Getting Excited

We're leaving tomorrow for the vacation of my dreams. My daughter Naomi's quilt will be part of an international exhibition which opens this weekend. Not only do I get to spend a lot of time with Michael away from our jobs, but I get to see my darling oldest child be praised for the great talent she is. And I get to see a lot of art. Not only are we going to the art quilt opening, but we also get to go to the awards ceremony and banquet.

After we've seen the exhibit, we're pushing on to see one of the things on my life's bucket list, Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright. We'll spend a few quiet days in Southwestern Pennsylvania soaking up history and architecture and then back home.

The only little bitty downside is that the iris and the rhododendrons in our yard are starting to bloom. We have a whole bank of iris in our front yard. It's my favorite flower. We missed them last year as we were in Europe when they bloomed. I'm hoping they'll still look good when we return.

Here's what they looked like in 2009 in case I miss them again.

Camp Acahela

This blog is about my experiences up here in NEPA but I felt like I needed to share one of Michael's experiences. It does have something to do with me.

My whole life Dad has been talking to me about Camp Acahela and how wonderful it was to be at Boy Scout camp there. I knew that the camp was close to my home, but I also knew that it was used mainly as a Cub camp now. So when Michael was given the opportunity to go there and be a leader for our church's Boy Scout trip on a rappelling trip, we were excited and I sent him there with the camera.

No wonder Dad talked about it! Be sure and click on these pictures so you can see all the flowering trees and details. That's the Lehigh River which runs through the camp.

So often when you go back to look at some place your parents raved about, it's smaller (or closer as in the three miles they walked to school in the snow) or disappointing in some other way. But this has got to be one of the most beautiful Scout camps anywhere.

Michael also saw a leader from another troop. Troop 1 of Honesdale, PA! This troop does go back to 1911. BSA doesn't recognize any troop in the US as being the first (it's too hard to call) but this is one of the very first.

So there you go. And when Dad looked at the pictures, it looked as he remembered it. Also something that doesn't happen every day. Some things are as good as you remember them.

Wait here for the present

"Wait here for the present." The picture of Ramona Quimby sitting all day on her first day of school waiting for the present always makes me laugh.
I like making things. I always have. And so holidays give me an ideal chance to give a handmade gift. Here are a couple that I made recently. Mom's pennant is made from vintage handkerchiefs. I just lucked out and found one with the monogram "J" for Jones in my estate sale hunting. The dress is from a piece of vintage fabric I was given and a vintage mail order pattern I fell in love with. This was granddaughter J's gift for her 4th birthday.

 And a couple of pix of Michael and me on Mother's Day with the gorgeous Calla lilies he gave me. He also got me a lovely planter full of dark purple geraniums to hang outside my kitchen window. In addition to phone calls I also received a beautiful coffee table pop-up book of flower bouquets. And, since this is Pennsylvania, the entire yard was in bloom for Mother's Day. Lilacs, cherry trees, narcissus, and the lilies of the valleys just waiting to open up. Sweet!

Happy Mother's Day!

What more can I say than to wish my mom a lovely and happy Mother's Day?

She has always been one of those "go the extra mile" moms and I'm grateful. She created a lovely home for us, she fed us, clothed us and was our best cheerleader. There is no end to her talents. She is a font of knowledge. I am constantly amazed at things that pop into my head that only my mom could have taught me. And she's been a listening ear for more years than I want to count.

And although you would never guess from the photo, she's coming up on her 90th birthday. That's a lot of years of good mothering and grandmothering. And as all moms of adult children know, the mommy job never ends.

So have a happy day, Mom. And a happy and blessed day to all moms as well. But I wish an especially happy day to my little girls who have a houseful of small children. Every day is Mother's Day for them.