Some Recent Adventures: June 2013

Here is a quick run-down of some exciting adventures we've been having this summer, in case you were interested:

This summer has been the summer of instruments. At a couple different auctions and a "garage" sale, we've bought: a violin, an oboe, a saxophone (which we later sold to another auction-goer who said he was really interested in it), and this GORGEOUS organ. The organ is probably the "best buy" considering its size, the shape it is in (it works - only one pedal strap is broken we think, so we're hoping to get that checked out, and a couple stops don't work, but it is playable), and the price, $80. Matt is loving it and is learning to play tons of video game music on it.

The garage and driveway were repoured. I didn't think to take before picture of the garage, which was the worst part. It had a split down the middle that left one side about an inch higher than the other, and both sides slanted downward. The driveway was also bad near the road and several days a week my car would bottom-out on it.

It is SO beautiful now.

I probably have an old picture of the front of the house showing the driveway before but am too lazy to look it up right now. Trust me, it is much better. They even made the driveway smooth out to the street rather than have a dip. I sometimes forget and slow my car down, then when I roll out to the street it is heavenly.

We bought and planted this delphinium, which entranced Matt with its blue-purple flowers...

... and this clematis, some balloon flowers, and dusty miller.

Tired of the dishwasher not fully cleaning the dishes, I stupidly added just a little bit of dish soap (for handwashing) as "prewash." Bad idea. Llyr was meowing like crazy and I thought he wanted to go out, but after walking into the kitchen to find this, I think he was alerting me that a white, fluffy monster was creeping out of the dishwasher and scaring him.

Luckily it cleaned up pretty easy with a towel. It was mostly suds.

After my craft-visit with Melissa, I picked up Matt and we headed to Arrow Rock for a short vacation to see The Wizard of Oz at the Lyceum Theatre. We stayed at Borgman's Bed and Breakfast, which was really homey and relaxing. I would definitely recommend it.

Sweet old-time quilts and decor in the upper rooms of the house. We also were treated to a delicious breakfast and got to chat with the owner and two other guests the next morning.

We met Mr. Fancy Pants, who made us miss Llyr a little less, since he was practically exactly like him, but with a LOT longer, fluffier hair. He acted a lot like Llyr, too, in all the nice ways. He lives at the B&B.

Right before we headed out, I interviewed at a high school where I've wanted to work eventually, and they offered me the job! Although I'll miss being a GA in the fall, I'm very excited to have a full-time job a year earlier than I planned, in just the place I wanted to work. I'll still be taking one graduate course per semester, so it will be a busy year, but there will be lots of new experiences I am excited about.

We ate at the J. Huston Tavern. They only have one meal option, but it is basically all you can eat. There was fried chicken, roast beef, roasted corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, biscuits with apple butter, fruit, and it was all DELICIOUS. SO FULL AFTERWARDS!

We got hot, amazing cherry cobbler in this adorable little cup for dessert. Very nice celebratory dinner! We'd originally planned this trip as sort of extra-anniversary celebration since we didn't have a lot of time in April to celebrate and we wanted to see the play, but it turned out to be great timing since I got the job that day, too. We didn't plan anything for this night, but just spent time sitting (and reading for me ... still had to do some schoolwork) on the porch swing, and heading to bed early. It was a calm, beautiful day. The next day we ate at the Iron Horse in Blackwater (also delicious) and saw the play with my family. The Wizard of Oz was AMAZING. One of the best plays I've been to, and I love the movie, so there's always that worry that it won't live up to it (being slightly different is fine, but sometimes plays just doesn't seem to do justice to the movies we remember from childhood). I need not have worried - it was spectacular. They even had Ms. Gulch "fly" across stage on her bike, and the lion sounded just like the guy from the movie. Very fun weekend all in all.