A little of This and a little of That this month! For Mother's Day two of my sons sent me the same card! It was the blank kind so they'd each written their own sentiment. But that's not all that was serendipitous. They say you tend to purchase gifts you would like. Well, it worked for me. The Lemon Verbena bath items were given to me by Ken. I'd bought the same thing for one of our daughters-in-law unbeknownst to him. . . .
Our BIGGEST news this month was the arrival of our second grandson 10 days early, born to our oldest son and his wife. Olivia now has a little brother. August was 9 lbs. 1 oz., 21 inches long. Here he is less than a day old. . . .
We went twice last week to play with Olivia. Here I'm trying to take a little nap but Olivia and Gabriel won't hear of it. . . .
The other exciting thing to happen this month was I did some house rearranging. This used to be the room I had my desk in. It had a lovely view of the woods and I was a little unsure I'd be happy about the move. This furniture had all been in the room that leads to the deck. Because my desk is no longer in this room it can be a dedicated guest room now. The two quilts on the rack were made by my grandmothers. I call it the Bunny Room because of all the bunnies on top of the curio cabinet. When Olivia stayed overnight when her mother was still in the hospital we sat on the bed with a couple bunnies and read bunny books. This will be her room when she gets old enough to not fall out of bed. For now Poetry is claiming it. . . .
These are some of the items in the curio cabinet. . . .
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| My Great Aunt gave me the ballerina when I took ballet lessons |
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| Photos of my boys when they were little |
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| Delicate china |
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| My childhood tea set |
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| My mother was always adding to my collection of music boxes |
This is the room I moved my desk to. I bought new bedding and made the valances from a curtain panel. The other panel I folded and hung on the door window so that the fabric is finished on both sides. It was really nice to be able to vacuum both rooms top to bottom and wash and touch-up paint trim where needed, wash all the bedding, and change around all the pictures on the walls. I also repainted the tall chest that stayed in this room to match the trim. . . .
What I love about this bedding is that I could get a totally different color (blue) but keep the same wall and trim colors because they show up in the leaves and flowers as well as in the plaid bedskirt. . . .
I got the set at Kohls at 40% off then went back the next week when they had their special coupons and received an additional 20% refund. For some reason Gabriel likes to sit with his head under the bed and the rest of him sticking out. . . .
If you want to see what the two rooms looked like before the switch you can see the rooms in the Tab at the top of the page "Our House".
Here is my new view into the Arbor from my desk. . . .
And this is the view out the window overlooking the deck. Poetry has a wonderful perch now to watch the birds that come to the herbs I have in the planters. . .
I found this bistro table at T. J. Max when I went in there looking for a throw rug for this room. I ate breakfast out there one morning last week. . . .
Last but not least.....Ken put together the little bridge--just the right size for Olivia--we got weeks ago and placed it in the Enchanted Woods. Once you cross it you're at the Faerie door. . . .
Take Joy!
I enjoyed this Cathy. The bedspread is lovely and I like the green walls of the new home for your desk. The bistro table looks like you will use it a lot. I could picture a little tea time there with Miss Olivia. You must have been a careful child to have your tea set still intact! Last but not least, heartiest congratulations on your new grandson. A good size especially for being so early! I wonder what Olivia is thinking about this big change in her life?
ReplyDeleteHi Dotsie. If you look again, you'll see I'm missing a saucer to one of the cups....but I probably was a careful child. Ever since my first doll I was preparing to be a mommy and have a home of my own.
DeleteI was so glad August came early. His mommy is so petite that I was concerned....but as you see, I didn't have to be! He came when he was supposed to. 😊
Olivia was so cute when she first saw him. When her mommy sat him in her lap she said "Wow" in a very soft voice and stroked him gently. She was in awe.
Congratulations on your new grandson, Cathy! He was a big baby. Our grandson, Alex, was a big baby as well. Your son's picture looks like Olivia. Is that her daddy? I like your new view from your desk. I've always been fond of your arbor and picket fence. Very pretty. ♥
ReplyDeleteHi, Martha Ellen. If you're speaking of the large photo with the red-headed little boy, that's my youngest son. What's interesting to me is that my oldest son is the only one who didn't get my nose, but both of his children did. I got it from my father. I think that is what you're seeing. Olivia and her uncle have the same nose.
DeleteI love that I have two totally different views now. I want to add a bird bath to my deck and paint the planters now....and add more flowers!
Congratulations to you all, another beautiful baby to love and cherish. You are certainly blessed with a beautiful home. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lorraine. We've lived here 35 years now and have done a lot of remodeling and decorating over the years to make it a place of refuge for ourselves and our family and our guests. I feel very fortunate to have had such a beautiful canvas to work from.
DeleteI loved this post! August is a beautiful baby boy. His weight was very close to my Son's weight. Chris wss 9 lbs, 1 1/2 oz. He was also 21 inches. Now you have three babies to cherish & love. The redecorated rooms are beautiful! Looking forward to seeing everything in person. Love, Sis
ReplyDeleteI'm getting excited about your visit, too, Sandy. We can have breakfast out on the deck before the day gets too hot to be outside!
DeleteCongratulations Cathy on the arrival of your new grandchild. He is so precious! I enjoyed seeing the photos of your redecorating. Your tea set brought back great memories as I had saved mine too from childhood and recently gave it My new granddaughter. It looks like the perfect place to have breakfast your new bistro set. Have a wonderful week, Pat xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pat. I read several of your posts on your web journal and especially enjoyed your reminiscences of childhood interspersed with the lovely flowers from your garden. Having objects from the past helps keep the memories alive. I've started a memory box for each of my grandchildren. I'll have to put my tea set in there for my granddaughter when I give her box to her!
DeleteMany congratulations on the arrival of August [great name]. Grandchild #3!! Sounds like a very good thing he was early too. What a good boy - he's already being good to his Mom. Is Olivia's Dad the one with curly hair in the large photo? That little guy looks JUST like Olivia. Although in my family we 6 sibs look more like cousins, aunts & uncles more than our own parents. So I guess genes CAN bounce around a bit sometimes. Gabriel made me laugh too. What a character! Our "Peanut" [7-lb toy fox terrier] did something sort of similar. He loved to nap under my mother's range, which - until my parents remodeled the kitchen when I was in college - was a big old-fashioned one like the one in the movie "Meet Me in St Louis." It sat on legs on the floor. Anyway, Peanut was really small, just a bit bigger than the typical chihuahua, and he could easily maneuver himself under it. Anytime it was on, Peanut would wiggle his little behind under and not come out until he got too hot. She could be baking cookies on a 90-degree day, and under he'd go. Apparently the poor critter was always cold!!! We would just stand there and marvel at him. So the fact that Gabriel enjoys hanging out partially under the bed makes perfect dog sense to me. Aren't dogs just the best? No animal has more personality, for sure. PS - I'm jealous that you still have your childhood tea set. I never thought about keeping any of my toys while I was still a child, and with a big family my Mom was always packing up toys we'd outgrown or no longer played with for the local orphanage, just to try & stay ahead of the clutter. But I'd give a lot to have a few of my toys around still. Great memories... 💛
ReplyDeleteJanet, Martha Ellen above asked the same question! No, that's Olivia's uncle, my youngest son. It's the nose, I suspect, that makes her look like him. Her little brother got "the nose", too, which is mine and my Dad's, and his Dad's, and HIS Dad's. Olivia's Dad, however, did not get the nose--only my second and third sons.
DeletePoetry and Gabriel, together, are both like having preschool children in the house. I'd be a grumpy old lady by now if I didn't have them to keep me feeling youthful.
Have you looked on eBay for replicas of your childhood toys? It's not quite the same, but close. I found a children's book from the 1940's for a friend of mine after she talked about it fondly.
That's amazing. I would have bet big $$ that the little guy in the big photo was Olivia's Daddy. So the genes are jumping around in your family too. No one in my family resembles my parents too much, except my middle brother who I think looks a lot like our Mom. And Cathy, that's a great idea about looking online for toys. Although I'm not sure I'd remember the pattern of my tea set etc. Or any of my dolls, except Barbie. I still have quite a few books though - Black Beauty, Tom Sawyer, the Secret Garden, other classics. And a lot of little Golden Books too. One of my aunts was ALWAYS giving me books for presents. She said I was the only one of her 10 nieces/nephews who liked to read, which I think was disappointing for her. Lucky for me though, because I always received any books that were on my list from her. She also gave me the whole Nancy Drew collection, and another series called "Trixie Belden" that were mystery stories too.
DeleteJanet, see Jeri Landers' comment below. She's found lots of her childhood toys on-line. One of my half-brothers looks so much like our Dad, but it's his brother's daughter who looks like me. I think my Dad came from a long line of very strong genes. What is interesting to me about my Dad's family is that his greatgrandfather was born during the Civil War after his father died, having been discharged from the Confederate Army for medical reasons. He married for the second time after being discharged (his first wife had died), but then died 9 months later. His only child, my great-greatgrandfather, was born a few months later. My line almost ended then, but those genes are fighting to be passed on!
DeleteCathy, you've been busy... gramma for the second time and house revival!
ReplyDeleteI really like the combined fabric (in the green room) of the plaid bedskirt with floral spread, really nice. I HAVE indeed,looked for childhood toys On EBAY. Here is my list: Metal rollerskates (found em), A set of Jacks ( found em). The games of COOTIE and Mr. Potatohead, ( when you had to use a real potato) How about those plastic popbeads, do you remember those?
I remember all those toys. My favorite thing, though, besides playing with dolls and hide and go seek, was to collect the charms from the gum ball machines and trade them with my friends.
DeleteOh Yes, I had forgotten about those! Cracker jack toys were good too. Now you've got me reminiscing about wax lips, fingernails and mustaches... good grief!
DeleteJeri, and what about those candy cigarettes! And those little wax bottles with some sort of sweet liquid in them. You'd bite off the top and suck out the sweetness.
DeleteIt was amazing that your sons both picked the same card! I too thought Olivia looked so like her uncle. I had to smile how you were disturbed during your nap! Sarah x
ReplyDeleteSarah, I know, it was amazing that they should pick out the same card.
DeleteSo many wonderful changes and delightful rearranging, Cathy! And August tops them all. I love his name, it was my grandfather's and it is rare for me to hear it these days.
ReplyDeleteYour cabinet of keepsakes is sure to delight the children as they grow. What wonderful stories they will hear! Blessings to you all.
Hi Elaine. I thought August was an unusual name, but then we discovered it was one of the most popular names given to babies last year! I'm glad to know your grandfather was named August--it makes it a little more "traditional" for me--not just a fad name.
DeleteTo me, August is an old and venerable name. For fun, I looked through my genealogical records and found that between Dick and I, we have 14 named August, 3 Augustine and 6 Augustus.
ReplyDeleteI also have 2 ladies with Augusta!
I love how some of the old names are coming around again.
I'd love to know the date of the first August in your family. Lemuel was a name given to three of my ancestors. The first was born in 1828 and the last in 1889. I think that's a great name and wished it had continued. It might have if the last Lemuel hadn't died before he had children.
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