Carolyn and I pick up Jill at the airport about 10 in the morning.  We have a late breakfast/lunch and talk about upcoming plans, particularly meals.  Jill has ideas for a meal she wants to prepare.  So, we all head off to the grocery stores.  Four in total.  One for the best heirloom tomatoes and oo.  Another for crab meat.  A third for burrata.  And the last for sorbet and oranges.  It takes work to create the perfect meal but we will do our best.

Back home Jill starts making pesto sauce and Carolyn and I head back to the walking trail to pick blackberries.  We each fill a large container.  One will go on sorbet for dessert tonight and the other will go in the fruit salad for Carolyn’s birthday brunch. I bought Aperol at the store and Carolyn’s husband, Steve, left us proscecco.  So, we are all set for spritzers.  While we are having our first cocktail, Nancy and George Ann arrive.  We all start to catch up and then someone says that we need to toast Aretha Franklin who just died.  Better still, George Ann has brought a CD of AF greatest hits.  We put it on and sing along.   Aretha

Carolyn fixes a beautiful and delicious salmon and orzo salad dinner.  I fix the blackberry dessert.  Much talk of grandkids, raising children, ballet lessons.  Carolyn has bought a robe for each of us, Georgeann brought us all a plate that says “Bless Your Heart”, Jill got us chocolate, lip balm and bracelets and I brought everyone some body lotion from Fiji.  It’s like Christmas morning except that the weather and views are beautiful.