90th birthday brunch

When my mother turned 90, we celebrated. My sister was in town so it made it all the sweeter. 

When you get to her age, you miss a lot of friends.

 I'm so thankful for some sweet women from my church who visit with my mom, 

take her out for ice cream or lunch, and to get her hair done. 

They are the friends that gathered at the table to enjoy brunch and celebrate Mom's life.

Since mom is in assisted living, her things now have been absorbed into the homes of her kids. 

Everything I used on the table was either hers or her mother's. 

I made sure to use her engraved napkin ring and napkin at her place.

I put her locket around my neck, even though none of us could see too well the images inside...LOL!

It was a day to remember, and we are thankful for her life!

See Between Naps on the Porch for more Tablescapes!

the nuts and bolts ...

... of giving thanks in celebration with family and feasting.

See Mary's Little Red House for more Monday Mosaics!

Fleas?

Corrie ten Boom's book  The Hiding Place is worth a second or third read. Just to remind ourselves. And if you haven't read it, let me tell you about a part that impacted me. When Corrie and her sister, Betsey, were in a Nazi concentration camp (Ravensbruck), the conditions were dreadful, of course. Not only were they cold, hungry, dirty, and in way too overcrowded conditions, they were also infested by fleas. They had managed to snuggle in a Bible, and as they read it, they realized that they should be thankful for all things. When Betsey decided that meant to thank God for the fleas, Corrie had a problem with that and found it very difficult to do.

Eventually she gave in and joined her sister in thanking God for this miserable part of their lives. But it was amazing to see what God had planned about the fleas. Apparently the guards didn't like fleas either. So they stayed away from the barracks that the women were in. Therefore the women had a lot more freedom––freedom from assault, and freedom to cluster together to study the Bible and to pray. Yes, in the heart of a Nazi concentration camp.

I too find it difficult to give thanks for the hard things, albeit nothing quite so drastic. But so often God eventually allows me to see through the hard things and find the good.

missing

I was home for two days trying to get over this virus I've been playing with fighting for over a week. The third morning I grabbed my purse and headed for the door while I fished out my keys. Or tried to. They weren't there. It was a sort of sinking feeling, like they were really, really gone. I quickly looked everywhere they might be, borrowed the Gardener's set of car keys and headed out. All day I had that sick feeling you get when you know something is not right. I earnestly prayed. I was confident that God knew where they were. I called the places I had been the day before I hibernated. One was a picnic area, the ground  c  o  v   e   r   e   d   with leaves. Sinking feeling.

Being a control-type of person, I have a hard time letting go. Then I was afraid I would find them in the freezer (that is a symptom of Alz. you know) Finally I took courage and looked there, the one place I hoped I would not find them. Nope, they weren't there.

The Gardener grew concerned thinking this might be a "serious loss." And we might need to make some new keys. I had a long talk with God. I knew I had to give up my control and give in to the possibility I may not find them. The next day I went grocery shopping, clutching ever so carefully the borrowed set of keys. After I got home I took our turkey to the deep freeze in the outdoor storage room. There they were, not IN the freezer, but ON the freezer. I raised my hand with the keys and sailed into a meeting the Gardener was having with some colleagues in our living room. Such good news to share, and very thankful.  And so happy they were ON the freezer, not IN it! At least I think that's better. :-)

Photo: our first fire in our refurbished fireplace! 

going bananas

 I wonder if I inherited a gene for going loving bananas. Because I do. 

And something I care a lot about is this banana boat that has been 

passed down several generations. Obviously others in the family also enjoyed bananas.

I love the glass work. Beautiful detail. It looks best when filled with bananas (of course)!

It came "on the boat" from Holland with my great-great grandmother and
 her young girls in the last quarter of the 19th century.
That sounds like a long time ago and it was. 

Sometimes I'm fearful that I will be the one to break it. 

Many a banana has rested here ... for I'm not sure what else would rest there as nicely.
Maybe other fruit would manage there as long as not too close to the edge.

Now I'm suddenly remembering my mother had a milk grass banana boat.
I wonder where it is now. Or was it my grandmother's?
Funny how one memory can lead to another.
And we may not get answers to some of these questions we are curious about--too late in life.

tea for three by the sea-shells

Several years ago we had a teaparty for my great nieces on my sister's porch.

 Since then when they are at their grandma's (my sister) they ask for a teaparty. 

My sister sent me this collage of their latest teaparty which looks to be full of goodies! 

I love it when little kids associate things such as teaparties with certain places, and ask for traditions!

On the other side of my sister's porch is her collection of sea shells. 

Their muted colors attracted my camera!.

See Mary's Little Red House for other Monday Mosaics.

hoping for a red Letter mail day

And none will hear the postman's knock

Without a quickening of the heart.

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?"

~W.H. Auden

Seems that every day I look forward to the mail. Even in these days of email, there's a slight rise in suspense as I walk to the box. I just don't know what all might be in it when I pull down the lid. Junk mail is a given; some can be recycled on the way back into the house. The credit card offers can be torn in half; the bills piled high; and the endless catalogs can be recycled or looked at. 

But very occasionally ... out falls a treat ... yes, a REAL, handwritten letter or card.

The first clue is the hand written address. True, it could be an invite, but honed detective skills quickly rule that out. The envelope can be a gift in itself. I have one friend who makes envelopes from magazine pages that picture something I love. Others adorn an envelope with a sticker. 

And I always know an intentional letter writer when the stamp is above average. 

Obviously serious about their correspondence, they looked for nice stamps, not just the usual flag stamp.

When I get mail like this, it's a "red letter mail day."* If I have the time, I'll make a cup of tea

 before I sit down to open the letter, which I consider a true gift.

And why is it a gift? Because someone cared enough to get out pen, paper, envelope, a stamp, look up my address and actually write some thoughts down on paper. Something for me to think about, delight in, etc. Letters can be saved ... and read again and again. The handwriting might even tell us 

something ... was the writer feeling happy, writing in leisure, or stressed and dashing off a missive?

The other day I got such a letter from a very old friend. In fact, we didn't know each other all that well as we sat side by side in choir practice so long ago. She was expecting her first child and we connected in many ways. Somehow we kept in touch because we both cared about such a thing. When her kids were old enough to homeschool she asked me advice and I tried to encourage her. 

Even though it's easy to dash off an email, she took the time to write. And ... she has nine kids! 

 I figure if she can find the time to write ...

... So can I. Because I know how nice getting a letter can be, I do my best to write them when I can ... not only to people far away but even to friends who live locally. 

Because there's just something about getting a letter ...

("Red letter day" comes from the practise of marking the dates of church festivals on calendars in red, way back in the 1500s--i.e., a special day.)

Connecting to Chari's Happy to Design  for Sunday Favorites. Published four years ago this month.

Not my photos; photo on left of a rubber stamp my sister used on a card to me.

today

I planned to mow the lawn and clean up leaves today, but instead a slow, steady, gentle rain arrived. I am delighted to be home today. I got the porch cleaned and ready for winter, but as I did so I could not help but marvel at the beauty of the leaves on such a gray day. I've always felt they are maybe even more striking when the sun is not bright. Out came my camera. It's been such a beautiful autumn, but I'm guessing the leaves will begin to fall quickly now.

our boy

"Littlest One" is growing so quickly, now at 4 1/2 months. 

His sweet personality is shining and making us smile.

 It's hard to keep up with current photos ... this was almost a month ago.

Janet

Sitting around our bookclub brunch table, we all concluded that "Janet" 

was Mr. Rochester's "pet name" for his beloved Jane Eyre.

In a beautiful setting on a lovely fall morning, we talked about a book many of us had first 

read in our younger days. Personally, I found reading it again at this stage of my life was so good.. 

I don't remember being so struck back then with the wonderful nuggets of truth and 

human nature tucked everywhere in the rich writing of Charlotte Bronte.

For example, Helen Burns, Jane's school friend who died too young said to Jane, 

"Life to me is too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs."

And, when Mr. Rochester chided a young Jane on advising him, she chimed back with pithy words: 

"I only remind you of your own words, sir: you said error brought remorse, 

and you pronounced remorse the poison of existance."

Our hostess and discussion leader suggested that, "Literature is human experience in written form."

And one can't get much richer literature than digging into the depths of Jane Eyre. 

If nothing else, the shining example of deep and abiding love is something to pause and consider. 

If you haven't read Jane in awhile, I recommend it. We only got through

 half of the book that morning. It's the first book we've read that we've had to call a second 

round of discussion. We're looking now for a date for Part II. We've been having

 our book clubs on Saturdays this year so our friend in Austria (six hours ahead) 

can join us. Can you find her in the photo above?

Lastly, if you take a photo of a shiny carafe, you see yourself in it.

Connecting to Little Red House and Monday Mosaics!

around every corner

I read somewhere recently this quote by Albert Camus:
 "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."

And another quote by an unknown author: "Autumn is a season 

of transition and transformation. Beauty and wonder are around every corner."

This is my favorite neighborhood view, and it's around the corner from our house where 

I walk or drive  almost every day. The de-leafed tree on the left is the first to show color 

and my sign that fall is approaching. I'm not sure why it's always so far ahead of the rest.

Such beauty!  (and enhanced by the recyle cans! LOL).

home

Some of the changes that have come to my nursing job include having to work 12-hour shifts. When I work two days in a row, as I did this weekend, I miss being home. And it occurs to me that I didn't see daylight between Friday afternoon and this morning. Inside our unit there are no windows, and the patients' rooms often have the shades drawn. I can go all day and not know what kind of a day it is outside!

Therefore I am so happy when I have a day at home and can enjoy the daylight (sun or cloudiness) streaming inside the windows.

Seems the older I get, I feel "out of sorts" if I don't have "home time"-- the opportunity to pull my nest together, tending to little things the very capable Gardener, as a man, may not have noticed; planning to prepare a good meal for us, and mostly, time to reflect and have some quiet. There's "no place like home" in my life manual!

The Wall of Grace

When we were working on "freshening up" our den and doing some reorganizing, I found myself with some wall hangings that were an odd bunch looking for a home. I was not ready to get rid of them as, when I studied them, I realized each one told part of our family history.

I decided to take them all up to the blank wall in the upstairs hallway. Then I wondered if I needed to do that fancy laying them out first, with measuring and pencil lines, or could I just "wing it"-- start hanging, and just see how it all turned out?

I started with an old mirror I had almost taken to GW. And the display grew from there (and there's even more now than when I snapped this picture.)

These are the instructions for family members who view it: put your face in the mirror and see yourself surrounded with parts of our life story. Each hanging represents a part of our life, and is a reminder of God's faithfulness to us.

I've decided to name it "The Wall of Grace."

autumn soup

I often see butternut squash soup on shelves of certain grocery stores, especially one with

 the initials of TJ.  I decided to make it myself instead of buying what appeared to 

be a fairly small box for its price.I checked out recipes (online of course, while 

feeling sorry for my neglected cookbooks). I found mostly recipes that seemed to 

present a sweeter side, and then along came a wonderful one that looked savory.
My choice flavor, especially in soups, is always savory. 

So I got the idea and then proceded to "wing it" 

(which is an expression we use around our house but now I'm 

wondering if anyone else knows what it means.)

It not only smelled good, it was pretty. And delicious. 

Recipe: I wrestled one butternut squash into submission of peeling, de-seeding, and 

chopping into small chunks. After cooking one chopped onion in  olive oil to a softness,

 I added the chunks along with about 5-6 cups of chicken broth (I make my own with paste) 

along with 2 tsp of curry, a shake or two of cinammon, and some garlic and white pepper. 

Once the butternut is a bit tender, I cooled it a bit and then popped it into the blender to puree. 

I warmed it all together, tested it for taste and it was ready.  Just spicy enough to bring a little 

comfort on an autumn rainy day. Serve with a dollop of sour cream (missing in photo.)

Autumn flowers from our garden! 

the little creamer collection

My mother had a beautiful dark blue Hall teapot when I was growing up. That's how I learned that if it's a "Hall" piece of pottery, it's good. Hall was known for it's teapots back in the day, until serving tea took a back seat to coffee drinking. I read a little about Hall china and learned that it was the first china to be lead free, because they developed a very hot kiln that allowed brilliant colors (like in fiestaware), and thereby killed all the lead. I have always loved going to antique shops or flea markets, and therefore I began to notice Hall china. One day I happened upon a huge shop that had a whole section made up like a 50s kitchen (even black and white tiled floors) completely filled with all kinds of Hall stuff. I have always collected/been attracted to little pitchers, and that day my love for Hall creamers began.

Since then it has been fun to have something to look for when I go antiquing, since I usually can't afford to buy much else.  There must be plenty others collecting these as they are very hard to find now. A couple on these shelves may be "knock offs," and a couple obviously aren't Hall at all, but the majority have the famous Hall stamp on the bottom.

The Gardener came upon this old brown shelf (now painted black) that was perfect for my little collection, which I now consider complete as the shelves are filled. (Well, I guess I could make it 100% Hall, but I do love the sweetness of the  other creamers too.) Even though I have enough, I still enjoy the "hunt" of looking for them.

Reposted from two years ago today. See Chari's Happy to Design for  more Sunday Favorites!

pocket change

When I first started blogging almost six years ago, life around me was changing at a frantic pace. Our nest emptied, my father died, all his sibblings and spouses died, my mother downsized again, our dog died, our church was going through difficult times and dear friends were moving to other places . . . and then there were the dramtic changes at both of my work places. Changes so many and coming so quickly I often wondered if I could keep up. I think blogging helped me as a place to express myself creatively, and gave me a quiet room in my life where I could focus on something else for a few minutes. It became a hobby.

Around that time I remember reading an article written by a 50-something woman who was expressing similar feelings about the significant transformations in her life. She gracefully was accepting a new stage of life, but I'll never forget how at the same time, she expressed that she had reached the age where, should she die, no one would gasp in shock and say she was too young.

I was just learning how to incorporate photos into my posts and mentally began to compose a post about change. I decided to call it "pocket change" and carefully practiced on my camera's little close up lens to get a good image of coins. I decided to put the post off until things settled down a bit.

Now, nearly six years later, you can probably guess that nothing has settled down. Change has become the new constant of my life. I put off writing this post as everywhere I looked, life was transforming. I believe it is somewhat unique at this time in our world, partly due to technology. I don't think my mother experienced anything quite like this when she was my age, though of course she has plenty to adjust to at nearly ninety, and she does so with such grace and contentment I am in awe and thankful for her example.

Since this is my 1000th published post, I decided to dig up the coin photo and go ahead and write the post about change. There's not much more to say except this: my prayer is that I will always adjust to change with joy and grace, knowing each one that comes along is part of God's plan for me. He gives me strength for each new learning curve in my nursing career, for each glitch or new element in my computer design program and for each new "whatever" that arrives in life,

I find myself sighing a lot, which may be a way of whining. I'd rather not sigh, but instead find joy in each moment of being alive, find gratitude for having the ability to work, and find delight in each experience that comes my way. And as for the changes? May I accept them as part of life and tuck them away ... like "pocket change."

route 66

As we left the Grand Canyon we heard from many that it would be worth taking a two-mile detour off the interstate to visit the little town of Williams. It's main focus seems to be that it is along the famous historic Rt. 66, which travels from Chicago to LA. It's largely ignored today as a major route, and rather has been labeled a scenic "by way."

Williams is a bit touristy but in a "down home" kind of way. A talking bear greeted us as we passed by, Elvis was there, as well as a store full of coca cola memorabilia. And lots about Rt. 66 and therefore, cars.

It was a fun quick stop with a lot of weather. A storm blew in, left, the sun came out, then a fierce wind came up and the temperatures dropped. I never thought of Arizona as a state with weather worth talking about, but we certainly experienced a fair share during out days there.

See Mary's Little Red House for more Monday Mosaics

the challenge

It's amazing how difficult it can be to get four or five friends together.

We lead such busy lives ... appointments, work, going out of town, babysitting 

grandchildren, picking up kids from activities ... and so the list goes.

But we think it's worth trying ... and try we do. Birthdays are a good excuse reason to 

connect around a cup of tea and some goodies. (These cupcakes are really chocolate 

chip muffins, and doesn't the word "muffin" for some reason sound 

healthier than "cupcake?" Even if iced?)

It was a cool, very rainy afternoon and it was so cozy to be inside with a 

hot "cuppa," celebrating a birthday.

Good times, good friends ... it's always worth the challenge to get together.

This particular goodie was purchased at this exceptional bakery! Thanks Boniface!!

Connecting to Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday

the grandness of the canyon

When the Gardener suggested I go along with him to his business meetings in Arizona, and that afterwards we visit the Grand Canyon as a sort of 40th anniversary trip, I agreed with the proposal. I have to say I wasn't all that enthusiastic ... for some reason the Grand Canyon has not been on my list of places to see before I leave this earth. I always assumed my great love is the gentle beauty of our mountains here on the east coast.

So off we went--and I had never been farther west than Colorado. I agreed it would be interesting to feel the dry heat of 102 (Phoenix) and to see if my lungs still allowed me to exercise at 7000 feet and above. And would the vertigo I experienced several times this year come back when I stepped out over the great expanse?

 Can you guess? Yes. We had a wonderful time, in spite of a monsoon type rain both afternoons we were there. The mornings were cool, crisp, and clear. We got going early, knowing the rain would be coming. Watching the storm come in was breathtaking in itself. Of course I learned that photos and films cannot show the beauty that being there allows you to see. We had to stop and be still while we tried to take in the majesty all around us. It was not a place for yelling and joking. We noticed that others, if talking, were doing so quietly. We know all the explanations for how such a place came to be, but there is no doubt the Creator had His hand in it. We were in awe.

Only blogger knows why this post is all in caps tonight. Connecting to Little Red House for Monday Mosaics.