Vow-Newal ..... back after taking a breather....

Hello everyone!

I've missed chatting with all of you ... and would like to revamp my blog ... gotten bored with how it looks.

Life just got too complicated ... lots of things I wanted and needed to do (purge our home of some of the excess, college classes for a Finance degree, preparing for DH and my silver anniversary and vows renewal, family reunion and the list just kept going on and on .... and on!!)    Bet you have had some of those days....

Got much of what I wanted to do done ... silver anniversary celebration went wonderfully and so did the family reunion.  Great to see so many people we haven't seen in quite a while due to DH's work overseas ... 

DH and I had my rings re-sized ... I hadn't been able to wear either of them for years ... worked with electronic repair.  Wearing jewelry is just bad ju-ju when fixing stuff!!  

When we renewed our vows, DH put my rings on me again .... nice to have them back on again!

We also had a butterfly release that went amazingly well ... DH said he kept flashing on an old episode of "Two and A Half Men" where Charlie's mother gets remarried at the beach house and the butterflies are dead and serve as seagull food.   Even the photographer said the butterfly release was one of the best she had ever seen.

We're back home again ... and brought back two Siamese cats we adopted from a rescue in Southern California (more about them later this week).... trying to get back into the swing of normal life again.
Really enjoyed the celebration and family reunion ... but there were days that dealing and coordinating all the details long distance could be quite demanding. Being back home, taking care of day-to-day life details is such a relief!!  

Of course, now I am starting to work on details of the next family reunion in 2018... still have to pin down which of two places it wll be held ... 

Onward and upward ... 

What wonderful things have happened in your life since last we spoke?  
Please share one or two ...

Holly

Fantabulous! Check out the T-shirt quilt I had made!!

 

Quite a few years ago ~ while purging our excess out ~

I got rid of a bunch of T-shirts we had acquired from various

duty stations, explorations

(we love to explore the areas we are assigned)

and Scouting activities.

 

Of course, not long after the T's went away ~

a friend mentioned making a T-shirt quilt with her son's T's.

 

Slap the forehead and moan why didn't I know about this??

Would have been a great way to use all those T's I hadn't wanted

to get rid of .... but they had just been taking up space in our home.

 

Well, Life goes on ~~ 

now when we are out and about, I pick up T's for a quilt .... someday.

 

Last fall, I decide there are enough T's to have one made ~

(I know me, if I do it~ it will sit incomplete and never get done)

.... so I start searching the Web.

Looked at lots of websites over the next few months ...

 

and FINALLY found a quilt I adored on Pinterest !!!

 

Back-tracked the quilt to the company who made it ~

"Too Cool Quilts" in Michigan.

They were a bit more pricey than  other companies I looked at,

but the website was so detailed on the entire process

(something  others skimped on) ~

that I bit the bullet and ordered a quilt for my son.

 

 

Sent the T-'s in and waited ....

It came back and was absolutely FANTABULOUS!!

Sent all the rest of the T's in

~~~ yup!  With all my picking up

one here, one there

as we wandered the world ...

I had enough T's to make SIX quilts

 

~~though one was a "Hard Rock Café" theme

and I had to supplement with T's from Ebay.

 

DS LOVED it!! 

 

"Too Cool Quilts" outlines many of the T-shirt designs with the stitching which holds the quilt together ~

so you can enjoy the both sides of the quilt!

 

Love my Grinch (from the story "How the Grinch Stole Christmas") with all of the toys bagged and piled into his sleigh as he prepares to leave Whoville.

 

The quilts turned out fantastic! 

Am on the hunt for more T's to have more made ... someday.

Holly

 

 

 

 

 

Feasting on Friday ... Frog and Toe Jams

DH and I are finally back home again after nearly two months ..

SO good to be back in our own beds and normal routine....

now if we can only get re-adjusted to our home time-zone.

 

We spent Mother's Day weekend with my mother-in-law ~

found these at a small roadside stand while driving to

my in-law's home. 

 

Just had to get them both for DMIL and DFIL!

Love the names!!

 

 

Gotta love the quirky names! 

And there were several people who walked into the place,

read the jar titles and said "Eww!!"

 

"Toe jam" in the US is a slang term for

the gunk that accumulates between the toes.

Definitely not the first thing you think of at a produce stand!!

 

In this case .. "Toe Jam" means "Tangerine, Orange, Elderberry"

~ "Frog Jam" is "Fig, raspberry, orange and ginger".

 

Do you have a quirky food specialty in your area?

Please share!!

Hope to hear from you soon ~

Holly

 

 



"Mighty Mo" from the Arizona Memorial

DH and DS on the Arizona Memorial with the

"Mighty Mo" (USS Missouri)

behind them ~

 

DS arranged for us to go on the Arizona Memorial trip

that goes all around Ford Island

to see other memorials (such as the USS Utah grounding)

before stopping at the Arizona Memorial.

 

It was a really fun day ~

we had a great time !

 

 What treasured memory have you created recently?

Please share -

 

Holly

 

 



Did I ever show you ...?

Did I ever share the picture I have in the guest bath?

It is supposed to attach to the commode lid ,,,

but we weren't able to get it to stick.

 

I decided to frame it and it proudly sits on the shelf above the commode.

Probably should have it over the urinal for male guests to enjoy...

but now it is easily seen and enjoyed when one opens the door.

 

 

Do you have a fun decoration somewhere in your home?

Please share!

Holly

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday Retrospect -- My Son at (3)

When my son was three, I was working in as a data entry clerk

(yes, this was a loooong time ago) ...

one of the benefits was discounted tickets to Disneyland.

We went several times that year ...

 this photo is from the first visit. 

 

He was a special boy then... and is a wonderful man now.

 

Do you have a treasured memory to share?

I would love to hear it.

Holly

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

This morning DH mentioned wanting pumpkin waffles ... fortunately I have everything I need to make them.  If I had thought about it last, night I could have thawed out the bacon in our freezer and made heart bacon for breakfast as well.  (you fold the streaky bacon strips so it approximates a heart-shape).
Tried to make heart shaped waffles ... major flop.  Next time I'll put the waffle batter into a container with a spout ... that should let me  "shape" the batter.
Waffles turned out great ...

Aren't they pretty?  Yummy too!

We're off to visit a wild animal park ... hope you all do something fun today!

Holly

Cat-sitting Harley

I'm kitty-sitting Harley again while his pet human is in Berlin with family for the weekend ...

He has grown a lot in the last few months ... 
Harley keeps wrapping and weaving himself around my legs ...

Love having a cat in the house again ... even though he keeps trying to run out the door every time it is open ...

Holly  

Caught by a cat ?! ?!

We cat-sat for our neighbor recently ...

it was nice having a cat in the house again ...



it's been a year since our Siamese passed away ...

Harley is only about 4 months old ...

he likes to play ... A LOT !!!

Wandered into the bathroom, half asleep ... nightlight on ...

only to see a pair of yellow, glowing eyeballs staring from the sink ... 

... kitty laughter fills the room ...

Could you live down being laughed at by a cat?? 

I can't .... (sigh) ....

Holly

... the last of the Christmas gifts are ready to go out!

Christmas cards have all been mailed ... most of the gifts have also gone out.  
It's a nice benefit to DH's deployment ~ many things were done well ahead of schedule. 

Of course, I haven't decorated our home this year ... other than putting out the Advent calendar and our Moravian Star.  

These are the last two gifts to go out ... the two relatives these are going to don't read my blog (and my son already has his gift) ... so I can share this with you.   
 
It's my simple version of this pin:  
  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/571746115165549284/

Was hoping to get a box from the local pizza place ...
 but that's didn't work out (rats!).

Will express-mail them tomorrow when I go grocery shopping ... then I will be done!!

Now I can just relax and enjoy the season
     ... and watch the snow fall....

Holly

Wandering the paths

We've been going out most mornings for walks ... we take a slightly different route each time we go out.  Lots of paths ... if we chose, we could wander our way all over Germany and most of Europe ... starting from the paths by our front door.






A really BIG snail DH found on our walk ... probably six inches long!!
I thought the patterning on the head and neck was pretty cool looking.

Holly

how does your garden grow?

Part of Giovanni and Carmela's winter garden for this year....
 it just never stops.
One thing gets finished  ... pull it out and put in the next item.
They can .. and do ... grow just about everything!

Catnaps

Spent part of last weekend at a friend's home ... caught Lola (momma cat) snoozing while her kittens were elsewhere.  

On the beach near Giardini-Naxos

Went to the beach two weekends ago with some Sicilian friends ... first time either DH or I have been to the beach in nearly four years.   The beach is lot different than the ones in San Diego ... lots of small rocks rather than sand.  Both DH and I are going to get water shoes before we go again.
I'll need to put on sunscreen as well ... ended up with a second-degree burn.... lots of small blisters.  Oh well ... so life goes.

My guest book

I found this lined journal in the British Museum shop one trip to London.

The flap is magnetized - so it stays closed.

Not long before DH and I married, we had dinner with

one of my high school teachers and his wife.

They had the tradition of having all their guests sign a guest book ...

including notes who the guests were, the meal, the occasion ... whatever they wanted to remember.

I added this quote after an E-sister mentioned it ...

 though for my next guest book,

I think I will modify it to read "home" rather than "house".

Fresh orange juice!

Freshly squeezed tarocco (related to blood oranges) juice!  Good stuff!

The first year I was stationed here before, DS was only 8 that year.  He strolled into the kitchen while I was squeezing orange juice and asked what I was doing.   I told him I was making orange juice.
Instant response ... "No you're not!. I know what orange juice looks like!!"
Took some convincing ... but he finally tried the juice .... and liked it.

Duck curls ...

Hard to believe DH had gotten a hair cut the day before ...
yup, the barber missed a sector.

Assume your position!

It gets a wee bit chilly in the apt ... especially with the snow level not too far above us.
DH  (of course, I do too, but not as much) spends quite a bit of time this way.

Gift for my son

lava plaque my son asked us to get for him ...
ordered it about a year ago from a local lava carver...
got it a few months ago...
now have to figure out how to get it to him.

DS asked me to post the picture so he could see what it looks like...

What a Difference a Day Makes!

This was what I saw when I left my office to go to lunch yesterday ...
double rainbow ... that was nice to see ...

This is what I saw this morning on my way to work ...

Snow level isn't too far up the mountain from our place ... no wonder that cat and I are both cold!  Sure is pretty.