All the stuff I forgot to tell you in WILLARD! Consider this a giant P.S. Here’s one of the songs we had at Joe’s party . . . MUSICA!
Comfy? Okay, well, I thought I’d show you a few more photos of the party itself . . . starting with the man of the moment . . .
Our good boy (in dreams I walk with him) received a special cup from Rachel and Paul for his birthday. And btw, we really couldn’t have done his birthday party without our darling English people . . .🌟
Here’s Paul putting up the lights, while the music is playing . . . gotta have twinkle lights at a garden party!
We had a nice little breeze that blew the tablecloths off as fast as Rachel, Diana and Elaine (and me too) put them on!
It was the perfect chance to use all the vintage tablecloths I’ve collected from flea markets over the years!
But wind or no wind, it all worked out, and everyone came!
Ray and Paul started off the entertainment portion of Joe’s Happy Birthday Toasts with the perfect rendition of a little-known song called, ‘Philological Waltz’ (by Flanders and Swann, click there for the youtube version, it starts at 1 minute in) ~ Now Joe and I are trying to figure out what WE should sing for Ray’s birthday in October while we’re in England! Any ideas?
Next up in our talented neighborhood, my girlfriends sang Martha’s newly-written words to When I’m Sixty-Four . . . And Elaine (who came out from California) fixed it so they had the music playing over the speakers while they sang to Joe . . .
🎶🎵 “. . . Sue will still need you ~ you will still feed Sue, way past sixty four! 🎶🎵
Looking at me and saying, aren’t we so funny and adorable! Yes, you are! 👏 That’s Martha up
front, you can barely see Barbara behind her, then Peggy, Elizabeth, Siobhan, and Elizabeth’s sister, Robin.
🎵 🎶 “Every summer you can have party in your big back yard, it will be pot luck . . .” 🎶
An appreciative audience . . . including Gerry (married to Martha), on the left . . . he’s a doctor ~ and at one time he was a ship doctor, so he wore his old uniform and gave a fantastic speech in honor of our soon-to-be ocean voyage and Joe’s Birthday, of course.
Which everyone loved!
Making everyone cry!
Rachel and I call this the “the naked cake” photo . . . it’s coconut with lemon cake and lemon filling. Rachel, who’s a baker at home where she lives in England, decorated it so beautifully … she scattered it with loads of tiny purple and orange flowers from the garden and it looked so pretty, but we ate it up before we remembered to take a picture of it! There were Happy Birthday candles on top which Joe blew out so his wishes will all come true. It will all have to go into the memory book. 💛
The party lasted long into the cool of the evening, Frank singing Come Fly With Me right up to the evening stars 🎶 . . . a lovely celebration for a guy named Joe.🎈
And now it’s over, we waved a tearful goodbye to the ferry until everyone was so very tiny . . . our guests have all gone home, the beds are made up, the kitchen is quiet, and the house is back as it always was, except now with a new glow of party DNA that I’m sure will last for all eternity, magical house of dreams . . . I toasted up some of that delicious canned Boston brown bread this morning and had it with my tea, all buttery and crisp-edged . . . 
It’s cool today, a tinge of fall is setting in, I even have a little shawl over my shoulders this morning, the boat whistle just blew out in the harbor . . . the long shadows of the changing season are beginning to appear . . .
One of my favorite things, the light through the trees, dappling my stove, the walls, across my kitchen floor . . .
The vases are filled . . . my soul is braced . . .
Jack is getting all the attention he requires . . . here he is throwing himself into whatever Joe is doing . . . love me, pet me, aren’t I the cutest thing . . .?
B E L O V E D
Yesterday I worked on the cover for the 2018 wall-calendar (believe it or not! This is why I never know what year it is!), then I meandered through our old neighborhood into town to pick up the mail . . . past the picket fences and the roses, under the trees, taking my own sweet time,
with all the singing cicadas serenading, loving the Island, loving our home, our friends, feeling so blessed . . . we can already tell that folks are packing up, going home, leaving us . . . it’s getting very quiet around here.
This is Tuesday . . . Willard starts going out at 9 am my time this morning . . . and it will be going for the next three days, twice a day, until they’ve all been delivered. Did you know that there are almost 56,000 souls who have signed up now, sisters, moms, grandmas, BFF’s, Girlfriends, all receiving Willard? It’s hard to imagine, but I love our kindred spirits. In this crazy world, we need each other.💞 Because
Yes, we are! Never doubt it for a moment. There are many more people just like us than not. We are the builders, the sharers, the ones who try hard to make it a wonderful world, who see the good in things, we should be proud and never give up. 💕 My dad would agree. So that means we are right. Thank you Girls. xo
What else? (Losing my mind a bit, but oh well, what else is new?) Oh yes, Thursday night, August 25th, I’ll be giving a little talk for the Library in Aquinnah ~ in case you’ll be on the Island, it’s at 5 pm at the Old Town Hall . . . I’ll sign anything you like, new books, old books . . . 💗 Bring it all.
And my friend Betsy Bray wanted me to remind you that she is taking a tour of “not-too-many” (but of course, all kindred spirits) through the Lake District next June, 2017. Go HERE for more info, and read about Betsy too … she was elected the first-ever American Trustee for the Beatrix Potter Society in 2012. Her tour would be perfect for anyone not wild about driving on the wrong side of the road, not to mention the fact that Betsy is a Beatrix Potter expert . . . knows all the backroads and little stories about the Lake District and going with her would be a real treat . . . in case Hill Top and the Lake District is on your bucket list . . . you would have a whole year to prepare!
We, on the other hand, have only a couple more weeks to prepare for our adventure on the Queen Mary 2. I’m already gathering clothes to pack. Trying not to take too much. Living with my new watchword, “layers” ~ topping it all off “with something wind proof, and rain proof!” 💦We know where we’re going. Boots, tall rainy grass, hills and dales. And another notch in the belt of our dreams come true.🌟
So reaching for all the summer I can get . . . here is my breakfast this morning . . . blueberries we picked on the side of the road on our walk yesterday . . . over Cream of Rice (which I will love forever, not growing out of it!)
And for you . . . ideas for delicious and
Grab all the summer you can . . . Pack your bags and 🎵 come with me, to the sea, to the sea, the sea of love . . .
Love you! Have a wonderful day.💝 Don’t forget: “Layers.” ❌⭕️❌⭕️❌
decorate! Party starts at 4:30 pm. The man bringing the music system comes at noon, the birthday cake (to serve 100, three tiers, coconut lemon cake) comes at 4pm … I spent all day yesterday with three of my dearest girlfriends making a playlist for the party!!! 🎵 🎶 It was SO MUCH FUN. We included my Dad and had Tennessee Waltz on the list, and for about 4 hours, we sang along 
