Brave Kitty

Marmalade kitty might have been a frighten cat his whole life but in the end, he was very brave.  The last two months of his life, he was blind.  He would still try and find my bed to sleep with me at night and he only had two accidents with not being able to find his cat pan.  As the days went on, he became very sick and over Christmas, I knew it was time to take him so he wouldn't be suffering any more.  It's one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life.  As you know, if you are one who have pets you just want to hold on to them forever.  You can't imagine them gone.  Thank goodness I had Michelle here.  As she knew what it was like because she lost her Oscar kitty just the month before.  Yes, we had a funeral down at the Brambly Pines Pet Cemetery.  Chuck and Craig dug the hole.  We sang " Soft kitty, Warm kitty" and put up the Funeral Zone sign.  My sun room/bed room where Marmalade lived most of the time seems really empty now, along with a part of my heart.  In the past 43 years, this is only the third time we have had to go through this.  Each time has been just as hard as the last.  Yes, time heals your heartache but you never stop missing them.  " Marmalade, the most brave kitty!"

Eat, Drink and Open Presents!

Presents from Ryan's family..even in blue boxes...(smiling)

Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas Dinner

It seems like all we did was eat, drink and open presents for two days.  I guess that's what you are suppose to do for Christmas though.  We had a nice time but all of the Christmas is down and put away.  I'm ready for 2013 to be over with.  The New Year just HAS to be better.  I'm counting on it.

A Cold Christmas Eve

You can take the girl out of Florida but you can't take the Florida out of the girl!...Barefoot!..seriously??

How do you spend Christmas Eve when it's cold outside?  ...around the fire pit with hot chocolate!  It was just the start of our Christmas Eve.  I had cooked a traditional Southern meal for dinner and afterwards, we gathered around the ottoman in the living room  to play " Christmas Trivia".  There were some tough questions along with having to sing the next line of  certain Christmas songs.  That you are lucky you weren't here for...ha.  Us girls, beat the guys.  Michelle and I  decided it was because we are the ones that " do all the Christmas" every year.  We're the ones that put the Christmas music on, watch all of the Christmas movies over and over, do the decorating, present buying, wrapping,  baking, cooking....then taking it all down....you get the idea.  Playing the game did give us a few laughs.  It just might have to become a new Christmas Eve tradition for us.

Snow Geese

Look close....that line of white in the water under the trees are hundreds of snow geese

We headed out to look for the white pelicans that migrate here every winter, with Charlie, a couple of days ago.  With the three kayaks loaded up in Charlie's truck, we checked out the Tennessee River in several spots and then ended up outside of Mooresville in the bay.  There was a big line of white birds in our horizon.  We thought we had hit the jack pot.  We unloaded the kayaks and started paddling.  The closer we got, we could hear all the noise.  They weren't pelicans, that's for sure.  They were " Snow Geese"!!  Hundreds and hundreds of them.  As we got closer, they began to fly.  OMG!  the noise they made with their wings was almost deafening.  It was the neatest thing to see and hear, ever!  They all flew down to the other end of the bay and landed again.  We went on into an inlet still looking for the pelicans.  No luck what so ever but we did have a bald eagle fly out of the trees, right over our heads.  He was soooo pretty!  I sure wish I had a zoom lens for my camera...maybe one day.  ( if Charlie sends me one of his pictures he took of the snow geese, I'll post it so you can see them up close)   On the way back, the snow geese gave us a couple more shows of their flight and noise.  I just wanted to sit there in the middle of the bay and watch them forever.  It was another fun day with the kayaks.  They never let us down.  One of the best things we have ever bought.

Something Blue

I received a package in the mail a couple of days ago from my " German parents".  I didn't open it because I wanted to save it for Christmas day.  In a phone call from Christina yesterday, she told me to open it now because it " was Christmas".  When I opened it, it was the most beautiful Christmas table cloth that I have ever seen!!!  And it's BLUE!!!  Christina's best friend in Germany had given it to her and she had never used it.  She doesn't have any blue in her house.  It is just perfect for our house!!!  I love it so much!!!  The pictures don't do it justice.  There are Christmas trees cut work in all four corners....in gold thread.  Four bows came with.  I'm guessing they are for the chairs.  Well, that's where I put them and love them.  I have so many wonderful Christmas memories of having "German Christmas" with the Blombergs.  I was so lucky that Marina and I became best friends in fourth grade.  It gave me a chance to grow up German.  A beautiful place on earth with wonderful, warm hearted people, with fantastic traditions.  I can't imagine my life without all my memories that Christina and George have given me.  I love them so much!

Oh Christmas Tree!

This is our Christmas tree this year.  Sure won't take long to un-decorate and put it away.  That is what I hate about Christmas the most.  It's fun to put it all up and see it again after a year but no one wants the job of taking it all down and packing it away.  That's why some people keep their Christmas up for months on end...ha.  Mine has to all be down before New Years.  This little "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree will do just fine for our tree.  We don't have grand children who come to Oona and Papa's house for Christmas.  Of course there would be a big, real tree then.  

Charlie and Lucy adds to the decorations  

If there is a lot  or just a little, decorations in our house, the "Blomberg Christmas Bowl" will always be on our coffee table.  It is something from my child hood and it just means " Christmas" to me.  It must be filled with German chocolates and the candles will be lit on Christmas Eve. 

It's fun to have Christmas Tea to go with our German goodies.   The tea cups belonged to Chuck's Mom.  The tea pot says " Brambly Pines".

I will miss the pretties on the coffee table after Christmas but they will be used again next year.  You can bet they will all be washed and put away, the day after Christmas.  It's my tradition.  ...(smiling)

A Little Bit of Christmas

I love decorating the dining room with my cardinals.  My Christmas dishes came from the $ Store about six or seven years ago.  Since then, I've seen them in magazines for $14.99 a plate.  Crazy huh!!!  You would think it would be easy to find the little red cardinals as decorations but ya need to think again.  The $ Store had them when they first put out their Christmas stuff but there isn't a one to be found now.  I guess I need to start looking for them in August when all the stores put out their Christmas.  I'm so happy that I can look out my windows and see the pretty, real cardinals at the back feeders or sitting in the trees out front.  They are one of  birds that sticks around for the winter.  Oh how pretty they are in a snow covered tree.  They are just a part of Brambly Pines so it makes it special to decorate with them for Christmas.

Only in Alabama!

As I was driving to Quilt Guild last week, I passed a house in Decatur and I wasn't sure if I was seeing right.  I took a second look and sure enough!!!  They were PIGS!  The whole house was decorated with pigs.  It did make me laugh.  I decided on the way home I would have to stop and take some pictures of it because no one would believe me.  When I told Chuck about it, he said they must own one of the BBQ places around here...ha.  I wouldn't live any other place on earth....this one is just too much fun!  

Couldn't Believe It!!!

My Quilt...second place!

Left hand side of picture.....First place...hand quilted by Elizabeth

Betty's....3rd Place

The Quilt Guild quit contest took place at our Christmas party/meeting.  We had been anticipating this day all year long.  We were to take our block exchange and design our quilts with them.  We brought in two official judges to decided first, second and third places.  To my big surprise, my quilt came in second!!! I won $25!! First place was designed and hand quilted by Elizabeth Glasgow.  A lot of work was put into her quilt.  It turned out just beautiful.  Third place was given to Betty Jeffreys. Loved her fabrics and borders on hers. It is so much fun to be handed 16 blocks and in the end, see how different each of the quilts turn out.  I'm so glad to have been a part of this experience.  In the four years that I have been in the quilt guild, I have learned so much, thanks to all of the sweet women who are willing to share their knowledge with me.  Yesterday, at our meeting, I was handed over the job and title of " Madam President".  ( still not sure how this has happened to me but I know by the end of the year, I will be so glad that it did) Who knew, four years ago when I was invited to attend a meeting of the quilt guild and I wasn't sure if I would go back for the second meeting.  I felt like a fish out of water with all those women who made such beautiful quilts.  If only " Mom could see me now!" ..ha.  

Thanksgiving after 17 years!

Before/After Pictures from about 30 years ago.

There are only four leaves in the table...minis the other 8  Talk about a Downton Abbey table!!!!

Chuck carving the turkey

Gene and I walking after dinner

Frank Bennett"s truck ????? ( in Fried Green Tomatoes)

The Spanish Moss doesn't grow north of Montgomery in Alabama.  

" Thanksgiving after all these years"....( singing to Paul Simon's .." Still crazy after all these years".....)
    Michelle came home Wednesday night, after work so the three of us could leave at 6:00 am on Thanksgiving morning to drive down to Cecil to Gene and George's.  We were going to spend Thanksgiving  after many years.  We hadn't figured it up but when we did, it had been 17 years since we had spent Thanksgiving with them.  Gene had kept a Thanksgiving journal of all the fun years we had with them.  Not only did it tell us how long it had been, but it gave us lots of laughs.  Gene had copied pictures of each of us from the past.  About thirty years in the past.  She had made place cards for the table with the old pictures.  Of course we had to take pictures of the before and after.  ( I had forgotten my camera...I know!!  how in the world could I have done that? These pictures where taken by Michelle with her phone)  We all kept saying .." I can't believe it's been 17 years!!".  We talked about all the funny things that had happened over the years that we were together.  A few gave us " laughing our butts off, laughs"
  Gene and George are doing some more construction on " our house".  Since they inherited the dining room table that Gene's grandfather had bought used, that has 13 leaves to it, they had to turn our living room into their dining room.  That room still isn't big enough.  So, they are knocking down our living room wall ( behind our couch) and extending their dining room all the way over to their sitting room ( our dining room).  Are you keeping this all straight in your mind?  This way, they can turn their long dining room table going the other way and that will give them more room to walk around the table and they can use the fire place again.  Right now, it's to close to the table.  I can't wait to go back down in the Spring to see it all done.
   After a wonderful dinner, we all took a walk in the woods.  It's a tradition for us, but now it's a must for me.  I have to walk off all the sugar/carbs that I eat.  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving.  It made us miss all the fun times that we used to have.  We were missing Becca and her family though.  They spent their Thanksgiving over in Eufala  with Ro's family.  Maybe we can redo it all in the near future when Becca plans on being home for Thanksgiving.   We headed home on Friday morning but not without stopping to see Lady Melanie in Birmingham first.  It was the best Thanksgiving we have had in many, many years.  Well, not counting the first one in the TT when we moved up here.  And we didn't even have turkey that year...ha. ( no oven to cook one)  Thank goodness for traditions!  We may not spend our Holidays the same way any more but we sure do have a lot of memories to look back on.  We are so lucky to have so many that make us laugh.  Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving like we did.