Vignettes

vi·gnette /vɪnˈyɛt/n.
any small, pleasing picture or view.
A short scene or incident, as from a movie.
To describe in a brief way.
Hello! Do you remember me? I took a bit of a blogging break, not intentional and not all that advantageous. It just made me stress about how I would come back, what I would find worthy of words. So here I am and here are some scenes from my break.

Family gathering. The ladies again.

, A father and his daughters.The middle set of sisters, out of the three sets present.

We had all gathered for the last concert on the patio at Lansdowne Christian Church, my father's church. The Nitty Gritty Church band was playing, who are from Christian Temple, the church my Mom, sister and I attend. It was, as usual, a festive, animated crowd, and when the concert ended, no one wanted to leave.

Mom had her spinal fusion surgery on the following Tuesday. She spent an agonizing week at the hospital. It was not quite what she expected, the nursing staff was lacking, and the recovery was slow. Upon release, she spent two weeks with Auntie and Uncle in West Virginia in the throws of luxury and pampering. Each time I visited, I was amazed at her progress. I know the love and care she received from her sister and her husband were the key. She is now home, adjusting to life alone, well, with a cat (who is delighted to have her home) and receiving many visitors and tons of food.

A late September trip to the beach. We almost always go in September to Ocean City, when the crowds are smaller. This year, we went to Bethany Beach instead, staying on the Military post. We did all the usually beachy things, sunbathe, swim, walk, look for shells. We walked the boardwalk, shopped the shoppy shops, had dinner at Mangos. We had wonderful sunny weather, a bit of rain, and wind.

Family portrait.

The view from Mangos of boardwalk and beach.

Do people really buy these stupid, irritating, barking, snorting, things, that usually fall over resembling a turtle stuck on its back unable to get up?

Walking to the beach.

Precious girls.
Communicating.

Home life:

The addition of a puppy. Honey Bunch, Honey Bear, Honeysuckle Rose. Take your pick. Or you can just call her Pepper.
Do you like a little Honey with your Apple?
Even the old man, Gus, aka Handsome Rob likes a little Honey.

The subtraction of one puppy. Apple Sunshine went to live with Emma. Boohoo.

Homecoming Cuties. These two have been friends for many years, having met through camp. Always a bit awkward at first, they warm up quickly. But, leaving Audrey with a bunch of strangers, these two still in their awkward stage, her giving me this look that said "help" and whispering "I can't" just nearly killed me. The next day, a good report was given and a good time was had.

Finally managed to get a ride in, although Black Betty must have been a bit miffed at me because she was not shifting as she should be. She might need a check up.

Things I've made:

Embroidery on the edge of baby socks for gifts.

A baby hat, made from this pattern. It was larger than I desired so I felted to size.

And a baby T with embellishment from a discarded dress from one of my girls.

Two more girl hats to make and one boy, plus a hat for my masseuse.

A story to share:

Gus is aging. He is constantly thirsty and constantly urinating so constantly needing to go outside or have his water dish filled. He has been checked and is fine, just aging. Anyway, My Handsome Prince wakes in the middle of the night, because he is aging too, and needs to use the bathroom. He comes back to bed and immediately falls back asleep, and I know this from a little tell tale breathing pattern that we won't talk about. All of this wakes me. I hear Gus pacing in the kitchen and panting so loud I wonder why no one else is awake. I get up, give him some water, go back to bed. Still I hear panting. So, I get up again, let him out and he stands so long with his leg up he almost falls over. Comes back in, I go back to bed, yes, still, panting. More water finally does the trick. He comes into our room, leans against the bed and lies down. Meanwhile, through all this, My Handsome Prince is still sleeping, making his own breathing noise. I am fuming. Why didn't he hear or pay attention when he got up? Why me? I truly hate to get up at night. Anyway, I get back in bed, way over on my side, on the very edge, so much so that I could fall out, with my back to the MHP. In the morning, not mad, but wanting to bring the situation to light, I told him this story. When I got to the part about sleeping on the edge, he promptly says "Well, that'll teach me, won't it?" I nearly snorted my coffee out my nose. We love to laugh.

The King in his hiding place. Audrey and I are both creeped out by the King in the Burger King commercials. He is just too creepy! One of the rare times going to BK, we received this guy in a kids meal. We play a game where we hide him for the other to find. He's hidden in wreaths, looked down from ceiling fans, appeared in bag of dog food, he even made his way to Italy in a certain young ladies suitcase. She almost threw him out that time! I love this little game we play and it always makes me laugh when I find him, and sometimes that takes weeks.