This Summer…

 

Where has this summer gone?  The days have raced by faster and faster and we are already looking at September tomorrow.  Schools have all started here but it will still feel like summer for at least another month.

So, what’s been going on here?  Earlier this month my granddaughter, Annika, spent the night with me just so we could spend some time together catching up.  Even though she is 25, we have always been close and can easily talk all night (which we did!).  Annika enjoys old movies so I introduced her to a really old one, but a classic: Arsenic and Old Lace.  This was released in 1944, stars Cary Grant and was directed by the famous Frank Capra.  It is a classic black and white comedy and one of my favorite old movies.  Many of you have probably seen this movie but if not and you like classic comedies from the 1940s, it is worth seeing!

We all had a bit of a scare several weeks ago when my 19-year-old grandson, Gavin, got sick with Covid.  This new Delta variant is all over the place here and spreading like crazy.  It’s almost worse here now than it was last year since this one is so much more contagious.  We are very grateful that although Gavin was pretty sick for a couple of weeks, he did not have to go to the hospital.  He is doing better now and has been back at work for almost two weeks.  He still doesn’t have his taste back and is not feeling his best just yet, but he’s getting there.  I am so thankful he is doing better!

I had my 69^th birthday on August 9^th.  (It seems impossible that I am nearly 70!)  Since Gavin had been sick and quarantined, I celebrated it late with my son Chris’ family this past Saturday.  I keep telling my kids that my favorite gift is simply to be able to spend a little time with them!  We had a wonderful dinner out and then went to Chris and Kristi’s house for cake and gifts.  I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with Chris, Kristi, Gavin, Annika and Nick (Annika’s boyfriend).

Left to Right: Gavin, Annika, Nick, Tom, Me, Kristi

 

Kristi, Chris and me

Well, this has been my August other than some usual medical appointments and such for Tom and myself.  Except for Gavin getting sick, it has been a good month overall.  I hope all of you are well and enjoying the final days of summer.  Take good care and thank you for your friendship even though I am not the most frequent blogger!

 

Cold Weather, Birthdays and Birds

Last week I wrote about how so many of us were headed into the deep freeze with all this cold weather.  Well, I guess we got there because temperatures have continued to go down in many parts of the U.S. and many other countries as well.  It is currently 0 degrees F here and was below 0 last night.  I’m not complaining though because I have friends in Minnesota and Canada that have temps of -40!   

We braved the cold last night to celebrate my granddaughter’s 25^th birthday.  Originally, we were going to do that last weekend but heavy snow postponed the celebration a week.  We met at a popular Indian Restaurant for dinner and then went to my son’s house for a bit.  It was wonderful to see family as that is a very rare occurrence these days.  We will be fortunate to see everyone again next week as we will be celebrating my grandson’s 19^th birthday.  Gavin and Annika have birthdays that are less than two weeks apart making February a big birthday month for our family! 

I always feed the birds here but in this extremely cold weather I try to have a little extra for them.  We get a nice variety of birds year-round so today I thought I would try to get a few pictures.

 

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day today!  Tom gave me some chocolate covered strawberries and a beautiful red rose!  Have a good week everyone!

 

A Cold and Snowy Weekend

 

Like many other areas, we have headed into the deep freeze for the next week!  Our high today was 15 Fahrenheit and that is about the warmest we will be for at least a week.  We’ve also had snow today and expect more over the next several days.  It is February after all and such weather is expected, so we will just hunker down at home.  I’ll make some homemade soup and may even start a new jigsaw puzzle.   

I had my first appointment with my new doctor this past week.  I like him and he seems to be a good doctor.  There’s just one thing, he appears to be younger than my kids!  I know, as we get older that happens but it just seems so, so weird!  Is it just me or does anyone else feel that way?

Last week my granddaughter, Annika had a birthday.  She turned 25.  How does that happen so fast?  We were supposed to celebrate with her at my son’s house Saturday night but they rescheduled due to the snow.  Maybe next weekend. 

As you can see there’s nothing too exciting around here right now.  Well, maybe one thing.  Our local football team, The Chiefs, are playing in the Super Bowl again tonight.  I am really not a sports fan but it’s hard to live in the middle of “Chiefs Country” and not be a bit of a fan.  Their stadium is about 15 miles from our house and we are surrounded by fans here.  Tom loves all football but especially our local team.  He is really excited about the Super Bowl and is planning on making his “once a year nachos” for the game.  I call his nachos that because they are not the healthiest and reserved for special occasions! 

I hope everyone is well, happy and staying warm!

Happy Halloween!

We used to celebrate Halloween every year.  Before I retired I worked in a medical office where we all dressed up in costumes and celebrated at the office.  That was fun finding different costumes to wear each year.  And of course when our two sons were young we enjoyed helping them with costumes and taking them trick or treating and to other holiday activities.  Then when our two grandchildren came along they would often come out to show us their costumes and trick or treat in our neighborhood.  It was fun for them to trick or treat in the same neighborhood that their Dad had lived in as a child.  

We had to carve a Jack-O-Lantern!

These days even our two grandchildren are grown so we have no little ones celebrating.  But we still enjoy our many memories of happy times spent with our children and grandchildren.  With no new Halloween pictures I thought I would post a few memories from Halloween 2004.

Our Grandson Gavin was a Hobbit, complete with sword and toothbrush!  And following the theme of the night our Granddaughter Annika was Arwen from The Lord of the Rings.

We feel blessed to have celebrated many fun holidays with our family.  I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend whether you celebrate Halloween or not!

The Butterfly Bush

When my granddaughter Annika was very young she, along with her parents and younger brother, moved into a house they had purchased.  While she was playing in her new backyard, she discovered a beautiful shrub that her mother told her was a butterfly bush.  She was fascinated by the fact that there would be a plant just for butterflies. 

                                                        Butterfly Bush

I must tell you at this point that our family has always been great pranksters.  Joking around with one another has been a good-natured source of much fun and happiness in a well-meaning way that we all understand.  Annika, like most children, was a child full of curiosity and questions.  The butterfly bush was something new to her that raised many questions in her curious mind.  In his usual serious but joking manner, my son told her that if you left a slice of bread on the butterfly bush and came back later the butterflies would have buttered the bread for you.  Well, you can imagine what this did to the imagination of a child!  Annika immediately ran to the kitchen, got a slice of bread and ran out to place the bread carefully on the butterfly bush.  She then came in and went to her room to play while she waited to see what would happen.

Yes, you guessed it, this was more than her parents could stand and one of them went outside with some butter and buttered that piece of bread that Annika had left on the butterfly bush. 

Later in the day Annika went outside to check on the bread.  You can imagine her excitement when she discovered the bread had indeed been buttered!  She was thrilled and brought it in to show her parents.  I’m sure she enjoyed that piece of buttered bread more than any other bread she had ever eaten!

Now of course they later explained to her that it was them and not the butterflies that had buttered the bread.  She understood and laughed along with them, even though she had enjoyed the temporary thrill of believing the butterflies had buttered her bread!  Our family will now always tell the story of “The Butterfly Bush”!

 

                                                        Annika & Gavin

Fourth of July Through the Years

Now that our boys and our grandchildren are grown we don't do much to celebrate Independence Day.  However, when they were young we always had a big family celebration.  Everyone would come over to our house and we would make homemade ice cream, have watermelon and barbecue something special to have for dinner along with homemade potatoe salad and lots of other goodies.  One of the highlights of the day was the fireworks.  There would be a few special daytime fireworks for the kids such as parachute rockets and poppers, all done safely by an adult.  When it got dark we lined up our outdoor chairs in the front yard to watch the nighttime fireworks.  Most of our neighbors also did fireworks so we all got to enjoy a shared neighborhood show. 

1998 - Annika testing out the homemade ice cream

2001 - Tom spraying the ribs with apple juice as they were being smoked

2003 - Gavin gets his first taste of barbecued ribs

2008 - Annika, her friend Becka and Gavin enjoy watermelon

2016 - Shish Kebabs on the grill

 

We don't do a big celebration any longer since it will just be Tom and myself here.  I do plan on having watermelon though as that is my holiday favorite!  We will also grill some steaks and have a nice dinner tonight.  Today is also a special day for my older brother, Charlie, as it is his 80th birthday!  Happy Birthday Charlie!

Happy Independence Day to all who celebrate it!

A Busier Week

For the most part things have been moving fairly slowly around here.  Last week did seem to be busier for a variety of reasons.  I finally made us some masks to wear when we buy groceries.  Since I make quilts, I have lots of fabric scraps to choose from for making masks and I wanted to make a special one for my husband, Tom.  He has always been a superhero fan having grown up on Marvel and DC comics.  Even today he never misses any of the movies about those popular characters.  So, I made him a mask from some Marvel characters fabric. 

                                                                                                                             

We were also busy getting my old Honda Civic cleaned up to loan to my granddaughter, Annika.  She was in a car accident recently when someone ran a stoplight and hit her and then drove off.  Luckily, she was okay although I know she had to be pretty sore as it totaled her car.  It makes me so mad that this was a hit and run accident!  I just don’t understand some people.  Annika is still working despite the pandemic and has to have a car to get to work and back home.  She was hoping to buy one and looked at several but could not find what she wanted that was also in her price range.  I have a very old Honda Civic that I had not been driving much since we usually use my husband’s Toyota.  Despite the age of the Honda it is still in good running condition.  I spent a little time getting it emptied out of my belongings and we cleaned it up inside and out for her.  She still wants to get a newer car but this will give her the time she needs to look for one and also save up a bit more money.  I was happy to know I could do something to help her out as she has had a run of bad luck recently.  My son Chris (Annika’s Dad) brought her out Sunday to pick up the car.  It was such a treat to get to spend a little time with them both as we had not seen any family since the pandemic started.  We stayed outside and followed social distancing because she has been around many people in her job.  But let me tell you, it sure was hard to not be able to give both her and my son a big hug!      

  

We finished the week off with another trip to the grocery store.  You know I always have hated buying groceries but I swear, since this pandemic started, I now hate that job even more than before!  It was our luck that just when we came out of the store with a cart full of groceries it started pouring rain.  By the time we got home and got everything in the house every bag was soaked. 

I’m glad last week is behind us now and because I’d like to end this on a happier note, I will leave you with a couple of pictures of my two sweet cats.  They each send you lots of purrs and cuddles.

Zeus

Sophie

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has an enjoyable Easter.  It will be different this year for most of us.  But that doesn't mean we can't celebrate what this day means to us personally.  Those that wish to can still attend virtual church services.  We can visit with family by phone or some form of internet FaceTime.  And the young ones that are in isolation with their parents can still have Easter egg hunts in their home or yard.  This is a good time for us to appreciate the many blessings we do have in our lives and to realize that maybe we are each a little stronger than we thought we were when we first got hit with this pandemic. 

When I was growing up Easter was special church services, baskets filled with treats and of course Easter egg hunts.  I always got a new outfit to wear to church on Easter Sunday.  Back in the 1950s that outfit included a hat, white gloves and sometimes even new patent leather shoes to go with the dress.  I didn't get new clothes very often, but I always did for Easter Sunday. 

Easter 1956

Many of my Easter traditions were continued with my two sons and then later with my two grandchildren.  The children would have Easter baskets and of course many egg hunts both inside and outside.  We would all share a big dinner and enjoy a day of family time together.

My Granddaughter Annika

My Grandson Gavin

My sons and my grandchildren are grown now so even if we were able to spend the holiday together there would not be the egg hunts and some of the other activities we enjoyed when they were young.  But we will talk on the phone at least and I will make sure they all know they are loved and cherished just as much today as when they were little.  We may be living in this crazy pandemic world of isolation but I hope we will all remember that what really counts is what is in our heart and we can still reach out to our loved ones in different ways.

Happy Easter to all my very special friends and thank you all for being there!   

A New Week

I can not tell you how happy I am to see a new week!  I am in hopes of getting back into a more normal routine after dealing with my husband’s flu all last week.  He is not yet 100% but he is improving and much better than he was at this time last week.

We celebrated a family birthday yesterday.  My beautiful granddaughter, Annika, actually turns 24 today but we celebrated yesterday.  I can not believe I have a grandchild that is 24!  Those years pass by so quickly.  She is a wonderful, loving and kind young lady and we are very proud of her!

My lovely granddaughter, Annika

We are also very happy today because our local Kansas City Chiefs football team actually won the Super Bowl last night!  We live in the heart of the Chiefs Kingdom and it would be an understatement to say most everyone around here is a major fan.  Even watching the game from home last night there were many fireworks going off with each score and when we won the game it was like the Fourth of July around here with fireworks and excitement going late into the night.  Wednesday there will be a big parade in Kansas City and all the area schools and many businesses are closed for a day of celebration.  As I’ve said before, I am not a huge sports fan, but when you live here you can’t help but be a Chief’s fan! 

I am hoping to get a little better about blogging as I feel like I have gotten off to a very slow start.  I’m still learning as I go, but I follow so many excellent blogs and I consider them all to be great examples.  I may soon have a post about a new type of jigsaw puzzle I have started.  It is a mystery/escape puzzle and totally new to me so I’ll let you know how it goes!

Take care everyone!