More Changes and Good Friends

The new Avon store has fallen through. Just like that.

I received an email from Sandra tonight - she couldn't get appropriate financing on the building. There's an apartment in the building and the bank couldn't find a comparable in the area on which to base a residential/commercial loan so they offered her a commercial loan at a term and rate she couldn't afford.

She apologized up and down and will mail my deposit check back. I emailed her back right away - I think I feel worse for her than I do for me! She said there might be some spots opening in her Henrietta store in January, but I passed on that because if I remember correctly, the terms of that co-op are working in the store 16 hours per month and that just doesn't fit in with my life plan right now. I told Sandra that I truly believe that things like this happen for a reason and something better will come along. I mean that for her and for me.

Either it hasn't sunk in yet or this really doesn't bother me very much. The closing of Pam's two stores in Victor this year didn't bother me all that much either. I really feel something else will come along or there's some new development on the horizon for me - who knows what that might be.

So that's that. Stuff sure changes quickly, doesn't it?

~ ~ ~

This past Saturday I got together with my high school friends for brunch at Linda's house in Naples. For the non-locals, Naples is a lovely town, full of hippies and woodsy kind of laid back people, located in some foothills I guess you'd call them, south of Canandaigua Lake. It's known for its wineries and annual Grape Festival. Betsy and I carpooled there so we had a good 45 minutes of conversation to get us warmed up before we arrived at Linda's. Lynn comes from a different direction, so she met us there. She brought her wonderful dog, Brita - you'll meet her later.

Linda lives in a cool little house that I could so live in. Her daughter is in college and her son is stationed overseas so she's got the place to herself. This is her living room with her relatively new very comfy furniture. It might be hard to see in this picture but it's a lovely deep green - that new microfiber stuff - feels soft and velvety. Her kitchen is a deep red and the stairs leading upstairs is a Tuscan gold color - you know how I love dramatically painted walls!

This is a quilt that Linda made - isn't it gorgeous? The greens match the couch and loveseat perfectly. She made the quilt for her daughter a while ago, just happens to match this furniture. She gave us a tour of the house so we got to see other quilts she made also. I can't believe I didn't know she's a quilter. Betsy too! Today in an email I suggested we have a "craft retreat" sometime - they can quilt, I can do paper things or needlepoint and Lynn can knit. I thought they might think I was weird but they seemed to like the idea! And I've made a mental note to show them my quilts the next time we meet here.

Linda made this fantastic Overnight Cheese Fondue, which we had with sausage and apple bread that she baked. Lynn brought her excellent Blueberry Buckle and Betsy made a delicious fruit salad. I picked the easiest thing and brought juice because, well, because I could. Hey, I've been busy! (By the way, my friends know about this journal, but they didn't know about my fondness for food photos - they looked at me a bit strangely when I took that picture!)

After we ate, we sat around for a while, they drank coffee, then we went for a walk. We cut through this field across the street from Linda's house and ended up in the village. Linda lives down a small street just off the main street.

Betsy, Linda, Lynn and Brita

These photographs are from a new scenic overlook place that wasn't there the last time I was in the area. We could not have picked a more perfect fall day. Lucky us too, because it had been raining for days, prior to Saturday. Just beautiful!

Linda's parents live not far from her, so Linda, Betsy and I stopped by their place on our way home. Betsy and Linda were best friends in high school so Betsy was excited about seeing Linda's parents again. Besides meeting them, I was eager to see their house which I knew was at the end of a mile long winding driveway - in the woods. Sounds like my kind of place. Her parents are very nice. Her sister, brother-in-law and their son were visiting from out of town. Get this - their son's name is Simon! He's a little over a year old I think. And the brother-in-law is Asian! What are the odds!?

Linda showed us her mother's quilting room, to which they had added additional windows so it was very bright. She has a design wall - it's like wool batting attached to the wall so you can stick fabric pieces to it without the use of pins. But my favorite feature of the house was glassed in sun room - seasonal room - whatever they call those things. It was right off the living room, glass on three sides with sliding windows. Look to the right and you see a gorgeous view of the lake in the distance; look to the left and you're looking into the woods. Simon loved standing in the window watching the birds at the birdfeeders. Who wouldn't??

Great friends, great day.