The lunch bunch

Lunch with Richard AND Greg today. Quite a treat! Pizza at Gallery Pizza.

Richard and I decided to do the lunch thing and Michael came from home to join us. Greg was on his way back to the shop and since he was going right by the pizza shop, he stopped by for a quick slice (or two) of pizza AND the best company he could possibly imagine. Now... if we could have only grabbed Scott, too! :)

We were talking and Greg got off on a "what if" tangent that had us all hysterical. His "what if's" were pretty funny, but the real killer was watching Greg laugh so hard. It's impossible to watch someone laugh that hard and not end up laughing just as hard - well, at least that's how it goes for me. Before I knew it, I was laughing so hard I was in tears - and I have no real idea why. Oh well! They say laughter is the best medicine! If so, we surely cured SOMETHING today! :)

Quiet afternoon watching the Phillies and napping on the couch. I'm SO tired this week. I've developed this "thing" about waking up for the day between 4:00am and 4:15am. NOT fun! No matter how hard I try to go back to sleep (hmmmm maybe "trying" is the problem), I'm pretty much done by 4:15. By the time I get up - sometime between 5:30 and 6:00, I feel absolutely rotten. I guess I should just get up at 4:15 and be done with it. Now why didn't that occur to me before?!

Chelsea's friends returned to Indiana yesterday, so the house is almost too quiet. We really did enjoy their visit. Even though Chelsea will be in in Atlanta until next August, Meredith says she's coming back next summer for her annual visit! We're looking forward to it!!!

If you knew that you would die today...

Saw the face of God and love
Would you change
Would you change
~Tracy Chapman~

So! Guess who WE saw last night????


We bought the tickets a lonnnnnnnng time ago. When we saw that they were available, we HAD to buy them! I mean... well... it IS Tracy Chapman. She had never been to the Keswick before (that I know of) so we decided that we should go. One of our better decisions!!!!

What a great show! It was sold out (of course) and the crowd was amazing - appreciative - enthusiastic - all the things you would want an audience to be. And as you can see by the pictures, we had GREAT seats!


Like guitars? You would have been happy at this show! Ms. Chapman played 8 (count 'em... 8) guitars during the show -
3 Martins
2 Paul Reed Smiths
1 Fender Telecaster
1 vintage Vega guitar that Michael said he thought was from the 50's
AND 1 guitar that we definitely recognized as "her" sound, but that we couldn't identify. Any ideas anyone?


She also played a wooden box and a scrub board, and although it seems she DOES collect guitars, I doubt if she has a wooden box and scrub board collection. You never know, though. She might! Add to that list, a harmonica and a set of bongo-type drums.

At one point in her life, Ms. Chapman studied African rhythms - and we were the benefactors of that last night.


Tracy Chapman possesses a grace that is palpable - not something we've seen very often. It's the same kind of grace and humility that we found when we saw Richie Havens. Quite a presence!


It was a wonderful night! I'm a fan for life!!!

Every day a holiday

Or... so it seemed last week. We had a crazy busy week, but one that was sooooooo much fun!

Richard, Julie and Kate came for dinner on Wednesday - BLT's and corn-on-the-cob - my favorite summer fare. Chelsea had to work, but her friends, Meredith and Kelly (tall Kelly as opposed to short Kelly), who are visiting from Indiana, were here for dinner.

Kate and Meredith had grilled cheese sandwiches. Boy, did they miss a treat! It's now possible to get local tomatoes and they're soooooooo good! I think I could live on corn and tomatoes all summer!

Watching Kate eat corn-on-the-cob is a stitch. She LOVES it! I um... "borrowed" a picture from Julie's blog of Kate shucking corn at their house. Soooo cute!


I mushed up some fresh strawberries and we had them over French vanilla ice cream for dessert. Or... some of us did. Julie, Kate and Richard were too full from dinner. (Imagine! Too full for dessert????? Amazing!!)

On Friday, Greg, Amy, Gregory (11), Alex (8)and Matthew (4) came for dinner - nothing fancy - meatball sandwiches and chips. Matthew is beginning to feel really comfortable at our house and it makes me smile. He loves to drag toys up from the basement to play with in the livingroom. He's great at dragging them back down again, so I'm happy to oblige his pleasure. Such a cutie!

Chelsea and friends (Meredith, (tall) Kelly, and (short) Kelly made it back from their trip to PA in time for dinner, so we had quite a crowd. Fun!

The strawberries and ice cream were such a success, we repeated it on Friday with the addition of some cherry water ice from Rita's for a "make your own gelati" treat for the kids.

Amy and I had fun in the kitchen, playing with jewelry. She found a pair of earrings that she loved and in spite of her best efforts to pay for them, we sent them home with her at a deep family discount. :)

What good is it to make jewelry if you can't pass along a treat every now and then? It's a pleasure to make things for "the girls" that they love.

Tonight, Michael and I met Chelsea, (tall) Kelly, Meredith, Julie, Kate and Richard at Grotto's downtown for dinner (short Kelly had to work). This is Meredith's 5th trip to Delaware and Grotto's is a "must do" on her list when she comes. Richard and family joined us to turn dinner into a truly festive occasion!

AND... Kate pee-peed in the potty TWICE (for a grand total of FOUR m&m's) while we were at Grotto's! Of course, I think it took 5 or 6 trips to complete the mission, but she did great and our whole table applauded when she was successful. How funny! Chelsea went to the ladies' room and demanded the same applause when she returned (which we cheerfully accmmodated). Unfortunately for Chelsea, she forgot to request the m&m reward. Maybe next time!

Girls just want to have fun!

Chelsea's friends, Meredith and Kelly (hereafter referred to as "tall Kelly" - you'll see why when you see the pictures) are visiting for 10 days from Indiana. This is Meredith's 5th trip (she qualifies as "family" at this point) and Kelly's first. We're SO glad to have the girls visit!!!!

Chelsea's best friend in Delaware is another Kelly (hereafter referred to as "short Kelly" - you'll see why when you see the pictures) and so (short) Kelly was also a big part of the week.

Saturday is (short)Kelly's birthday and so the girls took her to Knoebels - an amusement park in Elysburg, PA. - about 170 miles from Wilmington, DE - for a birthday surprise!

Michael took a couple pictures of them before they left:

(In the picture - Meredith, Chelsea, Kelly and Kelly - [YOU figure out which is which!])

(In the picture - Meredith, Chelsea, Kelly and Kelly - [You can tell which is which, right?])

They had a GREAT time and said that in spite of the long ride, Knoebels was a great place to go!!! Fortunately, they were able to split the trip into 2 days. They will spend the night with a friend who lives near Knoebels. What a HUGE help!


The girls have had a great week - lots of smiles - lots of memories.

(In the picture - (tall) Kelly, Chelsea, Meredith and (short) Kelly)

And this has been a wonderful week for Michael and me. We've really enjoyed having the girls visit and hope that they can come back often - and soon!

Something's fishy!

Lunch today with Richard today - just the two of us - always a treat!

At the end of my half-day work day, Richard and I went to Red Lobster for lunch.

Fish and shrimp - $9.50 (lunch special)
Biscuits - 150 calories each
Time with Richard - PRICELESS

Made my day! Thanks, Richard!

Location! Location! Location!

So! We had a grrrrreat spot at the Italian Farmer's Market (where we set up tables with our jewelry every Saturday from 9am to 1pm) - right under a big ol' shade tree. Pretty sweet! BUT... we were at the very end of the Market, which was okay - until there were several weeks where the vendors around us didn't show up.

That meant that we were out in no-man's land - alone - no traffic - no reason to venture down to where we were - unless you were looking for jewelry. I would say that most of our sales have been to people who weren't necessarily looking for jewelry, but when they walked by, they liked what they saw and bought it.

ANYWAY... (do you know ANYone who can drag out a story more than I can???) Two weeks ago, the manager of the Market noticed that we were out in left field (so to speak) and so LAST week, she moved us down 3 spots - next to Jim from Rosehill Plantery - who is next to the Amish Farmer (where most of the traffic originates). Great location! Good move!

Okay... so we're sitting next to Jim, watching people come up and buy plants. Those plants were disappearing faster than S'mores at a Girl Scout bonfire! BEAUTIFUL plants - hanging baskets - potted trees - great stuff.

Didn't take too long. Michael went over to check out the prices. Uh oh! Middle of the season! Great prices! We're done. I mean really... in the spirit of community and all that - we just HAD to buy a hanging basket... or two. Didn't we?

We did! Trust me!

Soooooooooo there wasn't a whole lot left by the time I got over there to voice my opinion (No smart comments, please! Bite your tongue. You can do it!). BUT we got a couple of really nice looking baskets with just the color we needed out front.


Michael was sure that he'd remember specifically what they are, but he forgot. Personally, I don't think it really matters. I refer to them as: the red and white one - and the red and purple one. It works!

Just to clarify... this is the red and purple one:


And this one is the red and white one:


If you're looking for a zing of color to finish the summer, or if you're looking for shrubs at mid-season prices, come and see Jim on Saturday at the Market or visit him during the week at Rosehill Plantery.

Next week they're moving us again - to the other side of the Amish Farmer and next to the Barbeque guy. *sigh* I'm sure that next Sunday, I'll be telling you all about the great barbeque we bought. Community - fellow vendor - support the Market - blah blah blah. We'll HAVE to buy something. You know we will!

Have a great week!

Thank you very mulch!

It's not everyone who can get excited enough about dirt to write about it, but I can! It looks soooooooooooo good!!!

We have a ranch, one-story house, so it seems like the beds in front (and on the sides) of the house are endless. Getting the beds to look the way we want them to look is a never-ending process and we're certainly not there yet, but it gets better every time.


My youngest son, Scott, has a friend (Ryan) who has always loved all things green - and so he started a landscaping business a couple of years ago. He's knowledgeable, reliable and a really nice guy, so we called Ryan and he's been slowly but surely getting us into shape.


One of our Azaleas died this year and so he took that out. The one next to it isn't much better, but Ryan suggested that we keep it for this year and replace it next spring. Sounds like a plan to me.

The Rhododendrum in front of the window is gorgeous! It's gotten a little high, but it's getting buds for next year, so we'll trim it next spring after it blooms.

Two years ago, Ryan planted a Dogwood tree on the corner and it's doing well. It's soooooo pretty in the spring when it blooms!!!


We look great in the spring with the Rhodie, the Dogwood, the Azalea, some Coreopsis and some really pretty Spirarea BUT this time of year, it's borrrrrrrrrring! We need some summer color. The side yard has more color than the front. We could always do some annuals, but I'd love to find some flowering bushes maybe that would give us color all summer.

The photo below of the Daylily is a typical "Michael picture" - beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! I could spend all day looking at the pictures he takes.


So! If you have any ideas or suggestions about how we can add some color, please let us know!

Have a fantastic Friday!