A visiting herbalist

It is always a special day when we get a visit from a friend from far away. This summer has been full, with lots of good friends coming into the area for all of the cool stuff we have going on - and then stopping to visit us! Karen Mallinger of AllGoodeGifts.com does a yearly vacation with her sisters. The women are flung all across the country (Michigan, Florida, and Ohio!), and so they take turns choosing a destination and then spend a week together. This year was Lisa's year, and she chose Gettysburg.
I was teasing Karen about her on-line picture, and now I think this shot should be her public shot - don't you? Saucy and adventurous - that's Karen. Karen's sister Stephanie is just as hilarious as Karen. These two would be seriously scary on a trip across country. Lisa is more quiet, and seems to just be amused, taking it all in. Anyhow, here is Steph after buying a bunch of Maryanne's lampworked jewelry. Lisa is behind her chuckling, while Steph explains each piece she purchased, and why. Next we wandered down into the woods to see if we could compare notes on some woodland plants. We are from such different areas that things like common names, varieties, etc., can be interesting to compare. We found a log full of these beauties. My brother-in-law id'd them yesterday, and other than being pretty, they are not edible, nor medicinal. I'll probably dry them anyway, and use them in my wild wanderings potpourri. That is just my big honking jar of stuff I find while out. Usually there is some attachment - a place, the people I was walking with - and the jar is filled with so many walks and memories.
We went over to the Tilted Kilt for lunch. Having friends in from afar is a GREAT excuse to go back. I think this was probably the last chance we'll get this year to have lunch on the deck, so we took advantage of it, even though it was a mite cool. Karen, Maryanne, and Lisa chat below.
Next, we hopped over to Cloverleaf Herb Farm (see blog on blogroll>>>). Kathy Musser came out to chat and we looked over her goodies and did some sniffing and heavy duty browsing. We even found a book that I'd recommended to Steph earlier right there on the shelf (next to Under the Sun, of course).

Off they went into the sunset. The next day, the Cyclorama in Gettysburg was set to open and Lisa is a major fan of pretty much any place a cannon has ever been.