Happy Bunny Day...

Just wishing everyone a lovely day with family and friends.

For the month of April, I will be participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. Each day (except Sundays) I will be entering an article on here corresponding to the letter of the day. 26 letters of the alphabet, 26 days in the month.

This is my second year. I plan to use the content this year to help transition myself out of my job into retirement. Hope you will join me to see what words I use.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.....

We are about to head over to the Warwick Firehouse to have Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner with the kids.  Chris and Heather are volunteering for the event. It has become a tradition.
15th Annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner - Excelsior Hose Co. #1

Today at 3:00pm

Warwick Fire Department in Warwick, New York

You may have noticed the Countdown gizmo on my side column. I will be retiring in the middle of this year and my daughter kindly put the counter up for me to track the days. I am getting more and more excited. One of the outcomes of retirement will be more time for crafting and writing. Another will be possibly moving to someplace a little warmer.
As we get closer to the end of June, I'll start writing about the trip we are planning to look for a good spot for our new home. Right now, the hubby and I are doing our research.

Just wanted to wish all of you a great day.

St. Patrick's Day Memories...

I'm excited. I am submitting a piece to the Got Green Blogfest 2.0. I just happened to have a piece about my Irish Grandma and this seemed like the ideal place to share it. I'm looking forward to seeing the other entries. Thanks for visiting.


St. Patrick's Day brings up thoughts of my Grandmother, Catherine Chapman, who was born in Ireland in the late 1880s. She was a feisty lady who lived with my family from when I was seven. She often told stories of coming over on the boat and working as a domestic; she was an excellent cook and baker. As someone who creates scrapbooks now, I wish I had kept a diary of her best stories.

My fondest recollections of her are from St. Patrick's Day, HER Holiday. My sister and I would come home from grade school in the afternoon. Mom and Grandma would have the parade on the television- Channel 5. Jack McCarthy would be announcing the marching bands and joking with New York City's Finest in Blue as they passed in review.

Grandma Chapman would make us cups of hot tea and bring out hot cross buns with butter and those bakery cookies shaped like shamrocks with green icing or sprinkles on them. We'd watch the parade together and soon Grandma would talk of relatives I'd never met and of the Ireland of her childhood- which sounded less romantic than you might think. Afternoon would slip into dinner time; I'd eat my corned beef and cabbage with her stories dancing in my mind.

As the years went along, life got busy and it wasn't "cool" to watch a mere parade with my Grandma- teenage things you know. Grandma continued her tradition without me ( maybe with a little Jamison's in her tea).

When my children were old enough, I tried to instill an interest in the tradition but it never seemed quite the same. Although my kids liked the cookies, without my now departed Grandma, the magic was gone, that special feeling she created. Perhaps Grandma sprinkled leprechaun dust on those cookies or it was her ties with the "Old Country" that warmed a dreary March day. Whichever, I dearly miss my "Wild Irish Rose" of a Grandmother.

A Wednesday note....

March is sliding by and I am falling behind.

I am starting my  writing for Blogging A-Z Challenge; I need 26 entries for that. I am working on art for my Letter Love 201 class; got about 10 more pieces to do for that. Got some birthday cards to make, several poems to write for the Library Newsletter due by next week. I am also planning two short and one large trip between now and June.

As you can see, I am writing here instead of doing any of the above.  What's wrong with this picture?