A few hops across a few ponds

My sister came a-visitin last week.
This is extraordinary because my sister lives in Perth, Australia. She made the visit as part of a trip to Europe, because when you travel from Australia, well, the US seems pretty close to Europe, in relation. So yes, she braved the 10 hours each way to spend five days with us and her new niece Chloe.
Thank god for visitors. It not only gives us the opportunity to mobilize and clean house, but also to visit our own region. Thanks to Maddy's visit, we got to visit Historic Stagsville (at one time NC's largest plantation and home to 900 slaves) as well as the Duke Plantation, which taught us a lot about thehistory of tobacco and the creation of Duke University. In the whirlwind, I realized that Chloe has really taught me to slow down and keep tings pretty simple--I just couldn't seem to pack in activities like I wanted to!
And also, having company was great to allow me to shop, and get over my frumpy housefrau-cum-full time mom look. High time. Though it's hard to chance spit-up stains on new Coldwater Creek threads...
And then Maddy left us with Australian good weather, so now we're actually getting busy putting in a garden. Nothing like dirt under the fingernails and sore muscles to feel alive again. Thanks Maddy!