"Fridays in the Garden, with Joeby": Happenings Lately

Hot, Hot Summer

It has been terribly hot to me this Summer… Not sure why, it is always hot in the Houston area in the long Summer.

My husband and I made a road trip to Kentucky about a week ago to visit my brother and his family who welcomed a new baby boy this Summer. We had such a fun time! We stopped in Arkansas, on the way, to visit with my family who live there. It is always wonderful to be in Arkansas!!!

I wanted to drive through Paducah, KY on the way to see the town. There is a cool Quilt Festival there each year, and I wanted to check out the town. It was a pretty little town and a nice quiet drive there. I managed to go in a quilt shop there and purchased a few yards of cute novelty type fabric for some kid quilts I have planned to make for family and friends.

Lovely, Lovely Kentucky

Rainbow from the back porch at my Brother's and Sister's-in-law farm. We actually saw a rainbow 5 out of 6 days while in KY!!
Good Luck I think :)

My husband and our niece - going butterfly hunting -
it was beyond precious!!!

Can these country roads be any more beautiful?!
I am hankering to move to Kentucky...

Couldn't resist this 'Share the Road" sign - a tractor and a bicycle -

I think I could handle sharing the road with these two :)

Everywhere you look is like a postcard.

Field of tobacco.

A picture from the last night at the farm. It is hard to leave…
Lightning bugs at night, cool breezes - so we sat outside all of the time!!
Not to mention a niece and nephew to love on...

I miss my family so much.
My husband and I have lived in the Houston area for

20 years and we have made such good friends,
but nothing beats living near family.

Highway 127 Yard Sale

Have you ever heard of the Highway 127 Yard sale? It meanders along US HWY 127 from Ohio to Alabama. And there are literally thousands of road side yard sales along the way. Sometimes there were many families and small businesses who set up booths in one area, or there was one person in front of their house. Most were near the towns along the way, with miles between the areas.

Well, my brother lives near HWY 127 in Kentucky! I can't believe we were in KY on the week before the weekend the yard sale started!!! And, I didn't even plan it! Luckily, most of the spots started the sale early, so we were in on the beginning of the sales!
We left Kentucky on a Wednesday morning, planning on arriving home on Thursday night (so we could be home for the Olympics…ha ha).

I was SO excited, and SO happy that we drove so I could bring home many many treasures :)

We didn't stop at that many places really, because it was VERY hot. We bought some fresh peaches at one place and got good and messy eating sun warmed peaches in the car.

Cool purse that I bought somewhere in Tennessee.
I am sure it is Bakelite… :)

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Our plan was to drive to Tuscaloosa to spend the night before driving the rest of the way home to Houston. Al and I like to stop at Whole Foods stores around the country to eat a healthy dinner while we are on the road. I can only take so much fast food at any time, and just sitting in a car for 10-12 hours a day makes greasy food less appealing. After eating several peaches, we weren't very hungry, so we each got a slice of this delicious chicken, onion and goat cheese pizza. The Whole Foods in Birmingham, AL also has a great display of the Gee's Bend Quilts! I love these quilts and the sweet ladies who made them. Look it up, here, if you haven't read about it before. There was a display in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts several years ago and it was amazing!!

Ok, in spite of University of Alabama being in Tuscaloosa (ha ha - go Razorbacks!), it is a pretty cool place! I googled "best breakfast in Tuscaloosa" and came across this really cool place named, Edgar's Bakery! Oh my goodness! It was so cute, that it looked like a movie set. I got a savory pastry (ham and cheese) and a sweet pastry (orange cinnamon roll). They were so good!! Al got a mountain of glazed pecans with a sweet roll underneath, and a 4 cheese pastry. It was so many calories that we actually didn't eat again until Thursday night! ha ha

Natchez Trace - Mississippi

Al and I decided to drive along the Natchez Trace from Jackson, MS to Natchez, MS. We have driven the Trace before, but wanted to experience it again. It is slow and pleasant. The speed limit is 50 and there is almost no traffic. You can read about it here. There were no stop signs on the section we traveled, and we only saw like 10 cars. We saw 1 deer, and 2 snakes, a lizard and lots of birds. I am always really disappointed when you see a sign that says "watch out for wildlife" and you don't see much. But, the lovely quiet roads made up for the lack of animals :) Plus, it was crazy hot (over 100 the whole time we traveled along the Trace).

After the Natchez Trace ends in Natchez, MS, we headed to Louisiana. Our plans were to drive to Manchac, LA - North of Lake Pontchartrain - to eat at Middendorf's Seafood. We ended up driving on many country roads, and getting in a terrible storm, but we made it! It was as delicious as we remembered!! Thick or Thin - I will take either one! SO, SO good!!

We didn't quite eat it all - but it was wicked good, and worth the drive!
After we left Middendorf's we headed to Baton Rouge to go to a cute grocery store that a friend told me about that sold the "Best Salsa Ever"! We found this cute grocery named, Alexander's and bought several jars of Hola! Nola! Salsa. I have to admit - it is really good!! A funny side note - when we were in the grocery, a man came up and says, "Hey! Al!" and Al saw someone who he used to work with, who now owns a bike shop in Baton Rouge! It really is a small world :)