It's just amazing how big some plants get when they have unlimited water.

 This is the path and corner of the backyard.  There are still green bits on the path, but they are not growing there - just pieces of plants that didn't get picked up.

 Here are the monster coleus plants, along with a lovely orange mum.  I really love that dark red coleus.  The variety is supposed to get big, but this year it is exceptional.

This tree is actually down the street from my house, but it's the first one on the street to show fall color, so I included it anyway.  It's a Bradford Pear tree - they are always the first to get fall color. The tree in front of my house is just beginning to turn.  Both will be more colorful in a week or so.