Florida leads to Roberta's life time of talking

One winter (1954 or 1955) I was left in Florida with Grandma & Granddad to give Roberta a chance to learn to talk without using me as an interpreter. Glad that worked, Roberta, as being your lifetime interpreter would have indeed been a challenge for me! Grandma and Granddad were living above the garage behind another house and it was quite exotic a location as there were lots of bird of paradise and even poinsettia trees. For a few weeks (days?) I went with Marianne to kindergarten which involved sitting at small tables coloring -- not all that exciting -- so made me feel better about missing the experience in Ohio where there was no kindergarten until Roberta was ready to go. I remember there being news about Alaska and Hawaii added as states, which I think Granddad was not sure was a good idea. Why would we want those far off places to be part of the US? They weren't even connected to the rest of the states and that would obviously be a problem. Maybe Dad showed me where they were on the map and that began my fascination with maps.

Florida and Recipes

I can't say I remember ever going to FL with the family EXCEPT when I was about 5ish (possibly right after Granddad died?). My first time to travel by myself was to FLORIDA to see RUK and the Hortons when I was 10 and earned the money to buy my own ticket $110 from Cincy to West Palm. As I also recall Disneyworld had just opened and RUK took me there on greyhound? Could be I have the trips confused....Also want to say Vanessa Brown took us to Disney and then maybe we rode back to WPB on the bus. The bus we memorable because it was the first time I ever had chicken out of a can. What a sheltered childhood!
Mother, thinking of you especially right now as I'm watching Iron Chef America on Food Network and the topic is BEETS.
Roberta, I have several personal recipes for crock pot cooking I'd be glad to email you; for Christmas Don gave me Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Crock-Pot Cookbook which I have enjoyed and some very interesting recipes in there as well.
Serena--are you worn out from birthday celebrations? Catherine, what's new with KC and the rest of your family?
We are very much looking forward to April and already making plans to convoy with JB, Julie etal from here to Lantana via the Kennedy Space Center.

FLORIDA

This is now Roberta the poster pecking away! My suggestion for a theme would be FLORIDA! Trips in the past, and of course what should we plan for April! I remember well both the times in Florida and of course getting there and back! Topics under this could be many, the food we ate, the trips to the beach, the bathrooms (or lack of) and of course the side trips! Serena, could you find some pictures of Florida to post???

Another subject could be cooking.....I am thinking of using our slow cooker more so I am looking for recipes, and would appreciate any tried and true.

I have not had my breakfast yet, and get grouchy when I have not eaten so more later. Again this is Roberta the poster posting. ( I just had to remove commas, and other not allowed items from the subject line)

Picture Editing and topic of the week!

After using picasa to do Serena's collage, I fooled around with it a little more on those Ballantyne pictures and it's pretty easy to use. Now I'm going back through other pictures and cropping them to make it easier to see the people (example above and left). Very user friendly!

Coldest morning here yet. I hear my parents when I say to my children, "CLOSE THE DOOR YOU'RE LETTING ALL THE COLD AIR IN!" and "Aren't you cold? Where are your slippers?". As of right now the temp is UP to 30*. Off to Macon to donate platelets and red cells. Where is RUK, the blog lurker? No comments from her recently. Topic for next week?

Skye Restaurant

We finally made it to the famous (at least in Roberta's world) Skye Restaurant. It was very nice. I must say from Roberta's rather sketchy description - five floors with lots of music and food; I had pictured more of a bar/dancing/chi-chi food place.

It seems we picked a rather off-night to try out Skye - it was the night for their Christmas party (obviously after the Christmas rush). There were only four occupied tables at the place - one by a relatively large party (15-20 people), two other tables of four or so and the four of us - Sara, Sid, Roberta and me.

We had an excellent appetizer - Wisconsin cheese fondue with some sliced apple, broccoli, cauliflower and bread. We had roasted duck, pecan chicken, and (in honor of the Mexican trip to Puerto Penasco) Shrimp Puerto Penasco. Everyone was very happy with their entrees, although I found the Shrimp too rich and, although not bad, I wouldn't order it again. At least for the last time in 2007, Sid and I got birthday desserts which we shared. Sid got chocolate decadence which was VERY chocolate and very decadent. I got bananas Foster which was not at all chocolate and somewhat decadent, and very good.

The music was mostly (all?) Frank Sinatra and at a nice volume - one could hear it, but not overpowering and it was easy to carry on a conversation. The lighting was reasonable - one could easily see quite well.

I think the group decision was that Skye is a very nice place for special occasion dining. Very little food for vegans - red pepper hummus was the only item, I think, that would be vegan.

The website is here. And there is a link for the menu (Adobe pdf).

Next birthday meal is scheduled for January 29th at Persian Garden Cafe, in the evening I presume. I'm looking forward to a second trip to the Persian Garden Cafe - it is a very nice organic restaurant with quite a few vegan/vegetarian offerings. Not sure what time we are meeting though.

Lucie, Bob and Virginia Ballantyne circa 1920

These are the pictures Katie Brown Ramaker emailed me last night; Robert and Virginia as the two younger children. Lucie is on the right in first picture and 2nd from right in the right hand picture. We believe the pictures are from about 1920, very possibly in Florida or enroute considering the palm trees and prolific spanish moss. Back of one of the pictures notated a Mrs. Hawkins but not sure which one?

weather and...

The weather yesterday and today was CHILLY---more like January than anything thus far. High here was in the upper 40s I believe and a change from the 70s plus that we had experienced in December and first part of the month and I actually had to wear a jacket tonight. Some people bundle up here in the 40s++ with gloves, hoods, the whole bit and it can almost be comical! All the rain we've had has been very welcome and hopefully we'll have a continued supply of it throughout the Spring/summer to avoid the usual drought/water restrictions.
I did get an email tonight from a Katie Brown Ramaker with some pictures of Grandmother Lucie, Uncle Bob and Aunt Va. As soon as I can edit them with picasa, I will try to post them as they are quite good! Thanks, Wendy, for keeping us up to date with the great pictures of KC!

KC is 7 weeks old!

Weather and Birthdays

Didn't get much response except from Mary regarding themes and blog postings. So here are my suggestions for the week -- Weather because there is always something to say or post about the weather, and it continues to be colder than usual here. Of course we could take that further and discuss global warming, climate change and the future.... Or we could post about birthdays since both Serena and I have or will be celebrating such events in the recent past and near future. Today at work we are celebrating with a birthday lunch honoring yours truly and also our December birthday person whose birthday lunch was postponed due to being short-staffed last month. Of course we're still short-staffed but at least have enough people in other departments to cover our desk while we go to lunch.

celebrating

I have been trying to add a picture from tonight, since the expression is that a picture is worth a thousand words, but can't seem to get the right order of buttons pushed. We did enjoy our dinner celebrating Serena's birthday, and now look forward to breakfast out to begin Sid's celebrating tomorrow! Stay tuned and love to all, Roberta the blogger

KC and the car seat with pacifier

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SERENA!

24 Days Later

This picture was taken at our house on Christmas Eve. Wendy took the second picture yesterday, six weeks since his birth day.

Serena

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SERENA!

HELP???

I just had a long post written, and lost it, but long story made short, is that I have been lurking, and wondering who else has been tooooooo

We have been busy, but I did want everyone to know that I would gladly take the time to read any new posts............

I do have a story or two to tell so will do that next time!
Stay warm......I have a coat on that I bought to take to Europe in the winter! This is Roberta the blogger/lurker.

KC 5 weeks old!

KC -- one month old

Table for Eleven

Had a good brunch here this morning with Laura "Weegie" and Wayne Page. Besides KC and Wendy, also there were KC's Morgan grandparents, his Morgan and Uible great-grandparents as well as his great aunt Serena. Weegie and Wayne are in town for the Ohio State football game in Glendale tomorrow.

Who has a birthday today?

By the way, this is also the anniversary of Grandad's birthday - Dad said last night that he was born something like 125 years ago.

We had a VERY nice pre-birthday dinner at Line Thai. We had stopped at Dillon's in Sun City Grand and were told that it would be at least an hour and we decided to move on. At Line Thai (right near Sid's favorite breakfast place Coco's) we got right in after they set up the table for us. We each ordered a different entree and then ate family style - passing food around. I ordered squid with cilantro, lemongrass, etc - just a very little spicy kick. We also had a couple of shrimp dishes, a couple of beef dishes, a chicken dish and maybe a veggie dish - it all got kind of jumbled. All the food was very good and the restaurant was relatively quiet so that we all could chat and hear. Also the birthday surprise was a dip of coconut ice cream with some chopped peanuts which Cynthia graciously shared - was delicious.

Before dinner we went to Radiance Church for service. The church bulletin didn't really say anything at all about the plan for the church service. It was about twenty minutes of loud Christian rock - with the words beamed on to screens throughout the sanctuary and then about an hour of sermon/lecture. Mother had a nice nap and got the Reader's Digest version of the sermon later. Dad was very impressed with the variety of donuts offered in the snack area of the church. They also have a Seattle's finest cafe which was open and doing some business. (Some free coffee was available which I tried.)

Well, have a project I'm working on, so need to close this.

Happy Birthday
to
Cynthia King Park!!

Favorite Places in Rocky Point

The Friendly Dolphin (El Delfin Amigable): This is located on the way out of the Old Port area. It is has a very friendly staff and has good Mexican or Seafood. They have an upstairs terrace patio that will give you a great view of the Harbor.

For those traveling to Mexico soon, I got some suggestions from my friend who goes there quite often. Above is her favorite restaurant.
Mercedes Rusticos is her favorite store which she says is across the street from the Friendly Dolphin.

She also recommends the drive to the aquarium which is not far out of town. For those of you not traveling to Mexico soon, enjoy the pictures and the privileges of home!

Roberta and her grandfather on her birthday

May 14

Sorry for the very slow update on who this is . . . am having some real problems with wireless connection. The connection is best late at night in one particular corner of the bedroom.

Yes, Mary Virginia, this is Roberta and, of course, Grandad. This obviously was taken in the dining room, although it predates that corner furniture piece that sits there now. I'm guessing at the date, but with the birthday cake it has to be right around May 14.


Roberta does look unusually calm here, almost as if she fell asleep mid-celebration which, of course, doesn't sound like her at all. The eyes and MOUTH are both closed. Perhaps the photo was taken just to show that it did happen once in a while.

Happy New Year

Glad to talk to both Catherine and Roberta tonight but missed Serena, Mom and Dad (talked to John just a couple days ago)! Mom and Dad, I did try both the house and your cell phone but obviously unsuccessful on both.
Our Black-Eyed Pea lunch at church went well---I cooked 4 lbs of B.E.P.s and the 80 people ate over half! I feel as if I've met my quota for eating them for 2007 already after sorting them before the cooking.
Tomorrow we are back to work and kids go back to school Thursday. I'm ready to get back in the routine even if they aren't!