Today is a federal holiday in the United States. Memorial Day. Dating back to customs following the Civil War of decorating the graves of fallen soldiers, it was originally called Decoration Day and slowly, over time and years and wars, became a national day of remembering. I remember my childhood, all of us packed into [...]
Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category
Decoration Day
Posted in Holidays, tagged Decoration Day, Ken Burns, Memorial Day, Norah Jones, PBS, The War, WWII on Monday, May 28, 2012 | 23 Comments »
Raindrops on roses . . .
Posted in Family and friends, Gardening, Holidays, music, tagged A Few of My Favorite Things, Julie Andrews, Mother's Day, Rodgers and Hammerstein, The Sound of Music on Saturday, May 12, 2012 | 28 Comments »
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things! Rodgers and Hammerstein/The Sound of Music There were three, plump, yellow rose blossoms with promises of a Mother’s Day bloom. Alas, the wandering deer thought better [...]
Harry, Sam and Us
Posted in Family and friends, Holidays, tagged Agape service, Christos Anesti, Eastern Orthodox Easter, Greek Easter, red Easter Eggs on Monday, April 16, 2012 | 20 Comments »
After greeting each other on Sunday with Christos Anesti, followed by Alethos Anesti, Dottie and I quickly rolled into a phone conversation ranging from Greek Easter bread, which I had just put into the oven, Easter eggs dyed red in the Greek tradition, favorite pastries and how I was making pastichio. One comment lead to another [...]
Hopping
Posted in Holidays, tagged Easter, Passover, Seder meal, springtime celebrations on Saturday, April 7, 2012 | 13 Comments »
I’ve hopped off the Cutoff for a few days and will write a post as soon as I can. Happy Easter! Mazel Tov! Best wishes for whatever your tradition is this time of year! Penny
An Irish blessing
Posted in Holidays, tagged Arranmore, Danny Boy, Irish blessing, Irish Soda bread, St. Patrick's Day on Friday, March 16, 2012 | 20 Comments »
“May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door.” Irish Blessing Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the Cutoff Time to make our annual corned beef and cabbage dinner and several loaves of Irish Soda Bread (my recipe is [...]
Relishing Valentine’s Day
Posted in Family and friends, Holidays, tagged box of chocolate, rose petals, Valentine's Day on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 | 25 Comments »
It is quiet here on the Cutoff this Valentine’s afternoon. A dusting of snow powdered the morning as I sat, filling out bills and forms and such; catching up on a small hill of “stuff” that was awaiting my return from Minnesota. I’d best pick up my pace a bit if the mail is going [...]
In Flanders Fields
Posted in Famous and infamous, Historical, Holidays, tagged In Flanders Fields, John McCrae, Memorial Day, poppies on Monday, May 30, 2011 | 10 Comments »
home.earthlink.net/~alrnevada/post149/id26.html Here in the United States, we honor all who sacrificed their lives or returned home injured from war and dedicate a day, Memorial Day, each May, to honor them. There are parades and ceremonies at cemeteries and parks, national tributes and prayers in houses of worship. The poem, In Flanders Field, was written by [...]
Nesting
Posted in Family and friends, Holidays on Monday, April 25, 2011 | 13 Comments »
Once upon a time, when we were very young and just getting to know each other, Tom and I would walk and talk and laugh and sigh as we learned about each other’s childhood traditions. The conversations were most often swayed by the holiday at hand. After we married and started a family of our [...]
Lily
Posted in Holidays, Nature/animals, tagged Easter Lilies, Wilder Park Conservatory on Sunday, April 24, 2011 | 18 Comments »
Is there another flower that evokes Easter, purity, faith, hope more than the lily? Did you know that the bulbs grown for the Easter lily come from about ten farms in Northern California and Southern Oregon? These Easter lilies were blooming at the Wilder Park Conservatory in Elmhurst as a stormy Good Friday afternoon raged outside. [...]
