Saturday, November 10, 2012

Favorite Things

We came in to our winter port, Friday Harbor, on October 30th -- two days before our 'sometime in November' plan.

And we have been on a frenzy of enjoying many of our favorite things:  coffee shops, bookstores, and kitties.

There is a new coffee shop right on Spring Street (the main street in town) called the Crow's Nest.  It passed muster!  Al's true test of a coffee shop is a cappuccino -- still in the quest of the elusive quality we found in Italy, theirs was probably the closest we have experienced.  Their one drawback is quite limited seating.  There are three chairs at the bar, one table and two chairs, and a window seat with pretty pillows.  We agreed that one more 'cafe set' of tiny table and two chairs would fit nicely.  In just a week and a half, the Crow's Nest has become our 'on the go' choice for coffee.

We still like the Bean best for sitting and relaxing, and we still need to go to the Demeter Cafe, which is really more of a bakery (no flavored lattes here, but I hear they make a mean mocha).

Serendipity was at the top of the list of places to visit immediately upon arrival in Friday Harbor.  They are a fabulous used-book store that will give credit for books they 'buy', and we had been saving up volumes.  Ha!  After two visits, we have used up all but $1.00 of our credit!

I was greatly saddened to see that the Harbour Bookstore has closed!  This was my favored place to buy new books.  Owner Keith was inside and heard us lamenting outside the door.  It was distressing to step inside and see the jumble of the last bits of stock being readied to move out, and the bare walls further into the shop. 

This forced me to go to the only other new-book store in town -- Griffin Bay Bookstore.  Though we did attend an interesting author presentation while we were here last year, and had partaken of the coffee in the shop at the back of the store, I didn't feel quite at home in this store -- VERY unusual for me and any bookstore!  I am sorry to say that feeling was reinforced this week when I stopped to pick up the book I was looking for -- Nora Robert's newest release.  Not only did they not have it in stock, the salesperson had to look it up!  Being I hoped to find it and read it before going to Portland for the holidays, I did place an order, with no shipping charges added.  It got the call yesterday that it had come in.

I don't remember seeing any raindrops on roses, but I did find some whiskers on kittens!  I myself have made two trips to the animal shelter already, and Al came along for the last one.  There are many cats there, and presently six kittens.  The two smallest ones came in with their mother and are waiting a couple more weeks before they can be adopted.  On our last visit, we were unable to see them, as they were in the isolation room.  I suspect they may have been recovering from neutering.  Four other kittens that were brought in feral were noticeably tamer on the second visit.  I spent most of my time on my first visit in their cage, so I feel somewhat responsible for that fact!  The shelter has a Free Cat Friday where any older cat adopted on a Friday is free, and kittens are half-priced.  

We also do peek at the dogs when we visit the shelter, and there was a sweet girl about to give birth to seven puppies.  She looked to be some sort of terrier mix?  The prettiest dog I saw on my first visit was gone on the second -- I knew she wouldn't stay long.  Sadly, two pit bulls, one a mix?, I recognized from our visits last winter. 

No-one ties up brown paper packages with string anymore, but I HAVE ordered two items in the mail.  Al has been shopping too, but he will have his items delivered to Lindsay's house for pick-up at Christmas time.  I have sent a couple of postcards to the grandchildren, and will soon send out a few packages.  Easier access to postal services is appreciated here too.

Other favorite things we do in Friday Harbor:  attend church, attend Power Squadron meetings, rent movies (or view first-run movies in the theater), take advantage of the unlimited data of the local internet to watch videos and catch up on favorite TV shows, and walk!  

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