A Sunday with my English family.

It does not get much better than this!

My good niece Anne (daughter of my oldest sister Maureen and her husband Bernard) is on holiday at Disney with her excellent husband Stuart and their daughter Olivia (13)

I assisted at the wedding service for Stuart and Anne at St. Philip and St.Jacob Church in Bristol, U.K. back in Nineteen ninety ?? something.

So Stuart, Anne and Olivia came over to SRQ from Orlando today. (They have been here before),

First they came to my home where Anne fell in love (again) with my dog Penne; and the cats Ada and Adelaide decided that a simultaneous "sitting on Olivia's lap" was just the best thing. (Sorry no pics).

Then we went off to Marina Jack's restaurant for lunch.

see http://www.marinajacks.com/

It has been unusually rainy for this time of year, so we ate inside.  It was wonderful to be together.

On our way home we drove through SRQ's Pinecraft area, home to many Mennonites and Amish.  Few people know that SRQ has this Anabaptist community, fewer in summer and  more in winter.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinecraft_(Sarasota)

Anne and Stuart had many questions about the Mennonites and  Amish.  I told them as much as I knew, even as Olivia "drank this all in" from the back seat of the car where she sat with her mother

Pinecraft is the home of the Famous Big Olaf's Ice-Cream stand, well known to my brother Martyn and his son Sam  (but closed on Sundays)

http://bigolafs.com/

Back at home Penne sang for joy when she saw Anne again. (Yes Penne sings).  That greatly pleased Anne  (and me!)

Stuart, Anne and Olivia
 

Anne, "Livy" and me (I am trying to be goofy)

Penne in all her glory.






.

Location: Sarasota, FL, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more