A lovely day and "Marilyn"

 My Thanksgiving cactus is beginning to bloom!  I call her "Marilyn" because she was owned by my late next door neighbor who went to Florida every winter.  I kept an eye on her house and went over periodically to water her plants, including the cactus.  Unfortunately, Marilyn the neighbor passed away suddenly in Florida about five years ago, and in cleaning out the house, her children offered me any of her plants.  Of course, I wanted "Marilyn," not so much as a reminder but as a very reliable bloomer.  

Sometimes the flowers are more pink than they are right now.  But there are lots of buds, with blooms continuing through the winter.  My orangey cactus tends to bloom closer to Easter, and the hot pink cutting from Chris' Christmas cactus is a bit too small to bloom much.

All that aside, Monday was a lovely day for a drive, even though we woke up to snow on the ground.  It all melted when the sun came out, and by then I was about an hour south, close to Hanover, NH, where my friend Polly lives.  On the way, I took a slight detour to the King Arthur Baking Co. (their new name) shop.  The last time I stopped there, it was so busy that I turned around and left.  This time, it was busy but one could still walk around and - importantly - find a parking spot.  I bought a loaf of yummy bread and some sourdough starter.  I'll work on the starter this afternoon.

Polly and I went downtown for lunch at a burgers/salads place.  We hadn't seen each other for three years, so we had a lot of catching up to do.  When we lived in Montpelier, we belonged to a women's group that met weekly for about ten years.  Through the years, members came and went, but of the core, she and I both moved (me just 7 miles away), Cindy moved to California, and Sandy passed away.  I got Polly interested in quilting long ago, and I miss going to quilt shows and shops with her.   A trip to our favorite shop near Burlington is something we need to do in the near future.  Anyway, we had a very nice time, and the drive home was simply lovely with bright blue skies and, as is usual for Vermont any time of year, beautiful views.

A look back

This morning, my cousin posted a picture of the family assembled for Mom's 100th birthday back in June.  I'm not sure if someone took it with her camera or where it came from, but we are all there, making it a super memento.

I'm on the end, in the first skirt I've worn in quite a while.  I enjoyed wearing that cool skirt throughout the summer.  Paul is next to me, and Chris is way over on the other end.  Mom had hired some ladies to take pictures, but I haven't seen any and I'm not sure she has either.   It would be fun to create a photo album of the event for everyone, including those who couldn't come.

It's a busy time around here with meetings, gatherings, and chores.  There's a mountain of laundry to do since I did none while Paul's brother Jim was visiting.  Today I'll shop for groceries and head over to Burlington for lunch with Sonia, an old friend from my Syracuse days.  She and I were beginning librarians in towns close by each other.  We gave each other lots of moral support in our 20s and kept in touch all these years, through moves, divorces, various jobs.  She has retired to the Albany area so we haven't seen each other much in recent years.  I can always count on her for a laugh, a strong opinion, and a cool head while shopping for a winter coat (which I don't need right now).

The coming week will be busy:  pedicure, Friends of the Library meeting, yoga, baking cookies for an author program at the library, neighborhood ladies' lunch, quilt bingo, and the fall state quilt guild meeting.  In between I'll try to do a little sewing.  I laid out the first section of Austen Jubilee yesterday, but I probably will continue with the Scrappy Mountains quilt when I get a chance.   I'm looking forward to a quieter November.