Last Day of March

Daughter-in-law, Sharon, and granddaughters, Brianna and Brooke are enjoying the Florida sunshine this week during spring break.  So happy they could get away and enjoy some fun time together.  Brooke posted this picture of her taken yesterday.

The background scenery is quite different from what I saw when I woke up in Michigan this morning!  All I could say was 'seriously?'

I spent yesterday putting my program together for the monthly assisted living tea.  The subject was Ireland, the Emerald Isle, so I purchased their treats while they were available at St. Patrick's Day and froze them so they'd still be good today.  The dark green bags are filled with various shades of green mint M & M's.

We started out with two tables for 11 ladies, and then had to set-up another table for five more ladies.  It was a good turnout today, and they were quite responsive.  Two ladies in the group were Irish, and one lady had been to Ireland twice.

When I got home my hubby was watching the NCAA Tournament games.  I sat down and watched the last few minutes of Duke Blue Devils vs. MI State game.  What a nail-biter.  No wonder they call it March Madness!  MI State won [barely] and will go on to the Final Four, so the guys in my family are very happy tonight!

[Internet Photo]

It's been a long time coming, but the water lines are finally going in on our church property at 30 Mile Rd. and Mound in Washington Twp.  Construction for our new sanctuary will begin soon.

Tomorrow begins a new month - April 1st.  Beware of any April Fool's Day pranks!  ;-)

Estate Sale Finds

Last Saturday after my hubby and I went out for breakfast, we stopped at a nearby estate sale. In the publicity photos I noticed a Scarlett O'Hara figurine. My presentation at the assisted living facility on March 31st will be all about the Emerald Isle. Even though the Gone with the Wind O'Hara family is fictional, I thought I'd begin with them since the movie is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.

This is the figurine I went for and purchased for $15.

The deceased lady of the house loved old movies and had so much memorabilia that I couldn't leave with just the figurine.  She had several Gone with the Wind commemorative plates and I bought three at $1.50 each.

She loved Shirley Temple too because she had several Shirley Temple dolls in their original boxes for $20 each [Dolls of the Silver Screen Collection].  I passed up the doll with Shirley wearing the red and white polka dot dress [Stand Up and Cheer] once before, so I wasn't about to leave her behind this time.  I also bought two pictures of Shirley Temple.

And this commemorative plate... [I left several more behind]

This book...

And lastly this figurine.  Here's hoping I'm asked to do another Shirley Temple presentation in the future.  ;-)

When I saw my grandson at the Wedding luncheon on March 16th, he gave me a framed [18 x 24] 1936 newspaper article about Shirley.  There has never been another child star as talented as her.  No wonder she's so loved.

I left the estate sale with $66 less than when I entered, but I got a lot of nice memorabilia for future presentations.  I think I'll pass on any more estate sales for awhile though.  ;-)

Thoroughly Modern Millie

As promised in yesterday's post, I'm sharing highlights from Romeo High School's musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie that my hubby and I went to see last night.  Our granddaughter, Brooke, was in the ensemble.

I had never heard of the play before so had to do some research.  The stage play is from a 1967 American musical-romantic comedy film.  The setting was the roaring 20's, and features a fiesty, young flapper named, Millie Dillmount, who plans to find a job as a stenographer in NYC, and marry a wealthy employer.  Even though she's fond of a penniless paper-clip salesman, she's determined to marry her boss, Mr. Graydon, at Sincere Trust.  In the end, she marries Jimmy [the assumed paper-clip salesman], who turns out to be a millionaire.  It was a very cute musical.

~ Brooke ~

By the way, she didn't cut her hair, and she isn't wearing a wig - her hair is penned up in back.  

[Brooke and Jerry]

[Brooke and Me]

She has a performance tonight and one tomorrow afternoon and then the musical will be over for this year.

Happy Spring!

Yesterday was the first day of spring, but you can't tell it by Michigan's weather yet. We've had gray skies with rain and even some snow flurries.  The temperatures have hovered just below 40 degrees, but flowers have blossomed inside. Below is a beautiful bouquet my daughter brought over for us to enjoy.  Love the pussy willows in the arrangement that definitely say spring.  I've seen and heard cardinals and robins, so I know spring is coming.

The general manager at The Whitney recently asked me what I thought about taking a tea party [tea, scones and pastries] to a local assisted living facility as a way of giving back to the community. I think it's a great idea, and the first one is scheduled for April 22nd.  It will give me an opportunity to share some of the information I've been gathering about the Whitney family who once occupied the beautiful mansion [particularly the Whitney women].

To make the traveling tea party a bit easier to facilitate, I ordered the pretty 'spring-like' paper teacups with saucers, and dessert plates, pictured below.

  

If you are planning a tea-themed party in the future and don't want to use china products, these are beautiful.  The teacups and saucers came from Amazon [Talking Tables Tea Party] $12.09 for a package of 12, and the coordinating places came from Etsy [Party Connoisseur] $7 for a package of 12 [plus shipping].

I can envision them sitting on a pretty pink paper placemat with a pink paper napkin, and silver plastic eating utensils.

On another subject, tonight is my granddaughter Brook's high school musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie.  I can't wait to see her in the performance, and you know I'll be blogging about it!  ;-)

That's Brooke in the burgundy dress in the lower right corner [above picture].  That's got to be a wig, because I can't imagine her cutting her long hair - even for the school musical!

A Belated St. Patrick's Day Treat

Before St. Patrick's Day arrived I bought a new tablecloth for the holiday, but with the weekend's activities I didn't get a chance to use it.  Kohl's had some nice table linens for St. Patrick's Day and Easter, and on sale too!

I saw two recipes for an Irish Apple Cake on the Internet, and decided to make one yesterday since I had the day off work.  One recipe was from the website 12 Tomatoes and the other was from the blog Home is Where the Boat Is.  I opted to go with the blog recipe.

We declared it a 'keeper'!

Another thing I've been wanting to make is Cauliflower Steaks [much more calorie friendly than Irish Apple Cake!].  I spent quite a while yesterday looking at recipes on line and watching four different YouTube videos.  I decided to go with the recipe from Health Food Shoppe because it had a delicious basting sauce.  I made them for dinner tonight, and they were soooo good!  I'll definitely be making them again.  Love my grill pan.

Dragonwell Green Tea [from Capital Teas] went perfect with both recipes.  Have you tried any new recipes lately?

Tea Time magazine has a Special Collector's Issue out right now called British Tea.  It'll be on the shelves until June 3rd.  I purchased my copy recently.  I visited two of the places featured in the issue during my 2015 trip - Highclere Castle and Ham House.  There are great recipes, beautiful pictures, and lots of good information in the issue, so make sure to look for it at your favorite magazine stand.

  

Wedding Luncheon

My daughter, Lori, got married on Valentine's Day, but the small, intimate wedding luncheon wasn't held until last Saturday, March 16th at noon.  At Lori's request the attendance was limited.

My hubby and I arrived at the golf club banquet facility at 11:00 a.m. to get things ready. The weather couldn't quite make up its mind what it wanted to do.  At one point, there were snow squalls, but by the time we left home the sun came out and blue skies prevailed.

Sign in foyer directing guests to the right room.

~ Our room set up for 30 guests ~

Centerpieces - which I gave away afterwards.

Steve explained the significance of the Unity Cross used in their wedding ceremony.

~ Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes to go with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream ~

And LOTS of pictures!

[Jerry & Me and Dave & Lori]

[Lori with her son, Brandon, and daughter-in-law, Venessa]

Our three children, Steve, Lori, and Jeremy

With their spouses - Sharon, Dave, and Samantha

 Brandon, Venessa, Lori, Dave, and his daughter, Ariel

Jeremy & Sam with kids - Isabella, Landon, and Ellie

Last, but certainly not least, my dear friend, Lori, and her husband, Rick.  Rick taught Dave in Sunday School when he was a Jr. High student, and they were both youth sponsors when our Lori was in a Sr. High multi-state bicycling group at church.  It was only fitting that they should be at the luncheon with us. 

We were missing a few family members, but those who came enjoyed the celebration.  Not included in this post are pictures of Dave's family members [siblings and their spouses, and nieces].  Both of his parents passed away in 2018, but were there in thoughts and memory.