I apologize for not getting back here yesterday; life sort of intruded. But I’m back today!
For a little change of pace, let’s leave behind the breast cancer/mastectomy/implant-filling world that I have been unhappily inhabiting for the past few weeks and talk about something a bit more cheerful.
As you may recall, before I had my surgery Steve and I spent a lovely three days in the Rodanthe/Waves/Salvo area of the Outer Banks at a huge, gorgeous beach front home. (Provided free through the generosity of some very special people.) I’ve written about that trip a little and posted a few pictures but after getting sidetracked by all my medical stuff, I just realized I still have a few more stories and pictures to share.
So share I shall! Share I shall do!
One of the wonderful things that the aforementioned special people provided for us (in addition to dropping three bags of fun snacks and groceries by the house after our arrival) was to give us certificates for free meals at several restaurants in the area.
The first one Steve and I went to provided a rare treat—diet root beer in a bottle! My family knows that one of my great luxuries in life is getting to drink a soft drink out of a bottle. It just doesn’t happen very often.
Here I am, gazing lovingly at my bottle. Isn’t that such an inspiring photo?
At another restaurant called Uncle Paulys (our favorite restaurant of them all) I fell in love with the quirky use of color in the ladies bathroom. (I know. I don’t get out much.)
And I especially loved this sign in the midst of all the flamboyant colors. Loved the saying; loved the artwork; loved it all.
Another gift (by the already mentioned aforementioned special couple) was a gift certificate to put toward a piece of handmade jewelry at this wonderful shop in Hatteras.
Wendy, the owner and jewelry designer, showed us a glass bead she had made.
The beads are stored here until ready to be used.
These are “glass sticks” that the jewelry is made from. We had never heard of such a thing and were fascinated to hear Wendy talk about her work.
I wandered around the store for a while and finally chose this lovely set. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but it’s dark brown. And I love wearing brown.
Here’s a close up. (We had Wendy sign it for us, since it was an original piece.)
While we were there, Wendy showed us a special Bible that had been given to her when she was a child. Several years ago after a severe storm, the Bible was washed away in some flooding. Incredibly, a few days later, someone found it several miles away and returned it to her.
On the way out of her store there was an old upright piano which, of course, I had to play.
And at the end of the vacation? Here was the view on the way home. Doesn’t get much better than that.
In other news, a couple of you asked where my sister Ruth lives since she was able to view (and write about) so many species of birds. Ruth, her husband and three children, live in a perfectly lovely part of rural Wisconsin. As you can probably tell, Ruth is a nature lover from way back and the fact that she was able to name all of those birds AND their habits was amazing to me. I could probably identify a robin and a crow. Maybe. (Nature is not my gift.)