Balloons Away!

It was tough to get up in the dark at 5 am, but we really wanted to see those hot air balloons in Readington and we needed some time to find them. We filled our coffee to-go mugs and headed out. It's not often I see sunrises. There were signs everywhere with directions to the Festival, so we really didn’t need Ms. TomTom, but she did give us a few shortcuts. There were NO PARKING signs within a 2 mile radius on every street surrounding the airport, so we had to be clever. We drove around and spotted a church. Huge parking lot, no signs and no cars. Some cars came, but then left, so I figured there were better spots somewhere around. The next area was another church but the graveyard was up the side of a mountain even closer to the fairgrounds. Ahhh, other people were here, too. We found a parking spot and walked out into the fields just as the first balloon arose into the perfect blue sky. Here are just a few of the 45 that flew today. I especially like the barn complete with animals and 30’ farmer. Even so far below them, we could hear the rush of the flame as the handle was pulled to raise the balloon higher. Here are a couple of other shots I took during the launches:

Soon after lunch Rosie came with the mosaic pieces we had started on Thursday. They were dry enough to grout and frame. I think I love doing mosaics. The first one is always a trial piece, and I would do many things differently next time. Bob helped us a little, and then Rosie helped him weld! Here she is with her helmet on welding some pipe together. Gary wanted a turn, too. Now he can add that to his resume. So far he has many new names for his different new talents:
Fire tending: Ash
Hay throwing: Hay-you
Cutting pipe: Sparky
Welding: Torch
Tree shredding: Chip
Routing: Dusty
Driving bobcat: Skid
He'll probably have a few more before we leave.

There was a 40% chance of thunderstorms, and it looked serious around 3:30. We were all working together in the Workshop when the winds whipped up, the thunder crashed and the rains came. It was all over in about 20 minutes, and then the sun came out. Hopefully this will break the heat wave we’re having up here. We heard that it was the hottest July on record. I don’t particularly love air-conditioners, but we have really needed it on day and night. Bob’s electric bill compared to last July was 7 times higher because of us. His house bill was three times higher than that. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s HOT up here…

Tasha is trying to catch the hummers through the windshield. They aren’t scared, though, and keep coming back over and over, which keeps her busy. Silly girl. I think she’s bored with the woods. She hasn’t wanted to go out for over a week, or if she does, she comes right back. This is OK with us, as she brings dirt and bugs in on her and we really don’t want those traveling with us.

Waiting for the Dr. to call….