Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God’s best gifts.  It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one’s self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another.  ~Thomas Hughes

Joanna graciously brought our daughter Grace home from college on Friday night and was able to stay for a weekend visit.  We had such a lovely time.  My husband took care of the children so I could be completely free all day Saturday and Sunday.  Jo and I began the day chatting in the guest bedroom upstairs (which is David’s room when there is no guest) and listening to the birds through the window, which was slightly difficult what with all our nonstop talking.  We admired a brilliantly red cardinal up in the treetop.

For breakfast, we went to the diner just a couple miles away.  In fact, we spent all of our time in town so that we wouldn’t have to use up time in driving.

******* what does it mean to be a friend? *******
a helping hand to the journey’s end;
a loyal heart and a loving, too,
no task too great for a friend to do!
Anne Campbell

We had our nails done in the salon the same exact color as a green trunk we both admired as we ducked into several different shops around town…….a festive green for St. Patrick’s day.

The green trunk was spied in the type of place in which there are piles of things EVERYWHERE……this particular shop downtown specializes in cleaning out estates for re-sale.  It’s almost too full.  Jo and I both love old things and the feeling that there are treasures to be found underneath all that other stuff.  We spent a long time rummaging around the rooms.

My friend has such a good eye for the perfect items, we didn’t buy much, but what we did was meaningful.  Photos, weights for my coo-coo clock, a few old papers for our scrapbooks.

Most of the fun was in the prowl.

It is good to pause and rest awhile
From life’s demanding pace…
To leave the loud,
Chaotic crowd (our children, ha ha)
And find a quiet place,
To put on the cloak of quietness
With heart and mind at ease,
To sit with a friend
At the long day’s end
And recall fond memories.
And whether we talk or whether we dream,
You’ll find that in the end,
No treasure, though rare,
Could ever compare
With the quiet hours spent with a friend.
Barbara Burrow

The little quotes and poems in this post are from a book Joanna gave me for Christmas, a 1971 Hallmark gift book titled, Friends Together.

Tomorrow I will blog about the rest of our visit.

Happy Wednesday!