Throwback Thursday - The Notebooks

Public Domain,
 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47600611 

To clear up some confusion, the Notebook passages posted on Throwback Thursday were written by my father and found by me after he passed away. They were his attempt to tell the family history. He was in his late 80s or early 90s when he wrote them. Today's chapter:

There are things that I forget and those that I forget or they come back in mind.

In the Spring of 1936 [ed: Dad was a Junior in high school], The Boys Clubs of America Board of Directors and Officers held their annual meeting in Boston and it would close with a father son banquet.

Skip asked me if I could give some time to put pamphlets on chairs for representatives of the Boy's Club from all the states that had boys clubs, I agreed.

The affair was held at the older of the two hotels in Boston. [ed: Omni Parker House ] It was Monday to Sunday and the banquet ended the meeting.

I was in the men's room when the door was flung open. I saw this tall, well-dressed man hold it open. He looked around. I was the only one in the men's room. He stuck his hand out and then another man came in. He came beside me. Looked at me and said, "Shouldn't you be in school?" I told him I got out early to help put the pamphlets on the chairs, etc. He looked familiar but I could not place who he was.

On Sunday I attended the banquet and sat at Charlie's table. And I saw the same man that spoke to me on Friday. He sat at the middle of the head table. He was introduced as President Hoover. He got a big standing ovation. I told Charlie about my meeting him in the men's room

So I must be the only person in the United States or a few persons who had to explain to a president of the United States in the men's room of a hotel why I was out of school. He was out of office at that time but past presidents always keep their title and are so addressed. My first celebrity meeting.

Wordless Wednesday

T Stands for No

No eating or drinking while working on diplomas and awards.

The diplomas have been lettered. Just waiting for the final list for diplomas with distinction.

While waiting, I lettered the bookplate awards (about 3 dozen). Not my favorite task because the paper is awful to work on. Crack and peel sticker labels. Inks just feather and bleed if the paper isn't treated with a spray fixative (done on Friday as the day was nice and I could open all the windows in the sun room) Also, the bookplates are only 3 in. (7.62 cm)  and some of these kids have 4 first names to fit in a tiny space.

On my desk, finished bookplates drying in the Slinky, Jr. rack, a drop bottle of gum arabic (to rubdown the 1/2 mm Brause nib. Gum arabic acts as a cleaner and also allows the ink to flow better through the nib), and Moon Palace sumi ink in the tiny cap (just enough ink to use for one session)

For my no drink reference, a shot glass of filtered water to give the nib a swish when I get up to leave my desk so the ink doesn't dry in the nib. My pen is resting on the Ink pen rest I made. A bookplate waits on the template I made on graph paper so I don't have to rule lines for each bookplate.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Please, Let there Be Light

The Little Princess was tired about having to paint the lantern post. She whined why couldn't the post be made of PVC or resin or some material that didn't need to be scraped and painted every few years?So she let her fingers do the searching. And lo, and behold, the Little Princess found her dream come true at the website of the Big Orange Box Store. She showed it to Himself. Wouldn't this make a great Mother's Day gift. He told her to order an Outdoor Landscape Lighting Post Enclosure with Outlet Cover, too. Yes, indeed, a fine gift.

The lantern arrived and Himself installed the outlet. The Little Princess selected the spot for the lantern and weeded. Himself brought home dirt and stone to weight the planter. They put the post together despite the inadequate instructions. It's a good thing Himself is very handy.

He helped the Little Princess to level the spot. The lantern was moved into place and weighted with the stone. The Little Princess plugged the lantern into the outlet and went inside to turn on the outside lights. Nada. Nichts. Nothing.

Then the Little Princess noticed an on off switch on the lantern. Pushed it and still nothing. There was power coming to the outlet as it had an illuminated red light.

Himself sent the Little Princess inside to get a lamp that worked. They plugged it into the outlet. Nope.

Himself suspected the problem was with the outlet. It was one he had hanging around in the garage. He had tried to trip the reset switch on it, but the switch wouldn't give.

So when it stops raining and the grass is dry so Himself can safely play with the electricity, Himself will go to the Big Orange Box Store and buy a new outdoor outlet and try again.

At least the lantern looks good, doesn't need to be painted, and is not leaning.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Lots of garden photos

Hey! Hey, Lady! I'm stahvin' heah. Fill the feedah!

Up in the crow's nest. Land, ho!

Himself likes to garden, but the problems he's having with his back make that difficult. While grocery shopping at Wegman's he picked up a few plants that he could put in pots. The frame from a green house works to hold the pots. He wrapped the frame in wire mesh to keep Timex and the bunnies out.

Red gave me some lily of the valley. It started to bloom before I got a chance to plant it.

Himself can care for his plants from inside the sun room. He even used the plant pokes I made for him.

Atticus Finch perched on the shepherd's hook.

A mourning dove posed for a picture.

Cassia eating dandelions like spaghetti. 

Slurp!

The snowball bushes out front have avalanched.

The Alpine bells bloomed. After they pass, I'll transplant them to Ink's garden as they are too close to the oil fill and will get squashed when the oil man comes to fill the tank.

Two of the morning glories survived even though Timex likes to roll around in this planter. The morning glories are reaching out to climb the trellis.

The honeysuckle is overgrown and should have been cut back, but it makes a lovely, natural, privacy screen 

Lots of honeysuckle buds. The hummingbird will be very happy.

Just a little rain this week.

Buttercups in the lawn., and

wild strawberries.

I finally got some time to plant the lily of the valley Red gave me.

I took the fencing from Ink's garden to fence in the butterfly garden (behind Ink's garden). Last year, the lawn guy thought the milkweed Red had given me were weeds so he whacked them. Happily, they came back.

There looked like a sunflower was coming up, but Timex and company, and the little red squirrel have trampled them as the critters like to run through the holes in the trellis. I'm hoping they continue to grow.

Besides the lily of the valley and milkweed, Red also gave me some echinacea. I might have waited too long to get it in the ground. Fingers crossed that it takes.

I relocated the cardinal spinner from the corner of the Zensical garden to Ink's garden. The lawn guy had knocked it over.

Years ago, when the snowball bushes bloomed they would be covered in bees. Only one, very busy lady seems to be making the rounds.

How does your garden grow?

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies The Alamo

This idea came from a Facebook meme:

Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in alphabetical order:

The Alamo (1960), John Wayne and Richard Widmark (my nbr. 1 favorite)

If you haven't seen the movie, you can pay to view or buy the movie: 

https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-alamo-1960

The Friday Five Good Things

ICAD 2015

Five good things that happened this week.

1.  Himself and I had brunch at IHOP (International House of Pancakes) and then went shopping at the fancy grocery store, Wegmans. We like their meat selection.

2. Out of the blue a call from a student from my 2008 calligraphy class. Had a nice chat with her about cats and art

3. Sunday was a very lazy day

4. The Eldest had given Himself a fruit of the month club gift at Christmas. This month's selection Apricots. I don't think I've ever had fresh apricots.

5.We had dinner at the 99 Restaurant  after dropping in to the Student Art Show closing reception at WAM

How was your week?

Throwback Thursday - The Notebooks

To clear up some confusion, the Notebook passages posted on Throwback Thursday were written by my father and found by me after he passed away. They were his attempt to tell the family history. He was in his late 80s or early 90s when he wrote them. Today's chapter:

The first two weeks that I was working at the house [ed: Charlie/Skip's house] I was assigned the task to paint all of the windows on the outside [ed: trim] with black paint. While he and Doris would be at the farm with the kids Everett and Bob.

He also instructed me that if I needed more paint to go to the hardware store as he had made arrangements with the owner to give me what I needed and he would settle when he returned.

I started the job. Skip was away then and I opened a gallon and started. The paint was so thick that I had a hard time spreading it. So I used some turpentine to make it liquid. When Skip came back he asked me how much paint I ordered. I said none. He got upset. Doris asked him what's wrong? He said he painted the sills with turpentine. He looked at the job and said Well let's see what happens.

While he had to give up the house. Because he also landed a job in Waltham to establish the Boy's Club. He kept in touch with me. And after his first year he said when I graduated he would give me a job.

He had also told the Director [ed: of the Center] that he should consider giving me some leadership job and the Director did.

I was assigned to run the Saturday night dance.There was a number of young people my age that came. The charge was five cents for coffee and doughnuts.I got $11.00 a month and had a good time as well. We also had an orchestra.

It was at the Center that the girl who would grow to adulthood became a regular. and I would walk her home. Once in a while I would get her an ice cream and we'd walk home together.

She was a small little girl, cute, and very naive. Her name was Mary Riccio and would in the future become your mother.

June of 1938 came around and it was graduation time. My mother walked to Chelsea to get a job to buy my white flannels and everything else I borrowed. [ed: some facts that Dad omitted. His mother walked to work about 2 miles so she could save the money from taking the subway and/or ferry. She used the money she saved to buy the flannel material needed to make the trousers Dad had to have for graduation. She begged her husband, since he was a tailor, to make the trousers for his son.]

Photo: My parents before they were Ma and Dad. He's wearing the white flannel trousers his father made him for gradation. The photo was taken from the roof of one one of their homes. Not sure who's house. Logan Airport is in the background. Circa 1938 - 1941

Wordless Wednesday

T Stands For Mother's Day Dinner

With both girlies gone for Mother's Day weekend, Himself decided to take me out to dinner. I didn't want to go on Sunday, Mother's Day as I figured everyone and their mother would be out, and the restaurant we wanted to go to was going to be closed. Saturday's weather sounded iffy with rain in the forecast for the evening so we decided to go to dinner on Friday night. 

We went to the UXLocale Restaurant in Uxbridge . Elaine Cowan is the owner and chef de Cuisine. Elaine used to work in the Education department at the Worcester Art Museum. The UXLocale (formerly the Hay Wagon Restaurant)  is a beautiful, rustic space in the middle of farm country

It was a nice evening so we decided to be seated outside on the terrace. The tables were made from the wooden spools that the phone company/cable/electric companies use.

We started with homemade bread and gravy (tomato sauce) for dipping. 

Since dinner was a special occasion, and I wasn't driving, I decided to look over the wine list.

The family tree drawing on the restaurant cover was drawn by another museum staff member. 

Our view from the terrace. Himself had a Coke, and even though it wasn't going to go with what I ordered for dinner, I had a glass of Blue Fish Sweet Riesling. I'm partial to sweet, white wines.

We started with the Wildcard Sampler Board, meats, cheeses, veggies, and fruits. All Elaine's food is locally sourced, fresh, and beautifully plated.

We also had a side salad.

As the sun was going down, the breeze picked up, and it got a little chilly. No need to worry. The staff brought out these gas heaters. Toasty warm to enjoy dinner al fresco.

With the warning, Don't eat! I took a picture of the shrimp and scallops served with risotto Himself ordered.

I ordered my favorite dish Ma used to make. Linguini a la vongole. Linguini and clams in red gravy. (sauce) Only Elaine's dish is so much better than Ma made. Shhh, don't tell Ma. Ma used canned clams. Elaine uses fresh clams.  And I'm sure Elaine made sure the pan used for my dish had my shade of blue handle.

Isn't this presentation just beautiful? Opened clam shells sprinkled with herbs, and enrobed in fettuccine. Not only did the food look good, but tastes amazing.

We ordered dessert and I had a cup of tea.

Our view of an old farmhouse across the way.

Himself's Creme Brulee

I had  the fluffy chocolate cake with whipped cream.

Our evening ended with being able to say hello to Elaine as she was outside talking to her cousin, and a glorious sunset.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Bringing the Outside In

If you read my blog, it's no secret I love the sun room. We pretty much live in this room once the warm weather starts. We take our meals here, play on the computer, and watch television. As much as I love looking out, the late afternoon sun can make it hard to see the television screen.

I had a cheap curtain on the West side window, but it shrunk when I washed it. A new curtain was needed. The cheap curtain was ugly so I wanted something a little nicer, but didn't want to spend a lot of money. The windows and slider are 72 inches wide.

Searching online, I saw some drapes printed with birch trees. Drapes are too heavy. The wall of the sun room is aluminum so I used a few Command hooks to hold up.a thin curtain rod. Somehow in my search I ended up looking at polyester shower curtains and found some with birch trees. Reviews complained the birch trees were sepia toned and not the black and white as pictured. More searching and I found a shower curtain with trees and leaves like being in the middle of the woods which is the view of my backyard.

I ordered two one for the window and one for the slider. The slider didn't have a curtain, but it was needed. The curtains are perfect. They shut out the glare of the late afternoon sun and can easily be pushed aside so I can watch the comings and goings of the birds and critters. When the curtains are closed, it looks like I'm still looking outside.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I'm so excited. I didn't kill Big Lily. Isn't she gorgeous?

It's a wonder Timex doesn't get his head stuck in the hatch.

We have a new visitor. This is one of Cinnamon's littles.  S/he has the same cinnamon colored spot on the back of the neck behind the ears. I've named this baby, Cassia. The sweetie took a little nap, enjoyed the sunshine, and 

had a little snack.

The weather dudes called for some wild weather. Heavy rains, thunder, lightning and a tornado watch for my area. Fortunately, no tornado just rain, lightning, loud rumbles of thunder and 

when the storm was over an amazing sunset.

My iPhone camera didn't quite catch the spectacular golden light.

A new addition to the Zensical garden. A cardinal spinner I found at Home Depot

I found this plant in Ink's garden. It's about 8 inches tall. I have no idea if it's a weed or a real flower. Do any of you gardeners know?

If you recall, Reggie gave us morning glory seeds at the end of the year long 26 Seeds class. I had started them indoors. Between cold days, rainy days, I think I waited too long to plant them. They were looking a bit scraggly. I hope they make it.

The trellis had gotten crushed during the March blizzards and I fixed it with twine as best I could. I cleaned out Ink's garden of weeds, added some new soil, and planted some of the better looking morning glory plants. I also relocated the cowboy boot and planted a morning glory in it, too. The fence edging is really for the opposite side. Red gave me some more milkweed and some echinacea. I plan to plant them on the other side of Ink's garden. Last year, I planted the milkweed, but the lawn guy didn't recognize the garden so weed whacked everything except a sunflower. This year, I hope the edging makes it obvious don't whack the plants.

Some leaves on the hydrangea. Someone needs to get out there and cut out the dead stalks.

Make a wish.

Almost an inch of rain for the week

I think these are sunflowers.

How does your garden grow?