Friends

Quilting bits
We went to the local quilt show today. I had to work hard to keep from dragging my jaw on the floor. Stunning works of art—each and every quilt. They had a beautiful quilt up for the price of a raffle ticket, and I jokingly asked if they’d hold it for me until October. The lady said sure, but why October. Told her were here house hunting and would be leaving to pack and then return here come October—either in our own home or a rental while we looked. She grinned and asked how many bedrooms did we want. Seems her neighbor just put her home on the market today—private sale, word of mouth. So she and I chatted, I bought 2 raffle tickets, left my name, hotel room number, my soon-to-be-old-home address and phone number. She gave me directions to her friends home.

As she glanced at my raffle ticket with all the info, she said something about Vacaville and how hot it was. Yup, that’s one reason we are moving. Seems she’s been there – eons ago, but she’s been there. So we chatted about how towns change. Finally she asked if I had some paper and she wrote her name and phone number down. Said to call her before we left town and she’d let me know if she’d heard of any other homes available, and to please call her when we arrived this October. Alice and I shook hands (great handshake, btw) and smiled and I realized I’d just made my first new friend.

Later on, Mr. Retired and I were wandering around “judging” the display quilts (every attendee got to vote), and we bumped into Alice. Actually she saw me and came running over. I introduced her and Mr. Retired and the 3 of us talked and she told us that she learned to quilt in this class and then took me over to meet her teacher, and said there was a special story behind why she even started to quilt. It all has to do with a quilt top her late mother-in-law left her ... and then she said she’d save that for telling when I was moved in. *huge grins*

Oh, and I won a door prize too—a bag of batting. *giggle* I had a real hard time not buying a quilting book and some fabric—but I told myself to behave because they would be available once we are settled.

Exercising my brain
I’ve been on a reading binge—no crochet, no tv, very little internet. It’s been very refreshing. So far, I’ve read 2 of the 4 books I brought with me. Patriot Games was hard to read and enjoy because I’ve seen the movie so many times; however I devoured 1st to Die by James Patterson.

1st to Die was a total nail-biter from cover to cover. Yipes! I found myself sitting here last night, next to the open window listening to the ocean crash in on the beach, and not able to see much due to the fog—and every little noise made me jump. hehehe Then the folks next door let their puppy out and the sound of the dog snuffling around just a few away made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I set my book down, closed the door, shut the drapes, and curled up in bed really close to Mr. Retired to finish the book. He woke up just as I got to the finale, and he reached over and gently touched me. How I kept from letting loose with a blood curdling scream is beyond me. LOL!

I started Cat & Mouse earlier today and I'm already 75 pages in. I'll not have any nails left by the end of this vacation. hehehe

The Black Swan
I have been looking forward to visiting The Black Swan bookstore in Newport, for several months now. Imagine my surprise to arrive there today and find out they are going out of business. :((( Most of the shelves are already bare. It’s a sad sight indeed. They didn’t have any books by Grippando or Patterson, otherwise I would have splurged.

Housing update
We weren’t going to do any house hunting today, but after chatting with Alice, we had to go look. In the process we stumbled across 2 other potential homes. Mr. Retired chatted with a real estate person (Joe not being available), and she will be making arrangements for us to view these places. Plus we spoke with the gal whose husband is building on that invisible lot (hehehe), and we found out where the lot is—why right next to the yellow house, of course. HA! Anyhow, since the building permit giver-outer is on vacation for the next 2 weeks, contractor can’t start on house right away, so she is going to set up an appointment for us to meet with him on Monday. Whew! So little time, so much yet to do.

Fog and the beach
The beach we wanted to visit was fogged in today, so hopefully tomorrow we will be able to dip our toes in the ocean. In the meantime, I’m enjoying all the fresh fish/sea food. I’m spoiled already. I actually had a burger for lunch—and I didn’t care for it. Go figure. I grew up on midwest beef, and here I am hungering for fish, not beef. hehehe

We went to The Chowder Bowl for supper, and were able to find a parking spot and were seated right away. Not the norm for supper—especially on Friday evening. Guess someone up there likes us. *grins* I had fried clams and chips and Mr. Retired had fried cla ... nah, he had fried halibut and chips. LOL!

Called home and all is well with the kitties and our niece, but she says it’s HOT! I’m not looking forward to going home. :((( Wonder if Mr. Retired would do the packing and let me stay here? ROFL!

Hope all of you dear readers are well. Until tomorrow ....