Curtainladies on holiday

Last month I drove 18 hours to spend a long weekend on the coast of North Carolina with a group of "curtain lady" friends from around the country. I stopped in Ohio to pick up Beth and we drove to New Bern where Lorraine and her husband have a vacation condo and a sailboat.

I had met all but one of these amazing women for the first time at the Northfield Foundation house just under a year ago, where we spent a whirlwind weekend volunteering our time to upholster furniture for the house. There had been two previous upholstering weekends that I hadn't participated in, but it didn't matter, as I and the other newcomers were welcomed with open arms and treated as old friends. When Elaine moved into her new workroom, Beth and I started talking about visiting and pretty soon Lorraine and Elaine had a plan for a reunion.

The curtainladies.

We spent one day at her new workroom, ostensibly learning tips from Elaine about her fabulous cornices, but really I think we may have spent more time laughing and having fun, and celebrating Sue's entry into the 50 year club.

Elaine's new workroom.

Elaines' fancy work aprons.

The rest of the time was play time, and did we play. Good wine, even better food, lots of talk and laughter, sightseeing, sailing and even a game of Scrabble thrown in. And oh, the funny stories that were told... but I can't repeat them here.

Lorraine gave us all glasses with our business names on them.

On Lorraine's boat.

On Melinda's boat.

Besides the enjoying the camaraderie of a group of women who all speak the same language, the sailing was one of the highlights of the weekend for me. I used to go sailing on a big boat in northern Michigan with relatives on both Lake Charlevoix and Lake Michigan. My Dad also had a small boat that we sailed on an inland lake, but it was sold long ago, so I hadn't been sailing for years. What a treat, and our skipper, Melinda, was so much fun to talk to and just a fount of knowledge about all things sailing.

Melinda and her boat.

Hoisting the mainsail.

Under sail!

Lorraine takes the helm.

We had such a great time, we are planning another reunion...in Michigan this time!

Walks on the beach

I managed to get out to the beach four more times while I was in Florida, and made it a point to go to a different one each time. Since I hadn't taken my camera, I had to dig around in my computer files for some appropriate beach photos. It wasn't difficult. All these photos are from previous trips.

My second week there I went to Brohard beach, on Venice Island. I hadn't been there in quite a while and thought it might be less busy than some of the others. I wasn't disappointed.

We used to go there quite a bit when our girls were younger because it's a few minutes closer to their grandparents, and we would be hurrying to get to the beach for the sunset.

The day was beautiful and sunny, but windy and cool, so although I was there during the usually busy afternoon, there were few people to disturb my thoughts. I was able to find a spot out of the wind where I could relax to the sound of the crashing surf and the sight of the waters of the gulf that were like diamonds from the sun.

Time flies...

no matter what you're doing. Hard to believe it's been over three months since I've posted. I don't do New Year resolutions, but I have made some goals for myself for this year, and posting more often is one of them. If I can do at least one a month, I'll be happy.



North Jetty beach at sunset

I find myself in Florida again, visiting Mom. Although "visiting" may be generous, as Mom has little to say these days. But we are comfortable together, so the silence is OK. The ladies that come and care for Mom during the day keep the conversation going, and my nephew came for dinner last night and brought Karma and they livened us up for the evening.

Yesterday I walked the beach at the North Jetty. It was very windy and somewhat cool, but I love those sorts of days. Other than the serious walkers and shellers, I had the place to myself. I rarely pick up shells anymore, but the heavy surf brings in lots of new ones, and the lack of people to pick them up meant that I found things I hadn't in over 20 years of beach walking. Sea urchins lay on the beach by the hundreds, I could have picked up a bucketful. And different varieties of clam shells, still hinged together, which is very unusual when thousands of shells are being washed together every day and scrubbed by sand and waves. I threw a few live ones, and some live conchs back into the surf, so perhaps they could live a little longer.










Dolphins between the north and south jetties

I didn't take any photos, a bit out of character for me, as I didn't bring my camera along on this trip. At some point in my packing, taking the camera seemed liked just one thing too much. So of course I regretted it yesterday with the crashing waves and the birds and the shells. But I do have my laptop here and have photos of the same beach, taken a few years ago, although at sunset instead of morning.

Signs of autumn...

Wood stacked by the fireplace..

and the last of the garden.

It's October and that means the leafpeekers are in town.

They come of course for the fall color,

but also for the Apple Festival.

Where you can buy not just apples...

but baked goods, cider and maple syrup.

And of course every festival must have their crafters.

We have our own apple trees, which unlike last year are full of apples. The fruit flies and the deer are having a field day.

And if they are too tart for eating, just make pie!