Summer ... and the living is easy. Other than the week in early June with temps near 100 degrees, it has been pleasantly seasonal throughout the Valley. The past week has seen thunderstorms rolling through with some badly-needed rain for the parched yards and gardens. The 4th of July parade and cookouts were fantastic ... the rain worked around events ... and it was great to spend time with friends, family, and neighbors....Speaking of gardens ... the veggies in ours have started coming in. Over the weekend we grilled Yukon Gold potatoes, onions, and green peppers along with store-bought baby carrots. The first of the crooked-neck yellow squash and onions was yummy ... I'm waiting for more of those to be ready to pick. The cherry tomatoes are ripening but none of the large tomates are ready quite yet, and banana peppers have been coming in for a week now. It all makes for goooood eating!
A friend bought and started pumpkin seeds and passed them on so we can plant the seedlings in our garden which has more room than in his yard. His two kids will enjoy the pumpkins that will come out of that crop, and I will have seasonal decorations for the Fall....
The Cheese Shop was in our plans yesterday as my sister and I made our way to Stuarts Draft. She was looking for fresh spices and nuts to take back to Richmond, and that's the place to go for reasonably-priced fresh products. We stopped at a local produce stand so she could get some tomatoes to take home since mine weren't ready yet....
Green Valley Book Fair is going on so we hit it on Saturday. SWAC Niece found another stack of books to read because she had finished all the ones she bought last time they were here. Her pet sitting money had been saved for just such a purchase.
We headed to the Dayton Farmers Market for pretzels and lunch. It was busy with holiday visitors who stopped by to check it out and eat lunch. The large soft pretzels were, as usual, superb. An Amish horse and buggy outside Bridgewater was heading to somewhere important....
Best wishes go out to Trixie Averill, RPV's Western Vice Chairwoman, who broke her foot last week while on vacation. She traveled for hundreds of miles ... and then broke her foot far away from home. Ouch. Unfamiliar doctors suggested bed rest and no driving but anyone who knows Trixie knows she can't stay in bed or stop driving in her busy lifestyle promoting her GOP candidates. Hope you're sprinting in a marathon again soon, Trix!
SWAC Son and Nate are on a road trip to the beach this week. The Marine and the computer guy ... two home schooled grads who grew up together through their teen years ... one degreeing in computer science at JMU ... one attending VMI while serving in the Marine Reserve and spending a year in Iraq. Their work schedules worked out so they could both get away at the same time....
It has been extremely blustery today which made the upper 80s feel much cooler and comfortable. Thunderstorms have rumbled in the distance ... no significant rain here yet but we're hoping. SWAC Daughter has gone to the Staunton Braves baseball game with friends ... and they have plans to stop by Kline's Ice Cream afterwards if they don't get rained out. There's always something to do in and around Staunton.
It's summer in the Valley....
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