A Good Long Run

It was a busy Easter weekend and I am late to post.

It was busy in all the good ways that make it celebratory and meaningful. It was not my year to host all the family, though Laurel (my daughter) joined John and me and that meant doing something a little more exciting than beans and hotdogs.

We had pork tenderloin (daughter hates ham), baked potatoes, honeyed carrots, a garden salad, a fruit salad, and Laurel brought lemon chiffon pie. Now remember, I don't do tablescapes and, having seen so many lovely ones this season, I am a little lot embarrassed to show you. 

~napkin rose tutorial~

My first choice would have been the pink tablecloth with my lovely green Noritake plates, but could I find the pink tablecloth? That would be no. About twenty minutes after I set the table, I found it hanging in the closet right where it belongs. This plaid springy looking one was my mother's and I always enjoyed seeing it on her table so I simply went with my everyday plates...always easier on my hands anyway.


Later in the afternoon, Laurel had planned an Easter egg hunt for the boys that culminated in finding an "X" that marked the spot where the final prize was hidden. They participated halfheartedly because they said that they were getting too old for such things. My daughter said that she might have to go home and have a good cry. She has always planned wonderful games for them and it has been a good run. They will remember them fondly, I hope.  

The remainder of the afternoon was spent playing many games of Connect 4. It was a favorite when my kids were younger and I think that it still is. The grands like it, too. 

This was a fun photo to get while Sam was waiting for his turn...Bible reading on Easter Sunday...excellent! 

All in all it was a sweet afternoon except that my daughter-in-law was home sick with strep throat. Hope that the few hours the guys were away was helpful for her. She needs her rest. I think this is the second time this season that she has had strep and Sam had it a few weeks ago. Praying that this ends the cycle for them.

Hope to visit soon. As you probably have figured out, I no longer visit each day nor do I comment on every post. It's been a good, long run. Life is getting too short to spend so much time in Blogdom. There is much to do and everything takes three times longer to do it!  Thank you for stopping by today...
Popping in another that I had forgotten to add...

This Week's Offering

Like many of you we are enjoying biding the  snow~on~daffodils weather today. It is a frustration just because we have been so thoroughly spoiled by the mildest winter in recent memory. 
Still, it is not nearly as frying as finding that my  icon blog roll took it upon itself to dump many blogs. I have been busily trying to reconstruct it. Just thought of another one! Little Birdie Blessings is gone. Coffee Tea Books and Me had been, Creekside Cottage as well...oh-oh and Hospitality Lane is another. See, I should get a list to remember them all. I used to think it was just a few and now I know that it has been several dozen. Yikes! If I am among the missing in your corner,  please ring a bell and let me know. My poor brain is just now coming out of its month long fog.
Okay, moving on. I may not have the energy it requires to explain these random photos. With the exception of the one below, they are a collection of my week.

~↑my wee house↑~

I showed my view last week, which happens to be my neighbor's home and tricked a few people into believing that that big, beautiful home is mine. Not so, this is my wee haven pictured in January from beside the flag. We never had more snow than this. There's my kitchen window and the main entry to my home because the front door is not used. 

Back inside on the kitchen windowsill...a can of herbs growing...basil just up. The fork in the tea pot is being used as my garden rake.

This is how John takes care of Daylight Savings Time. We like the additional light at the end of the day, but I know that some do not. Either way, I hope that a week of DST has helped with the adjustment. We noticed this morning that we are back on schedule after a week of being a little off.

This was my nod to St. Pat's Day. It's a

Tea-Soaked Raisin Tea Brack.

It was delicious and we really enjoyed it as toast.

By the time I return next week, Good Friday and Easter will have been honored. May you have a blessed springy week.

(Yes, some fine day, I hope to have a real post, whatever that is. )

ツ

A Nod to the Coming Season

Haven't felt like doing much for weeks now. This week, I just had to get things in gear or else St. Pat's, Easter, and spring itself might get away from me. Just popping in a few photos of the little changes I've made from winter's decor.

I never thought to use the cocoa pot for spring and summer decor before because it is, after all, a cocoa pot. 

The shamrock tea cup is one of my nods to St. Patrick's Day. I only started celebrating a little when I learned that I have a few ancestors from Ireland. Don't we all? The other is a birthday gift mug from Sam my grandson. 

Seems that Sam and his mom enjoyed a leisurely shopping experience at the local flea market that just opened in town. Sam may even have been bitten by the flea market bug. Someday, I'll take you on a tour. It's in a refurbished chicken barn.

While reading at Jane's this week, she mentioned how her husband fixed her bunny banner. I really liked it. You can find hers *here* along with other sweet spring decor.

*leaping rabbits*

~↑not my house↑~

The view just outside the dining room window. (I do love my neighbors and their house!) Spring has truly arrived early, which is very rare indeed for my corner. Is spring early in your corner, too? (Hope that mention of this does not mean an imminent snowstorm.)

The vintage photo on display this month and probably through summer. No, I have zero idea who these adorable sisters are. They remind me of my nieces. I love the 1940s outfits and hairdos. Most of all, I love the clasped hands and the obvious differences in their personalities.

It's funny, but certain faces seem to go in and out of style. You look at old photographs and everybody has a certain look to them, almost as if they're related. Look at pictures from ten years later and you can see that there's a new kind of face starting to predominate, and that the old faces are fading away and vanishing, never to be seen again.

~Alan Moore 

Personally, I think these sweet faces will never go out of style!

If all goes well today, I hope to catch up with many of you in Blogdom. I am well aware that I have been remiss. 

 

Trust

Come walk with me along a beautiful brook with lush green foliage on either bank. I have needed such a walk after this week. These are beautiful promises for those who yield to Him. Sweet and peaceful...

Comments always closed for Sunday...

A Wee Chat

Perhaps it is time for a little chat since I have nothing exciting, important or even interesting to tell you. Inspires confidence in this post, right? ☺
*****
Oh. The tooth. Such a little tooth to have caused all these troubles. I have to wait awhile because the dentist to whom I have been referred is booked for several weeks. I am going to call around and ask about prices and wait time this morning. In the meantime, I am on a second round of antibiotic and feeling nearly normal. Cost thus far? Nearly five hundred dollars and counting. <  thud  >
*****

The Easter cactus is going to bloom in plenty of  time for Easter. Always good. 
*****

Let's see, we did have a very cute and charming visitor last week. John's eldest daughter and her grandson made the trip up from Virginia to visit. You last saw them *here* and, believe it or not, that's the last time we saw them, too. (The post is dated 2013, but it was actually taken in 2011.) Needless to say, John was very happy to see his daughter after nearly five years. And to say that he thinks the world of this little fellow goes without saying as well. Yup, he was (we were) definitely smitten. ☺ John's granddaughter, this little guy's mother, is serving our country in the Middle East. 

*****

Both John and I have had birthdays in the past week. Here was a gift waiting his attention as soon as he arrived home from church. Good thing I knew what it was or I might have had to open it myself. My birthday gifts were in monetary form and they really were a blessing with the tooth. (Here's another promise...no more mention of said tooth.)

*****

Closing with my Downton Abbey thoughts...

Well it was the most disconcerting thing. Somehow I had a narrator throughout the final program. I did not like her and tried looking up how to give her the boot. Sadly, I could not figure it out so I may have missed a few things even as the narrator described every single thing. Annoying. If anyone has any experience with removing narration for the vision impaired, feel free to fill me in.

The final episode of Downton Abbey settled most scores, a remarkable feat. I will miss these characters...most of them that is...and I will miss the estate itself, which is a character all its own. (I do not envy Edith's castle...terribly austere, though the interior is nice enough.) Those closing shots were terribly poignant. And the narrator said, "fade to black."

🏰

Update

My Downton Abbey thought of the week...a howl of disbelief. Apparently, I did not get the memo that the Christmas Special would not be shown until March 6. I can tell you that seeing state championship basketball on MPBN did absolutely nothing for me. If I were not a sane person, I would have thrown something at the tv.

John, bless his heart, has been doing a lot of this tidying in the kitchen. I do wish he knew how to cook more than fried cornflakes. Our choices are so limited. I feel as if I have spent a week of nibbling on toast and slurping soup. John has eaten a lot of cornflakes, fried or otherwise. Things have improved, but have a ways to go. My jaw is so tired that I feel as if I should put it into a sling. 
Thank you so much for all your sweet comments and sympathies...most of us have been in a dental predicament at one time or another. Those of you who haven't are surely blessed. ☺
Have a blessed extra day today! What are you going to do with it?

The Puds

This probably goes without saying, but dental pain is the puds. So many have been asking about me and my being under the weather, hence this post.
* tooth began aching last Thursday * jaw began swelling on Sunday * called dentist and he said that I would need to be on antibiotics for ten days before he could help * daughter took me to my doctor nurse practitioner Monday afternoon (Obamacare for ya) * now on antibiotics for ten days
I know that Naproxen works well for dental pain; however, I am allergic to it. I tried all the usual remedies including Thieves, oil of cloves, peppermint, and vanilla. Sometimes they help. They did not in my case.
Riding to the dentist, I was chatting a bit with my daughter and sharing my concerns. I am so glad that she and my son have had excellent dental health benefiting from fluoride and regular dental visits. My sister and I, on the other hand, have been working hard to keep our teeth. I told Laurel that I have been feeling very self-conscious about my teeth for a long time and that it actually prevents me from smiling and being myself. She said, "But, Mom, sometimes the most beautiful smile comes from a person with no teeth." 

What?! Well she made me laugh and she may have a point. 
In the meantime, I look a lot like this...

and I can prove it!

Thank you so much for praying for me. I'll be glad when I can say that all this is a thing of the past.

My apologies for any strange comments you have been receiving from me. I claim this: I have not been myself. ☺

See you next week!

Of Dollies and Such

First allow me to apologize for discussing Shirley again so soon. I've been under the weather and my thinking abilities are failing me. This should teach me to have a post or two at the ready for such eventualities.

This product is what I am trying for making the fussy, fiddly clothes. It helps some, though I think that there has to be an easier way!

This is a photo of Shirley and my mother's doll. I wrongly thought that my mother's doll was also a Shirley Temple doll. She's not, she is an Effanbee Anne-Shirley doll. So interesting. Both dolls are 15 inch dolls, but have very different body types. They will not be able to share clothes.

These are Anne-Shirley's shoes and socks. Unlikely that they are original because they are so clean. Anne-Shirley has seen better days, most specifically her mohair hairdo.

Some of Shirley's clothing is very shoddily constructed. I hope to make my dolly's clothing very easy to use with open backs and snap closures. If I get good at this, John has lots of great-grandgirlies.

,

This is the fabric I hope to make Shirley a simple dress with. It seems to be the right scale and I do love yellow and the dainty rosebuds.

The little cap sleeves ready to set in.

I don't know...I may have to quit this dress and start over, which reminds me of what Lord Grantham said of Edith, "I know, but for poor old Edith, who couldn't make her dolls do what she wanted! It is rather wonderful." And I do hope he is right! Edith deserves some happiness; Mary does, too; Tom does as well. Suppose that Mr. Fellowes will marry everyone off this final season?

Piglet and Friends in a pile...
I'll be back when I have some blogging fodder and am feeling better. Have a great week!