the picture says it all

last day of winter break

vintage new years postcard (or... the more things change, the more they stay the same)

This postcard was sent from cousin Mary in Chicago to cousin Betsey in Kansas on December 30, 1916. It was the time of the First World War, also known as the War to End All Wars. (Well, that didn't happen.)



My Dear Cousin,
May this be a Happy New Year to you Betsey and all your Bairns. Hope you are prospering. We are all well and doing well. Santa was very good to us all. How are the children. Do write me a letter soon and I promise to ans(wer) soon. I suppose you have heard from Aunt Bennie lately. Robert Scott and Robert Proctor was killed in the war. R. Scott was only 20 years old. I only hope no more of our cousins are killed. I think it's time we had peace--write me soon. With love from Arnold & myself--Mary Gabriel.

Mary (I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I include her!) and I wish you a happy, peaceful New Year.

'tis the season

Wow, even Mr. Tumnus and Marble are exhibiting some good will and a little peace on earth...

Will it hold for 2010?

Merry Christmas!

This old postcard says it well:

Best Wishes for Christmas
To all the good and friendly foks
Who in your house abide,
The folks who live at our house wish
A Merry Christmas-tide.

The back says it pretty well too!

Hello everybody--
How are you all? We are well. How do you like this weather? There is quite a lot of sickness here. Wishing you a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!
Asa & Muriel

Along with Asa and Muriel, I'm wishing all my blogger friends a very Merry Christmas!

holiday happenings

On Friday we went to Portland to do a little shopping (key word: little), dinner at Jake's (key word: yum), and a visit to The Grotto, a Catholic shrine and botanical garden (key word: pretty). (BTW, the picture above was taken on our way back to a parking garage in downtown Portland.) The Grotto has had a Festival of Lights for many years, but this was the first year we actually got around to going to it. In addition to the Christmas lights, they have music performances, a petting zoo, and a puppet show. (Puppet show, not so good.) Anyway, it would have been perfect with a little dusting of the white stuff, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. (And I shouldn't complain due to the really nasty weather other parts of the country are experiencing.)

I did just finish reading about snow though -- in the book Christmas on Mill Street. Part of why I liked the book was that it is set during the winter of 1962, when the main character was nine years old. (I was six then). I'm usually up for a little nostalgia this time of year. Anywhoo, it's a warm 'n cozy, feel-good Christmas story which I would recommend if you're into that genre.

O Christmas Tree

Yesterday we went out in search of the quintessentially perfect Christmas tree.



This was not it:



At this time of year, it's important to slow down.
Take time to kiss the llamas...



Decorating...



Mr. Tumnus is in charge of monitoring water level and needle droppage.

holiday hoedown

It's that special time of year when Presbygal and I don our elf gear and do some holiday dancing. This year we invited a couple of swell guys -- George Clooney and James Taylor. Good times.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I'm baaaaack

After a bit of a blogger break, I am back! (Blogpals, I'll be checking in with your blogs soon!) We had a good Thanksgiving, although the time went by waaay too fast for C&D who had homework to do. Here's Christina with her anthropology project:



(Any guesses?)

And we had our 3rd Annual Thanksgiving Pie Fest with the Dust Bunny family. This year we all chose for our attire (or costume) something that represented Thanksgiving; a do-your-own-thing category. As for my family: Mike and I did a role reversal of the Normal Rockwell Thanksgiving painting (which allowed me to wear my grandfather's old suit!), my mom was a piece of pie, and C&D were pumpkins. The Dust Bunny family got into the spirit of things nicely too...

shiver me timbers

My mom went to a meeting tonight where Halloween costumes were encouraged. Being a good sport, she raided C&D's costume box and settled on the pirate look. Not to be left out, Marble donned his pirate hat too. (However, Marble, that lily-livered landlubber, did not go along to the meeting.)



I was hoping for a better picture, but I had one shot before Marble lost his patience.

the 4th and fleas...

It was great to have Offspring #1 & her boyfriend Doug and Offspring #2 & his girlfriend Tien home for the holiday weekend. Longview traditionally puts on a big July 4th celebration including parade, live music, fireworks, etc. (This year they had a cardboard boat regatta too.) We usually take time to go poke around the annual 'flea market' that they have down at the lake.

Here's a picture of the fearsome foursome at the flea market:



After seeing some of the things for sale at various booths, I decided I should hand out some 'awards' for the tackiest items.

In 3rd place is the Super Jesus baseball cap. (Who would wear this? And does it come with a cape?)



In 2nd place is the "real frog" purse. Gee, frog populations are declining around the world due to habitat destruction, pollution, etc. It seems like the last thing the poor frogs need right now is to be made into handbags. (Although I'm pretty confident this won't become a hot new fashion trend.)




And in 1st place is this vintage tin sign. Words fail me. It is just wrong on so many levels...

Happy 4th...

...from Garbage Puff (and, of course, me).



Garbage Puff is proud of his great-great-granddaddy, who you may recall was immortalized in a famous painting.

Happy May Day!

(click to enlarge)

On May Day I always think of Stevie O., my next door neighbor when I was growing up in the Dakotas. On May Days during the elementary school years, Stevie and I would leave baskets at each other's houses, ring the doorbell, and run like hell.



Being a tomboy I could usually outrun him. Although neither of us was really interested in actually catching or being caught. We were definitely just in the 'pals' category. We attended school together from kindergarten until my family moved in the middle of my junior year in high school. Along with the other neighborhood kids, we played kick the can and baseball during the summer and went ice skating and sledding during the winter. (Speaking of winter, Stevie was an absolute genius architect of snow forts.)

I've lost track of ol' Stevie over the years. Last I heard he was a Baptist minister -- I'm sure he would be a good one. If he ever surfaces via facebook or something, I think I'd be tempted to leave him a 'virtual' May Day basket! (Although a good hunk of the fun would be gone if you can't run like hell...)

---------------------------------------------------------
class picture from the '67 Ace yearbook; sketch from here

It's Easter...

...and I hope everyone has a very happy day.



Oh, and, Offsprings #1&2,
Rumor has it the Easter Bunny (pictured above) visited your apartments. Let me know how well the ol' bunny did at hiding your baskets.


----------------------------------------
vintage bunny from crafts.lovetoknow.com

happy valentines day

OK, the original wording of this vintage valentine (from here) was "Love me and the World is mine", but that just seemed a bit much! (Hmmm... well, now that I think about it, "Love my blog and the world is mine" seems a little over-the-top too.)

Anyway, hope everyone has a great day. The weather is supposed to cooperate, so Hubby and I are going on a hike. (We'll pack a lunch and it should be fun!)

MLK, Jr. Day

Tomorrow, of course, is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service when many Americans will honor Dr. King by doing volunteer work. According to the official website, "More than 11,400 service projects are taking place across the country, more than double last year. Americans will make it a 'day on, not a day off' by delivering meals, refurbishing schools, reading to children, signing up mentors, and much, much more."

I think that's great -- as opposed to, say, Columbus Day where the main thing that seems to be going on is that you can't get your mail. I wish I could say that I was going to be part of a cool service project tomorrow, but I have to go to work. I'll be doing a little of this:



and a little of this:



(However, I do have clothing donations I plan to drop off at Goodwill tomorrow after work. Does that count a teensy bit?)

-----------------------------------------------------
found the cartoons that made you groan via google images

Happy New Year!

I have but one New Years Resolution: To photoshop (and post) Presbygal once a month. January: check! Off to a great start.

Yes, there we were enjoying a little bubbly on New Years Eve. We looked angelic, didn't we?

Actually...
We had an especially quiet New Years Eve. We usually get together with the Dust Bunnies (for eating and board games which is also quiet but I digress)... but Mr. Dust Bunny was called into work so Hubby and I stayed home and watched a netflix movie -- The Holiday (with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, and Eli Wallach).

The plot, according to IMDB, is "Two women troubled with guy-problems swap homes in each other's countries, where they each meet a local guy and fall in love." It was cute.

After our roof troubles this past week I couldn't help but notice that the roof on Kate Winslet's quaint country cottage looked like it was about to cave in: But she didn't have any leaks, so go figure.

We did pause the movie to watch the ball drop at Times Square -- and I was happy to see Hillary setting that process in motion. Symbolism? I think so. (I had to say that to annoy Rev SS.)

Happy New Year, everyone!

white christmas

This is our first white Christmas here in the PacNW in a l-o-n-g time! There is a lot of snow on the ground, and it is currently snowing!

On Christmas Eve, even our icicle lights had icicles...





(top photo near our backyard by Offspring #1; bottom photo out our front door by me)

weekend checklist

* Offsprings #1&2 and the incomparable Mr. Tumnus home for Christmas break: check
* Hubby home from California: check
* House decorated inside and out: check
* Tree up and decorated and cat-proofed: check
* Presents bought: check
* Presents wrapped: partial check

And now it's off to bed (Offspring #1 & Mr. Tumnus are sleepy too...)

pic o' the day

My current feelings regarding the holiday season:





-------------------
yep, googled it

It's that time of year again...

...when Presbyterian Gal and I get on our elf costumes and dance! This time Robert Redford asked if he could join us, and of course we said yes...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards