Cotton Candy Skies and Happy Thoughts

I know I promised to do better and not be MIA for so long without an explanation, but in all truth, the past couple of weeks have been a little like a roller coaster. 

First we celebrated our son's 23rd birthday (the 8th)

reopened the restaurant for the season and jumped right back into that hamster wheel (the 9th).

 We lost a very close and dear friend on Valentines day unexpectedly and it's been a bit of a rough go.

I decided to think and share some happy thoughts here, the Peter Pan kind that can lift a person up.

The above picture is a shot of the castle in Disney World as the sun was beginning to set.

Isn't that a perfect cotton candy sky?

It's the stuff dreams are made of.

Don't you just love cotton candy?

Then it became even more candy like with the incredible Christmas light display

The light show changed the castle from one image to another almost too fast to take it all in.

Isn't this amazing?

It even became a gingerbread castle

The fireworks display is unrivaled in my opinion.

I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to share this with my family, my parents, husband, daughter , SIL and my grandchildren.

The bitter reminder of how short life really is hit us hard these past 2 weeks and when I said the winds of change were upon me this year, little did I know just how much.

So I decided to make one more small wish come true.

Silly I know, but I have always wanted a real cotton candy machine,

to enjoy with the kids, now grandkids,

and when I saw this one for 70% off, ( I got one without the cart) I went for it.

I'm sure there's a science lesson in there somewhere that we can even share with the kids' classes, you know, heating and spinning the sugar into glass like strands, has to be scientific right?

The name made me smile because I always say to a newcomer to the art/jewelry world,

"congratulations, you've been sucked into the vortex!"

I will be heading to Art and Soul Virginia Beach in a few days and look forward to reconnecting with friends, laughing and making some more memories and acquiring some new skills.

It couldn't have come at a better time.

Will you be there?

I'll post our adventures when I return.

Until then, thanks for being here, live and love each day, and God Bless!

Winds of Change 2012

Mary Poppins, Walt Disney Pictures 1964

"Wind's in the east, mist comin' in.
Like something is brewin' about to begin
Can't put me finger on what lies in store
But I feel what's to happen, all happened before"


First of all let me apologize for being AWOL with no explanation for the past 2 months.
You see, Ray and I closed the restaurant right after Thanksgiving for the first time in MANY years for a much needed break and went to Florida.
I had hoped to be able to blog without giving my location away for reasons of security, being in business I thought it wouldn't be a good idea to announce to the world that we weren't around.
The problem is everything I wanted to blog about would have done just that. Then the longer I went the less I knew how to say anything about it at all.


So, here I am, having arrived back home this past week, trying to catch up with my blog reading and getting settled back into a routine readying the restaurant to reopen on Thursday for the season.
As soon as i upload and process the thousand+ pics from 2 cameras I'll share some here.


In the meantime, thank you to those of you who wrote to me privately to check on my whereabouts and to keep in touch.


As stated above in the clip from Mary Poppins,  2012 is bringing with it some changes, I hope you'll be with me along the way.
Hugs



Thankful For The Apples Of My Eye, And Pie

This week began with a very special birthday party.  Our granddaughter turned 5 and asked for a flamingo party/ swim party. She LOVES flamingos. My ingenious daughter decided to secure a room at the local YMCA for the party and rented pool time for the party goers. 

Notice our youngest grandson arm in arm with his big sister, monkey boots still on.

He did take them off to swim, briefly, replaced with the monkey swim ring. 

I doubt there is anything in the world better than being a grandparent, and sharing in all these milestones.

(not to mention we just get to show up and help a little and enjoy a lot!)

As I have said before, all of our wishes have come true.

We are very blessed.

This expression says it all, pure joy! And she was so appreciative of everything, no "too much birthday" tantrums as is often seen at these events from some children.

Then we got domestic again.

 What can I say, we are foodies for sure. We all get together and cook and eat and visit.

This time I made apple butter in the crock pot which was a great improvement over doing it on the stove top and having to cook it for hours and hours stirring constantly.

After it cooked down, about 20 hours, I ladled it into jars and processed in a water canning bath.

I had also made an additional 2 batches of pumpkin butter with pumpkins bought last week at the Green Dragon flea market in PA. only this time I decided to process the jars as well in the canning bath.

Thanksgiving is for us like it is for most, a time of family gathering and feasting and giving thanks for all of our blessings.

I personally am thankful everyday for my blessings and don't need one day a year to remind me what's important.

We noticed after we took this picture of Ray and I at our daughter's house, that the cabinet behind us had a picture of our son and daughter above us.

But we posed for a group shot anyway. It was good to have our son with us, last year he was travelling for work and couldn't be home.

Our daughter, SIL and 3 grandchildren hosted Thanksgiving at their house again this year for the second time, a group effort and still a lot of work.

I cooked 2 turkeys, the gravy, oyster dressing, fresh collards, cauliflower, sweet potato biscuits, sweet potato pies, apple pie, & chocolate cheescake. By the time we added what everyone else cooked and brought, we had more food than we could eat in a week! 

Can you say leftovers?

4 generations picture

We never know exactly how much is left for each of us, or what the future holds, so these times together take on more meaning each year as we gather to give thanks for each other and all the good we have in our lives.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving filled with family, good food and blessings through the holiday season and beyond!



Oh Look, A Chicken!

When our nephew and Godchild was younger, he had a t-shirt that said

"They say I have A.D.D. but I think they're full of....

Oh Look, a chicken"

Well, this quickly became the punch line anytime one of us has a moment where we quickly change thoughts and conversations mid stream while someone is trying to follow along.

The person who is trying to follow along will call the talker back to reality by saying "Oh Look, a chicken" bringing to the talkers attention ( what little there is of it) that they abruptly went off on a tangent mid stream.

My nephew I will add, now grown, has an acronym on his license plate that spells, oh look a chicken.

Getting to the real story here ( and proving my point just a little bit) the other evening , my husband and i took a quick dip in the pool and shortly thereafter heard the dog barking so we looked around and this chicken was walking into our yard.

We have no idea where it came from and it wandered all around the yard and garden for awhile.

I couldn't help but say, yup, you guessed it. 

Then I guess the heat combined with 12 hour workdays are getting to me, but I just had to ask,

" so tell me, why exactly did you cross that road?"

Then i thought of taking a picture and jumped out of the pool to grab my camera saying " I need to get a picture for Patty"

At which time my husband said "who's Patty?"

They say my nephew is a lot like me but I think-

We noticed it wandered down the street to my studio and stayed around for a few days leaving piles of unpleasantries on the steps before disappearing.

"Oh Look, chicken s---"

Weird huh?



So Very Fortunate

Last night, after leaving the restaurant for the day tired, my husband and I opted for Chinese takeout.

This was one of the packages of fortune cookies in our bag.

I would say it sums everything up nicely. We are very fortunate. Doubly so.

My glass is half full and my cup runneth over.

To everyone who sent emails and well wishes and prayers, they were heard, they were answered and we are so very grateful for them all and for you all!

As promised, here is a little chronicle of the past 2 weeks with some before and after shots.

On Monday afternoon, 7/25 at about 4 PM we had a fire at our restaurant.

The beer keg cooler overheated and started a fire which burned the bar which had a heavy resin coating and sent up incredible black smoke and soot which was sucked into our HVAC system and sent to every corner and crack in the restaurant. ( to clarify, we are closed on Mon and Tues, no one was there, no one was hurt)

We reopened Weds. 8/3

8 days later

The hot spot.

The fire itself was contained very quickly thanks to the quick response of the alarm system and the efforts of several local volunteer fire companies

A local carpenter/cabinet maker, Donny White, came out that evening as soon as the fire was out and took the old bar top home with him to make a template and a new bar top.

The cedar was replaced on the front and sides as well

Ray and I had to go buy new barstools, lights, shelving, cash register and countless other items lost in the fire.

My husband and SIL setting the new bar top.

the walls behind them had to be painted as well, with a new hand sink and towel dispenser on the wall.

The bar ceiling with melted vents, lights and water spray from the firehoses 7/25

After the disaster cleanup company had a go at cleaning it, it was determined on weds eve that it all had to be replaced. My husband, SIL and a few friends tore it out Thursday morning, had the wood delivered thursday late morning and began putting it back up.

On friday the cleanup team continued to clean the remaining woodwork.

7/25 bar ceiling and walls

7/28 same walls

We reopened weds 8/3  a mere 8 days of cleanup and renovations.

When asked, I tell everyone we worked 48 hours a day to get it done

Ductwork over the waitress station after fire 7/25

Same area 7/28

same area 7/30 new ductwork starting

4 of them to move the old ice maker out, it was running and sucked all the soot in too.

New one in and running

Glancing from the front entryway towards the bar through the dining room. 7/25 right after the fire. the firefighter is taking pix as well. Notice the water he is standing in and the reflections on the floor and carpet.

The tedious job of removing all the flexible ductwork from the ceiling and replacing with new. looks like some undersea adventure.

Getting ready for the fabricated metal ductwork to begin.

Everything has been removed from the shelves and some from the walls that had to be carried to a different location to be cleaned and brought back to us. Decoys, oyster cans, all manner of antiques and memorabilia.

That man right there in the grey is my hard working husband and one of the main reasons we re-opened so fast . They worked tirelessly in the unbearable heat for hours and hours to get the job done in record time. Notice the duct tape on the finger of our friend Aaron, no time for first aid.

He looks like Rodin's the Thinker here but he is actually on the cell phone taking care of business in what we jokingly referred to as his new office!

Coolers of water and gatorade were everywhere.

Tom (on the right) from Tom's Refrigeration was cut from the same cloth. He and his crew replaced 3- 10 ton air handlers, all the flexible and fabricated ductwork and a new ice machine and hooked it all up and had it running in a week!

Josh from BBS sheet metal was a metal master and a blessing for sure!

Paul from Elvie's electric replaced our outlets, ceiling fans(4) all the hanging bar lights, switches and fluorescent lighting and emergency lighting.

My parents, who were nearing the end of their summer visit, helped early on in the initial cleanup and inventory and in the final 2 days were our go getters extraordinaire, running to the stores for everything from more lights and bulbs to flyswatters and clocks. They were indispensable.

Not pictured but hard at work with us was our son and daughter who took off from their jobs a few days to help, numerous employees, my nephew, who all came out to help in the cleanup. In the first few days i was busy working and not taking many pix and unfortunatley don't have any of when they were there.

 But I can see you all in my mind's eye and you will remain in our hearts forever.

Thank you, God Bless and We Love You.

Now, let's EAT!



A Blur

First of all, my apologies for being AWOL for the past 3 weeks.

It has all been a big blur.

I didn't expect to be gone from here that long but I will try to explain.

Let me preface this by saying all is well now and we have all lived to tell the tale.

After we last spoke on June 12th, i set about the task of trying to ready the house for my parents to arrive from Florida on friday the 17th for an extended visit.

There was a lot to be tackled, I needed to excavate the bed in the spare room/office which is where my computer lives, clean out all the debris of past art projects which had taken over all the usable spaces and surfaces and try to finish yardwork we had been putting off for a cooler day.

That cooler day came on tuesday the 14th, my Mom's 70th birthday. I decided that was the day i would get out and trim all the hedges and bushes and everything overgrown as shown in the photo below.

The restaurant is closed on mondays and tuesdays so it was a perfect plan. Cleaned all day monday, yardwork all day tuesday.

I don't have an after shot yet, this is the before shot, but i'll post one as soon as i can.

I always do the trimming and my husband does the raking and carting away and cleanup in my wake. A good system, as long as each person knows where the other is.

I have electric hedge trimmers, good sized ones. I was happily trimming along out front while the husband was busy out back first. I inevitably found myself in the all too often position with electric hedge trimmers, the cord was very close to where i was trying to cut.

I saw it and was in control.

That is until my husand came up behind me and yelled "don't cut the cord !"

at which point I jumped, turning startled at his voice right behind me, and promptly sent blue sparks flying as i cut the cord.

After finding another 100 ft cord, I continued trimming high and low until all was neat and tidy.

We decided we had earned a jump in the pool to relax and cool off around 5 when i suddenly remembered it was our oldest grandson's last little league game of the season and we promised to be there.

When we got home, I was really cold with chills, enough so that I ran a hot tub and just soaked for awhile.

I was covered in scratches from all the bushes and hedges but nothing that would warrant chills I thought.

Until the next day when i was on my way to work and noticed that what i thought was 2 scratches on my forearm looked suspiciously like bites. My first thought, was "Oh no, not another spider bite" ( bad experience in 2005, another story)  but as soon as my daughter took a look at it she said "That looks like a snake bite to me, our cat was just bitten by a black snake on his tail the other day" Her cat spends a lot of time under one of the large camellias i trimmed by our garden shed.

When my parents arrived on the 17th, my Dad confirmed he thought it was a snake too about which time i found 2 identical marks on my lower leg, same exact size and distance apart. Hence the chills. I have since been told there are an unusual amount of black snakes around this year and both pets and people are getting bit. Fortunately they are not poisonous, do not attack humans as a rule, only when threatened ( large electric hedge trimmers will work just fine) and usually just dry bite, no venom as a warning shot. The bites on my arm did swell and were filled with unpleasantries but as i said, i lived to tell the tale.

Then on the 17th as my parents were travelling up, my daughter called me from work and said she was on her way to the ER to meet her husband who was injured at work. The boss called her and asked her to meet them there, details were sketchy at first. He does constuction with a company that goes in and will remove hazardous materials from a job site, such as asbestos etc. They were working on removing a ceiling and the tile system in an elementary school. They had arrived to start, had been told the electric was cut off to that part of the building so that they could work. my son in law was on a very tall ladder, pulling the ceiling apparatus down when an electric cable dropped out of the ceiling, striking him in the chest, electrocuting him. The force was powerful enough that it knocked the ladder out from under him, he was holding a piece of the metal framework in one hand , which made a complete circuit and would not release him, so he was dangling from the ceiling by this metal, being electrocuted the whole time. The other workers knocked him free but then he fell to the floor unconscious, hitting his heels and head on the concrete/tile floor of the cafeteria kitchen area. The electricity escaped his body through his arm blowing a hole in it in the process. His co workers thought he was dead at first. The Drs. told my daughter had he not been holding the metal frame she would have been planning a funeral that weekend.

He basically suffered a heart attack as a result with his cardiac enzymes still not normal, hopefully will be soon, they had to piece his arm muscles together and try to close the hole with 38 stitches, and they put his arm in a brace to immobilize it, his heel was smashed and they put that in a boot. He had a concussion with some brain swelling, lost his short term memory and hearing. They wanted to admit him but my son in law just wanted to go home. Not good but we couldn't convince him otherwise. he spent the next 4 days returning to the hospital for tests and each day things got worse. We were told it is hard to know exactly how electrocuted a person is, they just watch for signs and symptoms to tell them. well, by monday we were looking at worst case scenario, his kidneys were shutting down and his heart enzymes were still very high. By thursday they would determine if he neded to go to Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore where "they would discuss his options"

By thursday the 30th they saw the slightest decline in both the kidney function numbers and the heart enzymes so we are hopeful. he continues to go back for checks, has had his stitches out and has begun physical therapy. His memory is getting better and so is the hearing in one ear.

In the meantime, their youngest and our youngest grandson, celebrated his 3rd birthday on the 21st and i did dinner and cake and presents at our house not knowing what was going to happen and to give my daughter a break.

Also during this time, the restaurant had it's busiest day,the 19th,  father's day, and we had invited my parents over to celebrate with dinner while we worked and surprised my Mom for her 70th.

In all the confusion, i now realize i have no pictures of any of that.

We kept the grandkids when we could and i picked up a nasty sinus infection/chest thing from that little 3 year old there, requiring a 10 day course of antib's that i am happy to report i am finishing today. But it has not been fun.

Last week on the 29th, my parents graciously drove my sick self over to Assateague Island to witness the launch of a Minotaur rocket  from Wallops Space center. We were getting play by play updates from my son as he was working the launch doing Comm's for the first time and we were all very excited.

I'm sorry to say that these pictures don't do it justice. It was magnificent. It was 11:09PM, balmy around 80*, the night was black, no moon, and there had to be a gazillion stars in the sky. it was like sitting in a planetarium. And as the rocket launched and ripped through the sky, it travelled over us out over the ocean.

Once out over the ocean, the rocket boosters dropped giving us some pre 4th of july fireworks

I have been unable to post here or read or catch up with anyone as my computer is in their room, they can't sleep with the light from the monitor so it stayed off most of the time, besides everything else going on.

Other than that, we had some freaky storms and really hot weather. Spent time in the pool with the kids. The garden is taking off with all the rain as is the mosquito population!

4th of July fireworks were interrupted for storms so i don't even have those to share! But we did all get together for a cookout at my daughter's on the 4th to celebrate our son in law's birthday so it's all good!

The swallowtails are starting to show up and I planted some new butterfly bushes after having ripped out an overgrown one that yard day.

 I have really missed my I heart macro sundays!

  

The visit with my parents was wonderful though, we worked on a few projects, went to a photography lecture on Chincoteague about the art of seeing by an reknowned National geographic photographer, made some jewelry, made soap ( i'll post about that later) ate way too much and in general enjoyed each others company. I'm sure i'm forgetting a lot right now, as I said, it's a blur.

They left this afternoon, heading up to New Jersey to visit with my brother and other family for a few weeks before returning.  I have a lot of catching up to do, lots of reading and writing.

In the middle of it all i missed my one year blog-iversary last week so i promise to make up for that too with a giveaway soon!

Thanks for sticking with me!