Still picking up the pieces....

Fred spent most of March and April cleaning up the rest of the tree logs that were still down in the yard since last May's storm.  Once the large logs were cut into pieces, he split them up, loaded them on the trailer and hauled them to the edge of the woods not far from the house to stack for future firewood.  Load after load and pile after pile he worked until he finally go the last of the logs out of the yard.  Then he tilled all the bare spots in the yard where they had been laying and planted grass seed.  With the bare spots seeded, strawed, and with some nice April showers we soon had tender green grass surfacing and filling in the spots.

April Showers bring May Flowers

April showers certainly brought out the very best of May and her flowers this year.  It was such a treat to see the plants thrive and bloom after such a disappointing spring season last year following the May 8th storm.  The pretty little Brown Eyed Susan pictured here is just a sampling of the brilliant color and beauty of the season. The roses were also just as striking and the bushes were loaded full of big beautiful blooms.  So nice and without the Japanese Beetles around to ruin them like will happen later in the season.

I strolled through the yard one nice, April day and photographed the flowers to preserve the memory of this beautiful spring.  This little video showcases the loveliness of Mother Nature's gift of beauty.

Lois Mason Gepner's Birthday

In April, my mother's lifelong friend, Lois Mason Gepner, celebrated her 86th birthday. To honor their mother on her birthday, Lois' daughters and grandchildren had a small family gathering for her. They also invited long time friends to shower Lois with cards, notes and other greetings.

I fondly remember Lois from my growing up years in Sadorus and was honored to make a memory book of pictures of times Mother and Lois shared throughout their friendship that I have acquired from my mother over the years.  I must say that this was one of the most enjoyable projects I've ever done because of the wonderful memories it brought back to me as I recalled the times these two beautiful women shared as high school class mates, young marrieds, mothers, and in later years of their friendship, co-workers in the same department at the University of Illinois-Urbana.  Theirs was a true friendship that bought them years of companionship, loyality, and support throught good and hard times. To recreate and relive the times they shared through the their old photographs was an inspiring endeavor of gratitude and love.  It was reported to me that upon receiving and reviewing the album, Lois was brought to tears as it had been 60 years or more since she had seen some of the pictures.  The pleasure this little book brought to this wonderful woman was worth all the price of gold to me.

Best wishes, Lois, and may you enjoy many more birthdays.

Our 2010 winter trip to Scottsdale, AZ

Flying from St. Louis, we arrived at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix about 5 p.m. on Saturday, February 7.  Chuck and Joanne were waiting for us in the cell phone parking lot and picked us up at Door 4 within just a few minutes of our call to them telling them we were 'on the ground.'  Joanne had a delicious pot of soup waiting for us along with sandwiches and sides. She also had made a yummy spice cake with a peach topping...soooo good.

Sunday we were in for a real treat as Chuck and Joanne had made plans to take us to the Wrigley Mansion and Geordie's for Sunday Brunch Buffet.  Oh, you can't imagine the spread of delicious food that the numerous buffet tables offered.  The meal began with Mimosa's served at our table as we were seated in an elegant dining room overlooking the skyline of downtown Phoenix.

A little history of the Wrigley Mansion...The mansion was built between 1929-1932 in Phoenix as a 50th wedding anniversary present to Ada Wrigley by her husband, chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr.  It was the smallest of five homes that they owned. This cottage (?), consisted of 16,850 square feet and sits atop a mountain that overlooks the city.  Brunch at the Wrigley Mansion was certainly a great way to begin another wonderful visit to Scottsdale.

Besides the treat of being able to enjoy the mild Southwest weather in the midst of winter, getting to walk the canal everyday, and relaxing for ten wonderful days, our time in Scottsdale was also filled with lots of other fun times. A day trip to downtown Phoenix with Chuck and Joanne to visit and roam a beautiful outdoor Mall in a gentle rain and then lunch at The Great Big Fat Greek Restaurant made for a fun and relaxing afternoon. On another day, Fred, Joanne and I roamed around Old Scottsdale for a couple hours and then treated ourselves to a tasty, cool sundae at the Sugar Shack Ice Cream shop.  Another day we drove to Phoenix to the Turf Paradise Horse Race Track to take in an afternoon of horse racing. For Fred and me, it was the first time we'd ever been to a horse race and we found it to be quite exciting and fun. Too bad none of our bets made us big winners!  Another fun day was spent on a little trip to Carefree and Cave Creek, AZ were we roamed through the wares of the Town Dump store and then lunched across the street at an outdoor BBQ restaurant.  If you haven't guessed, one of the things we always look forward to is eating out in Scottsdale.  This year we discovered a great little sports bar in Old Scottsdale called The Lodge that we greatly enjoyed one evening.  And on Valentine's Day we went to Oregano's for dinner.  Love that place!!!

And, before we knew it, our time in Scottsdale and our daily walks in the sunshine among the cacti and Palm trees was drawing to a close for another year. As we grabbed our bags and headed back to Sky Harbor our heads were swimming with all the wonderful memories that the past 10 days had held.  Soon we were boarding our plane and within four hours we were landing back in St. Louis and it was back to the reality of getting through the remaining months of winter in southern Illinois.  Bah-humbug.

Here's a slide show of our vacation in pictures.  Hope you enjoy!

Gabriella's January Visit

What could be better to brighten up the gloomy days of winter than a visit from our sweet little 20 month old niece, Gabriella. For several days, Uncle Fred and I tried to 'child-proof' the house as best we could for a toddler who we were told loves to open drawers, take things out, and climb on any thing that offers a place to put your foot. So, when Gabriella arrived, we thought we were pretty well prepared...which lasted about two minutes...before she was off and running and finding all kinds of things we hadn't given a second thought about her ability to climb, reach or investigate.

Having driven all the way from Dallas, Texas, Gabriella and her parents visit was two-fold; to spend a few days with us and to gather with the rest of Fred's family in Olney, IL to celebrate Fred's father's 95th birthday.

  On Saturday, January 16th, we drove to Olney where we spent the next two days visiting with and observing Fred, Sr's birthday.  On Sunday we gathered at Burgin with ice cream and cake to wish Dad Moehle a very happy birthday.  Following the birthday party, we returned back to the apartment where we were staying and prepared a delicious turkey dinner. 

We returned back to Carbondale on Monday and enjoyed eating at the World Famous 17th Bar and Grill in Murphysboro that evening. As Gabriella's favorite animal is a 'pink pig,' she got to see a large wooden carved pig at the restaurant.  She also got to visit with cousin Shelley while in Murphysboro.

On Tuesday, Gabriella was in for another treat, a visit to University Farms where she actually got to see her favorite animal, in fact she got to see a whole pen full of squealy, pink pigs!

January 12th marks my mother's birthday and a major earthquake in Haiti

A a year ago in January we were stunned by the airliner that took off from an airport in New York City, hit a flock of geese, and made an emergency landing in the Hudson River without any casualities.  Now, this year on January 12th, which also marks my mother's birthday, we were again stunned by a major castastrophy when a massive 7.0 earthquake hit the country of Haiti.

As the world watched for days as people were pulled out of the rumble of collapsed buildings, major after shocks continued to hit the tattered country and neighboring islands.  Aid seemed slow to come to the rescue of the people of this country who have lost everything.  A world wide telethon was held on all major television networks on Friday evening, January 22, to raise funds to assist the country.