A Few Of My Favorite Things

 

It doesn't take much for Tony and I to be happy.  Being together, playing with Dixie, taking pictures,  listening to music on the patio and every once in a while sitting outside in front of the chiminea.    We did that last night and it was fun.  Tony checked out the stars on his phone and I  took my fire photos. 

 

 

Identifying the stars

Checking out the constellations

 

Look at the light reflection from his phone

 

Enjoying his cigar

 

Another light line from his phone

 

Keeping Dixie warm

 

Seeing the stars

 

We brought out Dixie's bed because the concrete was cold.  We ended up holding her anyway. 

 

Fire photos...see the  shooting flames

 

See all of the different colors!

 

A Dewey Flower

 

Hanging out with the neighbors!

 

Pretty Flowers

 

A New Flower

Swegle House

Our trip to Charlotte was fun.  We talked and laughed and pimped each other from Leland to Charlotte.  Dixie had a hard trip going there and once again, threw up.  We gave her more Dramamine on the way back and she did better, but still threw up a little bit. 

 

Tony, Marie, Coleton and Tyson live in a community called Cady (pronounced "Katy") Lake in the Balantyne area of Charlotte.  It has a pool and tennis courts and is close to all kinds of shopping areas.  The houses are well kept and the neighborhood is diverse. 

 

I will let Marie post photos of the inside on her face book page as they get things in order to make the house a home.  I do have one of the outside, and of course, many, many pictures of Coleton. 

 

We can't wait to go back and see what they have done to the house to make it their own.

 

Here are some highlights:

 

 

 

 

 

I Named Her Savva

Tony, Dixie and I went to Charlotte over the weekend to see Tony and Marie's new house.  It's a beautiful house in a very nice neighborhood.   We had a really good time seeing everyone and playing with Coleton and Tyson.

 

Tony (Jr.) surprised us by giving us a Russian Nesting doll that he bought in Russia when he was there for his Olympic planning trip.  She has a beautiful face and 9 little surprises inside of her frame.  I named her Savva and she has a place of honor in my curio cabinet. 

 

I did some research and found out that while many of us think that Nesting Dolls originated in Russia, they actual started in Japan.  The ones from Japan were shaped like bullets.  It was Russia, Poland and Hungary that changed the design to have a specifically shaped head and body.   They originated in 1890. 

 

Savva represents a Russian girl who probably was from a house in "high order."  Her clothes do not depict the life of a peasant girl, as earlier dolls did.   The first Russian Nesting Doll was "The Rooster Girl," who had a black rooster, a kerchief and a work apron painted on her.   Her image was created at the Children's Education Workshop and Salon, a toy company in Abramtsevo, Russia,  that was founded by Savva Mamontov.   They are known as "matryoshka" dolls (little mother.)  Over time, the figures depicted not only peasants, but fairy tale characters,  gypsies, royalty and even politicians. 

 

The Japanese Nesting Dolls had 7 smaller dolls inside of them to represent the 7 Gods of Fortune.   The Russians decided that the Nesting Doll would be more fun for children if there were more toys inside--hence, the 9 little characters who live inside of her body, built with the same precision and detail as the largest figure. 

 

I love learning about art and appreciate that Tony thought of us when he was so far away.  We will treasure Savva for a long time.

 

I will post a blog about the visit and the house, but in the meantime, enjoy Savva.

 

 

 

What To Do On A Rainy Day

I wish the weather was better when Sarah and Steven were down.  They wanted to go to the pool and the beach and unfortunately, it rained all day.  But, we decided not to let that stop us, so we went to the aquarium.  It was fun.   We had pictures taken there, we could "pet" sharks and crabs and other ugly looking fish and in general, we got to see some really amazing sea "creatures."

 

Here are some highlights:

 

This is what happens when you call an alligator "ugly!"

 

Now these are ugly!

 

Tony has the magic touch

 

Stingray

 

A Sea Horse

 

Delicate Jelly Fish...

 

...That Glow In the Dark

 

Is This A Fish Kiss?

 

Amazing

 

Oh Look, A Cleveland Browns Backer!

 

Go Browns!

 

Simply Beautiful

Fritz and Steve, Sarah and Steven

My sister, Fritz,  and her family were in North Carolina for a wedding and decided to come down and see Tony, Dixie and me.   I tried to talk them into moving down here, but my sister wants to move to Las Vegas because of the climate. 

 

Years and years ago, families didn't move away from each other.  If you lived in Cleveland you went to school there, found a job there and retired there.   Today is so different as evidenced by our own children. David went to school in New York and then moved permanently to Tampa, Florida.  Tony Jr., went to school in Ohio, moved to California and then to Charlotte, North Carolina.  I think Jenna and Jon will be the only ones who stay in Cleveland, unless Jon gets a once in a lifetime job offer somewhere else. 

 

My niece, Sarah, brought Steven, her boyfriend, with her.  They are a great couple and we had lots of fun with them.  

 

And, of course, everyone loved Dixie and she loved all of the attention.  We went downtown and walked by the river and had dinner at the Pilot House.  It was nice.

 

I enjoyed catching up with them, but the visit was too short.  Hopefully, they will come back next year so Steve can get in some golf and we can all hit the pool. 

 

 

Mini Me?

 

Steven and Sarah by the River

 

Steven, Sarah, Steve and Fritz

 

Rainy day at the beach

 

Pretty girl with the "beach umbrella!"

 

Dinner at Pilot House

 

Visiting David

Tony went to Tampa last week to see David and had a good time.  They played golf, ate good food and just hung out watching football.  The weather cooperated and it wasn't painfully hot. 

 

Tony took two paintings down to David--Alter Ego, which is everyone's favorite and a painting he did of Bernie Kosar.  We have discovered that we can  have Tony's paintings recreated by having them transposed on stretched canvas, so now  I have another Alter Ego all to myself.  I think we will be doing that with several of Tony's paintings.  I would like to do that with a photo or two that I took that I think are pretty good. 

 

Dixie and I missed him terribly, and I think Dixie was annoyed that she had to share him with Bernie, but we survived. 

 

We are expecting my sister, Fritz, and her family this weekend.  They are attending a wedding in Raleigh and wanted to come down and see us.  This will be the first time I have seen her since our last "sister lunch."   Our niece, Sarah, is thinking about moving to North Carolina, so I am anxious to see how she likes the area.

 

My schedule at work has been cut back in October--actually, all of the part timers were cut back.  I am disappointed about that because I was finally feeling in the groove at work.  After Fritz leaves, I will probably look for more volunteer hours. 

 

There are several homes being built in our area and as always, we enjoy walking through them.  There is another sales event this weekend, so the development will be buzzing with potential new owners. 

 

There is a Browns game on tonight and I can't wait to see it.  One of my favorite things to do when we were in Strongsville was to watch the Browns on Sunday.  Tony would cook "football" food and as it got colder, we would have a fire.  It was a cozy and warm time and I remember it as being some of our best times.  I wish we could get the Browns on TV down here, but we can't so we joined the "Browns Backer" Club--a group of people who meet at a restaurant downtown and watch the Browns.  By the time the game is over, our food and drink bill is huge, so we can't do that too often.

 

I look forward to seeing Tony and Marie's new house soon and will post pictures.  We got a nice letter from Ben, thanking us for his birthday gift (a pottery class.)  It was sweet and made me realize how much I miss all of the kids and Jenna and Jon.

 

Enjoy the photos:

 

 

 

Bernie and Tony just hanging out

 

Bernie guarding the property

 

A new home for "Alter Ego"

 

Dixie, glad to have Daddy home

 

The "babies" I miss so much