A Funny Thing Happened......***

Mel Day's bouquet for the wedding on Saturday. Click to enlarge.

The wedding flowers that Mel asked me to do this week were different, in that the boutonnieres had to have pink ribbons on them - the breast cancer loops. I had never made any like that, but I found it was easy to adhere them to the bout by using a straight pin that had been cut off at an angle, so it would pin into the stem, but not go through the other side.

Two sisters in one of the families were diagnosed with breast cancer recently, and the men in the wedding party wanted to show their support. I thought it was a wonderful idea. The bouts were made of 2 green dendrobium orchid florets, with a sprig of green hypericum berries. The medium pink ribbons went well with the colors of the flowers.

I didn't work Saturday for delivery, since Mel had only one wedding and it was an easy set-up. Mr. kenju decided he needed to go to Confession on Saturday afternoon. He goes to a church other than the one he usually attends - I'm not sure why, but I always suspected that he would prefer not to let his current Priest know all his sins. I told my son this morning that his father had to go to Confession in order to tell the Priest how many times he had wanted to kill me since his he had last been there. I have a feeling that there is more truth than humor in that.

***On the Way to Confession....

So, cut to 2:40 pm, and we pull up in front of the church. It had started to rain, and mr. kenju lamented his lack of an umbrella - actually he berated me for not having one in the car. He, like his father before him, is convinced he will melt if one drop of rain touches him. But he walked into the church and I sat in the car reading. I knew there must be a wedding in the sanctuary, since there are never that many cars in the parking lot for Confession alone. About 20 minutes later, I see people filtering out of the church, dressed in wedding finery. Twenty more minutes, and a group of men all dressed alike in tan suits come out into the parking lot. I am looking at them and suddenly I realize - those are the bouts I made on Friday!! It was an A-HA moment and I laughed at the synchronicity of it.

Picking up the cell phone, I called Mel at the shop and we both had a good laugh. I had not taken a photo of the bouts on Friday, but I would have then, had I had my camera with me. Can you imagine how abashed those guys would have been if I had jumped out of the car with my camera and asked to take their pictures?

Quito, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Part 1

One of my children has just returned from a 15 day trip to Ecuador, including a cruise on a 108' yacht (The Beluga) throughout the Galapagos Islands (600 miles off the Pacific coast of Ecuador.) She took almost 600 photos, and is passing them on to me in small bunches. I promise not to make you look at all of them, and I'll try to choose the better ones. I didn't edit these at all, so you should be able to enlarge them by clicking on the photo.

Look at the size of these bottles, from one of the hotels in which she stayed. I should have put something in the pic for comparison, but they are over 4" tall and the diameter of a quarter. Most hotels I've stayed in give much smaller portions.

One of the many friendly animals she saw there.

One of the thousands of iguanas. I could swear they are smiling!



I know there will be better photos of these birds and their snowy white babies.

A sweet band of little angels, who received their First Communion on Saturday. Mr. kenju, Miss Kenju and I travelled a round trip of 250 miles on Saturday, to see (first) this youngest grandchild receive her First Communion. I can't tell you which one she is (her mother forbids it) but she was the cutest one! After the Mass and luncheon at her home, we got back in the car and travelled to the home of our son and his family. We saw a play, in which another granddaughter was a cast member. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.

It was a very long day for all of us. Mr. kenju was apprehensive about being in the car for so long a time. Since his stroke he has been a bit claustrophobic, so we had wondered how he would do in a crowded church. He was fine, since this church was large and not terribly crowded. I think we're making progress!

Our little one did us proud, and we were all happy when it was over. So........now that she is 8 years old, I need a baby to hold. I doubt if I'm going to get any more grandkids from the two who are married. I guess Miss Kenju needs to find a husband......and quickly!

(She says she doesn't read my blog, but I think she does and this might make her own up to it!!)

At Church on Sunday....

the youth minister gave the sermon, during which he read a letter that a high school senior wrote as part of his application to NYU. I wish I could quote the letter verbatim, but it was too long. The one part I do remember, which gave all of us quite a good laugh is:

" Years ago I discovered the meaning of life.........and forgot to write it down."

The funniest part to me was that the person who said this was only 18 at the time. Such is the problem with all sorts of ideas. We go about our daily activities; running errands, working, driving here and there....while all sorts of wonderful ideas (or weird ones, or fantasies) run through our minds, and we don't make a note of them. In some instances, I'm sure that's a very good thing! But remember, you might just be discovering the secret to life and don't realize it - so write down your ideas. At the very least, you'll have blog fodder. And who knows - maybe someday you'll solve all the world's problems.

I'm happy that I wrote down that quote!

Wedding Flowers and Windows

Duke Chapel, Altar Windows


Centerpieces from several of Mel Day's recent weddings

Blogger is now auto-saving post drafts, but until they write a post for me I will have to show photos, since that's all I have.....LOL. Have a good weekend!

Ephemera

This one's for Jennifer! (edited below)

This is the program for our church services on the day that my mom and dad joined that church.

Christmas Eve, 1939.

My parents were members here until their deaths, in the 80's and 90's. I was Christened and Confirmed here, and attended until I got into high school and decided I was too cool for church with my parents.

About three years ago, I started attending church again, and I realized how much I had missed having it in my life. Now I am a (semi)regular goer (is that a word?).

I should have remembered to tell you (Anna prompted me), this is the same church that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's baby Violet was Christened recently.