weekend update

God love three-day weekends. And I'm not even religious.





Clearly, Riley-Cat loves 3-day weekends, too


Yesterday I thought a lot about it being Memorial Day. Up until probably last year, I viewed Memorial Day as just another holiday,
but I now see it for the important day of recognition that it is.

I thought of my dad who served in Vietnam & my grandpa who served in WWII. I thought of how lucky I am to be alive because they did serve. Growing up, my dad used to tell my brother & I that his job in the army was to deliver the mail. Which was true. Except that in order to deliver the soldiers' beloved letters, he had to travel through highly dangerous areas, not once but twice daily.

Two years ago at my grandpa's funeral, I learned that when he was overseas, his ship's departure time was changed to an earlier time & he never caught word. The ship was bombed & everyone on board died. Except for grandpa, who was probably sitting on a barstool at the time. Thank God for grandpa & his alcoholism. (again, I say ~ I'm not religious, but the G-word just keeps popping out & it seems appropriate in this context!) And please don't take my speaking of my grandpa's alcoholism as me being flippant. My grandparent's alcoholism was as much a part of them as anything else, and I don't fault them for that, nor do I love them any less.

At any rate, between my grandpa missing his ship & my dad making it through dangerous territory twice a day for who knows how long, I AM LUCKY TO HAVE BEEN BORN. And I think I need to remind myself of that from time to time.

Thank you to grandpa, who I know can hear me even though I'm not saying it out loud, and thank you to dad, who I promise I will tell in person. Or maybe I'll send a card because I'm not good at expressing the sentimental stuff.

Honey & I went to a wedding Saturday, which is always fun. I swear, Alaska is the only place it is acceptable to wear jeans to a wedding reception. I could never, of course, but it is nevertheless acceptable with certain couples & venues. I don't think I got any photos of Honey & I, but I did take this photo of our gift to the bride & groom. I just love the paper & I thought the little crocheted flower was quite clever of me. I had bought a baggie full of them at a community garage sale a few years ago, but they're so damn cute, I haven't thought of the right project for them yet.










Sunday I worked on several craft & sewing projects, none of which got finished. Really, the story of my life. If I thought I had any followthrough at all, I would make a declarative statement ~ I WILL finish one project tonight ~ but that's just too much pressure. Better to see where the evening takes me.


Monday I worked in the garden, and did get one flower bed finished. I mapped out my plan, dug out the grass, mixed in the peet & good soil, and finally got my lilac in the ground. The bushes are called Japanese Barberry, which was my cheap alternative to a Japanese Maple. Geesh, trees are spend-y!! I stole some hostas & strawberry plants from the backyard to fill in some of the holes, and voila! It's sort of a random little flower bed, and I will likely rearrange it later on, as when I put something in the ground, it rarely stays put. I always plant too close together, or too far apart, or it's not getting enough light, or it's all in a row (how very un-cottage like!) instead of scattered, etc.
















Our 3-day weekend with a bbq with Bucky, Michelle, & our friends Brian & Jenn. We had a house full of dogs, and yes, my new garden survived. Just barely. And here is me & Porter about 2 minutes after everyone left. Note: I am sleeping on one of my sewing projects ~ one of two pillowcases. Cute, no? I also got the same poppy-fabric in a turquoise blue. Honey is not thrilled that I'm flowering up "his" couch. I let him know that if I wanted to put flowers on the couch, there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it. Sorry honey, but that's the way it's gotta be.















nighty night ~