Hello again, I just played bananagrams with Grace and won.  Now she’s going to go get dressed for the day and I have a few free moments to post a blog, although it is distracting here what with the roof dripping, dog snoring on my lap, cat sleeping, ladies cleaning, and dinner to start soon…. because it’s a recipe that takes all day.  (oven baked corned beef and vegetables).  Grace may or may not be going out with a friend for lunch.  If she doesn’t than maybe she and I will go out together.

I have to take her back to college on Saturday morning.  Has a week ever gone by so quickly?

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This is a continuation from yesterday’s blog all about my visit with Joanna this past weekend.  While we were downtown, we went to the coffee shop twice; once when we were waiting for our nail appointment and secondly for a late lunch and coffee.  I had a german chocolate cupcake for dessert.  The frosting was put on top generously with an ice cream scoop (!) which made me very happy.  Joanna had a cookie bar with pear and ginger.

As we walked to the car she noticed that the church just up the sidewalk had a flag waving outside the door which said, “open for prayer”, so we went inside.  The Pastor walked in just behind us and was very welcoming.  I loved the fact that he said “Come right in!” and then vanished downstairs.  We could hear people talking and laughing and smell a yummy church meal.  We never saw him again which was refreshing because typically a pastor will gravitate toward anyone new and try hard to be friendly, which can be nice, too, but we wanted to freely explore…….

Right away we noticed and admired the homemade banners hanging from the rafters.  We stood and studied each one.

Our souls just soaked in the spiritual surroundings and I took a lot of pictures of the stained glass windows because my brother David is currently making a (small) one for his house.

There were teddy bears placed randomly in the pews which we thought was delightful.  We looked at everything, sat for a few minutes, read the historical information in the back, and took a church bulletin for our scrapbooks……

Back at home, we pulled on our snow boots and went outside.

The hens do not like to stand in the snow.  I bring them water from the pond nearby.

We walked through the woods where I showed Joanna the tree massacre from one of my boys fighting battles against them with a sharp sword/hatchet.  We grieved the fallen and the spots of wood chips.  (The boy in question has been stopped by his father).  We continued through the woods and into a field of snow…….

After being chilled outdoors the fire inside was delightful and we sat right in front it and  exchanged gifts, talked, laughed, went on Pinterest and Instagram, & looked at books and magazines.  Grace took these photos for me, which I love.  ❤

The next morning we went to one last antique store.  I forgot to take my phone inside (sign of a truly good time) but got this one last photo in the car after we prowled around the many different booths inside the building for well over an hour.  She has 5 children and I have 7, and like most people, we are in a busy season of life, but would you look at those refreshed faces?  That’s what friendship does, and a life well lived, content with the joy of little things.

“The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things . . . the trivial pleasure like cooking, one’s home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard.”  Barbara Pym