Chats on the Farmhouse Porch: Terrific Trips

Patrice has some great questions for discussion on the farmhouse porch this week. I have to admire her... she hosted a week-long cyber party last week, and is back at it again! I hope you can join us. You can answer the questions on your blog and link to Everyday Rurality, or answer in a comment on my blog or on her's.

1. Do you have any special plans for this fall?
2. Do you collect anything?
3. Have you done any canning or freezing this season?
4. Do you have a friend who lives far away? Where do they live?
5. When in a store, restaurant, or other business, do you ever complain or praise to the management?

1. Special plans for this fall.... Oh, I can't wait to answer that question. My plans will knock your socks off! I'm feeling like I won one of those prizes on a game show... you know, you win the beach chairs and suddenly there is a trip to an exotic beach, and another trip to someplace else and so forth. So our trip of a lifetime will begin with a trip to Rochester, NY. Even though it is not a high school reunion year, my class of 28 seniors learned that we have lost two of the 'boys' in our class this past spring. The recognition of our mortality was shocking to several of us. So, we decided, what the heck... we'd have a reunion regardless of whether it was a 5-year anniversary of our graduation or not. So far almost half the class has committed to returning to the scene of the crime. Then, since we are on the east coast... and 'close' to hubby's family, we'll scoot down to Florida to visit with them. Then we'll head a bit further south and embark on a cruise through the Panama Canal to celebrate 40 years of marriage. We finish that cruise in San Diego - pop up to San Francisco to see our son for a few days, and finally head home to Colorado. Didn't I tell you that it would be wild and crazy?!!

2. Do I collect anything? I am not a serious collector of anything. However, I have a few things that could be considered minor collections that I add to now and then. My most recent acquisition is a wrought iron candle sconce that I found at a consignment store on our trip to Idaho. I have a few varied sconces in my dining room and have thought it would be great fun to add to that so I can have unusual sconces throughout the dining room. We also have some unusual gas and candle lamps on top of our book shelves in the living room.

3. Nope - I haven't done any canning this year. I did help my brother and SIL pick huckleberries today. We have about a quart - and plan to have huckleberry pancakes and huckleberry sauce the day after tomorrow.

4. A friend who lives far away? You bet! Lots of them. My 'adult' BFF lives near Detroit, MI. We try to arrange at trip once a year where one of us will come visit the other for about a week. Our hubby's go along with it - although I'm not sure they 'get it'! My BFF from High School lives in San Francisco. We have had a few opportunities to get together and we really enjoy seeing each other and reliving our youth in stories we tell... for hours on end! I have a lot of friends with whom I used to work who live in the east. I'm hoping to get back there - maybe during my trip in October, to have lunch with the bunch of them. Then... there are my cyber friends. They live far, far away... in a place called "Internet". But, we get to communicate with each other all of the time!

5. Complain or compliment management? I try not to complain - but on occasion I will take management aside and let them know about my displeasure. I do try, on the other hand, to let folks know when I am pleased and think they have done a good job. I feel that too often folks never know when what they have done is appreciated - so if I can share that with them... I'm thinking it will make their day!