I spent the winter in Florida with my sister and her family. Very nice to be with family. This is the longest period of time we have been together since we were teenagers. We joked about both of us having to go on tranquilizers in order to have this visit. No joke, really.
Judy and I went through our mom's receipt box... making her holiday cookies, and hanging family heirloom ornaments on the tree. I scanned all the receipts. Fun fun fun.
Now May 25, 2011… and I never finished that post. I had trouble concentrating at my sisters. Sometimes being with others seems to sap the life out of me… and I become so involved in their lives, I loose myself. Parts of our visit were very very good. Other parts, no so much. I was able to review all the family photos, make some very good scans, sort them, obtain some original duplicates for myself, do the receipt scan above, do some genealogy on my sister’s family (half sisters) for her…. I tried to help her any any way I could… but generally that didn’t work out too well.
I was able to save some money and get my trailer repaired and upgraded. My sister gave me a garage to unload stuff in and I was able to sort and downsize a lot more. I gave her some family heirlooms instead of dragging them all over the country. Got to spend time with her and two of her kids over the holidays. Got to see another one of her boys (Freeland and Associates) who drove down from Indiana to work on her rental trailer, installing cabinets. While in camp Judith…. I experimented with my t.v. antenna to so if I could get a better signal. Worked pretty good, but need a better system.
And, best of all, got to have two kayaking paddles with Gary from Washington state. We kayaked around the Cedar Key area, and also at http://floridastateparks.org/ichetuckneesprings/default.cfm Ichetucknee Springs.
But, in the end, I think the visit to Florida and time spent with my family, was time well-spent, in spite of the health risks to me. I left some heirlooms behind with my sister. The photo is one of me… our mother’s favorite photo… and one that our grandmother, as a professional photo retoucher, worked on. I had it framed for my granddaughter’s birthday the year she wanted to be a cowgirl for Halloween. The angel was made by our grandmother… a cloth Mache’ … doll on a ceramic cone. I bought a very nice glass case for my sister to keep this in… to keep it dust free. It should be considered an heirloom… and I hope one day it passes to someone who will appreciate it as much as I have. The lid in the frame was a winter scene painted on a ceramic lid… by our grandmother. The Hummel figurines were also painted by our grandmother and I passed them on to my niece. Our grandmother was one extremely talented lady and was appreciated and loved by everyone who knew her.
WE love you and miss you Grandma!
I can’t believe how far behind I am in my blog entries.