Louisiana Friends....

It looks like we've got Garth Brooks or Mick Jagger staying at our house.

But the humongous 42 foot motorhome out on the driveway

belongs to Louisiana friends Matt and Suzanne.

They pulled in last weekend 

(after taking a wrong turn for the other Lexington 

.... you know the one in KY!)

and have been touring the sights

and enjoying a break from the summer heat.

Wade's Mill 

You've got to love company 

who come bearing bags of frozen crawfish

and frozen etouffee for dinner!

Matt, Suzanne and Joe at Monticello

 Since I have NO shrubs or vegetables at all,

the gardens at Monticello were quite an inspiration.

If I could only get the Monticello volunteers and garden staff

to come to my house on assignment.

 And now for some necessary blog housekeeping...

Google Reader which I use for both news and blog reading is disappearing at the end of the month.

So I'm trying out Bloglovin' and for some mysterious reason

I'm supposed to paste a cryptic text in a blog post.

This may cause the world to tilt off it's axis,

or my blog to implode,

but here goes.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Oh it's just a link.  No implosion apparently.

And no need to click the link.... it just has to be there. 

It's Not All Work

It hasn't been all work lately.

The retirement gig is pretty sweet.

We got reacquainted with our awesome horses.....

Notice the shaggy mohawk Cloud is sporting.

Do you think it's been a while since she's been clipped?

Sarge is out of practice posing for the camera

and looks like a kid making a goofy face just to aggravate his parents. 

They might not have appreciated the riding, but they loved the cool baths!

We've been playing lots of bridge

(No photos here of the mental agony and brain expansion!)

We went to the 20th annual Maury River Fiddlers Convention

I loved the name of this all women's group:  "The Canned Biscuits"!

And we went down to Buchannan to visit blogger friend Rebecca 

She came to Lexington two weeks ago,

so we'd met "in real life" once before.

Her house is awesome, she's a primo macaroon baker and I'm insanely jealous of her 4wd ATV Mule!

Trails in the Woods

Our 23+ acres is largely wooded 

or in some stage of growing back into woods. 

The older woods are a dense jungle of brambles, vines, ticks and poison ivy 

so walking it isn't an option.

Until now!!

We've begun to cut our trails/paths!

So far we head down to the woods from the house

 to the spring where Mr. Biggs is buried.

The stone cairn is where the worlds greatest Jack Russell terrier lies...

we still miss him every day.

The trail follows a deer path for a while

between the cedars at the edge of our woods.

It's not wide enough for the tractor or even the riding mower....

just a footpath.

Then we meander down to the creek

Clear water and rocks.....

We've almost made a loop around behind the house
which is our goal for the summer.

There's a LOT more to explore since we're not even halfway into our woods.

We're working with all hand tools.... weedeater, brush blade, loppers 

and Joe's the king of the chainsaw.  

A chainsaw is one of the tools that I've never handled and have no plans to start learning!

We're enjoying working together 

and I'm lucky that he's willing to help make my wild hare idea

of having walking trails become reality.

So I probably shouldn't  post this photo of him but I can't resist.

I'm married to yard art!!!

We've Got Holes in the Walls!

In previous photos, you may have noticed the sparse Shaker look 

going on with our walls.

We hadn't hung up even one thing!

Yes, we've been in for over five months.

It wasn't that I was afraid of holes in the walls....

At first my excuse was that  I was still arranging furniture,

but then it was laziness, pure and simple.

Then we did something which meant that we really HAD to get out the hammer and hangers:

we went to a gallery show in town and bought a painting.

(the barn in the center.... by local artist Michael Papit.

I've got a few original things inherited from my parents,

but the majority of our "art" is prints

(hey they're signed AND numbered!)

and odd things such as a framed paper placemat from our honeymoon hotel

and photos I took in college.

Buying a real piece of art at a gallery was shockingly out of the ordinary for us.

The first room we tackled was the dining room....

Why is nothing ever easy with me?

We had to unload both cabinets in order to move them each a couple of inches

Then we hung up our David Armstrong print...

He was a fellow Bucknellian and this was one of the first things we bought together.

Next to be hung was my Great Grandma Grace (Hindorff)

I like to have her in the dining room so that she can watch over her dining room furniture 

and china.  :)

And then the sampler that I made Joe in the 80's.

It looks like someone actually lives here now!

It looked great for a dinner party

that we hosted last weekend.

I made everyone squint due to the blazing sunset and lack of curtains, 

but at least there was art on the walls!

As for the new painting which finally got our gears moving again?

It looks pretty awesome in it's new home too!  

Bucknell Tent Party

Heavy rain, wind and black clouds.

Sun and blue skies.

Heavy rain, wind and black clouds

Sun and blue skies.

And now it's time to insert that musical symbol for repeat  :l 

Because that's how yesterday went.... over and over.  

As soon as I was convinced  that it was going to pour forever, there came the sun for an hour or so.  

I can't get a handle on the weather here!

Here's the final post about the Bucknell reunion up in PA....

Joe was a saint to meander through several huge antique places.

But we saved enough energy for the grand finale of the weekend: The Tent Party.

We had a tent party the night before graduation 35 years ago but it was nothing like this one!  

We've come a long way baby!!

The tent itself was over the size of a football field with lighting effects, lounge furniture scattered here and there and a dance floor.  

The band was over the top good.... best party band I've ever heard!  

Can't forget the fireworks, drink and food.  

Somebody's learned how to throw parties in PA!

Also attending their reunions were ALL of the "Fives":  

i.e. 5th year, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th etc all the way to 60th and then "Emeritus"

So the tent was packed.

Fun times....

Photo Op Area in the Tent.... Backdrop is a photo of Christy Mathewson Gate

Renewing Fraternity Brother Friendships

 Now that we live closer, we'll count on going back more often!

Grove's Mill, Lewisburg PA

I love this place....

I used to drive out, park my car and follow the millrace 

back to where it joined into Buffalo Creek.

There was a tiny island there that I would wade out to 

so that I could study and sunbathe all at the same time.  

I was multitasking even back then!

And since I laid in the grass for hours at a time, 

I guess there wasn't the tick epidemic then that is in the northeast now!

Do you think anyone ever wondered what the heck that girl in the red convertible

with Louisiana license plates

was doing always hanging around out here in the middle of nowhere?

No one ever asked me what I was doing

and thank heavens I never met any fishermen when I was sunbathing on the island!

This helps with the scale of the building.

I look tiny!

It was built in 1784 and it's one of the oldest continually operating 

water powered gristmills in the country.  

It was closed when we were there on Saturday afternoon

(and seemed like it might be closed permanently), 

but my internet research says it's still open on weekdays 

and is grinding flour and cracking corn for animal feed.  

 I'm not sure what's going on with the window shown below....

it's got insulators all over the place and several little box like contraptions.....

 I only went inside a few times during college; 

I didn't have much need for livestock feed or cracked corn in those days!

And I never had the nerve to ask them to take photos of the interior.

What a shame....

But maybe one day I'll be back when someone's around.

I'd have no problem begging to be allowed to take interior photos now!

Loading doors?

Loading chute for either bags or loose corn?

 The grass was overgrown along the millrace and we needed to get back to town,

so I didn't go back to the creek ....

maybe some things are better left to memories?

More millstones ....

If you're into mills or old machinery, here's a link to a webpage with photos of the interior.

Barn Charm? Country Drive at Reunion

I was fortunate enough to have a car in college.

Those were the days.... zipping along with the top down over winding country roads

with names like Old Schoolhouse Rd, Hoffa Mill Rd, Snake Hollow and Skunk Hill; 

By the end of my four years in Lewisburg, 

they were all as familiar to me as the halls and buildings of campus.  

So of course a visit back for reunion meant that I had to go revisit the countryside again.

I felt sorry for fellow students who never ventured out from the town limits.

What sights they missed out on!

Farms everywhere.

"Small" farms of maybe 150 acres with huge barns and silos.

One right after another.... several usually visible within sight of each other.

Covered bridges, clear streams, apple trees, dairy cows 

and corn, corn everywhere.

If corn is supposed to be "Knee high by the fourth of July"

maybe it's on target if it's "Ankle high on the 2nd of June"

There's a large Mennonite and Amish population.  

I expect that explains why the farms are in such tip top condition. 

It's rare to see junk, trash (and surely no old vehicles!) littering up the barnyards.

I like this barn with the additions and three paint schemes....

It looks like the central portion was first and the red board section and the gambrel roof wings were added later.

Tomorrow I'll post photos of my favorite place in the county.

I tried to keep it a secret while I was there 

but it's too pretty not to share.

College Days.... Bucknell Reunion

Sometimes I surprise even myself. 

I managed to do the two previous posts 

ahead of time 

and published them via autopost 

because we've been on the road!

We headed north this past weekend 

to attend a college reunion in Lewisburg PA.

We've been Bucknell alums for 35 years!!

Like most of my Louisiana friends, 

I'd never heard of Bucknell

until I saw their catalogue 

in my high school guidance counselors office.

The internet or at least a helpful counselor would have been awesome; 

I had only the giant tome 

Peterson's Guide to Colleges 

to help me know that Bucknell 

might be a good fit.

When UVA, my first choice, didn't accept me, 

Bucknell rose from the bridesmaid position

 and my parents surely must have thought I'd lost my mind.

I got to Virginia in the end didn't I?!!

And I'll be eternally grateful for that rejection letter from UVA.

Bertrand Library.... definitely spent some time there!

My parent's money was well spent: 

I got a superb education and never regretted

getting outside my comfort zone by going so far from home

.

Much was expected of me and my limits were stretched daily 

as I tried to keep up with the heavy demands of reading and writing 

at what was known then as an "almost ivy" school.

I came out of my shell 

by going where nobody knew that I was a shy goody two-shoes,

and I partied pretty heavy in addition to studying!

And best of all, I met Joe during my Sr. year.

Attending functions and paying the tuition bills at the boys colleges 

took precedence over tripping down memory lane at our own school,

so it had been 20 years since we'd attended a reunion.

Robert's Hall.... My Freshman Dorm

The new buildings on campus (and there were lots) didn't mean anything to me,

instead we wandered around looking only at our old haunts.

I used to love studying in this small reading room in the Vaughn Lit building.

The dark paneling, table lamps and leather bound books

made me feel like I 'd stepped back in time even back in the 70's.

Downtown Lewisburg is a short three block walk from campus and the town looked......

Dare, I say it.....

Better than Lexington?

Growing up in Baton Rouge, 

I'd never seen anything like these Victorian houses and storefronts.

The businesses appeared to be holding their own 

against the explosion of chains and mega stores out on the highway.  

The old Art Deco Movie Theatre with the awesome neon sign

There were lots of restaurants to choose from on Friday PM, 

but we followed our hearts, 

acted like college students again 

and split a pizza!

We just HAD to see if a "Za"from Casa de Pizza 

was still as good as in the old days.

It was even better!  

Tony had passed away but his son was filling his shoes nicely.

What a huge relief it was when I remembered a lot of names 

and a few faces 

at the class cocktail party Friday PM.

We didn't try to relive our 

drinking to excess college days, 

but we were the last ones to leave the party well after midnight! 

continued tomorrow.....