My brother, Gary, died today.

He is the third of my siblings to die. 

He has been sick for such a long time.

His death did not come as a surprise.

I am feeling the loss.  Sad because we were not as close as I would have liked, sorry for my part of the distance, and wondering why it isn’t easier to have relationships with people you love.

I’m thankful that he said that he had made peace with God.  I’m not really sure what that meant – he never did speak much about spiritual matters to me. ( I was his “little” sister and there was always those years between us.)

I just wanted to say goodbye in a tangible way.  To somehow offer out a statement of memorial for a man who mattered to me.  I was never sure how much I mattered in his life, but in many ways his life helped to shape mine.

Please pray for his wife, sons and grandchildren- he loved them very tangibly and their loss will be great.

I am wondering what happened.

Was it all a dream?  The last three weeks were like a Celtic moment-

Time out of time.

Christmas happened and New Year’s-

Meredith came and approved of the house-

we cleaned and cooked and ate and talked.

I came home.

Went to the doctor.

Came to Columbus.

That’s the story.

I also went to the Fractured Prune for some donuts.

YUMM!!!

They are so very good- and fresh- the last picture is of my french toast donut- Maple syrup and cinnamon sugar coating on a fresh fried (translation-still HOT).

If you have a chance to try them- go get you a donut!

This was the last picture we took in Chincoteague.

Meredith is a home owner.  And this is her home.

It was a real privilege spending time with her there.

This is my last week here this month.  I’ve been here since December 21st and  Sunday I’m going home for one night.  And then off to Columbus for a little while.

I’ve been VERY busy cleaning and cooking and helping set up a gourmet kitchen and stage pictures so that a room can be seen to its best advantage.  And I’ve had a lot of children to play with and run after and enjoy.  Plus, I got to spend some very special time with my family- AND show Meredith her new home- AND make a wonderful tea for some new friends.

The tea was called winter tea at The Sailors Rest.

I will share our menu here and later perhaps some recipes!

– goat cheese truffles

-pickled grapes

-three berry trifle

-rum balls

-stuffed figs ( with pistachio cheese and wrapped in prosciutto)

-Scotch eggs

-bee sting bars

-mini carmelized onion and sundried tomato quiches

-finger sandwiches- ham and cranberry sauce on tiny sourdough buns, cucumber and avocado with sprouts on whole wheat heart bread, and salmon and mock boursin cheese on white hearts.

-and finally, apricot and pecan scones

Here’s an overhead view of Meredith and I putting the finger sandwiches together and Cynthia stuffing figs in the background.  Most of the good pictures I have are because Allyson took pictures of some of the activity with my camera.  Thank you, Ally!

We went onto Assateague today- saw some ponies and walked along the beach.

It was cold but not too windy so the ocean was calm and the walk on the beach was very cold but not bone crackingly so.

My favorite pictures are of the ducks on Swans Cove pool.  It was frozen- back in the estuary and the ducks were swimming in a smaller and smaller pond.  Except for a couple adventurous and hardy ducks that were waddling on the ice.  So cute!

I love it here in the winter!  No crowds- no traffic- lots of wildlife and friendly people.  ( And NO SNOW, FRANK!)

Well- that’s all I have to say for right now.  Sorry I haven’t been posting lately- I’m just so tired by the end of the day that I can’t find time to put up anything.

I will leave you with a recipe for the hit item of our winter tea.

Pickled Grapes

1 bunch of red or green seedless grapes

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces

10-15 peppercorns

Wash and dry the grapes, take them off the bunch and set aside.

Put all other ingredients in a saucepan and heat until sugar has melted and the syrup is infused with the spicey flavor.  Cool.

Pour syrup over grapes and place in fridge over night.

These are really yummy!