July 14: This is not SoCal

This post is dedicated to Lauren and Andrew, and their baby boy, Franklin. They are my son and his wife and my remarkable grand baby. They are making their way across several states to transplant in Texas. I sincerely hope they love it there. They make such a good team. To see how they light up when they talk about Franklin is so wonderful to see. They just adore him. I wish them the best of luck, but I know they don’t need it because both are hardworking and smart.

“Sometimes the place you’re used to is not the place you belong.” from the film - The Queen of Katwe

"You don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward.” Unknown

"And suddenly, you know...it's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings." Drake

This is the kind lady who pushed Jackie to the far room to get her eyebrows and lip waxed.

The Pink Lady

I'm Switzerland - Neutral

The Ivy Nail Spa

AT&T. I couldn't take a picture of the guy who helped me because he had my phone.

One goat, either Liberty or Patriot - They were born on the Fourth of July

The other one, either Liberty or Patriot

Another goat whose name is too complicated for me to remember

And, the fourth goat

Getting decorations ready for their corn maze, pumpkin patch sale, etc. in the workshop

Working on the entrance to the corn maze

One of the two chickens who shall always remain nameless. They do lay a couple of eggs each day.

Terry's Workshop

The apple orchard

apples

The outhouse - no we don't have to use that one

Piper showing us the orchard

The back deck.

The front yard

More front yard

One of the pumpkin patches

More front yard

Thistle Down across the street - large shade trees in the front yard

One of the gardens

The entrance to the house

The farmhouse

The farmhouse kitchen. Jean-Luc making himself at home.

Jackie made appointments for us to get our nails done for the wedding on Saturday. My nephew Cody and his wife Devin who already eloped in July of 2020 due to COVID, but decided to go through with their wedding plans anyway. Good for them. So we set off for The Pink Lady nail salon in Queensbury. - Only a 40 minute drive away. The thing about driving here is that you are always forced to take the scenic route. Everywhere is either quaint or gorgeous. Jackie’s nails look lovely in sparkling silver glitter polish to match her dress and I just got a completely neutral color because I have no idea what I’ll wear. No soaking your cuticles in New York. No hand and arm massage included. They just get right to work on your color. Bing, Bam, Boom - done! Same as SoCal the nail salons are owned and operated by Vietnamese people. They've cornered that market.

Then we went to the AT&T store to recover Jackie’s emojis and to have Hotspot put on my phone. That only took an hour. That is exactly the same as SoCal. The man who helped us looked so much like LeBron James. I wanted to say something, but I didn't want him to be thinking that I said that because he was African American. Also, people probably tell him that all the time. The funny thing is that there was a picture of LeBron right behind him and I kept looking at the picture then back at him. It was eerie how much they looked alike. LeBron is this guy, Sean's doppelganger. After that we decided we were hungry, so we’d eat some lunch then go to the mall. We had a very nice lunch at The Olive Garden - grilled Salmon and broccoli. We were feeling pretty stuffed - so we took our cheesecake to go. :0) Also, instead of going to the mall we went home because we didn’t want our cheesecake to get gross in the car while we were in the mall. Everything Jackie does takes more time, patience, and energy than things we all take for granted. Yet, she keeps going. On the way home we found another nail spa that did eyebrows and lip waxing. It was so funny - the room for the waxing was way in the back and poor Jackie was already pooped - so the lady sat her in a wheelie chair and pushed her back there, then pushed her back. What service! It was a good time. I'm enjoying getting to know my brother again, but also Jackie. I haven't believed what my dad and Max have said about her all these years because I know how that feels. I've been on the receiving end of that. I just didn't know anything really about her. I knew she had to have been a good mother because Cody and Kayla are great kids, who are now happy, healthy, and prosperous adults. I know Terry had something to do with that, but he didn't do it alone.

Later I took the dogs for a walk and Piper showed us around the property. I asked her what we should see and she headed uphill. When we caught up to her, she was in a clearing. There is a stream nearby and I've heard that she loves to wallow in it. Can't blame her. It is hotter that hot here with the humidity. She was very proud to show us around. We saw the goats, the chickens, the gardens, the workshop, the orchard, the pumpkin patch, the greenhouse where I transplanted Ben into a larger pot, the store “Thistle Downs,” and the gigantic front yard. She was a great tour guide.

So full from lunch I just ate my cheesecake and went to bed.