full days

I've been away from my blog for several days because Jerome has been here and I don't like to  spend much time on the computer while he's here. Yesterday afternoon I bid goodbye to him once again after 4 and a half marvelously full days that included a surprise visit from our son. More about that later.
There are so many great places to explore within a day's drive from here, but we just haven't let ourselves play. Our TO DO list is always too long. This visit, though, we did try a restaurant in Gays Mills for breakfast on Sunday morning. This restaurant, The Red Apple Inn, had been mentioned to me at the last fiber arts guild meeting. I had been asking for recommendations of restaurants for breakfast and Heidi said there was one under new management that she thought was worth a visit. It was a lovely morning for a drive. The food was good and we were glad we took the time to go, about 40 minutes from home through Viroqua, Readstown, and Soldiers Grove on the way.
Gays Mills is a tiny town of about 750. It lies in a valley prone to flooding. The downtown is just two blocks long. A couple years back the town was so badly under water that they voted to move most of the town up the slope to higher ground. Some businesses remain along the old main street, including this delightful greenhouse.

Isn't this just about the sweetest garden shop you can imagine??? Of course being a Sunday it was closed. But on the 15th of September my sister Terri and I will be going to the Driftless Area Art Festival in Soldiers Grove, about 6 miles from Gays Mills. Though she'll be leaving that afternoon, I'm going to push her to stop at The Village Greenhouse in Gays MIlls while we're out that way.