Saturday, May 19, 2007

Unexpected lovely day

Yesterday it was very cool and rainy all day. The forecast was for more of the same for this weekend. However, when we woke up this morning it was cool but sunny.

After toast with strawberry preserves and coffee, we decided to go for a little walk in town. As we walked down our street we saw our neighbor Brenda getting out of her vehicle with a new plant in her arms. We greeted her and made some pleasant comment about the plant, to which she responded "Its like an addiction: I can't seem to pass a nursery or any place that sells plants without stopping and buying something to bring home." We laughed and commented on how lovely her yard and existing plantings looked. She told us about what she'd been doing in her back yard and invited us to see it, so we walked through her garage and into her back yard. There we saw her yard and talked about real estate, gardening, architecture, the historical society, and lots more. We had a lovely conversation with her and promised to get together again soon.

Next we walked down Mulberry St and saw a woman whom we'd seen several times before, sitting on the steps of her porch. As is the Lewes custom, everyone greets one another so we said 'good morning' to her. She stood up and introduced herself as Georgia, and we introduced ourselves. She asked if we lived in town and we said 'yes' and told her where. We chatted with her for several minutes about houses, real estate, schools, working from home, and her yard until Dan the mailman walked up. We told Georgia it was nice meeting her and left her to talk with Dan.

We walked down to Second St, then walked up Savannah until we saw the house of Steve & Mike. Joe's personal trainer/friend Rick told Joe that Steve & Mike lived in the blue house across the street from the diner and we'd hoped to meet them at some point. Rick had also told them about us, and they'd driven past our house a few times when we weren't home. As we walked past their house we saw them in the side yard, weeding a flower bed. They looked at us and I said "Are you Rick & Nick's friends?" I'd forgotten Steve & Mike's names. They said yes so I said "We're Mark & Joe. Rick told us that you lived here and that we should meet you."

They had a gentleness that appealed to me immediately. They greeted us, told us their names, and we chatted for a few minutes, mostly about flowers and gardens. They invited us to see what they'd done with the back garden so we followed them to the back of the property and admired their beautiful, blooming paradise. Then the conversation shifted to houses and we told them that Rick had told us that they'd bought the house and remodeled in beautifully. They thanked us for the compliment and asked if we'd like to see inside. "Oh, yes, thank you!" we responded.

They showed us around the house and mentioned the features they'd restored, the ones they'd added, and the things they'd changed. The house was as lovely inside as it was outside. The conversation flowed easily with these kind gentlemen, and as we were leaving they said they'd love for us to come back sometime for dinner. We told them we'd enjoy that, and would like them to come to our house too. Incidentally, like everyone else in Lewes, they'd been inside our house too, before it was our house. We've not met anyone yet who hasn't been inside our house.

We walked back home and decided to go for a walk in Rehoboth, since the downtown area was having its semi-annual sidewalk sale. The temperature was warming up and we no longer needed our jackets as we strolled the sidewalks crowded with racks and tables of discounted goods. We decided to have lunch at the Purple Parrot, then took a walk on the boardwalk. On the way back to the car we stopped at a yard sale and purchased a handmade stained glass for only $30. for one of our guest bedrooms.

When we got home I put the 'boom box' on the front porch and listened to an old vocal jazz cassette as I pulled some weeds from the beds. The weeds come out so much more easily here than in VA because the soil here is so sandy. I got all the weeds pulled out by the roots in just under an hour, which would have taken an entire weekend in VA.

After the weeding Joe joined me on the front porch and we relaxed in the rockers for a few minutes. Suddenly the wind picked up, the sky got dark, the temperature dropped dramatically, and it really looked like it was going to storm. We came inside just in time. Within minutes the rain began and it really seemed like we were in for a doozey. But just as quickly as it had begun, the storm ended. Now, an hour later, the street is not even wet anymore.

We'll have dinner at home tonight and then watch a DVD from Netflix. That reminds me, I should probably write about some of the films we've watched recently, perhaps giving you readers some tips on films you might want to see.

Drag Queen name of the day: Rose Petals

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