MONDAY MUMBLINGS

 Well we survived the weekend and I say on to better days ahead.

We are so ready for uneventful times and just to enjoy each day we are blessed with.

Dave still isn't feeling up to par but hopefully amoxicillian will do the job.  That's all I am going to say about that at this time.

Now on to some poster boards I finally looked at after many years.

At a bible study I attended way back in the late 1970's, we were given a project.

It was to, through photographs, show our feelings and thankfulness about someone we love and care for.

Big surprise ...  I chose my husband.  Now remember this was before digital processing and all I had was a point and shoot camera.  I have retaken some of these with my phone now to preserve the "oldies but goodies".

The snaps are yellowed and many of the sayings are torn and missing.

It really was a fun assignment though.

I'll just show a few of the photos close up to explain what you are looking at.

Dave has always been the life of the party and was so loved at Sears for the 30 years he worked there.  Lots of the staff meetings had him dressing up for something.  He made a Big Bird costume and was a baby one time.  Dave got to wear the real Winnie the Pooh costume and be Winnie for a promotion.

The photo on the bottom left is from 1961 when he sang with the San Francisco Opera company in their chorus of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.  It was all in German and they just sang it phonetically not knowing any German.

Dave way back in 1965.  He played SATCHMO and sang while our Pastor Roberts played a mean ragtime piano.  So much fun to be able to let one's hair down.

Dave and Steve playing together.

Dedication of new born son Mark.

Dave as President Lincoln at a church function.

Dave singing in his college group quartet.

Loving on our best friends daughter and he really is that wild and crazy guy playing at his folks property  in our "just married" days.

There are many more photos but I think that's enough for today.

Its just fun to reminisce about the years that have flown by.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday

You know ... 

Wordless Wednesday is going to be a major fail.  I just can't go without adding my own two cents worth to the post.

One year ago today we went through financial fraud.  It had a profound effect on our lives.  Through the Grace of God we have survived and I do believe we are stronger for it.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

LOVE YOU DEAR BLOG FRIENDS

 Thank you for all of the wonderful comments these last several weeks.

We are so blessed.  Both Dave and I are finally feeling more or less "normal" now.

The house is quiet and we have begun to put things back in their rightful places.

One of the things we tried to sell was what we call "Mark's Throne".  It is an antique that Dave's Dad bought at auction at least 75 years ago.

What to do with it since its still in our garage??  We tried it several places in our house and it sure didn't look like it belonged.  This is where it finally found its home.  I think it looks pretty good and doesn't block light or has it become the "elephant" in the room.  Mark thought it looked pretty good there and its still his chair, if we can ever sell it or he can get it back up to Oregon some time in the future.

We moved another chair to the other side of the table .

And so we think this will work.  

On another note;

In reading Myra's ( Respice, Prospice ) latest blog post I was fascinated by her Mildew Mary picture.

I have a similar thing with my Funky Froggie.  My colorful Frog has sat on a rock in our backyard for 18 years, officially 18 years as of today!  Now he is all blue and well worn.  I just can't seem to say good bye to Frankie, so there he sits through all kinds of weather.

I do love Frankie's expression.

I'm so grateful for the neighbor's bougainvillea that peaks over our fence.

Its such a bright spot behind our grape vines.  It doesn't look like we will get any fruit this year but at least the leaves look healthy.

The "lawn" is pretty bad but its still our space to enjoy.  

Two nights ago the skunk visited us again. Fortunately we had our sliding glass door closed but he came right up to the pane and looked at us, then waddled away.  No smell but I just don't like a "Peeping Tom" in our yard.

Praying for a good week ahead.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER

 Family is all gone and we are back to our daily routine.

What a wonderful time it has been to have our sons and family together.

I am so very grateful.

Believe it or not I even got several "honey-do" things accomplished by Mark.

We desperately needed a new shower head put on in the master bath.  

Of course that was a simple thing for Mark to do, but , we found out that the main faucet needed to be replaced to make the whole thing work without having any drips.

So we had to buy a new faucet which came with no Instructions !!!

Thank goodness for uTube...and things didn't fit exactly right the first time.  An hour later we have a new combo that works and has more pressure than ever before.

How to spend your final day ... Son and Dad spending time together in the bathroom. 😃

Yay, it was so nice to take a shower and have enough pressure to get the shampoo out of my hair.  The appliances don't match but I don't care.  They get the job done !

Our final meal all together was at a new restaurant that just opened.

It was called Habachi Buffet.  The place was huge and there was every manner of Asian cuisine and American palate.  Delicious... We certainly got our money's worth.  Not much on the ambiance but our tummies were full.

We love our Family and will cherish this special week together FOREVER.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

A FEW MORE DAYS OF FUN AHEAD

 Well, we are getting to the last few days of the family being together.

Yesterday we took it easy and the sons and our granddaughter, Maddie prepared for our Bountiful Crab and ETC.  dinner last night.

Crab, Lobster, Shrimp, Sausage, Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Corn Bread and Tri Tip for the non fish eaters.

What a meal lovingly prepared by the best Chefs in the World !

We may not look very happy in this pix, but you know that getting all the crab meat out of the shells is really serious business!

Blessed conversation around the table and finished off with Granddaughter Amanda's homemade chocolate cake...

It was so good but there wasn't even a single photo taken of it.

I love our family and am cherishing every minute we have together.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WHIRLWIND WEEKEND

This definitely has been a Whirlwind Weekend ... 

The great thing about it is our kids are still here for a few more days.

I am one Happy Mama.

Our garage sale/yard sale was a huge success.  We made over $600.00 cash ... Yay ...

Money will absolutely help out our pocket book.  That kind of money could not have been made without the hours and hours of hard physical labor and team work by our 2 awesome sons, their wonderful wives, our precious granddaughter and her husband and our sweet granddaughter Maddie.

My heart is so FULL !!

Here are a few photos of our prep time and the actual day of the sale.

A gazillion signs being prepared to put out and about and the beginnings of getting costume jewelry ready for sale too.  I am so blessed to have family that is willing to come and work after they worked all day at their jobs.

Everything on Friday was unpacked from the bins and put on the tables to figure out how many we would actually need and for placement of the tables so ther would be room to move around.  We also had to make sure that all of the price tags were still attached.

Then after that process all the tables were brought back into the garage fully loaded.  It was a dream at 6:30AM to just pull them out onto the driveway and we were pretty much ready for action.  Of course there were lots of added things to display but the majority was ready for action.  We said we were open at 8, knowing dealers would be there before 7:15.  It just made thing so much more hassle free.

No one wanted furniture but it was a great attention getter.

Our son Steve ... 

Maddie, Kellie and Sigrid were in charge of the jewelry and pay table.

It was so nice not to have to worry about anything.

They stayed cooler inside the garage too.

I just can't say enough good things about the way things went and the clean up was so speedy.  Physically I have to admit, that was really hard for Dave and I and I am forever grateful for the way things were accomplished. Stuff was divided into donate and keep for further times.

So grateful for Amanda and Billy bringing us pizza for lunch and gobs of Gatorade to wet our whistles.

We all slept good that night.

Bright and not too early Sunday morning we were off to San Francisco.  Why did we go the next day after the sale? Well Steve and Sigrid both had to work on Monday and the Fort was only open on the weekend. Its a little over 2 hours drive if the traffic is good.  So much construction  makes it a pain.

We headed first to Sausalito for deli sandwiches and then headed to the bunkers at the Marin Headlands.  The wind practically blew us a way but its always like that at the entrance to the Golden Gate.

Mark and Steve's famous pose together

Finished yummy sandwiches and it was off to the other side of the bridge and Fort Point.  It is now part of the National Park System.

Before that it remained closed for many years until Dave's Dad and the Ft. Point Museum Association was formed and these wonderful Military men developed a new future for the Fort.

Dave's Dad was honored by his photos and history shown through out the the Fort.

One thing I wanted more than anything was my 2 sons and their dad to be seen by the Legacy photos of their Grandpa and Dad.  

I got them and will treasure them forever.

We were greeted by the most wonderful Park Ranger who knew the people that were involved at the fort.  It made Dave's Day to have someone love the Fort as much as he does.

That's Dave looking at the picture of his Dad  at the induction of Fort Point.

And so today Mark and family will be over and do a few "Honey Do" things for us and just visit and enjoy each other's company.

Its fun to say "TO BE CONTINUED"

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind