Greatest global online bookclub in town

Jo, you should print out your post. I am sure years from now your relatives will enjoy reading it.

I’m exhausted just reading of all the activities–such a great gathering that everyone will long remember. Congratulations, Jo!

Good news all around here.

Candace

yes, you are right,  jo quilt had yellow tulips in and she won a prize.

The party was such a ball ! It started the 8th of July. #1 Son Gene, wife Sharon were the first; daughter Mallory arrive the next week. They sent sightseeing with some friends of theirs who came up from San Antonio.

We did see them a little but the rest of horde arrived on July 15, 16 and 17. The 15th brought daughter Debbie, and it was also her birthday. She came from FL with her son (CA) and daughter and fiance also from CA. The friend they were to have visited had a change in their schedule so we all spent the afternoon together. Friend Steve came and we all went out to dinner. A great time was had by all.

Friday was the day of Daughter Debbie and son Gene’s party. Their birthyears are divisible by five and we did them together. By this time everyone was there: #2 son Mark, wife Marge and their son Jordan, his wife Renè and twins Argyle and Lena. Renè is very blonde, Jordan is blonde and so the kids are also very blonde. #3 son and family were not able to attend. Debbie, of course and Suzanne, husband Paul, sons Justin and Robert and daughter Jenna. My granddaughter Kate was here with her quite significant other, Lindsay. They made our Sunday breakfast of pancakes and bacon. Good stuff; the two girls are very good cooks. Also in attendance was ex-husband Don and his lady friend. It was the two kids’ b’days too so he got invited. Some of Paul’s family were able to attend also: sister Josie lives up the road a bit, so she and g’son Calem were there as was Paul’s mother Dina and traveling sister Anneke. Josie’s daughter Lynda arrived in time to help celebrate; Josie and husband Henry (Han) have just recently moved to Johnstown (30 minutes away max) and Calem also and Lynda drove their car out for them. She flew back to CA several days later. It was quite a group as you can see. Not all of Paul’s family was there or it would have REALLLY been a full backyard; he comes from a family of 8! So we partied and drank and ate.

Saturday was Mom’s celebration. Folks were pretty much over any hangovers and were bright and shiny. Festivities began about 4 p.m. and they were festive indeed. Suddenly I realized that all four of my tribe had gathered around me and then – I got silly string-ed. Found a can and ‘strung’ them all back. Dancing – by themselves or with each other – and noisy!!!!!! Great day in the morning – I’m surprised police from Denver didn’t come. But the neighbors were prepared.

By now some of the folks were leaving and Sunday was considerably quieter. Coffee and tea made an appearance as well as Mimosas (delicious they were). A lot of talk and a lot of dancing – it was a party to end all parties.

I would imagine the rest of Paul’s clan will be more visible next year. His mom turns 90. Funniest thing is: she and I share the same birthday – Sept. 11. Paul and Suzanne again volunteered their backyard and so come next year, the neighbors will once again be put on notice.

The weather was hot 102° but truthfully it didn’t feel that hot – of course we followed the shade around but it still didn’t seem to be overwhelming.

A great time was had by all.
Jo

Clive’s kidney function is better than in March, 47% and his psa is about the same, he’s had the freezing procedure twice. Our son is getting his barley harvested in between showers. But its finally really warm. I’ve not gotten much reading done, but we have Netflix movies, Clive likes movies, and we saw the Book of Eli, Densel Washington, and Faith Like Potatos the other night. Both interesting and with some hopeful ideas.

I had a finger joint replaced and didn’t excersise enough to move it well, but the pain was gone. Jacky

Where is it now?

Clever brother, Judith.

I still have not tried downloading my pictures to the computer. I MUST get with the program here. ;(

re Japan: Shogun is good reading if you’re interested in Japan around 1600. The rest of James Clavell’s Asia series bring the Orient into the 20th century very well. Japan progressed some thanks to Will _______, the American who did so much to show the shogun about the rest of the world, as he knew it. Great series. If you’d like the names of the books, holler…I have them all.

Lovely ladies? Thank you kind sir.

I’ve done very little quilting lately – since leaving TX, I’ve not found a compatible group. There are some quilters here but the one I’d be most interested in working with tends to her husband who is wheelchair bound outside of their apartment. My brother, not BIL, and I drove from MD to CA where SIL Margaret had entered my quilt in the county fair. I took second; first place went to a placemat size piece. Both were in the same group because both were made by hand. I still don’t see how a queen-size quilt can be compared to a placemat! I guess the reason was because the quilt was 1/2 inch out of square. Ah well.

I did inded get tired of the embroidery of those @#!$%^&*()_ yellow tulips. Eventually I got them all done and the quilting was the most fun. It was really lovely, too, and I’m NOT a yellow fan.

I’m happy too to hear of your progress after the new knee. As Darlyne says, keep it moving. Like all else, it’s a case of use it or lose it.

See next post for bash news.

Thats great Candace. I am glad you came through it OK. Keep exercising it. I got lazy and stopped too soon on one of mine and it doesn’t have the flexibility that the other does, still it is well worth it as you say.

Glad to see you here again Jacky. I wondered about you.

So glad to see so many people here–just taking a minute while stretching my new knee sitting here. Surgery July 12, today I drove the car–every day is better and if I never get beyond where I am today it was well worth it.

Candace

Good to find GGOBIT again. I got a new computer, old one died, and its been a busy summer. Our oldest son’s in law parents passed 12 days apart in Feb. They were just buried a couple of weeks ago, delay because we have a new addition to our Oslo cemetery, inside our dike, and it was just finished. They are the first of our four offsprings in laws to leave us.
Our oldest grandson was married in Niceville, FL, reception in his hometown in MO. It was fun but we had only 8 on the grooms side of the Air Force chapel. We are fairly well and I’m thankful. Tomorrow my husband has a kidney checkup. He has some function loss, but feels ok. I haven’t done much reading except daily stuff, but hope that Aug is a bit quieter. Nice to see all the familiar names. Jacky

i remember JO`S  quilt too, it was white and had yellow  tulips on it,  i think she won a prize.  it took so long she got tired of it.

Jo, my “old” friend—–Are you still into quilting?  I remember YEARS ago when you took your quilts to California (I think that was the state) to compete.  Recently, I came across that pic of you and (I think) BIL and sister). Just wondering—-

Joy

Were there really monastery’s like that?

Hi all you lovely ladies,

I’m surviving the warm weather quite nicely. It’s usually cool enough mornings for a walk in the neighborhood.

The great book I’m referring to is “The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeVoet”, by David Mitchell. It takes place in Japan around 1799 and revolves around a Dutch trading company doing business on a man-made island on the coast of Nagasaki. A young clerk falls for a Japanese medical student against all Japanese laws and customs. She is then sold by her step mother to a monastery where the nun/inmates are subjected to the monks for the purpose of producing babies for adoption. The book gets into some interesting details about the Japanese era of total isolation from the rest of the world.

Have a great Summer,
Huggs all,
Jerry

You mentioned squirrels getting your plants. That reminded me of my brother’s unique solution to the problem of deer eating his tomatoes. Last year he did not get a single tomato from his plants due to the deer. This year he put a radio (under a plastic garbage sack) on the porch near the tomato garden and plays NPR all night. The deer hear the humans talking and don’t come near the plants!
I hope everyone is well. We have had a busy, busy summer so far. I’ve hardly had time to read. I hope things slow down soon.
Take care all.
Judith

The only book of hers that I read was The Year of Magical Thinking. I didn’t like it. I thought she felt sorry for herself for too long though she did have a reason. She expected too much of other people IMHO.

JO your party sounded great and I would like to see pictures of your patio. My flowers aren’t doing well. Squirrels are digging them up for some reason and the heat is doing them in even though I keep trying to water. We have had very little rain. Some is expected today and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

it’s fairly warm here today – 79 right now but not in the high 80s and low 90s like it has been. And my flowers and the ornamental grasses I planted for my balcony are doing so well. I’ll get it together eventually and get some pictures sent. (don’t hold your breath!)

Loveland has a “Loveland Loves Bar-b-q” thing every summer and Suzanne, husband Paul, son Gene and wife Sharon and I all went. Gene and Sharon had flown out for a short vacation before the b’day bash.

My kids (plus ex-husband and friend Betty) are coming in on different days. #3 son and family aren’t going to make it. Another granddaughter and her friend are coming in also. #2 son and wife are on their way and are picking up his son, wife and twins. I’ve know son Jordan since birth but haven’t yet met his wife Rene nor seen their good-looking twins. I’m looking forward to that.

Tomorrow is the ‘party’ for Gene and Debbie, both of whom were born in years divisible by 5, as was I. But ‘my’ party is Saturday.

At any rate, I may be getting used to this altitude and temperatures. I’ve notice

It was a rousing success and I’ll tell you about later – right now it’s GO TO BED!

There is no way to tell you how much I appreciate this group even though I don’t check in very often. I will be forever grateful that this group is one of the first things I did after getting a computer. I would like to participate now but time gets away. I just started Cold Sassy Tree and I also picked up a book by Joan Didion. Do any of you know about any of her books? this is one she wrote after her husband died. I’m fortunate my husband is still living. I just recognized her name and bought the book without even knowing what it was about. I recognize her name but I don’t seem to remember any of her books. Why do I know her name? Maybe from some of you.

Someone ask about Phyllis. I haven’t heard from her in quite awhile. I have heard from Traude. She has answers for some of my questions about the meaning of words.

We have 100 degrees+ for a week and then today it topped out at 98. I don’t like the heat.

Jo, I hope you have a wonderful party. Is this a birthday celebration for you? Take care all. Georgianna

They got sidetracked by a Bass Pro Shop and the two young men, g’son and g’son-in-law, were – OH WE HAFTA STOP. I guess they are back on the road again. LOLOL Doesn’t take much to catch a young man’s eye!!!

Well my FL daughter and family have arrived and are on their way here – shouldn’t be too much longer now. I am SO ready I can’t believe it.

Take care all
Jo

It is good to hear from you Jenny. I am reading Innocent by Scott Turrow. It is taking me a while to get into but I read the first book he wrote about this, Presumed Innocent which was very good, a page turner and I am hoping this one will be also. You might like to read The Help. I can’t remember the author but it is very good and hard to put down. It is a best seller.

its a long time since  i was in here,  i forgat even my  password, but it came back to me.  i feel good and can not complain.  i read all the messages in here and  am happy to see a familiar name, special  JO  Does anyone ever hear from  Phyllis ?  A long time she did a lot for our  bookgroup to bring our  lifestories out in BOOKFORM.  it was a good group,  i enjoyed them so much, to bad it came to an end. I hardly read now,  i don`t know what books.  we have a library in the  retirementhome, but its not the same, as when the books are recommanded and later we talk about them.Have a good summer from Jenny from Alabama

I don’t think this one does it although I’m not sure. They do have bags of the same book for reading groups. The books this reading group gets are not the kind I’d like – and several of those they ordered we had all read before.

The libraries here, paper and hard backs, are fairly extensive for an apartment complext or any kind, senior or no. Did you all know that Goldie Hawn wrote a book? I can’t remember the name of the thing right now but since it came from the library across from my apt, I can go look. It was very good I thought. She is quite the thoughtful person, and I don’t mean doing things for others although she does that. She seems to embrace many religions, in particular the zen of Tibet and one from India.

I remember her mostly from Laugh-In and the two personas are amazing.

So anyhow – take care all.

Jo I wonder if the library would send out books you order. Some do that for handicapped but maybe you don’t have to be too handicapped. I would be lost without the library.