BEAUTY

Happy Birthday Jolie!

Before the face wipe!

...But still a sweetheart!

And the PINK ( not Pig) cupcakes were a big seller!

Thank you Miss M.!

Home Ec on the Prairie

PINK cupcakes. Bit of confusion at the end of the endeavor when it became clear that the advanced advert of what we were going to do was misunderstood. But, Gammy, said she: they are not pigs! Clearly I need to do a better job speaking The Kings English - which she does "quite beautifully".

For anyone seeing the photos and comments these three weeks, I ask you to indulge me in being the Constant Grandmother. I remain in awe of these little ones and remain firm in my opinion that being continents away from them is a cruel and unnatural thing.

There will be pictures and grandmaternal adoration up until their much too soon departure.

More V.

This miss is so engaging, so observing and so fast that it has been hard for me to get representative pictures of her. Last night I stuck my camera in her mama's hands, then it was passed on to Doo Dah ( every grandchild's fav! ) and this is the happy result.

ADORABLE V.

Super G.

Busy Days

Our kitchen has turned in to Crayon Central. One of V's favorite requests ( or demands, depending on circumstances ) is "Paypuh pees". G. prefers doing his coloring on furniture and is quite good at it.

M. is always up for coloring and drawing and ( we have not gotten to this yet) painting. The only exception so far was last night at the end of her first day at Kid's Ranch Camp. To use her mother's word, M was FRIED. We plunked her in front of a DVD and she fell straight away to sleep.

THEY ARE HERE!

SUMMER VISITORS

JACKSON WOMEN

One of the things I love about this place is that, while - sure, - ladies lunch, the default for getting together is a hike.

Flowers For Betty

Last Wednesday, at about this time in the afternoon we were returning from Nashville and from the funeral of my best friend, Betty. Because of the Parkinson's she was so cruelly afflicted with for the past four years,and most horrifically this past year, her passing was expected. Nevertheless, when that call that you never want to make or receive came, I was not prepared.

There is much, everything, that I could write here if it words had not abandoned me. I could write about travels together or funny stories (that perhaps only the two of us would find funny) or I could describe for you the some of the little pictures that pop up in my mind along with snippets of conversations. I could tell you about books, music and authors we both loved...even recipes. And definitely I could tell you about the love we both had for each other's children.

After a beautiful service at Christ Church, Betty was buried near a copse of trees in a field on the family farm. The casket was covered with flowers from her gardens that she so loved. There will be a stone and moss covered timber fence around the site and on the grave, friends will place wildflowers from their own gardens to grow in glorious remembrance of this very special person. Betty always had flowers around her.

I walked alone on Thursday, the day after the funeral, out past our cabin and on to the levee. I had not planned the walk to be about Betty. I walk everyday and as I left the house I expect I was just going on a walk. As I rounded the corner of the cabin however, I was ambushed by flowers, by grief and love and above all, I think, gratitude.

Betty would have loved her service, the burial, the gathering of friends - all of it, every minute, was so in honor of what and who she loved. And Betty would have loved the walk with me that morning. The wildflowers pictured here are from that walk and, while everyone of them felt that morning like a gift from my friend, they are here as my tribute to her. I am grateful beyond words to have been Betty's friend and to have her as mine.

Mary & Jim

By now these two are back in the steamy Southland, the snow behind them only a cool memory. Mary was here, where God summers ( but winters elsewhere!), for 3 lovely weeks with Jim joining her for the last one.

This picture was right before a 7 mile hike at The Rockefellow Preserve -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurance_S._Rockefeller_Preserve, a beautiful place that has often been pictured in part here.

The New Baby

Mother and baby doing fine.

Actually this baby was born in early June, probably near the wetlands by our cabin. The mama is a yearling and surely the baby that spent most of last summer here.