Stair Picture 2017 (049/365

TIME: 7:21 PM
PLACE: Dad’s house
SUBJECT: Cousins

We made it to another Christmas Eve at Dad’s house.

The “Annual Stair Picture” was taken.

It looks like it’s getting a little tight.

Mr. Martha (017/365)

TIME: 7:35 PM
PLACE: Dad’s basement
SUBJECT: Wreath

Just when I think I know all my Dad’s talents, he throws me a curve ball.

He crafted this wreath using just a hot glue gun, a foam base, pine cones, garland pieces, red berry stems and a battery powered LED light string.

I’m very impressed. - It’s totally Pintrest worthy!

I want one.

Bare (184/365)

TIME:  6:49 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s
SUBJECT:  Refrigerator

The inside of my Dad’s refrigerator. 
This is considered normal for him.

Fall Foliage (296/366)

"The clump of maples on the hill,
And this one near the door,
Seem redder, quite a lot, this year
Than last, or year before;"

- David L. Cady, October in Vermont

TIME:  7:43 AM
PLACE:  Dad’s house
SUBJECT:  Maple tree

StellaDella has been down for the count the last week.  The official diagnosis by the pediatrician on Saturday is an upper respiratory infection.  She was prescribed azithromycin to fight the infection.  Unfortunately, she still couldn’t go to school today.  My dad, God bless him, agreed to watch her while HH and I were at work.  I dropped her off at his house this morning and saw that the tree planted in the front yard 30+ years ago is once again dressed for fall.

Stair Photos (176/366)

“There’s nothing that makes you more insane than family. Or more happy. Or more exasperated. Or more . . . secure.”

― Jim Butcher, Vignette

TIME: 7:53 & 8:04 PM
PLACE:  Front porch of Dad’s house
SUBJECT:  Family

My 2nd oldest brother and his family were in town – it’s been about a year since we’ve all gotten together again.  We had to take a stair picture of the cousins, but had to move outside to the front porch as the stairway inside was couldn’t hold them all.  Then my brothers, sister and dad had a photo taken too.



We all got silly as well.

We Reminded Him (141/366)

“We know we're getting old when the only thing we want for our birthday is not to be reminded of it.”

Anonymous

TIME: 12:56 to 1:02 AM
PLACE:  Dad’s house
SUBJECT:  Yard art

My godchild and I returned to Dad’s house early this morning to decorate his front yard and car for his birthday.  We used Post-its, crepe paper, and 70 plastic forks.  Why forks in the lawn?  I have no idea.  It was something my mom and her siblings did to each other on their birthdays.  I should have filled his car with black balloons like I did for his 50th.


To make it up to him, I made his favorite birthday pie – strawberry glazed – and took it over to him this evening.  I hope I’m still in the will.

Traditional Stair Picture 2011 (358/365)

“Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends.”

Margaret Thatcher (British Politician and Prime Minister. b.1925)

TIME:  8:09 PM
PLACE:  Steps at Dad’s house
SUBJECT:  9 out of the 11 grandchildren (or 81.8%)

Here they are…almost all of the grandchildren sitting for the traditional stair picture at Grandpa’s house on Christmas Eve.  My brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew from California weren’t able to make it into town for the holidays.  We missed having them with us.  Shortly after this photo was taken, we Skyped them so they could be with us while the little ones opened their gifts from Grandpa.  Hmm, next time if they can’t make it, we’ll have to place the netbook on the steps while the two kids on the webcam and take the photo.  That way we will have all of the grandchildren in the picture!

Old Spice (327/365)

“Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know which one I'm taking with me when I go.”

Erma Bombeck (U.S. humorist, 1927-1996)

TIME:  8:00 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s kitchen
SUBJECT:  Spices

I made a chicken pot pie for supper.  The kids and I took it over to Dad’s house to share with him and to begin cooking for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  After we ate, I started making the stuffing.  My recipe called for poultry seasoning and I forgot to bring mine, so I asked Dad if he had any.  He didn’t, but he did have this lemon extract, nutmeg and Fruit Fresh in his pantry.  I’ll bet if you combine their ages it would turn out to be close to the number of the birthday Dad will be celebrating this coming May.  He can’t throw them out now…they’re practically vintage.

Bicycle Wheels (189/365)

“I'm lazy. But it's the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn't like walking or carrying things.”

Lech Walesa (Polish trade union Activist, Electrician and President of Poland (1990-95). Nobel Prize for Peace in 1983. b.1943)

TIME:  6:54 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s back yard
SUBJECT:  Rear bicycle tires

Tonight our town has it’s 6th annual bike ride which raises funds for safety equipment and provides a recreational opportunity for individuals and families in the community.  I wanted to ride in it last year, but had a scheduling conflict with having to pick up MonkeyBoy from scout camp on the same evening.  This year, MB and I were going to ride, but I couldn’t with my stupid broken wrist. *grrrr*  It all worked out though…with me being out of commission, it allowed HH and I to lend our bikes to my California brother and nephew, so they could ride along with my dad.  MB is riding as well.  Hopefully, next year will be the year that I participate dammit!

The Future Is Here (181/365)

“Who'll be chief mourner?
I, said the dove,
I'll mourn for my love,
I'll be chief mourner.”

Mother Goose (fl. 17th-18th century. Who killed Cock Robin? (L. 33-36). . . Oxford Book of Light Verse, The. W. H. Auden, ed. (1938) Oxford University Press.

TIME:  7:47 PM yesterday
PLACE:  Dad’s front porch
SUBJECT:  Mourning dove baby

I had every intention of taking photos at MonkeyBoy’s last ball game, but I didn’t.  Depending how you look at it, I am either a bad mother for not taking any photos or a good mother because I was too busy watching the game to do so.  I’m going with the good mother reason. ~*~*~ This is the same nest that was in my June 18th post.  Sadly, it looks like only one out of the two eggs hatched.

Tiny Futures (169/365)

“The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell.”

Zora Neale Hurston (American folklorist and Writer, 1903-1960)

TIME:  5:58 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s front porch
SUBJECT:  Dove eggs in a nest

We woke up this morning to tornado sirens at 6:30am – *grumble* I had not slept well all night and was not happy about having to get out of bed and go downstairs.  Luckily, we survived the storm without incident.  Later the sun came out and DQ was still able to go to Six Flags with her friends.  We finally had MB’s birthday party at my Dad’s house this evening.  While the HH was off getting the pizzas (MB’s dinner choice), Dad showed me where a dove was nesting in his hanging impatiens.  Because I am nosey, I went to get a closer look and ended up scaring the bird out of it’s nest (I really didn’t mean to do that)…but it allowed Dad to water the plant (only around the sides, away from the nest) and I was able to snap a quick shot of her two eggs.

Family Heirloom (068/365)

Peter Dickenson: [holding up a pocket watch] This is an heirloom. It must be worth something.
Pawnbroker: Your heir didn't loom too big. If I gave you 50, I'd be fired.

Ritter, John, and Larry Storch, perf. The Flight of the Dragons. Dir. Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. 1982.

TIME:  7:43 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Sign

I finished Dad’s taxes and took them over to his house this evening.  We sat in the kitchen going over the returns and I decide to take a picture of this sign hanging above the cabinets.  Last fall, he had several rooms in the house painted, including the kitchen.  In the course of redecorating, he brought this sign up from storage in the basement and hung it on the wall.  The sign originally came from my maternal grandfather, who owned and operated a neighborhood grocery store on the west end of town.  I believe that the store was in operation from the early 1930s until 1954 when he closed the business.  The market was located just a couple houses down from my mom’s family home.  The store was turned into a house that my uncle lived in until the 1980’s.  The house is still there today.

Still Blooming After All These Years (014/365)

(On what her longevity is attributed to)
“Red meat and gin.”

Julia Child nee McWilliams (American, Chef, author, and television personality, 1912- 2004)

TIME:  8:03 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s house
SUBJECT:  Christmas cactus bloom

We think this Christmas Cactus is at least 55 years old, if not more.  My Dad says that it was at my maternal grandmother’s house when he was dating my mom back in the early 1960s and Grandma D-- had it for some time before that.  Dad keeps it on a northern facing window seat where it gets indirect light – apparently it likes it there as it blooms every year, although some years it has more flowers than others.  ~*~*~  We (me, SD, DQ, DQ’s BFF-Erin and my sister and her two kids) were at Dad’s tonight visiting and mooching some dinner – Chinese take out – then we introduced Erin to the joys of playing dominos.  I was the big winner.

Mental Flossed (234/365)

“Amnesia used to be my favorite word, but then I forgot it.”

Unknown

TIME:  8:14 PM
PLACE:  My Dad’s house
SUBJECT:  Dad

It looks like I can’t go spending the inheritance quite yet ~ which is a good thing.  Dad’s MRI was fine and he was released from the hospital this afternoon.  The doctor said he’s back to almost 100% and that he has no limitations on any physical activity, although to placate his children, he agreed to take it easy for the next week.  The doctor also said that the chance of reoccurrence is very slim.  After we left the hospital, I drove to Taco Bell for a quick lunch before heading for his house.  On the way home, Dad said he could remember a few things that happened Saturday morning, but it was like they were a dream and what he did remember was very disjointed, other than that, his memory is pretty much back to normal.  After dropping him off, I went back home.  Around 5:30-6 o’clock,  the family and I drove out to his boss’s to pick up his car (she drove it from the races) and bring it back to his house.  While we were at Dad’s, I noticed that he had just received his new Mental Floss magazine in the mail and I thought it would be amusing to take his photo with it…since we have the same weird sense of humor, he agreed to pose for me.  So things are 100% better than they were on Saturday.  The only downside is that I can’t convince him that he agreed to give me a $10,000 check with no strings attached right before we raced yesterday.  Can’t blame me for trying.

The Stair Picture (358/365)

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. 

William E. ("Bill") Vaughan aka Burton Hillis (American columnist and author, 1915–1977)

TIME:  6:58 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s house
SUBJECT:  The cousins

On Christmas eve, since the birth of the first grandchild, a picture is taken of the grandkids as they sit on the steps of my parent’s house.  This year, we are short two grandchildren…my niece and nephew from San Francisco did not make it into town this year (my niece is actually in Italy visiting a friend – lucky her!).  Before we eat dinner and open gifts, all the cousins sit on the steps and we take photos.  In this picture, MonkeyBoy sits at the upper left, then going clockwise, we have my oldest brother’s two children, Michael and Brandi (who is the oldest cousin), then StellaDella, my sister’s daughter, Shayne (The Bean), DramaQueen and finally, my sister’s oldest son, David who is sitting in the middle.

In The Sauce (332/365)

 
There's no sauce in the world like hunger.

Miguel De Cervantes (1547-1616), Spanish author. Teresa Panza (Sancho's wife), in Don Quixote, pt. 2, ch. 5 (1615), trans. by P. Motteux. This well-worn proverb was attributed to Socrates by Cicero in De Finibus, bk. 2, sct. 90.

TIME:  9:21 PM
PLACE:  My Dad’s kitchen
SUBJECT:  Spaghetti sauce with meatballs

Tonight was the “Family” Thanksgiving.  The family being my Dad, my oldest brother and his family, my younger sister and her family and my family.  I have another older brother, who lives in San Francisco with his family, but unfortunately, they did not make it into town for the holiday.  My Dad had the idea for each of us to make a pot of spaghetti sauce and meatballs and bring it to his house where we poured them all in to one huge pot.  We all have the same base recipe handed down from my Dad’s mother, Edna, but it is interesting how the end result differs from parent to child and from sibling to sibling. Doesn’t matter…the melding of the four sauces was superb.  Dad made some chicken spiedini, bread and a salad to round out the meal.  We also each brought some pie – pumpkin, chocolate pudding, pecan, peanut butter and apple.  I also brought the turkey cookies I made.  We all ate way too much.