45 Years of Marriage

45 years ago, on August 4th, Jimmy and I were married in the St Rose church where I was a primary school teacher. It has been quite the journey. It is hard to believe....45 years.
As I was thinking I would get back into blogging...I was wrong again. I ended up with two emergency surgeries the end of July and I am still recovering.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine brought up the topic of marriage vows. She said her husband would never do anything against the vows he took when they married. It seems so old fashioned now, as I don't think people even think about vows. My Jimmy has always kept his vows to God and to me. He certainly learned the part about in sickness and in health this past month. How do you thank your partner for sitting the ER and holding your hand and never leaving as you wait to find out what is really wrong with you? He was always there, right there. It is so scary to be in a hospital all alone. It does force you to come to grips with things in your life, your relationship with God, your relationships with your family and friends and your faith. In the quiet, you have to face many things. I am thankful for good doctors and very kind nurses.
So now, I am recovering. That's not easy for me  either....I am not very patient. Rest rest rest.....
Yesterday, we actually went on a little outing to get me out of the house. It felt good. I did get tired and had to rest along the way, but it was grand to just be out of the house.
So thank you dear Jimmy for taking care of me all these years. I am blessed with a good husband.
Happy Anniversary Jimmy. 

Thursday Treasure

My Thursday Treasure is my Jimmy! Today is our 43rd anniversary. I just don't know where all the years have done...43!

Jimmy had to watch Otto today, so we decided to go out for dinner close to home. We are very lucky to have McMenamin's Edgefield about 5 minutes from home.

The hotel is lovely and it's a very fun place to visit. The grounds are lovely with lots of flowers.

Grapes are growing in the field as you drive in. So fun!

We like to park in the back and this is the path up to the restaurant. It was quite hot today.

My Jimmy  and his chicken wings!

It was the great beet salad that was my delight! It is my favorite salad. It isn't alway on the menu. I especially liked the golden beets that were used in this one tonight.

Jimmy always brings me roses for our anniversary! This dozen is just such a pretty color.

Next week we are going away for a few days. Gina is coming down from Seattle to watch Otto on our regular babysitting days as our gift. Angie gave us a cute summer pail filled with goodies and a CD for the trip....James Taylor and Carol King!

As we enjoyed our dinner, we were thinking over our 43 years of marriage. We really haven't had very much time just for Jim and Linda since Jim retired. We have loved being with Otto, but as we realize we are aging and having some health issues, we need to enjoy the next few years. We would like to do some more traveling and just have some more time to be together. I do hope that will happen...it's time.

Tea Time Thursday #82 ~ Happy Anniversary

Earlier this summer, I found this charming little cup and saucer and just had to save it for an anniversary Tea Time Thursday posting.  What a darling old timey couple. They look like they are in love, for sure.

The saucer is even shaped like a heart and is edged with cut out hearts.

Both the cup and the saucer say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY in gold script.

The teacup and saucer are marked Kelvin Fine China. From the little I could find about the company, the china seems to be made in Japan in the 1950's. I just think it's corny cute!

When Jimmy and I were married, we went to Victoria British Columbia in Canada on our honeymoon. I fell in love with the city and with Queen Victoria. I have been collecting books, china, silver and ephemera for these past 42 years.  I recently found this wonderful advertising card. It is featuring the Leading Women of the World-at Home. I love it. It's in good condition and it was only a dollar.
I just love the roses decorating the card.

I like this image of the Queen and it is different from any of my other treasures.

I also like that it features Queen Victoria's beloved Balmoral in Scotland. I guess that is the "at home" part of the card! Not your typical home.

I have been thinking about fall and making some new fall Pinterest boards. I always start longing for fall right after our anniversary.

Our Anniversary

August 4th...our 42nd wedding anniversary! The day started off cool and cloudy, very much like our wedding day. In some ways, it seems like only yesterday that we said I do at St Rose where I was a primary school teacher. In other ways, it seems like soooo long ago! When I look at our wedding photos I see two young kids! Jimmy and I were talking about our 50th anniversary coming in just 8 years. Both of my grandparents were blessed to celebrate 50 years of marriage and I sure hope that God blesses Jimmy and me with that same gift.

My sweet husband has brought me roses every anniversary! He hasn't missed a one. I think he loves roses as much as I do. This bouquet was such a beautiful orange color...so pretty.

With all our home remodeling and the extra work that we have had to do, we decided to save all our packages from our trip back east for our anniversary. It was so fun to open our souvenirs and remember our trip.  I will be sharing stories and items this month, so this is just a little peek into the boxes!

Our gifts from the Cellar Door book shop are always wrapped in this lovely tissue paper. It was such a treat to meet John and Jill Hare. They welcomed us into their beautiful home and we enjoyed our day with them. More to come on that later.

We found these pieces of children's sized pink luster little dishes in an antique shop. Bits and pieces in a lot that had to come home with me!

More treasures...some to share with friends.

We spent two days at Deerfiled in MA and I brought home several books to read up on the village on those long winter nights ahead.

Of course, I had to bring back some tea for tea time.

Just a little look here at some of the fabric and patterns I found in New England. I was also able to buy some of the Tasha Tudor fabric at the family gift shop and some more from the Cellar Door. I also offered to make my friend Melinda's A is for Annabelle quilt. She bought a kit when it first came out and she has been so gracious to me the past two years, I wanted to make it for her. Won't that be a s fun project for winter?

This is a little doll house with a great story to share! Another blog post ahead.

We did have a disappointment to day. Jim had purchased a beautiful Pink Luster tea set for me as an anniversary gift. It arrived smashed and bashed! I was so sad but as one of my friends said to me, the gift today is 42 years of marriage! How true.

We decided to go to Edgefield for an early anniversary dinner. It is just about 5 minutes from home.
When we arrived, we found that they were having a concert! Dinner plans went out the window. We just had to laugh! We decided to go to Troutini in our little Troutdale. They have wonderful food.
Here we are in front of the big fish in our little town park.

My Jimmy....great picture of my happy guy.

Happy Anniversary To you Jimmy....love ya lots.

September Full Moon Tonight!

Did you notice the moon the last few nights? It is bright and big and just beautiful! It's actually full tonight-September 8th. It has cooled off a bit here in Oregon and it feels a bit like fall, a warm fall day.
I love to find the names of the full moon.  Here's just a few...HARVEST, CORN and BARLEY.

I snapped this photo last night when I was out watering after such a hot day. It was so pretty peeking between my big maple trees. I hope you can see it where you live tonight. I'm going out for another look!

It's also my daughter Gina and SIL Eric's second wedding anniversary today. It's amazing how quickly the years slip by. The traditional gift for the second wedding anniversary is cotton. We filled a bag of cotton balls with some dollar bills for fun! It was Jimmy's idea...pretty cute.

Waiting for fall....have a great week blogger friends.

Exciting Alaska Trip

We packed up the car on Sunday and off we went to Seattle filled with the excitement of NORTH TO ALASKA! I just had to save one of my anniversary roses from Jimmy for the drive. We hit a bit of traffic but arrived safe and sound and went out to eat with the kids. It was so beautiful and we ate outside. Had a wonderful seafood dinner and lots of laughs.

Our flight left for Anchorage at 11:30 AM and it was a very nice flight. I like to fly with Alaska Airlines. We went from hot summer weather to a refreshing 68 degrees and a bit of rain...yeah!

My Jimmy....this was our 41st wedding anniversary. Great way to celebrate! Look at that smile!

Eric had our trip all planned and we spent our first night at the Capt Cook Hotel in downtown Anchorage. It's a large hotel divided into 3 towers. It has several little shoppes and restaurants.

We had to stop in for an anniversary drink in a cozy little hotel bar. I had a yummy fruit margarita!

I loved this mural on one of the walls. Look at that map. Capt Cook was one busy guy.

Eric and Gina wanted to take us to a cool antique shoppe where Eric bought Gina's engagement ring two years ago. It's a sentimental place for them. It was so fun to look at all the Estate jewelry. The whole place is like a museum.

This bamboo fly rod became Jimmy's souvenir. It arrived today via Fed Ex safe and sound.

We went for a little walk to Resolution Park with a beautiful view honoring Capt Cook. We sure enjoyed the cooler temps.

It was soon time for dinner and we met up with Eric's family. This is his mother...Susan. Eric was just featured in a Seattle magazine and she is one proud mama! Eric was being funny and posing like his article.

Grandma Donna is getting some help from the waiter with a dinner choice. The menu was quite impressive. I had to have the salmon, of course!

Gina and Eric's sister Jenny. She is almost as funny as her brother. It was so good to see them all again. The wedding was two years ago.

Two happy moms. It was a delightful evening with Eric's family.

This is the view outside our window. It was so strange for it to be light until about 11:00 PM!

I'll be sharing some more pix the rest of the week...lots to share and I want to have a record of this marvelous trip. Thank you Eric and Gina!