Joyful dispatch.

I didn't realize this photo would look so small.

Our children and grandchildren all met for a picnic at Out of Town Son's house.

Burgers, deviled eggs, chips, and sweets were enjoyed.

Children played in the water.

Hugs were scarce, as they should have been.

Happiness was plentiful.

The rain held off until we were leaving.

The day filled our hearts to overflowing.

Shalom. 

Prima dispatch.

This is a follow up of the previous post. From 1957, the year after I was born.

Dispatches from heaven.

A nice visit from two grand girls was so enjoyed yesterday.

Their mom needed to visit a friend in mourning.

Wilson says he thinks they touched everything in the entire house. I think so, too. 

They are both so busy. 

She thought that it was a statue of Joseph. 

She wore her Snow White dress all afternoon.

Over her clothes. 

Our spirits are renewed each time we are with our family.

Wilson is not a real chatty person. So yesterday when he went on and on with a story to DIL I knew. He is hungry for company as much as I am.

He just doesn't admit it like I do. 

***

Today is cake day.

Some of the ingredients for my Dad's favorite cake.

Mom would make a 1-2-3-4 cake with pecans for him.

He loved it. 

This was a first attempt for me.

I had to keep a free flowing text line open for advice from the Sisters. 

And voila! 

The coins were half dollars from Dad's collection that were damaged in the storm. 

***

It happened again. It hasn't happened for several weeks but on our walk and this morning there it was. A penny on the ground. My dad loved it when I found money on my walks. He and Mom lived with us for 6 months after the storm in '05-'06. Mom and I both would find change and even paper money one time. Money on our walks made him laugh and smile. Free money. 

My Dad was born May 15, 1920. 

100 years ago tomorrow. 

Shalom.

Friendly dispatch.

It was a gorgeous day. 

We had a picnic with our friends.

Everybody bought their own lunch.

We didn't hug or touch.

I made a "chick on a stick" with a photo of our friend that still does not feel comfortable being in close proximity to other people, yet. She has autoimmune issues and we all understood her reluctance. We missed her. 

Oh I enjoyed the socialization. 

It was good.

Our temps have cooled again. 

Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow.

That means more indoor activity.

Ugh. 

I'll put off thinking about that and just enjoy the glow from today.

Shalom.

Hola dispatch!

Wilson finished painting the hall bath last week. New art hangs in there now. These ladies keep vigil for his showers. Shoutout to Daughter for the art work. 

Homemade chicken pot pie on Sunday. 

I made the pastry. From scratch. 

This is not the lizard that visited last week. This is a skink. We were spellbound watching it crawl up and down the screen over and over only to realize that it couldn't cross the metal that separated the panels. Finally it came down and crawled the bricks over to the other side of the porch. 

Volunteer petunias that I potted several weeks ago are giving us a good show. 

This is what quarantine really looks like. A hot mess. Yes, we have almost made it through the first 12 pounds of popcorn that I ordered. You can see  the second 12 pound bag that came by UPS yesterday. The mail, the wine, the art project are all on the quarantine counter. The mail gets read about the third day after arrival. The wine made it to the fridge just a few minutes ago. The tequila will go into a margarita tonight. The art project will go into the trash bin when I get tired of looking at it. It kept me occupied last Saturday while Wilson worked on the Habitat house. 

I picked up fajitas for two from the restaurant that belongs to a fellow parishioner. He is our church videographer. 

Carlos.

***

Daughter and husband celebrate 19 years of marriage today. 

It made her teary eyed last night when she realized that her granddaddy's surprise that day was a surprise to us, too. She thought we had been in on the secret. We hadn't. 

A neighbor had agreed to let us employ his model-T as the get away car from their wedding reception. I thought the neighbor was going to drive. But. When the happy couple exited the building her grandfather was standing all dapper with the car door open and his driver hat on! 

And now she knows the rest of the story is that we didn't know.

He had planned it for weeks and weeks. I thought it was odd that he kept asking me about the model-T. He had secretly practiced driving it in preparation for the wedding day. 

The first car he ever drove was a model-T. 

***

Time to fold sheets and towels and do other stuff.

Shalom.

Sunny dispatch.

Daughter's visit last week improved the mood and set the tone for a better week in quarantine.

We attended the three different church services on Sunday.

Monday we delivered the masks for BIL to the P.O. and did a drive by at the back door of our friend's paint shop to pick up supplies. Then, since we were in town, we ordered and picked up sandwiches from the gas station sandwich shop. They are the best in town. Wilson had a burger and I had the Mike's special with three kinds of lunch meat, cheese, avocados, and more. 

Monday we said goodbye to our Easter decorations and they were put back in their storage boxes to await the next Easter. Hopefully it will be better than this year. 

My sandwich from the gas station. 

After lunch I commenced defrosting the freezer.This freezer is almost 40 years old. It is a good one, but not frost free.  I usually hang with it and use my hair dryer to speed the process. This year I just let it defrost on its own. It took 9 hours to defrost, wipe down, and restock the remaining frozen items. Then I went to bed. 

Monday afternoon Wilson had prepped the hall bath for painting. He hit the ground running Tuesday morning and got that accomplished. 

Final touch up took place Wednesday. It looks fresher and nicer in there now. 

Wednesday I cooked a roast in the oven. It was delicious. I used some au jus gravy I had in my freezer that I had saved when I cooked a brisket. The roast melted in my mouth. And. I love the carrots and potatoes cooked with a roast. Left overs have been eaten once since then and there is, at least, one more serving of this. 

Today is a chamber of commerce day with sunny skies and mild temps. 

This 100 sweet cherry tomato is putting them on right now. I'm anxious for one to be red so I can eat it. 

I don't know whether this is the better boy or the heirloom tomato blooming but the blossoms are large. 

Hang on little tomato! I hope this one is big and juicy. And acidic. I love a tomato with a bite.

Lunch is over and I have clothes in the washer and dryer. 

I concocted a corn beef salad for lunch. It was delish. 

Think I'll find something to do outside. Later today I plan to transplant three volunteer water melon plant that have come up in my butterfly garden. We put compost out there so that is where the seeds came from. I've also got some zinnias that need moving to the BFG. 

Shalom. 

Dispatch from the weekend.

We set the alarm for Saturday morning. I formulated the plan to get the day started by walking before breakfast. So we did. It rained Friday night but the weather app said 0% chance of rain. 

They lied.

Two thirds of the way finished and the sprinkling started. It did not drench us like it had earlier in the week. We got in 4 miles before breakfast.

I had time to shower and wash my hair before my 10:00 Zoom meeting with my siblings. 

The meeting was typical. Some of us were a bit subdued with not much to say. No one is living the life of Riley right now, so there isn't much news to share. We are just glad to see each other's faces and know how the other is handling typical life changes during this time. 

After our allotted 40 minutes the Zoom abruptly shut us down. That is how it goes. One minute you are talking and laughing, and then you're not. 

I piddled around and found 'Wilson' the church bulletin online so he could read it. I gravitated to the kitchen and started to get some things lined up to cook for lunch when I heard him calling to me from the computer bedroom. When I walked back I saw that he was FaceTiming with Daughter...AND...she was calling from our front yard!!!

She and her family had driven over for a SDV (social distance visit). Without hugging or touching we greeted all her family. We walked around the yard and toured our small gardens then settled on the back porch.

It was so-so needed, this visit. 

SDS. Social distance selfie. 

Add more to the mix. 

They didn't stay long. I offered our bathroom but no one needed the facilities. Lunch time was approaching and they had plans to do a drive by pick up  on their way back home. So just like that they loaded up and headed back east. 

And the waving lasted until they were out of sight. And lingers in my memory. 

That. Just that. 

After lunch I whipped up three masks at the request of a brother-in-law. 

It took less time to make these three than it did the first one I made. 

I hope to mail them on Monday. 

I had told Sister Mimi our potatoes were blooming and had to send her this photo to show what a potato blossom looks like. Blooming means there are potatoes growing underground. 

Today we were in church all morning. We attended our local parish mass, then we went to the Methodist church that one of my brothers and our son attends (out of town), then we went to another Methodist church (out of town) where Wilson's cousin was giving his testimonial. 

We surely got the ghost.

***

This afternoon we ventured out to the Sonic for chocolate milkshakes and a driveway visit with an elderly parishioner. She was glad and so were we.

Back home and ready to take on the week.

We have some small goals set. 

I'll save that for another post.

Shalom.