Gracie Goes to Mayberry

We took our dog Gracie with us this weekend, up to Mayberry Cottage at the lake. She was just fine in the car.... she always loves a car ride, unless it ends up at the vet's office. When we got to the cottage, she followed us to the backyard of the property, which is lake-front. I swear, Gracie pranced on the grass as if she were in a park. She followed my husband from one end of the property to the other, then we took her into the house and she followed him in and out of all the rooms.

I think she was a little confused, because she didn't settle down for a while. She wouldn't let us out of her sight-- mainly my husband. She followed him all over, every minute. We decided it wouldn't be smart for both of us to take off and leave her in the house while we did some grocery shopping and errands, so my husband went into town to the Wal-Mart and Lowe's, and I stayed home with Gracie and unpacked everything that I had brought up there this time.

The trunk of the car was jam-packed with all my latest yard-sale treasures, and we even had the black walnut game table in the back seat with Gracie. I brought up as much as we could fit into that car, and happily spent a couple of hours unpacking the bags and boxes. I still have two yard-sale finds to bring up there--- a large wicker chair and a wooden rocking chair, but I'll ask our friend S to bring them up in his truck the next time he goes up there with us.

Anyway, by the time we settled in for the night on our first day at Mayberry, Gracie was just fine. I guess when she saw us sitting down for dinner in the kitchen there, then getting ready for bed later on that night, she must have realized in her little doggy-mind that she was at a "home away from home."

Our young friend C and her mom drove up on Saturday morning, spent the night there, and went home this morning. C's dad is away working this week, but S will come up the next time with us. Young Miss C spent a few hours unpacking her own boxes and decorating her cabin. We all stayed out till she was done, then she called us in for a first visit. Her cabin is filled with dolphins, from one end to the other. Dolphins and sea-shells, and a fishing net draped in one corner. Until we find her the bunk-beds that she wants, we have an air-mattress there for her to sleep on, and she spent her first night in there on Saturday night. And... right inside the door of her cabin, C has a little bookcase with her very own guest book on top of it. I had found the bookcase for her at a yard sale, and I bought her the guest book as a "new cabin" gift because I know how much she loves our guest book here. Of course, as we left her cabin, we all happily signed her guest book.

I swear, that girl was bouncing on her toes every minute she was at Mayberry. She fished with my husband from our dock, they raced battery-powered boats, and we all watched the sunsets. As a special treat for us, my husband bought huge fresh lobsters at the Wal-Mart grocery, and he boiled them up for dinner on Saturday night. Delicious... boiled lobster, tossed salad, with fresh tomatoes and peppers from Mayberry's garden.

Speaking of delicious.... when we got home today, there was a package waiting for me from my friend F in NY. She sent me two cookbooks from Andy Griffith's and Aunt Bee's "Mayberry".... what a surprise--- Mayberry cookbooks for Mayberry Cottage. How perfect is that?! I will be bringing them up to the cottage the next time we go, and we will be cooking at least one recipe from the cookbooks each time we're up there. A new tradition has begun.

While we were up there this time, I drove into town and stopped at one of the antique stores. That's another "tradition" now... looking around one antique store each time we're up there, and hopefully finding treasures for the cottage. Last time we were up there, we bought a kitchen table, a bit larger and more sturdy than the small one we had found at a local yard sale. (That first table is now a card table for the game room up there.) The other day, I tried another antique shop and found a vintage mirror for the living room..... marked down to just $22.00. Great old mirror from the 1930s, with some fading to the glass, some nicks and chips around the wood frame, but a lake-y, casual look to it, with lots of history behind it, I'm sure. I hung it up on the wall over the small sideboard that's in the living room, and the mirror looks as if it was just meant to be there.

Everything is just slowly falling into place up at Mayberry. Most of the fun is finding things for the cottage, a piece at a time. It was easy to go there this time because we didn't have to pack clothes.... not even a toothbrush. Everything we need up there is already there. A little grocery shopping when we get there, and we're all set. And if we don't feel like cooking, then we can always go into town to one of the restaurants.... but we'd have to eat early because we don't want to miss out on the sunsets. I also stopped at two local yard sales on my way to the antique shop--- I bought a nearly-new toaster oven for the cottage, and a brand new box of Dominoes.

The most amazing part of Mayberry is the sunsets... sitting out on our back porch, which overlooks our park-like backyard, which overlooks the lake. We keep wanting to pinch ourselves when we're up there.