SISTERS' WEEK -- DAY FIVE (WEDNESDAY)

Today was a completely nothing day.  I do mean NOTHING.  I had so many plans and ended up sleeping most of the day.  I am so worn out!

Elaine left last night to spend a couple of days with her girlfriend.  Donna and she have been friends since first grade and try to spend as much time together as possible.  It's only a few days a year since Donna lives right outside of Philly and Elaine lives in northern New Jersey.

The only thing I actually did today was take Joe to dinner.  Recognize this?

Yes, we went to Sonic.  You know I had to have at least one lemon slush during my vacation.

It was nice getting out of the house.  The weather was just so perfect today, so it was great eating "outside" in the car.

The plans are for me to go to Elaine's house tomorrow afternoon.  However, there are severe thunderstorms predicted and I do not want to drive 100 miles in that.  So we will see how things pan out.

Until tomorrow...

 High of 83 degrees at 2:45 p.m. --
 Partly sunny.

DAY FOUR PART 2

For some reason my computer did not upload the video and won't let me take it off my post or reinstall it.  Here it is again and I hope it works this time.

 

SISTERS' WEEK -- DAY FOUR (TUESDAY)

Today Elaine and I headed to beautiful Lancaster County, PA.  It's one of our favorite places -- so beautiful and peaceful.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.

The first place we went was the Bird-in-Hand farmer's market.  The market itself wasn't open, but the stores were.  So we looked around one of them.  I ended up getting some light bulbs for the night light in my kitchen and some flame bulbs for the candle I put in my window during the fall and winter.  I also got a handmade quilted Christmas wreath.  It was so unique that even though it was a little pricy, I couldn't resist.  

Next we went to Kitchen Kettle Village.  It's a place we go to every year.

Look at the beautiful scene that was in front of us as we parked the car!

Kitchen Kettle Village is a group of cute little shops and restaurants.

As usual we went to the Christmas Shop first.

Each year we go there and choose an ornament.  Just one allowed.  We look and look through the whole store until one just jumps out at us as "the one."  Sometimes there is nothing that seems special.  But this year I had a hard time choosing between five different ones.  I ended up with a beautiful angel.

We also went to the Jam and Relish shop.  Always a must.  They have the BEST food for sale.  I ended up with tortilla chips, mild salsa, sweet potato butter and peanut butter schmeer.  So good!

We also stopped at the flower shop.  Elaine bought a buttercup hosta for her yard.  I looked at several plants and was tempted, but I am running short on money, so decided to pass for right now.

They also had some autumn things out for sale.  It reminded me that the summer is half over and autumn will be here before we know it.

I was fortunate enough to get a picture of an Amish horse and buggy before we left.

From there we left and went to Rockvale Mall which is all outlets.  You get really good buys there.  We started out at Lenox because it was buy one, get one 1/2 off.

I collect the midnight cats series and was missing the newest two of them.  I couldn't afford both, but got one of them.  I'll get the other one in a couple of months.  I'm sure it will still be there.  I love them because they are black cats like my first cat Fluffy and my current cat Jenny.  I love black cats.

Next we headed over to Haggar's.  They had pants in Joe's size for only $18 so I got two pair.  He has lost so much weight that his pants just fall right off of him.  Not good.  So now he has two more pair that fit him -- khaki and black.

Finally we went to Reading China and Glass.  This is a dangerous store for me because I always end up buying way more than I should.  I could have easily spent over $200 in there today, but I reined myself in and bought less than $20.  Yay for me!  One of the things I got was a container of stovetop wipes that says it gets rid of grease, stains, baked on food, etc.  Let's see if they work.

By now we were both hungry so we went to Hershey Farm for dinner.  Because there's ...

We both got the grand smorgasbord because I had a coupon to buy one, get one free.  That was a good price!  We just split the bill when it came and each got a meal for half price.  Then Elaine took the half mile walk around the grounds while I went to the motel office and made a reservation for Joe and me for our anniversary.  We stayed there on our honeymoon and we are excited to go back there in September.  Everything is newly remodeled, so that will be great.

Then I walked around taking pictures of the grounds and the farm animals.

One of the pots of flowers outside of the motel.

I love Famous Amos.

Goats and chickens.

Elaine

Me with one of the most beautiful hibiscus plants I have ever seen.

This is the entrance.  Isn't it beautiful?

 We went through the stores and bought a few things -- cookies for work, a cantaloupe for home (for $1!) and then took off to go home because we wanted to get back at a decent hour.

It's been a fun couple of days.  And there is still more to come.

I wanted to end with a video of the banjo players at Kitchen Kettle Village.  They have been there for years.  They are really a part of the place.

SISTERS' WEEK -- DAY THREE (MONDAY)

Today headed out to Ocean City, NJ.  Joe went with us because he wanted to get a haircut and will go only to the barber in Ocean City.  He is very good and very nice.  His name is Andy and he said he will look forward to seeing us when we return in September.

Remember the beach as it was in May?

Here's what it looks like today:

 

Joe and I were amazed at how much it has changed for the better.

Of course we saw the ever present seagulls.  They would let you get right up to them without flying away.

 Who are these lovely women?  Joe took a nice shot of us.  You can tell how windy it was by how horrible our hair looks.

 And here's another couple. Aren't we cute?

We ate at Del's and Joe finally got his "Big Mis-steak".  He was one happy man.

After we ate we headed for Jilly's Arcade where we played skee ball and pinball.  Lots of fun.

We turned around and started back to where the car was parked five blocks away.  You know we had to stop for Polish Water Ice.  Oh so very good!  

And Elaine caught a picture of this!  Imagine kissing by the ocean!

We stopped in a few stores but really didn't buy anything.  I got a couple of 3-D bookmarks at Mia's Christmas Gallery, but that was it.

Before we left, though, Elaine and I had to go into the ocean.  We had to wait until 5:30 p.m. when the beach was free.  Earlier than that you have to buy a beach tag in order to go onto the beach.  Some people think this is unfair, but the city uses the money to maintain the beach and boardwalk.  And it's only a few dollars to buy one.

Joe waited for us on the boardwalk and Elaine and I went down to the sand, took off our shoes and walked into the surf.  We were both wearing capris, so didn't go in too far.  At first the water was cold, but by the second wave we had gotten used to it and it was pretty warm.  We were saying to each other how much we love going into the ocean and how we had been doing this together since we were very little girls.  It's so nice to have a sister.  Especially one close in age to you who shared your life experiences.  

We both took lots of pictures.

The waves were really high and the ocean was rough because of the high winds.  But I didn't feel much of a current.  That was good.

By this time we were all beat.  We wanted to head home but first Joe had to stop in Fudge Kitchen.  It's the only place he can find sugar free chocolate almond bark.  I got fudge.  When we came out I couldn't find my sunglasses.  I went back in and there they were.  Someone had found them on the floor and turned them in.  There really are nice people in the world.

So we headed home and made really good time getting here even driving with the sun in my eyes almost the whole time.  I hate that.

I started writing this post over two hours ago, but I keep falling asleep.  I guess that tells me something.  Like "go to bed, Kathy" maybe?  More travels coming later this week.  But I'm going to end today with a video of the ocean (if I can get it to load).  Until later...

SISTERS' WEEK -- DAY TWO (SUNDAY)

I started out today with church, of course.  We studied Genesis 8:1-19 -- Noah's ark.  It was interesting.  Joe wasn't feeling well and so didn't go to church.  In fact, he slept most of the day with a headache and upset stomach.

Today is my sister Elaine's birthday.  She came down from northern New Jersey and we went out to celebrate with my brother, Larry, sister-in-law, Kim, and friends Marion and Rich.  We went to a British restaurant in Haddonfield, NJ called The British Chip Shop.

I loved the way it was decorated like a British pub.

The pictures are a little dark because I didn't want to use the flash because of Joe's epilepsy.  The flashing lights set off a seizure.

The food was very good.

Joe and Larry each had a Scotch egg.  That's a hard-boiled egg surrounded by sausage.

I had fish and chips.

Elaine and Larry had a chicken and mushroom pie.

Rich and Joe had Irish stew.

And of course you have to have a cup of tea.  Don't you love the square teacups?  They are so cute.

 We all enjoyed ourselves so much.

Larry and Elaine

Kim

Elaine the birthday girl

Marion and Rich

Joe

 When we got there it was raining.  While we were eating it was really raining.  By the time we left it was a downpour.  No one except me had brought an umbrella.  Larry and Kim were parked near the restaurant so made a run for it.  Marion and Rich were in a parking lot a couple of blocks away so Rich walked over to the car and met Marion at the front door.  I gave Elaine my umbrella.  She went to her car across the street and then picked us up and drove us to our car three blocks away.  We got SOAKED getting into the car.  It was very bad.

The drive home was terrible.  It was raining so hard we had trouble seeing and all the roads were flooded.  But we got back here safely.  Now it's off to bed to get enough sleep.  We have a busy day tomorrow.