The Winter View

I've published this view in spring and fall. Here is the winter view. It melted in one morning. But it was very pretty while it lasted.


The other day I snapped this picture of the lion lying down with the lamb. Question is, did the lion know the lamb was there? I don't know, but I thought I should capture this moment for posterity:




Below is a picture of the new heater for my chilly annex. It is so cute, like a little radiator! But best of all, it works! The coldest room in the house can now be comfortable.

Okay, not a thrilling picture, I know. But warmth is very exciting!

Tomorrow I head down to real warmth -- I will be in Florida for the next two weeks. Wish I could snap my fingers and be there, but Nancy and I are driving -- a 12-hour trip in one day. I'll try to snap some fun pictures on the way down.

It's Been Almost a Month...

With so many other tributes out there -- much better than I can do -- I've been struggling with what to say about Grace Ann's passing on January 4. When I looked at the calendar and realized it's been almost a month, I realized I had to add my few words to the many already spoken and written about her.

Grace Ann started coming around my house when she was fourteen. She was a "friend" of my sons' good friend Gabe -- at that time she seemed to switch from friend to girlfriend to friend -- but she was always there. Years later, when Grace and Gabe were married, Grace became close to my son Andrew's fiance, Abbi. She was matron of honor at Andrew and Abbi's wedding.

I have always been grateful that my kids have had such good friends. Among them, Grace was special. She seemed to have an unquenchable spirit, a gift for fun and for compassion. She approached life with humor, enthusiasm, and, yes, grace.

It was a horrible shock for all of us when she was diagnosed with brain cancer.

But, you know, we all thought she was going to beat it -- even though the odds against it were tremendous. She seemed to defy all the experts. And through it all, I never saw her zest for life diminish. If anything, she sparkled even more -- her love for her family and friends were her guilding light. And everyone who loved her was blessed to have her.

Saying good-bye to Grace was inexpressibly sad, but it was also a celebration of a life well-lived. I know she will be mourned, but she will also live on because so many were touched by her. I am very grateful that my family was among them.

Christmas in Florida

Who says if you have Christmas in Florida, you can't have a nice tree? Couldn't resist shooting a picture of a live oak with Spanish moss outside the courthouse in Arcadia.

Why was I at a courthouse in Arcadia? Well, while I was in Florida, Uncle Dan and Aunt Rosie had an accident -- a little scary, but no serious injuries. We were at the courthouse to file some papers.

Not much to see, but here is a picture of the scene of the accident:

Uncle Dan had accidently turned into the wrong lane of a divided highway, not realizing, from his vantage point, that it was divided. His car is totaled, but we are so thankful he and Rosie are okay. I hear they now have a new (to them) red Impala!

That was the most dramatic event of Christmas, but the sweetest was the visit from Morgan -- oh yes, Andrew and Abbi came along, too!


Here's Morgan with a book shortly before he conked out for a nap. By the way, his shirt says "My Dad ROCKS."

Other highlights --

On the way down, Nancy and I stopped in Madison, Georgia, for lunch. Here is Nancy at a very cool little restaurant called O'Hara's:

I also encountered not one but TWO princesses in Florida!

Hadley and Imogen happily modeled their Disney finery for me.













And I had a great lunch at Phillipi Creek Oyster Bar in Sarasota with a great bunch of people:



Clockwise:

Tatumn, Andrew, Hadley, Morgan, Abbi, Imogen. My nephew Eric was smart enough to stay out of the picture.

Abbi and I split and shared entrees of blackened grouper and coconut shrimp. MMMMmmmmm.


All too soon it was time to go home again!

Kodi

Many of you know I lost my longtime friend and companion, my dog Kodi, this past Thanksgiving Day. After many months of progressive stiffness and painful walking, he was finally unable to get up that day. A visit to the emergency vet confirmed that his hip was displaced and there was nothing to be done but to put him down.


He was 14 1/2, and had lived long past his expiration date. Yet, he was still a puppy in his attitude and love of life. He continued to have a big, big heart, and delightedly played with his toys until the end. He would stockpile them and guard them between his legs, a big, goofy smile on his face.


I will miss him terribly. I still catch myself thinking I see him out of the corner of my eye, or hear his collar jingling.


Kodi never took a good picture. He almost always barked at the camera, and his eyes always glowed like a wolf's in the flash. So pictures don't do him justice. He was a mutt, probably with some husky/shepherd background -- but people used to stop me on the street to tell me how beautiful he was and ask about his breed.

Kodi loved me, but his loved his boys like nobody else:

And he loved to sneak up on the couch, where he wasn't allowed, and then look at you with this "Who, me?" look.



In his last year he got to know his dog "cousins" and enjoyed hanging out with them, especially Archie, his soulmate:

Ah, why do dogs have such short lives? I'll never know, but I know it has been a privilege to be his "mommy" for fourteen years, and he'll live in my heart as long as I do.

It's almost Christmas!

This is my skinny Charlie Brown Christmas tree, which I bought at a garage sale for $8. Loaded with all my ornaments, it looks pretty good. And the yellow room likes Christmas. It is glowing!

Last Spring I posted pictures of my view from the porch. Just thought it would be nice to post the same view in autumn:

Magnificent, no?

Of course now it is quite bare and gray, and it's been raining nonstop. Would prefer a little snow at this point.

Well, on to news. I recently wrapped up another trip to the Midwest, first stopping in Lafayette, where I met my friends Betty and Linda for lunch at Jane's Deli.

This is the Library School Carpool Alumni group. We have been meeting for lunch since the early nineties, when we all finished our library degrees at IU. None of us are librarians any more, but we've all done some time in the stacks.

I also had great visits with my friend Deb, and my friends at my old office at Purdue.

Then it was on to Chicago! First on the agenda was Morgan's second birthday party.

Here he is posing with all his packages beforehand -- not yet dressed, and without a clue about what was to happen! Oh, and don't be alarmed about the busted lip. He took a running fall a few nights before his party and visited the ER. But it looked worse than it was!

He soon caught on to what birthdays are all about! Notice the nifty two-handed toy-playing technique.

Mommy made the house so pretty!

Link enjoyed the decorations, too.

Naturally, there was birthday cake -- this one shaped like a cow to go with the farm theme. Morgan blew his candles out twice -- once was not enough! It was a great day, for Morgan and everyone.

The best part of this trip was having time with BOTH sons in the same city! Here are Brian and Kristen at Portillo's Hot Dogs -- where the parking costs more than lunch!

Later in the week I was treated to lunch at Brian's place of business, Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab. Yes, that's really the name, but the sign just says:

Here is Brian in his fancy uniform, on his way to work:

And here are the three of us enjoying dessert after an elegant lunch at Joe's.

The food was great! And Johnny, if you're reading this, I want you to know we DID take away a doggy bag, but ended up giving it to a guy who introduced himself as a "homeless dude." I hope he enjoyed it as much as we did.

Other activities included a cold trip to the park with Andrew and Morgan:

A cold visit to Michigan Avenue for the Festival of Lights:

A cold ride on the el:
Did I mention it was cold?

One evening we all got together at Brian's apartment for pizza, and I took the opportunity to get a group picture. We drew the curtains for a real "studio" shot:

But Morgan wasn't in the mood.

"Okay, I'll smile a little bit."


"That's it, I'm outta here!"

I finished up my trip with Thanksgiving in Holland. I didn't get many pictures -- I was having too much fun. Between the eating, the card games and the thrift-store shopping, it was a blast. And for some reason, Brian was wearing earrings?

Oh yeah, goofing around for Gretel and Bridget. I promised him this would end up on the blog!

If anyone is still reading, thanks for sticking with this long post! Trust me, there was SO much more I could have added, so consider yourself lucky!

Our Booth

During the last week of August, Nancy and I opened up our own antique booth in a store called Needful Things. The pictures above show how it looked right after we moved in.

The pictures below show how it looks now:

Hmmm--- Notice how it is getting fuller rather than emptier? What a strange phenomenon. I swear, we ARE selling things.

We are stocking the booth by going to garage sales. Here is an example of our "haul" one day last month:

See that glass egg plate on the near left? We bought it for $1 and sold it for $10. A few days later, there it was in a neighboring booth, priced at $14.95. Guess we are in the middle of the food chain!

In other news, a few days ago Nancy, Sharon and I did our civic duty and voted early. We still had to stand in line (outside), but it was a pretty day. Here are Nancy and Sharon outside the polling place:

Any guesses how Sharon voted? We voted in the Village of Flat Rock, which is VERY Republican -- however, we did find some fellow Democrats in line. If there are Democrats in Flat Rock, there is hope!

Okay, okay!

I WILL update my blog, even though my life is totally boring. Sorry it has been so long. I was going to give it up, but I am so touched that Abbi put a link on hers -- so update I must!

In June I adopted Brian's cat Mysterie (she's the black & white), and got a cool new kitty door that actually fits in the window. That way Captain and Mysterie can go outdoors without going into the fenced back yard where the dogs roam!

Just for the record, Captain and Mysterie still hate each other.



Also in June, we (Judy, Nancy, Sharon, Hu, Susan and I) went to the Flat Rock Theater to see "Meet Me in St. Louis." All those people walking around in front of it are strangers. But that is us below:

In July I went to Chicago to see my kids. Got there just in time for Hadley's birthday party. Morgan was HUGELY entertained by her whistle-thingy!

And I went to a cookout at Brian & Kristen's new Chicago apartment. Here they are -- dancing? No, I think they are telling someone how to open the door.


In August my family came to North Carolina! Mark & Tressa, Kathy, Peter, Johnny, Mattie, Jeff, Max, Maggie, Uncle Dan and Aunt Rosie ALL made the trip. It was a great weekend, but I didn't get a decent picture of anyone. This is the Carl Sandburg house, which we toured. It took a pretty good picture!

I would tell you more -- but right now Blogger is not uploading my pictures. So -- guess I will have to update again soon!