Coastal Cleanup, Crockpot & Country

Aside from having to do some extra work on Saturday morning, I had a much needed relaxing & low-key weekend! Ahh, it was so nice...

After a couple of hours at work, I still had enough time to head over to my local beach and participate in the annual Coastal Cleanup Day. It surprised me how many people were out there picking up trash together--it was great to see that the event was able to draw in a significant amount of community participation. People of all ages were there, but I especially loved seeing parents with their young children, exposing them to these activities. I overheard a mom and dad talking to their two daughters, "Tell me, what did you learn today? Why are we out here doing this, and how did this trash get here?" They were not only teaching their kids the importance of being out there and picking up the trash, but were encouraging them to think beyond it. Why is the trash here? What can we do to change that and make sure it doesn't end up here in the first place? It's nice to know that there are many parents who try to instill these values in their children, the importance of stewardship and actively participating in caring for the earth.

I spent most of my Sunday reading (started The Lace Reader and really enjoying it so far) and knitting (taught myself a new lace pattern), then had friends over for some dinner and some country line dancin' (well, learnin' some country line dancin'). Dinner included pulled pork sandwiches that I made in the crockpot, plus a bunch of yummy sides that the friends brought over, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Mmmm, it was all delicious. I had been wanting to try the pulled pork sandwiches for a while, and finally used the recipe I got from The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Volume II (when I visited Robin's Woods last month, Jennifer had checked this out from the library for me to take a look at.) It was a great recipe--after nine hours of slow-cooking, the meat just fell apart and was tender and wonderful, and the sauce was very good too, not too tangy not too sweet. Line dancing in the living room was fun, although I think we need a little more practice before we take our moves to the dance floor, haha.

The weekend went by too quickly (doesn't it always?) and now it's another (busy busy!) week at work...