Saturday was a pleasant time, all day long. A lot of things happened and they were all good.  I spent the day with some of my dearest friends-and our mouths were filled with laughter, for the better part of the day.

Jo Dee and I rode to the village of Bath.  Bath is the oldest town in North Carolina.  It is on the Pamlico river and it looks like a  vintage postcard.  It is quaint and charming-and full of lovely people-one of them is Janet.

Janet is loved by everybody-especially Jo Dee and I.  Janet has a new house on a little creek in Bath.   She and her husband designed it-and I think the creek is glad about it. The house makes you think that it has been there all along.  I have known Janet a very long time.  Whatever house she has lived in seems to fall under her spell.  I named this newest one , the “enchanted cottage” while her husband was building it-and after seeing it, I wasn’t far off.  Jo Dee and I stopped by that Saturday morning to see Janet’s house.  We were just getting started on our tour when another friend, Rae called to say she was on the way.  Rae was there, by the time the coffee was ready.  Jo Dee, Rae and I agreed that Janet’s house belonged in a magazine over breakfast.  We went out back to enjoy the morning.  There were three boys in a small boat pulling crab pots up in the creek.  They looked to be around twelve .  I felt like I was looking at a painting.

Another lovely person in Bath, is Jo Dee’s mom, our “Miss Alethia”.  She too is well known in Bath.  She has a “Christmas Shop” called the  “Pirate’s Chest”.  I think having a Christmas Shop, must be one of the best jobs in the world.  She makes a lot of the ornaments herself.  There are Christmas books, old fashioned toys and wreaths.  She has wind chimes, soaps and jewelry-she has a lot of beautiful things.  Everyone is happy in a Christmas Shop. I bought Lyla a book.  I saw some crocheted items and was rummaging through them. I found a potholder that would be perfect for Janet’s kitchen and showed it to Rae.  Rae said “What is that?”  I looked at her in disbelief and started laughing  til I had tears!  Rae is highly intelligent, creative and one of the most loving people I have ever known.  Rae eats ice cream for meals.  She does not cook-and not knowing what a potholder was is proof of that.  I may have laughed too long because then Rae said “I KNOW what it is! You wash dishes with it!”  This tickled me to no end and almost caused a commotion in that dear shop.  When we were leaving , Rae said she was going to start a blog and write a story about me, and say I was mean. If she does, I will learn how to “link” at last.  

We got to meet Jo Dee’s sister, Tina and her son Jacob. They were visiting Miss Alethia.  We have heard about them for so long, we felt like we knew them.  They are every bit as delightful as Jo Dee had said.

On the way back, we stopped to get ice cream.   We stopped at a little store  Janet knew about.  The lady that worked there was grumpy-Rae asked for a flavor that wasn’t available and that seemed to start things out wrong.   The lady asked “Do you see that?  You get what you see!”  Rae was so gracious and ordered peach instead, so did Jo Dee and Janet.  I took a big chance and ordered chocolate.   I have never met a grumpy ice cream lady.  We got our ice cream and thanked the lady and wished her well-then broke out of there.  We made a pact not to hold it against her and vowed to come back with our best manners, as we ate the high quality ice cream.

I got back to the rabbit patch as night was falling.  The mower was still in the fish pond-and the farm house seemed older than ever after Janet’s beautiful home on the creek.  I sat for a while and planned “Sunday Dinner”.  I went out later to say good night.  The absence of the moon made the rabbit patch seem like a mystery all over again.  There wasn’t even a star to wish on. The night choir was singing and I could smell the yellow rose bush.  I had thoughts of gratitude for Miss Alethia and her Christmas Shop and  even the grumpy lady that sold ice cream.  I thought of my friends.  I did not realise many years ago when I met them that I was gathering pearls.   They are as tender as kittens or  as mighty  as warriors depending on my needs.  They are constant. They are wise and silly. They read my rabbit patch diary and clap their hands .  They are my “steel magnolias”.   On this day, as many others, our mouths were filled with laughter, as the Psalmist wrote.  I thought of this as  I made my way through the “pitch dark night” back to the farmhouse, no longer caring, that there wasn’t a star to wish on.