Goings On for the 4th and a Friend's Retirement

It was a good 4th of July. Family gathered at my 82 year old mom's house. She loves to party! Then she likes everybody to leave so she can get a good night's sleep with her little dog Rocket.
This is my mom and a son and his son! Looks like a game of rock paper scissors.
Water was certainly the theme. A lot of water logged kids as well as adults.
Little guy says enough is enough. NO paparazzi please!
More water logging.
Light is getting low and the older sons are enjoying the lake and Jones Grape sodas interspersed with a few adult beverages.
Andi and Ana decided to bring a new tent for its inaugural. Pitched it in our backyard 10 feet from the lake and went kayaking first thing the next morning. Brilliantly absurd idea!!!
Shifting gears to the week prior, Joe and I traveled to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida for an old friend's retirement. This is their quarters on base where they threw a great party the night before the official retirement ceremony. If you want to see pictures of that go to my facebook page and look for JETS!
Here's the happy (they don't know what's about to hit 'em!) retiring military couple.
Lots of good comfort food....
and Nancy's famous Bourbon slushies! Holy moly YUM! Look at the smile on this girl's face!
And here's their motto to live by. Surprised!? I'm not. Whoo Hoo indeed!
After the festivities Joe and I kicked back at a little cottage on the base near the Pensacola lighthouse.
A bit of history. You'll have to click the pic to read the fine print.
One last look at the white sand beach and then it was time to return home. Boy am I ready to be home. Ten days for me to get some painting done before we have to go again.
I hope you're enjoying the summer!
Love and hugs,
Ronnie - tortured wife of retired JOe

The Bella Sinclair, Golden Heart, Mermaid, and Valued Follower Awards

Thank you so much Silke at Metamorphosis for honoring me with the Bella Sinclair Award. If you have not met Silke yet, she is a sweet, generous, talented mixed media artist who lives in beautiful Savannah, Georgia.

The Bella Sinclair Award was just recently created by the incredible Ces at Ces and Her Dishes, to honor her friend and artist, Bella Sinclair, who recently suffered the tragic, unexpected and untimely death of her husband.

As Ces wrote: “I designed this award to celebrate art in the blogs and to honor the value of friendship, sisterhood, sharing and caring. It is to be awarded to the gifted, accomplished, eloquent and talented blogger whose friendship and influence inspire us to do our best. That I named it after Bella Sinclair is because she epitomizes all of these things. She is an inspiration to many of us.”

I am incredibly honored to give this beautiful award "celebrating art, inspiration, friendship, sisterhood, sharing and caring" to:

Angela at Letters from Usedom

Delwyn at a hazy moon

Jan at awake is good

Jackie at Teacher's Pet

Janet at Just Me and My Art

Lola at aglio, olio & peperoncino

Margaret at MargaretPANPipes

Natalie at Musings from the Deep

Rosaria at sixty-five what now

The Mermaid Award was given to me recently by Lola at aglio, olio & peperoncino. Lola is incredibly talented and insightful, a world traveler who works in the film industry and writes her fascinating blog from Rome, Italy.

I am delighted to give the Mermaid Award for “alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive & inspiring blogs” to:

Beate at Beate Knappe mixed media art (this is the first blog I ever read!)

Sallymandy at the blue kimono

Silke at Metamorphosis

Katelen at The Poetic Artist

Sophia at where there are no chickadees

The Golden Heart Award was given to me recently by the wonderful Delwyn at a hazy moon. Her blog about her life in Australia is filled with stunning photography, poetry and art.

I am so pleased to give the Golden Heart Award, for “caring, creative souls” to:

Annette at A Wisp of Creativity

Diantha at Living Your Potential

Michele at Artistic Buffet

Renee at Circling My Head

And last, but definitely not least, I was happy to recently receive the Valued Follower Award from the insightful Sallymandy at the blue kimono. Her blog is filled with wisdom, art and scenes from her beautiful native state of Montana.

I give this award to all of you who visit my blogs (including A note from your Mother) on a regular basis. You know who you are, and I am so honored that you take the time to stop by. I consider each and every one of you my dear Blogland friends, and I treasure you all!


Please be sure to visit each of these wonderful, wonderful blogs, if you have not already done so. They are a feast for the eyes, mind and spirit!

Layers of history

I recently was driving down a busy suburban road, when I spotted a sign I had never seen before tucked along the side of the road. Revolutionary War Veteran? In Wisconsin? Wisconsin didn't become a state until 1848.

I had to find a place to turn the car around to see what that was all about.

There, in the middle of suburban sprawl, tucked among some large trees, was a little cemetery from long ago. I love such places. I love the trees, the old monuments, the history. These final resting places capture my imagination. Each person represented here had his or her own history of hopes, dreams, disappointments. A lifetime of days or many, many years.

But I never knew before that here, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, was the final resting place of a Revolutionary War veteran. Nathan Hatch, born in Massachusetts in 1757, died in 1847, he moved to Wisconsin in the 1840s. What a life he must have had!

Wisconsin isn't usually thought of when we learned about the Civil War, but we have our share of veterans from that war buried here, as well as someone who fought in the War of 1812.

I had no idea. I wonder how many people flying by in their vans and SUVs notice this little gem of history.

It really is a lovely peaceful place, hidden in plain view right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of modern life. And, unusual for these times, there really are oaks in Oak Hill Cemetery. Beautiful, tall oaks, providing cooling shade the day I stopped to walk among the markers.

Here's another interesting bit of information about Brookfield, Wisconsin. Did you know that Caroline Ingalls, the mother of author Laura Ingalls Wilder (LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE), was born in Brookfield in 1839? There is even a book about the years she spent in Brookfield, called LITTLE HOUSE IN BROOKFIELD.

Here is a picture of the real Charles and Caroline Ingalls, the parents of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

They don't exactly look like the Ma and Pa Ingalls we know from the television series, do they?

I really enjoy finding the layers of history hidden in the most unlikely places, don't you?

Thanks to all my wonderful Blogland friends who commented on my last posts, I do so enjoy hearing from you and reading your kind comments! And to all my American friends - I hope you have a safe, happy 4th of July weekend!