A Visit from more Family

May 12, 2010
Priscilla’s surgery didn’t happen until today, because someone let her have a drink just before taking her down, so they postponed it until early this morning. It went well, and she will be coming home tomorrow. This morning was a happy camper day for my hubby. Direct TV came and installed our satellite service! His surfing days are back again.
Right after they left, my other brother, Kirk, and his daughter, Jennifer came for a visit from Middlesex. We haven’t seen them for five years. We had a long visit, and hung out in the coach as it was a miserable, cold, rainy day. Kirk suggested we get out for some lunch. We found a cute little restaurant in Stockton. 'Meils' is located in an old gas station in the center of town. The restaurant is filled with artwork from local artists and especially dozens of ShadFest posters. ShadFest is a festival honoring a type of fish called Shad. Each spring the annual Shad Fest coincides with the heart of the American shad run up the Delaware River. Stockton borders Delaware Township in New Jersey. The Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge, a free bridge over the Delaware River, connects Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The original covered bridge was opened to traffic in the spring of 1814, but destroyed in a flood on January 8, 1841, striking the Lambertville Bridge on its way down the Delaware. The tiny town remains today as it was in the eighteenth century. For all its small size and charm, (there are only about 600 residents), the town is presided over by an huge stone inn. The Stockton Inn, established in 1710, is the inn that was immortalized by Richard Rodgers in the song "There's a small hotel with a wishing well", sung in the Broadway play On Your Toes. The inn was first built as a private residence and is believed to have been converted in 1832. It was charming even in a gray drizzle, and Gary and I decided to come back another day to explore the Farmer’s Market, art galleries and maybe have tea at the Inn.
We said our see-ya-laters, to Kirk and Jennifer and then we went in for something warm to drink. Tasha had not been out all day, and was at the door ready to go, but on my way out, a movement caught my eye near the woods. Now, it could be anything wild that lives in these woods, and I didn’t want a catastrophe (get it?), so I waited until I could see clearly. Fortunately it was a pair of young deer with fluffy white tails out for their evening dinner. Tasha caught sight of them too, and her pupils got huge. I let her out and she crept ever so slowly over to her tree. I stood there very still to watch them, and finally they scampered into the deep woods. I didn’t see Tasha anymore, so she must have tried to get closer to figure out these two new creatures. They are so graceful, I love seeing them.
According to our 'clock' tomorrow is supposed to be a little warmer and beautiful again. That’s good, because I am having a tough time keeping a signal to keep our computer on line, thus a day skipped here and there. We need to figure out our power problem and how to get a steady signal, then we will be REALLY happy campers.