Gathering Around the Table With Friends

"If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give. " ~George MacDonald

Last night I gathered around the table with friends from college at Moscow, Idaho. We celebrated a birthday, caught up on our lives, shared sorrows, triumphs, and lots of smiles.

My First Top Ten List of Favorite Summer Treats!

Being away from my computer and without internet much of this week kept me from greeting summer properly. As we say good-bye to spring and hello to summer here are some things that will make this season shine brightly for me!

My First Top Ten List of Favorite Summer Treats

1.My new Crocs Athens sandals. Until I got a pair I had no idea how comfortable they were. I love their bright colors and it sure sets off the new pedicure !!

2.Colorful bouquets. I will never in my lifetime get tired of summer bouquets from the garden.

3.The America rose. It climbs, it is fragrant, and it has a beautiful color. JEJ caught a perfect photo of this bloom.
4.Annie when she talks to us about her day!6.Shelby when she feels contentment just being near us. 7. Lake Roosevelt. Here is a view through the trees by Barnaby Island last Sunday as we drove south down the lake.
8. The last, lingering sweet smell of the Mock Orange bush.9. Going shopping for new plants for the garden.10. Summer storms.

In Class, Sunshine, and Back Yard Dinner

This week I have been away from home attending a class with other staff members from school. We are enjoying the hospitality of my friends Joan and Dave as they opened their house to us for four days.

Enjoying dinner in her beautiful back yard was such a treat. It is so nice to spend some time over dinner with friends in the nice sunshine. Back to class for eight hours tomorrow... but we will be such better teachers by the end of the week!

Sibling Assignment # 102: Father Daughter Banquet, Bowling, and Lemon Fluff

I gave the sibling assignment this week. In honor of Father's Day I asked my siblings to remember a time that our father made them proud. You will soon find the much healthier RP's here and if Silver Valley Girl is off the links yet, hers will be here.

Being a member of Bluebirds and Camp Fire Girls was a big part of my growing up experience. Each year around Valentine's Day we had the annual Father Daughter Banquet. At our Camp Fire meeting we learned a song to sing to our dads and worked feverishly at decorating a box with a Valentine theme. The box held our banquet, which was similar to a box social meal.

One thing I loved about the Father Daughter banquet was the banquet we brought with us. Mom made the same food for us each year and the menu was our favorite. We had her cold fried chicken, homemade potato salad, and the famous Lemon Fluff dessert. If I remember right everything we needed was packed into our dinner box that I had proudly decorated. Now we often got to enjoy her cold fried chicken and potato salad, but Lemon Fluff was a treat. The dessert was discovered by a teacher partner of mom's at Silver King school as an inexpensive and fairly easy dessert to make, so it had been dished up at many an event at the school for PTA ,but we didn't get it often at home. This light lemon flavored dessert with a graham cracker crust was placed in little plastic square boxes for Dad and I to enjoy.

Another part of the Father Daughter Banquet that sticks in my memory is that for some unknown reason Dad always had a bowling tournament the same day. The coincidence was that the banquet was held upstairs in the same building as the bowling alley. Just as we sat down to eat our banquet here would come my Dad. Depending on the sponsor of his bowling team, he would be wearing a flashy,bright bowling shirt in red or gold advertising the beer company that was his sponsor. His forehead would be shiny with sweat, there would be a hint of beer on his breath, but he would sit down by me and enjoy the homemade banquet of food.

If my memory serves me right I think sometimes he would have to go back down when it was his turn, then run back up the stairs. While catching his breath he always savored every bite of Mom's chicken, potato salad, and Lemon Fluff.

This was a moment that made me proud of Dad. Sitting awkwardly in a seat a bit too small for him , perhaps with his mind on the next frame of the bowling tournament and the cold Heidelberg he left downstairs , he focused on me as I sang "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" to him joined by my other Camp Fire friends.

Through the years Dad embellished his version of these banquets over and over again as he was so famous for doing. There was talk of missed frames, %#2$% George Linney, someone drinking his beer, and having to squeeze in small quarters to join me for the banquet. What will always stay with me was seeing Dad's misty eyes when I blew him a kiss when I finished " Let Me Call You Sweetheart". He hustled off to bowl his next frame not realizing I had seen those tears. I felt proud of my dad that night upstairs at the bowling alley.

Morning Photo Images by JEJ

Having another photographer in the house is fun. JEJ continues to master the craft of photography each and every time he grabs the camera and heads outside. Enjoy the images he captured this morning. He caught the first lily blooming before I did!

Winning the Battle With the Weeds!

"But make no mistake: the weeds will win; nature bats last. "~Robert M. Pyle

Today was a good day to tackle more weeds. Where do they come from? One day you have a few sprigs of clover and the next day you can't see the flowers. One day you have weed barrier, the next the bark on top of the barrier is sprouting weeks. One good thing about spending time in the garden weeding is you have a sense of accomplishment when the day is over. You may also have sore knees, a slight sunburn, and fingernails that need a soak, but there is a sense of accomplishment.Grass is my worst enemy. It seems like grass takes up residence and doesn't want to ever leave. When you have to get a shovel out to deal with weeds, that is when you call your better half!
I will say I do like clover, especially the red clover. I kept some in the flower beds today just to add some color. Also, by the time I got to that red clover I was ready to quit. Red clover is good ( I keep telling myself.)
Finally at the end of my weed pulling session the flower beds along the walk looked much more tidy! Now that the rain is falling again Mother Nature will probably provide just what the weeds need to grow up taller overnight! Arrrggghhh!