The Birthday Angels Strike Again

When I got up early, I looked outside to see the tree in my front yard holding 80 balloons.  My two daughters had gotten together at 11 PM last night after I went to bed and taking the dog with them so he wouldn’t bark, hung 80 balloons in my decorative pear tree.

They also put up a sign announcing my 80th birthday.  Now, any of the neighbors who might have wondered about the age of the old woman who walks her dog 3 times a day up and down the street will know.   The 80th birthday is off to a good start.

The Birthday Angels

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It Was a Very Good Year – 1996 – 2002

On July 13, 2012, my two daughters surprised me with a big box of wrapped gifts, informing me it was exactly 80 days until my 80th birthday and I would be able to unwrap one gift a day.  The gift items would commemorate a year in my life in some way.  This is what I received this week.

1996 – Two 1996 note cards by one of my favorites – Tasha Tudor.

1997 – My youngest daughter knitted 3 beautiful washcloths from a 1997 pattern – too pretty to use for washcloths.

1998 – A 1998 cookbook by Florence Henderson – Short-Cut Cooking.  This was intended as something of a gag gift from my youngest daughter who is still a huge fan of Mrs. Brady and The Brady Bunch (and I‘m not), but actually there are some good recipes in this book.

1999 – 1999 was an important year for all of us when my youngest daughter’s son was born.  The gift is an amazing fold-out picture book of photos of my grandson accompanied by his notes and sketches – priceless.

2000 – A beautiful Lenox Holiday Silver Millennium Ball.  It’s designed to hold a small gift, potpourri or small treasures.

2001 – A set of coasters knitted from a 2001 pattern.

2002 – Lynette Jensen’s 2002 edition of Cozy Cabin Quilts.

All of my posts on this wonderful celebration are listed in Family – My 80th Birthday in my index on the
right.

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It Was a Very Good Year – 1989 – 1995

On July 13, 2012, my two daughters surprised me with a big box of wrapped gifts, informing me it was exactly 80 days until my 80th birthday and I would be able to unwrap one gift a day.  The gift items would commemorate a year in my life in some way.  This is what I received this week.

1989 – A small spoon commemorating the 1989 “Breakup of the Berlin Wall”.

1990 – A 1990 edition of The “Late Night with David Letterman” Book of Top Ten Lists.

1991 – Two copies of 1991 Queen City Heritage magazines – The Journal of the Cincinnati Historical Society

1992 – A Helen Steiner Rice Daily Devotional Calendar.  Helen Steiner Rice is famous for her verses for Gibson Greeting Cards in Cincinnati.  In 1992, my oldest daughter was a writer for Gibson Greetings.

1993 – A 1993 Cat’s Meow rendition of Aglamesis Bros. ice cream parlor (est. 1908), Oakley Square, Cincinnati.  My future mother-in-law introduced me to Aglamesis in 1951 and said they had the best ice cream and chocolates in town, and she was right.  We still take the grandchildren to Aglamesis Bros. for sundaes.

1994 – A 1994 edition of Dave Barry’s Gift Guide to End All Gift Guides.  Dave Barry was always a favorite of mine and this is one of his books I’ve never read.

1995 – A crocheted piece from a vintage pattern that includes a locket heart with a picture of my youngest daughter and me on her wedding day in 1995.  The small heart is made from a scrap piece of velvet from my oldest daughter’s Maid of Honor dress.

All of my posts on this wonderful celebration are listed in Family – My 80th Birthday in my index on the right hand side of the page.

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It Was a Very Good Year – 1954-1960

On July 13, 2012, my two daughters surprised me with a big box of wrapped gifts, informing me it was exactly 80 days until my 80th birthday and I would be able to unwrap one gift a day.  The gift items would commemorate a year in my life in some way.  This is what I received this week.

1954 – My oldest daughter embroidered dish towels from 1954 patterns.  The Dutch Boy is from The Workbasket – April, 1954 (the same month and year she was born) and the girl with the umbrella is from a 1954 coloring book.

1955 – A 1-½ inch diameter tin labeled School Buildings 1955 and containing an actual film strip showing the latest improvements in school buildings in that year.

1956 – A TV Guide for February 4-10, 1956.  A note is attached, “You were probably watching some of these shows waiting for your first son to arrive.”  My oldest son was born on March 8, 1956, so I was spending a lot of time watching Gary Moore, Perry Como, Annie Oakley (a favorite of my toddler daughter), and Cincinnati’s local star, Ruth Lyons.

1957 – A Betty Furness Westinghouse Roast Meat Thermometer and Skewer.  Betty Furness was best known in the early days of television for opening Westinghouse refrigerators and talking about all of their wonderful features.

1958 – A 1958 copy of Woman’s Day Cook Book of Favorite Recipes.  I have a large cookbook collection but have never seen this one.  I was interested to find a lot of canning and bake-from-scratch recipes.

1959 – A metal tin that had held a typewriter ribbon.  It has an interesting graphic on the top of the tin and Feb 59 on the back.  After all of the years I spent typing, I love anything dealing with typewriters, especially the vintage items.

1960 - A picture of President and First Lady Kennedy leaving the hospital with John Kennedy, Jr.  The note attached to this picture says, “1960 – The year two important John-Johns were born“.  This refers to my youngest son, John, who was born March 11, 1960.  When he was a toddler, we did refer to him as John-John now and then.

As I was leaving the hospital with my baby John, I looked nothing like Jackie in her perfect suit, hat, gloves and pumps.

All of my posts on this wonderful celebration are listed in Family – My 80th Birthday in my index on the right hand side of the page.

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A Beautiful Beaded Stiletto

I’ve been getting advance gifts from my daughters for my upcoming 80th birthday, but I was surprised by a wonderful gift from my blogging friend, Freda, at The Adventures of the Empress of the Universe.  Last week, she had posted a tutorial on making stilettos from turkey lacers to use in sewing – and she sent me one!  It’s so precious and will definitely be used.  Freda enclosed it with a card by one of my favorites, Mary Engelbreit.

To learn how to make these beautiful stilettos, go to Freda’s blog:

http://imperamagna.blogspot.com/2012/07/up-to-mischief-again.html

Thank you, Freda, for making my day.

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It Was a Very Good Year – 1932

My two daughters were here for lunch and brought out a huge, brightly wrapped box.

They informed me that it was exactly 80 days until my 80th birthday and that I was going to receive a gift each of the 80 days to commemorate a year in my life.  This box held the gifts for the first 20 years.

The first gift to be opened was for the year I was born, 1932 – a large bottle commemorating Washington’s 200th Birthday – 1732-1932.

Truly, there are treasures in my life – far greater than antique bottles.

These two girls have spent six months scouring antique malls and eBay to come up with gifts representing 80 years.  Next Friday, I’ll show what else they found.

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Pause and Remember – 4/27/2012

On Friday, I pause and remember a single, wordless moment from the past week – inspired by The Warden’s Log.

My daughter and I celebrating her birthday at Belgian Bistro, Cincinnati

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My Daughter’s Birthday Post

In reply to my gift of a table topper mini-quilt for her birthday (click here), my daughter posted a poem on her blog that gives her side of the story of the 1958 picture.

http://www.nudged2write.com/archives/2719

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A Birthday Mini-Quilt Table Topper

Today is my oldest daughter’s birthday and this mini-quilt table topper is my greeting card to her.  As the center,  I scanned a favorite picture of her when she was 4 years old and printed it on June  Tailor Sew-In Colorfast Fabric Sheets for Ink Jet Printers.  I like to use 1 inch strips of fabric to make 3-1/2 inch log cabin blocks to form a frame around the center.  I usually make these blocks of scraps, but this time I chose fat quarters in white and two shades of blue.

I did a very simple, fused applique in the border.

The label is in the form of a pocket so I can print out this post and place it there for future reference.

After over 50 years, I can still remember the fabric in this dress so well.  I look down at my lap and can see it there as I’m hand-stitching the finishing touches.  It’s a pale aqua cotton with white flocking, a bit of a splurge at the time.

She had her requisite white gloves and black patent leather shoes to accessorize the dress on Easter and again on her birthday.  It appears she also chose to wear her crucifix and charm bracelet for this special occasion.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

It has been so much fun celebrating her birthday for 58 years.

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Pause and Remember – 3/9/2012

On Friday, I pause and remember a single, wordless moment from the past week – inspired by The Warden’s Log.

My youngest daughter and I are celebrating her birthday 

Buca di Beppo Restaurant

Cincinnati, Ohio

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