Back home

Made it home all safe and sound. My trip was short, but I had a great time. I'll post more as I have time, but I thought I'd share a few things.

1. It really is summer time when flights are delayed for no apparent reason as was mine on Thursday. It was supposed to leave JIA at 10:44 AM, I think we finally left a bit after 12 noon. Luckily I had the phone number for the airline and was able to call from the airport to get a seat on the next available flight from Charlotte to Greensboro (which I know is in NC and I was going to WV, but if you were to price plane tickets to WV you'd understand why I asked family to drive 3 or so hours to come and get me there.) So, all was not completely insane, but I did arrive at the final airport about 3 hours after I thought I would. That put a bit of a crimp in the drive home, not to mention the fact that all I'd had to eat all day was a sausage biscuit from McD's and a Pria bar. There was some serious hunger going on by the time we made it to Wytheville, VA.

2. I absolutely LOVE family reunions where you feel the need to have a "taste-off" between 2 pots of chicken and dumplings! And let's not forget the other excellent food of which there was enough to feed at least a small army detachment. Yep, love family reunions!

3. The HP exchange sock had a great time! He was quite a hit at the family reunion, everyone wanted to see and touch. Unfortunately, the camera didn't seem to be around when all this admiring was going on to get pictures. I did, however, manage to get it's picture at a few other places on our Sunday outings.Me, the sock and my Uncle Jim, took a walk at their farm. This is one of the hay fields. We were standing under some beautiful trees, hence the shadows. Should have asked Uncle Jim to hold the sock and get his picture taken with it, but I didn't want to press my luck. I think he thought it was pretty silly I was taking pictures of a sock I hadn't even finished knitting!



The path we took on our nature walk, not much of a path, but it worked. What you can't see are the aromatic ceder's to the left and the different pines to the right that line this "path". There are some beautiful views from the farm. Maybe they'll make an appearance later in the week.

Here it is at the Dairy Queen in Hinton, WV. Everyone eats there. We tried to get the owner, who is also a former state senator (or is it representative, I can never remember) to have his picture taken with it, but apparently he thought my aunt had finally lost her mind. So, we just took the picture outside. (That's my mom, getting into the fun!)
This is me and the sock outside Tamarack in Beckley, WV. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it as a great place to browse and eat. (The mountain trout and fried green tomatoes from the Greenbrier restaurant inside Tamarack are wonderful!).
Finally, the sock spent some quality time with my cousin Steven back at my Aunt's house. Poor Steven was quite tired, having driven to PA to drop off a table and benches he'd made for someone he knew and then home. Not all in one day, but over the weekend. I think he also took some classes, but don't quote me on that part. I do know he was pretty tired, but since he's a good sport, he was willing to go along with the sock and the picture taking.

The best news is I'm ready to bind off the toe for this sock. I just have to make sure it's the right length. Then I'll have to work non-stop on it's pair so I can get my package in the mail to my secret pal. I really hope she likes them.

I think that's all I can manage tonight. I was staying up to see if my Night Blooming Cereus would actually bloom tonight. When we got home, I found 4 buds on it. I don't think they are ready to bloom tonight, maybe tomorrow. When they do, I'll have pictures to share. If you've never seen them, they are amazing, so stay tuned.