Playing Hookey

Saturday morning -- we were up and out the door by 8:30 for a day of fun. No lawyer work. No marketing work. No farm work. Heck, I didn't even make the bed.

We started our day with a hike with Mary Ray, nationally renown herbalist from Bardstown. A group of about 20 people showed up for a two-hour hike (a stroll rather) around 400-acre Shelby Trails. Mary couldn't go three steps without stopping to show us a useful weed, wildflower, or tree bark. She was like a walking encyclopedia of wisdom for the therapeutic use of medicinal plants -- maybe more like a combination medicine woman/shaman. For every specimen, she talked about its medical uses and whether she uses it to make a tincture, salve, poultice, extract or tea. It was a lot to take in -- but definitely roused our curiosity. One more thing to add to our list of things we need to learn.

The teasel weed can be used as a healing wash to treat acne, eye inflammation, itchy skin, sties, and wounds.
It also can be prepared as a poultice to get rid of warts

Straight from the hike, we headed to Ed's hometown of Owensboro, Ky. While we used to make the trip every couple of months to visit Aunt Gladys, we hadn't made the trip in nearly a year.

First stop: Old Hickory for a chopped mutton sandwich and some burgoo.

Second stop: an afternoon at the Gilmores. Natalee was in town with baby Eliza.
When not napping, she was cheering for her dad's favorite basketball team. Go Cards!

We spent part of the afternoon at Rose Hill Cemetery. Ed wanted to see Aunt Gladys' headstone and then we walked around
finding the headstones of his parents, grandparents (see above) and sister and brother-in-law. 

Last stop: Famous Bistro, our favorite restaurant in Owensboro.
Gay, Steve, Natalee and Eliza had dinner with us before we began the trip back home.

 All in all, a very fun day.