Hello Dear Ones,
We have strayed from our familiar surroundings, and have visited some old towns that are thriving with business and life.
Mr. S. Was invited, for the second March in a row, to be the speaker at at church marriage retreat. A retreat is different from a seminar in that it is a getaway for rest and enjoyment, accompanied by edifying and reinforcing sermons, discussions and fellowship. We left home a day early to have time to enjoy the sidewalk cafes and shops in small town America.
In my next post I will include the beautiful photos of the location they rented for a night and a day.
Here is an old town in Washington where shops abound, and shoppers browse at leisure on weekdays.
The proprietors in several shops came out the doors to catch us before we passed by and invited us to come in and look around. I bought some hand milled soap in one shop and discovered extra gifts in the bag: a packet of flower seeds, samples of other things.
I liked this pretty silk bouquet and intended to go back and get it but now I can't remember which town it was in. Those big cabbage roses were often seen in the old paintings I often post here.
Later, I got the big idea of going to a popular tea room, but I've concluded that tea-room quest is sometimes futile, because every place we tried was booked months in advance. Tea Rooms are not always amenable to drop-in visitors.
We were able to go inside to the gift shop of one lovely Victorian tea room.
In the first session of the retreat speach, Mr. S. corrected misguided perceptions of the submission issue, which I will publish here later.
6 comments:
How wonderful Lydia, that you were able to get away and enjoy the town. Retreats are such fun but also very educational. Thank you for taking us along :) ... maria
Thank you! It has been nice but I will be happy to get home. These trips always give me renewed vigor for home!
Your trip and the retreat sounded like a mini vacation. I've never been on a retreat before. Thank you for your fine description of it all and thank you for sharing.
The high end tea rooms look so nice and inviting. I especially like to window shop those places. Have found the more obscure tea rooms to be more accommodating to visitors and shoppers,and time is not limited at tables.
Next time you would like to wander about, may I suggest the Westrup House Tearoom and B&B for a leisurely retreat :)
Janet Westrup
I have seen those cabbage rose bouquets at Michael's in the wedding section and sometimes at the ends of the isle of flowers. They are silk of course, but so nicely bundled and the price I'm sure is more favorable to the purse.
Janet Westrup
And as you say.. Tearooms are not always amenable to walk in customers, which is absurd to me. There's only 1 tearoom relatively close to me. . .and its always booked with showers or various parties. Unless you have a big group and are set to pay a LARGE tab, forget it. What has happened to gentility? Years ago I used to go Friday night after work for a cup of tea - - a salad (which was deplorable at best) and to listen to the music of a man teaching himself to play hammer dulcimer. I enjoyed it; it was soft and quiet.
The woman who owned the tearoom became outwardly angry that her husband who was there helping her that night came to say a few kind words - - what(?) . . I was going for tea - - not for her husband, and no one would go with me - - b/c they wanted to the bar instead so I went by myself. The whole experience of it left me shaking my head - - like what is wrong with us as a society. Anyway, I never went back after a few times. . I went home and made my own tea, but its too bad really. I need a Miss Marple TeaRoom near me.
Then they began closing by 4 pm anyway. . I never get home before 7 pm. . guess they don't care about the individual customer. . strange.
The green walls in the tea room are so pretty!
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