Dear Reader:

We are all back safe and sound…even driving home on Friday the 13th! As usual the hiatus was way too short and we all stayed as long as we could yesterday without getting into late Friday afternoon heavy traffic.

When I drove up to my house, my cute young neighbor, Luke, welcomed me back home from his hammock on the porch. He said he was sorry the weather wasn’t that great but he was sure we had a good time. I must have looked puzzled because he said Summerville had rain showers almost every afternoon. Edisto Beach had nil to none…and even the humidity slowly crept down as the week progressed.

*In fact we spent more time on the front porch this go-around and less time watching television than we ever have. We have decided our lives are just as interesting, if not more, than television’s.

Honey, Thursday evening, our last night, we noticed a really large dragonfly flitting back and forth and back and forth, up and down and up and down the front porch. The sun was setting and it was just beautiful…it was like the dragonfly wanted to say hello. We immediately thought “Honey! all at the same time.”

We discussed a little of everything, a little of this and a little of that…especially catching each other up on family, children, and grandchildren. It is so nice to share all the ups and downs of life at this stage in our lives together. (It feels better knowing everyone is feeling similar thoughts in life.)

BUT it was Jackson who came up with a novel idea for bread ties before we throw what’s left of the loaf away. She asked us if we knew that the bread ties were different colors to indicate the day of the week they were baked? None of us knew that…we shook our heads. And then she took it a step farther…her own personal idea for using bread ties.

“Because I probably have too many pairs of black pants – I use the different colored ties to indicate the age (and wear and tear) of the pants. I tie red tags on the hanger of black pants that are the best and saved for special occasions, yellow for my errand pants, and white for my “only wear at home pants.”

Jackson received a standing ovation. We all have too many black pants. Perhaps the Ya’s should start an entrepreneur club and think through inventive ideas for every day, ordinary items in life.

As usual we picked one night to go out to eat…to Ella and Ollie’s…we have started going on Wednesday nights instead of Thursdays (last retreat nights) so we will have the last evening to spend eating left-overs and just chill’in! *(The restaurant has the coolest chandelier when one walks in…made from oyster shells.)

Libby is really the funniest storyteller…anywhere we go she keeps us in stitches and the thing that is so funny…is that her stories are all true. Libby can get herself in the most awkward, bizarre, hilarious scenarios that even comedy sit-cons couldn’t even think up…We love her stories!

Look how pretty the fall wreath is Libby gave Brooke last year for her birthday…it just set the tone. Monday night we had roast beef, potatoes, carrots, corn pie, rolls and key lime pie. This time it was for my birthday (the never-ending birthday year…love it!) I got jewelry, a beautiful scarf from Betsy (Libby’s daughter gave me the perfect gift which comes in handy for the meat locker temps in the beach house) and my first ‘Soft Surroundings‘ jacket/tunic. So soft!

Tuesday Brooke and I went to pick up a few items from King’s Market (we LOVE King’s Market) and drove out to Steamboat Landing…we met a nice family from Tennessee and watched another woman crabbing (successfully) for blue crabs. So good to be alive…fresh air like no other!

Even though Edisto really took a hit from Hurricane Irma…(*praying Karen y’all get your treasured beach house back in order soon) everything looked so beautiful, clear, and clean on the beach…Going to the beach in October is a special luxury with those October sapphire skies.

(Those jetties are the exact ones I was sitting on when I had my dolphin “experience.”!)

Some more stories and pictures tomorrow….it is hard to squeeze five days of living into one blog!

So until tomorrow…when we go on “beach time” (meaning no one ever knows the time while we are there and/or cares) we have discovered a novel way to tell how long we have stayed. Potato Chip bags! (From left to right….photo of number of bags when we arrived and when we left…these were huge family bags…Equation: we each ate half a family bag of chips…now that is wolfing down some.) *And an extra bag of barbecue potato chips.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Back home and all looks well…lots of showers to make the flowers happy. Thanks Vickie for checking on everything for me!

What blows my mind is my morning glory vines…they bloom from early morning to darkness…I took these pictures at 7:00 last evening. The morning glories are making friends with all the flowers still left in the beds…the zinnias and lantana. And the Confederate Rose just continues to show off for everyone!

I’m home!