Sunday, October 28, 2012

Home from the sunny south ...

What a week!  Wendell and I left for FL on the 16th and had a good trip down with beautiful fall foliage to see in KY and TN.  But, next time we fly and rent a car there ...  One low spot; we HAPPENED to be going through Gainesville and drove right through the campus just in time for students streaming to an FSU home game.  ARGH!  And guess who was driving!?  You gotta laugh ...Weather was beautiful all the time we were gone until the last afternoon as we approached home.  (Omen?)

This was my favorite part of the trip: We spent Sunday with my cousin Jane.  We agreed that we probably hadn't seen each other in at least 30 years.  So much catching up to do!!!!  Not enough time!  Wendell took countless pictures and none of them turned out good of me ... I take a terrible picture!  But here's my favorite of Jane and I ...

Jane has such a lovely home!  And it is made more special with all of her NASCAR memorabilia.  Just situated in a wonderful setting and so comfortable.  She has made a real HOME there.  Port Orange seems like a great place to live.  We had a delicious lunch out with Jane and Cregg.  (Their story is so romantic!  High school sweethearts recently reunited after too many years apart.  I am so happy for Jane; she deserves many years of happiness!)   The day was not long enough.

We went on to Orlando and stayed in a condo for 4 days.  It was so beautiful.  I never want to cook or clean again.  LOL!  Here's a view from our building overlooking the lagoon.  Everything was so perfect.  I don't know why, but it is so green it looks artificial.  They had a little open-air pub at the end of this lagoon (stage left) and we spent some time there ...

And here's a picture taken from the fishing dock.  I don't know why but Wendell never went fishing here!?  He had his gear with him, too.  The day I took this picture we watched a man from WI catch an alligator gar!  Awesome mouth on that dude!  About 2' long I'd say. 

One day we drove out to the coast and drove around the Cape Canaveral area, where we lived when we were stationed at Patrick A.F.B.   Our old apartment was still there at 212 E. Buchanan and other than a fresh coat of paint, nothing looked too different.  Here's Wendell on the beach, just at the end of our old street.  Actually, I never thought I would ever get back there.  Lots of changes in the area ...


Only downer was that while we were gone Mother had to be admitted to the hospital.  I was on pins and needles all the time after Don called (we were on our way back from the beach), waiting to hear about how she was doing.  We came home a little more quickly than we had planned.  But that is okay.  God took care of us as we traveled speedily back to Indiana Thursday afternoon and Friday.  And it was good to sleep in my own bed again.  

Now that we're here it's back to reality.  I'm off to see mother a.s.a.p. ...

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A tea party ...

The Owen County Extension Homemakers had a wonderful tea this a.m.!  I am sooooo glad I went!  Our new county president hosted it with lots of help along the way from some very creative women who decorated for the event.  And our speaker was just great.  Meeghan had spent two years in England with her family and told us all about what it was like living there.  She had some excellent stories.  And oh yes, tea is very important there!

I took LOTS of pix but here are a few ... I was really hung up on the table decorations as you can see, so I took pictures of every table, but I'll only bore you with a few ...

Each table had a centerpiece vignette centered on a hat.  Everyone was asked to wear "unique" hats and carry or wear gloves.

Barbara Jordan of Spencer did these centerpieces. She is a very creative woman.

Each table had six places set and two plates of tea cakes.  (Delicious!)

At each place was a little journal, cake-in-a-cup mix, M&Ms, and the program printed on a cut-out of a tea pot.

Various flavors of tea were at the table in a fabric-wrapped basket.

Barbara Tuttle's mother has a huge collection of tea cups and everyone had their own unique cup and saucer!  She also has a collection of tea pots and each table was brought a pot of boiling water for tea making.
Everyone was encouraged to wear hats and gloves.  Here I am in mine -- a hard hat with flower and work gloves with some rhinestone bling.  (With my eyes closed of course.  Usually I have my mouth open AND my eyes closed ...)

Our very worthy Prez, Barbara T., greeting people at the door.  She chose a witch's hat; pun intended Barbara?

Oh my!  It was a great day.  Now I'm home and have to get back to reality.  Sigh ...

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Finally ...

At 9:45 p.m. tonight I finally finished hooking this rug!  Phew!  Now I just need to get it bound ...


I think that's all I can say right now.  I'm sort of speechless.