Walker Pockets and Sons Activities...

I finished up walker pockets for my mother-in-law and for my friend Valerie.  The basket on Mom's walker is low in front and this will give her pockets that will be easier to reach for smaller stuff; and Val's walker has storage under the seat, again, not always convenient.  They are both highly partial to cats (yes, my MIL is an original Cat Lady) so Dave purchased some cat fabric for me to use.  The finished projects have two lace-front pockets on the front side and a large pocket on the back.  I didn't have a walker to model them on, so I just tied them to the back of our kitchen chairs.

Val's

Mom's

Now that I have the dimensions, I'll pass the pattern on to Thelma, since she expressed an interest in making a lot of the pockets for the Senior Center.

Dave has been busy with the Sons of Union Veterans - this past Saturday he went to join in the Weatherford Veteran's Day Parade.  I asked him to have someone take a picture with his phone, so I could post it.  Instead, he took a picture and sent it to me...kind of defeated the purpose of getting a picture of him in the parade...oh well.

But, that's okay, since I got lots of pictures yesterday at the annual Massing of the Colors in Fort Worth.  It's always a touching service and wonderful to see all of the cadets and different organizations that participate.

The Frontier Band is wonderful and knows every marching song (just a guess on my part!)

I'm always impressed with the cadets

I tried to move so it would look like the guy behind them was standing on Dave's shoulder, but I wasn't quick enough!

It's always a service I enjoy - speeches are short, hymns are ones you know, the guy who recites the Gettysburg Address is enthusiastic, prayers are succinct.  And all the flags make it really pretty.

Little Accomplishments

Sometimes it's the little things that get done that can give you a real feeling that things are getting done.

For instance - while we were in Vegas, Dave picked up the flag that was used in his Father's memorial service. A few days after we got home we went to get a presentation case for it - and it looks wonderful above the shadowboxes we already had.

The shadowboxes commemorate the military service of Dave's paternal grandfather, his 3rd great-grandfather, and his father.

paternal grandfather, George L. Appleton

3rd great-grandfather, William Henry Hubbard, Civil War veteran

father, George T.,  with items from his service both during WWII
(where he served in Panama) and the Korean War (where he was stationed in Virginia).

To the left of arrangement (on the window wall), Dave hung my small art quilt that incorporated the picture of my grandmothers (I know, how radical...my own artwork hung in my house!).

and, FYI, the flower arrangement below the shadow boxes contains silk flowers that my Mother had in her living room for eons...I simply added a few more and put them all in an apple basket (when your name is Appleton....well...apple things somehow migrate your way...)

When we picked up the flag case, we also picked up a frame for Dave's gift from Sunil Saigal (a friend of ours who currently lives in New York) - Sunil hand-painted Dave's coat-of-arms (assumed, not registered anywhere).  It's so beautiful and looks really good in Dave's office.

There's enough heraldry on display in the house now that I'm considering having a shield made to hang beside the front door that says "Welcome to Herald's Point".

And, this morning, while Sir Barks-a-lot was being reluctant to come in from such a nice day, I managed to uncover both the walkway out the back door and the deck...

leaves on deck waiting for Dave and his magic leaf vacuum

So, now I'm off to the studio to see what other things can be accomplished!

2015 Vegas Trip

I love when we fly to Vegas during the daytime, as the route is over the Grand Canyon, which is as cool from the air as it is from the ground!

When you tell people you are going to Las Vegas, this is what they imagine:

pictures from internet

But, we go to see family...so this is the Vegas we see:

Not quite the same....

We went to see Dorothy, Dave's Mom and this year we also got to see a few other members of the family, so that was a bonus!  Sondra brought Bella over to join us all for breakfast, and Blaine and Shera brought Megan and Tiersa with them from Utah...we also got to see Richard, but I didn't have the camera with me that day.

And we had the opportunity to visit the Veteran's Cemetery where Dave's Dad, George, was laid to rest...

It was a short, but really nice, trip and we hope to get back out there again by Spring.