Weekend Wrap-up

I am blessed to be able to say it was another great weekend.  Fun.  Friends.  Sunshine.  Music.  No complaining here.

We started the weekend on Friday, just like any other Friday -

We haven't been here in a while but love the changes they have made.  Lots of seating.  A Huge, Beautiful building.  Greeted as soon as we got there.  Such a pretty place -

Great Music - not to mention perfect dry, whites =)

Even a drone -

And I was able to replace one of my favorite wine carriers/coolers -

Yep - definitely worthy.

You basically get a concert and a bottle of wine for $24 and that's the non-member price.  Seriously.....people judge because we go to wineries but it's fun, cheap and we have  met tons of great people.  Who cares what people think?!  =)

On Saturday, we slept in a little then enjoyed our morning coffee.  Ronnie worked while I worked at home, not so fun, lol.

And then we were honored to share in the ultimate surprise 40th birthday party for this girl -

Lots of friends, lot of excellent, awesome food, great music and fun chatting with friends we don't get to see very often.  It was great.

Sunday - a somewhat lazy day.  Ronnie had a job to estimate/look at so we went there then wanted to find some good tomatoes for BLT's tonight.  SCORE -

but not easily.  Butler's was a closed so we had to find some place else and we did....some back road and a sign that says "Mostly Tomatoes".  "Not responsible for accidents".  hmmmm  well I really wanted these bad so we took a chance.  $1 per pound and these were 3 for $1.  Our total?  $3.  Wow.

I made a double batch of macaroni salad.  One for the party and one for us.  Yep, this is what's for dinner tonight.

We did pay our respects to a lady of the community.  A school teacher for 30 years.  Her memorial card was a little different - not the typical 23rd Psalm or a poem for the family but one that fits everyone.  I truly believe everything happens for a reason and say that often.  This poem is very fitting -

For every burden that we bear,
For every sorrow, every care,
There's a reason
For every grief that bows the head
For every tear-drop that is shed
There's a reason
For every hurt, for every plight,
For every lonely painracked night,
There's a reason
But if we trust God as we should
All must work out for our good
He knows the reason

Love this.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the family as they work through this difficult time.  Somehow the things that seemed huge are somehow less stressful.

So a good weekend it was.  I am very thankful and blessed to be able to say that.  AND the best part is......we are on the count down to vacation!  YAY.  CANNOT wait to be by the sea.  Everything is better by the sea, right?!

Witches and Bottles and FRIENDS, oh my!

Yep - we are happy to be able to call these two our friends.  We may not see each other often but whenever we get together it's like we haven't missed a beat.  We catch up.  We share stories.  We meet up for a birthday party (ok, lol so it was a winery's 5th birthday).

We enjoyed the evening -

We listened to some awesome music -

We had a shared a nice bottle of wine -

We even shared some wine infused cupcakes, ha!

And after they caught us up on their recent trip to Salem, they brought out some gifts from the heart.  These are friends that know us.  That have been around us for years.  So she knew how excited I would be to have my own Salem Witch Bottle -

With a pinch of salt to purify the inside of the bottle, soil from Maumkeag, Massachusetts which represents Peace and Welcome.  A rusted iron nail - legend tells that if you set a rusted nail 'to dirt' with the point down, it will attract and ensnare any Specter or Dark Creatures that happens by, preventing it from following you.  And if the nail has been sealed in the bottle where it is set to dirt, the bottle then becomes a home for that entity.  BUT it MUST remain sealed.  Shew a big responsibility =)  Herbs  to draw in sickness.  The wax seal - Once all the ingredients are combined the cap is then set firm.  The witch bottle is then sealed, with was or clay.  As the material hardens, a 'hex mark' is stamped on the bottle to seal the magick inside.

Wow - LOVE this and very DEEP -  But then this -

I need to make sure this thing stays safe and sealed, geez!  I just love this kind of stuff though.  And I even have a cute little 'witch' chime -

when she whipped out something for us that they had gotten in Salem, I was so excited!  Yep, we have some pretty cool friends.

Connections -

I love it when my readers find something of interest or that they can connect to in my posts/topics.  

A week or so ago you may recall I posted about a wall I found in Minneapolis -

After posting, one of my friends in Minneapolis actually educated me - That building used to house the Schmitt Music company; thus the musical notes.  It was one of the oldest music companies in Minneapolis....you could buy pianos and other instruments, records, sheet music, music lessons, etc.  

She went on to say that she used to spend a lot of time there picking out record and sheet music when she took piano lessons.  She loved this place which makes it all the more special to me.  

Here's a LINK if you are interested in learning more about this OLD, original music store.

So here's to you Kaye!  Thanks for sharing =)

Cold but pretty -

It's been pretty cold here lately -


a little bit of snow here and there but Mendie and I decided to take the plunge and head out to get our LONG overdue pedicure. I haven't had one since October due to my whole 'foot' issue so it felt so good to sit back and have someone pamper my tootsies =)

Of course once we finished up we just couldn't put those old socks and boots back on, right?! Right! So we headed back to work looking like this.....



We definitely got a lot of attention and it didn't help that we were carrying our boots through the building but, it was Friday! Doesn't anything go on Friday? Just in case, I did let my new boss know that if someone sent him an e:mail thinking I had gone crazy I hadn't, lol. He of course just laughed - he thought it was actually warm here since back where he calls 'home' it was 14 below, brrrr!

Thanks....

to some very SPECIAL friends we enjoyed an evening here.....

It was absolutely wonderful.

A nice bottle of wine -

Their seafood is the best -

And the veggies and 'twice baked' potato....yum!

So - you know who you are.....Thanks again for your generosity and allowing us to have a wonderful evening out. We are very thankful for having you as friends =)

A new favorite!

Some friends of ours talk about 'walking' to their bar. Ok, so I thought I understood but......I so didn't!

Last night they invited us over to their house to enjoy the beautiful weather then dinner here.....
This was the coolest place! It just felt like everyone knew each other...just a small town pub. We spent several hours in there, talking about tons of stuff and enjoying the company. Then...we WALKED home. Wow, now I get it! We didn't get home until around 1 but were up and in church right on time this morning =)

So - thanks Becky & Jeff for a really fun night! Can't wait to do it again..

A very special THANK YOU!

While we were in Daytona we needed someone to come and take care of our fish tanks. The Lilly's have been friends of our's for several years and their son Brian loves to earn money and is very responsible. He knew it was an every day commitment regardless of the weather, but he still wanted to help us out. So, every day the Lilly family would come by and take care of our fish even with an extra 8 inches of snow that came after we left.

I have been wanting to post his picture but didn't have a 'good' recent one until today. Due to a 'minor family emergency' we had these two this evening so I used the opportunity to finish out this post. Thank you Lilly's and I loved the WELCOME HOME written in the snow on my car!
These two kids just go with the flow. It's getting late so we stopped by and got their pj's so they could be ready for bed when Denise and Darryll get here. Amanda is 5 but never questioned anything. They ate, got a shower/bath and are now resting. Amanda did tell me that she reads a book and says her prayers in her bed so we may have to compromise on that one (wink, wink). Oh and by the way, I was really glad we grabbed their tooth brushes - this was the picture before she brushed her teeth......