Everyone is busy right about now. Busy gardening, busy vacationing, busy running kids from place to place, busy relaxing.
Between the running around and the rehearsing (more on that in days to come) I’ve been busy reading. And washing my windows (thanks, Norwex) and throwing birthday parties that are only six months late. “Happy birthday,” Meep’s friends said to her, and she, very properly, replied, “Thanks”…rather than saying, “Acutally I’ve been ten for half a year already, it’s just that my mom is kinda behind the times.”
I’ve also been busy taking photos…and realizing that I really ought to read my camera’s instruction book…but that’s boring, so I haven’t yet.
So I give you today some photos and the memories that go with them from the past few weeks. The days have indeed been fine…though the epiphanies mostly center around the all-important question: “What’s for dinner?” as opposed to deeper things.
But that’s okay. It’s all good.
Most of the photos are self-explanatory, but let me explain the first two.
I may be wrong when I say this, but as far as I can remember, I’ve never made a point of meeting a “virtual friend” in the bright lights of reality…as opposed to the muted tones of the on-line world. All that changed early this month when I e-mailed my blogging friend, Audrey, at Minnesota Prairie Roots that I’d be visiting her town for a play and could we possibly meet up like at a park or something where the kids could play and she’d have ample oppotunity to cut our visit as short as she wanted…if she wanted!
Instead we got a warm invitation to their home, a delicious dinner, and made some “real-life” friends as opposed to merely virtual ones. Audrey and her husband Randy were lovely hosts. And, happily, our husbands hit it off and had plenty of things to talk about as opposed to standing around awkwardly and wishing that their wives would be a little less verbose.
Audrey’s hospitality extended to having games and sidewalk chalk ready for the kids, bandaides available for skinned knees, wild black raspberries ready for watering mouths, and freshly-picked strawberries and angel food cake for dessert. Does it get any better than that?!
How good it is to make a new friend.
PS – Audrey was recently “Freshly Pressed” (for the second time in her blogging life) here on WordPress – isn’t that cool? Please check out her blog if you haven’t before. (Being “Freshly Pressed” means that she was chosen out of thousands of bloggers to be featured on WordPress’s homepage. Neat, eh?!)
Randy and Audrey! Such gracious hosts and lovely friends.
The two bloggers – I’m the one in pink! So glad that I thought to myself last fall, “I need to look up some other Minnesota bloggers.” Serendipity for sure.
My house is hiding in there somewhere.
What is wrong with this picture?!
A typical view around here…
Cormorants and cranes…
So on our way to Audrey’s house we passed The Blue Angels!!
My neighborly “vulture”.
A small dish of deliciousness!
How random is this?
…a little closer! See her friends behind her?
…and here she is, a few days later!
Making the mundane entertaining.
A fine day for an epiphany 
Oh, Gretchen, I am so glad we met. You are every much as delightful in person as you are online. You are now not only my blogging sister, but also a real-life friend. Randy and I truly enjoyed you and Colin and the kids. And, yes, I was surprised, too, that our husbands talked like they were long-time friends. Remember who was still talking when he should have been backing out of the driveway on your way to the play? Some things in life are just meant to be (per God’s plan) and our friendship is one of them. Hugs to all of you down there in Bigelow/almost into Iowa.
Indeed, part of the plan! You never know what one small decision will lead to, do you?
We’re hot here today – but I finally got all my planting done before it got too hot (I know, I’m later than late on planting flowers!) and now I’m a wee bit sun burned and a lot bit tired. Now I just have to remember to water everything…Oy, vey.
Hey, you two!!! Hope there’s room for one more! Someday will have to make it a 3-way meet-up! Will have see how the days ahead “play out”! Your visiting sounded like so much fun and, yes, “virtual” is great…….but “real” is even better!!! Hugs to the both of you! D
That would be fantastic! There’s always room in the Minnesota Real-Life blogging world! Wouldn’t that be a hoot?!
“Yuppers”!!!!!
That is so lovely of Audrey and Randy to be so hospitable and invite you to their home and do all that baking for you. Isn’t that special! And that is what is so wonderful about the blogging world. I’m having lunch on Friday with some bloggers that I’ll be meeting for the first time and I’m really looking forward to it. xx
Yes, it was lovely. How fun that you get to meet up with some fellow bloggers! I hope you have a great time! Will you blog about it?!
Great Post – Loving your photos – thanks for sharing! Have a Great Day:)
š Thanks so much! You, too!
That is such an awesome story! And, as usual, I really enjoyed the photos!
I was just in the car thinking, I MUST make time to read Whatimeant2say today!!!