Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day dear blogger friends. I hope that you all had a lovely day and found a way to celebrate or be celebrated! My dad called me to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. He never does that and I was so surprised and happy to hear his voice.

My Jimmy always brings me flowers and these are so pretty. Such an antique look. He also gave me money for flowers when we can go to a nursery. The weather just turned so hot and it was so windy for days...not the time for tender little new plants.

Home Sweet Home! That's where we spend most of our time these days! We decided to have the girls and Otto come to our house. We stayed our distance and were outside, so we are trusting that we all stayed safe. We got some premade veggie trays and fruit trays and had a big container of pink lemonade.

 My Gina, my youngest. We celebrate a birthday on the same day. Gina gifted me with an Etsy gift card, so that will be fun to choose a treat!

My oldest Angie who is just a wonderful mom herself.

Otto is trying out his skate board while Grandma Linda looks on. Rico is looking for some meat! Gina is a vegetarian, so he likes to visit. This is the first time we have seen Rico in months.

Otto's step sister Ava gave him  two scooters, so he talked Auntie GG into riding with him. It was so cute.

Rico just loves the sunshine! It was in the 80's again.

Jimmy outside and enjoying the kids and Otto.

A happy mama! I was just happy to enjoy my girls, the pup and of course, funny Otto.

This is one of my gifts from Otto and Angie.....it's a special keychain with a sweet saying about a grandson and a grandma.

My flowers are quite pretty right now. This is my rose that was a gift from a friend who collects old roses. It's so beautiful this year.

Chives are always a delight.

Some of my Forget Me Nots that just pop up all over the garden. I love them and they remind me of Tasha Tudor.

One of my azaleas out front. They always bloom around Mother's Day. 

Yummy chocolate cake to enjoy at the end of a special day together. It was quiet and simple but just wonderful to have my little family together. No hugs yet! Maybe soon. We are all longing to go to the Oregon beach one of these days. We had a trip planned in March during spring break, but that didn't happen. I just keep thinking how much it will mean when we finally get to go.

Resurrection Sunday

Happy Resurrection Sunday! It was a beautiful day in many ways today. The virus canceled church services which is something that has never happened. I whole heartedly agreed with this decision, as we are still staying home to limit the spread of this virus. Some people were upset but I feel it gave people a chance to explore different types of Christian services via the internet. I joined several programs this week. This morning I watched a sunrise service at Arlington Cemetery. I didn't know that services were held there. I live in the Pacific North West, so I have never even been there. The chaplain was fabulous and what a joy to view this service online. Later this morning, I joined my friends Paul and Angelia for their home church. They live in Alabama and I visit this service often.
Yes, it was a very different Easter but Easter Sunday was not canceled.

Last January, someone in a tea group I belong to, posted these adorable tins. I was able to order a set. I don't even remember the name of the company. The larger tin is for cake. Isn't it pretty?

The smaller one says Tea Time Treats! Oh, how I dove that tin.

Jimmy likes sugar cookies. I had a roll of dough in the fridge, So I decided to bake some cookies for him. I LOVE cookie cutters. I used some of the red plastic ones from my youth, some Hallmark ones that my girls loved growing up and some I have picked up along the way. Yep, I still have my Tupperware sheet for rolling out dough. I have had it for about 40 years!

Jimmy doesn't like icing on sugar cookies, so I just used colored sugars to decorate them a little.

This is one of my spice cabinets. This was a Mother's Day gift long ago.

I have very small cookie cutters in some of the drawers. I used to use these to make cookies for my daughters when they were little.

I picked out a few to make some cookies for my dollies. I just love these tiny cookie cutters.

The finished project! I will have to share them with my dolls.

I also decided to make one of our family traditions for Easter. They are called Blarney Stones. They started out as cakes for St Pat's Day by my maternal grandmother. She cut a sheet cake into squares, frosted the cake all around and rolled it in coconut and chopped walnuts. My mother changed the process a little. She made them for Easter and frosted them with pastel colors. She made cupcakes and that made them easier to handle than cut cake squares. We still call them Blarney Stones.

Chopped walnuts and coconut ready to go.

These are so yummy and pretty, but they are messy to make. I frost the top and sides and then put it in the coconut bowl. I finish frosting the sides and bottom and roll it the coconut. I've done these many years and I will tell you, it takes some practice to get it right.

The coconut ones are the favorite in my family, but they like some nut ones too!

Don't they look like spring? These are full size cupcakes, but I have made them smaller for showers or teas. I like to make white ones with coconut for Christmas or winter...they look like snowballs.

I let them sit overnight with a layer of plastic wrap loosely over the pan. They need to dry a bit before wrapping them individually in plastic wrap. The look great in the new cake tin.

My friend Michi Ball made this rabbit. She is an artist and sells wonderful things every month. I just love him.

My Jimmy was so ready for a nice Easter dinner. We couldn't share our meal with anyone, but we have each other. I had fun planning the menu....ham, balsamic vinegar asparagus, pea salad and fresh fresh fruit salad. I'm not supposed to eat ham due to my low sodium diet, but I did have a bit today!

Jimmy loved the pea and bacon salad...something new for us.

I didn't get out my Easter dishes this year so I used my Johnson Brother's Old English Countryside set.

Angie had Otto and her step daughter over night this weekend so she drove over to see us and drop off a few things. We can't have the kids over now but we got to see them as they stayed in the car.
Otto was SO SAD that he had to stay in the car. In the first photo, you can only see his hand. He wouldn't even look at us for awhile. It just made me so sad. We haven't seen him in person for a month!I tried not to cry, but the tears just came. Jim got sad too. Brave Angie just keep saying it was alright. This is the hardest part of this separation stuff for me.

Well, here it is bedtime. It was a full and busy day. We both found a lot of JOY, even with the sadness. Stay home and stay safe. 

Expo Showtime Again

Once again, it's time for the Antique and Collectable show at the Expo center. I got it all set up on Friday and we had a GREAT selling day. Gina drove down from Everett late on Friday night to help Jim on Saturday. They also had a great selling day! I am so thankful for the good sales. We've had a lot of expenses since summer, so this is quite a big help.

Enjoy the pictures of our goods, I actually didn't get to take photos until Late Friday. I didn't get the photos taken until quite late in the afternoon.

Monday Monday....

Well, the dreaded colonoscopy is over. I think I am done with medical tests for awhile. It has been such a year of it all. I try not to focus on it and am so thankful that the doctors have been able to keep me healthy. We shall see what the results of this test will be shortly. I have to admit that I am nervous.

My sweet daughter Gina left me a fun package to open when it was all over. She called it.."The Post Poo Pampering Package"! So fun.

It was filled with all kinds of fun good smelling things for ladies. New products for the old mama to try. I was so thrilled with all the goodies.

I came through the test just fine. The prep is barbaric as far as I am concerned. The drugs they give you during the test are great and you wake up refreshed. I did fine and am doing fine, until night time. So I guess I am one of the ones that it takes longer to bounce back...sigh. No sleep for the past two nights. I tried some different eating patterns today but if I have another night of tummy aches, I will call the doctor in the morning.

It's been so hot here. We hit another 90 degree day and the forest fires continue up the gorge from our home. People are still evacuated after a week. We have a lot of ash to still clean up on our cars, BBQ's, lawn furniture...it's amazing. We finally saw blue sky on Saturday after a week of grey skies.
I feel so bad for people closer to the fire. Fires, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes. It's been a difficult time for people. It warms your heart to hear of stories of people helping people.

Isn't it hard to believe that it's been 16 years since 911? A day will be always remember. 

Mother's Day with Gina in Seattle

Saturday afternoon, Jim and I drove north to Seattle. Our daughter Gina invited us up for Mother's Day. We arrive about 9 PM and spent the night chatting until it was after midnight! Eric is on tour, so we didn't get to see him. We all slept in and Gina fixed us a wonderful brunch. Their home is lovely and very comfortable. Here's my baby cooking me breakfast!

We had an egg and veggie dish, potatoes and fresh fruit....along with lots of Seattle coffee. You have to drink coffee in Seattle!

This is my grandpup....Rico! He is a cutie and such a companion. I'm not a big dog fan, but I have to admit, this little guy stole my heart away. He is a good little dog.

After breakfast, Gina took us to her favorite nursery....Swanson's. Oh my, oh my! It was an adventure! It was the most awesome nursery I have ever visited. It's a good thing this isn't in my neighborhood. You can see Jimmy sitting on a bench doing some people watching. Gina and I spent 2 hours looking at everything and doing some shopping!

This red peony was just beautiful! Gina was soooo tempted, but decided to think about it for awhile.

A pink beauty!

The nursery is divided up for easy shopping!

The roses are blooming a bit early in the Pacific Northwest....isn't this a pretty one?

I took a picture of this lovely plant so I could find it back home. I just love the flowers.

I think Gina was in heaven! Look at that smile.

The last section we visited was the Asia building with so many different maples. I wanted them all!

Thank you Gina for making my Mother's Day so special. I love you lots and am blessed  to be your mom.