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Of Family and Birthdays and Sweet Autumn Treats

Let's start with the Yummy Fall Treat: apple slices smeared with cream cheese, topped with caramel and sprinkled (okay, I used a more coarse sprinkle) with walnuts. Oh heavens! So delicious and easier to eat than a candied apple. I may have tripped when I added the caramel. I do love caramel and learned as a kid how to make a simple caramel sauce. Otherwise, use a jarred variety.

~as seen on Pinterest~

A reader of this blog for any length of time may remember that my father and I have had an "interesting history." We may be too much alike. That gives a gal pause. * thud * Anyway, in recent months, basically since my Beloved went to Glory, my father has reached out to me and, as I have always said, if he reached out to me, I would respond in kind. Prior to that, the time was just not right.

In the seven years that we have not seen one another, we have become old. He says that he is old and my sister, with whom he lives, says that she is old and he is older. So if my younger sister is old, I must be, too. And if there was any doubt, the first thing he said to me was that I looked old. Okay, off to a great start! ☺ Then he said, "I always thought you looked like your mother, but you look more like your Aunt Marge." I have heard that before and take it as a compliment.  You can be the judge in just a bit. ☺

So for the last several weeks, I have been visiting once a week with my father in my sister's home. It has been good and I have enjoyed my time with him. He is a quick wit and so I have laughed a lot. Even when he is singing some swan song about coming to the end of the line that he has made up on the spot, I have had to chuckle because it is just so funny. Only he could make death be amusing. And I admire his courage and pluck as he faces old age. Being 86 can be challenging!  
I have always known that Heaven would heal everything, yet I am so grateful to God for allowing us time to reconcile on this side of the veil.

~children of Vic and Lillian~

Dad was one boy in the middle of sisters, two older and two younger. Two remain, his eldest sister Marge and his youngest sister Sharon (sometimes known on this blog as Aunt Ess). At this point, with FB and all, I'm quitting with the cutesy names, except for my own. (I once asked John if he wished to be "J" or "Jay" and he was shocked. "No way! What's wrong with John?" he had asked. Nothing at all...)

Okay, moving right along as I sense that I am rambling here. The very day of John's Memorial Service, most of my family were attending my Aunt Gee's (oops, a slip into cutesy there) memorial service on the other end of the state. 

The following day, my Aunt Marge, her sons, and my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Billy came to visit. We took pictures out on the deck.

left to right: Aunt Marge, Cousin Jim, Cousin Vic, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Billy


They took photos of us, too. 

~my daughter Laurel, myself, grandson Jakob, grandson Sam, daughter-in-law Michelle, and my son Adam~



My Aunt Marge recently celebrated her 90th birthday and anyone who achieves that milestone is to be honored! When my sister told our dad that it was his sister's 90th birthday, he said, "I hope that she's in better shape than I am." Yes, she is.

She keeps up with all things current.

She keeps up with family. That's my cousin Dan and his wonderful family on the left there (Aunt Sharon and Uncle Billy's son) Oh I see another cousin...Gene... in there between Vic and Jim. They were honoring my Aunt Gee by having breakfast together at her favorite breakfast haunt.

Here are some recent photos of Aunt Marge with her family.

~Aunt Marge with her son Vic and his family~

All those great-grandchildren to hold and she holds the grandpuppy! ☺ 

~Aunt Marge with her son Jim and his family~

~Aunt Marge with her great-grands~ What a bunch of cutie pies!  
I hope that I look this lovely should I achieve ninety. Happy Birthday, Aunt Marjorie! BTW, you can find one of my very favorite recipes, which just so happens to be my Aunt Marge's  recipe, *here.*
Speaking of birthdays, my hometown family and I will be celebrating another birthday today where the birthday girl has requested a cook-out and a wiffle ball game. Doesn't take much to make her happy. I hope that I remember my camera!

Stay safe out there...






P.S. If anyone likes my leaf line, I made it at PicMonkey and am pleased to offer it for snagging. Feel free!

My Sister's Pantry

On the outside chance that you enjoy peeking in closets or pantries much the same as I enjoy looking at book titles on bookshelves, I am sharing my sister's pantry with you. It's the cutest thing! Her husband designed and built it for her in what was formerly the front hallway. 
Their home is a work in progress with a new living room currently being built. Then her living room will become the kitchen. The current kitchen will become a dining room. I think. Perhaps she'll read this and set me straight.
Anyway, the pantry is done!

A closer look at some of the vignettes that charmed me.

Now why do I feel like brewing a pot of tea and baking some muffins? 

Sawdust

Dear Friend, 

It is official. I have become dull as sawdust. I can, of course, prove this.

First: Though I have worked for several months in John's barn toting, tugging, pushing and packing, I have wrenched my back here at my own haven trying to remove old caulk. What is the weirdest injury you've had in the past month?

Second: The grands are playing soccer again this fall and have made some spectacular plays. I have not remembered my camera once. 

Third: My sisters-in-law and a friend (who might as well be a sister-in-law ☺) and I went on a long-planned excursion last Friday. Again, I forgot my camera. We are in the planning stages for a leaf-peeping tour. Must.remember.camera.

Fourth: The weather. It has cooled. The furnace is running. Up the street. My sister once told me that all my letters home back in the day were about the weather. Some things never change. 

~Flannel Shirt Weather~

~Ahhhhh...much better!~

Fifth item: My big decorating choice of the early autumn required changing. Something about form and function. It looked good to my eye, but the window shades could no longer be reached. Bugger it!

~New Window in a Window~



~Back to the Same Old Same Old~

Sixth item: My local theater closed for a couple of years and when it reopened in August, it had become a luxury theater, recliners and everything! (Linda, I can't believe it!)  I may go see Sully alone. I will not eat in a restaurant alone, but I will attend a movie all by myself. Do you?

Seventh: This torture has gone on way too long...later! 

His Peace

Showing Unity

This is a partial re-post from three years ago... 

~Flag (Photo taken 9-8-2013)~

If you live in the U.S., have you noticed an abundance of flags flying in the past twelve years? We have. In fact, both John and I first purchased flags to display that year. The entire town is covered in flags — one on every street post, and most homes display a flag. This became a way to show unity after the tragedy atrocity of September 11, 2001. 

The protocol for flying the flag today is half-mast and John says he'll be out there soon lowering ours. (It should have been done at dawn.) It goes to full staff at sunset.  

There's something very special to me about seeing a flag fluttering in the breeze. There are still many reasons to be concerned about world events today; there are still many reasons to be concerned about the country today. The world is not a nicer, safer place since 9-11. Someday it will be again. Until then, we put our hope in The Lord and trust in His Word.

Postscript: John climbed the telephone poll for the final time in April 2016 to place a new flag at The Ponderosa. I am amazed that he was able to do it. Typical of him. He replaced  many a flag through the past 15 years. Somewhere, he has it duly noted how long an all-weather flag lasts at the end of the drive. Originally, he was not going to continue replacing the flag, but when people told him how much they loved seeing that flag flying, he was faithful to keep it flying. Oh, by the way, John owns that telephone poll and placed it there all by himself. Also typical of him. ☺
A blessed day to you...

D.E. Stevenson Books

Brenda at Coffee Tea Books and Me mentions these books here and here, and other places as well. Brenda credits and thanks our friend Kristi at Thoughts from Thicket House for telling her about D. E. Stevenson as do I. Kristi has never given up on the hope that I would read Miss Buncle's Book and Miss Buncle Married. I hope that this surprises and pleases her! 😊 You can find a fun post at Kristi's here about a play she attended based on the book Miss Buncle's Book. (A book with "book" in the title can get confusing.)

~how my library page looks~
It also helped that a niece gave me a gift membership to a public library and told me about an app called Overdrive. This app makes reading or downloading a book via the library so easy.
I love how the app works...I can check on my progress through the book and I can bookmark the page to easily return to.

These books were written some time ago. Miss Buncle's Book was written in 1934, the year my mother was born. It holds up very well if you enjoy a funny, endearing, cozy, descriptive book. This one had me on the first page. 

The basic premise of Miss Buncle's Book is that a young woman, who says that she lacks imagination, uses the people who live in her town to create character studies for her book. She veils them very slightly...so slightly that they recognize themselves in her book. Then the fun really begins!
Miss Buncle Married provides a change of setting and circumstances and is also pleasant reading, though I am not as charmed as I was by the first. I am so excited to know that there are many more books by D.E. Stevenson to enjoy. All you Anglophiles out there will enjoy them for the descriptions of home, garden, tea time, and all things English. 
So, as you can see, I must get reading for my time will run out. I did read the first book in a long afternoon and evening last Saturday and am taking more time to read the longer novel Miss Buncle Married.
So, am I the last person on the planet to read these? If you have read D.E. Stevenson, what is your favorite? Let's not limit it there...who is your favorite author for a cozy read?


Edited to Add: Brenda has a lovely list of cozy reads where you will find many of your favorites, I am quite sure. I smiled to see how many authors mentioned in comments below show up on her wonderful list. Check it out!

Tomato Glut

An entire week has flown by so soon? It never ceases to amaze me. Apparently, I am easily amazed. 
⛺️ ⛺️ ⛺️
Let's see, what did I have on the docket? Hmmm...seems as if it's zip. Wait, wait, I can do better than that. Let's start off with a cute picture of Auntie and Sam who, along with Jakob, enjoyed a camping trip with friends over the weekend.

~Sam and Laurel~
Gotta love the grins. I have no idea where Jake was when this picture was taken. Perhaps swimming. So that's the only photo of Labor Day things even though I was invited to a Labor Day meal at my son's with the family. He made Greek kabobs on the grill...yummy...Michelle made Rice Pilaf and a veggie platter with hummus for dip and Laurel made a traditional cole slaw. It was all delicious. After dinner, we walked down to the ice cream shop where four of us enjoyed Flurries (two Butterfinger and two Oreo),  one a vanilla milkshake, and one a chocolate mint cone. 
On Saturday, I was visiting the Farmer's Market when I saw a box of tomatoes for canning. With the drought, tomatoes are running $3.50 a pound or more. A good-sized tomato can be pretty expensive. Anyway, I was thrilled to see that the price on the tomatoes was $7 for a half-bushel. The mother lode! On my way home with all those tomatoes I realized that I was going to have to think of something quick.  (I do not can.) Sometimes I forget that I am only one. I tried dropping off some with my niece...not home. Fortunately, she would come later and take about half of them off my hands. I did blanch some for freezing in ziploc bags for sauces; the rest are lined up on my window sill like the stars of September that they are. 

~my favorite chorus line~
I have been eating a lot of this...

for these...

~open faced BLT~
Okay, my dear, I have exhausted conversation for today. Friday perhaps, I'll have some book conversation for you. I'm in the middle of a series and enjoying it very, very much.