Happy Birthday, Katie!

Friday, May 7th was Katie Tolles'birthday, and yesterday, we had a birthday tea to celebrate - at Katie and Savanna's house in Shutesbury. Their friends, Dusty and Dorothy, joined with us for the event. Savanna got a carrot cake (from a local bakery), and Ellen brought "savories," - rolled turkey slices with chutney sauce, smoked salmon and cream cheese on squares of pumpernickle bread, and little quiche pies. And tea, of course! Everything was delicious. Dusty and Dorothy had just returned from their wintertime stay in Edgewater,Florida (a town Shirley and I had visited in 1998, so I knew something in general about their life there). There was much to talk about in addition to enjoying the food and watching the bird feeder, which was just outside the nearest diningroom window. We had a really nice time, especially since everyone was vaccinated. I took pictures at the tea, but I'm having touble uploading them - stay tuned, and I'll try again tomorrow. The tea came in the mid-afternoon, after Ellen and I actually sang at a 1:00p.m. in-person graveside service for an old Guilford farmer, Ed Petrie. That was new too - our first such event with a small Guilford Church choir since the pandemic began a year ago. I saw members of Ed Petrie's larger family that I had not seen in decades. Most notably, Caroline Kingsley, who was in high school with John 43 or so years ago, and her daughter, Ann, who was president of the youth group at the Guilford church when I was advising the group in the '90s. I hadn't seen them for decades! The service was in a cemetery I had never been in before, and didn't even know existed. In Brattleboro! I found that hard to believe, but there it was! So, all in all, Saturday was quite a day! Later: Some strange things are happening. My photos upload in computer code instead of images. What do YOU see below? You should see the group around the table, Katie looking at her cake, closeup of the cake and a card (handmade by Ellen).