Easter is early this year, April 4th. I’m ready! It’s really been cold here in South Carolina this year. No snow, not THAT cold. I’m so ready for warm weather that I’m trying to help it along by putting out my Easter decorations.

I spent five years in Germany where I went to a number of their Easter markets. I’m sure you’ve heard of their amazing Christmas markets, but did you know about their Easter ones? I had a goal of shopping my way through Germany and that included going to the Easter markets.

The Germans have some great crafts with hand carved items and suprisingly their Easter eggs. I have some made from wax, wood, stone and of course real eggs. They are sometimes hand painted, decaled and carved.

I have a very small family. My husband always teases me that my side of the family can have a reunion at the dinning room table and there will be a few empty chairs. That’s close to the truth.

The fact we are having a baby shower today is beyond exciting and wonderful. My nephew got married about 18 months ago and he and his wife are expecting a girl in April. With today’s craziness because of COVID-19 the shower will be via zoom. Since they live in Phoenix and I live in South Carolina it works out well for me. I might not have been able to attend a regular baby shower. This way I’ll be on the same footing as the other guests.

I have my “background” picture selected and ready for zoom. What do you think?

Growing up Valentine’s Day was one we always celebrated as a family. It happens to be my sister’s birthday. It would be the first time since Christmas my grandparents would come for a visit in the new year.

My maternal grandmother was a fabulous seamstress and she made a lot of my clothes and my sister’s. Birthday’s always brought  the latest fashion to be tried on and paraded in front of the family. The birthday girl had the lion’s share, but at least one outfit was given to me as well (this also happened in reverse on my birthday).

I remember one specific birthday when my sister was about fourteen. This would be in 1966. My sister received a fabulous red dress and black lace hose. It was prior to panty hose so a garter belt was needed. There are pictures which my sister must still have and won’t share. I can’t imagine why. Must have been the hairdo. Or was it the laughter whenever we ran across it in the past?

I hope you have a wonderful and memorable Valentine’s Day.

I’m sure most of you agree February can be a cold and unpleasant month. Living in the south makes it a bit less freezing than those in the north, however, it is cold — to us.

In a normal year — we haven’t had one of those in a while — snowbirds from Canada and folks from the northern states come here to get a respite from the snow. Not many visitors here this year due to travel restrictions. I don’t miss the traffic, but I do miss visiting with people — not just locals, but our vacationing friends.

Something I find encouraging is the change in the amount of daylight. An extra thirty minutes in the late afternoon seems like a heavenly gift. Well, I guess that’s exactly what it is. A sign that spring will be coming sooner rather than later.

One new thing I’m excited about this year — getting the vaccine for COVID-19. Who knew receiving a shot is something I’d ever be grateful to have? It means I’ll feel more comfortable returning to doing things that haven’t been normal in a year. Like shopping, not just for groceries, but for things I don’t really need. Those extras that bring joy like a new table decoration or garden flag.

Yes, February 2021 is still cold and rainy, but it’s also bringing the begining of the end of the pandemic. Let’s all be grateful.

Yesterday was Christmas. I hope and pray all of you had a blessed and healthy day. Better yet, I want the same for you during the next year. Please be kind to others and help when you can and be grateful for what you have. You never know what someone else is dealing with in their life. Smile to all and it will be returned to you ten fold.

This year has taken a toll on our nation and the world. Even if you don’t believe in Christmas please take a moment and pray in your way and if you don’t participate in that observance please send good thoughts to the universe in hopes this coming year will bring an end to the pandemic and other strife our nation and world has endured this year.

Have a wonderful year and happy life.

In a normal year we’ve enjoyed seeing our children then grandchildren sit on Santa’s lap and tell him their Christmas wish list. This year seeing Santa anywhere is uncommon. We all understand why, but it still makes me sad young children aren’t able to participate in this time-honored event. Like so many events they’ve been unable to enjoy this year.

One of our local restuarants has Santa visit each year and much to our surprise he did so again this year. None of the children sat on his lap, but he was there listening to their lists from a distance and wearing a face shield. We had our picture made — yes we took our masks off for the photo but we’d had them on until that moment.

This is one more event we all look forward to seeing back to normal next year.

As I mentioned in my previous post we spent Thanksgiving at my son’s house in Houston, Texas. Their neighborhood started a new tradition this year begining the Saturday after Thanksgiving. They set up a light display through their main thoroughfare. The display features the Twelve Days of Christmas. It also includes a Santa’s workshop where you can purchase hot chocoloate and some Christmas related crafts for children.

I took a picture of one of the displays so you can see what a wonderful job they’ve done.

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving in spite of the current restrictions. Although travel is not something I wanted to do I needed to have my six month checkup at MD Anderson in Houston following my cancer treatments.

Fortunately, our son lives in Houston and we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with him and his family. He has a fully equipped outdoor kitchen where he deep fried a turkey. It was my first time eating such a bird. It was absolutely fabulous! Even the white meat was juicy and tender. Lots of sides and great conversation finished off the meal.

Immediately following cleanup our son and his youngest boy went to their hunting lease. Waiting to hear if they are going to bring back a deer and hog as planned. His youngest is only eleven (soon to turn twelve) and already a seasoned hunter. He shot two deer and two hogs last year.

I hope you and yours enjoyed the holiday.

Three weeks ago I wrote about a Fall Festival I would be attending in Surfside Beach, SC. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for the event! A bit warmer than usual the temperature soared to 82 degrees with a nice breeze. My booth was in the shade and it was delightful both days.

All vendors except the bake sale were outdoors, everyone wore masks and hand sanitizer was abundant. I felt very safe and have not had any symptoms of the dreaded virus.

I wanted to share some photos of the stars of the show — no, not a specific vendor, but some adorable dogs people brought with them to the event.

November 11 is Veteran’s Day. I’m proud to say I have a number of people in  my family who have served and are currently serving in our Nation’s Armed Services.

My father served in the Army Air Corp during WWII. Then when the Korean War started the Army Air Corp became the Air Force where my father served again.  His father served in the Army during WWI.

My mother’s father was 34 years old when he was drafted into the Army for WWII. That was the oldest age for a man to be drafted during WWII. He spent three years in Europe which encompassed my mother’s three years of high school.

My husband and I met at Physical Training (PT) when he was active duty Army and I was in the Army Reserves. Ed retired after twenty years of service and I proudly served for eight years in the Reserves.

My nephew is currently serving at Ft. Hamilton, NYC as a Warrant Officer in the Army. He’ll be retiring in October 2021 after serving twenty years.

Hopefully your community has come up with some innovative ways to celebrate this normally fun-filled night for young and old alike. I’ve not dressed up for a party in several years however, I look forward to seeing the latest costumes as small and sometimes large trick-or-treaters arrive at my door. My light is always on — until the reasonable hour of 9:00 p.m. After that time the people ringing the doorbell are typically those who are a bit too old to appreciate my meager offerings of snickers and peanut butter cups.

I usually wear my Halloween socks, in spite of being the only person who notices them! Also I have something appropriate dangling from my ears for the occasion as well as fun nail polish.  This year I’m forgoing the nail polish since I forgot to buy anything in orange or black of the peel-and-stick type I’ve been using the past several months. Let’s not forget my green and black beaded bracelet with skulls and pumpkins along with the words Trick-or-Treat.

Have a Happy Halloween however you can!

As we all know COVID-19 has impacted almost every type of community event we have held in the past. The traditional Fall Festivals are no exception. Fortunately I will be participating in a local event that has been modified to meet the requirements of the CDC and those of us who are interested in still participating in a safe manner.

If you are in the Myrtle Beach area I hope you can join us on the 23 and/or 24th of October.

Friday October 23 & Saturday October 24
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Surfside UMC, 800 13th Avenue North, Surfside Beach
FEATURING:
120 crafters with unique handmade/homemade items
(outside only)
United Methodist Women’s Bake Sale, breakfast sausage
biscuits, cobbler, sloppy joe’s, & homemade candy sale
(in Fellowship Hall)
United Methodist Men’s Fish Fry Friday (11 am – sold out)
Food Court (outside) benefitting church missions,
ministries & programs:
Homemade meatball sandwiches; burgers; hot dogs;
nachos; fries; chips; drinks
free admission
Please wear your mask & social distance
CONTACT INFO
Anna Henry, Fall Festival Chair
Email: FallFestival@surfsideumc.org
Call/text: 843-790-4108

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about decorating for Fall. Until yesterday I only had my fall garden flag out. I’ve decided it’s time for Halloween decorations. I’ve switched the flag to Halloween and added my indoor decorations too.

I know I told you I wasn’t going to buy anything new this year. OK, so I lied. I couldn’t help myself. I found this realllllly cute pillow that was calling my name. How could I resist? After all, it sparkles!

October is not only known for Halloween, but also for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Last year this time I was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer so this is obviously a cause close to my heart. With this year being so different because of the pandemic there are virtual walks instead of the normal in-person variety. I’ll be signing up for one or two of those.

Also, I have a couple of items people gave me last year that I will proudly wear this month.

I hope you never experience having cancer. If you do, remember to stay positive and accept help from others. It helps a lot!

Normally the end of September is still too warm to think about decorating for Fall. At least here in South Carolina it is. This year is an exception. We’ve had some fabulously cool and dry weather which will change back to warm and humid next week. It makes me want to decorate!

So far all I’ve done is change out my garden flag. However, I did uncover my plastic bins of fall decorations. Mostly they are related to Halloween or Thanksgiving. Sorry, it’s still a little early for either of those options.

Should I buy more? No. Absolutely not. I’ve been trying to parse through all my decorations to make the number of plastic bins a lot smaller. I will not be tempted!

But they’re some really cute things out there. So maybe…