Weekend Follies

We had a great 2nd tubing trip of the summer last Saturday up in Harpers Ferry despite having our little river ride cut short by the intense lightning and thunderstorms that passed through. We ended up walking the last bit of the "ride" all under huge trees on the C&O canal footpath, we were even hailed on but it was still fun! I'm not sure if any one was seriously injured that day but our group felt the lightning "strike" the river, we had a nice shock that got our butts out of there. I got to go and see two great Textile art exhibits in Baltimore on Sunday with my friend Kara. We saw a Nuno exhibit and I got to see The Quilts of Gee's Bend for a second time which was a really wonderful exhibit! They both were so inspirational. I'm recharged for another week before the long weekend that will include a couple parties and a trip to NY to see Ryan and meet the new love of his life who will arrive from Norway tomorrow!

End of Summer Harvest

Sorry, it's been too long. I have been busy, we took a trip to the beach which was much needed and truly relaxing! We were in Jersey visiting Wildwood and Cape May. I just love Cape May and have been going there now for about 12 years almost every summer. I love small beach towns with the charm of the colorful victorian houses and a slower pace. We ventured to the boardwalk one evening and rode a few rides including the teacup spin (which Brendan tried to make me sick on but failed) and bumper cars. It was fun acting like kids! I've also been busy uploading over 1000 pictures now on to Flickr. Wow, I've worked through the backlog going back about 5 years now and I'm so inspired to keep taking more photographs after this project. There are so many talented pro and amature photo's there, check it out if you need a little summer inspiration! We are off again this weekend for another river tubing trip in honor of the end of the summer. I'm still reveling in the last of the sun and heat filled longer days. I know I'll be missing the bumper crop of tomatoes, flowers and zuccini come winter.

White Peacock

White Peacock
Originally uploaded by we98bees

This photo that I took in May of 2004 in the gardens of Isola Bella in Stresa Italy (Lake Maggore) was choosen to be used by the Sierra Club in their "Daily Ray of Hope" email. I loved these white beautiful peacocks!

Gardening Community Volunteering

I've been spending quite a bit of time on the weekends volunteering at my CSA (Red Wiggler) and the Mo. Co. Master Gardeners . I've been shocked to discover there are really NO Community Gardens in the DC Metro area (specifically Montgomery County). In my opinion the reason for the lack in this area may be due to the general perceived "value" of the land. I don't see too many empty lots sitting around in the upper areas of Mo. Co, this may be a common problem with urban sprawl. I tend to associate community gardens with cities but I think there is just as much need in "suburbia". People can be disconnected from the land and have no place to garden even outside the city. Along this train of thought I've also recently come upon the idea of Guerrilla Gardening and have found a few blogs and websites devoted to the idea of nocturnal beautification of barren spots in urban areas. It is quite a great idea. I'm going to start scouting spots for either a Com. Garden or some Guerrilla Gardening. Do you have a community garden? Do you have a small plot of land you could plant some herbs, flowers or other plants? Gardening is good for the soul and reaping the rewards of locally grown food/flowers is reward for all the hard work that gardening requires.