Back to Reality

Hi Honey, I'm home! I have to tell you that coming back to reality stinks!  I loved coming home to Car Guy and My Boys, because I actually did miss them terribly, but Laurel Springs, NC is beautiful country!  

I went up there with my friends Sue, Amy M. and Amy B.  We actually stayed at Tilley Farm which belongs to Amy B's husband's aunt. Isn't it gorgeous?  I just love the old farm house and Amy said she thought this one is about 100 year old. At one point I asked if the farm needed a caretaker.  I told Amy that I don't need much....just enough to send My Boys to college...It was worth asking, believe me. There is no TV, no A/C and no Internet.  We just got to spend time with each other.  

I shared this bedroom with Sue.  I slept in the bed under the butterfly.

This is the room The Amys shared.

This is the den.  There is a sofa to the right. We really didn't spend much time here.

This is were we spent a lot of time - the kitchen table.  Isn't it amazing? It doesn't seem to matter were you go in the world, who you're with, people always congregate in the kitchen. Guess that's because that's were the food is.  And holy cow, did we have food :) ....

and wine....did we bring enough? Actually, we had more than enough of both. The Amys and Sue all make wine, so that is never in shortage and the food was amazing!  Bruschetta, Spinach Salad, Cucumber Dill Pasta Salad, tons of fruit and cheeses..I'm forgetting so much....Caprese Salad, which is fresh Tomatoes, Basil, sliced fresh Buffalo Mozzarella, and balsamic vinegar...It's absolutely amazing that I didn't gain a ton of weight, but I'm guessing since so much of the food was fresh and natural we did pretty good.

Saturday morning we woke of to the sounds through the open windows of birds chirping and cows lowing. They were telling us good morning...and how lazy we were.  We didn't get up until 11:00 am! (This picture was taken from the porch.) We had a quick, lite breakfast, cleaned up and then packed an amazing picnic. 

 We loaded the car and drove to The Thistle Meadow Winery.  This winery is owned by Amy B's father in law.  There is a lovely creek on the property and this is where we unloaded our feast.

How gorgeous is this? I could have stayed in this spot all day. And we just about did.  After much talking, laughing and eating, we walked up to the winery for a tasting. In a word, Yum!

From left to right: Sue, some crazy lady in a hat (me), Amy B and Amy M.

After the wine tasting, we loaded everything up and headed back to the farm.  We had a quiet evening, sitting on the back porch watching the sun set.

Once it started getting cooler, we moved back into the kitchen, where we ate  - yes again - and sat around the kitchen table some more.  There was much laughter, some tears and a wonderful evening of women celebrating each other and our friendship.

   Somewhere late into the night the sock monkeys carried me to bed.

The next morning was a lot of hustle to get the house cleaned up and our stuff packed up.  Someone else was coming up to use the farm house and we needed to make sure we left it clean and ready for them.

One last picture before we leave. Thank goodness for timers on cameras!

I really can't express what a wonderful time I had with these amazing women.  They are warm, intelligent, funny and incredibly giving - in short, wonderful friends.  Thanks ladies! This weekend made heading back to reality on Monday morning a little easier to deal with. I hope you all have a group of friends like this to enrich your life!  Happy Monday!