Another Picnic! - Part 1

We went to the park again!  Big surprise!  Technically, I am a little behind...  We've been there three times since I last wrote about our picnic.*  Twice, we've gone just to be there (I usually end up crafting in the shade, while my friend ends up soaking up the sun and reading).  

The other time--this past Saturday--we went on another picnic.  It was absolutely delightful.  It was also no small venture.  To give you an idea, here is the pile of stuff we took with us:

That is, from left to right: 

   --my friend's bag o' books with her blanket

   --our picnic basket

   --my purse

   --my crate o' crafts (including but not limited to: my patch-work skirt and subsequent sewing/embroidering materials, my supplies for making silmarils, my notebook, and two books to read.)

Impressively, it only took one trip to get everything to the car.  (My crate was very heavy.)  Once loaded up, we trundled over to the park, where I found a wonderful picnic bench to set up shop.  

Here is my little corner, full of crafting goodies:

My friend settled further away, sprawled on her blanket and reading.  We planned on being in the park for most of the day...  I don't even know how long we spent, enjoying the stillness.  And, to my credit, I used almost everything in my crate.

Yet, no picnic is complete without the food.  And, oh, the wonderful food!

Not in the picture: water bottles and a bag of tortilla chips.

I love those little goblets...  They came with the picnic basket, and were just a delight to use.  Here, have a close-up.

Unfortunately, even after drinking the coke and our water bottles, we were still thirsty.  It was pretty hot, although not unbearable--and, granted, ever since my Archaeology training I have become paranoid about becoming dehydrated.  (Nothing spells disaster like not drinking enough water while digging, with a trowel, in the middle of a cornfield--especially in 100 degree weather with 100% humidity.)  

And, for all its good, this drinking fountain wasn't quite cutting it:

So, we packed up and went to the visitor's center, and found it: the most wonderful gift of civilization.  Or, in other words, an over-priced soda machine:

Now that's more like it!

And, with drinks happily in hand, we went outside to sit and watch the hummingbirds.

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* Disclaimer:  Now that I know that there's a park so close to where I live, I will probably be going there a lot...  especially since Autumn is coming, and Autumn is my favorite season.  By extension, that probably means that I'm going to be posting a lot of pictures from there.  Why?  Because I find a lot of inspiration in nature--and because I enjoy posting pictures of beautiful things.  Consider yourself warned! 

Also, regarding the other visits I allude to: I have lots of beautiful pictures that I am itching to post, but for now I am trying not to inundate my blog too much with my ventures to the great outdoors.  (Indeed, I'm trying to sound more reserved, and not like: "OMG PARK!")