Friends Move On

Time moves on and we're getting to the time of year, the holidays, when it goes into overdrive. Stores already have Christmas items on display and we haven't even gotten through Halloween!  It just makes me cringe!!

This month has been marked by the loss of friends - not due to my obnoxious behavior, but due to death and moves to other parts of the country.  The first was a memorial service for my neighborhood friend Mary.  She passed away several months ago. We bonded the day after the election when our paths crossed as we walked our dogs.  We hadn't talked politics at all before that, but we were so distraught that we both began sharing our disbelief.  It was at that point that I invited her to Drinking Liberally, which she attended faithfully and seemed to relish.  We were all stunned when she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and given only months to live. She managed it valiantly and with a certain resignation.  I never met her husband, who passed away several years earlier, with the same thing only faster, in a matter of weeks after being diagnosed.  As we learned from Mary's children at the service, they had not had a service for their father because Mary just couldn't fully let him go.  They confessed to not having fully dealt with his passing before Mary passed also.  They were both cremated and the service was for both of them, which just seemed fitting. It was a very intimate, touching service with their grandchildren reading a poem and doing a musical piece.  The eulogies by the children added more depth to the Mary we knew.  It was very touching and I felt honored to be included.  Later in the afternoon, the 3 children had hired a boat to take them out to sea where they would spread the ashes of their mom and dad, just as they had wanted.

Several days after Mary's service, I had lunch with Ana, another neighborhood friend and zentangle buddy.  She and Lou, her husband, have since moved to San Antonio. We got together as often as possible for an afternoon of lunch and zentangle.  It was always fun and a great chance for us to catch up. I'm going to miss Ana's motivation for doing zentangle.  I walk Rosie by their house every day and still expect to see them.

The day after that, I had lunch with another friend, Pilar, who has moved to California! Our connection was politics and I'm wondering if she will remain as active once she acclimates to a blue state.

That same week I had Drinking Liberally and lunch with another friend.....and this was just after I weighed myself to discover that I'd put on all the weight I'd made such an effort to lose before my UK trip!  My walking routine is still waiting to happen!!

My friend Melodee and I attended the second annual Lowcountry Vegfest at Shelter Cove Park.  As you can see from the photos, it was a lovely day and a great turnout.  I'd also say there were almost twice as many vendors and lots great food!  Pierre the pig was a huge attraction, as were rescued greyhounds.  Many animal sanctuaries were represented, as was our local Palmetto Animal League, from whom I adopted Chloe and who helped me with Mama Mia and her babies.  Gene Baur, who has been a vegan since 1985 and founded the first farm animal sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY, was the guest speaker.  While he was probably preaching to the choir, he was still very motivational. The first 300 people received a swag bag of freebies, but I did buy No Evil Foods Spicy Italian Sausage.  The next day I made a pasta recipe and used the sausage, and it was sooo good!  Their business is out of Asheville, NC but you can buy their products at Whole Foods.  I'm definitely pleased to have discovered them.  Vegfest lasted from 10AM until 5PM, but we left around 2:30 and went to Driessen Beach for about an hour.  We just sat, enjoyed the view and soaked up the sun.  It was a great way to end the afternoon.

Those are the fun things, and the remainder of my time has been filled with the usual - feeding feral cats, doing my Resistance work, hospice volunteer work, progressive ladies' lunches, and real exciting things like cleaning the garage!  It has finally gotten cool enough to be able to do that.  It seems that fall has finally arrived and it's nice to be able to get out anything of the day and be reasonably comfortably.

Rosie wishes you a Happy Halloween!

Fall is in the Air

Yes, today is the first day it has felt like Fall and it feels very good.  As someone said, "Fall is the Southerner's reward for getting through the summer"!  It was a bit breezy when I took Rosie out for her walk and she even seemed to have an extra spring in her step.  I'm trying to get back into my walking routine and I can no longer use the weather as an excuse, so maybe I will actually get back into it.

It also feels like I haven't been home much, what with my wonderful vacation, the Irma evacuation and a weekend in NC for a family reunion. So, I'm hoping to have some treasured home time over the next week.  I wasn't ready to leave home again for the reunion, but I'm glad I went and I really enjoyed it.  As usual, there was lots of good food.  Laney, my cousin who always has a great garden, sent me home with lots of eggplants and bell peppers.  As soon as I got home I made a quick and simple eggplant stir-fry.  I shared some with friends and then made the dish here, mainly because it looked so pretty.  Well, it smelled wonderful while cooking and it tasted great......and I still have enough to make a Chickpea Eggplant Stew! If you're interested, I combined these two recipes: How to Make Perfect Ratatouille and Zucchini, Eggplant, Tomato Gratin.  Enjoy!

It's been a very busy week.  The repeal of the Affordable Care Act was prevented so we political junkies (the Resistance) are taking a break before we tackle the tax "reform".  It seems like I've eaten out almost every day this week, but the real treat came when Chris emailed to ask if I wanted to join her and Sue, a friend visiting from Milwaukee, for an evening at the beach.  It was such a fun event to look forward to that I got motivated - two packages in the mail, car washed, began scanning my mother's old photos (lots of fun to see), and more.  It was like someone lit a fire under me!  The evening was just as relaxing and fun as I'd anticipated.  Chris brought some scrumptious sandwiches and I brought the wine, disguised as apple juice!  A few minutes after we arrive, it was like the temperature just dropped a few degrees.  We sat and watched the sun set and marveled at a little one-legged sea gull that kept hanging around.  We also noticed three other ladies doing exactly the same thing!  What a great way to end the day!  I've already mentioned to Chris that we need to do this more often, along with other friends, and to make it a tradition when Sue visits - lots of good conversation, laughs, and the beauty of nature!

File this under More Than You Want to Know!  I began scanning my mother's old photos because when I went to the reunion, my cousin had scanned theirs and distributed the originals to the family's shown in the photos.  It was really fun to see them all and listen to comments and stories.  I came home determined to do the same so I could share them at the next reunion.  These are a few (of the best ones!) she gave me.  The first thing that struck me is how dark my hair was.....once I got some! I'm about 1/3 through my mother's photos and am enjoying seeing them again. I'm also noticing things I hadn't noticed before.  Maybe that's the eye of age!

Ana, my neighborhood buddy and zentangle partner, is moving to San Antonio.  We went out to lunch yesterday and she gave me these beautiful plants.  I don't have the green thumb that she has, but I'm going to make every effort to maintain them.  I'm planning to get one larger pot for all of the cacti and hope that I can transplant them without killing them!  I do fairly well with succulents, so I'm being positive!!  They will also be an excellent reminder to Ana and Lou.  I'm going to miss them, but I know they are excited about the move and will enjoy being near her family.


I have to confess to still viewing my vacation photos....and loving every minute of them!  This past week was the first time I had a chance to show them to the hospice ladies I visit. One of the ladies is a native of England and I knew she would enjoy them.  Every week I visited her before the trip.  I reminded her that I was going to the UK.  She always asked when.  When I said "August" she assured me that was the perfect time to go.  Anyway, when we got to this photo, she commented on how beautiful Katie looked, how lovely the flowers were, and then she said, "and Martin looks quite pleased with himself"!  That really tickled me!  I assured her that Martin was a proud father.....and he did choke up a bit during the father-of-the-bride speech.  Both ladies enjoyed the photos and it was an excuse for me to see them again.

This week, while being busy for me, has also been a busy birthday month.  I'm very behind in everything, so I want to wish Carolyn and Sandra my very best BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes!!  I hope you both had wonderful birthdays and that it carries over into the coming year.