Mood:  hungry

Yesterday was absolutely perfect. Well except for the fact that I woke up with another wine headache. But I am in much better shape than Lennie who drank wine then switched to beer later in the night.

We woke up Wednesday and had coffee and breakfast out on the patio sitting at my new patio table and chairs. The weather was perfect. It was cool with a slight breeze. We sat there a little longer than I would have wanted but it was just so nice we hated to get up. Lennie drove back to his place to change clothes and I packed a lunch and we headed up to Eno River State Park for the day. I had never been there before but my boss raved about it so we decided to give it a try.

We got there around noon and grabbed a picnic table and ate our sandwiches and fruit then glanced at the trail map for a hike we could do. We opted for the Coal Mountain Trail which was about 4 miles long. It was a beautiful hike. And we had most of the trail to ourselves. I even managed to spot a Scarlett Tanager (It’s a bright red bird) which was a thrill for me because I had never seen one in the wild. I got some pictures and when I have a chance I will upload them.

Once we finished the hike we head home so I could get started making dinner. I was so excited to use my new cedar planks. We had a minor mishap with the first one. It went up in flames and couldn’t be saved so I went in and soaked another one. Thank God the salmon wasn’t on it.  I sent Lennie outside with the second plank to keep an eye on it. Which I am sure he would have preferred to watch Eddie Izzard instead. Dinner was fantastic. The sauce I made for the salmon was very tasty. Lennie stated at one point that he would have paid for a meal like that. I just wish I knew that before I served him. I could have made a few bucks. LOL After dinner we spotted my neighbor Dave and Lennie invited him down to enjoy the new patio and to have some pie. We sat there eating pie and drinking wine and just chatting up a storm. It was such a nice night. My other neighbors were all setting off fireworks. At one point it sounded like my complex was being invaded. It was coming from all sides. Every once in awhile one of the fireworks would go high enough for us to see them.

So all in all it was a great day. I need days like that just to recharge. I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4^th.