Chef R and Tiny Stitches: Wed. May 5, 2010

First thing Wed. morning we tackled the deck cleaning. Marge had the sprayer and Olymic cleaner. Keith needed to put the sprayer tog. and while he got all that ready, Marge and I removed the furniture from the deck and cleaned it.

Marge had to cover all the plants near the deck and wet them down before Keith sprayed the deck. The 3 of us were very skeptical that just spraying this on and waiting 5 to 10 min....then just wash it off...would work, . WELL...IT REALLY WORKED...

We were finished in no time and it looked like new!!! REALLY.

It was such a good feeling for all of us to sit and enjoy .....BUT WAIT...we have to get showered and on the road....There's a full afternoon and evening ahead.

First stop was Marge's favorite "Hillside Shade Garden" WHAT A PLACE... There's no way I can post all the photos I took...

Hamming it up for the camera

This reminded Keith of " Green Eggs and Ham"

I just couldn't pass up this plant....it was just what I've wanted for home... It's called "Twist and Shout" Forever Summer Hydrangia .... I LOVE IT... So this is my Mother's Day Gift from Keith..Ha.

Our reservations for dinner were at 6:30 at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill just 24 miles southwest of Lexington...

It was quite warm but so nice walking around in the shade of the tree lined dirt roads. We arrived at 5:30 so we had an hour to explore America's largest restored Shaker community, with 34 original building and 3,000 acres of preserved farmland.

At 6:30 we entered the dining building..

There were two stairways exactly alike on both sides of the foyer.

And this is the room we were seated for dinner. We were hoping to be seated on the porch, but it was full and we didn't want to wait any longer to eat. Talk about atmosphere!

This is fine dining at it's best. Menus incorporate fresh vegetables grown in the farm garden just outside the building. Dinner entrees include sliced pork, rainbow trout, steak and traditional fried chicken and country ham.