Sunday Skyping with Rosie

Holy Stripes!  This is what happens when Daddy dresses Rosie.

Getting ready for some exercise.

It can't be captured in still photos but Rosie moved her arm and her knees.  Almost crawling!  

Rosie sure loves her Dad (in spite of the stripes).    

Gus got a hair cut and trimmed his beard for a more responsible look as he will turn 30 in two short days.

  As his Momma I objectively thinks he looks quite handsome, and responsible.

You Just Steal My Heart Away

I have always liked Van Morrison, but mostly for his older and/or more popular songs.  Recently I've been listening to a lot more of his music (and believe me there is a lot more of his music to choose from).  I found his song "Steal My Heart Away", released in 2002 on his 'Down the Road' album.  This speaks to the romantic in me.  Who wouldn't want to be the person someone thinks of when listening to this song.  

Steal My Heart Away

Van Morrison

I can hear the sound of violins
I can hear the piper play
And every time the song begins
You just steal my heart away

The journey's longer than
I thought my love
There's lots of things
Get in the way
But every time I think of you
You just steal my heart away

Just like a morning
In May like this
See the heather on the hill
There's a place way up
The mountainside
Where the world
Keeps standing still

Just like the sunshine after rain
I'll come
To be with you will save the day
'Cos I know
When I'm with you again
You just steal my heart away

Just like a morning
In May like this
We see the heather on the hill
There's a place up on
The mountainside
Where the world is
Standing still

Just like the sunshine after rain I'll come
To be with you will save the day 'cos I know
When I'm with you again
You just steal my heart away

'Cos I know
When I m with you again
You just steal my heart away

'Cos I know
When I'm with you again
You just steal my heart away

'Cos I know
When I'm with you again
You just steal my heart away

Mom & Dad High School Graduation

I just got these from Karen - high school graduation pictures of my Mom and Dad.

Sunday Skyping with Rosie on Monday

Today was not a bad day but I needed a little dose of Rosie to lift my spirits - who wouldn't feel happy after seeing this beautiful smile.  Thanks, Rosie - just what Gromma needed.

I guess it's never too early to learn that your Mom and Dad will do a lot of things to make you look silly.

Just adorable!  

Flowers with Clas

Just a few more photos from Reel #3.  My Uncle Henry was a florist; he started with a small shop in 1955.  In February 1961 he opened his new shop on New Scotland Avenue in Albany NY.  On this day we all gathered after church for the dedication of the new store.  From then on the family gathered at the shop the day before every holiday to help get all of the orders out the door.  The moms and older girls helped put together corsages and bouquets.  The dads and older boys made deliveries.  And all of us kissin' cousins put the final touches on the children's corsages - we carefully placed the silk butterflies or bumble bees into the carnations.  Easter was the absolute best holiday because Uncle Henny always had baby chicks, ducks and bunnies in the shop.  The shop has been expanded through the years.  Uncle Henny's son, Charlie now manages it.  Charlie had not even been born when the shop opened so he's not in this picture.  

Henry F. Clas Florist - "Flowers with Clas".  

  http://www.clasflorist.com

Three Days in April 1961

I finished the 3rd reel of slides.  The last photos from that reel were all taken in April 1961.  I am in each picture and it's hard to believe they were all taken in the same month because I look completely different in each.

The first photo was taken on Easter Sunday, April 2, 1961.  It looks as though my dad called us all back from the car to take this one and only picture of that day.  I envision my mother sitting in the car staring straight ahead, lips pursed.  Because I'm sure Dad was already late getting us to church and then he decided we had to have a picture.  It looks like he plucked each of us from random family cars driving by.  Karen is movie star perfect in the coat with the double gardenia corsage and that amazing hat with the matching gloves.  Fred looks like a young Elwood of the Blues Brothers.  I just look pissed (a word I don't think was used at that time).  No two things I'm wearing appear to belong together.  The hat seems small and I just verified my suspicion - it is the same hat I wore for Easter 1960.  The hat is not helped by my hair which appears to have been styled with an egg beater.  Contrary to the hat, the gloves look big and they seem inappropriate for an 8 year old.  (I can not deny the likelihood that I begged to wear the gloves because Karen was wearing gloves.  I quite possibly pouted until granted a reluctant OK.  I had a similar experience a few years later when I absolutely had to wear nylons because every other girl in the 6th grade was going to - another fashion moment that ended badly.)  I am however glad to see that dress; I have always loved it and I've wondered when I got it - mystery now solved.  It can be seen to greater advantage in pictures I've posted of my 9th birthday party  in January 1962 - here it looks drab, as does everything in the picture except Karen.  The only thing I love is my purse - that's just wonderful (even though that doesn't match anything else either).

This picture was taken later in April after a fishing trip my Dad took to Lake George.  I am posing in our basement with his catch of Brook Trout.  Contrary to the mismatched Easter outfit, these pants and the white-pebbled sweater are really quite fashionable for an 8 year old.  I actually remember those pants.  They were wool and they were lined with a silky material - no doubt they required dry cleaning.  In spite of that I am sitting on the cement floor - though no doubt safe from dirt because Dad had the cleanest basement ever.  He is about to turn 90 and I've recently been in his current basement - you could still eat off of his floor.  While I have inherited a need for some degree of cleanliness, I sometimes wonder if my dogs should be eating off of my floor - and that's in my kitchen.

Lastly is a picture of Karen, Fred and me.  I have no clue why this was taken or where we were going - no label except that it was taken in April 1961.  I know that the fancy poodle belonged to a neighbor - it was the first poodle I had ever seen - he and I became good friends through the years.  Unlike the tiered lavender dress from Easter I did not have any established memory of this red dress. But as soon as I saw it in this picture I remembered that Mom and I had gotten it in an Albany dress shop at the beginning of the school year.  It would have been for second grade, my first year in Elsmere Elementary.  

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have finally gotten back to converting the slides.  I'll post some of the photos now, and I will likely add more as the day goes on.

Last Thanksgiving (2011) I posted a photo of my family on Thanksgiving Day 1960.  That photo was made from a slide and I just uncovered 2 more taken that day.

This was the original group shot.

These are all the cousins in my age bracket with Uncle Henny. 

This photo was a treasure to find - the kids' table!  My sister Karen is 5 years older than any of the other cousins on my Dad's side so she was at the adult table.  Too bad for her because we all know that the kids' table rules.

The next slides were taken at the Youth Fellowship weekend retreat in Medusa, NY - August 1960.  On 1-18-2012 I posted some photos from the 1959 retreat (http://ddramblings.blogspot.com/2012/01/wednesday-miscellany.html) 

This must have been right before or after church as all of the girls are wearing skirts.  

Notice how nice all of the girls look in the above picture?  Even in cabins with no power and rudimentary group bathrooms with only cold water, the teen-aged girls made sure their hair was perfect.  Here is a shot of my cousin Peggy during morning meditation with a large scarf covering her hair rollers.

The following slides were taken behind my grandmother's house in Albany NY - August 1960.  This was a party for relatives visiting from Durham, North Carolina - definitely an occasion in those days. 

I love the cars in the background, and the webbed chairs - they would have been pretty modern in 1960.

The kids at the party.

Everyone at the party.

Sunday Skyping with Rosie

Rosie is 7 months old today!

Hey Dad - Gromma's doing that peek-a-boo thing again!

Rosie showing off her first 2 teeth.

Practicing her flirty look.

Look how strong - push-ups on her knees.

Making sure that her Mom is watching Gromma being silly again.

Now this is really fun!

Rosie has a brunch date later this morning with her Mom and Dad, and some friends.  Have fun Rosie.  Gromma loves you!

Who are these people?

My sister just sent this picture.  We know it is a family reunion (Dad's side) and we know it was at Thompson's Lake, near Albany but we are not sure of the year.  I'm with Gus and his Dad (1st husband) and Gus is in his blonde stage so I'm pretty sure it is the late 80's.  Karen sent it to many of the cousins in the photo so no doubt the women with small babies will be able to give us an exact year.  I'm sure Karen can identify more of the participants than I can, though I do recognize quite a few.  But I have no clue who some of these people are - all are family and I was there so presumably I knew everyone at the time.  Let's hope the other cousins can help.

Here's another photo that my cousin Doreen sent while converting some of her old negatives.  She knows it was November or December 1975.  That makes me almost 23, recently out of college and haphazardly job hunting.  I also know this is my old neighborhood - across the street from our house.  What I don't know, what no one knows, is who the heck is the guy I am with.  We are obviously having a good time (though based on how my coat looks I am not winning the snowball fight).  This could be one of those mysteries I never solve.  All I can say is that you should always label your photos - because 30 or 40 years later you will drive yourself crazy wondering who's who.     

YAY Giants!

Super Bowl Sunday Skyping with Rosie

Rosie started on her tummy ...

... and got herself into push-up position - so strong!

She's enjoying her Christmas fish.

Apparently it's pretty yummy.

Even better than fish - feet are great fun.

If you can't get the right sock off, try the left.

And if you can't get either sock off - Whoops!

Rosie is going to a Super Bowl party with Mom and Dad later today.  Dad's a New Yorker so I'm sure she'll be cheering for the Giants.