No News

 There is no news to report.I have not been able to figure out how to add photos again. When I try, it says I must sign in to my Google account, and when I click on that link, there is no sign-in area. So, I am stumped.  

Our Granddaughter's Wedding

 was really special and all of us enjoyed the festivities!  Starting with the rehearsal dinner at Gravy, a local Italian place. They have a large room on the second floor where you can have parties, and it was perfect for the rehearsal dinner. My BIL came in from Cleveland, and Jim's cousin Robin came from NYC. All my children and grandchildren were there, and I was very pleased to be with them.  

The wedding was nearly perfect. The only problem was excessive heat, something we have been dealing with for months. At least there was not a monsoon - that was the day before.  The ceremony was outside on the terrace at The Grove, in downtown Raleigh. Locals can find it to the right of Big Ed's, a breakfast/lunch restaurant, just behind what used to be the former Greenshield's, at City Market. It is perfect for smaller weddings. Ours had about 75 people, and it was not too crowded.  I have to say the food was outstanding! The Owner/Chef outdid himself, and the service was excellent, too.  The DJ was great, the string quartet was excellent, The cake was one of the best I have ever had!  It came from Publix, and some of you may already know how good their cakes are. It was pretty, too.  Once I can show you photos, you will see how good the flowers are!  My long-time friend, Pam Hartigan, (Flowers by Design) did them, and we got many compliments throughout the night. I did the bouts and corsages, per the bride's request. I only wish I could have been more involved....

The ceremony went well; I was tapped as the "flower grandma", as we have no small girls in the family (at present) who could do it.  The tiny ring bearer (nephew of the groom) was adorable, and did just as he was taught, running down the aisle to give the ring to "Unka Matt". The officiant came from Durham, and I am sorry that I did not catch her name, as the ceremony was lovely!  

After the recessional, the guests went inside, seeking relief from the heat and a cocktail or two.  Families stayed outside to have photos taken. The photographer did a great job, if the "sneak peek" was any indication....and none of us can wait to see the rest of the photos.  

After the excellent dinner, dancing proceeded and a good time was had by all. I stayed in my seat (the best place to be, as my balance is not the best these days.) For me, the best parts of a wedding consist of seeing family and good friends who you may not get to see often. We had a few of those present,  and it was so nice to sit and chat. We also met all of Matt's family and they are very nice people. Of course they are - they raised him - and he is one of the nicest young men who I've had the pleasure to know.  I welcomed him into the family, but truth be told, he has been considered a member of our family since we first met him. Jim thought the world of him, too, and it is such a shame he did not live long enough to see Jessica and Matt joined in matrimony, or her brother James, who married last October to a lovely woman named Caitlin. We all love her too!

It seems that I am being prohibited from uploading photos to my blog. I'm not sure why, but I will investigate. It says I need to sign in to my google account before I can access photos, but when I try to....it sends me to a different page. YIKES!

Anyway, I thought you should know. If I ever get to the bottom of it, I'll post pics.

The Latest Trip....

 Those of you who are my friends on Facebook have already heard a lot about my latest trip; to Canada and western USA. I will try to tell you all about it, without boring those who have seen the pics already.  My daughter and I left Raleigh on  sunny, very warm day, and flew to Minneapolis (where it was monsooning, and the rain was sideways.) After a short layover, we boarded a plane for Calgary, Alberta, where we landed about 11 pm. It was rainy there too, but only slightly.  

After spending the night in a really nice Residence Inn, we drove to Banff, a distance of about 127.6 kilometers or nearly 80 miles. The scenery is spectacular (as long as it is not rainy and cloudy, as it was for us.) The Canadian Rockies get notably higher the further north or east you go from Calgary, at least, that is what we saw.   The landscape is beautiful, no matter where you look, and waterfalls and streams are plentiful and well marked for tourists. We saw 3 black bears on this part of the journey, and when I say 'black', you must understand that it is the blackest anything you've ever seen, especially in the sun!

One thing I must say about Canada is that there are absolutely NO potholes in their roads and no litter on the roadsides.  Oh how I wish that were true in the USA.  The people were friendly and helpful and we enjoyed every aspect of the trip.  

Banff is quaint and has good shops and places to eat, plus places to rent boats, canoes and kayaks. You can do rapids or slow floats down the rivers or lakes. The famed Hotel Fairmont in Banff has to be seen to be believed...and we had a lovely luncheon there.  They have a number of gift shops ranging from moderately priced goods to items in the range of thousands (jewelry and furs), but it is fun to window shop and dream!

After seeing all the sights in Banff, we drove to Jasper, and bit northwest from Banff and just as quaint. The scenery there is gorgeous too, and on the way, you can visit the famous Lake Louise (of aqua waters) , and another Fairmont Hotel, which is not as large as that in Banff, but good to see. The temperatures in these areas ranged fro 33* to mid-sixties while we were there, but it did snow a bit at Lake Louise. There was a bride there, having photos made in her strapless gown, and I feared for her body temp, but apparently, it didn't bother her greatly, as she was there for over an hour and appeared to be none the worse for it.  Warmed by love, no doubt.

To be continued....after my granddaughter's wedding in a few weeks!

Happy Mothers Day to All!

 My three children took me out for Mothers Day yesterday, as that fit all our schedules better than today. We went to Kanki Japanese Steak House, a long-time favorite of mine.  It has been quite a few years since we went there, and many things have changed. Notably, the menu offerings and their usual service, including soup,salad, appetizers, entree(s) and dessert, which was usually sherbet. They no longer include dessert, the ginger dressing for the salad has changed a bit, the soup has fewer veggies in it, and yet, it was a good meal and an interesting experience. 

The chef cooks on a large flat grill right by your seats, and sometimes they put on a show; knocking the salt and pepper shakers together in rhythm, laying out the veggies in a heart pattern, etc. We used to see a guy who could flip a hard-boiled egg off the grill and catch it in the top of his toque (chef's hat). But our guy yesterday didn't do that. He did, however, delight the children at the table with fire:

The children belonged to another family, not ours.  We went on to enjoy our onions, zucchini, mushrooms, rice, shrimp, steak and salmon.  Way too much food (salty food) for one person to consume in one sitting  -  but who's telling the doc? No one.  

When we left, I asked if we could get a photo. I was prepared to take one of the three of them, but hoping some nice person would come along and offer to get all four of us in the pic.  Lo and behold, he appeared....and we lined up.  

Of course, my baby said if I posted it, she'd tear me limb from limb, or some such threat, but I am not thoroughly dissuaded she would carry it out....so....I blocked her face so you can see the others....LOL 

I hope all of you had a great Mothers Day, and if your mother is not with you any longer, think of all the good memories you have of her, and give thanks for the time you had together. 

My New Garden

 The last post was about the tear out and replanting of my  front garden. This is an update.

The tree is growing and leafing out:   

The rose bush I was worried about losing has resurrected itself and sent up shoots to announce its impending arrival:   

The peony  shoot has turned into 5-6 different shoots and now, I will have to move one of the camellias out of the way, to make room for them:

Liriope lines the walkway on both sides.....much better than the scratchy low-growing evergreen that was there before! 

Spring always gets me thinking about planting and transplanting. I bought a beautiful red begonia (half-price at Lowe's)...

I'm not sure why it was on the sale table; it looks great as it is. 

and my croton, which is at least 14 years old and has never been put into a larger pot. Also, the croton has been inside the house all that time;never getting enough sun, and it has lost all its bright color because of it.  I am hoping that after being outside for a while, it will start to gain color again.  Here is what it should resemble: 

My latest house guest, Jim's cousin Robin, gave me a basket of beautiful blue hydrangeas. I have decided to put two of them in pots by the front entry, and one will go in the back garden, near the sun-room door.  Here are the pots I bought for them, at Home Goods. I decided on pots because if they get too much sun in the front, they can be moved to a shadier location easily. 

Robin, I hope you approve! Here is a pic of the hydrangeas in the basket:

I think they will look great in the white pots!

I didn't mention, in the earlier post, that the back garden area, though very small, has been partially redone as well. The gardener put in day lilies, and you can see that they are already setting buds (after just one month in place):

The next plants are something I'd never heard of before....loropetalum, alias Chinese fringe flower: 

Here''s what Mr. Google has to say about them:

My red climbing rose, the one that usually puts on a gorgeous show every spring, but not this year since it was severely pruned, has spun off a baby!  Apparently, it like being pruned.  Who knew?  

I cannot wait until they bloom next year!

Lastly, my wind chime, that was given to me my our Best Man, Matron of Honor and their daughter, right after Jim died.....continues to remind me of Jim and all of them. It hangs in the crape myrtle outside my bedroom window.  It's quiet today.....but when it rocks back and forth and chimes riotously, I know who's ringing my bell!

There were some big changes here today....

 My front "garden", and I use the term loosely, was torn out today, to make room for a new tree and some plants of my choosing.  Here are some before photos: 

Can you spot the nearly dead trees;  a rosemary plant, a rose bush, and some others I cannot name?  Here's another view, where the damage to the trees shows up better. 

You can't see these in the large photo, but this is the first time in the nearly nine years I've lived here that they have bloomed:

It's too bad we could not save the bulbs.  Believe it or not, there is/was a peony plant there too.  

This pink tree (I don't know the name of it) is half-dead, and it is blooming better than it ever has. Seems odd....as if it knew its days were numbered!

 

And here is the area now:

The crew is coming back tomorrow; they will plant a Japanese maple and I'm not sure what else....

but I will post how it looks later on.

Any suggestions for what to plant?

Despite being a widow, I am Blessed in this neighborhood....

 When we moved here in 2015, I will admit to being a bit unsure of how I would fit in, since many of my neighbors had been here for years. For any of you who are considering moving to an age 55+ neighborhood.....I say DO IT! We joined a few clubs in the beginning, and then Jim ((too) soon was unable to participate in much. So my participation was also limited.  I did and still do play Scrabble at our clubhouse almost every week; a game I have always loved. It allowed me to make a few good friends and the rest of them are friendly also.  I see a movie almost every Saturday, on a big screen, with captions (a must for my ears and eyes). And one a month I get to see a documentary or foreign movie (also with subtitles). These are owned by residents,who nicely share them with the whole neighborhood. 

Classes are offered by local professors, at a nominal fee. In January, I saw two lectures about the Foibles of the English family and one on the history of American art, which will be followed by 3 more classes in the coming months.  Last week, I went with the Singles club to the Cary Theater to see a Danish movie, titled "Fallen Leaves," and then we all went to a local restaurant for an early dinner. Add to this lunches with friends, haircuts, massages, mani-pedis and doctors appointments.....you can see my life is full!

I failed to mention my physical therapy twice a week, and meals or trivia nights with family. 

There are over 100 clubs that residents can join; such as clubs for those who came from areas of New York, or the midwest, those who play bridge, chess, canasta, hand and foot, Mah Jong, Scrabble (as I mentioned), Singles, religious or political groups, "Care" groups, whose purpose is to help others.  I will admit that there are some cliques, which apparently formed with the earliest residents, and they are hard to penetrate (I'm told, but I have not tried). There are groups for Italians and for African Americans.....and the best part is, you don't have to be from Italy or have come from African ancestry to join any of them.  In fact, they all invite cross-participation. You can join cooking classes, estate planning, exercise classes, dance classes....nearly anything you can think of. I had not played bridge since 1971, and I am now taking classes to relearn it. Unfortunately, the bridge club plays at the same time as the Scrabble club, so I will have to deal with that at some point.

We have two pools, a hot tub, tennis courts, pickleball courts, Bocce courts, a first-class gym, pool tables, dance studios, pottery and art galore!

You can opt to stay in your home and be alone - if that is what you want - and no one will bother you. But if you need a social life, to keep educating yourself, to keep yourself fit.....Here is where you need to be.  

And when you are widowed, and you need something done or a light bulb replaced, you can have someone do that for you; you only have to ask. 

Plus, there is no yard work or gardening necessary, unless you want to do it.

I thought my old neighborhood was perfect (and it was), but I am growing used to the idea that I am well-placed in my latter years. I am beyond grateful to be here!