A Weekend Outing or Two,

 Although I was a bit reluctant to attend, at first, I participated in a croquet tournament on Saturday.  It was a fundraiser for a home for at-risk boys up in South Carolina. 

 It was actually quite a lot of fun to play croquet, althou it was not a conventional game, but more like a speed version where you tried to get as many points as possible in 20 minute matches. 

 Although our team was keen, we did not finish in the top echelons.
But there was nice food!

 And the tents were wonderful to provide shade, since it got to be about 102 degrees F, and yes, Richard and I both got a bit of sun-burn. 

 I also found time to start a pair of socks the night before!

 Today we had an adventure in the car, and went past an interesting site.  It is of a church that had been built, burned down, rebuilt and burned down again!

 It is an interesting way to preserve trees from rot and mildew  by filling the hollow parts with cement-- sort of medieval looking, like in a fairy tale.

 I love to look at views through windows or doorways...

 I wonder how headstones sink into the earth like this, like into water,

 It was a sunny day, and the light was beautiful as it filtered through the leaves of the live oak trees,

 weathered wood,
and this branch reminds me of a chinese dragon,

 It must have rained last night, because the resurrection ferns in the tree were all green, instead of being dry and brown,

 and the lichen is quite pretty in this tree,

 It turned out to be a pretty nice weekend,