Garden Update #42

I've been sick for the last 2 days.  I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with strep.  :(  So, I've been taking it easy.  It's no fun being sick but at least I'v had some time off from work to relax and get better.

Today, I went outside to get a little sunshine.  I also went to the greenhouse to check on things and water my plant babies.  I was happy to see bright red as I was walking to the greenhouse.  I harvested some cherry tomatoes.  :)

This guy is not quite ripe yet.

I also added my sago palm, and succulents to the greenhouse today.  They have too many gnats so I figured I'd put them in the greenhouse to dry out a little and hopefully kill the gnats.  I opened the window too since it was so nice.

This evening, I went out and shut the greenhouse window.  I found my little spider friend on one of the succulent plants.  I'm 100% sure the little guy was having a snack on some gnats.  :)  It's just a jumping spider.  They eat bugs and other spiders so I'm gonna let him do just that.  I've named him 'Dot' because he has a little yellow/orange dot on his back.  :)

Manchester HS Harvest Craft Show 2015

My BFF and I had a vendor booth at a high school in Richmond for their Harvest Craft Show.  They were raising money for the golf team.

We got to the school.

Kristen has an awesome beach caddie that came in handy.  We fit everything in it that we needed.  She pulled the caddie and I carried our table.  So much easier having the caddie for the bottles.  They are heavy.  :)

We checked in and found out we were at space #27.  We loved the location we were put in.  It was right in front of the trophy cases.  We just happened to be right in front of Nascar's, Denny Hamlin memmorabillia.  Apparently, Denny went to this high school.  Pretty cool, huh?

Anyways, we set up our table and I have to brag because it was the best table in the house.  :)

We had plenty of extracts, and baked goods to sell.

Kristen made the extracts sign.  It was perfect.  :)

Award Winning Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

Orange Cranberry Sugar Cookies

Award Winning Homemade Brownies

I had to break out some samples.  Samples will get someone to purchase treats and they surely did.

Here's what I put on fbk and IG.  :)

We made our money back and a little profit.  We wished we had sold more but there just wasn't a huge crowd.  I felt with it being on a Sunday in the busiest fall month with football and Nascar going on it just wasn't the best day for the event.

I'm thinking about doing a craft show by myself next weekend.  And then we are doing another one together in December.  :)

15th Wedding Anniversary Surprise Vow Renewal Party 2015

This past Saturday Morning, I went to a Judging School to take some classes to learn how to be a fair judge.  Little did I know that my husband, family and friends were all setting up a party for me.  

I was told we would be going to dinner at a nice place to celebrate all our friends anniversaries.  My husband had a photo gig and would meet us there.  My sister, her husband and niece picked me up.  I didn't think anything differently.  We pulled into a park because my sister wanted to reminisce for a minute.  We got to a pavilion and I saw Nate and I was so confused.

Here's the pavilion.

I saw Nate.  I thought he had lied about where he was and I wasn't quite sure why we were going to his gig.  I thought we just stumbled upon him.

I then realized that my husband was surprising me with a party.  Then I saw a preacher and I saw family and friends.  I was in shock.  I was still trying to process everything.

Here's the alter.

Cute table at entrance.

I hugged and kissed Nate and said "So are we doing this".  He laughed and said "yes".

Then I said "Are you walking me down the aisle" and he said "yes".

We made our way up to the alter where there was a preacher. 

Nate had the preacher include some new vows about me trying to remember to set the DVR to record a minute prior so it doesn't cut off the rest of the show and for Nate to remember to put dishes in the dishwasher.  We both said "I will try" while laughing.

My brother-in-law, Daniel got on the piano and played "Kiss Me" while my friend Sharon sang while we danced.

Here we go walking back down the aisle.  My niece is looking up at me with the same face I have.  haha

The ceremony seemed longer than the ceremony we had 15 years ago.  I think I even mentioned that out loud.  haha

Here I am giving my niece a hug.

My husband then told me that he had been planning this entire surprise for the last 9 months.  He even told me that he had been doing odd computer and picture jobs saving up the money to pay for everything.  He said everything was paid for so I didn't have to worry about anything.

We came back inside and Nate said some nice words and we thanked everyone for coming to share our special day and for keeping everything a secret.

Behind me is some of the guests getting food.  Everything was great and there was a ton of delicious food.

My mother took some pieces of my flowers from my wedding 15 years ago and made a new bouquet for me to walk down the aisle with.

Miller Family

Albrecht Family

Nate had a local bake shop recreate the top of our wedding cake.  It was perfect and it was so delicious.

Here we are cutting into the cake.

And eating it.

My sister took these pictures.  There were little smore favors that were just awesome.

The surprise vow renewal was just perfect.  I wouldn't change a thing.  Everything was amazing.  I still can't believe my husband pulled this off and didn't let the cat out of the bag.  We appreciate everyone who helped and came to celebrate our love.

Fall Judging School 2015

This past Saturday, I went down to Caroline County for Judging School.  The classes are to teach you how to be a certified fair judge.  I signed up to take 3 classes.  Interview Judging, Cut flowers/plants and Vegetables/produce.

You have to take several classes and then go before a certified judge and be mentored before you're actually be certified.  It's also good to take refresher courses once you become certified.

Here's the schedule for the day.

The first part of the class was an orientation and ethics class.

The lady pictured below is Hazel.  She started the Judging school many years ago to make sure judges knew what they were looking for and how to judge certain things.  She seemed like a very special lady.  Those who knew her only had good things to say about her.

We learned many things like how to judge, why we judge, what to look for when judging and to be fair at all times.

Then it was time for our first class so I headed over to the table where my class was being held.  My first class was Interview Judging with Cathy.  Cathy went over a bunch of things you ask a child when you're judging an item they made or brought in.  This is mainly for 4-H children. It's becoming really popular at fairs and Caroline County wants to bring it to their fair next year.  It was interesting.  We had a young man (10 years old) show us a robot he built and a drone and we got to ask him questions about it.  He was way to smart for me.  I know nothing about robots or drones.  But it's always good to have a mix of judges.  Judges that are experienced in the category and those who aren't that will ask a bunch of questions.

After an hour it was time for our 2nd class.  This class was cut flowers/plants and was taught by Master Gardner Cheryl.  She was awesome.

There were some examples on the table for us to judge and say what we saw wrong with an entry.

Here's Cheryl going over some things.

After an hour, the 2nd class ended and it was time for lunch.  There was a VDOT event going on at the fairgrounds and they were having a field day with VDOT workers.  They cooked up a bunch of BBQ and made us all plates.  When I opened the container, I couldn't believe how much food was in there.  LOL  We had a BBQ Sammich, baked beans, cole slaw and potatoes.  I was so stuffed.  I sat with my instructor Cheryl and we just talked about gardening and baking etc.  We then split a small piece of pumpkin ginger cake and it was divine.  So delicious.

After lunch we then went to our 3rd class.  Mine was the vegetables/produce class.  I was the only person taking this class and my instructor was Cheryl again.  So I pulled my chair right up to the table to learn as much as I could.

I was given a packet of info on how to judge veggies and there were plenty of samples of produce to judge.

Afterwards, Cheryl asked me if I wanted any of the veggies and I said "sure, whatever you don't want" and she loaded up a bag full of stuff.  Here's what she gave me.

I had a lot of fun and I want to take some more classes.  There's more classes offered in the spring.  I want to learn how to judge baked goods.  I hope they offer that next year.  I would still be able to enter my baked goods but I just can't be present during judging nor could I judge that category.