Wednesday Outing

I started the day with an energizing water aerobics session. The pool felt wonderful at 86 degrees.



After lunch, Hubbie and I traveled to a town a couple of hours east of us to visit his niece, and her husband and two boys, who are in the state visiting from Stockholm, Sweden. We met at another niece's very nice home, where the boys and their assorted cousins enjoyed the swimming pool, while the adults visited on the patio.



This was our first opportunity to tour Niece's two-story home, which is enviously spacious. She has decorated her home in browns, tans, and animal prints in the living room and master bedroom. For her young son's bedroom, she hired an artist to paint airplane scenes and inspirational sayings on the walls. Her daughter's room, which has its own adjoining bathroom and a large walk-in closet, is done in feminine pinks.



The master bedroom has a king-size sleigh bed, with leather padded head and foot boards. This room is large enough to accommodate a living room suit, too. The adjoining bathroom is humongous, with a walk-in closet big enough to serve as a small bedroom.



One small room serves as Niece's scrapbooking area. Like others of us in the family, she is an avid scrapbooker. The combination office/den, with large-screen TV, is spacious, and obviously a favorite entertainment and relaxation space for the family.



When we arrived, we found a tray of fruits to nibble on. I was grateful for these healthy snacks, and indulged in fresh strawberries, cherries, watermelon, and pineapple. Niece is very health conscious, and is in great shape, thanks to a diligent program of exercise and healthy eating.



We enjoyed our short visit with this niece and her family, as well as with the niece and family from Sweden, who struggled with the heat and humidity of our southern state. Niece said that the summer temp in Sweden is in the 60s, reaching into the 70s only in the hottest part of the summer...late July and August. The water in the lakes, etc., is too cold to swim in, she said.

After a pleasant afternoon visiting with nieces and families, as well as with Hubbie's sisters and one of his daughters, we headed home around 4:30 p.m.



On our way, a thunderstorm blew up , which didn't stop the pilot of a low flying, yellow plane from banking and dipping to crop dust the fields on either side of the highway. Back and forth across the road he flew against the backdrop of black clouds streaked with lightening. Here in this delta area are fields of soybeans, rice, and milo. There are also cotton fields farther east, though more corn than cotton is grown now, to be sold, we presume, for the manufacture of alternative fuel.

At home, Mother, who had opted not to go with us to visit Hubbie's relatives, had prepared a new recipe for turkey roast that was delicious. This was a slow cooker recipe using onions, celery, thyme, rosemary, and pepper. She also made a no-salt dish of scalloped potatoes that was very good.