 There was a knock on the door and I found the most beautiful yellow roses with greenery surrounding them. They screamed pure elegance immediately landing on the kitchen counter.  Yeah! Ellen's in town. She is setting up a September remembrance of her husband Bob, so she had a lot to get reserved, places to stay, making plans to create his passing memorable.  The picture of Bob, young and handsome! He enjoyed life, making each day an adventure.  He left this world when he was 89 years old and sharing a wonderful life with Ellen, spending many happy get-togethers with family and friends. They truly loved each other.  Ellen and I sat our kitchen counter looking through my Jacque Pepin Book for Meals and Memories - a book I cherished for four years.  The next day we ate lunch at the Market and continued right where we left off - talking and laughing and catching up on old times...  over a croissant sandwich and quiet smiles. Ellen, I have missed you over the past ten years and it was a real treat to see you. The memories came bouncing back as we relived those special times together.
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 Tuesday's mission: Leon's getting ready to climb that ladder totally against my wishes.  Let's get a closer look! The ladder doesn't look like it is leaning correctly against the tree.  But we move on and mission is accomplished. Well, Jon and Helen, what do you think? It's been awhile since Leon's birthday. Doesn't that bird feeder look fabulous hanging among the trees and greenery?  The garden is beginning to show some beauty with flowers and grasses...  as Spencer stands by and wonders what we are doing.  The other flower garden is flourishing with color. It, too, grows daily and adds a whole lot magical beauty. Those daisies just keep on coming, creating a painting of beauty all over the grounds out back. There's still time for more flowers to grow and the garden will soon look different from these photos. That's the glory of summer.
 Look what a great job my friend, Nan, is doing in our Thursday evening art class. The art class ended this week and I am really going to miss it. Here are some wonderful attempts by class members at creating dynamite watercolors.  Colleen painted this beautiful piece. It's so vibrant and colorful - using different shapes to create a lovely scene.  Throughout the class we began each painting with a "thumbnail sketch" to see how we could begin. As we've discussed the painting on the left, it takes up too much space for the flowers. So fix it after your "thumbnail sketch" and do it again. Seems much better where every item is sitting in just the right place with the addition of green trees behind the flowers.  We share our paintings before the class begins and Holly, our instructor, comments on them. The class happened to be wonderful - meeting new friends and looking at the paintings that were produced. I painted two of the photos above. Can you pick them out? I'm taking this class in October as Holly is offering it again. She is ONE GREAT TEACHER!
 The clock read 7:30 p.m. and a knock at the door found a package waiting. The flat box sat on the kitchen counter as Leon began to open it. Inside we find a wonderful, light weight cotton blanket from American Express! "Did you order something, Honey" was my first response.  He began to open the unexpected box. The softness felt so good. The hugeness of it was enormous. We wondered why he received such a gift.  Then we read the card that was lying inside the box. It's been 50 years that Leon used that American Express credit card - upgrading it as time passed.  The next day I found Leon lying on the living room couch content with that huge blanket. We couldn't believe how long it was and how many times he used that American Express card in his business dealings. Now, this happened to be one really great surprise!
 Have you ever read a book twice? I never have done that because there are so many I want to get into. But this one - The Essay - I marked pages I will look back on for motivation when writing.
It's about Jimmy Lee Hickman, a junior in high school, growing up in Appalachian Ohio, where anti-socials exist along with a drunkard father and an arsonist brother. His life took place in dumpy surroundings where rats lived and objects of waste sat all over the place. House roofs turned into sieves during heavy rains. Toilets existed outside. The surroundings reeked on hot days. "Children, barefoot and dirty, played with mangy dogs in dusty yards strewn with trash and rusting cars." Jimmy Lee was good at football, had a loving teacher who plays a huge part in his life and spent hours in the school library reading books. "We walk through many doors in our lifetime. It is the accumulation of these seemingly minor passages that shape our lives" were the words that Jimmy Lee spoke. He did not associate reading with education. One day Miss Singletary, the English teacher, told the class that a writing competition would be held in the school cafeteria. Topic: A place and time that I wish I could revisit. And thus this story takes place! Jimmy Lee's life changes. The author remarks "People escape poverty every day. We live in a country where freedom makes that possible. What makes my story different is the fact that I didn't do it alone. I was shown a path I could not have discovered alone. And for that I am forever grateful". This story was written in 2012 and if I find it at book sales and garage sales I always pick it up and send it to a friend. Maybe they will pass it on after reading it. It is such a good story!  As the sun rotates around to shine on the flower garden, Leon is seen checking how things are going. Are there weeds to be pulled? Are blossoms growing as tall as expected? Are trimming and weeding already necessary? These thoughts I am sure are going through Leon's mind as he peruses the plantings. It's a fun way to spend the summer for both of us.
 June starts many off with a Rockport Garden Club adventure. It's so wonderful to be part of a group that attends. Good food, great sharing of ideas and a wonderful speaker make it just right. JoAnn's table created just perfectly with that water can and gloves!  The food happened to be great, while members always share favorite treats before the meeting begins. It's fun to capture the member's smiling faces at such an event. We all love learning about gardening.  Our speaker happened to be Cindy Wright to tell us how to establish a wildflower garden with seeds. Want to connect with nature - create a garden of wildflowers! Her enlightening talk took over. Very interesting.
It's always a treat when each month comes around and we learn more about nature and the outdoors.  I took Leon to lunch in Rockland today at The Market and who was standing at the register? My friend who I met the first time I ate lunch there. Another picture had to be taken.  We ordered and sat down tasting lemon donuts and a soda.  Then came my order! An egg, bacon and cheese burrito. It was so large I could only eat half of it. Well, that's after I tasted those donuts.  Delicious! I wanted to bring some home.  But there were no more made up. But the big ones happen to be just made. Ok! I'll take two for a treat after dinner.  I'll go with you anytime again, Kate! We must bring friends and enjoy a later breakfast or delicious lunch. It's such a bright and cheerful place with a happy staff who became friends. Couldn't have it any better than that.
 Leon took Spencer in for his shots two days ago. Since then he has been lethargic and moves around slowly. Hasn't eaten anything but a few treats. The blankets on the chair where he sleeps were wadded into a ball this morning. We never see him like this and it scares me. He gets all his shots at once and resists going into the vet each time we take him. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Spencer is such a good boy.
 Today was painting day at the Bausch house where Colleen and I pursued a bit of the watercolor art! I caught some professionals doing a number on-line and we followed their picture as the artist led us step-by-step in a minute demonstration.  Here is Colleen's work!  Here is mine! Quite a bit different from Colleen's and doesn't look like the real painting I tried to copy.  My painting is not quite finished in this picture, but boy did we have fun!
Isn't it funny how we see the same painting so differently? |
