Tuesday - May 5

Happy Cinco de Mayo Day!     We were supposed to have rain most of the day but went north of us, so....party cloudy with some sunshine thrown in here and there.

Did some computer stuff this morning and after lunch we went to Morganton to do a Wal Mart pickup.    They make it really easy to shop online and then quick and easy pickup.   Just seeing all the people in the parking lot......some worse masks - most did not.

Short session of zoom this afternoon - 3 siblings.    Nancy waiting to see when and who will give her the prolia shot!!!    Frustrating with all the waiting!

Michael picked up some Mexican fare from Mountain Burrito in Morganton - what a spread and all delicious topped off by one of his awesome margaritas!    Cheers to Cinco!

Played 5 games of euchre - Mark (brother-in-law) and me against Anne and Drew.   We won 4 out of 5; however, we were euchred NINE times, so, wasn't too pretty!    Ha!

Sibling love

Last night's sky - so many shades of blue!

Gold and orange

Monday, May 4

We had a great day.....starting with a 5.02 mile walk thru Fonta Flora.    So proud of ourselves!!!
It was an ideal day for hiking and so pretty thru the forest with the birds chirping, sun shining and all that glorious green foliage.

 More pretties

We met a couple walking their 2 dogs and we had just sat on this nice bench.    She said it was the property of the United Methodist Church of Linville and they had donated the bench and cross.   Awesome.....and much appreciated for a break.

Back home for lunch, rested a bit and then off for a pontoon ride - it was 82 gorgeous degrees we cruised past some areas where we've hiked, saw some homes we've seen from the road, etc.    And then we came upon this sign.....and thought "what the heck"?

No clue why a stopped school bus sign would be on the water???

Ryan said it's been there awhile?

Mark played "1492 - Conquest of Paradise" over the pontoon speakers - a beautiful song that was played every evening when we were on our Splendors of Southern Spain cruise (2013) as the sails were being raised.    Every time I hear it, I have chills!    Oh my!!!!!

So, it was an awesome ride on an awesome day.    Big changes coming for our weather with rain tomorrow and then much cooler.

So had things been "normal" and no "rona", I was to fly with Claire this morning from Bloomington to Dallas and we would meet Kathy and we 3 would be off to Cabo San Lucas for 5 days!    We've been planning this trip for a long time.....but wasn't meant to be.

Tonight the 3 of us did Zoom from Illinois, Texas and North Carolina and what fun drinking wine and catching up....and the real treat was that Zoom (normally 40 minutes) extended our time to well over an hour!    Yeah.....we'll be back next Monday!!!

Claire, Pat, Kathy

Sunday, May 3

Another pretty day and really warm - 85.     We had bacon/egg/cheese sandwiches and then went to Mass with Cardinal O'Malley in Boston at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. 

Took a short walk this morning....

A Sunday stroll

No clue when graduation will be, but honoring our 8th grade graduate!

Another pretty rock

 Mark and I sat on the patio for awhile and read - both reading the same book which he now has finished (This Tender Land) - EXCELLENT!

Interesting reading about the medical facilities preparing to start opening again (Bloomington) and all the procedures awaiting them that had been postponed.   My eye clinic - Vision Point said they will gradually start reopening on May 11th and start cataract surgeries - there are 270 that were postponed - WOW and I am one of them.    Top priority will be those folks who had one eye done, then the shutdown and going thru all these weeks having difficulty with their vision while waiting next surgery.

I got a new Charge 4 Fitbit a few days ago....my Alta Fitbit was getting very hard to read - time, steps, etc.   Enjoying this new one but need to watch video about all the bells and whistles it has!

More pretties here at the cottage...

Another interesting bush???

Endless roses 

Pulled pork nachos for supper and later, did zoom with siblings (11 tonight).

Have a great, healthy week!

Saturday - May 2

It was a big day for the Campbells as they met Gibson for the first time and it was 💗 at first sight!

13 days till he comes home....

So sweet and hope he doesn't grow too fast before we get to meet him!!!

A cloudy cool morning but by noon the sun was out and on the way to a spectacular 78 degree day!    I packed some deli sandwiches, grapes, trail mix and waters and off we hiked - road and trails.   We stopped at Philip and Annette's and had lunch in their garage and chatted with them from a distance, Ryan, Luke and Maeve, too.

I watched 2 episodes and then we enjoyed more outdoor time on the patio.    Brady, Davis and Drew have been sanding the dock.   Looks awesome and a lot of hard work using 3 sanders.

Drew (front),  Brady (back) and Davis (bottom of ramp)

Never get tired of this sight - the Blues and Thunderbirds flying over the Smithsonian.

Just missing the roar of those jets!

Our favorite bakery in Bloomington is Grove Street and today, they donated these sugar cookies (with masks) to the staff at Westminster Village. 

Cute, clever, thoughtful and delicious!

Brooke shared her corned beef and cabbage tonight - sooo good!

Friday - May 1

Happy May Day

I hope wherever you are it's been a sunny, pretty day like here in North Carolina and a great kick-off for May.

Lots of wind today and chilly, so we didn't go for our walk till after lunch when it warmed up to the 60's.    We did part trail and part road as parts of the trail were still a bit soggy.  We found 7 new rocks!

I'm going to refer to the coronavirus as "Rona" from now on as that appears to be the new slang word!!!

Zoom with 2 sisters this afternoon and then Annette delivered taco salads (beef for Mark and chicken for me) from Las Salsas.....wow - what a treat!    Delicious and no cooking for Mama tonight!

Judy and Drew beat Bob and me 3 out of 5 in euchre!

Enjoy your weekend!