The non-wedding parts of the weekend

The rest of our trip was as hectic as I thought it would be.  All Jbird wanted when we arrived around 9am was Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  By the time I decided I wouldn't mind it either, we seemed to have passed the last one.  We had settled on Waffle House, even pulling into the driveway for it, when I realised that that driveway was shared with a Cracker Barrel.  He was a happy man.  I was happy when we found a $4 skirt for me to wear at the wedding at the local outlet mall.  We spread the happiness a little further by also buying some jeans and a new top.  

We met Jeff (the groom) just as he was starting a tour of the Battle at Antietem.  Jeff is a guide tour for a living so it was neat to see him at work.  It was the bloodiest battle on American soil.  23,000 men died and neither side won the battle.  I believe they took some photos there with the wedding party.

Saturday morning, we made a mad dash to DC to visit Alana.  She fed us and we talked our heads off.  Alana was one of my bridesmaids.  We met in Bangladesh and she made the trip from the States to NZ to be there for us on our wedding day.   We were excited when she got a job in DC and we found out we were moving to Baltimore; we lived out of each others' pockets while we were there.  This trip was a bit hairy because getting in and out of DC is a nightmare, roads were closed on both journeys.  We left at 5am and got back to the wedding shortly after 12, just on time to start serenading guests as they arrived.

That night we slept a full eight hours and felt much better for it.  We left for Baltimore before anyone else was awake and made it into town in time for a birthday party of the little boy I used to babysit.  His parents had become our gaming couple as they also love settlers and introduced us to a number of games we'd never heard of.  Our day started with the party and was full of appointments for brunch/coffee/tea/lunch/coffee/dinner.  By house number three, I requested no food and no drink: let's just talk.  It was a really special day for us as we revisited this city we had grown to love and saw some people who are very dear to us, having shared those two years with us. 

While the day time driving was glorious with the colours of fall everywhere we looked, we were handicapped by only having printed google directions for all of our destinations.  For the most part they were fine but there were plenty of times when we had to call people and ask them to help guide us somewhere.  Next time we'll definitely hire a GPS.

A perfect kinda day

The wedding rehearsal was at dusk.  The lake was as smooth as glass, surrounded by fall foliage, and a fine mist was beginning to settle on the water.  Someone suggested music for the parents and bridal party.  This was a surprise for us but we'd prepared some extra tunes and started playing Ashokan Farewell.  Reportedly, Jeff turned to Marie and gave her a big hug saying "this is my favourite song!"  We were chuffed.

Afterwards, we attended the wedding rehearsal dinner.  This is a tradition that we don't enjoy in New Zealand.  It was nice to be able to sit down with our friends and catch up on the happenings of the passed 18 months.  Marie and Jeff spent some time introducing the people involved in the wedding, including the guy who fermented a keg or two of beer in his bath tub. 

The wedding itself was lovely with spectacular scenery.  A week before, Jeff had driven near the site to get the marriage certificate.  At the time, the trees were still mostly green.  By Saturday, their wedding day, fall colours were out in their full glory for them.  Lunch afterwards was a traditional American picnic with pulled pork, mac 'n cheese, chicken, coleslaw, and hot apple cider. 

Later that night we attended the after party.  It started in a space they'd set up with photos of their experiences on the Appalachian trail.  We enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvre.  After the first dance and some speeches, we moved upstairs to enjoy cake and dancing.  They'd brought in their favourite bluegrass band to help us dance into the night.  Jbird and I had a blast.  The wedding cake had a special touch: Marie and Jeff had made a huge model of the Appalachian trail with desserts corresponding to each state.  They shared a piece of blueberry pie.  

Congratulations, Mr and Mrs. Sellenrick!

Glam campers

We spontaneously decided to go camping this weekend with some friends.  It was a great weekend for it, the gorgeous was gorgeous and though fall foliage isn't yet in abundance, it was starting to sneak its way into the green in the forest.  

Jbird and I lack good hiking equipment and because we'd been told it was only a 45 minute walk into the spot, we went for comfort in our packing.  We took our big double blow-up bed and a three man tent not designed to be carried far.  We had ice for our drinks, a whole rotisserie chicken to share, pillows (they were small and obviously very light), and a lantern.  Owning only one pack, one person ended up carrying both the bed and the tent.  Because I'd been so convinced we had to be comfortable, I staunchly put my hand up for that job.  Oh. Boy.  I regretted everything only ten minutes from the car. Not to say that Jbird had it easy. Unfortunately, it was actually a 90 minute walk - I'm glad I hadn't known this. The thing is, I never sleep well the first night of camping so I really didn't want to spend many uncomfortable hours lying awake on the ground while I waited for everyone else to wake up.  As it was, I spent the hours very comfortably staring up into the trees through the mesh roof of our tent, snuggling with Jbird, quite happily listening to the early morning bird calls and the rustle of the leaves. 

We arrived a little after dark but our camping companions had already set up the fire.  Our chicken sandwiches with avocado and tomato were  delicious camping fare.   Jbird and I had brought the fixings for smores.  And we sat around the campfire making smores and telling stories.  Smores are not my favourite so I melted marshmallows and ate them with chocolate instead. 

The next day, we took an off-track walk down to a meadow by the lake, meeting some other happy campers on the way. It's interesting being in the American woods, you could be mistaken into thinking you're walking through trees that are all the same.  Tall and green.  But when you stop to take it in, you begin to notice different leaf shapes, leaves turning colour in different ways at different times, different characteristics of the trees. Jbird got distracted by all the pretty mushrooms and took hundreds and hundreds of photos, he's put the best pics on his facebook page.  I was distracted by conversation and definitely used my word quota up with our buddy.  

Jbird offered to take the heavy pack on the way out.  I was really glad, I think I would have died if I'd had to carry it again.  He also saw a snake in his continued photography expedition.  Apparently he called to us to come and look but I guess we were still too busy chatting to notice.  It was all around a very successful camping expedition, full of nice people and pretty outdoorsey things to look at.  It has helped prepare me for another week with my head in the books.

Pickled green tomatoes

My friend invited me over to help her pickle some green tomatoes.  In my endeavour to experience 'play' more, I happily took her up on the invite.  Canning at this time of year is a necessary, happy activity where you can take stock of some of the abundance of produce you have worked so hard to grow.  The temperature has dropped so drastically, we're finding our tomatoes are taking a long time the redden on the vine.  She picked all of hers recently due to a frost scare in her part of town but mine are sheltered enough, I'm going to leave most of them a bit longer. I have been enjoying watching how big my beef steak tomatoes can get, a few have been the size of grapefruit.  I'm hoping to make and freeze some pasta sauce if I get enough ripe at the same time.

She has all the canning gear, so it was a nice afternoon of catching up with each other and following fairly simple recipes.  She even has a mandolin which sliced them all beautifully and efficiently.  To be honest, the idea of pickeled green tomatoes doesn't sound very appealing to me but both she and my mother swear by them so I'm willing to give them a try.  She sent me home with five jars, including one from last year to compare to a recipe we did this year.  And I only nicked myself very slightly on the mandolin. 

Hopeful fall planting

It's that time in the summer season when gardeners prepare their soil for the fall planting.  Last week I thought it was ludicrous that fall should be coming, it was still uncomfortably hot, but our temperature has dropped to such a pleasant warmth that I can now believe it will get cooler.  I've also heard about the cherry blossoms, lambs, and daffodils making an appearance south in NZ this week so fall coming here really must be true.  

I planted coriander, dill, and a variety of lettuce seeds and am looking forward to fresh greens in my salad again.  I laid two plots, one covered in plastic acting as a green house, the other in all day sun.  I'm waiting hopefully for my melons to grow into a more significant size but they don't seem to want to.  I also saw my first bean on the vine, and I harvest a few tomatoes everyday.  We had a home grown pizza tonight with the main toppings from the garden - sweet pepper, tomato, and courgette.  Topped with fresh herbs, marjoram, thyme, and basil.  A little taste of success: it's enough to start making plans for the garden for another year.
 

It's raining leaves

It seems like the oak trees on our property are the last to lose their leaves in Bloomington but they finally started falling this week.  Before anyone could tidy them up, I took advantage of a nice afternoon and collected a few bags.  I will scatter some seeds in my flower patch and place a layer of leaves over the top when the weather gets more consistently cool.  I read that the seeds should then remain naturally dormant through the winter, protected by the leaves on top.  I’m only doing it with a few flower seeds because I don’t want my vegetable seedlings destroyed by a late spring frost.  I’ll plant those in little pots and replant them when the weather is sure to be warm enough.  The leaves will be perfect plant food when they’re all broken down but I know a lot of leaves turns to almost nothing so I will be out there again soon, collecting more. 

I never knew what I was missing

We have been really lucky: we have had beautifully warm, t-shirt and shorts type weather for the passed couple of weeks.  This week, fall came for real!  Suddenly there were leaves everywhere.  I was on pick up duty for a couple of tykes I look after which meant I had the privilege of driving around and really seeing the full glory.  

I have never seen so much colour.  One tree can be a rainbow in itself. Not just the oranges and browns I imagined but a whole display of pinks, yellows, reds and every green in between.  I can't believe how beautiful it is.  People and books have described it to me.  Baltimore also had a bit of this glory they call fall (but sooo much concrete in between).  Now I know why we only ever call it Autumn in Auckland, NZ.  Of course, I taught said tykes to look for the largest bundle of leaves and walk through it, enjoying the swish swish rustle beneath our feet. It took us f-or-ev-a to get to the car.