Pie in the Sky Lilac Farm

This story really started a year ago, Memorial Day Weekend 2010. Now, you need to remember that I've lived in this area for about 20 years and my husband for over 50 yrs.

My husband (Bruce) works for the DPW (department of Public Works) for the town where this lovely Lilac Farm is located and he has worked for them for a number of years. I tell you all this so you realize both my amazement and my disappointment when he told me about it. He came home from work last year telling me about this place at the top of a hill in the middle of now where on a dead end road that has a lot of Lilac's growing. They have a 6' fence around about an acre of land full of beautiful Lilacs. I looked at him and said "Why am I just hearing about this now". (with a smile of course)

So I told him I'd like to see this place and we ventured out. It's only about 10 miles away so it didn't take long. This Farm is on a dead end road No house just a large fenced in area with lots and lots of Lilac's. I was happy to see a car parked up by the fence. We drove up through the high grass, got out of the truck and was greeted by a lovely lady, her name is Sabra Gilbert. A gentlemen was busily mowing in between the lilac trees.

Much to my surprise this farm was opened to the public around Memorial Day when they come up from down state to mow and check on the trees. Sabra told us there are over 150 trees planted and then handed us a paper with all there names and numbers so we can locate the ones we really liked. I couldn't begin to tell you all of what I learned that day about Lilac's, But I can tell you I came away from the visit with wonder and amazement that someone would take the time to plant and maintain such a wonderful Garden of Lilac's to be enjoyed Just because they love Lilac's.

My Husband and I remembered the name of this White Lilac called the Beauty of Moscow, and purchased 2 trees that Fall and planted them in the Garden. They bloomed this year and are spectacular.

Krasavitsa Moskvy (Beauty of Moscow)

I waited all year for another chance to go back to the Pie in the Sky and this time I took my camera.....

My Hubby

Me

Sabra Gilbert, Owner and Lover of Lilac's

Lucie Baltet (that's French)

He must be the landscaper

The sun was bright at that moment and the smell of Lilac's was abundant 

This is a late blooming Furn type Lilac that isn't blooming yet.

Slaters Elegance

The Skies were starting to darken so we started to walk just a little faster. 

We said are good bye's and told Sabra we would be back next year. We got 1 mile down the road the the skies opened up, Raining again. I sure hope Sabra saw that coming...........

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!!!

Blessings
Judy

And the Winner of my May Giveaway is .............

Finding Charm
Check out her blog here Finding Charm

I'll be contacting you via Email very soon.

Thanks to everyone who entered and please sign up for emails so you will know when my next Giveaway will be.  Not to mention any other interesting posts I make. (wink)

Blessings
Judy
 

Finish up Day 2 of my Road Trip with my Sisters

So where was I.... Oh yes, Gail and I arrived back to my sister house to freshen up from the trip to Assateaque Island and surrounding sites.

Remembering we have a schedule to keep we only stayed a few minutes and then off to Easton to pick up Sue from her fun Job (working in a quilt shop). We arrived early, so we took some time to walk around jumping in and out of all the little shops. I was hoping to find the perfect gift to give my friend Mary that we were meeting for dinner, but I never did.

This is Sue Locking the door of the Quilt Shop

So we left Gail's car at the shop and piled into Sue's SUV to travel across THE BRIDGE (Bay Bridge). First stop is a tour of Washington, DC. I again have never been there, Gail and Sue both have. My sister Sue has  a great sense of direction and is a marvelous tour guide. She knows all the hot spots and hubs to drive by. We were pressed for time so only drove around as she pointed out all the key spots.

The White House seemed small in comparison to the rest of the buildings to me.

Sorry for the dark picture but it's evening by now

Secret Service on Motorcycle's

The Tour of Downtown DC took about 35 minutes to complete

We had dinner reservation at the Overwood in Old Town Alexandria at 7 O'clock so we need to hurry.

I can't tell you how much fun we all had that night, Well you can see by the smiles on our faces. 

Well that about does it, we left the restaurant around 9:30, walked Mary to her car and then she drove us to ours, Hugs to everyone and away we all went.  We arrived back at Sue's around Midnight and we were on the road the next day at 10 O'clock for the drive to New York State. It only took around 6 hrs to reach my vehicle and another hour for me to get home.I had a wonderful time as you can imagine but It was nice to see my Darling Husband, cats and dogs again. 


Blessings
Judy

Early this morning I was Thinking........

Spirituality can come at any moment in your life. Your not born knowing it, and you can't be taught it. Although I believe you can be gently guided to it. It's a feeling that overwhelms you and fills your soul with hope. At some point you'll realize your life has been orchestrated, all the choices you've made, good or bad have brought you to IT. So open my eyes so I can see the wonders that he's made for me.
Blessed Be

Day 2 of my road trip with my Sisters.

So It's Saturday, the 2nd day of visiting my Sister (Sue) in Maryland.  Woke up early around 7 a.m. Coming in last night I noticed a Yard Sale sign at the end of her road.  The head lights light it up perfectly, it started at 8 a.m., Perfect I thought, what a great way to start the day.

Sue had to work until 5, so the plans were to be in Easton by then. We were leaving one vehicle there while Sue (I want to stress that Sue was driving) could drive us into DC on the way to Old Town Alexadria where we were meeting up with a friend of mine for dinner.  So we figured we had until 3 p.m. before we had to start heading back towards the Chesapeake Bay.

So it was up to Gail and I to map out our day of adventure. With only 3 goals in mind, To find the Thrift Store, See the ponies and the Atlantic Ocean. We did have Tom Tom my GPS, which BTW doesn't help much if you don't have an address and not at all when the address is wrong.
Me having no directional instinct at all and Gail not much better off, we headed out. The first stop was easy, just a few houses down the road. I found this awesome Nautical Lamp and a couple other things I haven't listed yet. Finished up there and

Off to the Assateague Island.  I heard of a Thrift Store in Salisbury and wanted to stop in on the way, I had their address and entered into the GPS, or at least I thought It was the address. We drove around down town Salisbury never finding the darn store, Stopped for gas and had to ask for directions out of the city toward Assateaque Island. Oh, I forgot Sue also said there was this cute town on the way that we should drive through, called Berlin. Sounded Great to us. We took the right turn to Berlin, MD off of Rt 50,  found a place to park and started walking. We came around the parking lot corner and when I looked up I couldn't believe it, there was a Thrift Store right in front of us. I power of intention is very powerful.

The Church Mouse Thrift Shop

It was a delightful place, not very big, but full of wonderful treasure's 

We found out that Berlin is famous for having 2 motion pictures filmed there. Tuck Everlasting and Runaway Bride. Who Knew!!!  It is a great Small Town and I hope I can visit again. 

The Atlantic Hotel

We asked about the Island and was given great Directions to it, It was only 7 miles away.

It was a calm day but chilly

 Driving across to the Island

The Ponies

I wasn't really to impressed with the ponies accept the fact that I got to see them, They looked and acted like  any other horse I'd seen. Nothing to spectacular.  On the way out of the park we stopped at the visitors center and learned more about them. There are over 100 ponies on the island and are the property of Maryland. The ponies we saw are from the northern heard and are very domesticated or (tame). That explains it, If I wanted to see the "wild" ponies we would have to walk or take a sand vehicle 50 miles south. No thanks, not this time.

My feet were in the sand not the water. The water crashing into the beach was very loud, a lot louder than I thought it would be.

I wonder what Gail is thinking.

Well that was about it, we paid $15 (for a week pass) and spent 15 minutes total in the park. We saw the Atlantic Ocean and the Ponies 2 outta 3 aint bad.  They really should have a hour pass. On the way back home we stopped for a bit to eat in Salisbury thinking maybe we could try to find the Thrift Store again but realized we didn't have enough time. We gave the pass to the cashier that said she would use it. I like to Pay it Forward whenever possible.

Reached my Sister house, changed cloths and off we went to Easton, MD.

To be Continued.....................


Blessings
Judy

Blog Giveaway for May

If you like Vintage and you like keepsake boxes and you like Wood, then You'll love this giveaway. 

 All you really have to do is Follow my Blog and Leave a comment below how easy is that.

This is a $40.00 Value from my very own Treasure Box

Hand Made in India

No Cracks or Breaks

Winner will be drawn on Sunday May 15th before 9 p.m. and notified by email so make sure you leave that link.

Blessings Always

Judy

A Road Trip with my Sisters

Well it feels like months have gone by since my long weekend away. It was an impromptu escape from the New York Dull drums. It started while on FaceBook, my Cousin (Linda) mentioned we should come down to visit her on Kent Island. I said I was ready anytime, My Sister Gail said she would drive and so it began. We would stay with my other sister (Sue) who lives in Maryland not to far from Kent Island.

I love to travel and see interesting sites, I'm one of those people that am amazed by the smaller things in life just as much as the huge things. So you can imagine the smile on my face when I started noticing the leaves on the trees were green the farther south we went. I could pick out the yellow Forsythias, Pink and purple Azaleas and the Wisteria hanging off the trees like someone intentionally placed them there years ago. (I didn't know they were considered a weed) There beauty is much like the Golden Rod or the Queen Ann's Lace in my neck of the woods.

We Left New York at 5 p.m on Thursday and arrived in Cambridge MD  Cambridge, MD around 10:30 where we met up with my other sister (Sue) who was just coming back form a Dinner meeting. We stopped in at Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a bite to eat.

Sue, Woke me up bright and early at 6 a.m. to watch the Royal Wedding. Sue had to work in the morning and we were supposed to meet up around 1 pm. Gail and I were off to breakfast at 8 to go to Kay's Dinner at (the local Airport).  There were 3 or 4 hummingbird feeders out and they put on quite a display for us. The food was wonderful and the cake's, although we didn't have a piece are all homemade and looked spectacular. I would recommend stopping if your ever passing by.

Sue and Gail

Kay's Dinner 

Then we toured around Cambridge looking for the local Thrift Stores, which was one of the reasons I wanted to do this road trip in the first place. I needed new Inventory for my shops. Both of my sister's do not feel the same way I do about vintage and retro treasury's but by the end of my stay they had gotten very good at picking out the best vintage Cambridge and surrounding areas had to offer.

The Lutheran Mission Society Thrift Store

I found some really wonderful Items here, This is where the Blue Canister Set that's for sale in my shop came from

Then Right across the road we stopped into a wonderful Little Shop full of  "A few of my favorite things"

A Few of my Favorite Things

Me and Gail

Then from there we hoped in the car to find another thrift store we were told about.......

Robin Hood Shop

 This wasn't in the best part of town I was told. It was around 10 on a Friday morning and an undercover policeman had someone up against the car just a few doors up. Inside was lovely and the women running it were delightful. Notice the signs in the window, 1/2 price sale, OMG, I love a sale.....

The next shop is my Favorite Garden Shop in Cambridge. You see my sister Sue always sends me Flowers and plants on my Birthday, But this year seeing that I was coming down, she gave me a gift certificate at this Garden shop. What a perfect gift, she knows I love this place.   I've been there before and love visiting and buying my water plants to take back to NY, the selection is so different then what I can find at home. 

Simmons Center Market

We stopped at a few road side sales that were set up, Some were worth the stop some weren't, but it's all part of the adventure.  Now this was Friday don't forget, we had plenty of time to stop and check things out. We only had 2 things planned for the day. One was to meet up with my Cousin at 3 p.m on Kent Island where she lives and owns Rita's.  And the other was dinner reservations at the Middleton in Annapolis at 7 p.m.

So we wondered around a bit more heading towards Easton where Sue said were a couple Thrift Stores she heard about. 

By now were getting hungry and think we should find a place to Eat, this is my Favorite thing to do when on a Road Trip. We decided on BBQ, Pulled Pork for me. Sue of course knows all the favorite local spots so we went to the ....BBQ Joint

BBQ

Yup, you can find Sawdust on the Floor in Easton Maryland. And Yes I highly recommend eating here. You can eat in, take out or enjoy your meal outside on the sidewalk cafe. 

By now it's 2 p.m. and we have a 3 O'clock date. So off we go.  At this point I'm excited about meeting up with Linda (our cousin) and seeing Kent Island. Sue and Gail have both been there before but It was new to me. We all had a great time catching up and reminiscing about day's gone by. We made some Promises for the future and their were smile's, yes lot's of smiles.

We left around 5:30 to head toward Annapolis to go to yet another Thrift store before dinner at Seven. Linda and the boys had a Baseball parade at 6 so Off we went......At this point it was all about the traffic, I had never been across the Bay Bridge but Sue has several time and knew when not to travel it. We ate down by the water behind the Naval Academy. We found a perfect parking spot and walked around a little before dinner. We ate at the "Middleton" (in honor of the Royal Wedding) not really but it sounds good. The Restaurant was packed and the food was delicious, a little over priced for my pocket book but what the heck, spend it like you got it, Right.

We drove across the (Bridge) at the perfect time, no problems or delays. Reached Home somewhere around 11 p.m. Wow, what a great day it was. Perfect weather, Perfect company and Perfect Places. Tomorrow Gail and I are planning to go to Assateague Island to see The Ponies


To be Continued...........................


Blessings
Judy