Sunday with Friends

Remember my big surprise? My friends surprised me with a visit in honor of my fiftieth birthday. It was so nice of them.

All too soon, the party came to an end. But not the visit! They have never been to our house and were so excited to see our old place. Unfortunately, by the time we got back to our house it was late and everyone was tired.

After a good night's sleep, Sunday morning was spent sitting on the back porch drinking coffee, watching the birds and squirrels and just catching up with each other. We also took a tour of the "grounds". Here is my friend Marilyn standing under the pin oak in our back yard. She was amazed at how big it is. Our house was built in the 1890s and I'm sure this tree was standing long before that.

The guys took some time to talk about the replacement of the front porch. I noticed no one grabbed a hammer or a paint scraper.

We all finally got motivated and decided to head to Raleigh. But first we had to stop at a convenience store along US 1. We had to stop because it was the "Sheetz". You can see the sign in the background as we drove away.
Once in Raleigh, we hit the flea market held at the state fair grounds every weekend. There was a Mustang car show going on there as well. We walked around ohhing and ahhing at all the cool cars, new and old for a while, then headed to the flea market to see what treasures we could find. Being that it was a holiday weekend and raining, there were not very many vendors outside. But we enjoyed looking at what was there and purchased a few goodies. Here we are leaving the flea market. The building in the background is full of small retail vendors.
While at the flea market, we purchased some yummy produce and fresh shrimp for our dining pleasure that evening. After a stop at our local Food Lion for some potatoes, steaks, more beer and wine, we got to cooking. Here's Phil getting ready to do a digital exam, er...I mean, prepare the fresh jalapenos for our appetizer.

Jalapeno poppers - fresh peppers with the seeds removed then stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped with a slice of bacon. Throw on the grill long enough to get cook the bacon and heat the peppers. Yummy! And with the seeds removed, they are not all that hot. Some of them were even sweet. Here's a picture of the poppers and the potatos on the grill.
We also had fresh Silver Queen corn on the cob purchased from the flea market. It is the sweetest corn you will ever eat! Here's Mar and Phil preparing the corn to go in the oven. Good thing my kitchen is large as we all had a hand in fixing our dinner that night.
Rod and I are at the sink cleaning and deveining the fresh shrimp we got at the flea market. I have to say, something was fishy! EWW!
After the potatoes were done, the steaks, shrimp and pineapple skewers grilled to perfection, it was time to eat. And eat and eat.
There is nothing better than having good food, good wine and good friends around your dining room table.

*Clicking on the pictures will enlarge them.