Toes Like an Ogre...

Delilah and I went shopping together yesterday, and decided we needed some new toe polish for the summer. Delilah picked out a very nice sparkly pink and a sparkly purple. My choice you see above... Not sure what I was thinking. I guess I just wanted something a little different. The color is called "Go Go Green", but Delilah, having Shrek fresh on the brain, decided that it was "Ogre Green". Well, I went ahead and tried it out (I know toes are ugly, but here they are...)
Yes, here are my Ogre Green toes. Aren't they......swampy? LOL!! Well, if "different" is what I wanted, I got it. I thought it was hideous at first, but it's growing on me.
All right, well that's all for now- I'm supposed to be cleaning! -Rachael

Lilies After All...

Well after that frost a while back, all our lilies were dead and wilted. I thought for sure we just wouldn't have them this year. However, with the warmth and spots of rain, they have made a comeback! They are looking very healthy these days- and growing very nicely. Should be some flowers coming up pretty soon. I can't say the same for our maple tree though, it's still mostly dead. Too bad, because it's a really pretty tree.

Only 220 Days Until Christmas...

Well, after all the traveling in March and April, we thought Dave might be home for a while, but it didn't turn out to be the case. He left again on Tuesday on another trip to China. He'll be getting back on the 26th. I had gone and renewed my passport so I could start traveling with him, but it didn't get here until 2 days after he left. Actually, this was much earlier than I expected it, because they told me it would take ten weeks from when I sent it off. So, I am ready for the NEXT trip...
I tried a new banana bread recipe last night. I got it from BettyCrocker.com. It uses Bisquik. It's quite tasty. It has lots of walnuts in it, which in my opinion, is the only way to eat banana bread. I had a slice hot out of the oven last night with butter melted all over it- yum!
Well...I thought I had more to write about, but I've gone completely blank. I guess I will add more later if it comes back to me...

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, we made our yearly trip to the Greek Luncheon in Asheville. Pictured L to R: Diane (my mom), Dale, Greg, Sarah, Dave, Delilah and me. We ate chicken and rice, pastichio, spanikopita, some kind of meatballs, good bread, and of course, dessert. I had a Napoleon- yum!
After we ate, we headed over to the WNC Nature Center and walked around. We saw the wolves, the bears, the deer, the hawks....and the peacock! We got to pet the goats and the sheep, and we even saw some baby chickens and little piggies. It was a lot of fun!
This old tractor was outside the barn there, and Dave hopped on for a minute, so I took his picture. We all got a good laugh. After we left the Nature Center, we went to the Marble Slab Creamery and got ice cream. It was a good day.

QUARANTINE

Last weekend, I attended the Alliance Women's Retreat for our area/region....whatever it is. It wasn't far from home, just down the road to Ridgecrest. It was a great conference. The speaker was very good, and I came away with many things to ponder.
Unfortunately, I also came away with a virus. There were over 1000 people at Ridgecrest over the weekend (not just Alliance Women, there were about 600 of us), so it was bound to happen. It hit me Tuesday full force and I spent the last 3 days with a sour stomach and not feeling too keen. Today is the first day I have felt better, but I woke to discover that I had shared the nasty little virus, and now Dave is suffering from it. I guess when you're married, you really do share *everything*. So, I have quarantined us. Dave stayed home today, and the weekend is here, so we don't have to go anywhere or see anyone. We'll just stay home and get to feeling better.
On another note, it rained today! And yesterday. And it's supposed to rain tomorrow. We needed it. Maybe this will give all the little plants that were killed by that frost we had a couple weeks ago a second chance. I'm really hoping my lilies come back. I will really miss them if they don't bloom this year.
Well, I am going to sign off. Much to catch up on after 3 days of being sick...