Putting on my big girl pants

I bought this lamp maybe twenty years ago in Saugatuck. My view early in the morning 

Obviously not a recent photo but the front garden at its peak in July 

My turn to host the Chosen Sisters Christmas party  In January due to others traveling. Alas one of the moms got sick right before the party so we are having another one in ten days. A hectic day as we we went to Hannah’s birthday party and we had Maya. She was instructed to just say hi to the moms but inventes all sorts of excuses to be with us

At Hannah’s party who is in the middle front row at an indoor bouncy castle place All of the grandkids there though Oliver opted out of this picture. I always think of Hannah as tiny but compared to her classmates she ‘s quite tall

Miss Naomi started her 4th semester of computer classes One of her teachers thinks she is one of the best in the program. Quite a turn around 

Frosty sunrise. Actually it’s been a relatively warm winter so I can usually exercise outside 

More moms. The following week much effort spent removing numerous Christmas things and trees

Maya and mom

Octopus for Hannah 

So I am not completely flower deprived I have about 6 amaryllis blooming or about to bloom along with paper white narcissi’s

Hannah among Lego girls

 

In the fall of 2016 I decided I hated being fat and made a strict plan to correct that. By the fall of  2017 I was 80 lbs lighter and miracle of miracles a size 4. I kept it off until my surgery in 2019. Not sure if it was the forced period of inactivity or a change in hormones but being a size 4 was not in the cards. Well I could live with being a 6 or an 8 but sadly I am probably a 10, better than a 16 squeezing into 14 but still sad. I do exercise quite a bit and have very good muscle tone but I can’t fit into all the clothes I have. 

I did keep some of the intermediate sizes (the real big girl stuff is gone). It was a sad day I had to dig that out. 

Will try to correct this this year

I hate winter even though this is a relatively good one  I am trying to complete little projects I have no time for in the summer due to doing so much outside. Trying to entangle my ancestors. My fathers side is easy as his father kept good records; mainly British Isles lots of Scottish, Irish, Welsh and British 

My mom’s side more of a mystery as they are more recent immigrants and not highly educated nor did they keep track of anything . I was told all German though my grandma had an Eastern European last name. One great grandparent was easy to trace from the Black Forest part of Germany. Two others were from West Prussia which is now Poland. One of the villages is quite close to Gdańsk 

The one great grandparent with the non German name is a mystery. But somehow I am Swedish 

Still trying to sort things out
 

Highlights of 2022

 Many pictures. Although I loaded them in order, Blogger has a mind of its own. We went to Europe twice and to New York City. With an old friend I tried canoeing the Boundary Waters and visited the main sites in the Upper Peninsula with Naomi. In between did lots of gardening, running, bicycling and raising black swallowtails. Also had lots of family time and seeing friends   For the most part, a good year  Aside from maybe getting Covid and an accident that chipped my front teeth, we have our health

Church in Vienna 

4th of July bbq

Mittleberg Germany 

Along the Main

Hundertwasser Vienna 

My brother visited in the fall law quad UM

Mardi Gras punchkey

Spring trip Germany Breisach 

White Christmas through a wreath 

 

Naomi did very well in her computer science program 

Taquemmonen falls

Black Forest. Some of my relatives came from there

Pictured Rocks UP

One of the butterflies raised about ten of them from larva found on my dill and fennel 

Maya is now in middle school. Her choir

Passau 

 

Summer lunch with Josh and girls

Shoe memorial in Budapest 

Our flock

Amsterdam 

Oliver played football and now is in high school tempus fugit

Zillions of fancy churches seen. in Vienna 

French pastries in Strasbourg. Will return to France in a few months 

Steve and I in Rothenberg 

Storks in Strasbourg several blocks of these

Back at home Flamingo willow 

Lots of strawberries this year. lots of Maya stay overs

lots of hibiscuses 

Cologne. Visited it in the spring and the fall

Bamberg 

Spring

Street person in Cologne 

Although we really didn’t have much snow in 2022 I still hated it

Speyer

Budapest 

Daniel and Tessa

Fall flowers 

Harlem 

Snow and sunset here

Cologne 

Koblenz 

Christmas 

Up at the lodge before our canoe trip. Pretty but harrowing 

We got together in NYC for Steve’s mom’s jahrzeit

Otto Wagner church in fog. Vienna 

Lots of birds. This is an orchard oriole couple. Much more Baltimores

Fall and sunrise 

800 year old mikvah in Speyer Germany. Lots of Jewish history and lots of cruelty 

Went to see Kinky Boots this fall

House guests in my tub

New expensive mower but cuts grass cutting in half

Local night out for our 45th anniversary 

Local fall fair

Fall colors 

MElk abbey staircase

Went to the last art fair in Grand Rapids 

More birds in our yard. These cranes used to be rare

On a layover in Chicago for our spring trip

Naomi and the Big Spring UP

Castles and more castles 

One of our campsites in the Boundary Waters

Lots of glads

Highlight of our fall trip. Mozart concert in Vienna 

One of many German towns

Right before one of our trips had a two day power outage due to a terrible storm. No power means no water as we are on a well

Regensburg