One Fantastic Week

Daughter Kate drove down from New Jersey for a week, and grandson David came over to spend five nights with us. One of the first photos I took was of the two of them playing games on their phones to relax.

David has friends who are into gardening, and he has learned a lot from them. He was given a half-dead rose from work and planted it in my garden. With loving care, it should revive and thrive. Together, he and Kate put in some cactus plants from her house in a different area.

All three of us adore pork barbecue sandwiches, and the closest BBQ restaurant to my house was one of our first stops for lunch. Kate tried out the huge chair by herself and invited David to join her. This was accompanied by lots of laughter.

David, with his long arms, took a selfie of us with our barbecue.

Daughter Lise sent a special jigsaw puzzle here and instructed us to work it. The pieces range in size from huge to normal. It is meant for family participation, with children working the big pieces while adults put in the small ones. I put together the large ones, which were easy for my old eyes. Kate worked the next smaller pieces, and David rapidly did the normal ones. It was lots of fun. We did it in one standing (not one sitting).

One afternoon the younger two began trimming the Wicked Wisteria on the pergola. Kate steadied the ladder and carried the branches to a pile near the house, while David wielded the loppers. The longer branches had been grabbing at my hair for weeks. In the photo, Kate pulled cut branches down as David straddled the ladder.

The next day they finished the job and posed with the pile of branches. This area has been quite dry, so a burn ban is still in effect. Those branches will sit there until they dry out and I am allowed to burn them.

On Mother’s Day we went to David’s church for the main service. We met a number of his friends at the coffee hour and didn’t need to rush home because of hunger. I had prepared the chicken casserole and lemon/lime salad the day before while they were dealing with the wild wisteria. We ate on the porch, having the casserole, carrots, salad, and chocolate ice cream. Shawn had given me a Mother’s Day balloon, which Kate placed near me wherever I was. I felt like royalty, with a special status balloon always in attendance.

David went back to his house, and the next day Kate drove home. I enjoyed following her with an app that showed her icon moving along the highways. We talked on the phone a couple of times, and I could tell her that a large bridge or big interchange would be coming up. She reported that the rain stopped after she drove several hours, and she kept me informed about traffic. The trip usually takes about 10 to 12 hours. I used that time to go through the photos I had taken and to write about this very special week.