Week 34 - Fabulous Beach Week

Are the beach weeks every not fabulous? Relaxing with a view and friends visiting every day - what's not to like?

John went out for breakfast with friends on Monday so I happily sat on the deck  knitting the morning away with the awning keeping me dry from the misty rain. I also made calls or texted friends and had visits all arranged before John got back. After a lunch of spinach pies from the farmers market, we did a Job Lot run, which we'd saved knowing the weather wouldn't cooperate. I made zucchini butter pasta for supper, which was an aberration because John usually does the cooking.

Janice came over on Tuesday morning and brought my favorite donuts - lemon filled chocolate covered, which Dunkin no longer makes but Market Basket does. Yum! Lunch was just turkey sandwiches and we played Boggle, with Janice winning every single game. John joined us and I beat him but Janice was still the champ. Kate, who was in John's class and was the owner of the cottage when we originally rented it, came for supper. It was a lovely time, as usual.

Cornelia came for lunch on Wednesday and we had saugies, which are a RI hotdog, for lunch. We talked all afternoon, which is easily done. We rarely talk beyond the beach week visit but boy when we do! John's Uncle Tom and Aunt Gail came for drinks and nibbles that night. It's always fun to see them too.              

I had called my cousin Bette about having lunch on Thursday but she was out of town so I called her brother, David, and he was free so we agreed to meet at Aunt Carrie's for lunch. David is as close to a brother as I have so it was great to see him. Our food had just arrived when John got a text. He was supposed to meet his friend Nancy for lunch, which he'd never mentioned to me, and had completely forgotten. He felt bad but we enjoyed lunch. We bought swordfish in Wakefield then hit the local farm stand for sweet corn before heading home. Deanne came for supper that night. More fun with friends.

Just like that, it was our last full day. We had planned to go to the beach with Carolyn and Matt but it was rainy and cold, meaning we'd been there all week and never set foot on the beach. Oh well. We met halfway between us at Providence Wood Fired Pizza. After a delicious lunch, we did Job Lot again (they're all have a few different things) then I hit the local yarn store for a skein of thank you yarn for Andrea taking care of my cats. And just the one skein - how adult of me was that to not get one for myself? We went back to the cottage for our last evening. We snacked on some of the leftovers and John made us burgers late then we had huge helpings of ice cream to finish it up. For the first time in my life, I had horrible acid reflux. I couldn't lay down so was up sitting on the couch chewing tums until 3:30 in the morning. Yikes! If this is what people put up with, holy crap! It was brutal.

Check out time is 10:00 so we were up and packing first thing on Saturday. We pretty much have it down to a science and since we'd eaten most of the leftovers, there wasn't much food to pack. Our first stop was Tom and Gail's for John to offload because he'd be staying there that night. We hung out for a bit before heading to Carolyn's. We were all going to Bob's retirement party that evening so we hung out all afternoon. Bob's party was fun, hosted by Michelle and planned so John and I could be there. How nice was that? I got to talk to some of Bob's friends and his brother, none of whom I'd seen in ages. John dropped me at Deanne's, where I'd be staying until I'd fly home on Tuesday.

Deanne has been going through tough times as she's taking care of her mom who has terminal cancer so it was good that her brothers were taking care of her mom while I was there to give her a break. We started with going down to the beach to get lobster rolls for lunch on Sunday. Delish but $86 for 2 - yikes! We then went to Wakefield where Dee got a manicure while I sat outside knitting. We hit the chocolate store for goodies for Mrs. Bassett - our old girl scout leader who we visit every summer. We tried to stop by but she wasn't home so we went back to Dee's and she made yummy Italian sausage and potato bake for supper. I'm sure we streamed something but couldn't tell you what. It was a fun day and I'm sure it took Dee's mind off her mother.

So, another beach week in the books - our 7th. While I didn't so much as dip my toe in salt water, I wasn't bothered by that. It's about being AT the beach not ON the beach and mostly spending time with friends relaxing and catching up. I got lots of knitting done, of course, and even had tan stripes on my feet where the evening sun got under the awning. Life is good!