A lot going on here these days....

Well, maybe not A LOT by old school standards, but for the pace of life things have gone around here for the past couple of months of constant working, working, working and forgetting what day of the week it is....a lot is going on here these days. - I had yesterday off, which was nice....and I took the kids to the pool. We all came home very tan and tired.

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Yesterday was Mike's birthday! 40! Celebrating to be done this weekend.

And speaking of Mike, this morning he went for a run and found this:

I was sleeping in, and he came in and said, "Look!" I opened one eye and thought for sure we had left one of our torties downstairs all night without taking it up to the aquarium when everybody went to bed. I sleepily asked if we did. He said, "No! Look at him!"

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OMGOSH, that isn't one of ours! Mike said that he was out in the road by our house and he picked him up. We will be releasing him in a safer place later tonight. I'm sure he came from the creek behind our house but I think we might relocate him to the park a little further down the road. Less traffic.

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This is the second wild turtle sighting this week. Megan and I had to stop the car the other day to let a snapping turtle cross the road. I don't remember where I heard it or if I'm making it up at this point, but I consider having a turtle cross your path as lucky. So having two in one week in our lives has to mean something right? Lots of good luck?

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After some internet searching, he is a Eastern Box Turtle. He's beautiful. His shell is such a pretty pattern, and I am in love with this little guy. He has such a personality....I'm surprised he's not more afraid of people. He doesn't bring his head in his shell when you pick him up. In fact, he stretches it out pretty far and tolerates being petted on his head and legs. I wish we could keep him. We sure have enjoyed our time with him today though.

And now.... time to get ready for a night of work. Power Hours....Kohl's....where you can expect great things.....and a busy night in the fitting rooms.

Rural roadside distractions

My boy who is now 9. I finally got a photo of him. He's so handsome. I love him. Happy birthday nine year old.

Amazing scenery...

Every now and then on a weekend day we drive to a place called Rabbit Hash, Kentucky. It's along the river, and a neat little place tucked in between huge trees on a little - barely - two lane road. It's one of those roads you have to pull over to the side if two cars are coming until one of you passes. We love to go there because it's usually pretty quiet and we like to go into the general store that has been there since 1831. We pick out a bottle of soda from the fridge in the back, pop the bottlecaps off at the front door and go sit by the river and either play with the dog, watch river traffic or wave at Indiana across the way. Everybody who comes to visit us goes to Rabbit Hash at least once.

It's really not far from the house, along a super winding road with horse or cattle farms and fields, and cool old barns, old historic Kentucky architecture farm houses, and new beautiful mansions. It feels good to open the windows any time of year because the trees are so thick through here it is always nice and cool. Megan is channeling her inner retriever or something by sticking her head out the window.

It's a neat old place. It has an arty feel to it, with some of the local people who make and sell things. It also has turned some of the old buildings into dusty antique shops where the stores aren't manned. If you want something, you have to be honest and take it into the general store to pay for it. It's also hippy-esque at times, and also a place where biker people like to go. What a mix. But it's also just a neat place to go because everybody is friendly. Like today when I accidentally drove past the sign that said "No thru traffic due to festival" a man who I've seen there before, who I thought was going to yell at me when I rolled down my window instead was relaxed and said God Bless to me. Then to have a nice day. Whew.

Festival? There's never anything going on here when we've been here before. But today we rounded the corner and the street was closed off (until I had to go and break the flow of people traffic! While trying to avoid hitting children, dogs or people who were enjoying the festival a little too much with a beer in hand!) Mmm, then we could smell the smells and hear the music.

We had to park a little way down the road and this tractor came by and drove us in. It was funny because just the other day when I was pointing out the signs all over the place for the Halloween farm festivals coming up, Megan said, "I really want to go on a hayride this year!" Here is your hayride Megan.

We walked around, got sodas for the kids, petted animals, looked at artwork for sale, watched some old machine making corn into cornmeal and listening to music. I'm glad we ended up coming here when we did. It was a nice surprise to think that we'd come and do our usual hang out in a quiet place and instead find this. When we were driving home all three kids were telling me how much fun they had and that they loved making pots. I love it when something so small is so memorable.

Rural roadside attractions..... continued

The kids all got to make a pot or bowl on a pottery wheel for $2 each. This woman was wonderful, she was so nice and so patient with kids while she taught them how to make something on the wheel. They all loved getting their hands dirty and watching the clay turn from a ball into a pot or bowl. The boys both made pots, and Megan made a bowl. They are perfect, and each have little fingerprints and things about them that make them unique. Megan's bowl is slightly lopsided on the top, Matthew ran his finger on the outside of his cup to make lines and Trevor's cup has a lip around the top from pinching the top as it spun.

I think the pottery was by far the most fun thing to all of us.

I took this picture for my mom. Recognize that basket?? I fell in love with that color blue glaze that they used on so many of the pottery for sale. It was beautiful. But... I don't have room for all the things that I would like to take home with me.

This band was playing cajun music. They were really good. I would have loved to have sat down and listened to them more, but the kids were all wanting to go in different directions. Matthew wanted to walk down to the river and do what he loves to do whenever we go to rabbit hash....which is to throw sticks into the Ohio river. The boy loves his sticks. Yep... and we brought one home with us. Trevor was interested in the food that you could smell everywhere (HUGE onion rings! OMGOSH. kettle corn, roasted corn on the cob, BBQ....heaven.) Megan was watching all of the dogs roaming around or on leashes. (The 'mayor' of Rabbit Hash actually is a dog named Lucy Lu who always greets cars that pull up and park on less busy days.)

Rural roadside distractions... continued

After leaving Rabbit Hash we stopped at an old church that is on the side of the road. It is on a hill and overlooks the river on one side and has rolling corn fields on the other. I've always wanted to stop and never have. I told the kids since I didn't get to make a pot this is what I wanted to do. I'm in love with these doors. My next little photo shoot will be in front of these. Old doors are awesome. My Matthew who is in a phase where he doesn't like to show his teeth when he smiles.

This is the entrance. There is a date stamped into that step at the very front of the door - 1893. - Looking at this door I can imagine the years and hundreds of people who had their first wedding photo taken standing on that concrete pad. Or the babies that were baptised through those doors, or even families gathering for a funeral. I imagine some beautiful leaded stained glass window was above where the wood is now. Those things are in antique shops all over the place here. - I wish those doors could talk.

I picture these shutters thrown open on beautiful days, or hot ones when it would be sweltering hot inside this building. This photo was taken from the cemetary right outside and down a small hill. Some of the headstones were so old you could not read them. Some were relatively new - like the 1980s so some families are still buried together in huge family areas. Maybe I'm weird, but I love old cemetaries and their history. Not that I hang out in them.... but I think they are interesting.

For the longest time I would see these big metal stars on the sides of old brick buildings. I wondered what they were. They always looked as old as the buildings, so I knew it wasn't some badge earned for being historic or anything, and they are on some pretty run down brick buildings too, so they must have had some sort of meaning or purpose when the buildings were new.

I found out when my mom was visiting months ago that they are supports! Behind the star is a long metal pole that goes through the building every so many feet that goes through to the other side! The stars are like decorative caps on the outside of the building. Mystery solved.

AND THE FIRST PUMPKIN SIGHTING! This could only mean one thing.... fall is around the corner. There have been other signs as well... like the geese are starting to come back. It's a sound I miss all summer, hearing them fly overhead honking. It is the neatest sound.

Thinking of you....

No you haven't stumbled upon a cooking blog, Lord knows I am NOT known for my cooking! - and yes I did feel kind of silly taking a close up photo of part of our dinner tonight.... but mmmm, I had to share.

My dad told me before we moved here last summer to make sure we bought home grown tomatoes. Something about the soil out here. My mom said when she was little growing up in Ohio that she remembered stopping at roadside stands and getting a tomato and would eat it right there, on the side of the road. I think I remember her telling me how my grandma carried a salt shaker in the car just for this purpose.

Another one of my favorite things out here is all of the local produce. There are several organized farmers markets, but my favorites are the pick up trucks you see on the side of the road somewhere selling a tiny bit of produce from the back, or the houses along farm roads with signs of what they have for sale. It's the BEST part of being right on the edge of such a rural and farmy area. But I can be in a huge shopping area in 5 minutes, or downtown Cincinnati in 20. It reminds me of growing up in the Chandler area when I was a kid and there were still farms out there.

After doing some back to school shopping today we took the long way home down Kentucky 18. It's a pretty road I like to take when we're not in a hurry to get home. Today it was dotted with people selling homegrown produce. I bought these gorgeous tomatoes, some yellow squash, sweet corn and blackberries. My car smelled so good and earthy the rest of the way home.

The best is, I was over at a neighbors house telling her about my finds, and she said she had a ton of basil growing in her backyard. I got to go out and pick a bunch. We've been eating quite a few plates of tomatoes like this, with mozzarella cheese and a drizzling of italian dressing. The basil was .... awesome.

I entertained the idea of growing a garden sometime, but honestly I like it better this way. Enjoying what other people have grown or made. I have heard that there is a blackberry farm near here I'd like to take the kids to. One of my friends said that she picks enough to make blackberry wine, pies and homemade jam. Mmm.