WELCOME TO THE BEACH

Welcome to our house in Virginia Beach, VA! We are all "decked out" and ready for company! Of course we decorate with quilts around here and I happen to have a few red, white and blue ones that are perfect for our 4th of July celebration. This year we added the outdoor drapes to the west facing side of the deck to block out the sun at dinner time. I was resistant to putting drapes outside, but my husband thought it would be great and I finally agreed. Now let me tell you, I couldn't be happier! These are from the Pottery Barn catalogue and made for outdoor use. They are a sturdy synthetic and look similar to canvas. I am hooked! It makes all the difference to have them shade us while eating outdoors! You can't quite see the wicker furniture, but we had all the cushions recovered in denim, which happens to go very well with my quilts!

Additionally, we added beach cruiser bikes this year. As you can see, they were a big hit! Plumpkin, in the back seat, managed to get someone to take her for a ride every night. There is a path nearby that goes through many miles of Seashore State Park for walkers, runners and bikers. It is great and a nice alternative to the beach. Jack, Polly and Plumpkin pictured here.

These two have been best buddies since they were babies. My son's son, Kyle, and my daughter's daughter, Mary. Both are 16 years old. Most of the good pictures that we have were taken by Mary. She carries her camera everywhere and gets some great shots! This one I may have actually taken, but you never know because these days kids manage to snap lots of pictures of themselves with their out-stretched arm. If you have teenagers around you know what I mean. We combined photos from three cameras onto a disk, so that is why I don't know for certain who took the picture.

Plumpkin was amazed to see the little crabs that skitter all over the beach. It it amazing how quickly they bury themselves down a hole.

Jack decided to try it himself. Buried up to his neck, he may be having second thoughts after what Kyle found living close by. What is that pinching your toe Jack?

Kyle loves nature. In fact, he had to chase his cousins down the beach to show them the wonderful specimen that he found. I once ordered a soft shell crab sandwich at a local restaurant and this is what was on it, legs sticking out of the bun, with tomato, lettuce and mayo. I am not a native of this area, and it was kind of weird!

In closing, I have to share what is probably my favorite picture of the summer. My son, in the middle (duh!), is a crazy man, and always is goofing around. The kids love him for it, and so do I! His daughter Danielle, is on the left and googly-eyed Plumpkin on the right.

Did I mention how quiet it is around here? Everyone went back to their own homes in Minnesota and Arizona last week. It was wild and wonderful while they were here, but the quiet is a nice change too! More later...

Marcie

A NEW HOUSE

I have been a bad blogger. I can't keep up with the posting and the reading of other blogs. I want to, I just seem to be swamped. So if I haven't visited you for a while, it is not from lack of interest, it is lack of time. That and the heat. Our AC went out in this zone of the house, the zone where I sew and where my computer is. It is 100 degrees outside and about 90 degrees in here. I took my sewing machine upstairs to the dining room. We have coolness up there! I have been getting some sewing done, so I am pleased about that! OK, OK, pictures to come!


This is what a starter home looked like in 1950.
I posted this picture on my Dad's blog to go along with a story he was telling. It is a snapshot of our first house in a suburb of Buffalo, New York. I grew up in this house. NOBODY had air conditioning back then!

When I was 4 years old, back in 1950, my family moved from a one bedroom apartment to this newly constructed house in a newly constructed neighborhood. America was rebounding after WWII and my Dad got a GI loan to buy a new house. The house had two small bedrooms on the main floor, along with a bathroom, kitchen, and living room. There was a full basement with a washing machine. Mom hung all our clothes outside on a clothesline. The second floor was unfinished. My Dad finished the upstairs and made two big bedrooms with a small bathroom in the center. He had to raise the roof in the back of the house to do that. He also added a garage on the side, and a vestibule on the front. This was done over several years. My Mom always had ideas and my Dad fulfilled her every dream. She had him knock a hole in the wall between the kitchen and the living room so there was a big window pass-through. Then bar stools were added to the LR side. This really helped open up those two small rooms. See where the front door is in the photo? Mom had Dad knock a hole in the wall next to that door that went into the bedroom. That gave two entries into the room that became the dining room. Our little house changed dramatically over the years.

My Mom was quite a gardener. She and my Dad created a wonderful yard for us to play in. The picture is of my sister and me playing dolls. I was quite a tom boy, so this didn't happen too often. I would have rather been playing baseball in the street with the boys. I would like the photo better if we were sitting on a quilt, but I am pretty sure that it was an army blanket. Everyone had spare army blankets in those days. Sturdy wool things they were too.
That little willow tree started out as a branch from a tree in my grandmother's yard. It grew to be enormous. I went back there to visit a few years ago and one of our neighbors still lived in the house next door. He was cursing that tree for all the branches it lost in every rain storm. We loved it though, as kids. We could climb it and hide in the low hanging branches. Back in those days, when it was hot, people spent as much time outside as they could. Inside was not cooler. Dad put in a patio and got a grill and he cooked outside almost every night. (I wonder if he remembers it that way?) My Dad made the best hamburgers!

GOING TO MINNESOTA

For the past few months my two friends and I have been getting together almost once a week. The exception being when one of us is out of town. We have had a great time visiting and eating and working on our Home Sweet Home quilts. None of us live close to another, so we travel roughly 40 minutes to one house or the other. Consequently, we spend the whole day together, until someones husband comes home and we reluctantly break until the next week. It is good to have friends! I don't know how I got so lucky, but these two are the best! Tomorrow they are getting together without me! (Blink back tears). Well, I am the one

leaving town, so it can't be helped. How did I come to meet such good friends when they live so far away? Well, at the quilt shop of course! Don't their house blocks look great?!

So tomorrow I am off to Minnesota! My oldest granddaughter is graduating from high school. I didn't even make her a quilt! She wants something puffy and will probably be happier with one from the store. Some day she will be more interested in a quilt from me. So why force it? Right? Besides, I have been rather self indulgent lately, making quilts that I like!

The little Plumpkin has turned two years old, and is the cutest child in the world! (We all have the right to say that about our own, don't you think?) My daughter, her mom, said to her recently, "Are you my sunshine?" Plumpkin replied, "I your only sunshine. I make you happy when skies are gray!" You know it, baby!

So, for the next two weeks I will be in Minnesota with family and mosquitoes (that's a given). I will be checking in on blogs when I am able.