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~FAMILY~

Me and Mandy, my beautiful daughter!

Me with my sister, Melodie.

Me with Hubby!

These family members enrich my life!

We took a tour this morning that showed us the St. Louis Fox Theater. The theater was built in 1927 and has 4057 seats! This is an old fashioned theater that has been completely restored. In it’s heyday it served as a Vaudeville stage, and movie theater for the early silent films. Thus, there was the most marvelous theater organ I have ever seen.

The fabulous Stan Kann performed for us and we got to see what this beautiful organ could do!

Then we were lucky enough to get a tour of this wonderful monument to the performing arts.

Unfortunately our time there was short and we were whisked off to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.

The church has mosaics totaling 41.5 million glass tesserae pieces consisting of over 7,000 colors. The mosaics cover 83,000 square feet (8,000 m.).  It is the largest mosaic collection in the world, and was created by 20 different artists including Hildreth Meiere. It is truly magnificent!

While there I stopped in a small chapel and prayed for my friend’s daughter, who is quite ill. Then I lit a candle to the Angels for their help.

Then we were taken to the St. Louis History Museum. Unfortunately there was not nearly enough time to look at the exhibits and have lunch, so we have opted to return on Sunday morning to take some time to go through it at our leisure.

We arrived at our hotel about 2 o’clock Central time. This was a good deal because once we unloaded the car, Hubby was off to get the brakes fixed!

It’s hot and humid here, with intermittent rain, but not bad at all. It is supposed to be like this the next few days. I’m glad I packed my rain coat!

Our room is rather luxurious! A large king sized bed (for my King! LOL), a comfortable sitting area, TV, a desk, and a balcony. The bath is large and the tub looks rather inviting!

I think I could be very happy here. At least for a few days. I do miss my little dackels and my big boy, Fritz!

Speaking of which, I got a call this morning from my house sitter. Arnie fell out of bed last night and injured his leg. Thankfully D is a Vet Technician and so she brought him in to work with her for a quick check. He is okay, although he jammed his leg into his knee joint and that is sore. The doctor put him on an anti-inflammatory to keep him comfortable during his convalescence. He must rest his leg and stay off of it for a few days.

I wonder if they make doggy crutches?

Tonight is a wine and cheese reception which Hubby and I will attend. I am being so careful with my points I may actually splurge and have a square of cheese! LOL!

Tomorrow we take one tour in the morning to the Anheuser Busch Factory. Then we are free in the afternoon. The evening will see us at a casual dinner. Saturday we are on another tour of the downtown St. Louis area. And that night we have our formal banquet.

Meanwhile, at some point this girl needs to shop. I mean, what’s a vacation for if not to shop, just a little?

Hubby wet out to the garden on Friday and picked 2 pounds of these “fun” beans. After all, when was the last time you sat down and snapped a purple bean?

I’d never seen a purple bean until we moved to this town and my elderly neighbor gave me a bunch for my dinner. This year when I went around the neighborhood passing out my cucumber seedlings, he gave me a container of purple bean seeds! I came home to Hubby and looked at him and the seeds and said, “I’m game!”

So we planted them along the sides of the garden near the string sides and watched. They’re actually pretty plants and before long we noticed that they were doing well.

After Hubby picked them, I snapped them all and got them in some cold water to wait until it was time to cook, and the real “fun” would begin!

Once I was ready to begin cooking dinner, I got the camera ready. You see something amazing starts to happen when they come to a boil and cook.

Ah-ha! Can you see?

Yes, as the beans cook they slowly turn from purple to GREEN!

Once they are done, they are completely green. I think they taste fuller, nuttier, but Hubby says he thinks this is just because they are so fresh.

Perhaps this is true. All I know is that I think these have to be the best beans I have ever had!

Still it is hard to believe that these beans start out deep dark purple,

and cook down to deep dark green!

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~Clouds~

Another Sunset where the clouds were so magnificent!

Today my parents will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. We are holding an afternoon tea for them with family and friends. When you think about it 60 years is a very long time to be with a person. Sixty years of waking up and seeing the same face each morning or last thing at night. Sixty years of electric bills, car payments and mortgages. Sixty years of children’s births, and loved one’s deaths. All shared together. Somehow, they made it.

Last night was the worst, yes the worst night as far as not sleeping. I think I was up every hour on the hour because of my silly back spasms. I would walk around, adjust the heating pad and try to find just the right position so I could fall back to sleep.

I really hate back aches. I mean, if I didn’t have 4 dogs, it might not be so bad, but with 4 dogs, who all want to go out at different times, I have found it a real challenge to rest my back at all.

Take today. After lunch I wanted to take a little nap. Hubby was going out to the recycling center and I knew the house would be quiet for an hour at least. So I crawled into my bed, with my heating pad and the three dachshunds. The two girls curled up with me, and Arnie went down by my feet.

Ahhhhhhhhhh………

I drifted in a state of pleasant slumber and then…………”squeek, squeek, squeek”. Arnie brought me his favorite toy to wake me up. Because, well, a nap is fine, but anything over and hour is too long! Or so Arnie seems to think!

The girls and I got up, and I noticed my back is a little better. I sure hope that tonight I get a little more sleep.

Meanwhile, Greta is still not in heat! Never before have I thought so much about a dogs menstrual cycle.

Come on Greta!

Christmas Eve we had our friends, Jim and Laura over along with their two daughters, Katie and Emily. Yes, their daughter is our Emily! We also had our next door neighbor, Aglaia over to enjoy a few appetizers, and a nice meal. We had so much fun!

First we ate shrimp cocktail, along with crackers and spreads, and Hubby provided drinks for all. We then exchanged gifts. That was even more fun! Here is a picture of Hubby getting a bottle of his favorite Scotch!

Then it was time to sit down and have dinner. We served a Greek salad, ham, turkey, stuffing, green beans, butternut squash, mashed potatoes, gravy, relish, pearl onions and rolls! We ate until I thought we all might pop!

The conversation was lively, but by the time we got done we were all feeling pretty exhausted. I blame the turkey, which is known for making people sleepy! Emily disappeared after the dinner portion and we looked into the family room and found her sound asleep on the sofa!

Emily came back to life long enough to have some of the three pies that we served. Apple, blueberry and pumpkin!

We all seemed to eat a lot more slowly than we did during the main portion of the meal. So much food!

Once the dishes were cleared our guests departed for their homes to prepare for Christmas the next day. Hubby and I sat up watching A Christmas Story for the millionth time. Somehow, Ralphie and his pals make us laugh every time we watch this movie!

Then off to bed we went where visions of “Doggie Claus” danced in our heads!