Sick and tired

...and tired of being sick. Ok, so I hardly ever get sick, it's only been 2 days but I hate this. Last week, I gave Candy and Lucy a hard time for being sick with a cold in the summer. I said "it can't be that bad, just get up and you will feel better, go to school for heaven's sake. I even went on to explain to them that as a direct result of a childhood thumb sucking I was immune to practically every cold germ out there. Well Mother Nature had a little lesson for me. I caught the cold and feel awful. I promise you no one has ever felt worse than this...ok its not that bad. But sore throat, itchy ears, hacking cough and ridiculous tiredness...who has time for that? Well I have an appointment at the clinic at 1:00. Mom aren't you proud of me! Ok, enough wining...how about some pets and food???

 

Grand dog visit

 

 

One of Ed's favorite comfort meals - homemade macaroni and cheese

 

 

Ham and baby butterbeans

 

 

I know that everyone knows how a feel about the over the top architecture in my beloved adopted city of Madison. We have a new contender in the ARE YOU KIDDING ME category. I couldn't get too close to get a good picture, but check it out. This the new Walgreens just a stone's throw from our humble abode. If you look close you can see the lovely bronze swag tied up neatly in bronze bows. Then let you eye gaze down on the lovely corbels that support what??? oh that would be nothing! And they ain't done yet. I"ll keep you posted...

 

I will end with a couple of precious dog pics

 

We are all learning  to cope with only 2 dogs and what precious woo woo woos they are. By the way, if you get tired of seeing these precious pups you might want to avoid this blog.

 

 



good bye, Beau Beau

     Even though we knew our little old dog Beau was getting more and more feeble, it is still hard to let him go. He was 17 years old or so. During the night last night he had a terrible seizure. I held him and got him back in his bed after a while. In the morning he was too weak to get up. He has been deaf and has had failing eyesight for a while now. Seizures had been more frequent. The vet said he probably had a brain tumor or organic brain disease (next on my google list). So we made the sad decision to let him go peacefully. Mary Grace went with me and we had a good cry on our way home. I've posted a picture of  him lately on the blog. but here is a pic of him as a young dog along with our other dog, Magnolia.

 

    On a lighter note, Mary Grace and I stopped at one of my favorite antique shops yesterday. I bet you didn't see a turquoise pig in a phone booth yesterday!

 

So of course Mary Grace had to get IN the booth. Don't be scared, Sophie, I don't think that is a ghost in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

more birthday

   Although we celebrated Ed's birthday last week, his actual day was Saturday. So I'm sure you know what that means! His favorite dinner cooked by me! Now don't judge a food until you have tasted it. I have perfected this meal after 30 years together.

 

Fried chicken gizzards, livers and a few breast strips. All accompanied by mashed potatoes (which Ivy made) , gravy and tiny fresh butterbeans.

 

 

ugh, my weak point, clean up, what a mess. Worth it I guess. Mary Grace and Ryan brought him chocolate and I gave him a card and chocolate. Ed has lived with a bunch of girls long enough to know what to do with chocolate.

 

Hide it! I however know the spot where the stash is! I will not reveal its location though. Here is my card to him. And you all know how scatter brained I am so this was perfect.

 

inside

 

Well , Cary and David aren't the only ones expecting a blessed event. Check out Vick's chihuahua, Pebbles.

Puppies due any minute!

 

 

 

 

 





Design buzz

    So, I've spent the last two days IN a daze...a design daze. Candy decided to buy a smaller house and yard. She found the perfect one in Summertree! It is right across the green space from my backyard.    Well thanks to Bill's great financial planning she has the luxury of moving in slowly and deciding what to take and not take from the old house. The scale of the houses is so different that a lot of the gigantic furniture simply won't fit.
    So to put a positive spin on things, I told her how much fun it will be to start from scratch. I took her to several stores, antique malls and showrooms to let her get ideas. She saw so many things she liked and kept wanting to buy things. I said "no it's a looking day", as my mom used to say. Candy replies that "she is a gatherer not a hunter". I was able to rein her in and showed her lots of things.
    The next day I explained that rugs are the first things to pick and focus from there. We rolled into my favorite rug place owned by a mutual friend of both of us, Colleen . Picture this.... Candy laid out on a two foot high pile of rugs like Cleopatra, as we flip through the racks of 8x10 gorgeous rugs . She had everyone in the store laughing. We found several good candidates. Today we get to go in the new house to measure and think. At the end of the day as we were getting in the car, Candy says "You know, you should do this for a living". Now why didn't I think of that?
   

ying and yang

 

Very busy weekend, very sad weekend and yet very happy weekend. In fact I was so busy that I took absolutely no pictures. All I can post are some wimpy leftover pictures. The sad part was the funeral of another dear old friend. We grew up in Broadmeadow Youth group together and I was close friends with his sister. Oh we had so much fun together back then.       On the opposite end of the spectrum we had a fabulous baby shower for Cary and David's baby Brody. Sophie and Paul hosted it at their house. The theme was bow ties for the new little man. It was great. All I have  to show you is the remains of the bow tie petit fors. That is also the rest of the chocolate pie left from the family dinner we had Sunday. Whitney and Karis came from Pensacola. Karis was the star as the only little one. Whitney told her a new baby was coming and she said "No, I'm the baby!"

here is a pic of some of the flowers

 

On Sunday we had lunch with some cousins. They were my Aunt D's children, Jimmy and wife Lois and Sally from New York. We all enjoyed catching up and it was almost like the reunion. Jimmy said he had not had butter beans this good since his Dad's garden days. I had to agree and had more for breakfast the next day with a piece of that pie....please don't judge me

 

 

Here's one from the vault....I still miss that sweet pug

 

 

(not to mention that little girl)

 

House guests

 So Mary Grace and Ryan are on a week long trip to Washington, DC. Guess who gets to staycation at my house!! These babies... It's been a little (?) crazy with 5 dogs in the house. And it is so hot right now that they want to be inside all day...who could resist this face though?

Daphne

Sad Dupree. He misses Mom and Dad

 

 

Most recent Ellis event...August birthdays. Ed, Cary and Bryan (in absentia). Jan made seafood lasagna. We decided it was a keeper. Shrimp, Crab and scallops in a light cream sauce. yum

Check out David in the doorway

 

Ed thrilled to be celebrating 57

Cary happy to be getting to her special dessert...some chocolate peanut butter thing

Dogs taking a nap. That's my spot  in the middle.

Anyone remember this? It is from Mamaw's living room on Riverwood. Ivy always loved it. Doesn't it look great with her walls?

Made a trip out to Callalou Outlet with my birthday money. Got these great little pottery vases. Thanks , Mom

okay, it's not all funnie

Okay, I'm back. It's so hard to believe how much life can change in a day. When I read that last post it seems unreal that that was right before Candy's husband Bill, died. Our lives and our families were so entwined. I guess I'm ready to blog again. The only part I'll mention was this wonderful party we had to celebrate Bill's life. Friends came from all over the country .

 

At the very end when the band played his favorite song by the Band, everyone lit sparklers...

Candy and Lucy

 

While at the beach we sent Candy an Ellis hug ball

 

Here is a shot of Bill and his friend and colleage, Keven at St. Catherine's for a concert. He was always quietly doing things for others. Keven's wife Chelsea had a baby right before the party and they named her Willa, after Bill. Life will not be the same without him.