Grateful for Summer Days

 Another week has flown by. I had a very nice Fourth of July in Auburn. It was quiet, but restful and fun all at the same time. I stitched and read and watched more TV than normal for me.

Gus says the hot is making him sleepy.

This summer has been so good for me. It is hot, but I am enjoying the lazier schedule. I still have to fit in some things, but the days are longer and I am letting my hair down to speak.

Katie, daughter-in-law is keeping Daughter, Lindsay's kids for July. Jeff and I have done some things to shorten the days in the morning for her. We have gone to the park, to the library, to the Armament Museum to name a few. We help haul the kiddos since they need car seats to places around town. Jeff and I get to come home and rest while Katie takes them back to her house and keeps them for the remainder of the day.

A few highlights...

Katie let them make chocolate for dipping strawberries.

Snack time 

and 

coming out of the library.

All four standing in front of a C130 like Uncle Al flew.

And all four sitting on a bomb.

Miles and Palmer have learned to ride their bikes without training wheels. Big things! Tucker has baseball camp next week, so Katie gets a bit of a break, but I think they are having fun.

Katie has kept them busy but has also made them play without everything being scheduled which is hard for children today. They do NOT know how to entertain themselves at all.

We had a discussion while at our beach vacation about how teens today don't get out and do things. Our bayou in the summer when my children were teens was full of teenagers wakeboarding or swimming. They all went to the beach to play volleyball. They were busy and active. Mine even had summer jobs.

I Never see teens out and about anymore. I am not sure what happened. I have some thoughts, but it makes me sad that don't get out and interact anymore. I have digressed....

One of the days the 3 boys were being all boys and Katie sent a video of Valerie at the table eating (looks like ice cream) and the 3 boys were making quite a bit of noise and were involved in play. She was just staring them down but not breaking with her eating. Jeff freeze framed this shot of her. She is looking at them and back at her mom with a look to say, "They are nuts. Are you seeing this?"

I have been reading a newer release of books called The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower. There are 8 published but more on the way. They are set in the 1880's (again another book in that period that I am loving). I am on Volume 3. Thus far, I have been able to check them out from the library. Highly recommend them!!!

I make visits every 2 weeks to check out books for Tucker and Palmer. Lindsay has zero time to check out books to read to the boys. Katie does this every 2 weeks which led me to do it for Lindsay. It has been a win win. I am helping Lindsay and the boys are getting good books read to them each night. Our county has the entire library system connected, so you can check out at one location and check back in at another. It makes it very convenient. I also go to another location to check out large print books for Mama. The Mary Esther location seems to have great clean books with a simple story that a 91 year old can follow. Bless the buyer at that library.

Jeff and I are headed to Pensacola tomorrow night to see an author but newsy personality. I have read all of his books which are about history. I am very excited to go to this. Going to Pensacola is a doable trip for us. I do hold ALL plans we make loosely with Mom being 91 though.

Something I didn't think would happen again is the Blue Angels. Normally, the Blue Angels do their home show in Pensacola on the second Saturday of July, but it is not until next weekend. I am guessing all the America 250 stuff knocked it back a week. Lindsay and family are going in their boat and Paul Allen is going to drive our boat. Valerie is finally old enough to make the trip so we will all be going to see the Blue Angels. As always there are friends going so we will all tie up over there in the water to watch the show. I have written about visits there before. It is a big deal in our part of the world. They say it will be bigger and better than usual to celebrate 80 years of the Blue Angels and America 250. Can't wait. Praying it will all work out to go.

I promise this is my last picture of the treasure boxes. 

The final boxes have inside them:

a 1976 half dollar

a 2026 half dollar 

both in a holder to make them even look fancier..

an Apollo 11 patch

an Artemis 1 patch

an Artemis 2 patch

an Artemis 2 lapel pin from a friend who works at NASA.

A little bit of old and new from the 2 things Mimi and Paw Paw collect. Me patches (you wouldn't believe how many I have) and Paw Paw coins.

Palmer, grandson #2 and the one on the far left of the picture seemed to like the gift the most. Now, I must say they all seemed to get our idea and liked them, but Palmer is just more crafty and really understood the idea of a box to put treasures in.

While I was in Auburn I got back to stitching on the Pledge of Allegiance stitch. It is a big one and the pattern is divided into 6 pages. I am close to having 2 pages done, so when 

I get there I will share it again. No need to do it every week. I will be working on it for a while.

I did stop this week and pull the bunny back out to finish. I think its yellow sweater will make it cute to have out for fall. I am in no way ready for fall, but I do think ahead.

I have the backing fabric picked out. I did it on 28 count so it is much bigger than the pattern called for. I think I would like the smaller count too. I do however think since they are full coverage I would do them on Aida if I choose to do more of them.

Well that is another week in the books. I feel like the post was all over the place, but I feel that way about me too. I feel my age so much more these days. Thankful for Katie helping out this summer.

Blessed,

Sandy

December 13, 2025 A.D.

December 13, 2025 A.D.

I have lots to talk about. I will save all the surgery stuff for later.

First up is an early Christmas present. I wrote about all the things I consider treasures from Germany here.   One of those treasures was the cuckoo clock that didn't work and had been sitting in a box for a long time. It is pictured in that post way back in the day. 

One day I walked in the sewing room where the box was supposed to be and it was missing. I immediately asked Jeff about it. I had spoiled the surprise. He had finally found someone local to repair it and thought he had been secretive in taking it out of the house.

We discussed where to hang it much too long and finally decided on the family room replacing a clock that hung in this spot. It has to be very high because of the chains. It is quite loud so there are times that I have to stop the pendulum from swinging such as when we are hosting our weekly Bible study.

Needless to say it was a great present.

Stitching

I have finally finished stitching The 12 Days of Christmas. Here it is just folded under.

I wanted to have it fully finished by now, but I have just worked so hard, and it is what it is. I hope to sew it up tomorrow. Currently my plan is to back it with a green fabric that does have a subtle variegated print. I want to edge it with piping and put some hanging strips at the top to hang on a dowel. Those doggone beads have tried to come loose which I am glad is happening before I gift it. I think I am just going to put a dot of Alene's glue under them to secure them. I hopefully will get it done this week.

Decorating

The house is all decorated for Christmas. I have thoroughly enjoyed it ---I guess that is when you know you have the right amount of decorations out.

Not much has changed in the last couple of years. Maybe a tweak here and there, but nothing new.

There is a lady on Instagram who does a weekly post about how you don't need to buy anything new...you don't need to go to Walmart, Home Goods, etc or order from Amazon. She says you are just bored:) 

I would say she is mostly right!

But....I did buy one thing new. I needed some new placemats for my kitchen table that were green. My others were toast and I had thrown them out last spring. I went to Kohl's and found some that have a wee bit of sparkle in them.

What I couldn't decide was which color napkin to use. I ended up liking both so I am swapping them out often. Green is up right now.

Is there going to be a house tour this year? Truth? Probably not.

I added more green ornaments than red to the bowl...one tweak.

You may even notice Valerie in the background by the Auburn Christmas tree.

One corner in the kitchen.

I have been so busy this December, but coming home to all the pretties has been good. 

Home!

This corner will probably stay a little longer than Christmas.

A Winter Project

I mentioned that I planned to defeat the darkness this year with projects to keep my brain engaged rather than falling asleep so early. My first project was to check off a long procrastinated ancestry book.

I had made an ancestry book for my side of the family, but never followed through with Jeff's side of the family. I buckled down this fall and tried to work on it a few nights each week. I can finally say it is completed with pictures and all. WOOHOO!

I  used this document I made to add information and went back as far as I could safely feel like it was legit. I did use Ancestry's website, but I found the website Find a Grave and in both cases the old family Bibles to be helpful as well. Jeff's mom gave me her side of the family written out in her handwriting years ago. She had asked me if I wanted it and I said, "Absolutely," but raising a family made me lay it aside for far too long. Many of Jeff's family were in one cemetery which did make things easier.

I can't tell you how good it feels to have this task done. I made us a binder and each child one. Now, they have both sides of family information down.

One interesting note on this... I noticed when I was doing my side of the family I only had one grandparent  (of course add great great to that) that was a Civil War veteran. I noticed dates of birth and realized my relatives were just not the age that would have put them in battle. However, just like my dad was in the Korean War and Jeff's dad was in WWII that made all the difference for his ancestors to have multiple Civil War veterans. Jeff's parents are older than mine. They had Jeff a little later in life. I was able to find some interesting information on the Civil War veterans in the family that with the information Jeff's mom had written down for me all those years ago. 

One interesting photo I came across in Jeff's parents' albums was ....

The 2 men standing are brothers of Jeff's great grandparent. His great grandfather was the youngest and these 2 were the oldest. The picture was made at a Confederate Reunion in Little Rock in May of 1911. I had seen the picture in the album but decided to look at the back where the information was plainly written down. He also had one relative who died during the war. Based on the information I wondered if he might have been at the hospital in Point Clear (The Grand Hotel) as that was a hospital during the war. He is buried at Bayou La Batre which would be near there.

I was very proud of myself or getting that done. The kids haven't seen the binders yet. I am waiting to hand those over at Christmas.

Shopping

I also have most of my shopping done and gifts wrapped. I can't take credit for all of that. Jeff has been a busy shopper. 

I hate shopping.

One particular evening we were out and I really felt quite old. I just hate the stores these days as most seem so junky and poor quality stuff. I was lamenting the days of organized department stores or small stores that you could swoop in and find just what you were looking for without shuffling through so much other stuff. Part of this is online shopping of which I am very guilty of utilziing. I was complaining like someone old too. Had to catch myself!

Thankfully Jeff has more patience for shopping than me.

College Football

I just have to go back there one more time this year. I know many of you don't keep up so scroll on down past this heading.  I am usually not one for drama of any kind, but I couldn't help myself with all the Ole Miss / LSU / Coach Kiffin drama. I was lured in and followed like I was hypnotized. Totally unlike me!!! Now, I will say in my defense that our family texts were lighting up with the latest news. Jeff's dad and brother were big Ole Miss fans. Jeff and his brother Danny used to go to the Auburn/ Ole Miss game for years whether it was in Auburn or in Mississippi. Paul Allen and Jeff keep up with Ole Miss so it just continued with all that drama coming out.

I eventually came to a conclusion  ---- and this made me giggle!!!

....Remember the old show "Dallas? and the episode of "Who Shot JR?" Oh my goodness, I was at Auburn  when that aired back in the early 80's. I watched with friends with eagerness to find out who had actually shot JR. Somewhere out there is photo of my friends and I that night having our watch party. 

One day I was keeping up with who said what and that came to mind! The drama with Coach Kiffin had become as big as "Who Shot JR?" The best thing so far is Archie Manning calling Kiffin narcissistic.

I am now on to basketball!

Life Update

Jeff's surgery went very well. Better than we could have hoped for. The tumor was not cancerous, in fact he said it was more like inflammation from the previous surgery. I am still happy for the 4 month scopes. This surgery was not invasive at all, so he was not down at all. He has finally been able to ride his bike again after the knee replacement. I had almost given up on that idea, so that is a huge win.

Lindsay's surgery was on Monday. She was worse than expected and had to lose an ovary and a Fallopian tube. She thought it would be a 3 day recovery. That ended up not being the case. She is finally feeling a little better. She will try and work some this next week, but Christmas vacation starts with this coming Friday so that will be good for her to use the remainder of December recovering. Jeff and I have been helping with transporting kids to and from school. I am very grateful we can help.

We did have some family pictures taken on the Friday after Thanksgiving. They were so so... sickness and the weather made them so so for me. Here are some of the cutest though...

Well, that is a wrap on a long post. 

I do hope to settle down after Christmas and do more posting.

Grateful,

Sandy

Thursday's Treasures: Art

     

For this treasure post that I am mostly writing for my kiddos, I am sharing my dabbling in art. I heard someone say this in a teacher workshop once when trying to choose a favorite subject.... "I am the jack of all trades, but the master of none." I immediately popped up to look over because that is me. I have so many likes and am eclectic in many ways. The one thing I like that probably never wavers is traditional home decor with a wee bit of country for whimsey, but country can be cluttered in my own home and that drives me nutty, so mostly traditional. This jack of all trades thing explains my choice of favorite subject as I can make a case for all of them and my choice of reading material which is all over the place.

How did my venture into art go? Great, but again not a master. It all started around 7th-8th grade when I broke it to mom that I would NOT be taking any more piano lessons. Now, I was absolutely positive I wasn't going back, but you never told Mother no, so I presented her with a well thought out plan of how I had no real talent in it and the teacher recognized it and it was agreed upon by us both. I promised to continue practicing, but that I could only read notes. I heard nothing and was never going to go past a certain level. I kept my word and dabbled in piano playing on many days without the stress of going to an awful lesson. 

Then my mother went to some meeting at a ladies house at church and discovered that she taught art lessons in her private studio out past her garage. Her wheels began to spin and so art lessons began. If I remember correctly, I took art for 2 years and I really liked it although there was no doubt in my mind that I was again mediocre and that there was REAL talent in the room. I was always ok with that. I worked hard at everything I did and excelled enough to be recognized for hard work, but I was never really talented at anything. I think it is still the same today. Jack of trades...master of none. That is not all bad. I think it makes for well rounded if you really want to know!

The woman, Mrs. Gillis that taught the art lessons in her home took a shine to me and we became good buddies. She is a huge part of my faith story, but that would be another story. 

The way it went down in her studio was that there were kids all around doing different things and she would get you started on something you were interested in and you would work on that project until completion. She liked for you to complete your masterpiece and then she showcased it by having her husband frame it.

     

My second project was the oil still life you see above. What you can't see behind this framed still life is a blue ribbon. Yep, you read that right - a blue ribbon. 

Mrs. Gillis had an art show each year at the public library there in Brewton...might I digress another moment and tell you how much this girl loved the library. We moved to Brewton from the woods right outside there when I started 6th grade and it was my first experience with a real library. I had gone to a rural school with a book mobile which I can tell you now was amazing too, but a real walk in library where you could browse and touch the books to your heart's content was so special. I would have Mom drop me off every week and tell her to go run errands while I browsed. I was an avid reader and it was just so special. OK, back to the art show. 

She would have the local junior college art teacher come and judge the material giving ribbons to each medium of work. I remember as my mother and I entered the library to see the art show thinking that I hoped my work didn't look too dorky up next to the older kids' works. I had a charcoal drawing which had been my first work and the one above there since I had only been going to lessons awhile. I think Mrs. Gillis might have helped on the apple in the charcoal. I knew there were really talented kids in the class, but remember my teacher had taken a shine to me and just seemed to like me a lot. She gave lots of encouragement.

I walked down an aisle or two and then I spotted the blue ribbon. I was speechless. For a moment in time I could only be happy and proud and Mrs. Gillis was right behind me to share in it all. Then Mother.    

I was soaking up this moment when I spied Jack who was older and so very talented. The kind of talent that you take out a canvas and whip up goodness without even thinking. He didn't say one mean word, but his face said it all. How could some little middle schooler get first place in this category with that. He was devastated. My happy moment kind of dimmed. 

There is a photograph with me standing my first place painting. I am not knee deep in photo albums, but more like chin deep right now. I actually think that album is mom's assisted living apartment so maybe one day I will remember to take a picture of me back then and post at a later time.

The thing is I didn't feel any animosity towards Jack for his facial expression. I understood! He was way more talented than me. In this one and only painting I had gotten the color mixing right ---maybe needed a little help with the shapes, but I had learned to mix colors and shade which I still use to this day in things. An art teacher just noticed that and like a teacher recognized it. 

I did go another year before Mrs. Gillis decided to hang up teaching herself. I painted the landscape that hangs in our Auburn house. I don't have a great picture of it, but it is one I also love and am proud of. 

I painted a pair of spaniel pups in a basket that my aunt has at her house. They are definitely amateur hour because I could NOT paint the eyes. My last thing was the magnolia that I wrestled away from Mom when we moved in to our current house. It is done in oil pastels which may have been my favorite medium. 

I never did any formal art again, not even in high school when they began to offer art as an elective. I think I had told myself there wouldn't be a Mrs. Gillis lifting me up, but rather just a busy teacher looking at the really gifted kids. I think I understood that too. 

I have always loved art, but I don't think I am missing anything (jack of ALL trades). I kept the oil pastels and used them to make some wonderful bulletin boards. I took pictures of things and blew them up using the overhead projector and colored them in with those oil pastels and shaded them just right. Then I would run them through the laminator and that would blend them even more with the heat. See, I did use the talent. 

The charcoal and the oil painting have been at Mom's house for decades, but they have now come home with me. I have to find a place for the charcoal piece...for now, the closet will have to be its home. I did learn to sign my name small by the end:) 

And this explains why there is a 1st place Blue ribbon taped to the back of the oil painting.  I am proud of it and sorry that Jack didn't get the recognition he deserved, but I am sure there was a lesson in there somewhere and with his talent I have no doubt he got plenty of recognition down the road. 

Thursday Treasures: Things from Germany

Today's treasures' post is things I have saved from childhood. These are things that my parents bought while stationed in Germany in the early 1960's. We left for Germany in 1961, when I was just 9 months old. These things were in our home growing up and came to my house at different times along the way.

The first is beer glasses. My dad collected a glass from each little town we visited during our time there. The have been stored in a china cabinet their entire life. There are about 20 of them. I think they would actually be fun to drink out of, since they are a wonderful size and weight, but they have been just a display item. They have always been one of my favorite things even though I am not a beer drinker, but because I can just imagine him getting one at each stop and placing them in the cabinet.

Here is one section of three of the glasses displayed in the cabinet.

This glass was always my favorite. I have no idea why other than that it is maybe it is the most decorative.

Next up is my little desk. I got it for my second Christmas. It has some German lettering on the drawer. I have had this in every bedroom of mine until graduation from college. I used it as my teacher desk when I was young--- foretelling my future career. It is truly a treasure to me. When I moved into my first apartment after Auburn, I used in my living room to hold my TV. Since then, my own children have used it, and now my grandchildren. It has held up well with much use over the years.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. I just took a picture of a picture rather than pulling it out and scanning it in. Behind my head is a boxer stuffed animal. I still have it and a bunny both bought in Germany. They were probably bought at the Post Exchange though.

Just the other day Palmer was sitting at it and coloring. 

The beer stein is another purchase that I have held onto. It is in the china cabinet as well, but last October I had the genius idea of bringing out as part of my fall decor. It will be used again for that purpose. Oh and it plays music when you lift it up.

 

Another favorite treasure bought while in Germany is the little music box. It actually came from Switzerland. It remained on my dresser throughout my life. Only when we moved in our current home did I move it to the china cabinet. I always loved it as a child. Unfortunately, it has been wound too tight and doesn't play anymore. Pooh.

A few other purchases are...

The Bavarian German Shepherd. My dad would have chosen this since he and I shared a great love for dogs that Mama has never possessed. I will say my dogs have grown on her, but she would have never owned a dog if she had any say about it. 

This little vase that is on the dresser in Lindsay's old room. I love the amethyst color of it.

And this little vase.

I have always loved this vase. I think it is the color blocking on it. It is cracked at the top, but it is truly a unique piece. It has West Germany stamped on the bottom and I think there was quite of a bit of unique pottery and ceramic pieces done during the early 60's.

The ashtray.

The candle holder and cigarette holder. 

I have loved this candle holder my entire life. I have used it so many times. I remember walking around a dark home after (hurricanes) Erin and Opal hit in the same year in 1995. I actually didn't know the other piece was a cigarette holder until a few years ago, I was looking around trying to find out information on these pieces. I learned that is what it was, and it totally makes sense with the top. I don't think my parents knew that either. It has held marbles since Paul Allen was a little kid. 

The painting.

I always have loved oil paintings anyway, but this one just speaks to me with the colors. I am a no mountain girl, but I really love the grassy field here and as a kid I always wanted to make up a story to go with the painting. It hung in the formal living room until I started college. My folks moved to a different home in town and being older I took it and hung it in my bedroom. It made it to my home about 10 years ago.

Then there is the cuckoo clock. Again, I just took a photo of a photo and didn't edit. 

It hangs on the wall behind Dad.

How could you leave Germany without one? It hung in Mother's home for decades. It finally was taken down and never put back up after a move from house to another house. The chains and weights are off. It has been in a box now for 30 years. I I had it on my list to try and find someone to repair it this summer, but I can't find a local person. I have watched a few videos to see if I could at least put the chains and weights back on. I may at some point try it, but it won't be this summer. I have thought of passing it on to someone, but haven't yet been able to part with it. I know it I can't get it working and hang it up that it will drive Tucker me crazy with questions as to why it won't work. He would love it if I could get it working. For now, I have decided to stick it back in the closet for another day. I did look it up the other day and it is a Hubert Herr Black Forest Swiss Ski Chalet Style clock.

Here it is in the box for another year.

The coat... I am not sure if the coat is German, but I think Mama must have purchased it over there; maybe at the Post Exchange. She has it on in many pictures over there so she wore it during this time period. That is my reasoning for putting it in this post. It has both German and English writing on the label.

It is a lovely coat and I have thought about wearing it myself, but I haven't. Maybe one day I will style and wear it. It fits so well and could certainly be in style now, but you can tell it is old.

The final item I am sharing is a stereo that I parted with. This stereo was a big part of growing up and playing records on. I really hated to see it go, but when Mother decided she didn't want it anymore I think she thought I would take it. At the time, we lived in another house and there was simply no room for it. It now lives with a cousin. It makes a great side table even though knowing there is a radio and record player is pretty cool. I love thinking about the records that were played on it.

The photos are mostly poor quality. I wouldn't call it lazy on my part, but just no time to do them right. I have had this post on my mind for ages. If I keep waiting to get it all perfect, it will continue to be an idea rather than memories documented for my children.

There are a few more items like some crystal, but I think these were the most loved of the Germany treasures. I might even think of others later. I have the memories documented, so that will suffice for now.