sister time

picture from Amy's camera

Last weekend Amy, Libby, and I rendezvoused in Canada to be together. Though it took me seven hours to drive north through Pennsylvania and New York and on up along the Niagara river, it was still 250 miles closer for us to meet in Canada than for me to drive home to Michigan.

It was a splendid weekend-- we slept at a lovely bed and breakfast (where the hosts served delicious three-course breakfasts!), talked and talked and talked, toured the area, and just had a grand time being sisters.

Two of my weekend highlights were our visit to the historic McFarland House for afternoon tea, and a brief stop at Lakeside Pottery (gorgeous, local pottery).

After our trip to Canada last April, we started dreaming up another trip in October-- this time at Niagara on the Lake. Our October trip was also a little celebration of Amy's completion of her master's classes (whoot whoot whooooooot!!!), and her new job :).

On Sunday morning, we joined the local Anglican congregation for their morning worship service. The building and grounds were so idyllic.

All too soon it was time to say good-bye. After our picnic lunch in the car (it was cold), we hugged our see-you-laters and started off for Michigan and Pennsylvania.

a few more pictures from our afternoon tea:

the McFarland House

"Cream Tea"-- a massive scone served with cream, jam, and a pot of tea

in the conservatory (tea room)

the trees were stunning!

anniversary

I finally got this set of banana leaf pictures (gifts from friends in Zambia) framed recently

This week marks 3 years since Heather and I moved to our Zambian home, 

and 1 year since I returned to this continent.

for Jake

I had to stop to shoot a few pictures when we walked past this shop window at the Italian Market in Philadelphia the other day... I didn't know Eland was sold in the States!

Jake (my former boss in Zimbabwe) has told me that Eland is the best meat. And, Jake should know; he's an avid hunter and meat-eater.

it's that time of the year... budgeting season.

This photo has nothing to do with this post,

unless we're speaking in terms of contrast.

(Since the words are a bit dry, I figured a pretty picture was in order...)

My life these days is pretty much full of budgets.

permanently restricted funds, temporarily restricted funds, 5% calculations, country requests, scholarship students, global workers, updated guidelines, back calculations, Excel formulas, currency conversions, skype meetings, myriads of emails, many hours of finance team meetings, spreadsheets (and more spreadsheets)...

My next budget deadline is Wednesday at noon.

While I love working with details, it always feels good to finish working with one group of details and shift focus to the next project's details :)

Philly

Last Saturday Heather, Vicky (one of my workmates), and I spent the day in Philadelphia together. Early in the week, the weather forecast was cold rain, but Saturday wound up being a perfect, sunny day for our 20,000-step walk around the city.

We started at Love Park, and ended at an Indian restaurant. In between, we visited City Hall, Reading Terminal Market (where Heather introduced me to a classic cheese steak), Magic Gardens, the Liberty Bell, the Italian Market, and an Ethiopian Festival! What a day!

To top it all off, we stopped at a Trader Joe's on the drive home, where I filled my basket with nuts, tea, and sipping chocolate :).

posing for a photo with a life-size Monopoly wheelbarrow marker

the famous LOVE park

the sun was so bright and the tower was so tall...
you can't see the massive statue of Ben Franklin on top of City Hall

inside the courtyard of City Hall-- the building is massive!

there she is!

lovely view directly behind the Liberty Bell

the little house where Jefferson drafted the Constitution (took him two weeks)

oh how I love markets!

we waited through lines for at least half an hour for our one Philly cheese steak!

the picture doesn't do it justice...
but this was a super cute walking alley, not wide enough for cars

we didn't actually go inside the mosaic garden, just took pictures from outside

entering the Italian Market

Italian Market area

Ethiopian festival

PS- Heather and I also enjoyed ice cream from Bassetts-- America's oldest ice cream company!
Fun fact about Bassetts: President Obama stopped in for ice cream at the Reading Terminal Market in 2010. His favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip.

collector's item-?

Yesterday was a sad day.

I removed my Michigan license plate from my car.

Tomorrow my Impala has a date with the mechanic shop while I'm at work...

I hope it will pass the Pennsylvania inspections.

The happy part of this sad story is that hopefully very soon I will not have to do any more paperwork to switch my vehicle information between states.

It has been almost as difficult to try to license my car in Pennsylvania as it was to license vehicles in Zambia.

(that is not a joke or an overstatement)

Since last Spring, I have made countless trips to different offices with a sundry of official documents... proving my identity, displaying my VIN, asking new friends how things work in this foreign place, and of course paying money all along the way.

I was finally able to secure local insurance several weeks back, and a license plate last month.

I am still waiting for my official title to arrive in the mail.

As I unscrewed my Michigan plate last night (thanks to a screwdriver in my inheritance tool box from Grandpa's garage), I realized this could be the start a license plate collection in my garage...

but, I don't really want a license plate collection in my garage.

So, maybe I'll just see if my brother would like some aluminum for deterring mice in the granary...

or maybe I'll just leave the old plate in a garbage can in the alley next Monday...

PS- In Pennsylvania, license plate dates do not match the birthday month of the vehicle owner. I always liked having December proudly displayed on my car...

more Florida SUN fun

out the window of my hotel room

Bougainvillea (just like grows in Southern Africa) in Mount Dora-- an adorable little town I visited with Martha.

The brick arched gateway led into the garden patio of a former tea house.

the historic inn of Mount Dora

Martha and me

We wandered the streets of Mount Dora, stopping to check out little specialty shops (my favorite was The Spice & Tea Exchange). Of course we stopped by one of the local sweet shops for something cold and chocolate-y (gelato!) mid-afternoon as well. After a walk along the boardwalk by the lake, we meandered back downtown to enjoy dinner at the Lost Parrot, a local restaurant with outdoor dining. As the sun set, we made one final stop at the mini lighthouse down at the lake.

Wednesday Warriors

I have the privilege of joining a little group of warriors each Wednesday at noon-- shooting arrows for needs that dot the globe, gleaning tidbits of wisdom from those a few generations ahead of me, and pausing to be thankful for so many good gifts.

I saw an ALLIGATOR, and other true tales...

Last week I spent a few days in sunny Orlando, Florida!

Friends- let me tell you about the SUNSHINE and humidity, the palm trees and bougainvillea, the blooming flowers and GREEN everywhere.


I felt like I was in the southern hemisphere.
It.was.lovely.


Of course the conference was great, and the extra day spent catching up with a friend was a treat too.

As an added bonus-- My flights were so punctual that I almost wasn't sure it was really me traveling with myself! ;)

gorgeous, eh?

the conference center