Daughter Lise and her friend Toke did lots of things around the house, and I am so pleased and thankful that they did. I didn’t get a photograph of every fix, but here are two.

I had immediate gratification when Toke prepared my new telephone. The old one had bogged down so that I had to manually remove things every other day. He set the new one up and transferred all the apps. I am a happy camper! He also repaired my rolling pin and replaced a broken window blind. There was a learning curve for cleaning the solar tubes, but he and Lise mastered that with my brother’s help. Because son John $ had taken a video of the plumber replacing the water filter, Lise and Toke were able to change it easily. I may not have remembered everything here, but I will notice and be thankful when I pick up a repaired item.

We all like waterfalls, so we shared our favorite, Sunburst, with him. His photos are exquisite.

For the foodies: We ate at a Mexican restaurant and compared two barbecue joints. Toke enjoyed eating at two Southern diners and tasted collard greens for the first time. I cooked a childhood favorite of Lise’s as well as shrimp and grits. Toke prepared two Danish meatball dishes one day and a Chinese chicken dinner another day. He learned Mandarin and lived in China, so the food was authentic and delicious.

I took a day off and stayed home when they went to Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. Lise said the facilities there have been improved since she went years ago. I haven’t been back since son John $ took us before we moved to North Carolina. I saw a couple of Toke’s photos and didn’t miss out completely.