Just being, sweet baby and rainy night in Georgia

- This friendly seagull hovered around our sun catching spot on the beach last Sunday and stayed for about an hour, sometimes lifting his / her leg and standing on the other one, but always just looking out at the water - just like us.  Sometimes it's good to just be.

- Ash Wednesday service at church - in the smaller "founders hall" rather than the sanctuary, giving us more close proximity to each other.  A couple with a baby in a stroller sit in front of me - and the baby's placid face and sweet baby smell just make the whole service feel more serene.

- Rescheduling already belated volunteer work and other errands so I can go home.  It was a rainy night in Georgia and the fireplace felt good.  There was nothing for dinner, I thought, but then some Wild Mushroom Ravioli presented itself - so good on some leafy greens, all drizzled with olive oil with shaved Reggiano cheese on top.  A little Thursday night bliss.

Here's some more bliss:  it's Friday!!!  I hope your weekend is filled with Good Things, my friends.

All lined up, all lined up 2, and along the way + a bonus pic

- They look a bit like penguins lined up, don't they?  But it was some bundled up people, enjoying Grayton Beach, Florida on a cool, breezy Saturday.  Not so cool that they needed that much bundling up, but it's all good, I say.

- All lined up for the run / walk to benefit the Seaside, Florida school on a blue sky day that should have been bottled, it was so beautiful.

- Along the way on the race route.  It was only three miles and it amused us that there were so many people toward the end saying "You can do it!"  I guess.  :)  But it was lovely to be with my weekend walking buddies and their husbands for a fun weekend in which the run / walk for to benefit the school was an excuse to be down there.

- That's friend Laura knitting socks for her daughter's birthday (today) and friend Janice's knees just beyond.   I slathered myself in sunscreen and camped out on the beach on Sunday afternoon, too.  It was a lovely trip.  I loved it. 

Beyond beautiful, holiday and looking forward

This is where I'll be at the end of the day today.  So looking forward to this holiday.  I'll be back next week with pictures and good things that happened.  And I'll be checking in on your blogs as I can.  Cheers and happy weekend!

Glowing serenity, definitely downstairs and double nice

- When my sisters and I spent a day in Elbert County, Georgia, a few Fridays ago, I spotted this angel marking someone's grave at the second family cemetery we visited.  The angel spoke to me for some reason and I think someone's loved one must have shelled out a pretty penny to have it erected there. 

- My sisters and I are also facebook friends and we all recently took one of those lighthearted facebook quizzes "What Downton Abbey character would you be?"  My sisters (who sort of operate as a unit at times) both got Mr. Bates.  I got Mr. Carson.  :)  He's a good sort, and kind of a rules follower, like me.  So I was looking for the quiz outside of facebook to share with you and found one, but it's different that the one I took before.  This time I got Mrs. Patmore.  :) 

- A dinner with one of my niece's friends, who also lives in the Atlanta area.  It felt a little like being with family, having dinner and chatting about life.  And there were crab cakes atop a salad that also had walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese..  Yum.

Lady food, anxious to eat that and robin redbreast

- A gathering of friends on Saturday morning for a women's "retreat" - each table had a similar arrangement of early budding flowers, heralding the arrival of spring next month.  Later, at lunch (lots of salads and little sandwiches), friend Beverly says to me, "I love lady food." 

- Definitely not lady food here.  Saturday night dinner with friends, where the featured dish was Paella.  The skillet in the foreground was non-seafood.  That's my hand in background on the serving spoon, ready to dig into the traditional seafood, chicken, sausage paella (photo by friend Bonnie).  This is a dinner group that I had dropped out of and didn't realize how much I had missed it until re-entry. 

-  This morning - 6.45am.  Collecting my purse and making sure I have everything before heading out for the journey to work.  A robin "redbreast", as my mother used to called them, is hopping about on my back porch pecking at seeds that have spilled off the feeder.  He catches sight of me in the kitchen and stands with his head cocked watching.  I quietly turn off the lights and slip out the door. 

The last lily, the cookies are here and fingers and cookie

- The last of the lilies from this arrangement.  I thought it looked pretty there on the bathroom counter.  The vase is Waterford (which I just realized due to a sticker on the side) and I had never used it before, but it seemed about the right size for those lilies, and this one, that was cut down.  A former colleague from my late corporate job gave the vase to me about 15 years ago as a thank you gift.  He has left the corporate world, too, and works at a college in Florida (we keep up with each other on facebook.)  I think we are both way happier now.  I hope I thanked him enough for the vase.  :)

- When two young sisters visiting the printing company presented me with hopeful faces that I would buy Girl Scout cookies from them, how could I resist?  I ordered two boxes of Thin Mints from each sister.  Three of the boxes are pictured above, along with lovely thank you notes, and are now in my freezer.  What happened to the fourth?  See below.

- Thin Mints come in two tubes.  One tube went to the back with the pressmen and the other WENT IN MY BELLY!  Yes - I stress ate a whole tube - it's been that kind of week.  :)  I named this photo "fingers and cookie".  :)

I hope delightful things are in store for you this weekend, my friends.  I hope it is great!

Calico, loving and off to a party

 - Another shop cat - this time a resident of an antique shop in north Georgia.  The shop owner had put out signs saying (tongue in cheek, I thought), that there was an "attack cat" on the premises.  At one point, he said, "If you run across the cat, don't rub her belly, even she rolls over and presents it to you."  When this no-eye-contact-kitty finally turned up, I ran fingers lightly over her head, while the owner looked on anxiously.  I think it's fun that this calico / manx seems to run the place.  :) 

- My friend looks on as her granddaughter plays, looks at me and says, "I love her so much."

- An unmarked van crammed to the gills with emerald green balloons.  What fun and where were they going, I wonder.