Zim Zam!

If you're a Terrill - or related to one - you've gotta be thankful for Zim Zam - and all the good memories that go with it!!

Being a "California Girl"

Have been driving back and forth between GH and Monrovia this week - listening to the Beach Boys, Pete Seeger, and some oldies but goodies just to break up the NPR fare - sometimes you get duplicates.

This is a shot from a Clayton family reunion of yore - not sure which yore though!!

Alice talked about how much she wanted to rent a place by the beach - and have a big gathering.   I always envision that too - hasn't happened often though.

The beach is romanticized in story and song - that's for sure.  And Leslie likes to say that "you can take the girl out of California, but you can't take California out of the girl" and maybe she's right.

I'm a California girl who's still here, and I can't seem to get to the beach very often!!

We will keep trying though - and we'll let you know when the party starts - and how much per night it is!

Whare are those "hazy, lazy days" of summer??

This summer - and most summers actually - has been a busy one. I think "hazy, lazy days" of summer are lost somewhere in the past. I remember summer being a laid back time - way back when I was a kid!! Starting with the year I worked to save money for college, summer ceased to be a "kick-back" time!!

But this summer has seemed exceptionally busy - a very good busy, but busy nonetheless. And it's not liable to change before next summer!! First came going to VA for Lars' birth, having Phoebe and family here, having cousin camp, having the Little Women here while Bonny did camp, the Clayton Reunion, going to VA for the blessing, having the Little Women here again - and then school starts! In between there have been other visitors, other events - I have loved all of it.

But Saturday - a busy day also - I decided to sit down and watch Giant - I had ordered it on NetFlix and it came weeks ago - so I took up my crochet hook and started watching it. Harry joined me - and since it's a two-disc movie - and we spent two nights watching it. (I had ordered it because the Times did a series on movies that hadn't won Oscars but that should have - Giant was one of them. So I started ordering the films they had listed. I'm not sure I agree with their conclusions, but it's been interesting to watch the movies.)

I went through a phase in late high school, early college of reading all the books by one author. I read all the Edna Ferber novels, all the Sinclair Lewis novels, all the Ernest Hemingway novels, all the John Steinbeck novels - you follow my drift.

I had totally forgotten Giant - so yesterday I went and got it from the library - resisted successfully the temptation to buy it - and spent the day on the couch and on the swing outside - totally engrossed in the story!!

And it looks like the movie was pretty faithful to the book - some minor details have been changed, but the story line is intact. James Dean - always eerie to watch him on screen; Elizabeth Taylor - beautiful as always; Rock Hudson - I'm not surprised he didn't get the Oscar - surprised he even got nominated. Although Harry thought he did a credible job.

It was good to kick back - for at least a day anyway - today may be back to busy, but busy has its place too!

The Grandma Summer

This has been a summer of grandmothering - and a very enjoyable one at that!! This week Esme and Annika were here for several days while Bonny went to Girls' Camp with Ara and Ella. So of course we went for manicures!!

The girls chose shades of teal, purple, and dark pink for their nails. (I contrast that with the way I always go for the palest shade of pink!!)

Flowers with a tiny jewel in the middle on the thumb nail were a big hit too.

I sensed that Porter and Harry W. were feeling a bit left out, so I took them to lunch at Wendy's. We had Uncle Noah come along - always lots of fun. I told Noah that I needed to come up with a male equivalent to manicures - and he suggested going for a barber shop shave - but acknowledged that I'd have to wait a few years for that to be a big hit!

Then there's the lovely Miss Isla - who is happy with a smile, a tickle, and "Tom Thumper, Bill Munker, Long Razor, Cherry Bumper. (Tippy, tippy, tippy, town end.)"

Since Esme and Annika are going home tomorrow, Eve joined us for a sleepover - here they are getting ready for the latest installment from Grandpa Bob.

I've never listened in on any of these - they are pretty much off the cuff though. Harry says that they will ask for a repeat of a previous one - but he can't remember the details after he's told them!!

I've reflected often on why I love being a grandmother so much. I was thinking that it's probably because I loved my own grandmothers, and also because my own children seem to love their grandmothers dearly. I certainly want to be in the company of those women!!

Ella comes next week for an early Grandma's Birthday Sleepover, then Eve, Porter, and Harry will be having them. And Calvin is coming this year on his birthday - so we will have to see about a shave and a haircut I guess!!

Where were you a year ago?

Do you play the "a week ago at this time I was . . ." game?

I do.

I find myself saying, "Three weeks from today it will be the short day at Clifton" or "two weeks ago today I was happily hugging sweet Sully."

I just wondered if everyone does it. Or just me.

(The above is from the Clayton Reunion - a year ago last weekend!!)