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I'VE GOT SEVEN sisters-in-law. Seven. I'd wager that's more feminine siblings- in-law than the average person can boast. It happens that the great majority of these relatives came to me via The Yard Man. He's got no brothers (pity the poor man) and a whole caboodle of sisters. Two of the five live away off in other states, but the three who live in this area occasionally drop everything and have a whole wonderful day's worth of tripping around the county. These generous sises-in-law are always welcoming if I wish to join them on their excursions (lucky for me).

So this morning I set the alarm clock for seven-thirty. Sister-in-law-the-Fourth was driving, bringing Sister-in-law the First with her, picking me up at eight-fifteen; Sister-in-law-the-Fifth was meeting us here at my house. The flurry of emails the night before had included this question: Does anyone have to be home before 5 pm.?

We were fortunate, because no one had to be home before dark and, by golly, there were so many places to go! Thus we made the whole rainy day bright with conversation and piling in and out of the car, and enjoying the greenhouses, gift shops, clothing shop...oh, and that place where the Amish woman had cookies for sale in her house, and I asked to take a picture of her confections, but then I worried that camera in my pocket, cause what I really wanted like Santa wants a plate of cookies was a photo of her three tiny tots.

















And there was the cafe, of course, where we had lunch. Hurrah for the tomato pie!

This tour that we took was mostly to out-of-the-way places. My sisters-in-law had booklets filled with a list of small businesses in the county that would be easily missed by the casual tourist.
We followed directions to get to a few, and it was hard to tell what we'd find. Anything from cabbage to cotton to the world's largest wreath on the side of a barn. (There's a smidgen of a chance it was billed as only the county's largest, but you never know...) At one greenhouse, we took aim at balls atop pedestals and played a little shooting game the owner had set up, his young pig-tailed daughter watching in fascination. You see, Reader Dear, there was just no telling what we'd discover on our expedition!



Ever go to an art gallery in a (working) cow barn, Reader Dear?!

Well, when the sises-in-law dropped me off
at the end of the day, here's what we all had
to say: WHAT FUN!I said, thank you, thank you!
They said, come along again next time!(Hmm. Do me a favor, Viewer Dear. Mum's the word on these
video clips. I may have taken at least one of them on the sly).
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