Apple Picking, Apple Wine and Apple Scented Geraniums

(AKA "Pam and Natalie's Day-of-Fun...Oh and L.A. was there too") My friend Pam was visiting recently and we took a day trip out to Markham, Va. While there we went to an orchard, a winery and a nursery.
The Stribling Orchard
Beautiful views Acres of trees loaded with apples.
Pam and Natalie...I kinda missed the apples that were in the tree but you get the idea
Alice the camel has two humps.
Alice the camel has two humps.
Alice the camel has two humps.
So ride, Alice, ride.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Ever notice that the "perfect" apple is just out of reach...almost a metaphor for life.
Beautiful apples
Pam goes for the more reasonable...reachable apples.
I on the other hand choose the apples that I can reach while simultaneously taking a picture of myself.
Cool tractor

The Stribling Family's Houses
The orchard shop
Pam picking out some goodies
Lots and lots of goodies
I thought this was cute...Mean Jean Hot Sauce. (For those who don't know my mother-in-law's name is Jean...although luckily not "Mean" Jean)

This is the little hottie that was working at the shop. He told us that he took a road trip last summer from Austin back to Virginia and that Louisiana (Lafayette in particular) was his favorite place that he's been...ever...so endearing.
Chateau O'Brien Vineyard

Cool Door Knocker
Pam enjoying a glass of the BEST wine EVER!!! We bought a case that day!

Now we're BOTH enjoying the wine

The view was so beautiful...this picture doesn't do it justice. I'm looking forward to going back in the Fall with the changing leaves!
It's a bird...It's a plane...no It's "Super L.A."
The happy trio...notice that Pam and I are considerably happier than L.A. (he didn't have any wine)

And finally...this is the nursery...I got lots of goodies from here. A couple of mums, a garlic chive, sweet basil, some other really good herb that tastes like pesto and a french lavender! (I just hope that my black thumb of death doesn't strike again.)

Caution: Closeoutitis

As many of you know I work in Financial Management (FM). September is the end of our Fiscal Year (AKA...closeout). We have recently discovered a rare new disease that affects those in the FM Community. Some of the symptoms include:
sudden lengthening of canines
multicolored nasal discharge
and unexpected facial hair growth.

If you experience any of these symptoms, please...don't call us...we could give a shit!

Subtleties of Language

So I have to pass on a pretty hilarious story that I heard tonight. I went out to happy hour with my friends Pam and Pat (from Colorado Springs) and they were talking about their dinner from the night before. Pat was a little confused about the type of food that they had eaten. They had gone out to a Lebanese restaurant however she kept referring to it as a Lesbian restaurant. While reading the menu she couldn't decide between the Lesbian salad (gives a whole new meaning to "tossing the salad") or one of the homos (spelled hommos...or as I would spell it hummus) dishes. Understandably, Pam found it hard to contain herself and they eventually scared off the neighboring patrons. As they are relaying this story to me tonight we started discussing other genres of food that we enjoy and Pam and I agreed that we both like Tapas...which Pat (understandably givin the previous conversation) thought we said "topless"bar...I must have peed a little in my pants I was laughing so hard. Love the girl time! Pam and Pat

Shopping

I'm sure that most of you know how much we love Wal-Mart and Sam's. Therefore, it might surprise you that we go to Wal-Mart about once every two months or so here. There is no Supercenter in the area and the regular Wal-Marts are so crowded/junkie/overrun that they really aren't worth the hassle.

We still hit Sam's about once a week but I do have a bitch...which is what spurred this post. Why is it that I find something that I really like at Sam's and I go back the next week and it is no longer carried. This week my complaint deals with peaches. As you know, we have been limiting our carb intake for a few months now. The way that we can do this for so long is allowing ourselves a cheat day once a week (usually Saturday). The thing that I crave the most during the week is fruit. Last week I bought a flat of white flesh peaches from Sam's. These are very likely the BEST peaches that I've ever eaten. I have been seeing these peaches for a few months now and decided to try them last week. I went back today to specifically purchase some more...no peaches anywhere in sight. Needless to say...I'm quite bummed. Now I'm sure that you (yes, you Momma) will point out that it is the end of peach season but I don't want to hear that...I want my damn white flesh peaches! (Can you picture me stomping my feet in the store???!!!???)

To soothe myself I stopped at Target on the way home. I bought a pack of peanut butter M&Ms to ease my pain. (Interesting side story...I've never been a huge M&M fan and an even less fan of peanut butter candy. One day Matt bought a bag of of peanut butter M&Ms and I was craving chocolate really bad so I ate a few...and now I really LOVE them!) I also am ready to get the party started next month in Vegas and found some totally cute shirts to go with the occasion. I know these pictures are hard to see. I was taking a picture of myself in the mirror. But I just love them and had to share...only $5 a piece at Target!
Night Owl Mystery Book Store. It says at the bottom "We put the WHHHOOO in Who Done It"
Jack-O-Lantern Old Fashioned Candy And of course, my favorite! Daddy Bones: Graveyard Tours

See you in Vegas Baby!

Overall Run Trail

I'm not sure how I managed to not post these pictures earlier. I created a post and it has sat in draft for months. These are pictures from when we hiked the Overall Run Trail back in May. (Trace this is the hike that I called you to make sure we made it out alive) I guess better late than never. Enjoy...
Let's get rolling...L.A. is checking the compass.
I'm way too happy in this picture. It MUST be early! I was too tired to smile by the end.
I knew Momma would appreciate these next two pictures. This is my pigs head log. And my elephant head log.

Oreo going for a little dip...trying to cool off and get a drink. I'm glad he didn't get diarrhea! (The boy has the weakest stomach) The pretty small falls and swimming pool...it was still too cool to enjoy.
My pretty baby! Striking a pose The happy family...or at least the portion of the happy family that would enjoy hiking.

We kept crossing paths with a guy that was hiking. He did something like 150 miles that weekend. He offered to take a picture of us. The big falls Beautiful view I must admit I didn't make it to the top to actually see the view or falls. I had been doing the Atkins diet for two weeks at this time and hadn't had any carbs during that time...including this day. I have never in my life felt like I had completely run out of juice and could not move anymore...note to self (and anyone else that might like to know) don't go on a 5 hour hike without eating carbs! My Oreo is a pooped little baby...and that says a lot to wear him out! The only other time he was this tired was when we hiked the switchbacks at Barr Camp. This picture was after we picked about 20 ticks off of him...and we continued to find them for several days after.
My poor baby...so tired! It was a long but very fun day!

Insomnia

It's 2:37 am and I am still awake. I should be asleep but I'm not. Instead, I'm watching Moonlight (which I recently discovered and really like...here I go again with my obsession with vampires and the supernatural in general) and worrying about Gustav. I'm beginning to feel like a vampire...sleep all day and stay up all night (I didn't go to sleep until after 5 am on Friday). I really don't have anything interesting to write, not even sarcastic...I know, shocking (ok, I guess I was wrong about being sarcastic). I suppose I have some narcissistic perception that anyone actually cares what I'm doing or feeling. So here I am (at now 2:47 am) rambling about absolutely nothing, beginning to feel the delirium setting in and yet still not feeling the least bit sleepy. So to spare you from this dribble I will just say goodnight...oh and did I mention how excited I am about football season starting this weekend???!!!???

Here Fishy Fishy...

I'll admit...it is somewhat an obsession...here are some new pictures of our aquarium.
This is our newest fish. It is a Flameback Angelfish. I think my favorite part (which of course you can't really see in this picture) is the vibrant blue stripe along the bottom.
This is also a newish fish...a Pinstriped Wrasse.
Our Flame Hawkfish

Niger Trigger
Gold Spot Rabbitfish
Our sweet little True Percula Clownfish. (Our anemone split into two...again).
You can see our Clownfish at the top and our Purple Tang on the right.
And this is my favorite...our Mandarin Dragonet...she is such a cutie.