October 30, 2017

Another dusting of snow last night - our third snow this season!

A really scary thing happened today because of it...

I was heading to a dentist appt in another town, and was driving down a highway at 65 mph.

I had the windshield wipers on because of a light mist that was falling.

All of a sudden - and I mean that, it was sudden - I couldn't see out of the windshield,

except for one tiny vertical slit near the middle.

I fumbled to get the defroster on, but it didn't seem to be working very quickly,

so I used the back of my hand to wipe the fog off the inside of the windshield.

Nothing happened.

There was no fog.

That's when I realized it was ice on the windshield.

It was all I could do to keep from panicking.

I cranked the defroster up all the way and prayed for help.

I was in the left lane with a cement wall beside me, 

and it didn't occur to me to take my eyes off the slit in the windshield long enough 

to look to my right to see if I could move over and pull off on the side of the road.

Eventually the ice started melting, but it was a scary couple of minutes.

Thankfully my dentist has nitrous oxide.  :)

October 27, 2017

We got our second snow of the season last night!

It was just a light dusting, but we'll take it!  :)

Our backyard is tiny, but I love the morning sun in it.

Also, I guess it's time to get the hammock and umbrella put away. :)

October 22, 2017

We also make it a point to go to Smithfield Station every visit.

It's a restaurant in Smithfield on the Pagan River, about 45 minutes from Portsmouth.

Smithfield is known for its ham and bacon.

No trip to Smithfield Station would be complete without the bacon-wrapped scallops served with remoulade sauce.

Although my parents have told me they have indeed survived without them - but why tempt fate like that?

 My sauteed crab sandwich.

 My mom's seafood quiche.

Yet another Eastern Carolina BBQ sandwich for Jed.

Still loving after 60 years!  :)

Happy anniversary, Mom & Dad!

October 20, 2017

We drove to Portsmouth, VA to spend a week with my parents and celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.

We always drive down to the waterfront while we're visiting.  

That's the Elizabeth River - it separates Portsmouth from Norfolk.

A Carnival cruise ship was docked across the river in Norfolk.

While we're driving around downtown, we always visit my favorite neighborhood in Porstmouth - 

Swimming Point.  

It's a tiny neighborhood - only two streets go down to the water.

October 17, 2017

We celebrated this little princess's birthday the next day.

October 16, 2017

We celebrated Jed's birthday while we were in NC, but taking him to an escape room.

There was a twist to this one, though - instead of us all trying to escape, Jed was being held hostage in a hidden room within the room we were locked in, and we had to rescue him first.  Sadly, we didn't make it before the time ran out.  I hope they're feeding him.  :D

October 14, 2017

My son coaches his son's football team, and we were so glad to get to see him play while we were visiting!

October 13, 2017

We went to a BBQ restaurant today, which was great since we can't get Eastern Carolina BBQ at home.

The pig outside was quite the attraction.  :)

October 12, 2017

We got to babysit this little sweetheart today and Jed and I both are totally smitten.  :)

My daughter-in-law and I took my granddaughter to her swim lesson tonight - she loves the water!!

October 11, 2017

Jed and I boarded the train in Golden this morning at 4:13, 

and arrived at the Denver airport at 6:00 for an 8:00 flight to Charlotte!  

This window faced the east, where the sun was rising....

 ...while this window showed a sky still darkened a little by night.

My daughter-in-law picked us up from the airport this afternoon, 

and these beautiful flowers and this sweet note from my son were waiting for us.

Makes getting up at 3:15 totally worth it!  :)

October 9, 2017

What a difference a few days can make!  

Butterfly swarms on Friday, snow on Monday.

I hope they got out of town in time.

October 6, 2017

There is a swarm of painted lady butterflies migrating through Denver so thickly that they showed up on the local weather radar!  Read about it here.

We had our fair share in Golden...they loved the lavender in our front yard.  When I walked through it on either side of the walkway this morning to get the mail, it looked like hundreds of them lifted up and fluttered away.  Luckily for me, a few came back as I was retrieving my camera.

October 3, 2017

Our first sign of fall, discovered in the village of Jed's piano teacher at this week's lesson.