Nutcrackers

I drove from Kentucky to Ohio to visit with John. I arrived late that Monday night so we just caught up that night and then we went over to the Kidd's (where I was staying).

The following morning I had brunch with Corrine Kidd and Annie Baxter before I headed over to John's.

Our plan was to crack the walnuts he had cured for 2 months. He had four bags. Here he is opening the first bag.

Because the black walnuts were so hard, he had to smash them with a hammer and I would leave the table because pieces would fly everywhere!

Then I would sit back down and start taking the meat out of the shells with John.

One bag produced about 2 cups of walnuts. We only ended up doing one bag together because it took 3 hours! He did the other bags on his own later.

Here are the shells from our work.

Later on, John and I went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. Here he is enjoying a game on his phone.
I wish I could've stayed longer, but I left the next morning really early.

Kentucky Visit

I flew into Nashville because my sister now lives 90 miles north of Nashville. Erika, Brian and the kids picked me up and we went to Whole Foods, as well as had dinner at Wendy's (in Clarksville which is mid-way point between Nashville and Cadiz, KY. We had to go to Wendy's because every restaurant had an hour wait and Lauren was having serious hypoglycemia issues (I wasn't feeling too well myself!).

The next morning, I gave gifts to the kids. The girls got pink sea shells and Sebastian got a wasp captured in a resin. Here he is checking it out: While I was there I baked 3 HUGE loafs of banana bread to be given to various people on my travels (I gave one to John, one to Andrea and her family and one to Andrea's in-laws). Here is Lauren helping me put in the ingredients!

I also tried a new recipe for pumpkin bars. I made two of them: one for my guinea pigs, I mean Erika and her family and one for Don and Corrine who I stayed with in Ohio. Rebecca helped me frost them with cream cheese frosting.

I bought a bag of apples so that we could go across the way to where the horses corale.

Here are the kids demonstrating how to hold your hand out so you don't get your fingers bitten off.

Notice how flat my hand is-I need my digits!

We had a great time! The house with the grey roof is theirs!

Sharefest Fundraiser Dinner

Normally, I volunteer for the Sharefest fundraiser, which occurs every November. Because I knew this would be my last year, I decided to attend instead. Without knowing it, I replaced myself. I had mentioned to my friend, Liz (on right), that I usually volunteer, so she volunteered and convinced our other friend, Colleen (not pictured) to volunteer as well. Here is a picture of me at the silent auction portion of the evening.

I invited Shelley along so I wouldn't be all alone! We had a great time!