Get your coffee, settle down, and adjust your reading glasses: This is a l-o-o-ng one.
Had a wonderful Mother's Day. When I stopped for Susan for our walk at 7:00. I was surprised and touched to be presented with a terra cotta "strawberry jar" she had planted with pink and rose inpatients. I love it and will keep it by the front door.
Called Betty and we wished each other a happy M. Day. She was going to Carolyn's for dinner; we also discussed her trip east in August and/or September.
Later, while I was making the "soda cake" for the trifle, neighbor Anne Mary H. came over to give me two small plants, one of lavender and one a cone flower. A.M.H. is what used to be called "a maiden lady"; she's a retired math teacher (gawd!), and is a dedicated gardener. I like lavender and think cone flowers are hideous, so will plant the first prominently, and the second way far in the back. While I was chatting with her, Ray and Barb's boy, John, came up and we greeted each other with a hug. John, a great guy (free-spirit genre), is a chef in Maryland and was here for Mother's Day.
Ellen called early and, as always, we talked and talked. I told her I wouldn't open her present until after dinner at Alison's--see below.
Darling granddaughter Vivian called from Singapore (with the help of her Daddy) and said "Happy Mother's Day, Nana." She said she had drawn two faces on the card for her Mommy, one green and one blue. She referred to "jelly fish" and I think she was telling me that's what they looked like. Mike and Paula are moving to a "maisonette," a triplex not far from the Botanical Gardens. They negotiated having the bathrooms redone, with the owners paying for it in exchange for Paula's designer expertise (and I assume her discount at high-end suppliers), but must move into temporary quarters until it's finished around the middle of June. I was surprised to hear it's somewhat bigger than their present apartment (they now have 5 bedrooms, 5 1/2 baths). They interviewed nanny Vickie's possible replacement, her sister-in-law, but aren't sure if they'll hire her.
Grandson Joel called in the early afternoon to ask his Pop if he wanted to join them at the air show at McGuire AFB. Pat didn't feel up to it, but we were pleased he had asked and to hear that he, Joel, and Joely would have dinner at Alison's, too.
Good thing I hadn't assembled the trifle yet. Thinking there'd be only four of us, I was going to put a half recipe in a small dish, but instead, used the big trifle container. I layered cake, FF pudding, and sliced bananas--two tiers of each--and topped it with a container of "lite" (why in the hell can't they just call it "light?") Cool Whip. Lined a box with the artificial "ice" I keep in the freezer, so the trifle and the parsley rice dish I also brought stayed nice and cool on the trip up.
J., J., and J. arrived shortly after we did. What a delight to interact with 4 1/2 year-old Joely! He immediately asked where his "spy kit" was; this is a children's packet Alison sent for and it had just come in the mail. Interestingly, the overlying theme was Japan, the idea being that the child is a detective who has to figure out what crook (of six) committed a burglary--I think stole a Japanese treasure or something. I was able to work in the fact that Uncle Patrick lived in Tokyo and that I've been there. The kit included a pretend passport, stickers of various countries to put in it, a world map, an activity book, a jigsaw puzzle which turned out to be Japan, and lots of other fun items. Joely and I had a ball doing some of the activities together, which included secret codes, and other interesting stuff.
Dinner was yummy, the main courses being chicken on the grill and glazed salmon in the pan. J., J., and J. gave Alison a nice set of barbecue tools, which she immediately put to use.
Well, the trifle was a triumph. Everybody liked it and after they had said so, I revealed my secret: that it was a WW recipe. About a third was left and Jen took it home--good, because then I can go up and take them to lunch when I retrieve it.
Alison and Mike had gone to the air show on Saturday and Mike took some spectacular pictures he showed us on the computer. How he got them from the ground with the planes zooming overhead, I can't imagine--in some, you can actually see the pilot.
I gave Alison and Jen Mother's Day mugs and cut some of my lilacs to put in them. Got a lovely card from J., J., and J. and one from Alison with the promise of "dinner and a movie." Loved Ellen's present of one of the paintings she had executed when she took the teachers' painting course in April; called her when we got home to thank her.
I don't say it often enough: I'm a lucky woman.