brain teasers

After so many years of working as a nurse, I still find myself waking at 5 am. And at 7 pm I feel a nudge to give Mom a call, as I always did every evening at that time. Today I drove past the spot where mom had a little accident. It was the last time she drove. And when I drive past the D*V I'm reminded of when my dad tried to pass the vision test, but sadly could not connect it all in his mind. The end to his driving.

I can't seem to help these internal "triggers"  (for want of a better word) which turn into reminders of another place or time for me.  I like the associations that come with them . . . many years of a fulfilling career, wonderful "check in" conversations with Mom, just to hear her voice and know she was OK . . . .

As for the end of my parents' driving days, both somewhat sad times have a wonderful memory attached. It was hard to watch my intelligent dad, after driving for more than 70 years, struggle to connect warning signs, stop signs, etc. But what I remember most about that day is the young man who was testing him.  In a busy government agency, he took time with my dad.  He let him repeat the test, he talked gently to Dad, and finally suggested that he get a nice ID card that looked just like a driver's license. He understood what we were facing, and he showed us the utmost sensitive care.

What I remember most about mom's accident is the 40-something woman who came to her aid. She saw what was going on and jumped out of her car to help Mom. This angel in disguise phoned me, and gave mom a place to sit in her car while waiting for me to arrive. She gave witness to the accident, made sure mom was OK and was a great comfort to her. She set a high standard for me to emulate.

I like these little reminders of the sweetness of life.

riverfront

We enjoyed a walk at a river front park on our recent trip to Florida. And also enjoyed the cool breeze and   

lack of humidity! Kind of like it is here this weekend.  Delightful!

Joining Little Red House for Monday's Mosaics ... lots of lovely photos of England on Mary's blog today!

half an oval

Sitting in an outdoor eating area, next to bubbling fountains, my eye was drawn to beauty. 

I stayed involved with our table conversation as I slowly fell in love with my view.

It was as if the iron work became clearer as I studied it and the pattern seemed so lovely to my 

eyes. I think the longer we look, the more beauty we see in an object (usually.) 

I began to realize that this was an arch, yes, but it wasn't half a circle, it was half an oval.

This view has a car in it and I used bluer tones to primp it in my edit program.

A wonderful lunch with friends, made all the better for conversation with a view!

the storm

Sunday found me scooping up water flooding into our porch. The deluge of rain was more than the patio drains could handle so the water overflowed into my newly cleaned porch. I grabbed up towels but that wasn't enough so got a dustpan to scoop the water into buckets. As fast as it came I scooped.

I was transported back to our life in Africa. We were expecting our international boss and 10 others for dinner as they traveled through our town. Everything was ready and then a terrible storm came up about two hours before their arrival. We lived on the second floor but the winds and driving rain pushed water under the doors and flooded the main room of our second floor flat (photo of that storm above.) We grabbed buckets and dustpans and bent over and scooped up bucketful after bucketful. A newly cleaned floor, barely dry, greeted our guests.

This storm story is in no comparison to the storms in Oklahoma this week, but it is a reminder that we have no power over nature. My heart is heavy as I think of the loss and destruction this week. Just how would I cope if I lost everything in less than an hour?

end of year

So the 14 fit nicely in our dining room and we enjoyed a festive evening together

as we celebrated the end of a year of our mentorship group. I was thrilled that all the 

flowers that made up the tiny bouquets in assorted jars were all from our garden. 

We gave each girl a journal and we printed up menus "just for fun." I put 

photos of them in tiny frames to make place cards.

We mentors all contributed to the meal and it was delicious.

We are all looking forward to next year and already making plans.

We might tackle some bread making and knitting among other things!

the weekend comes

The weekend is upon us. So far we have a sunny day, but rain and clouds are predicted for the next few days. How is it that leaning over to take in the scent of these peonies transports me immediately back to summer visits to my grandmother. Her garden was full of them and I am on her porch reading a book, enveloped with beauty around me.

Babysitting the grandchildren last night: big sister has a motherly touch, I noted. 

The two sisters are in love, and it's so nice to see Baby looking up at 

her sister with smiles and delight.

Brother doesn't usually sit long enough to do much eye gazing, but he 

is a help to his sister in retrieving paci's as they fly out of her mouth.  

Note the proverbial matchbox car fitting perfectly into his little hand.

I make this recipe at least once each Spring, and tonight's guests coming was the perfect 

time to have it. I've made this for at least 35 years and it always brings us to a family story 

of me putting it together one time in Africa with less than the perfect ingredients.

 Of course it was the "best ever."

Do you have recipes that have become traditions? 

Have a good weekend!

may days

These photos were published here in May 2010, a birthday lunch on the porch for a dear friend. I think the pink and green theme could make a nice set of photo notecards. The pollen is just about gone now, and I am late cleaning the porch to get it ready to use. That's the one sad thing about a porch here -- the pollen is so heavy you can barely use it until it's gone ... and then it takes a good scrubbing. So I'm off armed with bucket and rubber gloves and a bottle of bleach.

Joining Vee's Monthly Note Card Party

a glow of pink

From our bedroom you can look through two rooms and see our back door. 

Yesterday I noticed a pink glow on our bedroom door and it took me a minute to realize 

it was reflected all the way from the open back door. You can see it here on the laundry room door.

We've been away for almost two weeks and when we arrived home we were amazed at 

how our knock out roses had flourished. With the cooler temperatures and the rain 

we've been having, they are in their full glory. Eldest son had picked me a bouquet and 

had it on the table for our arrival home on Mother's Day.

We enjoyed a little visitor here all day yesterday ... and had fun 

with his shadow as he got ready to go home!

I hope to visit you all soon as I catch up from being away.

Meanwhile I've extended and angled our table to fit 14 tonight--

the last meeting of our mentoring group. Thankfully I'm not doing all the cooking, 

but I do need to go pick some roses for the table!

happy mother's day

 I've written about these pictures in the past, so I'll just post them again as I find them so beautiful, 

and this year, can imagine this a table set for all our mothers we honor and remember so dearly!

Happy Mother's Day.

Line Lessons

There's one pharmacy where I declare I will never again drive up to the outdoor pick-up window. Two excessivly long waits is more than I ever want to do again. Since I have a lot to do with my time, I don't like sitting in such a line. But over the years I've learned the secret of not fussing with unexpected waits. I find something to do. Of course doing nothing is one, not so unhealthy option. Just rest. Or read, or write notes in a journal or review my calendar. And, note to self: carry camera all the time.

This time I did happen to have my little camera with me. So I started to play with it, and learned a few things I hadn't yet discovered in my "hit and miss" way of learning how to use it. And I was amused to take a picture of the security mirror and find myself in it (see the beige car patiently waiting in line?)

shoe fairy

The other day I was helping a colleague arrange some decorations for a special event at our office. I had brought in some glass jars to help and she filled them with lemons and limes and water and candles. etc. It turned out really nice.

As we started arranging things, I ran into the mail room to bring back some old books to use to raise some of the jars. Sitting right there on the giveaway table was a pair of shoes. Actually just the style I was hoping to find in a store. I stopped to try them on. Perfect fit. I wore them out to where we were working.

"Look!" I exclaimed to my friend, "Look what I found!"

"I just put them there," she replied. "Just on my way out here to work on this."

It's just one of those "moments." They happen every so often. Did I mention they were just the shoes I was going to shop for?  I call such moments "winks from God."

Strangely enough, just a year ago I wrote a similar post about shoes at the same office!

Iris Spring

My friend Jane lives on a farm. Occasionally she will send me a photo showing the beauty of

 her surroundings. You can see the mailboxes across from her house on my sidebar. 

These two photos show the beautiful mist of a spring morning that she
photographed yesterday.  Lovely irises and "snowball hydrangeas."

All photos by Jane; she is my "guest blogger" today!
Thanks, Jane!

Connecting to Mary's Little Red House  for "Spring" inspiration.

sunny day

It was a cool, gray, early spring day when I took these photos in the city. 

But to me they say sunshine!

Helen Keller said, "Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows."

Connecting to Mary's Little Red House for Monday Mosaics.

blades

"The sky is blue so we know where to stop mowing."
                            (Harold T. Stone)

Yesterday I mowed the lawn to my delight. Yes I said that. I love to mow the lawn and have been the mower most of my life. It seems (though I may have a selective memory) that I mowed our lawn when I was a kid as the rest of the family had hay fever. Poor me. But my delight yesterday is partly because I felt so good after having a cortisone injection in my painful knee. I'm enjoying freedom from pain, but I mostly love mowing right now because the grass is thick and high and very green. I hate mowing in the heat of summer when the grass is fickle and it's hard to see where the mower has been. Rather, I love to mow when the rows are obvious and it looks like something has been accomplished when I am finished.

The same with cutting hair. I find it relaxing to cut someone's hair. I've always cut the Gardener's, and it's a good time to chat together, though I must say, our talks are shorter as it doesn't take as long to cut his hair anymore. :-)

The Gardener does most of the other yard work; the mowing is too hard on his long back. So we work it out nicely. And what a thrill it is to see the first blossoms on our new little dogwood tree he planted last fall to replace the old trees we had to cut down.

I'm sure there must be other women who mow lawns 

and who (unprofessionally) cut hair 

... and who have painful knees and new trees!

Joining Mary's photo Challenge: Tree

beauty at 25 cents

I had a hard time packing up my mother's clothes. It seemed so comfortable seeing them in the spare closet, yet I know other women could be making use of them. So I gathered them up and took them over to the Help Center where they have a lovely boutique. The Gardener suggested I just do it and I took his advice. Since I was there I stopped in the boutique to have a look around and met a young friend and her son looking for tennis shoes. I told her what I had just done. I know she has a close relationship with her mom like I did with mine, and I wonder when the time comes for her to do the same, if she'll remember my moment.

At the shop I happened upon three sparkling wine glasses for 25 cents each. I didn't think about how nice wine would look in them, but how nice a candle would look. I added it to our dinner table that night, using up on old red Christmas candle. I think it's a winner at 25 cents!

Speaking of my mother's things being used by others,  I mailed my mother's hearing aids to an old friend of the family who I knew was needing aids. Mom's were adjustable by computer ... could it work? Sure enough, a texted photo this week let me know they were refurbished and working. She says she thinks of her old friend every time she puts them in her ears. It just makes my heart sing!

on pitch

The Gardener leaned over to me and whispered, "Do you realize we're among the younger in the audience?" I looked around me at the mostly white-haired, seasoned and well-dressed people. Many were in my parents' generation or close to it. We were at the funeral of the "America's beloved gospel singer," George Beverly Shea, a close family friend for all the years of my life. It seems as though my parents' generation, the Builder generation, is leaving this earth in droves, many even in these past months.

We made a day of it, driving "to the mountains," as they say in our city when we are headed to the beautiful mountain area of our state. I wanted to be there to honor the man who was such a close friend of my father's. and I am so glad we went. I will not forget the moment they brought in the casket, covered with white roses. His voice rang out clearly over the sound system singing an old song, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus." You could have heard a pin drop in that large auditorium. It was beauty and glory all mixed together. The honorary pall bearers included a red-uniformed Royal Canadian Mounted Police. For Mr. Shea was born in Canada and his country sent a delegate to honor him at his death.

There were very few young people there. Most of that age probably don't even know the name of this man who has won two grammies and sung live before more people than anyone else ever in history. With an 80 plus year singing career, his record probably won't be beat.

He had a great sense of humor. Someone said that several weeks ago he exclaimed to his wife, "Can you believe I'm 104? Are sure I'm really alive?" His son spoke of his father's favorite place on earth, a small humble pine cabin in the Canadian woods. No heat, and so simply built, it was never damaged by wind or water. How like his father. That's what I remember--his quiet humility and his gentle spirit.

What moved me the most were the recordings played of his voice singing familiar songs, as clearly as if he was there himself. I sat spellbound, every word sung by that familiar, incredible voice embedded in my heart since I was a little child. There weren't many dry eyes when his casket was taken out as his recorded voice sang, "The Holy City."

Someone said that when asked what he wanted to be remembered for, he quipped, "Always being on pitch." And indeed, he always was.

birthday tea

It seems like it's been a long time since friends gathered at my house.

A milestone birthday for a friend seemed a good time to meet and to celebrate.

We planned a simple menu, but then Boniface brought the "icing on the cake."

Mini cupcakes fresh from the bakery. Who could resist? 

Linking with Little Red House for Monday Mosaics and How Sweet the Sound for Saturday Pink!

blue and white

 My favorite color is green. But I love, love, love blue. Especially blue with white.

 I should make it my favorite color, but it runs a close second. 

 The Gardener found these egg cups at Good Will. 

He has such an eye and knows my love for all things Delft and Dutch.

 He brought the hanging blue teacups and saucers home from Romania in his 

suitcase in a box, barely secured with wrapping, and they made it. I still marvel. 

And the little salt and pepper holder is also from Romania, but I brought that. 

It's wood so no fear of breaking there!.

Joining Mary's theme of blue today!