Old friends...New friends

I very much enjoyed my weekend in Western North Carolina visiting my long-lost pal Shelly and her family. It had been more than 15 years since we'd seen each other, but it was just like old times. Or, old times plus an adorable daughter and wonderful husband. The latter whom Zoe seemed to heavily favor!

I didn't dig my camera out until my second day there. Although I told Shelly to wake me up for breakfast, she let me sleep in (sweetheart), and saved me some. After I scarfed down my breakfast, Shelly decided Louise needed some outside time to get her "wiggles" out, so we walked down the hill to the orchard.

Shelly assured me that Zoe could roam off-leash, and my tiny girl was all too happy to be fancy free.

Check out her pointer stance below. There's a nearby dog who scarcely stops barking, so there was constant stimulation.


Below we have Louise and Shelly using their "poking sticks" to make applesauce out of the rotten apples lying about.


Then of course there was Zoe vs. Cat. (You'll probably have to click on the photo to enlarge it to see Zoe and Hector). For the most part, Zoe would run right by Hector and Pablo without hesitation, but occasionally she'd give chase. While we were in the orchard, Zoe managed to chase Hector up into a tree, and she hopelessly circled the trunk and jumped at the tree in an effort to reach Hector - no dice.



Later, before going out-and-about in Asheville, I captured Weezie and her daddy in some playful poses.




On Monday Shelly, Louise and I made an outing to Black Mountain. Although it was a little cold (and walking with a 2-year-old can be quite slow) we enjoyed the trip. Sweet Louise bought a special dog biscuit for Zoe, and we had coffee at the dripolator coffeehouse. Shelly and Louise below.



On the way home, we were thankful Louise nodded off, but at the same time I was so sad that I wouldn't be able to properly say goodbye to her! Nevertheless, Shelly the fabulous chef fed me once again (YUM!) and then we took photos of ourselves, much like we did more than 15 years ago. I'm jealous that Shelly has ONE chin to my TWO in these photos.




I took the last photo on my way home - just a street or two away from Shelly's house. The snow had really started to come down. I was both thankful and sad when it stopped about 10 minutes later. The rest of my journey home was snow-free.



I can't wait to see Shelly and family again! It's nice to know that good friends can pick up where things left off...no matter how much time has passed.