The weekend began with the closing program of our oldest grandson, Caden. Friday marked the end of his year in pre-K. (Where did the time go???) The closing program was cute, and had a ‘nautical’ theme, which is near and dear to my heart 🙂 Caden knew all of the songs and poems, and recited his memory verse without a hitch. We are very proud of him, and all that he’s learned, especially the fact that he’s now reading!
We had no plans for Saturday, which felt nice for a change. Of course, having no plans didn’t mean that Ed didn’t stay busy! He hauled dirt (with the scoop of his tractor) to build up and fill in bare spots in our yard. Our lawn is still a work in progress, following last summer’s tree cutting, but we’re slowly getting there! After finishing with the dirt, Ed mowed grass for a while.
Meanwhile, I weeded in the garden for a while and delivered small buckets of dirt around the yard, using my garden wagon. After that, I spent the rest of the day sitting in the lawn swing, under the magnolia tree, watching the hummingbirds dine!
I had ordered myself a new hammock, and it arrived on Friday afternoon. Ed put it together on Saturday, after mowing grass, so I was able to spend a short amount of time in the hammock, too. I think the hammock will be an excellent place to enjoy a good book during the milder parts of the summer days!
me and Bobs, the cat, trying out the new hammock
On Sunday morning, Ed asked me if I’d like to go back to St. Simon’s Island. Would I?! I told him that he knew me too well! I’d been thinking how much I’d love to go back, but wasn’t about to ask him to take me since we were just there on Wednesday. Ed’s invitation was too good to pass up, so I quickly got ready while Ed put the chairs and cooler in the back of the car! We were on the road within 45 minutes, and we ate breakfast on the way.
The weather was ‘picture perfect’ and we spent four glorious hours in our favorite spot on St. Simon’s Island. Many others were there enjoying the island with us, too. A birthday party was going on in the picnic area, and fishing on the pier was brisk. We sat and watched a parade of sailboats gliding across the water…
Sunday was a perfectly glorious day…until the ride home.
On the way home, we stopped by Lowes to pick up a few bedding plants. As we were leaving Lowes, Ed came (literally) within an inch of rear-ending the car ahead of us. He’d seen the car start to pull off, assumed it was gone, then started to accelerate while he was still looking at the on-coming traffic. I started making funny noises, and he hit the brakes–just in the nick of time! We both soothed our frazzled nerves and proceeded home. Alas, our travel troubles were not over though!
About eleven miles from home, a vehicle pulled out in front of us, then immediately slowed down to turn off. Things like this make Ed mad, so he punched the gas to go around the vehicle. Within a minute or so after passing the car, I heard our car alarm ding. I asked Ed, “What’s that?”, and he replied, “I don’t know.” About that same time, I noticed our car beginning to slow down, and Ed looking for a place to pull over. Apparently, the car engine had suddenly shut off! Ed pulled over to the side of the road, but the car refused to restart, even after repeated attempts. There we were, eleven miles from home, and stranded by the side of the road! There was nothing left to do except call one of our children for help.
It took two calls before we were able to find some help. Ed asked our oldest son, who was home getting ready for evening services at church, to “Please come and get us. Drive my truck and bring a chain!” (In the meantime, Ed discovered there was no place on the car to attach a chain.) As we sat beside the road for 45 minutes, only one car even stopped to offer assistance–a lady traveling alone! We thanked her for her offer of help, and marveled at her courage and kindness, as she drove away.
Our son arrived, we transferred everything from the car into the truck (including the plants!), and left my poor car sitting beside the road. (I was more distraught about leaving my car unattended than I was about breaking down.) We dropped our son off at church, to join his family, and made our way home shortly after six. I continued to worry about my car, sitting there beside the road.
Fortunately, we called our insurance company, once we arrived home, and they were able to arrange tow service for my car. (We had no idea our insurance company would do this, until our son mentioned it.) It was shortly before dark when the tow truck arrived, an hour and a half later. (Ed had to go all the way back to the car, to meet the driver with the car key.) We had the car towed 23 miles, and dropped off at a car repair place we normally use. Ed followed the driver to the repair place (which was closed, of course), so he could get the car keys back until morning.
So, our exciting and eventful beach day finally ended at 9:30 Sunday night. Ed and I went to bed, slightly sun burned, very tired, and wondering what in the heck happened to the car! However, we, also, went to bed grateful that we made it safely home, and were able to get my car off of the side of the road. (because people are so mean, these days) Things could always have been worse! I hope we’ll still be able to say this when we get the repair bill for the car!
Have a great Monday!
