Ships Are Sailing

This photo comes from the Chebeague Island web site... Richard and I will be cruising out to the island today to play music with some friends at the FISHERMEN'S COUNTRY FAIR. We have a full day of activities before and after our trip to the island... including a baby shower for Justine, Forrest and baby Sam... and playing for the Family Dance at the Wescustago Hall in North Yarmouth this evening. If I'm really on my game today, there will be photos added to this post tomorrow!
Ships Are Sailing can be found in the Fiddler's Fakebook and the New England Fiddler's Repertoire... it's one of the tunes we practice for the dance.

Deer Walk

Deer walk all over and all around this property of ours. My sisters and I are planning on picking apples soon. The combination of apples and venison bring me to the topic of the day... mincemeat.
My grandmother, and my mom, have made mincemeat since I can remember. When I was younger I didn't care much for it, but like many other foods I have a much more discriminating palate for the finer foods... these days I LOVE a good mincemeat pie. This evening Richard and I had dinner with his mom and dad (shrimp casserole that I MUST get the recipe for) ... and for dessert, I was offered a piece of mincemeat pie made with green tomatoes. May I say, it was delicious! I've always had the venison version, but this was right up there with the best of the best, meat or no meat. Now, I've never made mincemeat myself, I've always taken advantage of the fact that others (thanks mom) know their way around a kitchen and a have a love of sharing what they bake. But, I'm seriously thinking that when Richard gets his deer this fall, I'll make mincemeat. I'm sure mom will be happy to share her recipe and also her tips for making it just so.
For today though, I'm happy to have sampled the 'vegetarian' version... and also happy to know I have a couple more pieces to enjoy over the next day or so! And yes Tonya, I will share some of my mincemeat pie with you at Club-E tomorrow :)
You can find Deer Walk in the Portland Collection.

Pam's Tune(s)

A challenge has been set forth! Our Tuesday night jam has evolved into a practice session for fiddlehedz & company... fellow musicians Jim (on fiddle) and Paul (on guitar) have been coming regularly and we've collectively decided that we want to play more in public... family and community events. So, we've come up with a nice list of tunes that we feel comfortable with... and started exploring others. Last night, Paul issued a challenge in the form of a "homework assignment" that each of us will come up with a set of tunes that we'll practice next week. This is very exciting for me because not only is it choosing a series of tunes, it means figuring out how they'll transition from one to another, what the introduction could be, where there could be individual showcase areas while the others in the group do backup, and anything else we can think of to make the set interesting to listen to AND fun to play! Richard and I have a few sets we've put together already, and we have a few put together years ago by Kathy and me... so we have some experience with the basics. I can hardly wait to get started... ideas are already playing in my mind!

Pam's Tune can be found in the Curvy Road to Corinth as well as in the Portland Collection (first volume).

Marble Halls of Learning

Whether it is taking a class for credit or picking up a "How-To" book at home, learning new information or skills is as important for adults as it is for children. A lot of the things I've learned to do over the years have been self-taught, or picked up from watching someone else... and I've also taken a lot of classes and courses over my adult life. Learning something new keeps our minds sharp and our attitudes open to new ideas and ways of doing things.
Sometimes I get lost in the thinking of what I want to do when I grow up, and I don't actually engage in the act of learning something new. Sometimes I get started but am not really interested enough to keep up the momentum.
I read recently that wherever it is you find enthusiasm, when you feel your heart soar with excitement over something that inspires you, those are the things you need to do more of. I think it's a good idea, to follow your passions... and see what new places and ideas open up to you!
Anytime is a good time to pick up a new hobby, join a group or class to learn, or to pursue a new aspect of an activity about which you are enthusiastic... fall offers opportunities to START NOW by taking an adult education class at the local schools, or a college class at a university... why not consider it today?
Marble Halls of Learning comes from Along the River.

Phone Call

Can you stand it? This little guy is the highlight of my life... well, next to Richard of course... oh, and when talking boys I have to also include Toby and B... and Dad... oh the list goes ON and ON... but you get the idea... Avery is the leader of the pack these days.
We got this kitchen set FREE at one of the neighbor's houses this weekend... they had bicycles, a portable closet, a bouncy horse and other items. I picked up the kitchen set-up and a Little Tikes plastic picnic table that Avery LOVED! He kept picking up the telephone and having little conversations :)
Avery carries on conversations even without a telephone... he knows a good amount of ASL (American Sign Language) for an 18 month old child... thanks to the constant input from his mom! (GOOD WORK JEN!) He also has some 'home signs' which are signs he learns by doing... not necessarily ASL... my favorite of these is 'bug' which he signs with a swatting motion as though a fly were trying to land on his face! Jen would brush away mosquitos/gnats/etc and say "bug, bug, bug" and Avery learned that swatting his cheeks meant "bug" hahaha... The funny thing is ASL sign may indeed be something very similar to swatting a bug off the cheek :)
Avery thought the lobsters at Gram and Gramps 50th anniversary party were 'bugs' and he'd scrunch up his nose and say "eeyuuuwwhhhhh"... and then he'd sign/say "bug, bug, bug" while swatting at his cheek... very funny!!! He even thought the stitches on my thumb was a bug!
Good news is that even though the end of my thumb is still numb/tingly I am much more comfortable, going without the bandage, scheduled for suture removal, and ABLE TO PLAY A BIT OF FIDDLE FOR ONE OR TWO TUNES... yahooo... I can't even describe how good it feels to pick up the stick and scratch out a couple of tunes that are in my head!
The good thing about this glass splinter and its surgical removal? My priorities are gaining perspective... The family weekend has been a huge success and I realize more than ever how important my mom and dad, my sisters, my daughter and grandson, my boys... and my wonderful HUSBAND are to me... and I also realize how MUCH I MISS FIDDLING when I can't do it! The fiddling I especially miss is the 'pick-up-and-play-at-home' tunes and looking forward to the jams... I want to do more barn dances, farmers markets, and community stuff. I wanted so bad to play at mom and dad's this weekend with Kathy and Richard... just could not be. Another time.
Oh yeah, Auntie Jo is so impressed with Avery's knowledge of ASL that she is on her way home to Virginia to introduce it to her daughter Tasha and grandson Bailey! Great demonstration Avery!
Phone Call is from Larry Unger's Reckless Reel.

Just Cook Enough For Yourself

I stepped out of my comfort zone this morning... on a subject about which I struggle personally... and with someone very close to me.
The subject is accountability and integrity when rules for safe work practices are not adhered to by a team of co-workers... and one person assumes responsibility for "making sure it all gets done".
Here's the story, names changed to protect the innocent/guilty/unassuming.....
Carol, Denise, Mary and Claire all work in a healthcare practice that is owned and operated by a licensed professional. They've all been told that over-time is no longer allowed and that their work must be completed without putting in more than 40 hours per week. Carol, Mary and Claire have no problem with that... they are happy to show up at the required time, take their hour lunch, and to leave at the end of the day. Denise is having a problem getting all her work done in the allotted amount of time. There are supplies and instruments to sterilize and put away, charts to write notes in, treatment areas to clean, disinfect and prepare for the next work day, and the schedule to review. All four women have a treatment room and a specific area of the practice for which they are responsible, but if the end of the day comes, and Carol's, Mary's or Claire's work is not done they leave... so they don't go over the 40 hour limit. Denise stays and finishes so that the next day will go smoothly for everyone... and she typically puts in more than 40 hours because of this. The licensed professional has requested that the phones be answered through the lunch hour, that all work be completed, and that the practice be ready for operation every day... but he refuses to acknowledge that Carol, Mary or Claire are neglecting to complete key tasks and that Denise is picking up the slack. When Denise came back from vacation, she opened the office on Monday morning to find the alarm had not been set, the computers had not been shut down, dirty instruments left uncleaned, and treatment rooms unprepared for clinical procedures. This only confirmed in Denise's mind that she was the only one who was being responsible for getting these things done.
That's the scenario... in a nutshell. Denise feels her time is being taken for granted, that no one else cares, and that she is the only one who can get the job done and done right. HIPAA and OSHA rules have been compromised... rules that the entire team has been trained to uphold. Ultimately the licensed professional is responsible for that, but Denise has taken the responsibility of it all upon herself.
What would you recommend to Denise?

Golden Legs

The famous Davis sisters "leg"-acy lives on...

Golden Legs comes from the Portland Collection, Volume Two.

Come Dance and Sing

This has been a great weekend ... our home has been filled with laughter, stories, food and love. Jen and Avery spent a couple days and an overnight with us... Joline & Danny have been with us for the weekend too. Avery had such a good time with his cousin Gavin... and all his aunts and uncles... it has been a wonderful opportunity for him to get to experience the wonder of our family gatherings... plenty of hoop-hoop-hoop-lah.

We spent Sunday afternoon and evening at my mom and dad's helping them pre-celebrate their 50th anniversay (which happens in November) with a lobster feed... lobsters, clams, corn on the cob, potato salad, broccoli salad, beans... homemade ice cream and blueberry cake... munchies and plenty of beverages! We all donated photos for Wendy to compile into a slide show (great job!); put together a CD of songs from 1956 (with a few 'current' songs at Joline's recommendation!); made a lottery ticket bouquet and generally just had a good old time remembering things from the past 50 years... how fun! The best part of all? Now we have another memory to add to the list.

We all got to talk to Sam as the phone got passed around. Sam is in the Army, currently stationed in Iraq... his brother Ryan is also serving our country overseas... we miss them and the other family members not able to be present today. The slide show included photos of everyone which helped me feel some connection with those who are away.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad.

More celebrations as November gets closer... but this early anniversary bash was special because all five of us girls were able to be together with mom and dad.

Old Time

Learning how to do things 'the old way' has been a huge part of the past fifty years. My mom and dad fostered an interest in researching and preserving time-honored traditions in and around the home... and that interest is carried on today in a lot of the activities my sisters and I are involved in. Home gardening, canning, freezing and preserving foods... game hunting to put meat in the freezer for winter. Cutting, splitting and stacking firewood. Quilting, knitting, and sewing. Painting with oils and acrylics, sketching with charcoal. Fiddling, playing guitar, singing. Storytelling.
When we were growing up we raised sheep for the wool and spun it into yarn... my grandparents demonstrated this at the Norlands. We got fresh milk from a local farm and churned the cream into butter. We learned to sew by hand and made most of our doll clothes (old shower curtains make fabulous rain coats) and furniture (open tuna fish cans carefully to leave about an inch of lid still attached, bend lid up, stuff the can with fabric or stuffing and then 'upholster' as desired). We made up games like "pick"and "other girls". We drew, we sketched, we wrote poems and stories. We took part in 4-H and hung out in the exhibition halls at the fair. We dried beans and apples in the top of the garage.
Our world these days is pretty fast paced, and we make choices and compromises in the name of being practical with our time and resources... but the lifestyle of the old days is never far away.
Thanks mom and dad for encouraging us to experience the old-fashioned ways of life!

Nature

My sisters and I grew up appreciating nature. We spent much of our childhood outdoors playing and exploring our world whether it was in our own back yard or on one of our vacations.
Making trails in the "little woods"... the little woods were directly behind our house and were really just a tree covered knoll. Beyond that was a field, and even further back were the "big woods" with tall, dense trees. The big woods were off limits to us, we thought we could get lost forever. But, the little woods were ours and we spent many hours of our summer vacation pretending to live there. One early morning, Debby and I decided we would run away and see how long it was before anyone noticed our absence. We climbed out the downstairs bedroom windown onto the bulkhead with our little bag of food and high-tailed it into the little woods, down one of our trails to a spot near the sandpit. We hung out there for a little while, who really knows how long... and then climbed back up over the bulkhead into the house... certain that no one had even missed us... oh well, back to life in big family!
Those days playing out in the little woods, or sifting through sand at the ocean, or watching the water tumble down the stream at Baxter... all these experiences have molded my sisters and me.
Thanks mom and dad for instilling a love and appreciation of nature in your daughters.

Family & Friends

,
All of us have our personal friends, those individuals with whom we connect and stay energized for creative projects... and that's great.
I have Robin, my very best, longest known friend... I met her under the lilac trees between my grandparents' (grammie and grampa down) house and her grandparents' house... I also have my children, three very important people who know me the VERY BEST of anyone in the whole wide world because, as Toby says, "have known me for thirty years or more".

My mom and dad are each other's best friend. They are what I aspire to in my relationships, whether with my children, co-workers, sisters, or my husband. My mom and dad have always been 'there' for one another. Whether it has been career growth or change, personal interest, family responsibilities... my mom and dad have supported each other 100%+ ALL THE TIME. I admire them for their commitment to family and friends, and mostly to each other... they have always come across as a united ENTITY no matter what the issue, situation, or opinion. That isn't to say that they don't have their own ideas on any given topic, but when it comes right down to it, they are TOGETHER... and that is an unbeatable force.

Thank you mom and dad for the ideal of what a true partnership can be.

I know that for me, I have friends at work... but my true (I can count on these people no matter what) friends are my family... mom and dad, sisters, and children... they are my biggest cheering section, and I want to be theirs in return.

Grandparents

I have different memories of my grandparents, grammie and grampa down (remember? they lived down the road) and grammie up (she lived up-town).
Grammie and Grampa down were fairly stoic and utilitarian in their lifestyle and their communication styles with us grandkids. I mean, they were solid and their values are very close to the ones I hold today... but they weren't all 'huggy' and 'cuddly'. They set up tv trays in the living room for us to use while the adults sat at the big table talking French... they worked hard gardening, woodworking, cooking and their house was IMMACULATELY clean and tidy... that's where I learned to play Hi-Q and that rocks had different guts and names... that's where I first learned about plucking eyebrows... and that's where I met my first 'best friend' who maintains that title to this day. Grammie and Grampa down were solid.

Grammie up had a different sort of lifestyle, and I recognized it as one that (though I loved her dearly and she influenced my adult life in special ways) I didn't really want for myself. I love remembering that we went over there on Sundays for dinner after work. And when I make a great, hearty, meaty spaghetti sauce I love thinking that I'm following her example of throwing in EVERYTHING possible... when I bring leftovers to work I tell them it's her recipe :) She taught me how to wrap Christmas gifts ( I think she might have just been having me do her 'dirty' work, but I still remember her everytime I fold wrapping paper or place a piece of tape), and how to have a room ready for company (there was a twin bed ready for whenever uncle Buster came to visit). She also introduced me to her circle of 'alternate' family connections, and I loved how she always had someone to visit (taking me along) or someone who would come to call while I was there.

My mom and dad have been wonderful grandparents... I'm sure they've learned from their parents and probably from generations before that. My great-grandfather (my mom's grandpa) suffered a stroke when I was VERY young, and for so many years I thought he'd been struck by lightening... so it is with children and their limited understanding... they make things be whatever it is that they know...

I love being a grammah, I love that little Avery is a part of my daughter, and really, a part of me... I love that the energy from my mom and dad and their parents is carrying through him to future generations... I anticipate the day that I have more grandchildren, but I've also learned to 'live in the moment' and enjoy A for all that he is...

Thanks mom and dad for being an inspiration as grandparents!

Trick or Treat

As we were growing up, we learned to use what was at hand and celebrate with our hearts. Halloween was no different. I remember raiding every closet and drawer in the house to find 'creative' things to use as costume. The five of us girls would help each other, working hard to find just the right thing... and almost always there would be a princess, a hobo, a pirate, a ghost, and goblin... the only thing that really changed much is who got to be which character!
We trick-or-treated for UNICEF with our church youth groups, raising money for children's projects. Mr Wentzel, who lived down the road and sold produce from a tv tray would not donate to UNICEF, he didn't think it was right to be begging for money like that. Still, we took part in that annual money raising campaign, we just didn't go to Mr Wentzel's house!
One year, I remember going trick-or-treating around the East Livermore circle where Grammie and Grampa lived, and the house across the street (the Nichols' homestead) became engulfed in flames later in the evening. Now, I'm not exactly sure if that was on Halloween night or not, but in my mind that's when it happened. The Nichols' didn't seem quite as well off as we were, maybe because they seemed a bit unkempt when we picked them up on the school bus or something... just an image in my mind. Seems most images of the past for me get categorized as something that was tidy or untidy... and so in my adult life I strive for tidy so I don't get put in someone else's category of untidy!
Trick-or-treat also brings on another special day, my dad's birthday which is November 1st. Somehow, bad or not so bad, it seems that trick-or-treat always seemed a bigger holiday (sorry dad, but I'm being honest here) as we were growing up... as adults I think we place great importance on celebrating his special day!
There were many Halloween's that I remember having snow, sometimes snowbanks. We'd put on all this costume stuff, scarfs and props to signify the characters we were representing, makeup on our faces and hair put up somehow... all to be covered with parkas, scarves, hats, and mittens... harumph... I think it's still fairly cool the end of October these days, but I haven't seen a significant amount of snow in years!
Thanks mom and dad for grand memories of Halloween.

Summer Trips

Every summer we'd take a family vacation, and they were a wonderful part of my memories of the past 50 years. We'd almost always go camping... an affordable and family centered activity that we perfected over time.

My dad built this amazing camper trailer for hauling all our tent-camping gear. It was made like a big box on a trailer axle, and had all these compartments for various things. The tent had its own space. The cots and folding lawn chairs were kept in another. The campstove was stored in a space that hinged in such a way that when open, it created a countertop of sorts with everything handy. Other compartments held things like lanterns, tarps, and cookware. We had various cars over the years, and we'd all just pile in with our clothes, sleeping bags, food and then haul this trailer along behind. When we arrived, in very short order all the doors would open, things would be taken out and set up, and there we'd be ready to camp.

Oftentimes we'd go for a weekend trip fairly closeby, leaving on Friday afternoon when dad got home from work. Mom would have spent all day keeping us on task with chores while she'd get all the gear together. But, in additon to those weekend jaunts, we had fabulous TRIPS that would last a week or two. The most memorable for me were year after year at Popham Beach... our two week trip to Prince Edward Island... the camping trip to Chain of Ponds with Grammie and Grampa when we got there without silverware, and Gramp and dad carved forks and spoons out of branches!... Campobello Island... the summer camping at Canton Lake was especially great because we only went home once a week to weed the garden and wash the laundry... Baxter State Park with the swinging bridge (that plagued me for years until I went abroad and got myself past the fear of being swung off!).

Campfires, hiking, swimming, the wax museum (dad actually started talking to the receptionist who turned out to be a wax figure), the beached dolphin, riding bikes through the campgrounds, five cots lined up side by side in the tent, eventually graduating to a pop-up-camper... how we loved family camping trips.

Thanks mom and dad for instilling a love of camping, a sense of adventure, and the skills needed for 'making do' when you find you've left things behind...

Chores

Chores have always been a regular part of any day. We grew up knowing from an early age that there were certain things that needed to be done, there didn't need to be any discussion about it, and that they needed to be done before we even THOUGHT of doing anything else.
The garden would be weeded before going to Bear Pond for an afternoon of swimming. The lawn would be mowed before we drove into town for ice cream. Dinner dishes would be washed, dried and put away before the television shows came on. Beds would be changed and rooms tidied before going to roller skate on Saturday mornings. It was just how things were done in our house. Even when we were camping, the chores were done before the day of fun and discovery began... sleeping bags neat and tidy, tent swept out, breakfast dishes taken care of and the campsite put in order.

It's made for an orderly lifestyle as an adult... an almost unconscious need to multi-task the chores early on so that we can relax and enjoy the 'play time' we set aside... it's like that for my sisters and even for our children... I know some of that is genetic, but I believe a lot of it is ingrained behavior through the generations. I wouldn't have it any other way!

The best thing I've found is that if the chores are too tedious and unpleasant, there's a way to eliminate them from my adult life... and the chores that remain have an element of joy in the doing that makes them a happy part of my life... and I get to choose which ones I want to keep or not! Obviously there are still a few things that are not high on my 'want-to-do' list', but they still are not that bad, mostly because of the early training. Even chores like collecting fiddle heads becomes fun when done in good company on a sunny day!

Thanks mom and dad for teaching us the value of keeping up with chores... and making the work fun whenever possible.

Music

Music has been a big part of the past 50 years for my mom and dad... and therefore for my sisters and me!
My mom played the autoharp and sang for Sunday school. My dad sang at the breakfast table on the weekends ("Good morning to you, Good morning to you, We're all in our places with bright shiny faces, Good morning to you..."). In the fourth grade my sisters and I each had the opportunity to try out a musical instrument through the program at school... I chose clarinet, then flute. School plays and choral concerts were ongoing for the five of us. I also had the opportunity to take piano lessons, that opened up another world of music to me... even though I did not continue with lessons in high school, I had somehow retained the love of playing and enough technical knowledge to pick it up again on my own... at least enough to pick out a tune and the chords! As an adult, my sister Kathie played guitar and taught me the basics. From there, it was quite a few years later when I found contradancing and really got hooked on the fiddle, which is now my main interest for music (though I still like to dabble in guitar, mandolin, bodhran, piano, harmonica and maybe even in the banjo)... it all started with Sunday school and 4th grade band instruments.
The other memory of music is my mom and dad waltzing in the kitchen to the Righteous Brothers... to this day whenever I hear Unchained Melody or You've Lost That Loving Feeling, all I see is my mom and dad in each others arms... very sweet!
Thanks mom and dad for supporting and encouraging all the music that has been introduced to us over the years.

Christmas

Christmas was a very special season growing up in our household. We celebrated in many ways... the Christian elements as well as the commercial elements.
We grew up attending the East Livermore Methodist Church, as part of the Sunday School program and also as the mainstay of the junior choir! I remember all of us sitting in a row, taking up most of a pew with mom and dad at either end. Pageants and choral presentations were just a regular thing during the holiday season. We celebrated with the Advent wreath, hanging of the greens at home and at church, potluck suppers, making gifts for one another, baking all the special holiday treats and visiting relatives during the month of December.

Some of my favorite Christmas memories include going to Nana and Johnny's where we'd almost always get a FABULOUS game (like Mouse Trap or Operation) and often times clothes. We'd visit Grammie and Grampa Randall (aka Grammie and Grampa 'down' because they lived down the road) where we'd get our new mittens, and Grammie Davis (aka Grammie 'up' because she lived up-town) where we'd get to see the silver tree change colors as the wheel turned and play with things like the snow skiing Santa. Santa, by the way, was a real entity until I reached 6th grade and found the 'list' with all our names and various gifts... my first reality check into the world of "grown-up". We got Barbie's, Tammy's, Skipper's and Dodi's... we got Ballerina's, Chatty Cathy's, Susie's, and Thumbelina's... we got blankets and sweaters, mittens and skis, sleds and games... and we got lots of love.

Needhams and meat pies are still a favorite staple of our bigger family gatherings, reminding us of all the celebrations over the past 50 years. New traditions emerge with our own children these days, for my family it's "Eggs Benedict with Holiday Sauce" because when the kids were growing up they didn't quite get Hollandaise but they KNEW what a holiday was and that's when they'd get this treat! To this day, Hollandaise is synonymous with a special holiday (that includes the kids coming home to visit no matter what day it is!)

Paper chains, homemade ornaments out of tin cans, origami stars with glitter... all reminders of days gone by as we forge ahead with memories for the future.

Winter

Winters were such fun when we were growing up. One of our favorite activities was jumping in the snow. We had a big maple tree in the front yard that we could easily climb up into, especially in the winter because it was beside the road and the plow would mound up HUGE piles of snow... we could just about walk onto the bottom branches!
But, the absolute favorite jumping-in-the-snow-place was off the shed roof in the back yard. The snow would slide off the roof and make for easy access on the back side of the building, then we'd climb to the front (higher) side of the shed and JUMP off into the snow... and do it over, and over and over... all five of us! We felt so brave when we'd take that leap into the air. .
Other winter activities were tunneling in the snow, sliding down the little-woods-hill out back on flying saucers, building families of snowmen, and ice skating on our little frog pond. Our ski-doo trips were quite a scene... dad driving the machine with Joline riding behind him... a toboggan attached with mom and three more daughters riding in style, and a flying saucer with the fifth child acting as caboose. We rode through much of East Livermore for a few winters, laughing all the way!
Later years found us skiing at Spruce Mountain, still operating with its series of tow ropes. Ah, memories of winters past, mom and dad with matching ski sweaters, rows of rubber boots and heavy socks, red cheeks and runny noses. And always, when we came back in from the cold, there would be a wood fire going, fresh milk or cocoa, and something yummy from the oven to warm our bellies.
Winters today still bring back memories of growing up in a close family here in Maine... thanks mom and dad for the memories you built over the last 50 years.

The Virginia Reel

Joline and Danny are here for the weekend, hooray! They had a good trip from Virginia to Maine, arriving earlier this morning for a visit with mom and dad before coming to Wayne. They're finishing up some work projects... we're really lucky to have Richard's fully functional home office to receive faxes and get wireless high speed internet.

We're planning a bonfire for this evening for anyone who's able to come... and we'll repeat the bonfire tomorrow night. Continue to check back for ongoing reports of the days activities, gossip, and maybe even a story or two...

(half) Century Reel

This weekend is full of plans for festivities surrounding our celebration of mom and dad's fiftieth wedding anniversary... so posts over the next several days will have photos and thoughts of our family over the past half century.

All the famous Davis Sisters will be in attendance... Joline is arriving this morning from Virginia with her husband Danny... I'm so thrilled to have them staying with us! We'll be gathering off and on en masse and in small groups as we prepare for THE BIG EVENT which will be a lobster cookout at mom and dad's on Sunday afternoon.

As for this morning, I'm off to do a few errands before things get kicked off...

stay tuned as things happen and photos and stories get posted!