Quiet Around Here!

WOW! I cannot believe it's been almost a month since my lost post!

I have been doing things, just haven't taken the time to write about them.

I had pictures from another winery we visited over Labor Day weekend, but never got around to resizing them, and doing all the other stuff to post them on here.

Mr. Mister and I took a trip to the DC area again. (He had a class.) I took pictures, but they are a lot like the photographs from my last trip, so I don't know if I will post about it again.

I did make a new friend while I was there! We were both standing in the metro station alone, headed downtown to check out the sites. We started chatting, and decided to buddy up as we rode around town on a double decker bus. We even got to listen to a curmudgeon (a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man) chew the bus driver out because one of the buses broke down, and he had to wait longer than he thought he should have for the next bus to arrive. Then he got mouthy with us when we told the bus driver not to let him get to him, AND we had the NERVE to laugh about it! SHOOT us on the spot! LOL!

We actually have a busy few weeks coming up! We are heading back out the door on Wednesday to go to Ohio. The Mister is from Delaware and he wants to go back for the "Brown Jug" and to visit some friends! I have also talked him into visiting a winery while we are there! YAY! (We got our friends addicted to going to wineries while they were here!) The Mister's birthday is on Sunday. I am not sure when we will actually celebrate though, because we will be enjoying a LONG (in my opinion) drive home that day! Maybe, we will do a little celebration with all his friends while we are visiting!

Then we will be going to Las Vegas for our Anniversary in October. We will be spending a week there, so I should have LOTS of pictures when I come home. Right after coming home from Las Vegas, the Mister has to be in DC again. He has asked if I want to join him again, but I am not sure I will be going on that trip! I think I might be a bit tuckered out by then! LOL!

We shall have to wait and see what happens!

Blue Sky Vineyards!

BLUE SKY VINEYARDS! There is SO MUCH I could say about this place! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it! This is the very first winery I ever went to. It was during our trip to Giant City State Park for our 20th anniversary. That, is when I fell in love with wineries! And I didn't even drink wine at the time! But, the atmosphere and ambiance were unbelievable! I was totally hooked from that moment on!

It is what I expected ALL wineries to look and "feel" like! LOL! SO NOT the case! Over the last few years, I have seen some beautiful wineries, but they couldn't compare to Blue Sky. Blue Sky will always have a special place in my heart!

It was built to look like a Tuscan Villa! GORGEOUS!



The inside.







The mural is painted upstairs. They have two rooms you can stay in.





They have art by local artists. I fell in love with this little guy! (They have used pictures of some of the different art pieces on the labels of their wine bottles.)



The outside! I LOVE this pergola! I want it in my backyard!



Lots of seating.



A building for special events.



A pretty waterfall.



A lake.



And some cool windmills!





This is the back of the building. I was standing by the special events building & waterfall.







Mr. Mister is sitting up there. By the building on the left hand side. While I was taking all of these pictures he ordered more wine!



Darn! Now, who was going to drink all that? Can we get another order of that DELICIOUS bread & olive oil PLEASE?

The Secret Garden!

We walked down the hall at Rainmaker Art Studio and out the back door. This is what we saw!

It truly was a secret garden! It was magical! It took my breath away!







Which way to go first?





There were paths leading in many different directions. But, of course, we should use caution.



Easier said than done, when all I wanted to do was run around like a little kid. Everywhere I looked was a feast for the eyes. I began snapping pictures like a crazy person, so that I could hopefully incorporate some of the ideas into my own garden one day!









Dave's sculptures were tucked into all the little nooks and crannies of the garden.








There are hidden treasures everywhere!



Dave told us that he had done all the work in the garden himself! It's his passion! All I can say to that is WOW!

Let's meander on over to the bridge.



Standing on the bridge looking straight ahead.



Take a look to the right.



And now to the left.



Over the bridge, and through the woods.....



I could have stayed out there for HOURS and HOURS!







But, the bugs were getting bad, and the were HUGE!



So we decided to head back inside and take another look around. While chatting with Dave, he told us he usually only puts the sculptures that he has made and "DOESN'T" like out there! HUH? WHAT?

I absolutely LOVED this piece!

Fun In Southern Illinois!

I always LOVE going down to the Southern Illinois area! There is SO much to do there!

I had the chance to go on a quick trip, and thoroughly enjoyed myself!

The day we went out to play was very cloudy, and eventually it started raining. Of course, it kept it up the whole afternoon and evening. But, that didn't stop us! First up, was blueberry picking!







I had never been blueberry picking before. It was fun! I only ended up with about a pint though! LOL!

Moving on! Southern Illinois is known for many things, but it is the destination place for wine drinkers, because the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail is located there. There are twelve wineries on the trail! We decided to stop at Rustle Hill Winery and take a look around, since it was new to the trail. They are actually still working on this winery. They were building the amphitheater while we were there.



While, I DO NOT like that huge tree stump in the front of the building, I can definitely see the potential of this place. (You can see the winery with the tree still in front of it, on their website. Personally, I think the tree should have stayed. I sure hope they cut the stump out, it really detracts from the atmosphere they are trying to create.)

The inside is beautiful!









Back outside to check out the rest of the place.



They have a nice little lake.



Some cool art! Kind of reminds me of a bottle tree.



AND, two cabins you can stay in! I've already told Mr. Mister that we need to go back and spend a day or two! LOL!





I cannot wait to see Rustle Hill Winery in a couple of years! I'm sure it's only going to get better over time!

Back on the road again, we wandered upon a little "tourist" shopping strip. We hopped out of the car to take a look around. This is where we found the COOLEST store! It's called Rainmaker Art.



The owner is Dave Dardis.



He makes jewelry, fountains, and sculptures out of bronze and copper.















The store is very old, and quaint. When we walked in, Dave was behind the counter welding one of his art pieces. We looked around in amazement. Every corner of the store had something to catch our eye. It reminded me of something you would see in a movie. Very Pirates of the Caribbean! LOL! Then Dave said to us, "if you want to see something really cool, walk down that hallway and go out back to the sculpture garden."

So, we headed for the hallway!



I even looked to see if Will Turner was hiding somewhere in those nooks and crannies!





Unfortunately, he wasn't!

But, we found a secret garden at the end of that hall!

***To be continued....***

Jessica Sprague Class - Lesson #1

I signed up to take the free Photo Editing: Frame-ups and Special Effects class from Jessica Sprague's website. The two week class started on Monday, July 6th.

I am a couple of days behind, but here is my picture for lesson one. In this lesson we learned how to add PNG frames and Word Art to our pictures.

Tennessee!

We had a lot of fun visiting Mr. Mister's Mother, Sister, and family in Tennessee.



There was lots of talking, and catching up with everyone! (This was the first night we were there. There were approximately 30 people there on the 4th!)



The BBQ got a workout! Here is my brother-in-law, doing what he does best!



Come to Mama! DROOL!



Of course, we shot off some fireworks. (I really need to figure out how to take "real" firework pictures. This is what I got! LOL!)

















It was a good time! And it was nice to just sit back and relax for a bit!

Honey? Can we go on vacation again THIS weekend?

The Garden In June!

The garden is gorgeous right now! All of the summer flowers are blooming! I just wish it wasn't too hot to go out and enjoy them more! I had sweat rolling down my face, just trying to take a few pictures!



OH! You want a CLOSER look? OK! (Good thing I had my close up filter on the camera!)



























I just LOVE those...in your face...(I mean stamen)...kind of pictures! LOL!