Mother’s Day weekend

Many years ago Jan and I asked to have a family campout for our Mother’s Day present. People thought we were crazy for roughing it but we love the outdoors. And we are hardly roughing it in state park cabins. 

We got to Leroy Percy State Park in the Delta in the middle of nowhere. Ivy and I drove up together which was a treat in itself. I love driving through the flat land. 

It was foggy and rainy but beautiful. 

We had a fire in the cabin all weekend thanks to Joe’s contribution of scraps from his wood turning. 

Joe caught this great image early Saturday morning featuring our pet egret for the weekend. 

It cleared enough a time or two for Ed to try his luck. Caught a little bass or two. 

Everyone queued up for hamburgers cooked...inside. 

They were still great. 

Thank goodness we had a big ole screen porch to watch the rain from. 

Keeping the steaks dry is very important. 

Thanks to these two. 

Morning dawned a bit clearer. 

Ivy headed back early for her long drive. So happy she came. 

And the head Mama! Still camping at 92. 

Presents of course. 

Loved the scenery on the way home through the Delta. 

I feel bad for the farmers with all the flooding. This is actually a field. 

Book Club

Kathy greeted us with this beautiful table featuring lots of her mama’s nice things. 

We all love Lee Smith and her memoir was a delight. I even chose Ivy’s name based on a character in her book Oral History. 

She based her menu on things her mama might have served back in the day. How about French onion dip and potato chips? 

She sat down with her mama’s actual recipe box for inspiration. After a few nostalgic whiffs ( she said it still smelled like home) , she chose Coke salad...

... Chicken Divan with saffron rice, layered salad ( a family fav at our house) and rolls. 

To finish it all off, she made Woolworth’s icebox cheesecake to honor the Dimestore theme. It was light and fluffy not really like cheesecake as we know it. Great meal and discussion. 

Oops. Really Easter this time

Internet connections caused me to delay Easter post

Broadmeadow Cross 

Mom headed in. 

Lillie’s were so pretty. Can you see Dad’s? 

Sophie’s pretty table. 

I gave away those placemats in one of my purges. Maybe I should take them back. 

Lenten roses from their yard. 

The Paul egg. From a Fondren event. 

Appetizers 

Chantilly cake 

Sent this one to Linda. She loves the whole mushrooms in chicken tetrazzini. Miss her!

My plate. All so good. 

Book Club / Easter

First off , Priscilla’s Book Club.  We read a Chinese book so she had a theme. The book was one of those that I had to keep fact checking to discover all the most unbelievable parts were true. 

Striking tablescape on black. 

She borrowed a few of my little favorite Asian things. 

We even tried some of the tea mentioned in the book. 

It was all so good. She made Pioneer Woman’s Cashew Chicken. 

It was all about the tea. 

A tea toast. 

I hope my fortune is true. 

My church friend, Maryann posing with her vintage purse that totally matched everything she had on. 

Ed tore out the old rotting bridge in our yard. 

Found a host of Truff’s old balls. 

Took Mom to get plants for the famous balcony.  

Got em done. 

Junior on top...

...Truffles underneath. I had nowhere to put my feet during the thunderstorm. 

Added gorgeous camellias from Sophie’s yard. 

Then our English dogwood bloomed. 

Mary Grace and Ryan went fishing today with his dad. Caught a ton. 

They shared some with us. 

I made them with lemon garlic butter herb sauce. 

Had a fun Saturday at S&P’s putting up their new pergola. I say had fun because Sophie and I were in supervisory roles. Sophie did provide excellent Lunch from Basil’s. 

Mary Grace was indispensable as she was reading the instructions! 

Well worth the effort. 

Haven’t really felt like blogging since our little Toby died unexpectedly.

This is the last picture I took of him dozing in the sun. It was heart failure they said at the vet. 

Was sitting doing the Jumble and feeling sad so I did a little sketch of him. 

Everyone was so sweet , bringing flowers , food and comfort. 

Bev brought this little garden. 

Keep adding to my little kitchen arrangement. 

Look who got to go back out. Of course it got to 34 degrees the next night so I covered him up. 

Found this little guy napping on our front porch column. They don’t look real to me.