Nearly a Week at the Farm

I love going to the farm. It's about an hour away in Duck River, TN. It's my best chance for uninterrupted scrapbooking. We've gone enough over the past few years to have it down to a fine art. Karolyn brings the Cricut and puts up the sewing machine. Pam brings Quickutz tools and dies. I bring the cutting system, computer, printer, masks and mists (which we pretty much never use). We share the meals. It's 4 or 5 days of doing whatever you want.

Sometimes we work in a walk. I took this picture from the road above the property. Just to let you get an idea of how high up this actually is, my fitbit registered 20 flights of stairs! It's a slow uphill grade that goes on and on.

We usually start our day on the front porch with coffee or tea and a few magazines. We have breakfast on the porch too. Then we start scrapbooking with music in the background. We break for lunch on the back deck. Then we read, scrapbook, and nap in the afternoon---happy hour and more magazines on the front porch. We have dinner in front of whatever television shows are on for the night and we scrapbook late in to the evening.

During our first Happy Hour on Monday, Karolyn spotted this little snake (about 12" long) on one of the stepping stones. We think it's a little garden snake. I don't like snakes. Hence the blurry picture. I was not going to get too close. We left it alone.

We noticed this praying mantis the next morning. It was very big. I think it is carrying eggs. It was not at all skittish.

The only thing different about this trip was that Jeanne and Janet came down from St. Louis to join us. They arrived Tuesday evening.

Bruce came out on Thursday evening to cook a Cajun dinner for us (the Broussards are our Cajun friends and the owners of the farm). We started with cocktails---we label our cups for the week. Janet brought "red licorice" vodka---thus the tiny cups.

We took a ride. Janet (in red), Pam (in the middle) and Jeanne on the end---were on the Polaris. Karolyn and I followed behind in the "gator." After a while, the Polaris started to have some trouble. Bruce took it back to the farm. The girls piled in the back of the gator. Little did we know that they would become covered in dust. You could actually write in the dust all over them. Karolyn and I, who were riding in the front didn't get dusty. Still, seeing them made us all need showers!!

Bruce had brought Hugh (Pam's husband) along to help serve the meal. He made jambalaya, cole slaw and served it with French bread. Delicious! He even stopped at the Loveless Cafe for a chocolate chess pie. They did all of the clean up---an added bonus!

Often times, we each might plan a little something to teach or demonstrate a new technique. Karolyn taught us a new sewing technique---I'll have to photograph it to share here. I taught a new way to do the sunburst technique. Jeanne planned a title page for us.

This trip was nearly 6 days long and still it went by too fast. When we got home on Saturday, Jeanne parked herself on the couch, Janet was in the recliner and I was in my chair. We didn't budge all afternoon. We ordered Chinese food for dinner and got a movie on Pay-per-view.

There's something so exhausting about doing nothing!!!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Karolyn and I frolicked in the rain!!! Neither of us had frolicked in years!! I guess that's what red licorice vodka will do for you!