Away

My apologies,

I'll be away from Dewena's Window for a while.

Let's Visit Christy & Bryan

Would you like a peek into our daughter

and son-in-law's new house?

Christy and Zoe will welcome you at the door.

Hope you brought your swimsuit with you.

Have you met our grandson Luke?
Here he is with his mom,
and he'll put some red snapper and flounder
he caught on the grill for supper.

I haven't taken pictures of the guest room yet,

but the master bedroom is a dreamy retreat.

Barn wood from our old home in TN

will become a part of this bedroom 

when Bryan has it made into a barn slider door

leading into the bathroom.

I'll show you that when it's finished

but here's another piece from Valley View

that Christy asked for when her father and I moved to Florida.

It's a 12 foot bench R.H. and I bought decades ago

that we used by our dining table for a long time

and now will be used for Christy and Bryan's.

It was made by a Mennonite carpenter and had been

in our barn for over 10 years after we stopped using it.

The small entrance courtyard outside the window above

will soon become a small garden full of herbs.

Before we step further into the house we should pop

back outside for a moment and let R.H. show 

you a date palm tree that is in bloom.

Back inside, just a quick look at one wall of the kitchen.

The kitchen will be remodeled in Phase II;

meanwhile we'll just look at this piece

that holds her Fiesta collection.

Time to go to the pool party but you might want 

to stop by the dramatic new powder room first.

I couldn't resist getting a closeup shot for you.

Ready for a swim now?

Bryan, Christy, and R.H. have been so busy landscaping

the area around the terrace that I need to get a new 

picture out here as it has changed dramatically
since I took this picture.

Next time I go visit, I'll do just that

and will keep you updated as they move into

Phase II and III, and beyond.

An outdoor kitchen is next on the list as

Christy is one of the best grill cooks ever,

but here's how we'll end our visit.

Let's gather around the new linear fire pit between

the pool and the lake beyond.

Magical!

So glad you came along with us on a visit to our

daughter and son-in-law's new house.

Y'all drive home safely now!

They're Engaged!

R.H. and I were so happy to get a phone call recently

announcing that Zack had proposed to Courtney.

And even happier to know that she said yes!

Guess what Courtney's dream car was?

Yes, an El Camino and this 1977 beauty was

waiting for her in the driveway one day.

Inside was a beautiful ring hanging from the rearview mirror.

R.H. and I are thrilled that Courtney is joining our family,

and I'll let you in on a little secret--

the first time Zack brought Courtney home to meet us

I started praying for this day to come.

As you can see, Zack is very happy.

And you must also meet Courtney's sweet baby--

True is a gentle greyhound that Courtney

adopted through a rescue group.

Welcome to the family,

Courtney and True!

And congratulations, Zack!

"Fragmentary Blue"

I'm yearning for a blue dress,
      blue room,
             blue dish.

But a blue dress, for sure.

When I was fourteen, Mama made me a dress
      of white polished cotton
             swirled with sky blue, 
                   the skirt cut on the bias.

I loved how it swirled about my legs.

I loved Sunday dresses
       on little sisters
            and cousins gathered to visit
                  at our grandparents' farm.

I'm yearning for a blue dress, for sure.

"Why make so much of fragmentary blue

In here and there a bird, or butterfly,   

Or flower, or wearing-stone, or open eye,

When heaven presents in sheets the solid hue?

Since earth is earth, perhaps, not heaven (not yet)--

Though some savants make earth include the sky;

And blue so far above us comes so high,    

It only gives our wish for blue a whet."

Robert Frost

"Fragmentary Blue"

[Photo by R.H., late one day before sunset.

Blue dress at top from Bergdorf Goodman

in May 1931 Woman's Home Companion.]

Interlude

Interlude:

1. an intervening episode,

period, space, etc.

R.H. wished to move to Florida.

His wish came true.

We were ready to let go of a large farmhouse

and 24 acres of land.

I dreamed of a two bedroom bungalow,

quick to clean and tidy up.

Affordable.

That will take time to find.

Meanwhile our son-in-law and daughter

made us an offer we couldn't refuse.

Renting their house for a year while we

looked around for an affordable Florida bungalow.

Renting from them at a very minimal cost.

So we moved into their

5,000 square foot house.

I have not even gone upstairs yet.

And they moved into a house that is meant to be

their forever house,

a small charming cottage that needed love,

which is what Bryan is an expert at

as a premier house builder and remodeler.

I hope to show you pictures of their new house

soon when the projects are done,

but here is one of their new pool.

See, I told you he's good.

So that is the story I have not told you before.

For maybe nine months or a year,

R.H. and I will be enjoying big house living,

but not thinking of our time here as an...

Interlude

As a consumate nester,

I must think of it as my home,

that's the only way I think I can live here in our new home of Florida with contentment.

Do you understand how I feel?

Still Celebrating

Since Mother's Day and my birthday come so close together, I celebrate the whole week long. Wouldn't you?

My daughter took me shopping to spend birthday money from my kids because I badly needed some Florida clothes. How I wish the Lilly Pulitzer department had clothes in my size because these colors were so yummy. 

Now I'm going to do something that feels so awkward, show you what I picked out. You see, I hate shopping for clothes. I only do it every few years when I have to and usually I just wander around aimlessly, finally desperately choosing something, anything.

But with the patient help of Christy, I actually enjoyed this shopping trip and I think the things I chose with her guidance actually do look like the yummy Lilly Pulitzer colors.

What do you think? 

I also picked out a cool sunhat since my old Valley View sunhat was in tatters. Tatters, not taters. For some reason that made me think of the old Jimmy Dickens' song, "Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait." Boy, does that ever date me! Anybody else ever heard of that song? I bet not.

The highlight of my birthday week was driving down to Orlando to visit my mother, or being driven down because our terrific son-in-law volunteered to do that, taking a whole day away from his business.

My beautiful darling mother is 91 years young. And this is the way I still think of her. 

I had not seem my mother in four years. (I know, isn't that awful? We just don't travel. We had to MOVE to Florida in order to be able to see her.) Mama's memory is not what it was but when I walked into her room and my sister asked her if she knew who had come to visit her, she immediately said my name. That was the best birthday gift I received.

Have any of you seen "Nothing Left Unsaid" on television? The conversations between Anderson Cooper and his mother Gloria Vanderbilt? If you ever have the chance, please watch it. The conversations between the two of them were riveting but also, it was a beautiful thing to see Anderson watching his mother, realizing the importance of what may be some of the final conversations between them. Priceless.

Back home again in Ponte Vedra Beach, what did we see in the sky as we stood on the front porch? Can you see it? Yes, it's the Goodyear blimp!

There's this little shindig they throw here a few miles from us each year called The Players Championship. If you follow golf at all you know what I'm talking about. I don't know diddly squat about golf but I learned pretty quickly that this thing is HUGE.

You know how we snowbirds go the store back home and stock up when snow is forecast? Well next year that's what we'll do before The Players Championship happens again. Because you do not want to get stuck in traffic running to the Winn-Dixie for milk. 

Speaking of Winn-Dixie, they make sure you know you better stock up when you shop there before The Players but they're not talking about milk.

One night Christy and Bryan brought the best pizza I've ever had to our house and I made strawberry shortcake because that's what my Mama always made for my birthday cake. When Christy and Bryan drove home they got caught in the Toby Keith concert traffic that was part of The Players honoring the military, and their normal 10 minute or less drive turned into 30 minutes bumper to bumper. 

Here's a link to Sunday's winner just in case there are any golfers reading.

I hope this hasn't been too long a post sharing some of the highlights of our 4th week here in Florida--I can't believe it's been four weeks now!

I have to show you one more picture because I had one late birthday card come in the mail yesterday--all the way from Budapest!

Our youngest son just returned from two weeks in Budapest, Vienna, and Prague, filming a travel show. I hope I can show you some of the pictures he took sometime and I'll be sure to let you know when the show airs. He had a wonderful time getting to know people in that beautiful part of our world. 

Time to go hunt up one of the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I made yesterday.

After all...

I'm still celebrating!

Pinch Me!

Pinch me, I must be dreaming!

Mother's Day lunch, 2016. Our daughter and son-in-law treated their moms to lunch at the beach. That's us above, the moms. At the beach, only a few miles from home. I really must be dreaming...oh, and no photo shopping on the colors. The Atlantic really was that blue. And I did go sit on the beach for an hour afterwards, under an umbrella, slathered in sunscreen, covered from head to toe. A trip to the Mayo Clinic here for my annual skin cancer check last week reported no return of that, but I am being careful here in sunny Florida. I'll be careful but this beach is too beautiful for me to stay away. 

Do you faithfully use sunscreen? After having two kinds of skin cancer in 2003 I use it, wear hats, even carry a sunbrella. Because I don't want to miss out on visiting this beautiful beach. 

It's R.H.'s favorite spot too.

If we're dreaming, please don't wake us up.