Day 2 A Visit to Valley Forge

   Monday was a rainy day and everyone stayed in and relaxed. Tuesday dawned bright and sunny and promised to be a beautiful day. Bill had the day off work so we all piled in the car and headed to Valley Forge PA. The hour long ride can always be eventful because you have to use the Skukill ( I spelled as we pronounce it ) expressway. It is the scariest ride ever. At least that is what I think. Along the  Schuylkill expressway you do get a nice view of the Schuylkill river, boat house row, the Art Museum, as well as some old and very interesting factories and buildings, but with the amount of traffic converging together and the speed you must travel not to be killed even the passengers in the car only catch a quick glance before it is behind us and the ride smooths out and becomes much less scary, unless the truck in front of you blows out a back tire with an ear splitting BANG that can stop your heart for a minute or two. Even with all that we arrive safe and sound at our destination and the fun begins.
    Some day I would like to walk the entire trail in the the Valley Forge State Park, and believe me that would be a big undertaking and would take the better part of a day. On this day however we are doing the driving tour and stopping at all the points of interest. If you have never been and you are in this area you should go. Walking or driving it is a wonderful tour. You can also take the guided trolley tour, it looked fun but well we like moving at our own pace. We saw so much and had a great time. There were lessons on the different trees we were seeing from Bill. Always interesting stuff. His vast knowledge of trees never ceases to amaze me .

 There was a lot of nature going on around us as well as statues and monuments. We saw deer as well as butterflies and lucky me we also saw an Oriole and a Brown Headed Cow bird both birds I had never seen before. For me the birds were the highlight of the trip but not the only enjoyable part of the day. That park is just beautiful and you can't help but be in awe of it. No matter where you stand the views are breath taking and majestic. In some areas it is so green you would swear that someone had taken a paint brush to it. We absolutely enjoyed our time spent driving around Valley Forge. It is a beautiful park rich with history and pride, you leave there feeling good with just an inkling of an idea of the sacrifice that was made in an effort to build this country.  

The Brown Headed Cow Bird. A cool looking fellow and not to terribly shy either. 

I think this is one of the coolest monuments it has some very neat carving and stone working for sure.

George Washington in uniform but without his sword. Look at the view behind him.

Have you ever seen so much green? and it goes on for what seems like forever.

This lovely creature was enjoying natures green carpet as well.

Everyone enjoyed this tour very much. Even mom felt the need to step out and enjoy the view.

Day 1 for the Visitors

It rained yesterday. At times so hard you could not see across the street. The weather was so nasty you really didn't want to go out side even for a ride. So my house was the tour destination of the day. A quick trip to Walmart later in the afternoon will be the highlight of the day. 
    House bound doesn't mean bored, there's lots to  talk about and laugh about so the day passed quickly and before you knew it it was dinner time. It was fun fixing dinner with Julie, dinner was ready in no time flat and it was Gooood . Chicken legs breaded in oatmeal and baked with corn on the cob, baked beans, and a nice tossed salad. There was very little talking going on at that table. It is kind of hard to hold a conversation around forks full of food.

After some more conversation and Mom modeling her new dress we called it a night. Joe and Julie made there way back to there hotel after lots of hugs and kisses and the wish for better weather and a plan to visit Valley Forge the next day rain or shine.

Today has dawned with the sun shinning and the birds singing, it is looking like a good day to take a ride.

Redo

As you see I am re working this blog. As much as I enjoy cooking and recipe hunting I wanted a little freedom to write about other things without having to go to the other blogs I have. In life I am trying to condense and be more compact making it easier to locate and reach what ever I may be looking for and in my blog I want to do the same thing. Sort of like one stop shopping only you don't know what your are going to get.

   I really don't know what I want to write about all I know is that I want to write. I paid a whole dollar for a book called the writing craft. It has some interesting little things in it about how to get started writing it is a little wordy for my taste but I will just skim over what I already know and what bores me. The book gives assignments to do and the first one is to write about a special moment in your life, what shaped your life, after sleeping on it all night and thinking about it I drew a blank so I thought well heck when I wrote about food I didn't plan it out and think about it I just started writing and the words came. So just start writing I tell myself only to realize now as I am writing I always had a subject at least to get me started, today I have no subject and only the inkling of an idea to get me started, but I have written 2 paragraphs about nothing and it just feels so good to write something.

  Last weekend we had the pleasure of Madeline's company. She attended the first ever annual New Jersey/East Coast Allrecipeeps round up on the beach in Cape May. She was the official photographer and she did an awesome job.

 This is a sample of her work, the beach was stone not sand and stones are her absolute favorite so she felt inclined to take a picture of it. All that see this agree it is a framer for sure. We also picked strawberries out back in the sun shine, and we ended the weekend BBQing with my kids.

  Every sunny day last week I was out back weeding the garden and picking Strawberries. I would pick them bring them in clean them slice them and then freeze them. My freezer was getting full and I still had more to pick and to be honest I was getting bored with freezing the berries so I decided it was time to step out of my boring comfort zone and try something I said I was going to do this year. Canning! So I made jam. I am pretty sure that is considered canning? Anyway the results were great and I am all pumped to do some more. How ever the strawberries are slowing down and I needed to wait a day for what is left on the plants to ripen up the rest of the way. I figured they would be ready to pick today and I am sure they are only it is raining so hard now you need a boat to get out back.

With a little luck the rain will stop soon and the sun will come back out to play. Then watch out berries here I come.

   This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a very special friends wedding. It was as beautiful as she is. The words China Doll escaped my husbands lips as the Bride made her way to her groom. The doorway they stood in front of to say their vows was made by the groom and adorned with vases and wash tubs filled with flowers all loving done by the brides mother. We drank, we ate, we danced,& laughed but most of all we wish the handsome couple a long life of love and happiness.

This week begins with rain and tourist. My Brother Joe and his Wife Julie are here for the week. With any luck at all this rainy Monday will be the only rain they see this week. 

This is an experiment, I have been looking all over for a new home for blogging because I have not been able to up load photos here. I have how ever missed this place. A link to a recipe brought me back to my favorite blog spot and after a little test it seems I can once again do this

So as long as I can continue to upload photos I am once again home and back in the habit of writing a daily blog. What it will be about I have not a single idea, however that doesn't matter all that matters is that I am home. 

Find this blog and recipe at

Tastes like a memory blog and recipe

This is where you will find my blog and recipe link for the Lobster Mac and Cheese.