Jackie….happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…..
I know you always hated being the youngest in the family, but maybe now you appreciate being younger than your brother and sister. As the youngest, you were cherished not only by your mom and dad, grandparents and aunts and uncles……
But your brother and sister were so happy to have you….your arrival was a much anticipated event by all of us!
You are the darling of our family, and always will be!
Jackie and I were buddies during her preschool years, with her siblings already in school. We went everywhere together…..school events, Taco Bell (two soft tacos), to grandma’s and to friends houses. I remember those days fondly. 
Jackie is fun loving and outgoing, really pretty fearless!
But if there is one character trait that jumped out as I looked through photos, is her love of animals, and their attraction to her.
She was a favorite of Toad, and now of Marlo.
That’s her favorite boy, Tiger…not looking too happy, but cooperating with his bath. He adored Jackie.
And her second favorite boy was her Aunt Patrice’s horse, Mel.
Know that your mama loves you Jack!
Have a wonderful birthday!!!
Leaves floating in the pond. One of the few places you will find any stray leaves on our property right now. Jeff has the rest tamed and under control, and lined up single file at the street’s edge. He said, “Leaves, one of the best and worst things about fall.”
We made a quick trip to da UP last weekend. The weather was appropriately gray and rainy, with most of the leaves down on the ground all soggy, no crunch crunch under foot.
But something about the looks of the beach and lake in November is awesome, powerful and a little spooky.
The stinging wind and rain, hitting me as I walked out made for some quick shots, and then a dash back inside.
On the way home, we stopped at the Cut River Bridge, which is now open after being closed (off and on, mysteriously) for almost 2 years.
It does appears that work was done on the support structure.
So the cabins are safely tucked in, and ready for a long winter.
Jeff’s greatgrandparents Gustav and Augusta and their family…with Jeff’’s grandfather being the youngest boy, sitting in the front. Gus and Gus lived in Detroit, we think this photo was taken at their home on 25th Street about 1910. EEEK ( Jeff’s mom) lived her childhood right down the street from her grandparents. She especially loved Augusta, her “big grandma”…not that she was so big, but just bigger and softer than her tiny maternal grandmother.
If you followed my “Tailor quilt project” here and here, Gus was the tailor, and Augusta was the seamstress who patched the wool samples together to make the quilt. EEEK says that this grandmother also made all her winter coats until she was about 16 years old. Taking a guess, Gustav probably made the suits he and his sons are wearing. The tailor shop was in the back of their home, and EEEK would clean the shop for her grandfather for 25 cents.
My big question is, why the serious expressions? The children have slightly pleasant looks on their face, but the two Guses…serious. Was this the fashion??? EEEK says they were stoic Germans. I had to look up stoic because I wanted to be perfectly clear on the meaning:
Stoic or stoical: Not affected by or showing passion or feeling. being indifferent to pleasure or pain.
Yes, that explains their attitude and expressions quite well.
I had this photo set aside to ask EEEK some questions, and she had answers! Digging out more mysterious old photos and hearing their story will be a good Sunday afternoon pasttime this winter with the EEEK.
Marlo is wondering why I’m not feeding her at 6 o’clock today, why I am paying no attention. She’s whining in the kitchen right at this moment. Below she’s caught in a full fledged bark, insistent that I’m late with her evening meal.
We gradually adjust her feeding to the time change. Gradually change her inner clock. Takes about a week. I will never need an alarm clock for 6AM or 6 PM, as long as Marlo is around. And I wish my sense of time was as well developed.
I sure will enjoy that extra hour of sleep on Sunday…..
How could this month have flown by so quickly…..
Aren’t ya looking forward to hunkering down with a book, or in front of the sewing machine with no plants calling your name because they need planting, or watering, or fertilizing, or weeding, or harvesting. I am ready……good thing too, I’ve got work to do.
Yes, Steph, you are not to be forgotten….your birthday is right around the corner…..
This mama loved her sweet baby girl, and was so happy to be blessed with such a beautiful, good, easy going baby.
She has always been close to her cousins, Erin and Nicole.
LOL! I wonder what was going on here?
Cousin Ben and Steph are very close in age….they were so cute holding hands on the beach. I think Steph was trying to lead him around.
With her dad and Aunt Lisa….(are those jellie’s, Lis)
And with her cousin Ron, and bestest friend next door Kevin (what’s that bug on the table????)
With her brother, the Teej…..
And and my two lovely daughters, Jackie and Steph, all grown up.
Happy Birthday Stephcha…. Hope you have a wonderful birthday and a blessed year ahead. Love you bunches……
I walked the yard yesterday….looking for color:
The colors were beautiful, but were made just a little better with a feature called “color pop” on Windows Live Writer.
Just to show you the difference, here are the original untouched photos…..
There, full disclosure. Can you see the difference? Were you skeptical about those first photos from the start? They are so delicious but maybe too good to be true.
Enjoyed this beautiful, balmy, sunny day outside….
The last of the summer annuals.
Lisa was here from Virginia this past week, initially to bring Paddy the beaver to her new home, and then for a visit with family and friends. After the tragedy with Paddy, we had a mission….distract, cheer and keep Lisa busy. I think we did a pretty good job:
-We had a family get together with just about the whole gang at Patrice’s house…including many of the younger folk, they love their Aunt Lisa!
-See the jar that says MONEY….it actually reads “no money, no eatey”…… that’s the only way Patrice could bribe us, as we are food motivated. She spearheaded a family donation to the Howell Nature Center, which is where Paddy would have found a home for life.
-We had a party at Kel’s that included a fondue feast, singing, and directing Jackie’s text messages to a new friend. For some strange reason, Jackie didn’t invite him over to meet all of us.
-We met at The Cottage Inn in Ann Arbor, to eat and catch up with Annie (the Capri from Battle Creek, she’s front left). 
-We had another dinner at my home, this time with TJ, Amber and Colt in attendance too-
And nephew Logan….who just got new braces, is one whole lot of energy, talk and questions bundled into an 8 year old body. Uncle Jeff and Logan were playing cat and mouse under the piano. I feel sorry for Logan’s mom, Nicole, who had to get that wound up little guy to bed soon after leaving our house.
-And, lastly, we did something that didn’t revolve around food—-mosaiced…..visit Cut, Stitch, Paste for details
Note that I did NOT say “we went shopping”….that played a very minor role, aren’t you proud of us!
It was a “Capri-licious” week. Lisa left this morning. Back to real life for all of us, but life made all the sweeter with the memories of this week to savor.
