Weekend in Manning

So this weekend was our only "free" weekend to visit Berry's mom. She lives in a little town called Manning, South Carolina, which is about 1.5 hrs away from Charleston, up I-95.

There are only four good things about the town:
1) Berry's mom lives there (of course)
2) Her house/land is the future location of our winery, Bell Branch Vineyard.
3) Jessica's Boutique- a wonderful store full of beautiful clothes that sometimes i treat myself to (and sometimes my mother in law treats me to).
4) Super Wal-Mart- it helps pass the time, what more can i say.


So Berry, Taylor, Tiberius, Ellie and of course me, piled into Berry's truck and headed up there friday night after i finished a long hard (and sad) day at work. We had dinner at the local Mexican place, went shopping at Wal-mart, and then as the girls went to bed, Berry did some work around the house.

The next morning Camille, Taylor and I walked the dogs, picked up pecans, and then went into town. Of course we stopped by Jessica's where there was this beautiful pink coat with a bow on it that was to DIE for- i couldn't bring myself to get it- $170 is a lot to spend these days in our troubled economic times. Then again back to Wal-mart for stuff for dinner and hair dye for Taylor.


That afternoon, Taylor and i cooked 5 batches of cookies and cleaned the bathrooms, while Berry and Camille worked outside. I also took Taylor in Camille's old truck and let her drive around the Pecan Orchard- working on backing-up, parking, turns, etc. I cannot believe that she is going to get her learners permit in 1 year....AHHHHH!

That evening, I cooked dinner as I had promised. It is my contribution to the weekend- Berry works outside and i cook- it works out. Anyway, i made salad, bread, and shepards pie-camille's favorite. I think the shepards pie was a hit but it was a strange recipe (got it from foodnetwork.com) and i would like to make it again with a different recipe. After dinner and desert, we all crashed hard- even Tiberius.

The morning came quickly and Camille had to head to Walterboro and I had to head back to Charleston to do some moonlighting. So we said our goodbyes and parted ways. The trip to Charleston went quickly, with the dogs sleeping in the back, Taylor reading, and Berry and I discussing our Christmas Eve dinner plans.

It was delightful to see the Cooper River Bridge once we got back home.

:)