Good friends, good food, ocean air and sleep.......

What a wonderful time I had with my dear friend down East this past week. Had a nice drive down Tuesday and we met at a very nice mall. We had lunch in a quaint little place then met with an old friend from home who moved down some years ago. After a little shopping at Williams-Sonoma, we all went to Starbucks for coffee to get caught up. We were having such a good time laughing the manager asked if she could join us.
After a trip to the grocery store, I followed Fran home to the Island (about 35 minutes) and we cooked dinner – Sockeye Salmon, roasted veggies, and a spinach, pear, fresh goat cheese, walnut salad with Raspberry Walnut dressing. We finished with fresh key lime pie (we also bought some dark chocolate covered peanut butter centered pretzels - Yum). They have their meeting on Tuesday night and we got there a few second late. I was just getting straight in my seat when someone came up behind me and hugged me from the back - it was SG who moved down to the area with his wife several years ago. It was nice to see them. It was also nice that they announced him being assigned an elder while we were there. I'm sure it was special to have someone from home there for that special moment.
On Wednesday we met for a very early study with a pioneer then met the group for invitation work ending with a 5pm study with the same sister resulting in 9 hours total for that day. It seems like we drank a lot of coffee during the week. This is just one of the little coffee shops we took breaks in. We picked up a rotisserie chicken, had the left over veggies, a spinach salad with strawberries and nuts and of course more key lime pie.
Thursday we went to town for our glass-blowing class. I made a red vase with fluted edges tipped with eggplant and she made a narrow royal blue vase with fluted edges tipped with emerald green. They put them in the oven for us to come back and get the next day. After our class, we met Fran’s daughter and granddaughter for lunch at Elisha's on the waterfront. We did a little shopping but the main shop she wanted me to see was closed. Then I had my two studies over the phone in the car while she had a meeting with the woman who is drawing plans for a new house for their lot. We stopped to pick up laundry and decided to go see Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. After purchasing tickets, we walked across the lot to Brixx Pizza where we killed a bottle of wine and ate a really nice pizza. The movie was cool.
Friday morning we met with the group, did invitation work and had lunch with two of the sisters. This time we worked a lot of rural and then a small community. This place had dogs, ducks, and lots of other animals. I also took a picture of what someone called "weather-proofing"
their home. We then went back to town to pick up our vases and bought a few more items. The shop she wanted me to go to was open and I bought a sewing basked that had been hand made in Zimbabwe. We walked around a little, bought some coffee, and went into a shop she wanted to check out for yarn on sale. Her dear hubby came home Friday and I took them to dinner at Dwight's favorite restaurant down there - pricey but worth it. We also rented and watched several movies while I was there which was nice also.
Saturday was gorgeous so we went for a long boat ride that was exactly what the doctor ordered. We had spaghetti for dinner Saturday and just relaxed. The most challenging part of Saturday was determining the best ways to get me in and out of the boat. We finally "engineered" some cushions that I could step up on to step up further on the seat and on the deck! Woo Hoo! :-)
On Sunday we loaded the car and drove into town for breakfast at iHops after which they went back for their meeting and I had a peaceful drive home.
While there, I slept in the small room that has one of those nice wooden bunk beds that the bottom bed is a full bed. It had an ergonomic pillow and between that, it being so dark and feeling like I was in a cave - I slept great every night in spite of my coughing. It was also nice having their pretty cat – Zizzle – let me cuddle her at night like I do my Miya at home.
So that was my trip - just what I needed. Page called Big D and said - "it seems strange to talk to you at home with Mama at the beach". He said "yeah - and I plan to fix that". I'm sure he will - it was truly a wonderful trip and I could literally feel myself relaxing and totally enjoying myself. How can you go wrong with great friends, great food, ocean air and sleep?????????? I'll add more and pictures later - sleepy.