Wild & Three Thursday!

What a week. More and more rain. Then a little more and now we have fortunately seen the sun today! So much water everywhere but in July and August we will be wishing for these days.

Daughter and family are vacationing in the North this week. Way up North in Minnesota dontcha know! Sounds as though they are having a great time. Mall of America was a hit and now they are glamping on Lake Superior in a little cabin. Good times and many memories for sure! Can't wait to see the grand daughter and hear all about it.

Wild & Three Thursday!

Total spontaneity kicked in on Sunday and we took ROADA and headed East to Kentucky. First night we found ourselves pulling in to a Lowe's parking lot just to get some rest and hit the road again early the next morning. Louisville is easy to navigate and we found our destinations quickly to begin the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. We are not Bourbon connoisseurs but we thought the whole idea of this trail thing sounded like fun. It was! And educational. Seriously, it was totally educational. And the tastings were informative and educational as well.

We only managed to make seven distilleries. When we originally heard about the KBT tour there were only eight or nine distilleries on the tour. This year there are 14! Yes, FOURTEEN. Needless to say we are planning to return this fall to see it we can make it to a few more.  For me the favorite tour was Maker's Mark. Favorite tasting was Angel's Envy. I loved the Angel's Envy tour, too. It was smaller and more personable but the scale and history along with the gorgeous grounds of the Maker's Mark distillery was second to none. As Angel's Envy is a young distillery their founder and original Master Distiller was not. Lincoln Henderson was the creator of Gentleman Jack and he was the Master Distiller at Woodford Reserve before retiring then coming back to the industry with the creation of Angel's Envy. Speaking of Woodford Reserve their grounds are beautiful and so very picturesque as they are nestled in heart of horse country. However, the tour there was extremely lacking. Perhaps it was an off day for our guide. And since it was our last tour for the trip we were left feeling cheated. Maker's Mark on the other hand hit it on all fronts so that is why they walked away with our vote as favorite! 

We also slipped in a tour of the Cooperage. Honestly, I did not even know what a Cooperage was until after one of our distillery tours. See it's an educational thing to do the KBT! And then to find out that most of the barrels are made from Ozark white oak and that the Cooperage we toured was originally founded in Lebanon, Missouri, well, what's not to like! 

Oh, and hats off to most of the distilleries as they offer military discounts. Some are for only the veteran, some extended their discount offer to dependents. No matter we were delighted to find this out. The discount for an active duty member is even more generous (FREE in many cases) and some of the distilleries also give law enforcement/first responder discounts. And they ask you straight up when you are purchasing your ticket. Awesome, totally awesome! I think (actually, I know) we spent the savings in the gift shops!!! 😋

Great trip, good to be back home but already looking forward to returning this fall!

Wild & Three Thursday!

Yard work continues and so does the work on the garage. FINALLY we have the electric wiring run and have filled in the trench. WooHoo that is great progress in my book, I was tired of looking at the open trench in our yard.

Another completed project is landscaping the unsightly utilities area. Well it is actually still a work in progress but it is sooooo much better then it was. We went with a natural rock border. One reason for that is we had the rocks so why not use them for something. We had so many rocks in our dirt delivery it was unreal! I think it looks good and we will tweak it in the coming months/years. The irises where given to us by local friends.

There is definitely some sore muscles around here this week. But it is all for good, we are thrilled with the advancement in both areas! Hopefully, we will stay on it as there are still plenty of things to be done.  I did finish getting the tomatoes planted, too. We also put another rosemary bush in the utility area. I also have some broccoli and sage going and we just got two basil plants this week. Can't hardly wait for caprese salad! Still hoping my basil seeds sprout. I did a couple lilac bush starts that are looking rough but I think one at least will survive, the other two I'm thinking will not. We shall see. I am definitely trying!

Wild & Three Thursday!

It's been raining a lot...but that doesn't mean we didn't have a little sunshine at the Meadow. We certainly did when the newest member of the tribe came to stay. Oh what a sweetie she is! We even had a video call with the Granddaughter but our guest was snoozing. She saw her blanket and pillow and wanted to know if she was sleeping in her bed! I think it would have been fine but she was definitely interested in that information. LOL

Wild & Three Thursday!

Unfortunately, a gardner I am not. This makes me just a little bit sad. 

My Grandpa Woods always had a huge bountiful garden at my aunt Lela's house. In the summers when I stayed with them I always looked forward to going up to the garden in the evenings to water, weed and pick. My grandmother grew lots of plants and flowers around her yard. Lots and lots, iris's, elephant ears and African violets are what I remember most. She also "put up" the harvest from grandpa's garden. Rows and rows of pickled beets, green beans and pickles lined her pantry! My other grandma had flowers and a vegetable garden. She always had the prettiest red geraniums on her front porch. I also remember her wonderful garden as well as eating wilted lettuce, yum! It was the best. She always had a big pot of green beans simmering with onions and bacon for dinner during bean season. I remember sitting on the front porch to snap the beans. 

Ahhhh, I do wish I had more of a green thumb and I do continue to muddle through trying to grow things. Last year I did a couple tomato plants but had very few to harvest. I also did some flowers on my front porch that did awesome. This year I planted tulip and daffodil bulbs with some success and a friend gave us some iris bulbs. I am planning to put out a couple tomato plants again and I have basil started in an egg carton. I am hopeful!