SWEET EXPERIMENTATIONS AND DESTINATIONS...

I thought now 

would be a good time 

to start the drying experimentations -

 now, as the summer bouquets 

start to fade in the vase,

 let's see what will make

 the cut for the fall garland?

  Sunflowers 

are always a great choice and 

look good whether their golden petals 

stay in tact or not.

 

 Zinnias

 might be 

a different story...

Have any of you tried 

to dry zinnias? 

 When first layed 

on the kitchen window sill,

 they looked promising. 

 But, the next morning, not so much. 

 Although, 

after a more thorough examination...

...even though they kind of look 

like shriveled up spiders,

 their color stayed good

 so they might be okay 

for a small filler.

I'm leaving these blooms 

in the vase 

until the water evaporates.

  They are from the same bunch

 as the dried ones and

 are losing their bright colors but

 still look presentable.

  It's all just a matter of

 sweet experimentation.

It is a beautiful

 Sunday morning as I write this and 

we are off on a road trip that,

 hopefully,

 will take us to 

a sweet destination.

A road lined with

 wildflowers on one side...

...and blackberry bushes

 on the other.

We are traveling down Hwy 49,

 an historic road

 that we travel often and

 one of our most happy places. 

 We only will follow it

 a very short way today

 but there will still be 

a lot of beauty 

to take in.

Here

 wildlife intermingles with 

our lives.

There are small hamlets 

along the route 

that were a big part of the

 gold mining communities...

...and one in particular

 where we stopped 

for lunch...

...a tasty tuna salad sandwich

 mixed with apples and cheese 

along side

 fresh garden greens and cucumber slices, 

lightly drizzled with a delicious dressing.

  Because we had the dogs,

 it was too hot to eat in the car,

 probably not unlike 

it might have been underground

 in a gold mine, 

so dining on

 wooden benches on the open porch 

of the little rustic building

 was perfect.

 

I could almost see

 the miners sitting there 

many years ago,

 eating their meager packed lunches,

 dreading the fact

 that they had to go back to work

 under those conditions. 

 A far cry 

from our time spent 

in an air conditioned car.

  There is a lot of turmoil and hardships

 in our country now and,

 I simply cannot forget the fact

 of how lucky I am

 to be able to lead 

the life that I do.

We turn off of Hwy 49 

onto a smaller country road...

...lined with beautiful and

 well maintained orchards.

  All kinds of fruit trees

 are abundant here...

...and,

 even though we have been here before,

 it is always such a treat

 to see it all again,

 knowing what a 

sweet destination it is.

We had come for

 the Perfect Peach Pie but,

 unfortunately,

 they were all out and 

the shop keeper sold us on the idea 

that the nectarine pie

 would be just as good,

 so with pie in hand, 

we got back on

 the road to home.

The Captain agreed with her, 

but nothing can take the place of the

 Perfect Peach Pie 

in my mind

 so even though it was good,

 it was just another 

sweet experimentation for me and 

in a few weeks 

there will have to be 

another journey to

 that sweet destination...

...but, for now,

 for this weary traveler,

 being home and reunited with 

a special friend 

is the sweetest

 of all destinations.

...Judy...

Life and Linda 

has started up a new link party called

 Love Your Creativity

 and I will be joining there along with

 Keep In Touch at Let's Add Sprinkles

this week.

  Hope to see you all there.