A trip to the beach

Last week my sister and I borrowed our  step-father's house in St. Teresa for about a week...actually he said we could stay as long as we wanted.  We went down on Thursday, the 23rd and got back on Monday, the 27th.  As we were wanting it to be a true vacation, we each boarded our animals and it was just the two of us.

On the way down on Thursday we stopped at Iris Anne's in Crawfordville.  Wow, what a shop!  My sister had been several times, but this was a first for me.  Years ago Mother gave me a really cute purse she bought there, with a dog on it that looks like Shirley.  The store was having a 75% off sale and for next to nothing both of us got some really cute things!

Then, when we hit Panacea we stopped at the Funky Fiddler another really neat shop.  I bought the gaudiest tri-fold screen I've ever seen in my life!  I love it!  Sister got a salmon pink desk and chair set.  They just marked them paid so we could pick them up on our way back.

Then it was on to the house.  It seemed to take us forever to unload our cars, we had to take everything including gallons of water.  As it turned out we both really overpacked on some things and hit it just about right on other things.  We each took a lot of cold cuts and cheeses and breads and salad fixings...you know, that sort of stuff.  Except for two meals we ate at the house...Thursday night we went back over the bridge and had dinner at the new Angelo's.  Wonderful broiled bay scallops...to die for.  Then Sunday morning we went back to Panacea for breakfast at the Coastal...$2.49 for a pretty big meal!

We walked the beach a couple of times each day except for Sunday as it was just too stormy.  It rained off and on all day Saturday, but with enough time in between to walk.  I found the most exquisit piece of bright orange coral floating on the crest of a wave on Saturday.

Sunday after breakfast at the Coastal we went on to the Funky Fiddler and picked up our purchases.  We were able to get everything into my car with a little packing room left over and when we loaded up mid-morning Monday we were able to get the remainder of my stuff in sister's car...thank goodness, we actually talked about maybe taking two trips to get everything home!

When we got back to the beach house from shopping and breakfast on Sunday we were rather at loose ends...what with the storm and all.  I taught my sister to play backgammon on Friday, but 3 games seemed to be her limit.  We read a bunch and played crazy eights, but needed to do something else............soooooo, we rearranged the house!  Our step-father build the house 60 years ago and I do believe that every stick of furniture had stayed in the same spot for ever!  We probably started working on the living room around 1pm and thought it was about 3 when we decided to break for lunch.  I checked my watch and it was 10 to 6!  Boy were we bushed!  Everything really looked good, we didn't throw anything away or hide anything, but it really made a big difference!

On the way home on Monday we were stopped in Tallahassee for a procession escorting the body of a young man home from Afganistan and back home to Thomasville.  Both of us stood out by our cars in the drizzling rain as our way to say thank you and how sorry we were.  

We went to sister's house first and unloaded her purchases from my car and emptied her car...it seems so much easier with two people doing it.  Then it was on to Monticello to unload the rest of the things at my house.  We were pooped!

First thing Tuesday morning I picked up my 2 dogs and 4 cats.  That was a riot...I took them to the vet's in two trips, but brought them home in 1.  The noise inside my car was so loud that I couldn't hear the radio!  We were all so delighted to be back home!