An old Challenger bicycle...

That's a yellow Jerusalem artichoke flower in a vase I just got for 25 cents. See them below on the right? My sister gave them to me as wee plants and, my, how they've grown....guess after they flower, we'll dig up their roots, which are like a potato... to eat. We got this pretty blue old Challenger bicycle for Hannah.

Best way to spend $1.99

Me and 2 of my little sisters on the front steps of our home in Boston about 1983.
I started this blog.... 4 years ago today! It's officially my blogiversary (thank you, Urban Dictionary for that new word and definition). How times flies. I loved that coconut sorbet I wrote about in my first ever post, but Trader Joe's doesn't sell it anymore (my sister can make a really good coconut sorbet in her Kitchen Aid mixer ice cream maker). However, I recently discovered these:
$1.99 for a scrumptious package of sliced bananas covered in chocolate, frozen. I bought and shared 2 packs of them this week. I'm going to try making some...as I prefer homemade everything.

Yarn along...and patch!

I crocheted a bunny 2 years ago, intending it for Isaac (my nephew), my sister and her husband are expecting their son in the photo book...but ended up giving it to Olivia and making Isaac a elephant. Now, she's expecting her second son in January and I hope to crochet him an animal friend...what will this be?

This is the patch my cousin Beth sewed on the bag on the back of her Harley. I love it!!!
Rob rode his motorcycle over to my parent's house, while we drove to have lunch there and visit with Beth who has been on a 3 week trip out west (to Yellowstone and Bozeman)...then he drove it to work, which he often does, saving gas $, because it gets like 50 miles per gallon, our Toyota Echo gets about 35 miles per gallon and our Toyota 4Runner gets more like 25 miles per gallon. Gas is now about $3.45 per gallon here. Makes me want to just ride my pedal bicycle everywhere. What's it like where you are?

Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor

 
Lighting the candles, originally uploaded by mama_marfa.

A few years ago I took this photo while at church. It's the day we celebrate the Lord's Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor, where he talked with Moses and Elijah (who had gone to heaven already)...one of the 12 Great Feasts...and one of my favorites! I love singing this song in the Greek melody that my parents taught us, and I hope to teach it to my children:

Thou wast transfigured on the mountain, O Christ our God,

showing to Thy disciples Thy glory as each one could endure;

shine forth Thou on us, who are sinners all, Thy light never-ending

through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Light-bestower, glory be to Thee.

I just took this photo yesterday...one of our tomatoes from our backyard garden in our basket, some pears and Olivia's favorite fruit (plums), plus a bunch of tiny champagne grapes (from our dear friend, Varvara)!

Yarn along...I'm painting and more!

Yes, I'm painting watercolors...jovial little animals riding bicycles, because it's fun and a great way to get around, no gasoline required, and one gets exercise! I do love to ride my bicycle. Tomorrow morning, Hannah and I will ride out bikes to the grocery store.My girls and their cousins posing in front of their collaborative garden installation at Brazee St Studios. They each made a glass flower and we will pick them up next month after the show.
This shawl is not exactly what I intended, but I ran out of yarn, so when I get more of this same color (it's the Stitch Nation 100% Peruvian yarn), I plan on working on it more! I love that big button...it was in the package that my dear friend Charlotte gave me for my birthday.

Ginny's "Yarn along" is fun to check out every Wednesday, and yesterday she posted a sweet story about some reptile eggs her sons found and then took care of...and out came baby turtles!
Right now, the girls are selling our extra tomatoes in the front yard. The 2 girls that live next door came over, they wanted to help. We get a lot of traffic since we live across the street from a plaza with a library, Walgreens, Advanced Auto Parts, Payless Shoe Source, etc. They are 25 cents each.
The movie The Help was everything I though it should be...did a great job of showing the story written in the book by Kathryn Stockett. I took my mom who also read it. I used a giftcard I got as a gift from the families of the pre-school students at the end of the year in May, if I didn't have that, I would've waited until it came out on DVD and gotten it at our library (as it's free). So, a big thanks to all those families!

Update on my dad...AND what we've been doing lately...

Last week, my dad went back to the hospital for 5 days with my mom. This was the end to the 3 month period...and he is definitely getting meds through the gel in the pump, which goes right to his small intestine. He is doing a little better. Please keep him in your prayers, as there is no cure for Parkinson's, we are hopeful that this will improve things, though! The doctors said it may take time.
Have you read The Help by Kathryn Stockett? I read it last year and loved it...it's now a movie. I look forward to seeing it. I got a movie gift card that I will use...we rarely go to the movie theatre, as regular admission for an adult is $10.00 and a matinee is now $7.50. Our library gets most movies on DVD and usually I can wait. Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s when wealthy families had hired help, and treated them poorly, as though we are not all equal. I love all the aprons and dresses...and how the main character helps to expose the injustice.We had a wonderful time at St. Seraphim Camp in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania last week. There were lots of daddy-long-legs and huge crickets in the tents...which we tried out best to keep out. Above is a photo of Olivia in line (with her camp store card) with her tent-mate & new friend, Emma.We got reacquainted with old friends and made lots of new friends. Here is a photo of Hannah with Natalie (her mom and I went to church together in Boston, as children). It rained everyday, but we had a great time! The girls shot BB guns, used bows to shoot off 2 kinds of arrows, swam in the pool, made several arts and crafts, swam in the river, etc.This is a photo I took of 3 of the girls that I helped out with...such sweet girls!!!
My grandfather (who is 88 years old now) lives less than 2 hours away from camp in PA (in NJ). Here we are getting cold treats from an ice cream truck! I've never done this, but my parents bought my girls stuff from an ice cream truck once. A little over-priced, but fun!

Zoya, my cousin, and her daughter, Harriett, came from NY on Monday...it was so nice to spend time with them! They gave me a lovely new journal as a 34th birthday gift.These are some of the birthday gifts I got.