Granddaughter's Feast

Today (Saturday) is my oldest granddaughter's birthday. Yesterday she, her mother, sister Celeste, Aunt Cresta and other grandmother Margaret Ann cooked a veritable feast for guests.
In addition, her boyfriend's mother's birthday was yesterday.
Here you see Candice's mom Christine videotaping those of us gathered there.

Myah, only great-granddaughter

Myah's daddy and momma aka Leonard and Charley

Jo and Fred, Candice's maternal grandparents

cousin Bethany and her daughter Olivia

"Grandy"  (Margaret Ann) who helped cook the delicious food and other family members including Christine's husband Greg who's known as "the dad"  at the far right. 

Geoff's mom's cake

The weather was picture perfect, a soft breeze and no mosquitoes!

A Photo a Day: My Daily Sustenance, Day 24

At prayer yesterday morning, I noticed the shadow cast on my kitchen table.  I love the play of light and shadows.
Speaking of prayer, would you please pray for my sister-in-law and her family?  Her husband died in their home just this morning.

Quotography: Family

 "To us, family means putting your arms
around each other and being there."
~Barbara Bush~
"Grams" with my six grandchildren
and great-granddaughter

Project 64: Red

I wanted to share my treasures that had the color red, but since today is our nation's birthday, I choose this flag photographed in a local cemetery to represent my entry.

Being an ignorant teenager,  I used to get embarrassed when my mom's eyes would tear up at the sight of this symbol of our wonderful nation.  As I aged, I understood her emotion about it.  She had three brothers who served proudly during WWII.  Now I get that same thrill.  I hope you do too!
Happy 4th of July to all you readers!

Babushka (nesting) dolls from the Ukraine; I bought them from a story telling grandma who was from there.  My  apple box holds paper clips.  My Stratford-upon-Avon patch is from my granddaughter who went there while studying at the London Center.  
My dad's grandparents were from there.

my front door

some of my Crayola and Coca-Cola collections

My phone turned out to be more decorative than practical.

two of my granddaughters

twin grandsons

husband's ROTC certification of rank of sergeant from Howe
Military School in Howe, Indiana

the practical phone that replaced
my lovely Coke phone

Happiness is...Family

This is a photo not taken by me because I'm in it with my four beautiful (inside and outside) granddaughters.  It is my entry for a photo challenge for a blog called Pixels and Stories.

Birthday Tea and Cake

China bought at a Christmas bazaar

Today is my birthday!  My gracious sister-in-law Marge treated me to lunch at a local bakery and cafe called Concannon's.  I had the Turkey Cranberry Wrap and baked potato salad with an enormous sugar cookie.  The wrap and potato salad were superb!  I sent the cookie home with my daughter-in-law for her sweet hubby, known affectionately to me as my son Derek :).  I sent the cookie home with her because we had a scrumptious looking dessert waiting for us in my home.  Last week, after having viewed a rerun of "The Closer",I knew what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday.  Immediately after the show,  I called my daughter Alison and described, whilst drooling, the cake.  She made it from scratch, and a fine scratch it was!  (Maybe someone can tell me from whence this saying comes.) 



Margaret Ann is missing from this photo of My Ladies because she took the picture.

Because I've been admiring tea cups and china I've viewed in a beautiful blog I follow, I got out my finest china, which included lovely cups and saucers as seen above the photo of My Ladies and me. 

And the other guests had their cake served on the gold-rimmed china and their beverage in the matching cups.  Ever since I've made visits to Rose Chintz Cottage, I've been waiting for the opportunity to have a tea party!  Too excited to take a photo when the table was set and ready for my guests, I took these photos afterwards.   But my ladies and my youngest son, who joined us, enjoyed the moist, scrumpdillyicious cake and their favorite beverage, be it tea or coffee.  It was a most warm, wonderful and joyous birthday despite the  frigid and icy weather outside.
Thank you all!

The Last Good-bye

Earlier this week, I received a phone call from a long-time neighbor's son about the death of his mother.  We had been in contact on and off through the decades even though we had moved from that neighborhood in Indian Village back in 1975.  Sally's kids and mine had spent many hours through the many years together because the family lived across the street from our first family home.  They'd moved there when their youngest was a mere infant.  Now Sally is gone.  Apparently she went peacefully in her sleep.  Her oldest son had just talked to her when she was ready to go to bed.  The next morning the youngest, who lived with her mom, went to wake her.  April saw that her mom was cold to the touch.  So started that hard journey down the road of calling siblings and other family members, along with friends.  It will be hard to continue without their beloved mother, but they live with the knowledge of what a giving and caring person she was.  The chaplain spoke of Sally's gift of a kidney to her sister 35 years ago.  Both the sister and Sally's family know that there is not only a part of their mother in their hearts, but a physical part in their aunt who is a testimony to the worth of their mother.

My Response

My response to  Patti Digh's Blog on Letting Go:
 1. Put out of my mind the actions and business of others over whom I have no control.  As in The Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” 
 2. I need to let go of regrets about whatever I did or didn’t do involving my husband.  That’s the only way I can move on in a confident manner, affirming that God is beside me now and will always be.  I just have to remind myself of that when I wander into “Woe is me land.”
 3. Let go of the idea that I need a companion to walk beside me for however many years I have left of my time here on Earth.  
 4. Quit being preoccupied by those no longer in my life, no matter the reason, and be grateful for those people gracious enough to share space with me.
 5. Be thankful for the blessings I have- a warm-hearted and loving family, generous and accepting friends, a warm and homey abode, a functioning car and a steady income.
 6. Accept my body for the positive gifts it gives me- those of mobility, energy and health to exercise, hearing and vision faculties, empathy and ability to communicate both in the oral and written areas- instead of its imperfect package seen in my mirror and by the world-at-large.  
 7. Shuck thoughts that lead to dreary and depressive days, weeks…
 8.Throw out excuses for not using my Rodney Yee  DVD.
 9. Stop rationalizing why I’m not on my treadmill.
10. Discard wasting of time.
11. Crush any negative musings leading to the inaction of living life to the fullest.

Baby Shower

Saturday, Sepember 11, was my granddaughter's baby shower.  My oldest granddaughter Candice planned and facilitated the whole shebang!  Her younger sister was ready to help plan, but suddenly she got a job in Virginia.  She experienced wishing she could be in two places at the same time.  :)  

Celeste, sister of the hostess; Grams; Charley; Candice, hostess; Emily, Charley's sister Em was the one who put up the decorations and laboriously twisted the crepe paper.

The shower was held at the Signature Inn in Muncie.  Candice had food galore to feed the guests and honoree, prizes for the games, beautiful, pink decorations furnished by Charley's Great-Aunt Marge and Aunt Jennifer.  Food was provided by her Aunt Christine, Aunt Margaret Ann, and cousin Candice. 

What a marvelous change from when Charley's Grams ('tis I) had a baby shower.  Then we had cake, punch, mints and nuts.  We were welcomed to a feast because of the hostess' and other lovely ladies' generosity.  The cake came from a bakery famous to those who live in Muncie- Concannons.  It's best described as ambrosia, as anyone who's ever ingested Concannons' pastries! 

Everyone, including the hostess with the mostes', I might add, were generous in gifts to our fetching princess of the day.  From wee lassie clothes to all the necessities of greeting a gift from God were bestowed on the mother-to-be.  The guests had a diversion during the opening of the presents; we had previously filled in a bingo grid with words of possible

gifts.  Each time Charley opened a gift, everyone who'd written that word exed it out.  What fun!



prizes!