Emily & Carols' Wedding

My great-niece Emily got married on Saturday October 19, 2019  In Syracuse, NY at Redbarn20.  It was a beautiful wedding and the bride was gorgeous.  She and her husband Carlos live in Barcelona, Spain.  Since her entire family live in the United States they decided to have there wedding here.  The wedding itself was outside and it was a beautiful day for an outdoor wedding.  The reception was held in the RedBarn and was lots of fun.  Below are just a few of the pictures from the wedding.   

Shirley (Grandmother of the bride), CJ (Mother of the bride), Emily,  Matthew, 

and Laura (brother and sister of the bride) amd Carl (Grandfather of the bride) 

Me

Barbara, Me, Shirley and Bob

Emily hugging Shirley

Barbara, Iris and Shirley

Sisters

Bob took a lot more pictures but he had the camera on the wrong setting and many of them just didn't come out.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all who read this  blog.  I hope 2017 is healthy and happy for you all.

December was a rough month for my family.  My BIL died on December 13th of cancer.  He has been ill for about 2 years.  In early October they were told he was cancer free.  By the beginning of December he was told he would probably need Hospice in a short time.  I hate cancer. 

Bob and I had a nice Christmas.  We had my sister for lunch on Christmas Eve and then again for Christmas dinner.  She is coming today for New Years Dinner.  I guess we will be having her for most holidays in the coming year as neither of her daughters live close to her.  One is in Syracuse, NY and the other one is in Oregon.  My sister is 80 years old and has not a clue regarding finances or taking care of her house.  Her husband did it all.  I am so glad that I know how to pay bills, balance a check book, and that I also understand that if  Bob pre-deceases me I am well aware that I could not keep the house we live in so that is one decision that is already made by me and I would move as soon as I could.  I also know that is easy to say but it is hard to do.  My sister lives in an isolated log cabin on 5 acres of land.  She no more can take care of that property than I would  be able to take care of he 3/4 acre property Bob and I own.  Unfortunately she  spread her husband's ashes in the woods behind the house so it is going to be very hard for her to leave the home that they both loved. 

I know I shouldn't be writing this on the Internet but I can't discuss it with anyone but Bob.  Her daughters want her to stay in the house.  Now I know she shouldn't make any rash decisions regarding selling her house but I also know that there is no way she can stay there.  Her step-children have made all kinds of promises regarding removing snow, raking leaves and mowing the grass.  I wonder how long that will last.  On Christmas day when she was here she told us she needed propane  but she had no idea who they got propane from.  They use propane to heat there house.  She couldn't find any bills and couldn't read her husbands hand writing in the checkbook to know who to call. 

Well that is enough of m whining.   I guess I will go see what Bob needs me to do to help with dinner.  We are having roast duck, fried potatoes and roasted Brussel Sprouts and Carrots.  My sister is bringing a pumpkin pie.  Good dinner to start the New Year.

Our 2015 Christmas Tree

Last Wednesday Bob and I went out to pick out our Christmas tree.  We have been going to the same place for the last several years so we just went there again.  Here are a few pictures of bringing home, setting up and decorating our tree this year.  I love our little Frazer Fir tree.  It is one of the smaller trees we have had in circumference.  But it sure does smell good and I think it looks lovely.  I love decorating our tree each year.  We have ornaments from everywhere we have traveled.  I have ornaments I have made through the years.  Ornaments family and friends have given us.  It is such a walk down memory lane as I take each ornament and place it on our tree.  Even Bob has his favorites that he must put on the tree.  Yes it takes time but it is well worth it IMHO. 

I hope all who read this and see Bob and me decorate our tree have a
Merry Christmas  and Happy New Year.

Snow Storm

We had a snow storm yesterday.  It looks so pretty out my living room window and in our back yard so I had DH take some pictures yesterday after it stopped. 

With all the cold and snowy, icy weather we have been having I think I am thankful that I had ankle surgery in January.  I basically haven't been out of the house except for Dr. appointments and X-Rays since January 19th.  I have spent my days sitting in a recliner in my living room stitching, reading, watching TV and sleeping.  I am now walking with crutches and am starting to put weight on my right foot.  This week is 25% of my body weight and I increase it my 25% each week until I reach 100% and then I can get rid of the crutches.  I am wearing a boot on my right leg and by the end of each day I am so thankful to be able to take it off.  It gets really heavy after a while.

Here are some pictures of the snow from yesterday. 

This one is from our back porch.  DH was fascinated
that the show encased our clothes line.
 

Another picture of our backyard

One of the Red Maples in our front yard.  This
was taken through our picture window in
the living room.
I love this picture

Yes we still have our Christmas wreaths up.
With the cold weather we have had they still
look as good as new.

From our front porch
The window is our front picture window.

Another back yard picture

I do so hope this is the last snow we get.  Even though I am stuck in the house most o the time I am so ready for Spring.  I don't want any bad weather after March 26th as hopefully that is when I will be able to get rid of crutches and boot and be able to get back to normal.

I have half of my 2015 Christmas ornaments stitched so that is one good thing for my forced sedentary life.  Hopefully I will be able to get several more finished before the end of the month.  The bad thing is I haven't been able to stitch on Bridge in Monet's Garden since January 18th.  The light in our living room just isn't good enough to stich on something that intricate.  I do miss it.

I hope you are all staying warm and safe this winter.

Good Dr. report

I went to the surgeon this morning for my second appointment for my foot/ankle surgery.  They removed the staples from all 3 incisions and said they are healing very well.  I no longer have to wear the half cast and am now in the boot I used last year when I broke my ankle.  The x-rays show that everything inside is healing very well and the hardware has not moved and is doing what it is meant to do.  I am still non-weight bearing for at least the next 3 weeks when I get another set of x-rays taken and go back to the Dr for another check-up.  That will be six weeks post op and they said I will be non-weight bearing for 6-8 weeks after surgery.  I am having little to no pain in my foot which is a very good thing, however, I am having severe pain in my back from sitting so much.  I did tell the Dr. about it and told him I have been taking Alieve for the back pain.  He told me not to take Aleive as it is not good for the healing of my foot.  He told me to take the Oxi more often even if I only take half a pill or to take Extra Strength Tylenol.  He prescribed a new form of Oxi which is suppose to be less habit forming.  I'm not taking and chances so I am going to try half a pill every 12 hours instead of 1 every 12 hours. 

Happy Grandparents Day

I hope all my friends who are Grandparents have a wonderful day. 

Bob Retired

My DH, Bob, Retired on May 30 after working for 32 years for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  On June 14th we had a little retirement part for him with some longtime friends.  Just want to share a couple of pictures.  Unfortunately there are really no pictures of the retiree.

Don (with his Back towards us) Iris, Mary, Donna Gerry & Linda

Don and Gerry

Gerry, Donna, Mary, Gerry, Don and Linda

The Cake

Bob, in the burgundy shirt with his pack towards us, me, Don, Linda, Donna, Mary and Gerry

Our dinner consisted of the following appetizers
Honey Mustard Chicken Salad Profiteroles
Baked Brie in Pastry with Toasted Almonds and Apricots
Small Shrimp Cocktail in Shot Glasses

Dinner
Beef Wellingtons with Sauce
Asparagus Vinaigrette
Bliss Mashed Potatoes
Salad of Mixed Greens with a Gorgonzola Vinaigrette and Gorgonzola Cheese and Almonds
Home Bread with Butter

Dessert
French Opera Cake (Seven Layer Almond Chocolate Mocha Cake).

We had the dinner catered and it was delicious.  We picked it up on Friday and just warmed every thing on Saturday. 

It was a wonderful day with good friends and good food

Kitchen Remodel

We have spent the last month, well since Mother's Day, having our kitchen remodeled.  Actually we have replaced the back splash and the counter tops.  The cabinets are in great shape and they go with the rest of the house so we decided not to have them replaced.  The original counter tops and back splash are original to the house which was built in the 1960s.  We bought the house in 1985 and I have hated the counter tops and back splash from the very beginning.  As Bob said this morning "what the heck took us so long""  Here are a few before and after pictures.

         

 

                                                                                                             

29 Years Ago Today

My sweet Bob and I got married. 

Today he went out to buy some potting soil and came home with

Here is what the card says inside.  I actually cried when I read it.

I could never thank you enough
for everything you do
and for all the ways
you're such a wonderful wife.
But on our anniversary,
I want you to know
how much I appreciate you
and that I love you
with all my heart.

We have spent the last week trying to clean out his Aunt's apartment.  It has been such a big job.  We still have to donate her car and go through all the boxes we brought home.  Today we spent the day cleaning a large piece of furniture we brought home and re-arranging our family room to make it fit.  We still don't have it completely back together but we are well on our way.  We are both so tired we don't know witch end is up.

We are on our way out to dinner for our anniversary.  Hope the food is good at Woodside Inn.  We use to go there once in a while but they closed because the building was structurally unsound.  It has since been repaired and re-opened. 

I love my wonderful husband and I am so glad he feels the same way about me.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope you have a day full of love, family and good food.

Don't forget to count your blessings.

Happy end of June

I cannot believe that today is the last day of June.  I think I am very happy that June is ending as it has been a very expensive month.  The last staw was DH coming home from work on Thursday and there is something wrong with his truck. We took it to the garage on our way out to dinner but so far they have not been able to find the problem.  They hear the noise but have no idea what is causing it.

On a happier note here are some pictures from our backyard.

Datura

PlantDatura is a genus of nine species of vespertine flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. They are known as angel's trumpets, sometimes sharing that name with the closely related genus Brugmansia, and commonly as daturas. Wikipedia

These Datura only bloom about dusk and have a faint
orambe smell.  They are gone by early the next morning.

This is a rose that DH has been babying for the last several
years.  We take it into ghe garage during the winter
and put it on or patio wall during the summer.

More pictures of our backyard

I hope you aren't tired of seeing pictures of my backyard.  It just seems to change so much from day to day and I think the flowers and shrubbery are so pretty.  I am also adding a picture of my Great Great nephew and niece.

Matty (almost 2) and baby sister Avery (almost 4 months)

This is a clematis around the support
pole on the back porch

Hosta in a whiskey barrel

My only surviving Iris

Chive flowers in the herb garden

Azaleas and Rhododendron on the
side of the house