Saturday, May 24, 2025

Life, As Usual

 At Our House

A bowl of cherries… so glad they are coming into season! On Tuesday we drove back home from
Virginia, and this  was part of our grocery restocking on Wednesday.

Blooming in the garden…an allium, member of the onion family.

Len made himself a potting bench and is now using it for spring planting.

We are eating lots of salad this week.


A Visit to Penzey’s

We visited Penzey’s Spice shop in Falls Church, VA on Monday. We bought several spices and a towel.

We have only ordered from the website (link) and were very happy to see the store!

The selection is amazing, especially the special blends.




Road Trip Home


In Berkeley Springs, West Virginia: A beautiful mural for Sami’s Monday Murals.
We drove back on Tuesday.


The tunnel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.


Light at the end of the tunnel.

That’s my week for Deb’s Sunday Salon!
Photos © 2025 mae sander

26 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Hello Maem
We have been eating lots of salads and cherries too.
I love the mural! Penzeys looks like a wonderful, with a nice selection of seasonings. I am going to checkout the website. I like the potting bench and pretty flower. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a wonderful weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.

Iris Flavia said...

You are into cherry-season NOW? Here it was August!
Sadly Bro had to tear down both cherry-trees as they were too old. But, oh, sweet times when I went on the balcony or garden and could just snack right away!
Spice places are as dangerous as book stores ;-)
Very beautiful mural. Wishes coming true, huh. It really worked with me! Three days later I had a new project!

Jeanie said...

Too bad we don't have a Penzey's here! Are the cherries good ones? Seems like now they would be "imported" from elsewhere. I'm thinking orchard cherries will cost an arm, leg and first born this summer. It looks like a wonderful trip home!

My name is Erika. said...

I'm with you about being excited for cherry season. Glad you found some. And Len made himself a beautiful bench. I bet he'll get a lot of use from it. My alliums are purple but starting to bloom too. :) Have a great weekend Mae.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I love cherries and just drank a little tart cherry juice. It's good for you and tasty! I didn't get your link on critters but clicked on your banner to find you. Hugs!

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I had no idea that Penzey's had actual stores. It would be fun to browse through there. It feels so good to support Penzey's. I think I shall buy something today.

We don't have cherries here, I think, sadly. I bet fresh cherries are a delight.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Those cherries look so delicious! I shall be keeping my eye open, in the meantime fresh asparagus is a treat.

DVArtist said...

We have cherries in the store here but they are sour. I will wait awhile. Ohhh that spice store, how I would love to visit there. The murals are fabulous.

Vicki said...

I've never heard of Penzey's so I looked them up and the closest one to me is in Orlando. Next time I go there I'll look for it. I don't need any spices right now, I recently bought a bunch in case I ran out of some.

I love the murals, I also love going through tunnels, especially the ones that go under water. I hope you have a great week!

Marg said...

Penzey's looks like a really fun place to visit!

Have a great week!

Sherry's Pickings said...

oh how i love cherries. They have such a short season here - only from november to january i think!

Helen's Book Blog said...

Penzy's spices looks like a really fun shop. I love all the hearts and positive messages.

Joy said...

We had salad for supper last night. I love that! Especially after traveling when it can be hard to get good salads.

Becki said...

Good thing I'm grocery shopping later today - those cherries and the taco salad look so good!! Thanks for sharing :)

Olivia Beck said...

I bet Penney’s smelled amazing!

JoAnn said...

We drove through Falls Church earlier this month on our trip north. Wish I'd known there was a Penzey's there. Next time.

Jinjer-The Intrepid Angeleno said...

Ooo "Michigan Cherries" are a thing, aren't they? I think the ones in our stores are from Mexico and I don't think we get good ones until July? Not sure. It's been awhile since I've bought any fruit other than frozen because I can't eat it before it goes bad. lol The best cherries I've ever personally had were ones we picked up at a roadside stand in Utah.

That taco salad looks gooooooood.

How cool is it that you can say "I need a potting bench" and then build one for yourself?

Cloudia said...

Thank you for all of this healing. Happy feel good material! Even the Pennsylvania turnpike reminded me of happy road trips. Have a delightful week ahead. Aloha!

Cindy said...

I love fresh cherries! I have never heard of Penzey's before, but it looks like a great place to visit!

Lydia C. Lee said...

Love the kind one #MuralMondays

magiceye said...

Wonderful photography

thecuecard said...

I like that potting bench! Seems like a good road trip.

Bertiebo said...

No cherries here, yet. Nice mural!

Shiju Sugunan said...

Great photos! Those cherries look delicious. What a beautiful mural too!

Sami said...

I love cherries and like the potting bench. I made one a while back with an old barbecue, just added a wooden top. Great mural at the garden centre. Thanks for participating in Monday Murals Mae.

Snapdragon said...

All those pictures look nice. I'm intrigue about the spice shop. Too bad I don't live in Va anymore.
Have a great week.