What I did last Spring

I'm a little slow getting my act together, but here is a view of what I did on my trip to Virginia in May of this year. The video includes places I visited in Loudoun County, including Leesburg, Bluemont Vineyards, the Loudoun County Farm Tour, and Lucketts Spring Antiques Fair. What a great trip.

Post Card from Loudon County

Greetings from Virginia

View looking east from Bluemont Vineyards

at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains

We visited for the view of Loudon County. 

These ladies were on the Sunday wine tasting tour. 

Loudon County is Virginia's wine country.

Looking back up the hill (a mountain by Virginian's standards) at the Bluemont Vineyards

Great Country Farms are kid friendly . . . .

Where even the kids' train is painted like cows!

Summertime swimming hole?

Everything is green and lush in May.

Kids can learn to play chess--Giant Size.

The barns are red,

the farmhouses are white,

and the peonies are HUGE.

Wish you were here.

OFF TO D.C.

I'm leaving on a jet plane . . .

Don't know when I'll be back again. . .

Oh, babe, I hate to go. . .

Actually, I'll return on May 24!

Hope to post some pretty post cards.

So where've I been??

Escape to Jackson, WY

Okay, so we've now been without air conditioning for over five weeks. During the hottest month of the year. During an especially hot July. Yes, we are surviving, but just barely. The heat is not conducive to creativity or writing. I'm not getting much done.

It is 8:00 PM and 92 degrees. I'm in the basement with three fans pointing at me. My husband has a kidney stone because of dehydration, so he's stoned on Lortab right now, trying to sleep it out. Our animals sit in front of the fans and block the moving air.

Our house has been refinanced once again (third time with in one year). And finally, the loan was approved, so the money for the air-conditioner/furnace will soon be here. By the time everything is installed, the weather will be probably be cooler and we won't need the furnace until October.

Speaking of October: I am going to London on October 31. A dear friend had enough "frequent flier miles" to pay for my round-trip ticket! She and I plus another friend will spend a week museum crawling. I can't believe how lucky I am. London is my favorite city in the entire world and I will be spending the next three months getting ready to go.

We did take one short get-away to the Tetons. The weather was just right, the sights were beautiful. Saw lots of deer and elk, even one grizzly bear. Coming back, we took the seldom used Glassy Lake Road west of Flagg Ranch. Passed only a few other cars in fifty-two miles to Ashton, Idaho. Then instead of taking the Interstate, we drove the "back" highway (32) through beautiful rolling farmland. I felt as if I was in Iowa instead of Idaho.

Grassy Lake Road

We even passed the site of the Teton Dam collapse of 1976, near Sugar City, Idaho. Construction of earthenware dam began in 1971 and it opened in 1975. It cost the government $100 million to build and $300 million to pay claims for damages after the dam failed. Eleven people and 13,000 head of cattle lost their lives. Thousands of people lost their homes and farms.

Teton Dam Failure

I'm still here. Still kicking, just not blogging.