Weekend with Pappy

This weekend was a family weekend for my hubby & me. His 3 kids came into town for a visit, between work and school obligations. We were very happy to see them all & it was good to catch up with them & see how they are doing. From left is Ben (21), my hubby, Peter, Nick (19), and Stacy (23). The 2 older ones are still in college in Louisiana & the youngest (and tallest) just graduated from the French Culinary Institute in NYC, where he is still living & working. He said he is really enjoying living up there & loves the fast pace of the city. He's cooking at one of the top up and coming restaurants, from what we hear.
We made homemade pizza on Friday night & it was a big hit. I used a storebought crust (called Mama Marys & it was very good), with roasted red peppers, mushrooms, & kalamata olives. It was great!
Here we are in the middle of our feast. See we're eating on the new plates.

One of the main reasons the kids came home this weekend was to visit their grand-pappy, Peter's grandfather. He is the patriarch of the family & we've just found out recently that he has cancer. They aren't quite sure about diagnosis yet, but it looks like it may not be treatable and at 97, it could be quite a battle for him that I'm not sure he's willing to tackle at this stage. I love this picture of him & Peter's grandmother, who they called Mammie. A lot of Peter's family got together a few weekends ago for a mini-family reunion & one of the grandaughter's put some pictures together on a CD & gave them to everyone. I just thought this was such a great picture of a young couple starting out in life. What a dashing pair they were!

They built this home here in B'ham back in the 1960's & he has now outlived 2 wives in it. It's a wonderful ranch home in an established area of town with lots of trees & woods. He's a horticulturist & loved working in his yard. Peter tells me he has a lot of fruit trees here on this property & he used to walk around it with his grandfather telling him all about the plants & trees that he was growing.
This is the winding driveway coming up from the road. It's a beautiful piece of property. I hope somehow they can keep it in the family when Pappy is gone. We don't know exactly how long he has left, so everyone is trying to make the best of it by visiting him often. It looks like there won't be too many months left to do that. So, on Saturday a few cousins & us stopped by for a visit with Pappy. He's a very gentle, sweet man who is still very vibrant & sharp.
I thought you'd enjoy seeing an older Southern home that was decorated in the 1960's, I'm sure & looks like time has stood still. The livingroom is very stately & elegant.

Nice furniture & colors.
And the diningroom with the floral wallpaper & vintage table, chairs & china cabinet.
Along with the sideboard & an oil painting of someone...not sure who that is.
And here are the 3 great grandchildren with their Pappy. For 97, he is an amazing man. He still drives his Lincoln Town Car (even though everyone would love for him to hang up the keys!). He always remembers names & greets everyone by their name. He has made me always feel welcome just in the 2 short years that Peter and I have been married. He made a mark in the steel industry many years ago & has been a pillar of this community for a long, long time.

So, that was our weekend. These moments are very precious, as we don't often know how long our loved ones are going to be around. We need to take the time while we have it.
***********************************************************

I did manage to get out to just a few sales very early Sat. a.m. before anyone was up. It was a clothes day. I found all of these gently used pieces for $9.00. This is a beautiful black 2 piece sweater set.
Banana Republic long sleeve shirt.
Gap striped tank top & the solid blue one is brand new with the tags still on by Jones New York.
I loved this Gap jeans jacket. It is practically brand new. Remember, everything was $9...not a bad deal at all!
Lastly, this is one of my favorite finds! At the last yardsale I went to today, I found this pretty custom made valance which is going to go in my hubby's new office. He has already got his new desk filled with his computer & printer & stuff & is enjoying sitting in there. My mission will be to decorate this space on a budget. I wanted something on the windows & this valance will be perfect. I already have a rod stashed away that I bought last year at a yardsale, so I'll probably paint it white & hang this on rings. It matches the blue paint in there perfectly. And it was $1.00! Can you stand that?? I asked him what he wanted on the walls in there & he wants Alabama football stuff, so that is what I'm going after now. I'll be on the lookout for some memorabilia, so this will be a sports-themed office. Should look pretty with the blue, since AL colors are burgandy red & white.

Busy weekend, but a very good one! Hope yours was too!