Scoot's Birthday

Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions. It started out sad as I had to say good-bye to Baby Lenny. He went back to his original owner who will find him a wonderful, loving home. I didn’t realize how quickly I had become attached to his sweet face and charming little antics. He will be an incredible pet and friend for some lucky person.  I know our house seems that much emptier without him here. We miss you Baby Lenny!!

The day fortunately had a happier turn to it. My sister and her husband were coming out from Ohio to celebrate our uncle’s 68^th birthday. Now, this is our blood uncle who helped get us back in touch with our brother, Ron, who sadly couldn’t be with us yesterday since he lives out in Iowa. Another time…another time. But Dave and Andrea appeared, gave Uncle Scoot a buzz, fed Baby Squiggy, and we headed out for the day!

I wanted to take everyone to this beautiful little restaurant Bill and I stumbled upon one afternoon as we were out and about after having his car’s oil changed and we were looking for a place to have lunch. I think we were planning to stop in Volant that day to eat at the Neshannock Inn, another favorite of ours, until we came across this quaint looking restaurant called the Tavern on the Square in New Wilmington. The building itself is a home originally built in 1849 and actually served as part of the Underground Railroad back in the abolitionist days. Later, in 1931, the house was turned into a restaurant, geared towards serving the families of New Wilmington’s college students. The food and the service are as wonderful as the history of the place. Inside, the walls are covered in beautiful hand painted murals of the Amish countryside. There’s a rustic little gift shop in the entrance that offers all sorts of country and primitive decorations and signs. I fell in love with a framed print by Bonnie Mohr we saw there on our first trip and was determined to buy it this trip if it was still there…and it was! Yay!

We had our lunch and I bought my print, then we headed out the door to continue on our day’s adventure. New Wilmington is right next to Volant and I’ve wanted to take my sister there for a long time. Volant is this sweet, quiet Amish town and their main street is all gift shops filled with Amish furniture, candles, primitive country décor and so much more. We browsed some of the stores, though we didn’t get to see all of them since it was already late in the afternoon (too much time gabbing in the Tavern!) So we’ll have to go back some day…darn the luck! Ha-ha! We also found a nice lady who was willing to take a few family photos for us back by the creek dam-a little memento for our day.

So all the shops had closed and Scoot wanted to stop for ice cream somewhere, so we hit the road once more. We ended up in Portersville at a little place called Brown’s Country Kitchen. Fortunately we were blessed with a very patient waitress who brought along her sense of humor for the day. We were all wound up at that point, feeling sarcastic and silly. I apologize to any patrons we may have annoyed with our loud laughter and goofing off—but it’s not a very sincere apology…we were having fun. Let us laugh! And we did.

From Brown’s Country Kitchen we ended up driving past McConnell’s Mill for Andrea, who’d never been there. Again, it was late and the mill was closed, plus there was nowhere to park, so we’ll have to go back…more rotten luck! The plan is to bring the dogs next time and go hiking through the massive rocks in the park sometime this fall, which will be beautiful! Definitely will look forward to that!

Finally we headed back home to check on the pups and feed Baby Squiggy again. We broke open a bottle of wine and sat out on the back porch for a while before everyone had to head their separate ways. It was a very good day and I hope Scoot enjoyed celebrating his birthday with us. He has given us the precious gift of our family back and I know I can never thank him enough for that. Happy 68^th Scoot and many, many more!!

On the bottom of the Bonnie Mohr print I bought is this quote, which is what I fell in love with that day at the Tavern with Bill:

"Life is not a race - but indeed a journey. Be Honest. Work Hard. Be Choosy. Say "thank you", "I love you" and "great job" to someone each day. Go to church, take time for prayer. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Let your handshake mean more than pen and paper. Love your life and what you've been given, it is not accidental ~ search for your purpose and do it as best you can. Dreaming does matter. It allows you to become that which you aspire to be. Laugh often. Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them. Some of the best things really are free. Do not worry, less wrinkles are more becoming. Forgive, it frees the soul. Take time for yourself ~ Plan for longevity. Recognize the special people you've been blessed to know. Live for today, enjoy the moment.”

Amen.