HI everyone,
Anne, I am SO sorry for the sad news about your sweet dog. I remember you sent us pictures of walking him outside one time. It is SO hard to let them go… we’ve done it several times and it NEVER gets easy.
Thanks for all the Anniversary wishes for us and Rebecca and Karn. They will be coming soon… we called them today and they said they are trying to figure out when they can leave. I can’t wait to see them again… Someone mentioned it just seemed like a short time ago that we were decorating for their wedding… it seems like that to me too!
When I walked into the kitchen this morning, this greeted me… a dozen red roses…
AND some strawberry jam on the counter and Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream in the freezer… My hubby knows me. I LOVE buttered toast with strawberry jam… and Mint Chocolate Chip is one of my favorite ice creams.
We went to a nearby town today and just mostly window shopped… or maybe dreamed a little. We did go to Menard’s Home Store and I found some teeny tiny flat zinc washers that I can use on my magnetic doll shoe closures. I was very happy about that.
He dropped me off at the Goodwill and I found one little girls dress “for the fabric.” I’ll have to show you another time… but it’s so pretty.
We went to lunch at The Olive Garden and had Lasagna and then they gave us this Chocolate and Mousse layered dessert for free for our Anniversary.
It was kind of funny… Our waitress was very talky and found out it was our anniversary… when she asked us how many years we were celebrating, my hubby said “43!” She said, “I just had another couple in here celebrating their 54th Anniversary.”
Then when we went to Sam’s to pick up a few things, our check out lady commented on my dress… and my hubby again piped up again, “Can you believe she’s been with me for 43 years? It’s our Anniversary and she was hoping someone would like her dress!” The check out lady said, “I just had another couple come through a little while ago and they were celebrating their 54th Anniversary!” We laughed because we knew it must have been the couple from The Olive Garden.
We didn’t get home until 7:30 so we must have had a good time… We did!
Well, I guess the purse was an okay choice for everyone (except for maybe Barbara… she was rooting for a school bag! Sorry… maybe next time.) I sealed all the purse edges and the strap again so it’s totally finished now…
I also fixed something on Stella’s jumper… remember how I had the cream colored lace on the inside of the hem on Stella’s jumper. I didn’t have any other choice because of the way I had to put the jumper together…. I didn’t like that little portion of the cream lace showing on the very edge of the inside of the jumper. It really wasn’t noticeable, but it bugged me… you’ll see what I did when you see my pictures.
The lace only showed a little bit but it looked like this…
But if you pulled it back only slightly you could see that it was cream… and not compatible with the jumper colors at all.
The other side of the jumper lace looked like this… not really a problem…
…because when it was folded over it was underneath the top piece.
Here is where I angled the corner of the fabric and brought it to a point, pressed it well, and then restitched my cream lace about an inch from the edge…
It’s under there, but not close to the edge…
Viola!!! Mission Accomplished!
Linda and Susette sent me some new pictures, but I will have to wait and show them on Monday! Maybe I’ll get Stella’s dress listed over the weekend! Keep a look out!
Thanks everyone,
Have a great weekend.
Blessings, Jeanne
I did comment on some of the replies on yesterday’s blog, including Anne’s post about her dear little dog. I’m so sorry, Anne!
Well, I would say that George is definitely a keeper, Jeanne! He knows exactly what you love! He must have been out and about early this morning to have that ice cream in the freezer! That’s not something you can hid in the trunk of your car overnight (unless it’s January or something….)!
Wow, that dessert looks fabulous!! Hm, I think I need to go to Olive Garden pretty soon!
Oh, yes, I see what you mean about the lace binding, and that was a great fix, and solved the problem without too much effort. Yay team!
Our grandson Isaac will be here tomorrow later in the afternoon, and we’ll go out for supper together. He goes back to Missouri on Tuesday, so I’m hoping maybe I’ll get to see him at least once more after that, before he leaves. Ron left his Bible to Isaac, so I will give that to him, as well as Ron’s large rolling duffle; Isaac still has a bunch of stuff to transport back home that he left out here at a friend’s house when he was living out here a while back. It’s been nice having him around the last week or so. He came out specially for “granddad’s” funeral (He’s the only one who calls Ron that; the others call him Grandpa.)
Charlotte, how lovely to have your grandson visiting, he sounds like a really loving guy.
What a wonderful grandson. I have one of those too. He’s only 14 but when I need him to do something for me he does it to the best of his ability and then some. He’s now old enough to work some with his dad. Before he went back to school he did a couple A/C changeouts with him and then helped him with refurbishing the outside of the mobile home Jason lives in. He’s a great kid and I tell him that all the time. His smile gets bigger when I tell him that.
Dear Charlotte, it is so nice to hear that your grandson came to visit with you. He sounds like a very special young man.
Jeanne, you are still “the one” for George, and, it certainly shows! He loves to make you feel special and what a sweet way to do it, starting with the roses and ice cream! Oh my, that cake! What a wonderful day you had! Onward to 44!
Redoing the edge was perfect for fixing the jumper! Only a perfectionist would think of doing that, and a perfectionist you are, Jeanne! Stella looks just darling in that jumper,
and poor girl, she certainly won’t be wearing it for long!
It’s so nice that Issac was able to be with you for awhile, Charlotte, and I’m sure it meant as much to him as it does to you. What a wonderful grandson you have!
Jeanne, I loved reading about your day with George and also his sweet gifts. How fun that Y’all were following the other folks enjoying their anniversary!
I am sure that your new outfit for Stella will be very popular. You are always determined to have every thing just right.
Yesterday I made 11 jars of Muscadine grape jam. These grapes only grow in the southeast. They have thick red-purple skin and the pulp pops out with its seeds inside when you squeeze the skins. I love making jam, as we have it for breakfast every day except when we go to the Dr. or to the Y in the mornings.
Have a great weekend every one!
Very interesting about the grape jam. I’m curious. So, any tips for making this? Do you mash the grapes? Because, we have an old Concord grape vine that has some grapes this year as well. Usually, a varment gets them first, but I was able to pick some yesterday and want to try to make some grape jelly. I’ve found a few recipes, but I kind of glaze over as it looks so hard. Thanks for any help.
My grandmother had Concord Grape vines in her yard and made jelly from them every year. But it was a process and my Aunt Jackie would come over and help her. They would also make Crabapple jelly with apples from a tree my grandmother had in her front yard.
I’ve seen a couple of recipes, but probably don’t have enough grapes. The birds like them too.
Joy, have company this weekend so I haven’t been on the group. As for the grapes, even if you make just one jar that is nice to have. Just pick a recipe, measure what you have and change the recipe amounts to fit it. Here is my email if you need more help. I don’t seem to find an email for you. marshrat@darientel.net
Glad Jeanne, had a fun anniversary. Nice flowers.
The fix on the jumper shows a very nice way of finishing. I really have forgotten about hem tape/lace. My grandmother always used it. Definitely could be used for those tricky hems. I usually just fold the hem over and sew down. The lazy way I guess, but this looks so nicely finished. 🙂
Hope everyone has a delightful weekend.
I am so happy both of you had a wonderful day.
Your dear hubbs put so much effort in creating some special surprises for both of you
to enjoy. Thank you for sharing your anniversary adventure.
Stella’s jumper looks great.
I really enjoy reading everyone’s comments and news!!
Happy Friday and Happy Week-end
Sounds like you and George had a lovely anniversary. Too funny about you following in the footsteps of the couple celebrating their 54th anniversary. I think David’s parents were at around 65 years when he passed away. I like your gifts. And that dessert looks absolutely delicious. We haven’t been to Olive Garden in years. We tried to go to a new one in our area a few times before COVID and it was always packed so we went somewhere else. Haven’t tried again since they reopened. We would probably need to go for lunch on a weekday rather than try Sunday after church. We don’t usually get dessert except when we go to Taste of Texas for our anniversary and we get a complimentary dessert, but the one you showed would be worth buying and taking home to eat later.
Good save on the hem lace. That would have bothered me too. I did a dress for my Dumpling Lolla where I serged the edge of the ruffle in white and then hemmed it. The dress was green and the white serging is driving me nuts. Since I got my new serger where it is actually fun to change colors, I’m actually thinking of taking it all out and serging the bottom of the ruffle with green. I’m trying to decide if it’s worth the effort but there is no way it doesn’t show either when she’s sitting or standing and my eyes seem to get stuck on it. I just finished Cindy Ella’s dress, and I’ve run into some of the same thing. The main fabric is a pretty brown with three shades of autumn maple leaves. It has a front panel of a salmon-like color. When I hemmed it in brown it shows on the panel and it bugs me. When I make “people” clothes I always hand hem everything and would change colors for a front panel but I’m not sure I want to pull out the hem. I’ve already decided to redo the button embellishment arrangement. I seem to make sewing even the simplest dress complicated.
Anne, I was so sorry to hear about the loss of your furry family member. We had a similar thing happen with a kitty we had one time. He was beautiful. He became lethargic so we took him to the vet and discovered he had a blood infection and we had him put to sleep that day. It was quite a shock. Prayers for you to find peace.
Since we have some on here with Dutch connections I thought I’d share mine – or rather David’s. There is Dutch ancestry in his family. His ancestors were settlers to New Amsterdam. Their farm was on the site of what is today New York University and included Greenwich Village.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. For the first time in months I’m actually looking forward to ours. We’re supposed to have a front come through and it’s expected to hang around for a few days. Once they start coming we do not usually have summer temps any longer. But the real cooler stuff will not show up until around November, but even lowering the humidity here would be most welcome.
Greetings dear friends, I figured I would read the comments from yesterday and I was very happy I did!!
Laura, Sissy, Ingrid and Barbara! I hope I got all of you correctly.
Thank you so much for your sweet comments.
Firstly, I think all of us have a memory from September 11, and in all cases they are feelings of sadness. I am lucky my hubbs came home. I wanted to add, but thought is was too weird, I will will today. I tried to call my husband several times right away, on the home phone and my little cell phone. I never got through but I did leave messages. as each minute passed I got more anxious. He did finally call me at….can’t remember, I think before lunch, he sounded very strange, like someone I had never heard before. He was in absolute shock. He sounded very matter of fact, and laughing a bit. He was with coworkers and they were going out for lunch. I did not like the sound of his voice and insisted that he get in the car and come home now!! Of course, that would have been impossible because every major road was clogged with cars. He came home later finally I guess around 7:00pm, the traffic. I know he was not trying to reassure me with his words, I know he was in absolute distress. I was just sort of comfortable knowing he was with co workers.
Anyway. My parents. My father has traced his family all the way back to the 1600’s
He started this tracing when he was a kid, because his cousin was older and had been working on something similar. So my dad thought this was a great idea. Back then, all birth and death records were in churches, so these were easy to find. All of the tracings went all the way back to, for my father, Gildehaus and Veenedaal, and Rotterday. My mothers side of the family traced all the way back to Serooskerke, Haamstede, Niewekerk, and Kerkwewe, even St. Annaland, and Berge. However the very very first of my father’s ancestors came from Guidehaus. All Dutch people.
Mom and dad met and married after WW2. My dad was a super smart guy and was an accountant that the business eventually offered him a job in New York.
Life is crazy. The first plane they were supposed to take crashed, they missed it for some reason, I have written somewhere but the next week, they took that place to New York. They love it, stayed for many years, I have all of the addresses, photos of houses.
Writing this now makes my heart swell. I had the very best parents. I was so lucky to kidnap them from Maryland and bring them to Virginia in 2013. Mom had had a stroke and her recovery was not going well at all. They day they moved into their cute little apartment in Virginia, right down the street from my house, like 1/2 mile, mom was improving. That is a long story. Anyway, I took care of them since then. It changed my life. Now daddy is gone, and I am loving staying home and doing nothing or what ever I want. I miss my parents, but they lived actively until 2016 for mom age 92, and 2023 for daddy at 99 and a half.
We traveled everywhere, my dad took over seas jobs because the American workers did not like travel. so, I am really from nowhere. I was born in a hospital in New Jersey.
This is getting too long.
I am going to go into the basement and look for doll clothes now.
Just so you know, downsizing for a move is just exhausting and not fun. I make little goals for every day, minimal goals. Hey, if it is throwing away 5 things, or transferring a bag of things to the living room for charity, I think that is a big accomplishment. haha
My house is stuffed. I have a lot of mom and dad’s treasures too.
I hope you enjoyed reading this, and thank you for inquiring. I am so happy to share, I know all of you have incredible stories as well. Goodness, we would write books!
Dear Jeanne, thanks for sharing your story with us. I love hearing how couples celebrate. Since my husband is only imaginary, we don’t get to celebrate much (laugh).
I love the story about the other anniversary couple. How wonderful that you were “following” in their footsteps, literally.
Rosemary, I enjoyed reading a little of your family history. I was born in New Jersey, too, in Hackensack, but we lived in Ridgefield Park, where my dad’s first pastorate was. Then to Wisconsin, Michigan, and finally the Seattle area. However I have always considered myself a Michigander and, specifically, a Yooper (someone from the U.P., or Upper Peninsula of Michigan). I go back whenever I can. It’s been 7 years now.
And I am pure Swedish! My parents, on trips to Sweden in the 1970s/80s, traced our lineage back to the late 1500s (I think). I always say, I’m as Swedish as you can be without being actually born in Sweden!!