Friday May 29............. Mark turns 47 tomorrow

red, white, and green...............colors of the Italian flag............and beauty in simplicity
I found her the other day when I was playing "where's Waldo" in the sweet pea patch.  I thought I had picked all the peas, set the bowl down to pull a few weeds, and found more peas camouflaged between vines. 

The wild roadside daisies that I transplanted last year have filled out even more in the past week with the tropical wet spring weather we're having.  It's good for the gardens but tough on the hips.

                 spinach and beets doing great this spring
All the lettuce has been ready for harvest these past few days so I'm bagging it and giving it to neighbors again.

 I froze three large bags of spinach and we have two more in the fridge to enjoy fresh.  This year I planted a few broccoli rabe to see how they would do. 

I got enough for one serving.....for me.  Cliff doesn't care for the taste.  Next year I'll try again. 

Moved the garden chairs to a better spot under the mountain laurel.  Much nicer seating.

Last Sunday we packed a picnic basket with wraps made of sliced turkey, lettuce (of course), and tomato,and brought some fruit and drove to the Ocoee Gorge to see if it was open yet to the public.  Well, the public was there! And they were crammed into the rafts!  There was no social distancing that we saw. 

Walking around was pretty safe.  Plenty of room to navigate comfortably around people.  We settled at a lonely picnic table under the trees with a view of the kayaks and throngs of people in rafts.  The picnic was Cliff's brainstorm!!  We ate lunch and sat for quite awhile free of anxiety, until a person approached Cliff and asked if we minded if they sat at the table next to us! Suddenly, eight people  were too close for comfort, arranging themselves at the empty table.  I could see Cliff's body language immediately go into "fight or flight" mode.  In a flash he scooped up the little cooler and we were gone.  We drove home, scooped ice-cream into two dishes, drizzled dark chocolate sauce over it, and relaxed on the back porch.  It was actually a fun afternoon and we laughed about the lack of social distancing that drives some people's behaviors.