A MARVELOUS WEEK
This was a week about as close to perfection as one could request. Everyone seemed to have a grand time. Tim and Jen had multiple opportunities for tennis and honing their game. The girls, 7 and almost 11, spent hours in the pool, swimming, jumping, racing one another, and playing with several visiting girls. In quieter moments, they could be found re-discovering the joys of a dollhouse and building blocks or curled up in a chair with a book.
Together we played a new card game, Taco vs. Burrito, laughing and scheming to see who would escape the Health Inspector card and have the most points. Even for adults, this was a fun game! We also celebrated F’s 7th birthday. Creative Grandpa came through with frosted yellow cupcakes (some with pink icing and some with whipped cream) on a lighted 3-tiered stand. Quite some pizazz!
To round out the week, they checked out Coquina Beach, and we all headed to our perennial favorite, Tide Tables, for two dinners. We survived the challenge of parking and the wait (20 minutes, not the projected 30) for a table, with F holding tightly to the buzzer. Scoops and cones at Tyler’s Ice Cream made for another treat.
No trip to Florida is complete without a stop in the bookstore, that’s Bookstore 1 in Sarasota. Combine that with replenishing the cheese supply at Artisan Cheese Company, and you have a satisfying outing. Food for brain and body.
Our house is quiet, the foyer is bereft of shoes, sneakers, and sandals, and the crew is back home in New York. But what good memories we made!
VIEWING UPDATE—CONTINUING SERIES
Call the Midwife (PBS)
It’s hard to believe that Call the Midwife is in its 12th season, but it is. The year is 1968, and the folks in Poplar are still poor and in need of better living conditions and healthcare. Visiting Sister Veronica brings a blunt manner and new ideas for helping the children. Nurse Crane faces repercussions due to her age, and Trixie juggles preparing for her wedding to Matthew with caring for their patients. Familiar faces are back from Dr. Turner and Sheila to Sister Julienne and Sister Monica Joan. Babies are born, problems are solved, and there is always hope. I find this series moving and emotional in a good way. I’ve now watched four of the 8 episodes.
Sanditon (PBS)
Season 3 of Sandition, based on an unfinished novel by Jane Austen, is in its third and final season. Georgiana is about to celebrate coming of age and into her inheritance. Charlotte Heywood returns for the party with her farmer fiancé. Tom Parker continues to tout the greatness of Sandition and petitions a wealthy man for his support for a hotel. As expected, flirtations and expectations abound as single women angle to catch the eye of just the right gentleman.
It’s fun, mostly light-hearted, and a welcome change from the dark crime series the Chief Penguin and I have been favoring. There are six episodes in this finale.
Note: Unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header photo of kids in pool from Dreamstime.com.
