A Walk Through Our Yard Looking For New Life

I grabbed our little Fuji camera and took a stroll through our yard for signs of life -- checking to see what might be peeking up through the soil.    Yes, there were all though the grass, wild violets hidding along with last years pecans which the squirrels were storing away.   all kinds of 'unwanted' items in our grass -- clover, dandelines, wild strawberry plants and much much more. There were signs of Coneflowers -- not a lot, but a few.

And Mexican Petunias were coming up in the wrong place. They travel underground and peep up in the unexpected places.  There were corabells, redbuds, Japanese Maples displaying all their glory.
Last year we had a grove of banana trees.  In the fall, Ken gave several away.  The largest one which was stored in the garage for the winter did not make it.  However, we still have two very hearty musa banana trees by being kept inside the house.  Those two are now very happy to be outside once again.  COME ON SPRING .... COME ON NEW LIFE .....  RESURRECT, RESTORE AND RENEW!
Glory, Hallelujah, see the photo of the dead bananna tree?  I discovered a little shoot coming out from the root.  There is still life in it -- up from the grave it arose!

Times Have Changed -- The Meaning of Easter Has NOT

I love Easter.  A symbol of  promise, of life and a proof of love.   I love Easter for the God's Great Love reality; but I also love it because it is a time when cold and darkness break forth into light and beauty.    Back in the days when I had a new spring Easter outfit was nice -- but that was long ago.  I loved the waving of palms on Palm Sunday and the Empty Cross on display on Resurrection morning.  I loved the Easter songs, the Easter drama's and the giving and sharing among friends.
Today I live in a community where I don't see Easter bonnets and I attend a church where songs such as "Up From the Grave He Arose" are old fashion while the leadership come dressed in blue jeans and casual shirts.   By trying hard to not be traditional, how well we establish new traditions.

Then there is the issue of Easter baskets.  I did Easter baskets for my kids until they were far 'past grown'  -- the age where I was filling the basket with money or under panties or swimming suits instead of candy.  The Pops insisted "this is the last year" for  years.    Then there were the grandchildren baskets until that last year when grandkids were so big they fought over who saw the egg first-resulting in tears in place of Easter joy.     So now we celebrate happy resurrection day without chocolate bunnies.  And I leave the dying of eggs and baskets to my grown up children. 

However, I'm getting my 'payback' with things I appreciate big time.  April, Elijah, Lily and Rosie knocked on our door this morning to clean out our front flower bed and plant my flowers for me.  I love flowers but it is getting where I do not enjoy the bending/digging part of the work.   So my Easter gift was manual labor.  The girls gathered up the fallen sticks from the trees out of the yard while Ken and Elijah cleaned out the blanket of leaves to find hostas already up and hopefully elephant ears on the way.   April did the cleaning and arranging while planting the wax begonias.   All of this adds much joy to my Resurrection Day celebration.  Thank you sweet husband and dear children.

By the time the weekend celebration is done, I will have attended COTM twice, Covenant Church on line streaming and Asbury United Methodist.  With five Easter services, COTM had it's largest attendance of 17,000 people.  Loud, boisterous, booming songs, an excellent 40 minute sermon about conquering death, and invitation for salvations with a offer to spontaneously come forward  for water baptism by being dunked in temporality erected tanks.  Six hundred people responded to the water and over a hundred and forty children in KOTM gave their lives to Christ.   
At Covenant in Carrollton, the music was of the highest order of worship to God.  The pastor on video, greeted us from the empty tomb and then preached in person.  It was so touching.  Finally, at Asbury, we experience the traditions of our childhood Easter:  bell choir, orchestra, robed choir, magestic traditional Easter songs, candles and Easter lilies.     What a weekend.  Have I convinced anyone that Easter is my favorite holiday?

The First Signs of Life Are Here

70 degree weather on Friday, Saturday it drops to 30 degrees and snows. 

 

Jazz Jazz Jazz

Ken and I have a little outing that we participate in once a month.  A couple years ago at the TSHA Fundraising Souper Sunday, I bid on a basket that had goodies from Gilcrease Museum.  The basket included a years membership.  This is when we began the Third Tuesday Jazz.



We have had a lot of fun and it sometimes is our only 'real date' for the month.     Each month, there is a different local group performing with instruments and vocal jazz plus. 
Most of the attendees are older couples.  Part of the fun is these 'oldies' love to dance with the music.     I don't dance but I love to watch others dance.    There are a few couples I really look forward to watching them have fun.


Gilcrease is a beautiful museum featuring western art with a strong emphasis on the Indian art.


Gilcrease sits on a hill overlooking downtown Tulsa from the west.



Tonight I took the little Fuji -- just for the fun of it.



The 3rd Tuesday night Jazz offers a buffett for $5 a person.   The food is mostly the same thing but it is good.      The buffet consists of fruit tray, cheese tray,  green salad and a couple choices of pasta dishes with a simple dessert -- often bread pudding.



Two years ago the cost was $4 and included a much larger selection of  drinks.    The Tulsa University took over the management and upped the price and cut some items.






Tonight the group was really good.  It was a 3-man team called SCORE with the keyboard players' wife, Sandy Gardner as the vocalist.      What a pleasant voice.









It is an early evening, 5:30 to 7:30 and we can be home by 8:00 -- remember it caters to the older population.    There are even groups from independent living centers bussed in.


With the daylight savins time change, it was still daylight when we left the event tonight.     We drove around town and stopped in and looked around at the Borders Book Store on the way home.


What an exciting Date Night!    Thanks Ken for loving to be with me.

http://gilcrease.utulsa.edu/

A Cooking Day

My job for this morning was cancelled so I decided to take advantage and do some 'stay at home wife' cooking. With the children all gone, I don't cook nearly as often.  So of course, I wanted to use Sommer's new Blog.   However, I had also wanted to make Laura's Oat Nutty pancakes for a while and decided to make them for breakfast.   Usually, Ken and I drink a protein shake for breakfast but today was a special 'good duty wife' day.
The pancakes were probably the best I have ever tasted. I could have eaten them straight from the pan without any butter or maple syrup.

Next, I had the ingredients for Sommer's mini meatloaf and mashed cauliflower so that was to be our late lunch.  My next interpreting job was not until 3:30 pm.  So I set off to make lunch and extra freeze ahead for later mini-meatloafs.   Here is the proof, I actually still cook once in a while. 
There is always something that I seem to alter when I cook.   First of all, I missed the step of putting all the veggies in the food processer to the consistency of applesauce.  Did not see it until they were already mixed.   Then I did not have the chili sauce, so substituted catsup.  It was fine, and smelled wonderful baking in the oven. 
Ken could not guess what the mashed cauliflower was (guessed turnips) but he loved it.   I've made it before just because it has far less calories.
  
So here you have it, a Nana Cooking day and having fun learning from the younger generation.  The next time, I'm going to do the cheese grits and the 'dead' banana bread.
As a side thought, today for some reason seems to be a potential teary-eyed day.  First Ken was reading to me an e-mail story about a friend named Jim who as age and time went by "I" kept putting off getting in touch with, until it was too late and "I" got the notice that Jim died.  He choked up reading it to me.
Then I was reading Laura's blog about her trip to India.  I was identifying with Sommer's trips to India I guess, but I did not know you could cry reading a food blog.  You will have to check it out.  I'll post the link for the items I made on this cooking day as well as Indian Curry. 
http://darkredcrema.com/2010/03/julie-sahnis-gosht-kari-meat-curry-an-indian-summer/
http://aspicyperspective.blogspot.com/2010/02/dinners-beauty-treatment.html
http://darkredcrema.com/2010/02/whole-grain-oat-nut-pancakes/
And dear friends and family, if you have not been checking out A Spicy Perspective, you must read it and try the recipies.  They are mostly easy enough for anyone to prepare and the reading is great.  We have another budding writer/producer stimming from the Papa Montgomery blood-line.   Sign up as a followerer and you will get the links each time she post something new.  Again, it is the http://aspicyperspective.blogspot.com/

A Tribute to My Husband on His 72nd Birthday

Today is my hubby's 72nd birthday. I can hardly believe it. Who would ever think when we first met 71 years ago that our lives would intertwine so tightly. We first met when we were babies, but neither of us remembers that day. My Dad was preaching a camp meeting in Oklahoma and Ken's parents lived in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Their babysitter offered to babysit me while they went to camp meeting. Wonder if she put a blessing on us or something. Afterwards, my parents returned to Frederick, Maryland, seven years later moved to Greenville, South Carolina and six years after that, we moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma.   Ken's parents were still in Shawnee Oklahoma. Then at the age of 15, we both attended a youth church camp in Oklahoma City and there we met again ..

My first real memories were  at the age of sixteen, Ken's family moved to Tulsa and we attended the same church. The girls told me this new guy liked me. I could not believe it as, I had never had a real boyfriend. I was pudgy and very shy with no self esteem and could not believe that a cute guy like Ken could like me.

I don't remember how long it was after that, but I do remember that first kiss. We were sitting in his car in front of my house and he said "may I?" and kissed me. I really did see stars.

In our senior year of high school, Ken went away to Southwestern Bible College in OKC to the high school division. During that time we broke up for two or three months. Then he came back and later, he proposed. So very young, and no idea what was ahead, we were married June 1, 1957 at the age of 18 and 19, 52 plus years ago.

Learning to live together requires work. Learning to grow up together is a challenge. It takes commitment, Christ in the center of the home, and a lot of determination -- a lot of hard work. But we have done it! And now here we are learning how to grow old together. The learning must never end.

The years have been good. Blessed with five children who now are building their own families.  Grandchildren are a wonderful blessing. I have recorded some of our experiences together in this blog and also at http://grandkidsonly.blogspot.com/

Thank you God, for giving me the only man I ever loved, a young boy who has grown into a marvelous husband.  He is gentle, he is hyper, he is passionate, he can be compulsive but very giving.  He is slow to anger, and quick to love.   All his life he has had a heart for his family, as well as for little ones and little old people. He has never been afraid to say I am sorry. The best part of all is Ken loves God and loves to spend time in God’s WORD. What more could a wife ever hope for.

We began our celebration last weekend in Dallas by having lunch with Joel, Jen and her parents at the BentTree Country Club.  Then last night we had dinner together with our Tulsa children at the China Star.  Ken received two gift cards to the Bass Pro Shop.  Today we took a little road trip down memory lane by visiting Wagoner where we spent the first night of our honeymoon.  Then on to Western Hills Lodge where we spent the second day and night over 52 years ago.  We went on to tour Tallequah and back home.

Ken started out in his new "winter" hat in the morning and at the Bass Pro, bought his new "summer" hat with part of his gift cards.  

I love you Ken, HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

A Weekend Trip to Plano

Ken and I took a quick little trip to Plano to visit our Texas children.

We left on Friday arriving around 5:00 PM.  First of all giving hugs and kisses to our children, then taking the tour of their new home which God has blessed upon them.    This photo is of the back of the house.   On Saturday morning, Ken and Joel did some little projects.One of which was hanging a gate in the back yard.

Jennifer had an appointment on Saturday morning so we watched Blakely.

Below you will see little Blakely playing her little piano which she inherited from Sydney.

We got to see how Sophie is growing.  Sophie and Nigel are great friends.  Nigel tolerates her puppy hyperactivity.

Saturday evening, Joel had a Black Belt testing for his 6th degree black belt.   Could not get very good photos because of the movement and distance but all of us were there to support his testing.

Three Beautiful Ladies

Joel was testing for his 6th degree Black Belt.......which he now has. His ladies went to support and cheer for him during the testing.

Dallas Got It Too This Time

I saw on the news that for the first time in all recorded history, there is snow in all 50 states of the USA.  http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/02/snow_on_ground_in_all_50_state.html

Joel and Jennifer, Sydney and Blakely just moved into a new house.  And guess what, it even snows in Dallas.     We have not seen the home yet, but here is the front and the back swimming pool.  Don't guess they are going to get to try out the pool just yet!     We are going to be visiting the Texas Scrivs in a week or so.

A Spicy Perspective - Check It Out!

A Spicy Perspective

Sommer's Blog is really looking great.  I've tried several of the recipes already -- you should check it out!




Learn the story:
"Can you chip-in-o somma feesh?" "Si!" "And you, chip-in-o somma clams?" "Si, si.

You will love it!