Perfect Fall Weekend

A perfect weekend. 

M. and M., two of our very favorite people, came over. Actually, M. the wife spent the afternoon with me and we crocheted some very adorable shabby chic looking hangers. She's a speed crocheter. I am a stay-well-under-the-speed-limit crocheter. I must have complained commented enough on how fast her hanger was coming along that she offered to finish crocheting mine. I pooh-poohed her and so I am still working on my hanger two days later.

I had it completely finished tonight - seams sewn together - when the blasted thing fell apart in my hands. 

Literally. 

The Man had to get involved and now I have to wait until tomorrow for him to glue it back together. And then I have to sew the seams back together. And put the roses on. Oh yeah, I still have to make the roses. Maybe I should call M. and see if her offer to do it for me still stands.

M. and I had so much fun spending the afternoon together that we decided to do it again. Only this time we're doing a French baking day. We're going to try our hand at some fancy-schmancy French pastries. Ooh, la, la, I can't wait....

On Sunday we took a drive to see P., far away at college. She goes to school right next to the ocean.

Lucky girl. What a lovely campus. But very windy. I think she's going to need lots of hats because the wind is going to take them away.

J. and P. wanted to spend some time alone, you know, without his parents and sister hanging around. The Man, K., and I meandered around and found some beaches to explore. It was too cold for K. and I so we sat on the beach and let the Man walk out on the rocks. I walked out far enough to take a few photos and then scurried back to the safety of the short dunes to get out of the wind.

I found these colorful ribbons tied all along the fences leading to one of the beaches we went to. They reminded me of all the locks we saw attached to the gates outside one of the churches in Rome.


I wonder why people attach these ribbons to the fence?


Whatever the reason, the colors caught my eye. And just in case any of those people is reading my blog - thank you for knotting these tiny colorful sentries onto the fences. They led me right to the ocean.

After awhile we went back to campus, picked up J. and P. and took a ride to the big city. Well, as big as it gets in that area.

We had to drive through a few small towns to get to the big city. This one reminded me of "Back to the Future" with the clock tower on the left and the banner strung across the road. The way the sky was looking, I was waiting for lightning to crackle any minute. 

Wasn't this a perfect Halloween looking day?

We walked all over the old part of the city. Cobblestone streets, narrow alleyways, lots of tiny shops with local artisans and food.

Almost all the storefronts were decorated for Halloween.

We tried to let J. and P. lead us around. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn't. 

Although to be honest, it was when the Man or I took over that we usually ended up walking around in circles. We're not very good at wandering. Rather, the Man is not very good at wandering. He likes to have a g-o-a-l. 

And the goal is not "I just want to walk around, take some photos, do a little shopping."

So we're constantly walking in circles with me going in one direction and the Man going in the other. I'm amazed the kids have been able to keep up with us and not run away screaming.

But in the photos above, we were letting them figure things out. And I got to stand there and play with their shadows and silhouettes.

Thanks, P., for such a fun day. We sure do miss you when you're not around. 

But we're real happy to come visit you and your pretty little campus and the big city next door.

We'll be back.