March 31, 2010

Today is our great grand daughter, Madison Claire McSwain's first birthday!!! She is walking! And she is a real cutie pie with a gorgeous smile and beautiful blue eyes! Her mother, Lauren keeps us fairly well up to date on Madison's development with the 'blog'

This is such a beautiful day. I've just spent about two hours outside finding a variety of things to do and had to make myself come back inside to continue working on organizing data for income tax.

There is a beautiful little weeping cherry tree in the front yard. Steve, Pat, Meredith and Patrick came to spend Christmas with me. Patrick, Valdis and Liga planted the tree fore me on Christmas Eve! I am delighted to have such a beautiful and thoughtful gift.

Daffodils, are blooming along with crocus, pansies, hyacinth and little quaker ladies (bluets) all over the yard! The saucer magnolia along with neighbor Caty LaRue' beautiful large cherry trees and the Bradford pears all together are celebrating the new life of spring.

No Wednesday night dinner at church tonight, so I am baking a sweet potato for my supper. There will be a Maundy Thursday service at church tomorrow evening.

We are having some very warm days this week. All the flowering trees are excited and are showing their beauty. Gene's little apple tree in the back yard is full of buds just ready to burst open. If we don't get another big freeze, there might be some apples on the tree this year!

March 30, 2010

Emily is working hard on getting herself organized and getting things together for her nephew Jonathan to help her with taxes.  He's done that task for several years now and it's been a big help.  She has said that she seems overwhelmed by it all, but she is working on it one step at a time.

She's also trying to get herself ready to go to Nashville for Madison's birthday.  At this point the plan is that Sarah and Ryan will pick her up and bring her back in time to be in Chattanooga on Sunday so she'll be able to attend Easter Services at First Cumberland Presbyterian.

March 28, 2010

Emily and Lynn went out for awhile today. 

The first shopping stop was at Dillards, where Emily was looking for an Easter suit.  She found a pretty yellow one, but wasn't happy with how it looked.  The next stop was back home to get her cell phone so the two of them could stay in touch if they got separated.

On the way back to the shopping, they stopped for a bit of lunch at Panera.  Then it was on to Kohl's, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and JC Penney.  She came home with a very pretty blue suit that may be her Easter Suit.  She wants to think about it before making up her mind.  It was a very lovely mother-daughter day. 

March 25, 2010

Spring arrived last Saturday, March 20th, bringing a warm sunny day. Sunday morning I thought " I'll wear a dress to church." - a good time to wear the new one I recently acquired. All ready to go, I stepped outside. Oh my! It was quite cool and raining as well, but I told myself,  "I'll be alright."  A warm sweater sure would have felt nice.

Spring is hiding all this week

Tom Carroll's crew mowed and trimmed the yard yesterday. I ventured outside after I got home from my dental appointment. I worked in the yard for a while moving some amaryllis.  They were originally from Mother's yard at Mt. Victory, moved to Middlesboro, and now in the yard here in Chattanooga. 

Before I knew it, I found myself busy in the garden area planting lettuce, Bibb, Black Seeded Simpson and Romain. Spinach came through the winter looking good and there are three Swiss Chard plants surviving all in the raised bed. The Sugar-Snap Peas just recently planted are slowly coming up.

When I decided to come in for lunch, it was 3:00PM!

 Mr Carroll said he would get the garden area tilled for me. I think I 'll plant White-Half Runner beans, tomatoes, eggplant, and some onions if I can locate the sets, That will be plenty for me to do.

March 24, 2010

Today Emily had a dental appointment.  She has had a time with her teeth just lately, but has finally gotten some dentures that are working out for her.  She had a time finding someone that she felt comfortable with, but she did finally find someone.  She says that it's hard to get used to them but she doing fine.  She went back today for an adjustment. 

Tonight is church night.  Emily has gotten back into her routine of going to dinner and the Wednesday night service. She and Gene always enjoyed going to the Wednesday night.  It seems that is a place of real support for her, and the smaller and more casual worship seems to be just right for a mid week experience

March 23, 2010

This evening Emily cooked dinner for Alan, Lynn, and Liga.  Just before she left for her trip out west the church sent her an Angel Food Box.  She cooked green beans, carrots, a baked potato, and a small steak.  She enjoys having someone to have dinner with her.

Today she went to one of her PEO sisters homes where they spent the day working on the PEO scrapbook. The home was way out in Hixson and the hostess fed them a nice lunch. There were several ladies there and they worked in groups on just a few pages. They had  pictures, the pages, and all the scrapbooking materials that they need.  The scrapbooks are always very nice.  One of the women suggested that they should include pictures of their grandchildren.  Emily told them that she thought they probably wanted pictures of her great grandchildren, not her grandchildren.  They all got a laugh and said they couldn't imagine having great grandchildren.  She loves being a G-MaMa.

March 22, 2010

Emily had a busy day today.

Emily is still working on getting the deed for the property in Kentucky squared away.  She had a meeting with her attorney and had to redo some of the paperwork that Kentucky needs to take care of transferring the deed to Mom's name. The property in Kentucky was near the Wright homestead, and not too awfully far from the Stepping Rock where most of the children were born.

After taking care of the attorney business, she had some banking business to do.  This particular bank still didn't have a copy of Gene's death certificate.  It's an ongoing process with reminders all along the way.  Emily still says from time to time that it doesn't feel quite real, and that Gene was taken from us way too soon.

This evening Emily had a session meeting at church. When they found a church home at First Cumberland it was a great thing.  The church is so close to the house, and it's no trouble at all to make a quick trip there for any reason.  The two ministers who have served the church in the time that they've been here have been so welcoming and wonderful.  Emily and Gene quickly became very involved in the life of the church and have made wonderful friends there.  Emily receives so much support from her involvement there.  Her work in the womens' ministry, as an elder, and on the Christian Education committee give her an opportunity to use her strengths in work that's really important to her.

March 21, 2010

Emily had a fire going today - it was a little chillly.

Yesterday was a glorious warm and wonderful first day of spring and then today it turned off rainy and chilly. Emily bought herself a new spring dress, and was eager to wear it and then got cold!  She's not the only one around Chattanooga who is eager for spring to get here for good.

She went to church today and then spent the afternoon relaxing a bit.  This afternoon she went with Alan, Lynn, and Mommy Anne to a concert by Sam Glasser.  It was a fun concert.  Afterwards the whole crew went to Souper Salad for a quick dinner.  It was a cool and rainy evening so a bit of hot soup hit the spot.

March 20, 2010

Today Emily and Lynn visited the cemetery.  Emily was there for just a quick little visit yesterday when she went with some other ladies, but they were not there for long. 

During the winter months only artificial flowers are allowed in the National Cemetery. The red roses that had been at Gene's gravesite held up very nicely.  Artificial flowers are still required until sometime in April, so Emily brought some lovely lilies that are reminders of the Easter season.

The area where Dad is has sustained some erosion and hasn't yet been sodded.  It looked as though one of the other areas that had graves added this fall and winter had recently been sodded, so perhaps it won't be long before they are ready to work on that section as well. 

Gene  loved the look of the National Cemetery.  He loved to go for the special programs on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and other occasions.  The site of his grave is such a beautiful spot.  He would love the lilies at this time of year - the first day of Spring.

March 19, 2010

Gene and I had been fascinated by the Camelias we saw blooming at Russell and STeve's homes in Atlanta.  About 3 years ago he bought one and brought it home.  We planted it at the right corner of the house near where his boat is parked.  The camelia put out three or four blossoms each February or March, nothing impressive. 

I noticed just the other day that the bush is covered with beautiful pink blossoms! The jonquils are blooming and tomorrow is the first day of spring.

I planted a row of sugar-snap peas one day before I left for my two week visit with Elijah in San Jose.  I thought they might be up when I came home - but didn't see any sprouts - until curosity led me to dig up a pea seed.  There they were making little sprouts! I also discovered that the broccoli plants that Alan gave to Gene last spring had overwintered and produced another crop, in spite of the fact that we had some very cold days and nights this past winter.  I alos have a nice patch of spinach coming on in the raised bed.

So I'm inspired to do a little gardening, not on Gene's scale, but, perhaps, I can entice Joyce to partner withme for the gardening effort.

I visited the cemetery briefly today as several other ladies from church and I  attended a memorial service for Eska Holtzclaw's brother.  Eska will be 100 years old in July and we knew she needed some of us to attend the service.  She is our inspiration, living along and driving herself, always at church - She is a stylish dresser and has a delightful sense of humor.

I will plant another row of peas in a few days so they will not mature all at the same time.

I guess a country gril just gets gardening in her system when all the newness of spring bursts forth and God's hand is evident in His Creation.

March 18, 2010

About three years ago, Gene came home one day with a Camelia bush he had bought. Their yard wherever they lived was always a work in progress.  Emily helped him decide to set it out near the northeast corner of the house.  It has taken these years since to get established.

For the first time ever this spring it is full of  blooms.  Emily was very touched when she saw it blooming. 

Emily already had her peas planted and they are nearly ready to come up.  Today she also discovered that the one broccoli plant that survived the winter - maybe one of the last things Gene ever planted, was full of broccoli. She picked about a quart from it!

March 17, 2010

Emily is getting back into the routine of being back in Chattanooga.  She seems to have mostly recovered from her jet lag and stomach distress.  She's getting those mountains of mail down to a manageable level, getting her email in-box cleaned up, and just enjoying being back in her house.  Tonight she went to church for the Wednesday night dinner and service.  She always enjoys seeing the folks at church.  The church has been a great support for her from the time she and Gene first decided it would be their church home.  It was an especially important support for her during Dad's illness, and has continued in these weeks and months since he died. 

The weather is supposed to warm up a bit over the weekend, and it's almost guaranteed that Emily will be out in the yard and garden.  She's already got several packets of herb seeds on the counter just waiting for the right planting moment. 

Last night she made broccoli for dinner harvested from the plants that Alan bought for Gene in the spring of last year just a few weeks before his surgery.  She says that one of the plants has survived the winter and she expects that it will bear again this spring.  That will be a nice gift. 

March 6, 2010

Emily heard from Pat this evening and the traveling fish quilt is on it's way back to Emily in Chattanooga. 

She has had a good day. She checked the church bulletin online and discovered that she's the elder of the week.  So she went over to the church and checked in with them and is on track now to take care of those responsibilities.  She's planning to get back into the swing of going to Wednesday night dinner and Sunday worship service.

Tonight Alan and Lynn had dinner with her.  She says that when she has company for dinner it gives her an incentive to cook. 

She's beginning to make spring cleaning plans.  She wants to clean up the outside storage areas first so that as she cleans up the inside, she has room to move stuff out to the storage areas.  The warm weather will be making it tempting to do all that work out in the yard though!

March 15, 2010

Emily took it easy yesterday and today is feeling much better.

Elizabeth got right on the job of getting Mom's phone to her, and it arrived today.  So she's back in the mobile phone world.  She also took Dad's truck over and got it licensed - the tag was out of date, so Lynn breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't get a ticket for driving with an expired tag!

She's also going through in her words "her mountain of mail".  It's true, it was a mountain ... when separated into "kinds of mail" - catalogs, solicitations, real mail - it was actually a small mountain range.  But she'll get through it.

On the trip out west, Emily took the quilt she is working on for Elijah with her.  She and Elizabeth worked on the layout for the pieces. She got it back into her suitcase and was showing it to Pat and Sarah while she visited with them in Atlanta, and then somehow the Traveling Fishy Quilt decided to stay for awhile in Atlanta.  Pat was going to get it into the mail today or tomorrow so that Emily will have it to work on over the next little bit.


She has said several times what a good time she had. 

March 14, 2010

Emily had a wonderful visit and found Elijah a real treasure.  She also enjoyed having time to visit Josh and Elizabeth.  She kept Elijah several times so that Elizabeth could work on finishing touches for the last edition of Gene's book.  She also got up early with Elijah and had breakfast with him so that Elizabeth could sleep in.  He always asked for his yogurt and cheerios for breakfast.  Sometimes he had an egg.  After they had breakfast the two of them would play with his cars and read stories or work puzzles.  Of course with a G-MaMa around you might end up playing hide'n seek or climbing a tree (with some help) or even running races around the yard or up and down the hallway.  

Emily and Elizabeth enjoyed going to the fabric shop The Quilting Bee, and to the nursery.  Emily was fascinated with the Sycamore trees growing all over the place in San Jose.

On her return she had a nice opportunity to visit with Sarah and Ryan Fetz and they showed her their first ultrasound picture of their 9 week baby!  It looks like he or she will be born in mid October. 

Emily left her phone in San Diego when she left to come home.  Elizabeth was really concerned.  Steve and Lynn were concerned about how she would know any phone numbers to call.  But she did just fine.  She borrowed a flight attendants phone on the plane and she even knew Steve's phone number (I don't)  I have him on speed dial.  Then once she got to Atlanta, she borrowed someone else's phone and got in touch with him.  When she and Steve missed connecting at a pre-arranged place she just went on the to the luggage pick up and waited for him there.  It all worked out real fine.  We all know how resourceful she is; sometimes we just have to be reminded. 

March 14, 2010

Well, Emily is back home, and Plato is right there ensconced on Dad's orange recliner.  It's good to have her back home.  She seemed to have a really good time visiting with Elizabeth, Josh, and Elijah, and got to see Cousin Laine.  She spent the night Thursday and Friday with Steve and Pat in Atlanta and got to visit with Ryan and Sarah.  This morning she and Betsy went to a craft fair and then Betsy drove her home.  The four of us went out to dinner tonight to the Imperial Garden, a Chinese restaurant over near Hamilton Place.  It was lovely to have  an opportunity to welcome Mom home and visit with Betsy for awhile. It was so nice for her to drive Mom up from Atlanta.


It seems Mom isn't feeling so well. Perhaps it's partly the time change, but her stomach has been queasy all day, and on the way home, she actually threw up.  She ate a light dinner, and when we got home, she had a bit of ginger ale that she said really helped her stomach calm down. She thinks tomorrow she'll just stay home and get herself back in the swing of things at home. 

What we have been up to.....

Sorry for the long break in my posting! We had a great week. Last weekend Emily and I went to see Cirque Du Soilel (which means Circus of the Sun in French) It is a traveling circus based in Montreal. It differs much from the Barnum and Bailey style circus in that it's more focused on acrobatic performance art and live music and doesn't include animals acts. I saw it once in San Diego and again on my honeymoon and now I am hooked. Here is a link to a preview for the show. (Click on view trailer on the right side of the page)
 http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/ovo/tickets/san-jose.aspx?icid=dropdown/ovo/San Jose
 I should add that the theme of this show was about bugs! Not something I am particularly fond of, but they could put on a show about painting a white room biege and I am sure that I would be equally blown away by the skill and artistry of the performers. Emily and I really enjoyed ourselves.

We also planted a small vegetable garden and herb garden.  Tomatoes for the spring and rainbow chard for the last of winter to keep my already existing kale and spinach company. Emily taught me some great gardening techniques, like using eggshells and coffee grounds beneath the tomatoes plants. Elijah was quite interested in helping too. We let him fill up buckets with dirt using a small shovel. He's only two years old but he definitely has that Howard work ethic!

Last evening we met Emily's cousin Laine Clifford at a wonderful Italian restaurant called Il Fornaio in downtown San Jose. It was in a beautiful building with some very interesting architecture, in the Hotel Saint Claire. They had a wonderful time catching up and Josh and I enjoyed getting to know Laine a little better. It was a wonderful way to end the visit.

I have included a few photos here, but for the full selection visit Elijahroo.com my personal website for sharing photos.





Laine and Emily at dinner.

Above is Elijah in the new hat and backpack that Emily bought for him.

Hello Pacific!

Hello Pacific!

On Sunday we took a trip to Half Moon Bay, located about halfway between San Jose and San Francisco. It was a lovely day at the beach. We flew Elijah's kite that Emily had given him for his birthday. He was absolutely captivated by it. At the coast Emily was very curious about the succulent foliage covering the hills at the beach. I in fact actually knew the name of the plant. One point for me! They are called Ice Plants, the name is given because in the correct lighting the plants look they are made of ice crystals. After the beach we had lunch at a fun little hole in the wall place called The Flying Fish Grill. It was incredibly good, we had fresh caught halibut fish and chips and fish tacos.

Emily has also been working on the quilt, as you can see from the photo it is really coming along. Elijah now refers to it as his quilt or "Ya-ya's quilt" as he gave himself that nickname when he was first learning how to talk. Elijah is really enjoying having his "G-ma-ma" here. They wake up every morning and have breakfast together and let me sleep in *so nice*. This morning he was doing his "ready-set-go" routine where he wants you to race him the length of the house. He doesn't much like it when you get ahead of though, he will stop in the middle in say "head back" and motion you with his hands. G-ma-ma was happy to play along, they both are having the best time. 

We have some fun stuff planned this weekend so I will be updating again soon.

March 3, 2010

On Tuesday Gene's niece Lynda sent a report about his sister Irene. 

Irene became very ill last week, and all the tests showed gallbladder stones.  As they were working her up for surgery, they found a large mass in one of her kidneys. Her surgery was Monday about 2:00 PM.  The kidney had to be removed - the mass was cancer, but it was all contained inside the kidney.  The doctor said he felt that he removed everything.  Lynda talked with Kenny on Tuesday and she seemed to be doing really well.  

 

This morning Aunt Mary spoke with Irene and reported that she sounded much stronger.  She will be going home they hope by the end of the week.

Aunt Mary's eyes seem to be recovering and Lynda took her yesterday to get her new glasses.  She can see much better now that she's gotten the glasses.