Around Here

Around here our roses are blooming!  This lovely one was here when we moved in six years ago but it took me two years to find it under all the weeds.  Whenever I see its lovely blooms I think that it's saying "thank you for rescuing me." 

Around here Sheba is demanding equal time after Turbo got a whole post devoted to him last time I wrote.  I told her she had to do something cute or interesting to be included in a post and the next thing I knew I found her out on the balcony off the bedroom relaxing in the sun.  It was the first time I've seen this rescue cat anywhere near the outdoors.  She mostly just hangs out on the bed, so to see her outside was a huge surprise.  So, yes, dear Sheba, you get a couple of photos on the blog! 

Around here, we're doing some hiking.   Of course there are two walks a day for Turbo, but once or twice a week we try to do something more strenuous, like a five mile loop up the back of Flagstaff Mountain.   

Around here we've begun to "reopen" by doing a few outdoor activities with non-family members.  Ben went rock climbing up Boulder Canyon twice recently with close friends and hiked halfway upJames Peak, a "fourteener," with an old chum.  

And I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens on a little day trip with a good friend the other day.  Both reservations and masks were required for social distancing, which worked out fine.  I could get used to the reduced capacity but I may never get used to wearing a mask for a long period of time, especially on a hot day walking around outside.  Still, it was great to get out among people and see how the Gardens were doing.  The blackness of this water feature is because the water is dyed black to keep algae from growing, but doesn't it make a great artistic affect?

Around here Turbo has a new best friend.  He and Binah play together several times a week in our backyard, which is quite fun to watch.  Turbo turned eleven months last week; can you imagine?

 Around here we have had several "yardies" with other couples, eating grilled or take out dinners on a backyard patio at tables six feet apart.  I've so enjoyed actually seeing friends again that I never remember to get the camera out.  Perhaps these photos of "just us" dinners will give you the idea.

Around here it's not all just fun and games.  Oh no, along with all our gardening and my sewing (yes, I do actually sew though I don't seem to write about it much) we've been working hard on improving the house.  Being home all the time sure makes you aware of what needs to be fixed or just changed.  In the past few months we've had a new garage door opener/keypad installed and new locks put on our patio and basement door, all keyed to the main house key so one key unlocks everything.  Woowhoo!  

Then Ben got a good idea for improving our entry hall "drop it" zone system.  We used to have a bench with a board with four hooks above it that worked with the closet and a little side table to catch all the things we needed as we came and go from home.   But then Ben ordered this nifty little shelf and hook organizer, which holds quite a bit more leashes, hats, and such.   We very pleased with the upgrade. 

Not to be outdone in the "good idea" department, I decided to organize all my small fabric scraps by color into clear plastic shoe boxes so I could more easily find the color scrap I wanted.  Quilters will laugh at this because it's an old idea that most took up ages ago.  I'm a bit late to the party, but so glad I finally arrived! 

Around here we are done with three very hot days and looking forward to cooler weather and some rain arriving.  

Let's me end this post as I started it, with a photo of some lovely roses, a gift from a friend who came over for a yardie lunch the other day.  So pretty!

Linking to my friend LeeAnna's "I Like Thursdays" at Not Afraid of Color

Just the Way She Wanted It

My mother-in-law, Suzanne Lawrence Richard, loved the peace and beauty of the cemetery in Stephens City, Virginia. Her second husband, Ralph Richard, was from the area and together they bought several plots in this cemetery. Sue had her son, John Stewart, who died of SIDS, reinterred here and this was where Ralph was buried when he died three and a half years ago.

Today Suzanne was laid to rest in this beautiful spot. We found an order of service that she had written out and signed back in January, and followed it. Everything was just as she wanted.

She had planned a very personalized service. Her youngest son, John, read the 23rd Psalm, her other two sons and her two daughter-in-laws, Dawn and I, spoke briefly. The hymns included "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "How Great Thou Art," and "Amazing Grace." Sue's three grandsons said The Lord's Prayer.


Even the coffin was personalized. It was made many years ago according to Suzanne's specifications by a local craftsman. For years and years it sat in Ralph and Sue's big basement. I never saw it, but I had certainly heard about it as it was the object of much talk, most humorous, within the family.

But just look at it. It was absolutely beautiful, and reflected the Suzanne's' elegant good taste and love of refined workmanship. She knew what she was doing.

I don't know who had the idea of the massive spray of red roses for the top; most likely it was Suzanne herself, but I didn't ask. I do know there were eighty-one, one for each year of her life.

Passion

Ben's mother, Suzanne, loved Spring -- the greening grass, the cheerful bulbs, and, especially, Easter. Easter was an important event in her life, and she most often called four to six weeks ahead of Easter Sunday to arrange a family celebration. In our earlier years of marriage Ben and I would often go to Sue's house for Easter dinner or have her and Ben's family to our house. More recently, we've had a family dinner at one of the clubs Sue and Ralph belonged to. Although the club was always decorated for Easter, Sue would bring along little Easter favors, usually real dyed Easter eggs in little nests of fake grass, and sometimes Easter bunnies of chocolate or fabric. In my life, Easter generally rushed in without my even anticipating it, and I appreciated Sue's drawing my attention to it and creating a pause to enjoy it.

Suzanne also loved beautiful decorative things, like antique linens, fine silver, and lovely old furniture. She took a keen interest in porcelain dishware, becoming a member of at least two local porcelain clubs, and acquiring samples from many porcelain factories. Another particular area of interest was antique dolls, mostly French, which she also collected. She was very generous in sharing these interests. I have several lovely pieces of china which were gifts from Suzanne, and a wonderful collection of Quimper French pottery which I enjoy every day. From Suzanne I received linen sheets, engraved silverware, fine jewelry, and antique Teddy Bears. I had never been interested in such things before I met her, but enjoyed her enthusiasm and caught some of it.

She loved to shop and especially loved auctions and estate sales. For years she was a regular at Sloan's, a big auction house in D.C. , and often participated in New York auctions, placing bids by phone. This was a passion I never caught, but I do have a favorite Quimper plate which I won at an auction I attended with her, and for years we had a white bench which I also acquired on one of my rare auction adventures with Sue.

Suzanne was a fan of Charles Dickens and Winnie the Pooh, and we still have the inscribed copy Good Night, Moon which she gave to baby Paul. She herself was a great story teller, providing entertaining oral histories of her family, especially her aunts, with whom she spent many of her childhood summers.

She was talented in crafts and interior design, astounding me by her ability to make tiny intricate Christmas stockings for her dolls, to see how the pieces of an old marble fireplace strewn across an auction floor would turn into the focal point of our living room, and how to set a beautiful dinner table.

As the years went by, illness and age replaced most of these passions, and life became restricted and sad. It's good to think of the earlier Suzanne, who got excited when Easter came around again, who eagerly showed off what she had won with the leading bid at Sloan's, and who was so generous to me and all my family. It's that passionate Sue who I'm thinking of as we prepare for the weekend ahead, gathering with her family and friends to lay her to rest.

A Sad Day

Suzanne Lawrence Richard

March 19, 1930-April 4, 2011

Ben's mother, Suzanne, died today. She had been in the hospital for three weeks, and had been very ill for many years, but her death is still a blow.