"Elvis" WAS in the Building!

Last evening Phyllis and Bob Brandt joined me for an "Elvis" concert in the theater here at Savanna Club.  I didn't realize how many songs Elvis made popular.  It is said he sang 1,500 songs and recorded 800+.  

This was a fun and lighthearted evening!

 

(Never a dull moment around here, huh?)

Cheri is Growing Up!

I just saw this posted on Facebook by Christie Rhodes, Cheri's mother:    "Sooo... the big brother watched the buck all summer......and the sister got it! Life just ain't fair, huh?"

Cheri has been my Weeding Assistant for several years and I claim her as my granddaughter.  Here she was in 2010.

http://www.angeliladventures.blogspot.com/2010/08/cheri-my-sweet-helper.html 

Here's Grant, "the big brother who watched the buck all summer."

And here's my Cheri today in front of the weigh-in station at the store in Singers Glen, Virginia today!

 

 I wish I could be there but I can just see the twinkle in Cheri's eyes!  Way to go, Granddaughter!  Sorry, Grant, I hope you get one, too!

Yom Kippur 2012

My friends, Bobbie and Ron Steinberg (the ones who visited us in Virginia last year -- Childlike Enthusiasm for Cows) invited me to their home in Savanna Club to celebrate Yom Kippur last evening.  I call them my "homies" because they're like family.

Yom Kippur, also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people.  It is a day for fasting and repenting from the sins of the previous year.  Traditionally this holy day is observed with a 25 hour period of fasting and prayer.

Bobbie, Sheila, Suzanne, Allen, George, Howie, Benay, MaryMay, Ron, and Larry

I had gingerly tasted lox and bagels and herring in sour cream before.  This time, I ate them with gusto and thoroughly enjoyed them, along with all the other trimmings. 
When I taught in Ft. Lauderdale, I always enjoyed having holidays for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.  Now it's nice to know the meaning of these holidays.   

Gmar Chatimah Tovah! (May you be sealed in the Book of Life for a good year).

p.s.  Correction:  Last week at Rosh Hashana, Bobbie was the one who made the kasha varnishkes.

Blanche's Big Adventure

I left home at about 11 a.m. this morning.  When I came home at 4:00 p.m., the door to the Florida room had blown open and the kitties were nowhere to be seen.  I started walking all the backyards and my street.  I thought I could hear Pepper's screechy meow.  Sure enough, she was in my neighbor's Florida room.  She had come meowing at his door and he recognized her.  He gave her food and water and kept her.  I was so relieved.

However, there was no sign of Blanche.  I called and knocked on all the neighbors' doors but no one had seen her.  I walked the backyards again (and got several ant bites).  About 5:20 p.m. I got a phone call from the Humane Society.  Animal Control had just brought her in and when they scanned her chip, they were able to call the 800 number and get my information. I rushed right up there, arriving just before they closed at 6:00.

Apparently, Blanche went under someone's house on the street behind me.  They called Animal Rescue, who took her to the Humane Society.  How glad I am that I got the chip put in her last spring!   Now I can sleep tonight.

Blanche does seem beat after her big adventure.

 

p.s. I would like to think she's learned her lesson, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

Rosh Hashanah Dinner 2012

My friends at Savanna Club are very kind and thoughtful about including me in various activities.  

I felt very honored to be invited to celebrate Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) at the home of Sheila and George Soto.
 
The meal began with chopped liver, which I was able to eat thanks to Suzanne's good recipe!  Ron made some delicious matzo ball soup from scratch.  (A matzo ball is a dumpling made from matzah meal, eggs, and oil.)

Rosh Hashanah meals usually include apples and honey to symbolize a sweet new year. 

George and Suzanne with round challah bread to symbolize the cycle of the year.  It was so moist.

 Bobbie, Sheila, Larry, Daryl & Ron

Sheila made kasha varnishkes (buckwheat groats cooked with onions and chicken stock, then mixed with bowtie pasta), carrots, flat point brisket (to die for!) and Moroccan chicken.

 For dessert we had rugulah pastry and apple cake. Deana surprised Sheila with an early birthday cake.

Happy Birthday, Sheila!

What a nice evening with good friends!  Thank you, Sheila and George, and "Shanah Tovah" (for a good year).