Summer Visit

Summer visits are a different breed from other seasons.  Winter visits are cozy and close.  You tend to gather, grab a quilt and settle in for a spell.  Summer visits are breezy.  You tend to come and go, inside and out, walk around, sit and perch, then up and exploring.

Baby Girl and Her Hubby stopped by on the way to their Camping Adventure with Her Hubby's Fam for the Fourth.  We were to be a Luncheon Stop, a quick 'You Gotta See How Big I'm Getting or You Won't Believe It' stop.  And like all the visits, luncheon or pregnant bellies otherwise, I cook and clean like the Queen Mother has scheduled a trip here.  Why is that?  These children have seen me and my house at it's worst.  They know my Visitors Tricks and Hospitality Preparations.  Who do I think that I'm fooling?  They know that my house does not always look company ready.  Nevertheless, I putter and adjust and put away things, excitedly anticipating my grown up time with them.  Just so you Young Mama's know, this is the piece de resistance, the thing you look forward to on the Hard Day's of mommying.  And it is glorious.  Worth all the diapers and short nights.  Worth the frustration and craziness. Visits with your Adult children.  Bliss.

And how sweet is this moment, captured quickly before Her Hubby and his quick ways, moved on to another activity? I believe I shall tear up each time I see this.  Another Goal:  Adult Children finding their soul mates; their completers; their life sharers.  Grand.

And a day pleasant enough, physically as well as meteorologically, for the Hubby to venture out, albeit with foot propped up.  For a visit with his Adult Children, he would have crawled out to the porch.  Lovely, lovely weather; true Porch Day.

Baby Girl's Hubby is a reflector, a thinker, a Busy Boy.  I had given him my copy of Mary Jane's Farms, full knowing that he would take it all in and ruminate...a long time....Here he is after perusing the whole magazine.  Do you know that his current cause is to become Cell Phoneless?  The closer to the soil he becomes, the happier he will be.  The less reliant on corporations, the more content his life.  We shall see.  Do not bring this up with His Wife.

Perhaps you cannot see her, but Stella the Ditzycat is taking full advantage of the Brilliant Day as well.  She has proclaimed the pergola as her domain and was ever so glad that Editor Friend donated her well used wicker to the Pergola Branch of the Endless Wicker Collection.  Not only do I love it but Stella has comfied in for the summer.  Good spot, Stel, ol girl.  Should we rethink her ditsy status?

Summer visits also leave room for chores during visits.  I don't think during the winter that I would excuse myself to care for laundry, but in the summer, I think nothing of making an exit to utilize the day's solar drying.  Surely, BGH would not complain.  The cerulean blues and bright grass greens will stay in my brain till way into winter......

Summer Visits.....intoxicating and refreshing.....

Introducing: Cletus the Fetus

Do you know this character? Some of you know him as Baby Girl's Hubby. He has been mentioned in this blog before as The Hairy Beast.

Some know him as Landon.

In this particular shot, he is known as Guido, my gardener.

Don't let the wearing of his wife's garden hat fool you; he is no sissy.

This very morning, he took on my forsythia, a yellow beast of a plant, that had gone half dead after a miserable showing this spring.

Of course, I had to serve him breakfast under the pergola, overlooking the garden arrangement that he designed and put in for me years ago.

I let him practice some of his landscaping techniques on me, even the first garden path, back in the day of high school when he owned his own landscaping business.

This young man has accomplished much in his twenty three years on this sod.

Leader in his class. Academically excelling in a Top Ten University. Breaking the mold for interning there; working with a leader ecological/environmentalist in NYC. Mission trip to Africa. Prized son and grandson and nephew and brother. Strong warrior for His Lord.

A Renaissance Man of the grandest kind.

And Baby Girl selected him to be her Life Partner in this world.

But despite all these accolades and accomplishments, he is about to embark on the most wonderful, amazing, spectacular, challenging event of his life.....

He is my newest grandchild's Daddy.

This past weekend, he and Baby Girl flew down the highway from CollegeLand, to tell us, most joyfully, that they are indeed, expecting their first child in December.

And Grammy is very, very, very, very, very, very, very happy.......

(Ed. Note:  I wrote this post on April 18th, the day after we were told; Baby Girl had asked us to not announce it on the internet till they heard his heartbeat....Today was that day.....And Grammy is very, very, very, very, very, very, happy.......)

Adorable. Seriously.

I haven't been to visit Miss Viv lately....In person.  But oh my, this morning...!!
Haven't embraced technology this warmly for a long time.
This morning, The New Walking, New Signing, New Jabbering Miss Viv and I, virtually played, talked, sang, and admired each other abundantly.
This pretty cool piece of technology was installed an uploaded to Skype via The Renaissance Man's fun, fun visit this week.  Thank you, thank you. Again.
This morning, after Baby Girl, RM and Yours Truly, trekked to the local donut shoppe after a raging storm, I sought refuge from them leaving (sniff) by utilizing my swanky new camera and calling Eldest/Admin and chatting AND seeing each other for the first time in a bit.  Miss Vivien was napping while we caught up and adapted the camera.  At first, the setting was...er..'off' and according to the gales of laughter from EA, I sounded like Alvin of the Chipmunk Fame.  She was in stitches. And I laughed hearing AND seeing her crack up.  Priceless.

Then She Woke Up and her sweet little presence entered my library where my computer dwells.  I silently gasped at the wonder that is her.  She had so much to show her Grammy.  She has a little gathering of curls in the back of her strawberry blond hair.  She showed me the sign for mama, papa and ball.  She walked and danced and giggled at her Grammy parading a flock of little animals her Poppy had bought for her.  I showed her the shirt with the monkey and gleefully responded when she made the monkey noise.  I watched her hug her mama.  I watched her as she tried, tried to figure out Grammy's appearance without all the massive hugging that usually goes on.  How my heart yearned to gather her up and kiss her sweet little dimpled cheeks, but despite that, this Virtual Grammy Visit was golden.


 I Promise To No More Complain About Computers.  I will laugh at their irritations, as long as it brings me closer to My Little Sweetie Pie on a regular basis.
Thank you, thank you , Most Inventive of Inventions, for my little online visit today.....
Grammy needed it......

Catch Up!

1.  Brooks Addiction Walking Shoes.  Little Comfort Cradles for Aging Hurtful Feet. Yeah.  Comfy, supportive and Helpful for a person who walks over and hour a day.....

2. Awesome Garage Sale. Vintage WWII pillow. Good shape. Fringe edged.  Pretty amazing.  Ya.

3.  First Successful Apple Pie.  Writer Friend Joyce's Recipe.  Late at Night Event.  And Good.  Oh yes.

4.  And Pretty. Never in all my 40 years baking, ever, ever made pretty pie.

  5. And The Mad Pancake Maker.  Strawberry Banana Pancakes, thankyouverymuch.  He is also handy around the garden. Renaissance Man.  Crazed as Well.  We'll keep him.  Baby Girl seems attached.  As we are.

6. Busy, fun, relaxing, gardening kinda week/Mother's Day. 

Love it.

Having Yes Men(women) Around You...

Baby Girl and Her Beloved Hubby made a pit stop while they were in town yesterday for a family celebration on his side.

And this is why I love to see Baby Girl:

1. Oh, mama, the house smells so good. (really fear having a smelly house and with having a dying cat, long haired cat that is allergic to herself AND a busy puppy, one's concerns are not unwarranted)

2. Oooh, mama! I love your new haircut! Looks great! (one thing you can say about my kiddos, they can deliver a great compliment!)

3. Beloved Hubby says, 'you guys look great! How are you??!!', followed by big hug.

4. Baby Girl watches me in the kitchen where I am preparing their enchiladas, 'Mama, are you losing more weight? Your legs look so thin!' (of course, the only place I lose weight is in my legs, thanks to Miss Dixie)

5. Baby Girl says,'Look at you and your thin little waist! My, don't you look good, mama!' (by this time I'm giddy by the lush praise in so little time, without any of the usual prompts by me.....)

And this was in less than 15 minutes in the house....

Man, I miss having this girly around more often.....

Artful Fun

Am I rare or do I have an unusual collection of artistic friends?
As I started to document the original art in my home, I was pretty surprised at the amount. And I see it every day!
Maybe it's because once they start to create, I set out to beg and borrow (have not stole...yet) pieces of their unique work.
I just love it.
Go ahead. Ask your people for pieces of their art. Offer to buy it. It is an encouragement to their craft and your home will be more friendly and warm because of it.
Peruse My Gallery of Talented People That I Happen to Know.

Below is two pieces of art that my incredibly prolific and talented friend who just happens to be 90 years old, created. She painted these for me years ago and she was a mere 81. And they have stories to make the gift more precious. Christmases ago, I coveted a grand amarylis at the grocery store. Candy cane; vibrant red and smelling like earth in the midst of a cold grey December. Sadly, the budget that year did not allow such frou-frou, especially for oneself at Christmas time.
The very next day that I saw the beauteous bloom, what should arrive in the mail but the top painting in the photo below! A candy cane amarylis that would not fade or cost me my budget. It was an amazing gift from my dear, dear friend who could not of possibly known, or had the time to create it, in time to answer my heart's desire. A God-thing.
The second art gift from her, the painting on the bottom, is one she sent us the year that we had moved away from her. How could she possibly know that the centerpiece of our community is our lovely state park, Spring Mill, home of a still functioning mill. I gasped when I unwrapped it. It was like she had seen it for herself...
Precious things...

The pencil sketch of Baby Girl as a Baby Girl was done by my incredibly talented and wonderfully diverse son-in-law known as Baby Girl's Hubby.
He labored over this likeness for quite awhile and I believe he won an award for it at an art show at the high school.
This one I did beg him for.
And he graciously gave in.
Thank you my dear renaissance, intelligent, loving and talented Son In Law!

Years ago, before budget cuts, our lovely library had many extracurricular activities for dabblers like me to take part in. I took a concrete garden ornament class, poetry, financial planning and my favorite, Oil Painting.
It was incredibly fun and full of drawing, sketching, painting information taught by a local artist, David Fields.
Every time I look at the two paintings below, I smile remembering that fun 8 weeks of discovering a new artistic outlet.


The next three pieces came from a young friend that I have known since she was 6 months old. You can visit her new artistic endeavors when you click on her blog, KroStudio. She partakes in about every crafting/art venue that there is including writing her own knitting and crocheting patterns. A genius. I did indeed beg the original print of her fruit study and she added a print of the companion just to make me happy. At the time, her mama didn't even possess one of her originals. :D
She also does these amazing pencil studies. She sent me this budded hyacinth in rememberence of her mother's vast collection of hyacinths, tulips and daffodils in their front yard, two doors from us for many years.
The landscape was a Christmas present several years ago. She knew from being a little girl down the street from me, that I love to collect art. She was one of the little artist that frequently had artwork taped to my kitchen walls...



I do not care how rare art is nor do famous names impress me; things like this little piece just warms my heart in it's careful elocution of the tiny, tiny pieces of paper. Baby Girl did this little ditty in junior high and it's one of my favs.
I can just picture her clipping the tiny pieces and carefully placing in the right place. It's that kind of detail that makes her so good with graphics/photos today.

And Eldest/Admin has an artistic side to her that runs through her, deep and detailed. She made this oil painting in a crafting project with some friends years ago. I love the color and size and textures. Eldest/Admin keeps her color palette pretty subdued and classic, but inside she is so these colors! Eldest/admin is effusive and detailed; great combination!

Tomorrow: Crafting in Your Home!!

A Visit with Mr. and Mrs. Young

First time in the official First Apartment of the Newlyweds...Yes, they lived for a few months in another apartment, but this one they got together. Picked it out before NYC then moved in there upon their return. The last time we saw it was while we were helping Baby Girl move in whilst her hubby was still in New York.
Looks a bit different from the hectic move in day.
A peaceful refuge in College City.
A haven.
A home.
And we arrived to Baby Girl's first homemade dinner for her parental units.
And it was delicious and prettiful. Nice placemats, huh?
Yum.

After the bountiful dinner, it was off to walk around downtown Lafayette.
Love to peruse the store fronts.
Oh look! A Landon Birthday Plate! We sing to him.
We end up at a quiet little coffee shop for the best chai ever and a huge, for four, piece of chocolate cake. Yum.

True to their promises, breakfast was served as soon as we woke up at the crack of ten AM.
Landon sang a sweet little wake up song then proceeded to make one of the best breakfasts that I have ever eaten. Truly.
In the tiniest kitchen ever.
The toaster was on the end table. The mix master was in the living room. And his helper had to dance around to work around his busyness..
First apartments; memorable and usually challenging...And fun....


Another first visit with our adult children in their own digs with their better halves and their own distinctive tastes.
Seeing them come into their own and become the people that we only dreamed they would become.
What a wonder and what a blessing...
Precious times; lovely memories..
Thank you God......

So Much; So Good....

The Weekend started here..
Rain, rain, rain.
But a warm car, grand company and Sugar and Cream yarn to work with.
And a car, that Hubby wisely picked out based on if the dashboard would accomodate my legs on a long trip. He even told the car salesperson that he needed to make sure that his wife would be comfortable in the co pilot seat by putting her feet on the dash. The salesperson, unwisely said, 'you let her do that?' To wit, Hubby said, she can do whatever she wants, bucko, this is my car.....Good Hubby.....

This was the weekend that we were to meet up with Most Interesting Loving Friends. We decided to meet half way from their location, our past home. We have shared nearly 25 years and needed time together to catch up and enjoy each other's affable company. What a good time. What pleasant entertainment we are!
It always helps to stay at a Bed and Breakfast out in the country and with plenty of stories to go with as well!
The house photo is the grand old lady with quite a story.
The Pumpkin Patch story, with a Martha Stewart commendation, is a blog unto it's own. Pretty amazing. Wait till you see.


After leaving Most Interesting and Loving Friends, we headed northerly to visit Baby Girl and her Hubby in Lafayette.
Another amazing visit with a blog unto it's own.
Suffice to say that Baby Girl's Hubby prepared us the most wonderful breakfast one half hour before lunch time!
Ah! Rest and relaxation on a long weekend!

And no visit to Lafayette would be complete without a visit to First Class Clutter, BG's fave store.
I took in the three bags I had promised her and she promptly placed them in the window pictured here. Can you see them amongst the most pleasing clutter??
Picking up a hefty supply of vintage buttons rounded out the visit there.
On to an Aveda Spa visit then lunch/supper at an Irish pub..
Off to make a short check in visit with Eldest Son and Lovely Wife...
Wow.
A blessed weekend from start to finish.
Can't wait to share it with all of you....

Academia

I am currently in Grammy heaven otherwise known as Mason Ohio.

Heaven, not because of King's Island or that it is a mighty nice community. The heaven part comes from the fact that Mason Ohio is the home of my extremely important, special and idolized granddaughter, Vivien.

It appears that at least once every six weeks, I have found reasons for visiting. I manage to wangle an invite. Perhaps it is my pleading, whiny tone. Maybe it's the incessant questions about Vivie's size or updates that make my daughter feel sorry for me. Whatever it is, it's been working and I am here again.

Last night, as I lay in bed in the guest room, going over the events of the day and contemplating the wonder that is a grandchild, I noticed my son in law and daughter's college diploma hanging on the wall.

I home schooled my daughter for eleven years. I didn't say I was good at it, but I did the best I could, determined to keep her from the traveling special ed classes that our school district offered. Due to a myriad of health issues, Vivien's Mama struggled with learning. She was an amazingly brilliant little girl who struggled with the timelines of learning. Homeschool circumvented so much of the technicalities of schooling, but much was missed in the whole scheme of things. (Much was accomplished, to be noted, but much was also missed.)

Imagine my joy of her adult decision to pursue her education after high school! She was able to accomplish piece meal, allowing for moves and alterations to her and her husband's locations. A year ago, she accomplished her degree. Her father and I were so proud of all her hard work and her great grades. She truly is my hero.

And then I remembered her husband's college journey. I remember a visit during the first semester of his first year. I opened his math book, perhaps calculus, only to see squiggly lines and mysterious codes. The first page, I could not understand. This man, who had fun in college and still managed to do well, was my daughter's best tutor during her time in college. It is with profound gratefulness that I viewed his help with our daughter's schooling.

So know I look at those diplomas and all they represent. I am staying with these young adults in their lovely home with their adorable daughter. They are doing well for themselves and they alone have made it happen. Hard work and determination, the stuff that success is made of.

No wonder I fell asleep last night with a smile on my lips and a little bit of tears in my eyes.

Sigh.......Here's to my wonderful daughter and her equally wonderful husband.