Summer on the Gulf

The lazy days of summer are soon behind us. I can already feel the difference in the air here. The humidity is subsiding, thank goodness; and there's that shift in the sun that seems to always be directly in your eyes when you're driving. Oh, and the school buses are out with a vengeance. Ahhhhh, fall is here, kinda. This will be our first, and perhaps last, autumn at Riverside. I'm good with it. I'm actually getting excited about moving back to the NE, kinda. lol

What have you all been up to? I've been happily river sorry with a little bit of this and that on the side. The hub, Dar and I went to a first Friday art crawl in Fairhope in August. We started the night at the Eastern Shore Art Center  where I fell in love with this artist, Angie Bolling. This exquisite piece was made for her Grandmother's 100th birthday. Are you dying? I am. What a priceless creation.

There have been double rainbows over the river.

I fell in love with gingers after taking a class at the Mobile Botanical Gardens where they happen to have had a pop-up shop selling all types of beauties. Linda invited me to sit in with her on the "Plant Sex" session which turned out to be absolutely fascinating. Of course, the bonus was the gingers!

The hub and I have made a couple of trips to Pensacola. Here on Pensacola Bay, the brown pelicans seem to be in the midst of quite a school of fish. They were dive bombing!

Of course, after one of those trips to Pensacola (or should I just say Joe Patti's), we had BBQ skrimp. Yum.

Lovebugs are in season here. Ugh. At least they're little and they don't bite or anything like that. Just a pain because there are just so many of them. Now I know what those little dead black bugs are when we normally get back down to Riverside after Christmas. Finally, I know. Yes, that's another ginger.

The teenager and his girlfriend came down from DC and brought me this lovely Adirondack basket. I have never seen one before. Now I want MORE! lol They are gorgeous. 

And, this is for you Kell--Frankie on his way back to the river with poppa driving. He sits up so proud in the front seat. Funny little dog. 

Well, that's about it for now. Happy Fall, y'all. SO ready!

Labels: Dogs, Flowers, Riverside

River Love

I planted this vine in February (in a pot) and it's still thriving even though we've been gone for several months. Lotsa rain down here!

 Beautiful hydrangea in full bloom.

Bella always loves returning to her first home. (She'd never admit it though.)

Beautiful Riverside is going on the market this summer. We're starting our move back to the Northeast. Exciting times!

Labels:  Cats, Flowers, Riverside

Lazy, Rainy Days

It was a perfect day for tea. Rain's been falling mostly all day and it was just right for a cup of tea.

I found a new tea that is absolutely delish. I loved Earl Grey teas way-back-when; but then I found them getting stronger and stronger--just a quick dip for my bag. Whatever my reasons, I haven't had it in years. 

I had received this free sample of Mighty Leaf's Earl Grey just last week. Mmmmm. Just as a proper Earl Grey should be, to me, anyway. A very enjoyable Earl Grey {hot}, if I do say so myself.

Perfect for a rainy day.

Labels: Tea, TN

Genes

This is one of the oldest pictures we have of our mom. Isn't she precious? 

I've been absent from here, I know--same ol' song and dance. I have been, however, absolutely enthralled in our family genealogies since the New Year. We took a trip in the early spring to Atlanta; and we ended up going to my mom's home town, not too far west of Atlanta. I was on a mission to find some family members in the old town cemetery. (We found only a few. ugh.) And now, I'm totally hooked. I've found a lot of new information since I first began this journey. It was 1985. No computers. Only libraries. Can you imagine? Of course, I wasn't able to find a whole lot way back then.  I did, amazingly, have enough sense to ask my Aunt Mary to write down all she knew of the Bailey family. And she did. Her papers have given us endless clues.

This is the kid, probably about the same age my mom was in her photo. He was so much like her. Look at that face. Same sweet grin. Sniffle. Now he's grown. But he's doing great away at college!

And then we move to the hub's family. His mom is Italian and second-generation American. His father is Ukrainian and first-generation American. I can't tell you how much information I have found online for both sides. Finding a lot of the ship manifests when they migrated to New York has been absolutely amazing. Then, I began going through old family photos on the hub's side. I had brought this picture back from NY last fall after helping the SIL go through the parents' things. No one knew who it was. I think it looks more of the Italian side. But there are a few who could also pass as Ukies. 

And, speaking of Ukies, the hub and teenager are in New York to celebrate Ukrainian Easter this weekend. I gave the hub a copy of this photo so he can ask his mom if she knows who it is. I know she will. She is sharp as a tack!

I have always so LOVED old studio shots. No one ever looks happy. Notice the three back drops? Poor feller on the right is too tall for two of them! Awkward. I think those two boys on the ends are WAY too tall to be Ukies. But "momma" in the back, she don't look too happy. Perhaps the first son did not marry first. That is what happened at the hub's mother and father's wedding. The Ukrainian momma wasn't too happy about the whole thing since he was the youngest son--the oldest had not married yet. And it is told that she let it be known she was none-too-happy. Now those, my friend, are some strong, old-world customs. Kinda harsh, don't you think?

Oh well. Now I'm wishing I were in New York with the family. But, then again, I am kinda enjoying the peacefulness of the house.

Будьмо

Labels: Aunt Mary, Family, Georgia, Hub, Kid, Mom, Teenager, Ukrainian Easter

Just in Time for Spring!

 I LOVE this idea, since I've been doing it for years from White Flower Farm.

You can choose your plants online; and they will be shipped out to your home at the right time for planting in your zone. Easy peasy!

I just ordered a bunch of these in the primary colors, above. Gorgeous!

And I ordered some of these gorgeous yellow dahlias! I've always wanted some. Perfect!

And, a few of these, too!

You can order yours through HSN on TV or  HGTV HERE!

I hope they sell out!

Congrats to Randy and Sarah!

Labels: Flowers, Friends

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz

We had a cold, blustery day earlier in the week; and I was completely stir crazy by about 3 p.m. sitting in the house. The hub was in Tejas; and I was soooo bored. Funny, you probably would not have heard that from me a year or so ago when he began working out of the house. Ha!

There's a coffee shop on the East side of town named Barista Parlor that I've had on my mind recently. I had never been, so, I jumped in the car and drove on over. I have now finally had my first cup of coffee with a pretty swirled heart. Well, yes of course I've tried this at home--none as pretty as this. A neat place inside what looks like an old car garage. I wonder if they open the doors during the warm months? I can't wait to take the hub here.

Speaking of which, we just had our 26th wedding anniversary yesterday! Yay! We're going out to celebrate as soon as he gets home tonight. 

Fun.

Lables: Hub, Restaurants, Nashville

Camellia

I took this pic when we were at Riverside in January! 

Here I sit in Nashville, rain pouring down and temperatures dropping, and I'm ready to head South!

Unfortunately, there's work to be done here now. We lost part of our roof in February (while we were in Alabama) and are still "working" with our insurance company to get that repaired. Then, last night, I find our water heater leaking. Ugh. Of course, it's in mom's bedroom; and that room is carpeted. Joy. I had to pull the ol' dehumidifier out and plug her in down there.

You know I'm water jinxed, right? Oy.

Labels: Flowers, Riverside

Post Holiday Windows, NYC 2012

We literally had about 36 hours in NYC at Christmas; so our time was very limited. We specifically made the trip to see Bob's mom and our new niece, Grace. We didn't even tell anyone we were going up. Of course, we wanted to see everyone. Just couldn't do it this time.

I accidentally ran into the new space for MacKenzie-Childs on W. 57th while wandering to find my favorite pharmacy. That sounds kinda strange. But you see, this is a old fashioned, European-style pharmacy. They sell all kinds of worldly beauty and fragrance products that are sometimes hard to find in little ol' Nashville. I have to hit it every time I'm in the city. And, of course, I always find some new European beauty product that will take five years off my face. Tehe.

For future reference, Rosa, the pharmacy is at 6th Avenue @58th. Ya see folks, THIS is exactly why I need to continue blogging!!! My memory is about shot; and this damned thing is one of my lifelines! Seriously. And now, with these fancy-schmancy cell phones, I can get the information I need from LAR at any time I'm lost! Which is a lot these days, it seems. 

Oh, and, by the way, aren't the windows fab?

Labels: NYC, Christmas

Christmas, Come and Gone

I'm playing catch up, as you can see. Here we are almost to March, and I'm still thinking (and putting away) Christmas! We have been all over the place, the hub and I. We've stayed pretty busy since Thanksgiving. But, as the hub is fond of saying, "It's a good busy." I think it's exactly what the doctor ordered to get me out of my Empty Nester Funk. What better way to enjoy our "golden" years together, albeit a tad early? Regardless of what we may call it, the hub and I have been traveling about. Between his work, our families and our friends, we've been hitting the road pretty regularly since Thanksgiving. I am totally enjoying it! We've worked very hard to get to this stage in our lives and it's so rewarding to be able to enjoy one another, just like we used to. We even had a wonderfully long break at Riverside which was very therapeutic. I have been taking photos of everything, as usual. Just haven't been doing the blog stuff. Solly.

I did, however, have to properly place my new Christmas piece by Natalie Sarabella in Rosa's annals. I was completely humbled by her generosity, once more. I cannot tell you how special all of her pieces are; but this one--with the names of our (the hub and my) families, starting with our parents and all the way to my great nieces and nephews listed--is absolutely heart warming. Of course, I ran out and had it framed. Thank you, my dear friend Nat.

I hated taking it down (like yesterday!) and am now awaiting for Christmas 2013 so I can put it back up!! Wait, wha??? 

I swear, 2012 came and went way too fast. It's kinda scurrrry. 

Labels: Christmas, Sarabella Creations, Friends

As If It Were Yesterday

Thanksgiving 2012

 We were a few short this year, but the table was still filled with lotsa love and delicious food!

The teenager took my place as head sous chef. Definitely not complaining! I so enjoyed being the extra, extra help. Jim enjoyed showing the teenager the ropes. It was all good.

Three days' worth of prepping and cooking makes the difference in a meal. Having three sets of hands makes a difference in a kitchen! Since I wasn't head sous chef, I kept the prep area stocked with what was needed and clean as a whistle! It was a well-oiled machine, that kitchen was. We could have pulled off a TV program in there, I swear--that is, if it weren't for the language at times. We got pretty goofy. It sounded as if we were back in the hood. HA!

Our dessert this year was from Garden & Gun. My brother and I both subscribe to the magazine; and when the fall issues arrived, we called each other and said "Check out the dessert recipes -- FOR THANKSGIVING!" We decided on the Pumpkin Bread Pudding. A lot of steps, a lot of time; but it was worth it--IF you have three sets of hands in the kitchen!!! *Note: Could replace the cranberry sauce with a caramel sauce. Just saying.

It was all good. (Except the first batch of whipped cream tasted a tad cheesy. I was afraid to say anything since Jim and the teenager had worked so hard. Then Jim brought it up the next day. We all had a great laugh over that!)

Jim looking oh-so-British. A fork AND a spoon? Must be gud!

 And then --dun dun dun-- we had time to play. Hit TMR on Black Friday. A quick snap out front.

I then took him over to Otis James where they hand make fabulous ties and hats out of scrumptious fabrics. Great shop!

  

 Brutha tipping his hat to the ladies. So propa! (JK, this was staged.)

 Love him!!

And I miss him.

Labels: Brother Jim, Family, Hub, Jacq, Kid, Nashville, Teenager, Thanksgiving

Valentine's 2013

I loved the pink champagne (on ice).

When you find this sign upon entering Better Than Sex, you know you're in for a sweet treat.

Or, as in our case, many sweet treats. Absolutely sinful.

How else should you spend your Valentine's?

Labels, Hub, Key West, Florida, Restaurants, Valentine's

Forever With Us

Happy birthday to my brother, John. He would have been 58.

Miss ya, my bruva.

Labels: Brother John