BUBBY

I love this picture of Becca.  It shows her beautiful smile, and she is ALWAYS smiling!  Bubby has been her nickname since the day Jared first tried to say Becca and Bubby was as close as he could get. And it seems to suit her.  It is a nickname she has never out grown.

The other kids had childhood nicknames as well.  Rachel was Jojo for many years, having called herself that when she couldn't pronounce "Rachel" as a toddler. Jared was "Jaybird" and "Banks".  The "Banks" came from the fact that Rachel and Becca were always singing show tunes from all the musicals they watched on video growing up.  During a Mary Poppins phase the girls would sing the song where the two kids are sending a letter and signing it "Jane and Michael Banks". Chuck quickly realized that Jared Michael fit right into the lyric and started calling him "Jared Michael Banks", and Banks he became. 

Rachel and Jared's nicknames faded with time, but somehow "Bubby" has stuck.  And not just with family, but a lot of her friends call her that as well. It just seems to fit.

Even though her given name is Rebecca, we purposely called her Becca from the start. We loved that derivative, and also because we hated "Becky" and knew that others would shorten her name, so at least we wanted it shortened to something we liked.  She has always preferred to go by Becca, never using Rebecca. She finds it amusing that Chuck will introduce her to others as "my daughter Rebecca" when he never uses her full name any other time.

We have never quite decided whether Bubby is spelled with a "y" or Bubbie with an "ie" like a little Jewish grandmother.  Mainly because we never write it at all, it is always spoken.  When we write we refer to her as Becca. But, she'll always be our Bubby!

A NEW ADVENTURE

GARDEN DELIGHTS

I have decided to start another business selling my garden art.  I have spent the last 2 weeks traveling to every farmer's market in King County to figure ways to sell my wares, who my competition is, if any, and what kind of pricing the market will bear.

I have never considered myself artistic.  Creative? Maybe.  Artistic- never. However, I am having so much fun making this stuff, that I just can't stop. Besides, what could be more fun than browsing through thrift stores looking for the raw materials?

When I totally sold out of my garden art at my garage sale, I realized I was on to something.  As I have visited the farmer's markets I have found only one other person doing the same type of garden art from upcycled vintage glass.  But she uses only clear glass for her totems.  She also makes wind chimes and bird feeders, not the bird baths and ceramic flowers or potted chairs, so we have a slightly different niche.  Plus she only vends her wares at the Redmond Saturday market.  There are at least 12 other markets in the county- every day of the week except Monday.

We spent the weekend putting up and taking down our 10x10 ft sun shade that I need for my booth. It was not easy.  It took 4 of us to put it up and take it down.  I also spent some time figuring out how to attach 25 lb weights to each corner so that the wind wouldn't blow it away (required by the markets).

Today I spent the entire day on the internet ordering business cards, setting up a business email account (gardendelights@comcast.net), getting a banner ordered with business name for the front of my booth (also required by the markets) and working on setting up a website to feature my products.

Until my website is operational I will continue to post pictures of my latest creations here. 

 

 

 

 

These flowers are so fun to make.  I love the creative process of coordinating colors and patterns.  After you glue 4 plates together, the resulting flower is pretty heavy and it has taken quite a bit of trial and error to figure out how to attach them to a stake.  I started out with a threaded rod/nut combination, but the success was hit and miss.  Some stayed glued together and others fell off.  Even the ones that stayed connected were pretty fragile and had to be handled by the stake only.  If you tried to put pressure on the flower itself to shove the stake in the ground you would break the connection. As always, a search on Pintrest offered me various other suggestions to try. And I have.  All of them. I think I pretty much have the hang of it now.

I FLY

I flew, actually, Becca and I flew. For my 60th birthday present from Becca she paid for me to go indoor sky diving. It was a blast!

 

 

Here we are all suited up and ready to fly in the wind tunnel directly behind us.

 

 

See- he's not even touching me.  I am levitating!!

 

 

I am not really smiling- its just the wind blowing back my flapping cheeks.  Every one who knows me, knows I do not smile. Nearly ever.

 

Becca's turn. She is such a lightweight and so flexible that the wind blew her into a "V" shape. He is telling her to lay flatter.

 

 

When she flattened out she starting going up and took the instructor with her.

 

 

PICNIC IN THE PARK

All of Ruthe Young's progeny (with the exception of Rachel & kids) gathered at Kelsey Creek Park on Sunday for a family picnic. It was a gorgeous day, the surroundings were beautiful and the company entertaining. We got together to wish Harmony well on her new job and move to Spokane, WA in a couple of weeks where she will be teaching middle school music classes.

We had fun laughing over old photos of another family gathering taken back in the mid 70's. We wandered the farm and admired the piglets and chickens.  We observed a parrot being taken for a walk in a stroller. Alaric used the "chuck it" to throw the ball for my dog Dunn to retrieve. Mostly we soaked up the sun and caught up on everyone's activities.

We also admired one another's taste in clothing and sun glasses.

BEST DAY EVER!

Vintaging.  My version of antiquing, and Becca and I spent all day Saturday doing it. We started early with a stop at our favorite french pastry shop for hot chocolate and warm almond croissants then sped to Seattle for a "50% off everything in the store" sale at the Salvation Army Thrift Store.  I had been waiting all month for this sale, and I truly made the most of it. I filled the back of Becca's Subaru Outback with glassware and vintage dishes.

The next stop was Bothell to the Country Village.  I had heard about this place for years, but had never been there. It is a cluster of little old houses that have been turned into boutique style shops, many filled with antiques and collectibles.  It was adorable, I can't believe this place has been there for ever and I have been missing out.

As you can see, walking around outside the shops was every bit as entertaining as going in the shops.  I especially liked the vintage children's carousel in the first picture. On this particular Saturday they were also having a flea market with booths set up in the parking lot.  Both Becca and I scored some great finds. We loved this place and could have easily taken the entire day to explore every nook and cranny, but we were anxious to head back to Bellevue for the Annual Arts and Crafts Fair at Bellevue Square Mall which only comes around 1 weekend a year.

This couple walked through the throngs of people as they played music on the pots and pans attached to their bodies.  They were amazingly good!

This vendor makes bird and dragon sculptures out of metal. One of my very favorite offerings.

By four in the afternoon we where hot, sweaty and our feet were killing us, so we decided to pack it in and head home. It was such an entertaining day, it was worth every painful step.

ON THE MAKE

Chuck is gone for 4 days.  He is down in Idaho/Utah visiting Rachel and attending the 2 day family reunion for the descendants of Sarah Goode Marshall, the very first handcart pioneer to enter the Salt Lake Valley. Sarah is Chuck's 3rd great grandmother on his Mom's side. Chuck and his sister Linda have been planning this trip for some time. Besides getting to see Rachel's new home in Heber, UT, they will also be catching up with some Pearson first cousins who will be at the reunion.

Since I am on my own for 4 days, I began replenishing my supply of garden art. I love when I am by myself and get on a roll making something and can stay up all night to work on it. I have completed about 16 pieces over the last 2 days.

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone has any old glass dishes in their basement or attic they are willing to donate, let me know.  I have pretty well cleaned out the local thrift stores and am running out of material.

MENTORS

It is so important in this life to find mentors to help   us on our way.  Here are two of the best- Dick and June elder. They have been in our lives for about 15 plus years. They lived  a couple of blocks from us and went to our church.  We adopted each other into our lives because most of their children and all of their grands and great-grands lived far away, and Chuck's parents were dead, my parents were dead, and my mom had alzheimers for years prior to passing, so that even though she was around when my children were small, she was less of a support and more of a burden.  In stepped Dick and June to fill that role in our lives and the lives of our children.  They attended recitals, choir performances, karate demonstrations, birthday parties, baptisms, high school graduations and were there for every major event in the lives of our children.

This couple having been married for 50 years showed us how to be married, and how to parent. They have been and continue to be a tremendous emotional support to Chuck and me.  It is their advice we seek whenever we are unsure of how to proceed in any area of our life whether personal, professional or spiritual.

We love them dearly and are so grateful for their influence in our lives.  We have been truly blessed by their love.