Goodnight and I had a fun weekend. We volunteered at a local festival on Saturday. I worked in the Bingo Booth and she did her time in the Face Painting Booth. She’s good really quite good at it, too. She’s been painting faces for several years already, and I love to see her work. I don’t draw at all.
The weather cooperated beautifully! We were able to take a break for dinner together. There was a sit down chicken dinner indoors and fair food outdoors. Goodnight chose the chicken because she didn’t want the stuff outside. Worked for me.
After our shifts, we stayed for the free outdoor concert. It ended up to be a perfect evening, too. The sliver of the moon was barely balancing above the treetops when the concert started and had set long before the last notes. We both went home tired, but relaxed, if those too things can go together.
Sunday morning we got up early, went out to breakfast, then called Gr8 and told her we’d head to Smalltownville for a short visit before she had to head out for the day. She had to play the drums in a fall festival parade. It was the last parade of the season for the band she’s in, so we didn’t want her to miss it. We just wanted to take a care package, give her a hug and enjoy a chat before she had to get ready.
I took the long way home. The trip home that would normally take just over an hour, took us about eight hours. We tarried here and there. We drove through the town where Gr8′s parade was and stopped at the festival to pick up something for lunch. Then we drove away from town and found a lake with some picnic tables near the shore. We were the only people picnicking, but folks were enjoying the day in their boats on the lake.
We continued to drive through small towns here and there, following ‘brown’ signs for scenic routes. We stopped in Villageville - where Crush lived as a kid. There was a beautiful, small garden there that I wanted to check out. It was on church property, but open to the public. The arbor was heavy-laden with greens and the flowers were still plentiful, so we walked in.
The arbor held its own surprise that wasn’t visible from the outside.
Grapes!!! There were tons of them inside that little arbor and they were sweet (if I must admit to having plucked one to sample.) It made me wonder what happens to all the grapes . . .
My favorite piece of garden decor was an angel playing a harp, but the harp is made from wind chimes. The wind offers its assistance with the music. Pretty cool!
There were zinnias,
marigolds,
and roses.
After our brief stop in Villageville, we continued hopping around the countryside.
We found another garden with a statue of a girl with braided hair reading a book. I snapped a photo of Goodnight reading with the statue girl because later this fall, Goodnight will need to produce an interesting reading photo at school to show support and encouragement for reading.
We followed a sign that said ‘rustic gardens.’ It was worth taking the gravel road between two huge corn fields to find them. I’ll have photos about that at another time.
We found a country flea market and stopped. Goodnight loves to read so she checked out some books. I picked up a few things, too . . . Christmas gifts.
We saw a convocation of eagles at one point in our journey. The most I’ve ever seen in the same group was fourteen and fourteen American Bald Eagles make an impressive sight when they are all up in the air! There were not fourteen yesterday, but more than five. No photos, because there was no place to pull over and catch them all in a shot. The area was hilly and densely wooded. Sometimes it’s just best to enjoy.
We got back home after dinner and soon enough, it was time for those magic words, “Goodnight, Gram!”
I don’t get much knitting time when I am behind the wheel for so long, but there’s a time and place for everything. My day with my mini-sidekick was worth leaving my needles at home.
