Off to the Beach!

This is my newest home project. I've been looking for something to swap out with my beloved grandmother's crazy quilt over the fireplace because I'm concerned that the strong light in the room is fading it too much. So here's what I've come up with -- also from my grandmother.

This is an enlargement of a envelope she addressed to granddaddy, in 1913, before they were married. When Mom cleaned out the house on Van Dyke she needed to decide what to do with a stack of letters from grandmother that granddaddy had saved -- so I brought them home. Guess when my house is cleaned out, there they will be. Anyway, we haven't found anything terribly compelling in the letters themselves -- they are mostly chit-chat -- but the envelope, enlarged and framed, is enticing, I think.

Our young friend Fiona and her dad are gardening this summer. Tomatoes, beans, squash, melons, herbs. Here she is in her Tilley Hat.

We are off to the beach. Duncan's Aunt Emilia from Kansas City rents a house at Holden every year, and gathers as much family in as possible over two weeks. She has three children in three states and this year, a grandchild is bringing his new baby, so there will be four generations.

These are cousins Duncan would otherwise only see at funerals, so it is nice we always get invited and nice that we have always been able to go.