A moist but memorable Memorial Day

 

We gathered for our customary Memorial Day feast and birthday partythis year, as every other year.

Our Erica has a birthday on May thirtieth but we celebrate it when everyone is here for Memorial Day.

This year was a big one: she turned forty.

The patriotic decorations are in full force

For her gift, I had plotted for many weeks to present her with large portraits of her two children.

Way back in February I invited Rhett, who will turn five in July, to stay with us for two nights. On the first night we took him shopping and bought him a new outfit -- black jeans and a blue shirt that brought out his blue eyes.

We had special napkins and trays

The next night, we took him to a special property where we have enjoyed many photo shoots over the years.

He posed for an hour or more, and I swore him to secrecy, warning him to please, please not tell his mother than Mamaw and Papaw had taken him somewhere and he'd had to pose for fiftyleven pictures.

It's a surprise for your mom, I told him again and again.

Some of my knockout roses

It was much later when I was finally able to get Elliot a/k/a Skippy, age two and a half, out to the venue to take his pictures.

I'd had him spend a few nights with us too, in March, and TG and I bought him a new outfit ahead of that occasion.

Then, when the time came for his visit, I was under the weather and completely forgot that I'd intended to take him for a photo shoot.

Erica's birthday present

It was fortunate that we had plenty of time. In the end, Chad brought him out to meet us for the shoot on the day in April that Audrey and Erica left for their European trip.

In addition to Skippy's pictures, I took several of the brothers together.

Since this picture, TG has stained the new cedar fence

All of the pictures turned out great and I ordered 30x20 canvases of three of the poses -- one for each boy (the "money shot" in each case, as it were) and one of them both, on a swing.

As Memorial Day approached, I packaged up the pictures and wrapped them in pretty paper for Erica.

Petit fours from Tiffany's

I accompanied the gift by making a photo book of all the best pictures from both shoots, to commemorate them and give her a lasting keepsake that she could enjoy.

In all this activity it did not occur to me that I needed to tell Chad that the product of Skippy's photo shoot was meant to be a secret for Erica's birthday.

The message was clear: you're forty

And so it was that, at some point, he mentioned to her that we had taken Elliot for a photo shoot while she was out of the country.

So, she was really not surprised by the gift and I felt that it did not hit quite right, but maybe that was only my perception.

Some of my potted plants

At any rate they are beautiful portraits of her children and I think that as the boys grow, she will appreciate having them. The pictures, that is. She already cherishes her boys.

As it was for many of you who, like me, live on the Eastern Seaboard, Memorial Day was exceedingly rainy.

We had been working for many weeks on our back yard pool area, to which we have made some improvements.

Candles glowed on the rainy day

We have a new privacy fence and new pool liner, both of which were desperately needed.

TG has spruced up all of my outdoor furniture and it's looking spiffy. We had new pine straw put down behind the two low retaining walls, and we have flowers both in the ground and in planters.

Rhett's portrait

And I'd bought all new pillows for the furniture, and I was looking forward to getting everything set up just right so that the kids and grandkids could admire and enjoy it.

Stephanie and Joel had come from North Carolina on Sunday night, and though we were missing Andrew and Brittany and Ember and Guy, we were still a sizable party.

It's traditionally the first chance the kids have to swim, and despite the weather, they did get to splash around in between spates of steady rain.

Elliot's portrait

I'd planned for TG to grill chicken as well as hot dogs.

To accompany the meat course I'd made barbecue baked beans, tangy slaw, macaroni and cheese, and deviled eggs, and we had a wide variety of chips in single-serving bags, and lots of soda and sparkling water.

Stephanie and Audrey's assignment had been to come up with their sister's birthday cake, and they'd purchased it at Tiffany's, the exellent local bakery that made Audrey's wedding cake. 

This lantern gets used at Christmas too

In addition to the cake, they got an assortment of petit fours. Tiffany's is known for their scrumptious petit fours.

But when it came time to put the food on the grill, it was raining cats and dogs, and TG told me he was not going to be able to prepare the chicken and hot dogs.

Erica with her boys

Which left me in the lurch because I had not accounted for making the chicken in the oven, which takes lots longer. And the hot dogs would have had to be cooked on the stove.

Mike and Audrey saved my bacon by offering to brave the rain under huge golf umbrellas and get the chicken and dogs done on the grill.

Rhelliot 2026

The rain let up a tad bit, and TG got in on the grilling after all, and before long we were sitting down to our Memorial Day repast.

And yes, we took the time to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and our freedoms.

It's all about the red, white, and blue

Their sacrifices are not lost on us. We thank God for every last American hero past, present, and future. But those who have died for our country are in a class by themselves.

I hope you are still praying that our Andrew comes home safely, and soon.

As we will do, until the day break, and the shadows flee away!

And that is all for now.

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Happy Wednesday

She shimmers and she glows

 

Our Allissa graduated from high school on May fifteenth.

She was Valedictorian of her class of nineteen students who graduated from their private Christian school in Hickory, North Carolina.

The graduation table

Our Stephanie, Allissa's mother, and I had been planning for many months the design and execution of Allissa's graduation table.

In fact we started talking about it a few years ago.

We went all out on Lissy's table

What this entails is, in the gymnasium after the graduation ceremony, each graduate is provided with an eight-foot table to be decorated with mementoes of the graduate's life and academic career.

It sounds simple but in actuality it has many moving parts and some meticulous planning must take place in order for everything to come together.

The birdcage has held many cards in its day

Naturally we wanted a table that reflected Allissa's tastes and interests, as well as her accomplishments.

The colors she wanted were pastel pink, purple, and yellow. We decided on a few arrangements of balloons that Stephanie ordered from a local vendor. The balloons were tied with silk ribbon in the soft colors and they were so pretty.

So many pictures of our Lissy

Since I'm a devotee of the art form of collage, and also I love fairy lights, I decided that we would curate as many photos of Allissa that we could, representing all stages of her life up to now.

I spent hours working through all of my photos going back many years, and Stephanie provided photos from her personal trove. We had them printed up to use on the display.

Her homecoming crown atop her Crown College t-shirt

Stephanie had purchased a folding screen. I affixed fairiy lights in soft pastel colors to the panels, and we clipped over a hundred pictures of Lissy to the wires, using clear miniature clothespins.

The lights twinkled amongst the photos and the effect was quite charming.

There were custom-made cookies

In addition, we had a pair of 30x20 canvas enlargements from Allissa's two senior photo shoots. We took the pictures on two occasions and in two different ciites: the first in Charlotte, North Carolina, on a bitter cold day in early November, and the second in Lexington, South Carolina, on the day after Thanksgiving, with perfect weather.

I brought my tall easel from home to display one of the pictures, and Stephanie commissioned the creation of a large tabletop easel to hold the second one.

My favorite design was the one with the gold tassel

Beside the table was a music stand which held Allissa's Bible which has large margins, and there were pastel markers, and folks coming by her table were encouraged to turn to their favorite Bible verse and write something to Allissa in the margin beside it.

Her awards and distinctions were on arrayed on the table, for academics, sports, and fine arts, as well as her diploma and her Homecoming Queen crown.

They were missing Melanie, who could not be there

She will be attending The Crown College in Powell, Tennessee, in the fall, and the school's t-shirt was included.

I brought a birdcage that was used for cards at both Erica's and Audrey's weddings, and by the next day it was stuffed with greetings and gifts for Allissa.

Allissa flanked by her grandmothers

There were a few bouquets of flowers, and some custom-made cookies for people to take as a favor.

A friend had made a banner which we affixed to the front of the table, congratulating Allissa and featuring the floral motif that she loves.

With Cousin Dagny, Aunt Audrey, and Uncle Mike

Overall the aesthetic of the table was lovely and so suited to our graduate. 

After the ceremony and in between having our pictures taken with Allissa, we mingled with friends and admired her classmates' tables.

With Aunt Erica, Uncle Chad, and cousins Rhett and Elliot

Our grandson Andrew, Allissa's little bother brother, will graduate with the Class of 2030 four years from now, and Stephanie and I were eager to collect ideas for his table.

You are familiar, I am sure, with the sense of relief that comes with having pulled off the thing you'd worked so hard to make a reality, and also the way you can relax after the grand occasion is at its conclusion.

Some of her awards, and her diploma

We weren't quite finished yet, though. All of the components from Lissy's table had to be packed up and transported to the church fellowship hall (our son-in-law, Joel, is a pastor), where we would be hosting Allissa's graduation party for the church family the next day.

This event had been in the works for some time too, and Stephanie had worked so hard along with some church ladies, to make the party reflect Allissa's personality.

Graduation cupcake bouquet

So it was that the next day, TG and I arrived at the church in the mid-morning and enjoyed a few hours visiting with family members before the guests began dropping by.

Our Audrey, Mike, and Dagny were on hand for the weekend, as well as Chad, Erica, Rhett, and Elliot.

Sweet and pretty, just like our graduate

There were beautiful and plentiful refreshments, and the graduation table had been reassembled, and there was a gift table, and the fairy-lighted collage was there, along with the pretty beribboned balloons.

For the casual meal there were hamburger sliders and chips and salads, plus sushi and deli meats and cheese and crackers and fruit, and so forth. There was punch and sweet tea, and a dessert table laden with cupcakes and other treats.

Would you like a punch?

I wish you could have been there.

Joel's mother, Allissa's other grandmother, who was widowed early last year, was there and it had been so long since I had seen her. I have known Debbie for nearly thirty years and I love her, and we enjoy talking to one another and getting caught up, and we were able to have a nice visit before she had to leave for the airport and fly back home.

Everything was elegant

We left for home in the afternoon and were back in our happy place by seven o'clock.

The next morning when my alarm sounded at six o'clock, which is when I normally get up on Sunday, I couldn't move.

One last pose before we go

I fixed it so that I could sleep for another half hour. I dozed and then got up and made coffee.

But when it came time to start getting ready for church, I found that I did not have the energy to follow through. The spirit was willing but the flesh had gone rogue.

It was fancy

I know when I have to rest, and this was one of those times. I rested and reset. I call it a recovery day and the older I get, the more necessary they are.

Our Andrew is still in the Middle East, flying missions in the KC-135 Stratotanker of which he is Aircraft Commander. Please pray for his safety and for the safety of all of our troops.

Allissa loves gold trimmings

Happy news: Melanie is back at home, and doing much better. It's a miracle and an answer to prayer. 

Another grandchild who shimmered and glowed was our Ember, who graduated a few weeks ago from kindergarten. We were not able to be there, but she and Baby Guy will be spending a week with us in a few days, and I plan to take Ember out to lunch and on a shopping trip.

None for me, thanks

I'll share some pictures from that visit when it happens, but until then, enjoy this image of Ember at her ballet recital which took place right around the same time as her graduation.

Summer is underway here in South Carolina, although it is still spring, and for the most part it has been a cool-ish spring. In fact just today, our temperatures topped out at seventy-five. It was so pleasant.

Ember dressed for her ballet recital

We've done lots of things to spruce up the pool area and I'm excited to show you pictures of it, and also to tell you about our soggy Memorial Day, which included a special birthday party for our Erica. All in due time.

Meanwhile, keep on keeping on, until the day break, and the shadows flee away!

And that is all for now, except to remind you that for the present time, my blog's comments still aren't working. Feel free to email me from the link in my sidebar.

I hope you will.

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Happy Tuesday