AMERICA'S KESWICK IN JUNE - OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY

Summer at America's Keswick and the grounds are lovely. Here is Dani, who is a summer resident of the campground located at Keswick in Whiting, New Jersey. She offered us a tour in her golf cart. This is the bridge where our tour begins. It winds around one of the three lakes on the property.

We went past the Thrift Shop which opens only one day per week. Luckily, that one day was the second day we were there. It is a lot of fun to rummage around in the shop and see what "bargains" we can find. I did find two framed pictures of Colonial Williamsburg for $1.50 each!

This is a picture of the dining porch where we take our meals. . .it over looks a lake.

. . .and here is the lake!

This is just one of the gardens that have been planted almost everywhere you look. The flowers are donated every year by a man named Dave who has just been diagnosed with Lymphoma (please keep him in your prayers).

This wooden swing is a great place to read, talk or just sit and relax.

I just love the time that I spend at Keswick. It is one of the highlights of my year - I attended the Senior conference this year with Peggy, Marion and Marge. Three of our pals could not make it this year and we really missed them. Well, there is always next year and we have already signed on!

I will have more pictures to share with you soon.

If you want to see more Outdoor Wednesday scenes please stop by Susan at A Southern Day Dreamer.

WATERY WEDNESDAY

Lake at America's Keswick, Whiting, NJ

OUR WEEK AT KESWICK - HIGHLIGHT OF THE SUMMER

Pearl and I at one of the picturesqe spots along the lake.

Tuesday is when the thrift shop is open and people from the surrounding community come to shop and leave donations.

This is where Pearl found a small coffemake (in very good condition) for $2.50! She was a very happy shopper that day!

This is Robert the resident muscian...an extremely talented young man who along with his wife, Joyce and son, Jordan play and sing along with Bill pictured below. It is such a pleasure to have these talented folks leading us in song and praise.

Here is Bill (Keswick's director) playing for the beginning of our evening service with Robert at the other keyboard.

This is the lake where swimming is allowed and where we had a bondfire on Wednesday night.

This is one of two lakes (actually three) on the property and on this one they allow canoeing but not swimming. This is the view from the enclosed porch where we have our meals.

On Wednesday night, we had a bondfire and we roasted marshmellows and made S'mors (can you believe that I've never had a S'mor? Well, our host made sure that I had one - Oh wow, what have I been missing !)

This photo was taken of us on our last full day. We are attending a hymnsing that is open to the public and there we were joined by about 500 people from the community. Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious luncheon. Left to right first row: Peg, Pearl, Anna and Me. Back row: Marion and Marge.

Here I leave you with a beautiful shot of the part of the lake nearest the Administration building and the porch where we can sit and chat or read our bibles or just enjoy the beauty that is part of the enchantment of America's Keswick.

I'VE BEEN ON A RETREAT!

This is the Raws Memorial Administration Building where we check in and where the dining hall and Gathering Place is. A lot of the activities take place in this three story building which also has many of the rooms we can stay in. However, we stayed next door at a two story, motel like building...there are no elevators in either building and one flight up is much easier than three!Here we are gathering for dinner before the evening service. Everyone gathers in "The Gathering Place" and waits for the PA announcement that lets us know they are ready for us to come into the dining hall. We always try to get our favorite table on the "porch" which overlooks one of the lakes.

This is the auditorium where we met every morning and every evening for services. Our speaker this year was Neil Fichthorn, President of Sandy Cove a Christian retreat similar to Keswick. During the afternoons we have free time and there are many things for us to do. There are two lakes and an olympic sized pool, a gym, a weight room, one of the councilors is also the resident bird watcher and you can meet Ken at 7:15 every morning to go out bird watching...I took a pass on that! I did, however, sign up for the crafts room every day after lunch.

Here are Marion, Marge and Anna trying to decide which project to choose. There were crazy quilt pillows, pillow shams or wall hangings, split rail pillows, pillow shams or wall hangings and each one looked better than the next.

Our wonderful, patient crafts teacher, Phyllis. She is a gem and never gets rattled no matter how many of us are asking for help at the same time! There is Marge (in the mirror) waiting her turn to ask Phyllis her opinion.

This is my crazy quilt project 3/4's done...and I'm not too happy with the way it looks! Phyllis, help! We only have a few hours left to finish our projects!

Here it is ... all finished! I'm so thrilled with how it turned out!