FATHER'S DAY AT WEST POINT

 

Belated a post about Father's Day, which we celebrated at

West Point.

Our son invited us to a wonderful brunch at the

Hotel Thayer,

named after Sylvanus Thayer, who was Superintend

at West Point in 1817.

He was known as the "Father of the Military Academy".

Under his stewardship it became the Nations

first college of engineering, in which he upgraded

academic standards.

He also installed military discipline and emphasized honorable

conduct.

At this wonderful brunch we were joined by our sons

girlfriend and extended family.

 It was their first time at the Point.

 

 

West Point sits in beautiful surroundings.

We live a mere ten minutes away.

 

 

 

The Hotel Thayer,

very large, and very impressive.

 

 

Our son and grandson on this special day.

He is a wonderful dad, and it shows.

There is much love and affection.

 

 

Beautiful Alexandra growing up so fast....

fifteen coming up soon.

 

 

And hubby is enjoying his special day too,

taking it all in with pride.

After our brunch, our son gave everyone a guided tour.

He works at West Point, and is retired Army.

His knowledge is vast, but because I forget

things about military stuff,

I wanted to make sure I get my facts straight.

I gleaned much information from Wikipedea.

I found it very interesting, and it is

worth checking it out.

 

 

 

There is much to see, and much history.

I will keep it to a minimum....

West  Point sits on scenic high grounds

overlooking the Hudson River, 50 miles north of N.Y. City.

It is a National landmark.

Most of the buildings are in a neogothic style

constructed from grey and black granite.

It's existence can be traced back to fortifications

constructed on the West Point of the Hudson River

during the Revolutionary War in 1778.

President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation

establishing the United States Military Academy on the site in 1802.

What you see above is a commemorative walk depicting

some of West Points history.

 

 

There is much information.

Here is just a little clip, including carvings of generals

Lee and Grant.

I found reading it all interesting and moving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nearly every general officer of note

from either army during the Civil War

was a graduate of West Point.

 

 

What stands above it all, is the Cadet Chapel.

Completed in 1910, it stands in place of the old chapel,

which was build in 1836.

The architecture is Gothic revival.

It boasts the largest chapel pipe organ in the world.

It is a Protestant church, but there are other

churches for different denominations, including

a beautiful Jewish Synagogue.

 

 

 

The church is massive, impressive, but also beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love all the flags flying and all the gorgeous stained glass

windows.

Many young West Point cadets have said their "I does" here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 There are numerous statues and monuments on the grounds.

 

 

 

This includes remnants of the "Great Chain"

The great Chain and high ground above the narrow "S" curve in the Hudson River enabled the Continental Army to prevent

British ships from sailing up the River and

dividing the colonies.

 

 

 

 

Hubby holding down the "Fort".

 

 

 

This is the Central Cadet Parade Ground.

When you see graduation ceremonies on TV, it is

here that you see cadets throwing their hats joyously into the air.

Also celebratory parades take place here.

 

 

 

Artillery against

the softness and beauty of this landscape.

 

 

 

Beautiful old homes that are housing

for the Superintendent and other esteemed officers.

 

 

A true juxtaposition between luscious landscapes and

war machinery.

This area has seen it's fair share of skirmishes and war.

The Hudson Valley has many historical sites,

and would make an interesting visit for anyone

in love with the early history of our country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No wonder that many famous painters have

painted this gorgeous landscape.

 

 

 

 

 

This statue says it all.

My family likes to express their admiration and gratitude

to all who served, and are still serving to

protect this country.

 

God bless you all!

Evi

 

I AM SEEING RED

 

Well, I finally made my pillows for the porch.

It took me forever!!!!

My girlfriend Liz suggested red.

And by now, most of you know,

that red is one of my favorite colors.

So I looked thru my large stash of linens and fabrics,

and found an antique feed sack from Europe.

 

 

Here is what I came up with.

I needed three pillows, one for each love seat,

and one for the chair in the porch to go along with

pillows I already had.

The feed sack gave me enough fabric with some to spare.

 

It had pretty initials, but they were

very close to the edge of the feed sack.

The only way to use them, was to cut them out,

and set them into a "peekaboo" window.

I had a piece of lace just long enough from my family in Germany.

I over dyed it so it would not look too white.

The ruffle fabric happens to look a lot like the bought

pillows I had already put in the porch.

The little key on the heart is also from my family in Germany.

 

 

 

So, this pillow touches my heart.

 

 

The hand crochet lace is from my grandma.

 

 

 

The feedsack was not wide enough to fit my pillow inserts,

so I added fabric on the sides.

And again I used my grandmas handmade lace.

 

 

Some vintage seam binding finishes the pillow.

 

 

On the other lumbar pillow I added a ruffle,

covered buttons and pretty ribbon.

 

 

I love the way they look.

And it is better, than having an unused grain sack

laying around.

Well, I still have a few more.....

 

Looking at the cushion covers, I think I should iron them.

My friend Paula gave me a little talking to.....

....."not everything needs to be perfectly ironed, you know"....

 

But.....just maybe I will.......or not.

 

So, while I was on my red kick,

I realized that there are quite a few things with red in our home.

 

 

 

 I think these two buddies are adorable,

a wonderful cat by an unknown artist,

and an antique toy,

a darling mouse!

 

 

Two more buddies relaxing against a pretty

pillow made from an antique sampler.

How sweet is this!

Both the bear ( an antique),

and the rabbit are from Germany.

 

 

A cute hand crafted dogie, ready to  play fetch.

 

 

 

White porcelain pears and strawberries.

 

 

 

A precious children's book.

I am drawn to vintage books.....

especially red ones.

 

 

Right now even the bedroom sports red......

 

 

....showing a sweet antique little girls dress.

 

And on the bed sits a cute handmade rabbit, hiding

behind a most wonderful hand embroidered pillow.

 

I think red will always show up in our home somewhere.

And the color red will always have a place in my heart.

 

Wishing you pretty spring days,

filled with sunshine.

God bless,

Evi

THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, AND A LABOR OF LOVE

 

A labor of love......

and how we got there!

As you know by now, our family has been going through

a rough time.

I hope and pray that we have come to the end of that,

and that the future is much brighter.

 

In the midst of this, something wonderful happened.

My girlfriend Liz, whom I had not seen for quite a few years,

came to visit us from Arizona on her way to visit other

friends in the area, and then to go on to visit her family in Germany.

She offered to make me new slipcovers for our sofas.

 The original ones were made by her many moons ago.

Liz is an accomplished artist when it comes to design

and sewing skills.

We are so happy that she took on this job, and we cannot thank her enough!!!!!!

But what was to me the most wonderful thing,

  that we got to talk and share our thoughts.

We revisited our youth and all the trials and tribulations,

sorrows and joy.

She got me out of a very deep hole I had a very hard time

climbing out off by myself.

While she was here for two weeks, she worked and worked.

The fabric (canvas) was a challenge to say the least.

I washed each cut piece several times, and it was still unwieldy.

Liz got bloody fingers pinning and sewing.....hence I say...

it was truly a labor of love!!!!

Girls, you can be so proud of your mom!!!!

 

So, before Liz arrived, we sat up a big table in the living room

by the window.

She started the same day she arrived.

She was the literal energizer bunny, leaving me

way behind in the dust.

 

 

And here she spend MOST of her time.

 

 

She was pinning and cutting......

 

 

 

with odd things ending up on the sewing table.

(I could never figure out what all the pieces were).

She made muslin patterns for the difficult pieces......

 

 

......there was much measuring and pinning going on.

Liz always scared me when she held the pins in her mouth.....

something I NEVER do while sewing.

I have visions of where they might end up.

 

Literally the couches and the whole living room were

turned upside down.......

 

as she worked way into the late evening.

Yards and yards of cording had to be made......

the sewing machine oiled and serviced many times.

Hubby even ran out to get thread....but look at what

Liz created!!!!!!!

 

VOILA!!!!!

 

 

Her workmanship is impeccable.....

 

and the detailing superb!!!!

 

I think this will be the last slipcovers we will ever need.

They look indestructible.

The last ones lasted good twenty years.

 

Oh, and if this was not enough, Liz made me all

new covers for the porch furniture.

 

We realized that we had lots of fabric left over.

Enough to make all the cushions,

and there are still two yards left.

 

Look how wonderful this looks.

She did all of this in eleven long days of work.

Unbelievable!

Meanwhile I more or less lounged around to keep her company, accept for washing and ironing the fabric and a little pinning.

My excuse , I felt worn out,

and sure enough right after she left I, and then hubby,

came down with a nasty sinus infection, that we just got rid off.

Luckily Liz did not get it.

 

 

 

Liz suggested some red pillows, so here it is finished.

To get to this point, ten pillow covers had to be sewn with

piping.......

 

 

Ten zippers put in...oh, just the thought....

 

 

.....but in the end, it made the porch look lovely.

At some point I will replace the cushion inserts that

came with the set, to something with a bit more body.

 

 

 

 

 

And when Liz comes back from Europe in September,

she will actually get to enjoy the fruits of her labor,

because she will come to visit with us again.

NO sewing next time!!!!!

Hurray!

 

 

And a little birdie is telling me that we will have

wonderful, restful days, where we can

leave all the stress of the past three and

a half month behind.

 

And hopefully Lulu will be joining us on the porch too

with all her toys.

She has been upstairs much more now....

but since we have not spend much time on the porch yet,

neither has she.

It is still cold here, especially at night.

Tonight we are expecting frost.

 

 

To everyone who has send me such kind and caring email,

thank you so VERY much!

 

God bless,

Evi