FAMILY LOVE

Hello and Happy Memorial Day!  It's about 56 degrees here in Michigan and pouring rain, but let's not let the weather dampen our spirit and pride for what today is all about.  Many thanks to all of the men and women serving our country.  Our flags are raised to you today!

Here in the Midwest, the weather around this time is very iffy...I can remember more rained out BBQ's on this day than any other.  We came to the lake to relax and that's what we're doing.  Yesterday my neighbor, Barb stopped over.  She filled me in on how her winter had been, what was new with her family.  Then she shyly said, "I turned 70 in February."  I think my jaw hit the floor.  All of our days here at the lake, the seasons, the years...they all seem like pages and chapters in a big book.  As the narrator, my voice never changes.  But yes, 23 years have gone by and when I met Babs she was just in her late 40's with a teenage son.  And she's just the same, wearing her old shorts and blue denim jacket to hide the dirt on her clothes from spending hours in her garden.  Her ash blonde hair now a pretty shiny gray.  The same big smile and twinkling blue eyes.  The Husband made hamburgers on the grill (under the roof of the patio as it was pouring), and she stayed for dinner with us.  Our friends at the lake are wonderful, rain or shine!

I wanted to share something with you that came by UPS last week.  I think all of you know how much I wanted to do a gallery wall.  Well, I just didn't have the room so I did those floating shelves that I posted about recently.  It still bothered me that I had so little space to display pictures and there aren't enough frames in the world for all the pictures I'd love to put out.  So I found this big iron grid thingy in my Napa Style catalog and I knew it would be perfect.

I have it in my family room, just the right place as it's all about family.  Like the years at the lake, it tells a story.  My children, holidays, pets, our good times...The pictures are held with metal clips, fifty of them, and of course you can swap them out any time you want.  Now, you know I'm not handy or extremely creative, but Melanie at Comfy House just posted the other day that she had saved the metal frame from her boys crib and was thinking of using it for something like this.  I hope seeing this gives her the inspiration to go for it!

The Husband and I were in downtown Chicago again for a doctor visit.  Now is just the best time to be out and about in the city.  We drove to an area called Old Town, not far from the neighborhood that I had my little studio apartment in back in ancient times. 

We walked the streets holding hands (yeah, we still do that!), and I snapped some pictures with my phone.  All the locals were out, running, pushing strollers, walking dogs, sitting at the sidewalk cafes.

We stopped here for an early dinner.  I love this place, we've been here many times.  It has a sort of Moulin Rouge atmosphere.  The Husband had salmon and I had chicken on a bed of roasted veggies with a buttery dijon sauce.  Delicious!

I snapped a picture of The Husband working on his "new" old fishing boat in the garage a little while ago.  He can spend hours playing with it.  Maybe someday he'll actually get it in the water.  

So, now I'm off to get things ready for lunch, shish kebobs on the grill.  We''ll probably come home tomorrow.  I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday doing what you love, with all those that you love!  See you later in the week!

XO,

Jane