This visit from Emma and Eliza has been so wonderful. Every morning we were up at 7:38, driving through Donut Bank for crullers and cookies (and a chocolate-covered long john for PawPaw), a tradition founded several years back. They tanned in the pool when the UVs were right. We traipsed out to the mall, ate lunch at my go-to restaurant, Bru Burger, and saw ToyStory5 (I cried).
The Forever sign was finally decorated, and the NYers restored the Grateful sign.
We went to the races and thanks to Eliza’s clever bets, nearly broke even!
Yes, Jojo requires manual labor from her grandies…They’ve been shucking corn since they were big enough to shuck corn (and snap beans, too).
Our visitors included my friend, the girls’ Aunt Dee, my niece, Lauren; my cousins Lori, Haley, and baby Saylor Reese, and everybody seemed to have a great time watching Emma dance. Thanks, y’all!
We recreated the pictures from the past — We’ve been taking these swing pictures, and arm pictures for about 10 years! I’ll have to put them all together for you some time.
To top off a Great Visit, PawPaw got a campfire going and we made s’mores…
I guess I’m about as Grateful as a Human can Be.
Also exhausted…
Hope you’re resting well in your neck of the woods!
It’s been a great week with my NewYork girls! Today we’ll be entertaining Aunties and Cousins, taking final group pictures on the swing, and fixing our Forever sign, so it will be just a blink before we find ourselves hugging these sweeties good-bye on Sunday.
You could guess that I talk about our ancestry with the grands whenever I can, so Emma and Eliza were held hostage the other night as I read to them about my grandparents, Verla Ruth and Robert A. Mayne. It was almost spooky when I read that they had married on August 8, 1926–100 years ago today.
Writing their story was some of the most engrossing research I have ever done. My grandfather was the Big Mayne Family Secret, not to be spoken of. My grandmother lived to be 90 and I knew her well, but she did not want to talk about it. My Dad finally spoke of him when he was dying.
It’s a Tragic Story, this one, and I thought you might like to read it. It was published on my family genealogy blog, All My Ancestors, in 2022.
While we were traveling toward Ohio to pick up the New York Girls, my post “Reading and Writing on the World Wide Web” was featured on Freshly Pressed. I am thrilled, but inundated by Likes and Comments – more in 48 hours than I’ve received in 20+ years of blogging! Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you!
I am excited to visit all of your blogs, but right now my girls are with me….
So I might be slow reciprocating your kindness, but I’m looking forward to getting to know you!
I’ll be sharing the upcoming week’s events with you as we go, so I’m glad you’ve joined us!
The gardens are keeping us busy here at the Acres.
I guess I won’t be starting a separate blog for the gardens. The days are just flying by, filled with graduations, recitals, healthcare visits, and actual Work in the Gardens, so I’ll just have to share its progress here. One never knows, but at this juncture it’s shaping up to be one of my best efforts.
Yesterday morning Samantha and I rolled out early for the Willard Library Book Sale. That afternoon the whole fam came together for Nova’s singing recital.
It is our annual tradition to see how long we can put off turning on our air conditioning. We do this partly because we are cheap and don’t want a big utility bill, but I think it’s an old-person thing…I like to tell our kids and grandkids about how we didn’t have air conditioning back in our day, how we toughed it out sitting in front of fans that could cut our hands off if we reached into the cage, and slept on the basement floor (the best coolant) on a pallet to survive. Maybe you had a/c in your home, but my dad truly believed he caught colds from window units, so it was 1967 when we finally moved to a home with central air. Anyway, the humidity is horrible and I am a heavy sweat-er, but I consider it training for our upcoming visit to Disney World in Florida.
Yes, we’re headed back to Disney, specifically to ride the newly-updated Buzz Lightyear Space Command in Magic Kingdom and the revamped Rockin’ Rollercoast, now featuring the Muppets over at Hollywood Studios. The Great Thunder Mountain Railway is another “new” coaster over at MK; it used to be like the old wooden rollercoasters, but they’ve put in all new track to make it smoother. At Epcot, they switched the Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure from 3D to 2D, so I’d like to check that out, and the Carousel of Progress is going to shut down in a month to upgrade, so I need to refresh my memory of the current one.
Recently I’ve been asked by a couple of folks if I still ride the rides. We have ridden every ride there and there are some I won’t ride again (I’m looking at you, Tower of Terror), but most of them I’m up for. This trip we’ll only be there for three days, so we’ve prioritized the aforementioned rides and have plans to crawl through some resort lounges, eat some good food, and drink fancy drinks. We have Lightning Lane passes for Our favorite-of-all-time-ride, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, to wrap up our trip on Wednesday. Despite the oppressive weather this time of year, we will be having a great time – I know where the air conditioning is!
I’m still coughing, dammit, so started a round of steroids to see if we can get this thing under control.
I hope you’re enjoying these last weeks of weeks of Spring in your neck of the woods.
All of the graduations wrapped up on Friday last. Samantha gave a beautiful speech at her 5th grade celebration. I cried a little, but the cookies were good.
Nova finished up her third commencement ceremony at Central High School. They try to have it outside in the stadium, but the monsoons hit, so it was moved inside and live-streamed. It was our traditional Eville ceremony with a choir and band – the others have been sans music, though they played some canned P&C at Samantha’s. I do love me some Pomp and Circumstance, always a trigger for tears.
Last night was the Shannon’s School of Dance Recital and Samantha danced twice. I thought I got a video of her first dance, but I neglected to push the record button. I do that more often than I’d like to admit. For the second, “Wednesday”, I stuck with stills. Her daddy sent me his videos anyway. She is a lovely dancer.
Samantha is second row, first on left.
We’re in the process of buying a new car and I’ve settled on one that I hope to buy next week. I’m quite a wheeler-dealer. I used to use my looks to get a good deal, but now I’ll play the sweet old lady and see how far that gets me. I’m rather in love with the automobile, but I also know he won’t let me walk away — sweet little old ladies pay cash…
Tomorrow we’re going to put on our mud boots and head out to the Illinois cemeteries. I’ve got decorations for all of my grandmothers. I enjoy the loop – we drive up through Mount Carmel through West Salem and up to Parkersburg, then back down to the Marion Church Cemetery and on to Albion and Grayville. If we’re able to get an early start, we could make it to Carmi and Grandmother Gainsey.
During all of this month I have been sick. I’ve blamed allergies, so just kept going, but my coughing has been ubiquitous. I had a routine CT scheduled for Wednesday and it came back showing some fluid in my left lower lobe. I saw the doctor on Thursday and she gave me a Z-pak and we’ll follow up the CT in 3 months. I haven’t had time to worry about it, but I am really tired.
So I think I’ll just lay around the shack and nap my way through the day. The rain is supposed to Finally clear out tomorrow and I’ll wager I’ll be much cheered if the sun shines.
Hope you’re feeling well in your neck of the woods!
It’s been a busy week here at Sonnystone Acres. We attended graduation ceremony #2 for our #2 grandie on Thursday. This is from Early College, a group of around 30 students who earned Associate and Technical Degrees from Ivy Tech. Nova gave a wonderful speech, mostly about Speech, thanking her Mom and causing some leakage from my tear ducts. Her final commencement will be this Friday as part of the Central High School Class of 2026. I will sit that one out, but I sure am proud of her.
8th grad graduation, 1st day of kindergarten
My Number Four Grandie will have her Big Day this Friday morning as she graduates Fifth Grade and leaves Elementary for Middle School. She, too, will be speaking at the ceremony and I already have a lump in my throat. She is my baby and I am dizzy with how fast this time has gone. She was here today and we’re planning a return to piano lessons this summer, and weekly get-togethers. I cherish every second I get to spend with her.
Samantha, 2019Samantha, 2026
The Garden is all in and we are sleeping that tired sleep, waking up to the dawn chorus and getting back to it. When all of these graduations and dance recitals – did I mention dance next week, too? – are past, I’ll show you the garden Up Close with my new 50mm lens.
I hope you’re sleeping well in your neck of the woods!
I don’t know if there are words to describe the emotions this ol’ grandma has felt this last week, especially watching my Emma dance. It’s very akin to Joy, but more radiant? It’s a little like feeling proud, but more incandescent? It was beautiful, she is beautiful, and so deserving of her status as Top American Irish Dancer in the World. I’m so grateful for these experiences and thankful for my family.
We made it to the Art Institute of Chicago on a cold day, but it was warm inside. I was so thrilled! I’ve never seen so many impressionist artists in one place. There was Monet, Manet, Pisarro, , Renoir, and Cassat.
America was also represented well, with a great Norman Rockwell that personifies Chicago baseball, “The Dugout”, Grant Wood’s “American Gothic, and the renowned “Nighthawks at the Diner” by Edward Hopper.
The Matisse Exhibit featured his paper cut-outs, a technique he started to use in the 1940s. I didn’t know that.
We said our good-byes to the Jose Fam at dinner after the Awards Ceremony on Friday, and started back home in the storms Saturday morning. Geez, gas is $4.59/gal up there! About 50 miles into the trip, we began to see it drop to $4.20, then 100 miles south, the prices were down to $3.97; another 100 miles down, $3.78. Here in Eville, gas at the Walmart is $3.69. What’s with that??? I just shake my head.
Tomorrow’s Casey’s surgery, a simple hernia repair, no biggie. I’ll be playing nurse for a few days, and get caught up on my reading. The weather after Wednesday looks gorgeous and I’m hoping to get out and buy plants!!!
My allergies really flared up on the drive home yesterday – we went the backroads through the Illinois cornfields – so it feels like Spring to me! Hope it’s blossoming in your neck of the woods.
It’s been a busy week here at the Acres. We added fresh mulch all around the house foundation beds, rearranged some perennials in the Peace/Bird Garden, and planted peas, onions, and potatoes.
EVSC was on Spring Break, so I spent some time with Samantha – always a treat!
Thanks to my cousin Lori, I got to meet (on facetime) her granddaughter, Saylor Reese Deig, a most adorable little doll-baby, who cooed and smiled and is obviously brilliant!
Today we met up with the Juniors and had a nice lunch, an early Easter get-together. I always forget to take pictures at these things, but take my word for it, we are all darling af.
Now we’re packing up for our trip up North for the Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne 2026 aka World Irish Dance Championships. It’s being held in Schaumburg, Illinois, about six hours from here, and we’re so excited to be there! Eliza dances on Tuesday and Emma on Friday.
The weather looks absolutely hideous, cold, wet, windy, brrr, so I’ve given up any idea of walking much, but we will Definitely be going to the Art Institute of Chicago ! I can hardly wait to see “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”, the backdrop for the Sondheim musical “Sunday in the Park with George”.
The Art Institute also owns “Nighthawks at the Diner” and currently there is a fabulous exhibit of works by Henri Matisse!
We’ll be returning by next Saturday, so I’ll get you caught up on our trip next Sunday…unless, of course, one of the girls actually Wins the World Championship, or comes in top 10, in which case, I’ll post a quick Breaking News Report. Wouldn’t that be great?
I hope Spring is springing in your neck of the woods.
It’s been rainy, gloomy, bleak week here at the Acres. I’ve been grappling with my Self, sorting out and expanding my point-of-view — Changing my Mind. Of course, I change my mind like some people change their underwear, but that’s an ADHD thing. What I’m talking about here is a shift in perspective. It’s bewildering at first, and I mourn the loss of my old way of thinking, but I’m kinda excited to see how this all plays out.
What the hell is she talking about, you ask? I don’t know, but I spent so much time Thinking this week that I have nothing else to report.
But I do have something here to make you smile. From 2020, it’s our Camp Sonnystone video. Enjoy!
The News from Sonnystone Acres 