On Friday, I left town for the long weekend and went to visit my parents in central Pennsylvania. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and on the best looking day, I grabbed my camera and my mama, and went for a stroll to enjoy the sunshine. We didn't get very far though, when I had to stop and smell the roses...errr, I mean lilacs, at the farm next door.
I absolutely love the smell of lilacs and can't get enough of them when they're in bloom. I eventually dragged myself away though and we continued on our walk, past shady hollows and trees that looked like they belonged in some woodland fairytale.
Once we reached the top of a small hill, the road leveled out and took us past a couple of farms, with green pastureland meeting the perfect blue sky in the most picturesque of pastoral scenes.
The air smelled of flowers, freshly cut grass and.....cows. Which we soon stumbled upon.
Aren't they handsome fellas? We tried to strike up a conversation but they were pretty quiet and just looked at us curiously and remained silent. Perhaps they sensed that we were planning on having burgers for our Memorial Day picnic and were a bit wary.
We forged on, past more rolling fields and more cows. This group of critters was much less interested in us, though, than the first twosome had been.
The farms that we were passing are all Mennonite (similar to Amish) farms, which meant that no heavy farm machinery or car noises pierced the peaceful quiet of the day. Mennonites don't like to have their photos taken, but I was sneaky and managed to snap a buggy driver after he passed us.
We paused for a few minutes beside a small pond, where the water was beautifully reflecting the clear sky and fluffy cotton clouds.
We then walked a bit further but soon turned around and started to retrace our steps back home, as I was starting to feel a sunburn coming on.
The rest of the weekend was spent at much the same leisurely pace, going for walks and drinking wine on my parents' screened in porch, enjoying the peace and quiet and the smell of country air. I have to admit that I also did some canoodling with Miss Daisy.
Do you really blame me? How could anyone resist that face?
This is her pretending to be pensive and immune to my requests for cuddling.
On Memorial Day, my mom and I made up a picnic feast of burgers and salads to enjoy on the porch. Let me show you what we had and I'll post some recipes next week, I promise.
Pea and Peanut Salad and Black-Bean Pineapple Guacamole.
Along with a pasta salad and a coleslaw with toasted ramen noodles, almonds, and sunflower seeds, and lots of chips and crackers for dipping into the guac.
Dad may have had to sneak a few chips before we sat down to eat.....
A burger on a pretzel bun with pepper jack cheese, spinach, tomato, and ketchup.
Hold on, I forgot the pickle!
Now it's perfect. And colossal. But don't worry, I'm a professional.
Shockingly, we still had room for dessert, which was a grape salad with cream cheese and a brown sugar pecan topping.
Topped off with
Shade Mountain Winery's Pineapple wine with lemon and lime.
Time in the country always does me good. I left feeling refreshed and ready to face the urban jungle of New York once again. I hope you had a restful and relaxing Memorial Day Weekend too!
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