August Fleets Away

 Another month gone by. Another batch of memories added to the bank.

The month began with celebrating birthdays--mine and our sons.

Then a wonderful sister visit and traveling to visit our brother and his family.

 A mini mountain vacation for the Gardener and I.

Something about cooler mountain air is so refreshing and restful.

We had no big agenda.

 My friend's back to school brunch was a big success. Even with our warm

temperatures we can detect a change coming in the weather.

A brown leaf hints at the change, and reminds us that seasons come and go.

The cycle of life, the faithfulness of God.

Wonderful times with the grandies and grateful for a thoughtful

daughter in law who remembers "who gave what." Littlest One arrived at my

house for the birthday party all decked out in a vintage cotton party dress 

I bought for her at an antique shop.

So cute.

I've given up on sharp images for she is constant motion.

I'm joining Cheryl at Thinking About Home for her thoughtful

"Gather the Moment" series.
Also linking to Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday.

back to school

We gathered at a friend's house for brunch the other day in honor

of a new school year.  K. always decorates so beautifully and

it's fun to see how she does a school theme.

But we really had a purpose other than a fun 

get together among friends.

We each brought a bag full of school supplies.

Our hostess later took them to a "store" for school

teachers in areas where abundance is lacking.

Teachers can come "shop" there every few weeks and 

pick up as many as 12 items for their classroom.

You can't beat a good time among friends, 

while giving to a wonderful cause.

I love that K. provides this opportunity for us every year.

windowscape

I love a good window. This one is in a German restaurant outside Munich.

A friend was showing us something in this restaurant where he is friends with 

the owner. We were not having dinner so I felt funny taking photos, but I could not 

help myself. These are such a gorgeous windows. Yummy color.

So I did what I like to do: broke up the image and moved around parts of it

to create a mosaic.

It helps you to look more deeply into what you are seeing.

This gentleman was simply enjoying al fresco dining

and ended up on a blog. Oh my …

See Judith's Lavender Cottage for more Monday Mosaics.

prodigal

We escaped for two days in the mountains

and along the way were drawn to a small

chapel nestled in a hilly college campus.

 And found this. A fresco by the same artist (Ben Long) our children watched work

 his craft years ago on a bank wall in our fair city. His simple, clear and colorful

work draws me in. This Return of the Prodigal is filled with symbolism.

A docent asked if we had time to sit for a few minutes and she proceeded to

read the moving story from Luke 15. 

The theme of the fresco is, of course, "forgiveness." 

Maybe what touched me the most was the empty bag by the son's staff.

Empty. He left home with so much and came back with nothing.

I could have looked for a long time.

a little lost

There have been distractions to blog writing and reading lately -- weekends away, 

birthday celebrations, time with the grands, a new "yarn group" and 

a wonderful visit from my sister. All good things.

While she was here we pulled out the dusty old family archives--from both our parents. 

They both seem to have been tasked with keeping the stuff of their families' histories. 

And now it's all at my house.

Our maternal grandmother in the rear, and her bro with big hair.

 And so we got lost. Well, especially my sister did. I'd be doing this or that around the house 

and she'd be reading the old letters, the notebook filled with history of our great grandfather's 

farm life, the records of family reunions for 50 years (which frequently recorded laments 

on the lack of interest in such things by the young people.)
And so Lulu would jump up and come to me with "Listen to this!"

The letters themselves--especially between my father and his parents, 

could take a few days to read. But the stories that unfold …. yes, we 

got lost in time, occasionally coughing from

the old paper dust. Unanswered questions arose right and left. 

Ha ha, not the least, thinking of my son the dentist, "Did they all have bad teeth? 

Or did they all collectively not smile in photos to support those with the bad teeth?"

There's so much more to read and sort through and organize.

A little fleck of newsprint fell out from the letters. 

Someone had clipped out and shared a funny. 

I wonder who, but I'd bet on my Grandmother. 

And it's perfect to share with my grandees! 

look for beauty

"We always see what we are looking for, and if our mind has become

trained to look for trouble and difficulty and all dark and 

dreary things, we find just what we seek.

 "On the other hand, it is quite easy to form the habit of looking always for beauty,

for good, for happiness, for gladness, and here, too, we

shall find precisely what we seek." (J.R. Miller, born in 1840)

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for."
So said John Lubbock, a British statesman in the 1800s.

Shach

 We still miss our dog, the girl dog with a boy's name--Meshach-- who we adopted 

when she was about one. A very pretty, gentle and loyal lab-chow. 

Yes she had a black tongue, and a lab personality. 

Her coat could get really messy and thick and she was hot in the summer so we often 

had her shaved, poor dear. She felt a bit humiliated, but would still proudly pose 

when the camera came out.

The first photo was taken at night with flash, the other two without.
I did nothing to enhance these other than cropping.
Shach lived until she was 14. My son captured this wonderful

photo we have framed. It shows her expressive eyes. 

She always looked right into our eyes.

Connecting with Donna's Personal Photo Challenge where the challenge this month is animals.

a walk for tea

It was an odd feeling for the Gardener and I to be alone at the hotel after our colleagues left.  

There was no one who spoke English. It took awhile after a busy week to begin to relax, 

but we had two days of badly needed rest. We walked, slept, swam (not me) and read. 

I was determined to have a cup of Turkish tea, so one afternoon we walked to a nearby village.

I'm always snapping photos as I walk. Such beautiful pink hydrangeas.

My tea, his Fanta.

You live with someone 24/7 but when you sit in an outdoor cafe (well in this case,

a table outside a "hole in the wall establishment") you seem to have deeper discussions.

Pleasant and sunny on the way back, and low humidity.

Back to our hotel along the Marmara Sea.

Rubies: Gathering the Moments

The month of rubies flew by.  I know July's birthstone is a ruby because it's my birth month.

But I didn't realize it's the most valuable gem, and represents love, health and wisdom. 

Hmmm . . .

July flew by, as all months seem to do. Since we were on three continents this month 

(though that's debatable since Istanbul is in both Asia and Europe), 

we spent some time recovering from jet lag.

Highlights included: our last day in Istanbul and then a few days in Munich;

grateful to be back in the USA for Independence Day; witnessing Little One's first

tubing experience; a rather unique book club with the author at a peach stand;

a quick day at the beach; all the while enjoying exceptionally gorgeous crepe myrtles; 

a craft day with Little One, and loving our garden produce. 

And grateful for it all.

Now I wish August could/might/would be slower! 

Connecting to Mosaic Monday for the last time …  Thank you Mary.

a boat on a boat

My sister is coming and I'm cleaning the kitchen. Actually I'm past needing a sparkling clean house when guests arrive. I like tidy, but I'm learning to let things be as they are a bit more.

I do appreciate an impetus to get something badly needed done. And the occasion of her visit was just what was needed to give me a nudge into my kitchen.

A little dust had collected on our beautiful cut glass "banana boat." I carefully washed it and dried it to a beautiful shiny gleam

And at that moment I felt close to a woman I could never

 have known, my great-great grandmother. I got to

thinking about it being in her hands as she wrapped and packed

 it somewhere--a trunk possibly--for their voyage to America.

A recent widow, and not unfamiliar with tragedy 

(their family business, a large factory, had succumbed

to a fire and they lost everything before her husband died.)

I wonder what made them come to the new world--

125 years ago now--a lone widow with her 

two  teen-age daughters.

I also wonder what made her choose this piece to bring. 

Did it hold special meaning for her? It's still in perfect

condition, and it surely holds special meaning for me. 

to market, to market

Five hundred and fifty-three years old? That is one of the oldest places I've been 

in--anything older was also on our trip to Istanbul. 

The Grand Bazaar, inside the walled part of Istanbul 

was just amazing--and busy and hot--and easy to get lost in. 

The Gardener was ready to sit down and have a coke. But I knew if I was going to shop 

it would have to be now. Our guide gave us very little time as we had colleagues to 

get to the airport. She gave us tiny maps of the maze of corridors, 

all looking the same, and pointed to the fountain where we would meet in 40 minutes.

We all split up and I sped off, totally bewildered. I could not even see the
 tiny map to follow it;  I didn't find much for little girls and nothing for little
boys . . . all the while the gorgeous scarves and pottery kept calling me. 

I seemed to have lost my skill in bargaining, and not knowing the language 

never helps. Crowds, pushing, noise, while all the time sweat running
down my back and feeling thirsty, yet wishing for a WC … I pushed forward,
 keeping an eye on my watch and wondering what I'd do if I got lost (no cell phones here). 

I did buy a scarf, and some small dolls and then rushed to 

find my way back to the fountain. I had memorized some landmarks near it.

I was so glad to see the familiar-looking fountain. But no one I knew was there,

and then I realized the landmarks were also not there. More than one fountain?

Of course that made sense. Mild panic set in as I set off again, breathing a prayer

and trying to use some innate sense of direction.

And I found "our" fountain, and our friends, and my Gardener.

And I was so grateful to have experienced the amazing Grand Bazaar.

Joining Mosaic Monday