A beautiful gate in Port Deposit, MD               Photo & enhancement by Chris Duffy

What a lovely day this has been.  The weather is kind of overcast so it didn't get very warm today.  I like that.  Then I was invited to a luncheon at a friends home for a bunch of women who used to get together once a year at our husbands' business meetings, but several of them have retired so we seldom get to see them anymore.  Well Margarett Ann decided  that just wouldn't do so she had a ladies luncheon at her house.  Thank goodness it has been very slow around my office today, because I was gone from the office from 11:15 to 1:45.  I don't however feel guilty about it, because I almost always take a 10 minute lunch and don't get paid for the other 50 minutes of my lunch hour.  It was really pleasant.  Margarett Ann collects silver pieces and antiques and has her house decorated like something out of Southern Living.  We used linen napkins and antique plates and crystal.  It was like a little girl's tea party, only with grown up women.  We should do it more often.

The beach at Sea Island, GA.                         Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy

I'm wondering what this beach must look like by now, what with all the hurricanes of late.  My husband said that an association he's familiar with was supposed to have a meeting there last week, but had to cancel.  I hope it's not too badly damaged.  I believe they already dump tons and tons of sand on them to keep the beach erosion from destroying their tourist industry.  Where do they get all that sand? 

More marinas . . . only by daylight

Marina in Cambridge, MD                           Photo & enhancement by Chris Duffy

This was a fairly large marina we came across in Cambridge, MD.  It had oodles and oodles of boats and we spent quite a bit of time here taking pictures from every angle.

Marina in Cambridge, MD                          Photo & enhancement by Chris Duffy

Just 8 more days until our Austin trip.  Well, only 7 if you don't count next Thursday, because Alice will be on the road to my house that day, and then as soon as I get off work we'll head out for Austin. I'm thinking I may even have Alice pick me up at work rather than at the house, because that would get us on the road 45 minutes earlier. . . maybe only 30 minutes. I gotta think about this some more. 

Sunset on Chesapeake Bay                                     Photo by Chris Duffy

THIRTEEN DAYS AND COUNTING . . . that's how many days until Alice and I head out on another sister trip.  This year we're going to Austin, TX.  The picture above of the sun setting over the Chesapeake Bay was taken a couple years ago on our Chesapeake Bay area sister trip.  We'd briefly visited this marina earlier that day and as we were heading back to our hotel room for the night we realized that if we hurried we just might be able to make it to the marina in time to get some shots of the sun setting over the water. We made it with a little time to spare, and walked around checking out the best angles so that when the sun actually did set we were both clicking away as fast as our shutter speeds would allow.

Puerto Vallarta - Courtyard at Hotel                            Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy

I don't believe I've posted this picture in a long long time.  I just love it.  I took it at a hotel in Puerto Vallarta where we went with some very good friends who have this time share thing.  They invited us to join them several years ago and we had a ball.  We laugh so much when we're with them.  They're coming to visit the latter part of October and we're looking forward to it.  We do several things when we're with Barney and Mary . . . we eat, we play Pinnocle, we laugh and we SHOP.  You'd think Seattle didn't have shops.  They buy and ship and buy and ship.  It is impossible to keep up with them in the shopping department.  We tried for a couple years, but then we got wise.  Let them buy all they want . . . doesn't mean WE have to spend each time they do.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  One of life's great mysteries is how a 2 pound box of chocolate can make a woman gain 5 pounds.

Mt. Petite Jean in Arkansas                                   Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy

This was one of the sights that Alice and I saw on our Arkansas "sister trip" last year. I'm getting excited now about this year's sister trip to Austin.  It's only 19 days till we go.  The count down begins. I know I'll need to remind both of my bosses that it's coming up, although they both approved it way over a month ago.  They tend to forget things. They won't be delighted, but then I DO have vacation coming, and I don't want to loose it by not taking it.

Thought of the day:  Do you know what you get when you rearrange the letters in SNOOZE ALARMS? 

                                            ALAS! NO MORE Z's. 

War Eagle, Ark.                    Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy

This is the picture I kept trying to post last night but never succeeded.  Lots of my computer problems can be solved by merely turning off the computer and letting it rest over night.  Somehow magically overnight someone else has solved the problem for me.  So that's what I tried last night and behold . . . it worked.

I bought a crock pot a month or so ago and am still trying to get the hang of cooking with it.  I think I might try turning it on LOW next time, because my first several experiments have all turned out over cooked.  The first experiment was not only overcooked, you might even call it burned. I really think this could be a wonderful thing if I ever do figure out the whole timing and temperature thing.  Yesterday I cooked a brisket and I had to cut the whole outside layer off and pitch it and keep just the inside part.  That's certainly not very economical.  Today I'm trying butter beans and I've turned them on LOW, so wish me luck. 

Thought of the day:  Women over 50 don't have babies because they would put them down and forget where they left them.

Drats!  I can't post a picture tonight.  I just keep getting the message that I've found a bug. 

I finally sewed on the extra strap on my back pack for my sister trip with Alice.  I'm going to carry half the "survival gear" this year instead of letting Alice carry it all like last time.  My husband has this saying he says all too often when he thinks I'm not presentable to the public.  He said it again tonight when he saw me with the back pack on. . . . he says, "Is the mother of my children going out in public looking like THAT?!?"   Yep!  Well, not really.  Maybe a few people will see us when we're hiking, but it's not like I'm on main street or anything like that.  Besides, who cares?  I'll be on vacation and not at a fashion show, so . . . who cares?

Thought of the day:  Forget the health food . . . I need all the preservatives I can get.

House in Easton, MD                                             Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy

Gosh I wish we could figure out a way to balance the administrative load around our office.  Monday through Wednesday I'm so busy I can't see straight and then it tapers off a little on Thursday and by Friday 1:00 PM it's as dead as a doornail . . . usually.  Wouldn't it be nice if I could be busy all week long rather than super busy three days, normal busy for one day and bored the fifth day?  But then, I AM working with Sales People here and they finish up their week by Friday noon unless cornered by their boss or one of their customers.  Not likely that they'd be cornered by their boss though, because they usually finish up their week around the same time.  Of course they also work long hard hours Monday through Wednesday.   Just seems like there ought to be a better system.

Thought of the day: Do you know what you get when you rearrange the letters in SLOT MACHINES?          Cash lost . . . mine! 

Volunteer Flowers at State College Penn                 Photo & enhancement by Chris Duffy

Funny, but these "volunteer" flowers are ever bit as pretty to me as the glorious flowers Alice and I saw at Longwood Gardens a couple years ago when we took our "sister trip" to the Chesapeake Bay area and Pennsylvania. Unlike the pampered flowers at Longwood, these were sprouting up on a street corner in that grassy strip between sidewalk and street.  And they were surviving with the public trampling all over them like they were a test sample at some carpet store.   I took their picture because I feared they would not survive the art show we were attending.

Thought of the day:  Bloom where you are.