Good One

A very pleasant, full day.  I picked Aline up at 11:30 and we drove the roughly 35 miles to Laurita Winery.  She loved it, as I knew she would, although there wasn't a lot going on yesterday.
First off, we dealt with the important thing: we had lunch.  The leek and cheese soup was very tasty and we went halves on a good-sized roast beef and cheddar sandwich.  I told the barmaid I wanted a "cheap white wine," which is just what I got, and I enjoyed it.
The main reason I wanted to go to the winery was to get a gift for Susan's birthday, which is tomorrow.  I had seen cocktail napkins with a parrot and funny saying on it and, as she has one--a parrot, not a funny saying--I bought it. Added a one-bottle wine holder, a kind of metal cylinder, very modernistic, which is Susan's decor preference.  I think she'll like both.
After, we explored the very large, multi-level building.  Aline especially liked the views and we sat and chatted for a time in one of the salons--I guess where brides-to-be arrange their weddings.  We came across an old piano which originally had been coin activated--there was a slot for a quarter--and Aline sat down and played several Irish tunes, including Rose of Tralee and others with which I'm familiar.  I was charmed and I'm sure others downstairs were, too.  A. said her father loved Irish songs and there was some speculation in her family that her great-grandmother, whose maiden name was Phillips, may have been Irish.
We stayed about three hours, then I suggested she may like to see Rider University, where I worked for 27 years.  Yes, indeed, and we went there. Disappointingly, it was Spring Break time--plus, it was Friday afternoon--and the campus was virtually deserted.  I didn't want to go into my old office, and I showed A. around the Student Center.  Ran into Tony Campbell, dean of students, and we had a nice chat after he said, "You hired me!"
Drove around the back to show A. the new residence halls (at Rider, they were never called "dorms") and by that time, it was 4:30 and time to leave.  We drove by my friend's house on the way home, but I saw they weren't home yet, so we didn't get out of the car.  However, as we were starting to drive away, friend drove up and we exchanged a few words via our car windows.
I had invited A. to stay for dinner, so she used my computer while I whipped up lemon pepper salmon, salad, and, because I had no potatoes and wanted to add a carb, boiled some elbow macaroni and opened a jar of spaghetti sauce.  With big glasses of iced tea and a yogurt Popsicle--or "Yosicle"--for dessert, it was a fairly okay meal.
It was 7:30 by the time I got home after dropping A. and I had no sooner settled down in front of the computer than sweet baby K. Skyped me.  Now I know he recognizes me: When he saw his Nana on the monitor, he broke out in a big baby grin!  What a little doll and how active and alert he is.