This weekend, I drove to Little Egg Harbor, NJ to visit my friend Jeanne.  Jeanne and I were friends and sorority sisters ages ago at Gettysburg College (circa 1985).  We reconnected on Facebook and have been in close touch for the past year.  Earlier this spring, Jeanne came to our house and was a huge help in getting the garden ready for summer.

• 

  Gettysburg College ~1985

• 

  Harrisburg, PA 2021

This was my first trip to her house, and once I got off the turnpike, I found myself in the New Jersey Pinelands. The Pinelands National Reserve consists of approximately 1.1 million acres in southern New Jersey. The area has an interesting history and is currently home to blueberry farms and cranberry bogs.

• 

  Pinelands

• 

  Beaver dam

• 

  Pine barrens

• 

  Pine barrens

• 

  Dam

• 

  Dam

Jeanne has an amazing garden, and many of the plants in my garden are her donations.  This weekend, her aster was still going strong and was covered in sweat bees and hover flies.

• 

  Hover fly

• 

  Aster with photo bombers

• 

  Hover fly on aster

• 

  Hover fly

• 

  Aster

• 

  Sweat bee on aster

• 

  Cucumber beetle

• 

  Transverse banded flower fly

• 

  Aster with sweat bee

• 

  Aster with visitor

• 

  Black-eyed Susan

• 

  Scabiosa

And this is the best boi, Brewster.  Compared to our heathens, he is so calm and sweet.  He just hangs with you and watches tv or occasionally pulls out a squeaky toy.  He was spoiled this weekend and got to sleep in the guest bed with me.

• 

  Brewster

• 

  Brewster

• 

  Brewster

We spent the day Saturday antiquing at two great places: Half Moon Trading Co. and Days of Olde Antiques.  Jeanne was very patient with me!  We called our friend Shelly who we haven’t seen in 25 years, and then had an amazing dinner of avocado salad and sushi.

It was an overall great trip and I am SO grateful for the friends of my youth who have become the friends of my life.