MabelandJean

This, that and everything else!

On August 2, 2015 · 4 Comments · In Life

A post about this, that and everything else or maybe about nothing! I am going to start off with a photo I call “A truckload of Willetts”! The only problem with the photo is we are missing my brother Roggie and his wife Trish as well as 3 additional Willett grandchildren.

Truckload of Willetts

Peach Tea Photography

You can click on the link above and go see all the wedding pictures! They are gorgeous.

July was pretty hectic. Besides our trip to Kansas City, we moved everything from my rented studio space. It was time, after 2 years, to say goodbye and truth be told, I will not miss it. Most of the stuff either came home or to our storage unit. My plan is to work from here until I figure something else out. That pretty much means that I won’t be making shoes for the time being, but bags I can still do.

The big move came when James bought a condo and moved! This was the quickest transaction on the planet. So off we went to Tulsa to help make it all happen. Here are the pictures of the condo when we looked at it:

Courtyard

Pool

Balcony

The big picture

Dining

Bathroom

Bedroom

Chandelier

The grounds of the condo complex are absolutely stunning. The pictures above are from late winter. The chandelier is indicative of the former owner’s taste. James might work on making the place a little more “manly” soon. Right now, though, he is moved in and figuring out where to put everything.

We also moved my dad’s dining room table and chairs into the house that Patrick lives in. My nephew, Bucky, delivered it to Tulsa this weekend. I suspect Bucky is ready for school to start so he can quit helping us! Thanks Bucky.

Here is a shot of the dining room with Papa’s table and chairs:

Papa’s dining room furniture

Looks like we need to put up more artwork!

Emily came to visit and that was fabulous. She came twice in 5 weeks and we are spoiled! It was a great visit. She did get stuck spending the night in the Chicago airport, on a cot with 350 other unlucky travelers. We certainly appreciated her effort to get here.

Emily enjoyed visiting with the neighborhood cat that often comes to visit! Emily, this photo is for you:

Feline Friend

I told you I didn’t have much tonight! We are hoping that there are not anymore moves in our near future.

Enjoy August.

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Willett Wedding and Voight 4th of July!

On July 12, 2015 · 3 Comments · In Life

Well the Willett wedding was fabulous. 5 of 6 Willett children, 9 of 12 Willett grandchildren and one Willett cousin made for a great time. We ate, we drank and we visited! We missed the Willetts that couldn’t be there! Brandi made a beautiful bride and Matt looked great too! Brandi’s “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue” were all together on her bouquet. It was a lovely nod to her grandfather Willett. She carried a 1922 silver dollar, borrowed from her brother in a new case with a blue background. My dad was born in 1922 and he had given the coin to my nephew Bucky. It was definitely a sweet addition.

Okay, let’s get to some pictures:

The Voight family

We cleaned up pretty well even though 5 of us got ready in a one bedroom house!

The bride chilling before the ceremony

Dad and Daughter

Check out those “Willett” gawkers in the background.

Matt and Brandi

Bride and cousin Patrick

Brandi and Matt cutting the “cake”

Two of mine cutting their “cake”

Brother and Sister

James and Brandi dancing

James and his lovely Christy!

Cousins

And to top off the evening, the newlyweds left the reception in a helicopter!

One way to start your honeymoon!

Everyone enjoyed the wedding, the reception and the helicopter!

Over the 4th of July, we headed to Kansas City to spend the holiday with Randy’s family and our boys. We spent the day at Lake Quivira. It was a gorgeous day with temperatures in the 80’s. Thanks Pat and Martha for hosting the get together and feeding us.

Lake Quivira 4th of July

Charlotte had us over for brunch the next day and we got a picture of all 5 of the Voight “kids”.

The Voight “Kids”

In between these two events, we headed up to Big Cedar Lodge for a quiet week of relaxation. Randy and I had a lovely time floating in the lazy river, listening to music and eating some fabulous food. Not sure why this picture isn’t more gleeful:

Randy enjoying our trip

Must have been pretty bad coffee!

Let me know how your life is going please.

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“Going to the Chapel” and other stuff

On June 7, 2015 · 6 Comments · In Life

Well, later this week our children will all be home because their cousin, Brandi, is “Going to the Chapel” and she’s “Going to get Married”! We are so thrilled for Brandi and her fiancé, Matt. They are such a wonderful young couple! It is hard for me to believe that Brandi is old enough for marriage, but she is!

Last fall, on a dreary, cold Saturday at the crack of dawn, several of us joined Brandi at the bridal salon to help her pick out her dress! Luckily, she had pre-shopped and was pretty sure which dress she wanted. Here are the pictures from that morning:

Brandi and the Rae girls getting ready to shop for a wedding dress

Wedding dress anyone?

Mary Jean waiting for the next dress!

Moving forward a few months, Brandi and Matt had engagement pictures taken and they are gorgeous:

Engagement picture

Darling couple

With all the wedding planning going on, Brandi’s dad and brother were completely stressed with all they were expected to do!

Father of the bride, worrying about all the wedding details

Bucky “worrying” about his sister’s wedding

The amazing golfer, Bucky

Then, the whole gang of them went off for a trip during spring break from school. It was a welcome distraction from the wedding planning:

Matt and Brandi

Siblings ~ Brandi and Bucky

Brandi and her bestie, Courtney, had a joint bachelorette party with all the bridesmaids. Courtney is getting married in July!

Brandi and Courtney at their joint bachelorette party

After that trip, Matt and Brandi joined Randy and I at Big Cedar, along with James and Bucky, for a lovely dinner. While we were there, some cute “couple” pictures were taken.

Brandi and Matt at Big Cedar Lodge after running a 5K

These two will have a lovely life and cannot wait for the big day!

We also had a lovely visit from my niece Katie and her husband Mike. They flew down to visit Mary Jean and Ray and then took a trip to Bartlesville to visit Mike’s mom. Randy and I went to dinner with them and had a great visit. Come back soon!

Katie and Mike

And finally, Randy went to two of the three baseball games between the U of A and Missouri State University. He was a bit torn between his current school and his alma mater but I was thrilled that the Razorbacks won and will move on to the College World Series! The really good news is that Randy caught a game ball!

Randy caught a ball during the U of A ~ MSU Super Regional game!

Okay, I am going to wrap this up. This weekend will be great and I am looking forward to seeing more nieces, nephews , siblings and our kids! Thanks Brandi and Matt!

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Another Spring 2015 Trip

On May 17, 2015 · 4 Comments · In Life

We took another spring 2015 trip and headed towards the east coast. Emily joined us in Savannah and after a few days we headed to Charleston via Beaufort. It was certainly a much different landscape than our Phoenix trip a few weeks earlier. The beauty on this trip came from the history, the architecture and the cuisine. It was a fabulous time!

Here are the pictures:

Savannah waterfront

Randy and Emily

Lovely Savannah Squares

Such an old cemetery

Savannah “girls”

Resting

More squares

Savannah City Hall view from our hotel

Beautiful Church

In Savannah, we ate at the Pink House which was so wonderful. We walked 9 miles while taking in all the sites and sounds of this lovely city.

From Savannah, we headed towards Charleston and spent a few hours in Beaufort. The drive was so pretty.

Emily swinging in Waterfront Park, Beaufort

We walked the around the small town and went to the Waterfront Park, where Emily found swings!

Next we headed to Charleston for 4 days. Pretty much we ate, we walked and we drank. We did hit 20 minutes of rain while we were on a rooftop bar, but we managed to still enjoy our drinks.

The rain in Charleston

Other than that rain, we had great weather. We hit all the highlights in Charleston including the Battery area, the French Quarter, Magnolia Plantation and a lovely trip to the Isle of Palms. The pictures tell the story:

Interesting church and cemetery

Very old headstones

The Battery

Emily and Randy at Battery Park

More fabulous homes

Historical buildings

The pineapple fountain

The French Quarter area

Moving on to Magnolia Plantation, where we got lost in the swamp, encountered a snake and saw a crocodile! Suffice it to say we had an interesting time there.

Magnolia Plantation during the rain

The Swamp

The crocodile

The animals

More swamp

The SNAKE!

We went to Isle of Palms to see our friends Denny and Carol. They took us for a golf cart ride around the island and showed us the sights. It was beautiful. They also fed us a wonderful meal and we enjoyed our visit there.

Well, everything wonderful does end and we are home for a while. It has been such a great spring of travel to such diverse areas in the U.S.!

Where would you suggest we go next?

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Legends of Golf Tournament

On April 26, 2015 · 5 Comments · In Life

I was pretty sure that I would go to my grave without ever attending a golf tournament, but that changed when we went to the Legends of Golf tournament this past weekend. We met my sister, Liz, and her husband, Charlie, at Big Cedar Thursday. We were able to get in a fabulous dinner at the Worman House and a horrible movie before the day of the tournament. Friday, rain was in the forecast for tee time, so we had a leisurely breakfast and waited for the storm to blow over. It was still very cool and damp, so we dressed appropriately.

Randy and I at Top of the Rock golf course

Liz and Charlie in yellow rain slickers!

We spent most of the day at Top of the Rock golf course. The course was beautiful and the golf was great too, according to those that know golf. I will start with the gorgeous course:

Gorgeous 1

Gorgeous 2

Gorgeous 3

Gorgeous 4

Gorgeous 5

Gorgeous 6

And then there were the golfers! The golfers that I had heard of included Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw. Of course, there were many, many other golfers but their names escape me!

We also had a bit of fun during the day. We held up rock bridges and raced sports cars!

First the guys

And then the girls

Randy and cars always go together!

Well, there was lots more fun had by all but I have run out of steam. Might try to add more later. I want to get VIP tickets for next year, but alas, I probably won’t be able to come up with the money. I will, however, go back again next year. You know me, I just can’t get enough of golf! Let me know if you want to go with me.

How was your week?

5 Comments

Surprise, Arizona and K.C. Royals

On April 5, 2015 · 10 Comments · In Life

Randy and I took a lovely trip to Surprise, Arizona to see the Royals during their spring training. All I can say is WOW! We had such a great time. We took in two games, had 2nd row seats behind the Royals dugout and even I enjoyed the games! The stadium was beautiful and the crowd was huge. The Royals beat the Mariners and fell to the Cubs but both games were great. Here are the proverbial pictures:

Kansas City Royals Spring Training

Randy and I

The above is proof that I actually went to the game!

Randy in blue

Batter up!

Royals

We actually stayed in Peoria, Arizona about 25 minutes north of Surprise. The resort we stayed at was gorgeous and had a huge pool for families and a smaller one for adults only. We took advantage of the pool, hot tub and bar.

Pool at Cibola Vista Resort

The grounds were lovely.

The courtyard outside our room

One of the deals we made was I would go to baseball games and Randy would go look at rocks. We drove up to Sedona and it was just as beautiful as I remember. We must of taken 200 pictures in between oohing, aahing and eating some good food! I will try to cull it down to a reasonable number:

Sedona

another one

and more

Can’t stop now

Proof we were there with hats on!

And a few more:

north of Sedona

Cool bridge

Last one?

When we got home, spring had sprung!

Spring in Fayetteville

And then Easter snuck up on us and Patrick came to celebrate. We headed up to Bella Vista for a delicious meal with some great folks. There might also have been some time in the hot tub. James and Bucky fished and Randy and Patrick cheered them on.

11080361_1071338942895499_6516508605250079193_o-001

fishing?

No clue!

The guys!

We missed Emily and James V, maybe next Easter!

But wait, there is more! I have done March Madness brackets for years and have never, ever even gotten close. Until last night, I was 1st out of 130 people in my bracket. After Kentucky lost, I fell to #4. Randy laughed at my bracket originally, but sometimes things just work out.

Woohoo!

Okay, I am finished. If you need more pictures of Sedona, just holler. Thanks James and Bucky for letting me use your photos from the “fishing” trip.

Let me know what all 5 of you have been up to! Comments are always great.

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A whole lot of nothing.

On March 15, 2015 · Add Comment · In Life

Okay friends, I have a whole lot of nothing to tell you! Well, the weather went from cold and snow to warmer with rain. The only good thing about the rain was that we needed it and it wasn’t a thunderstorm. Luckily, today was an absolutely beautiful day as in seventy degrees, clear sky, no wind and lots of sunshine. Early in the afternoon we watched the Arkansas and Thunder basketball games but then went out and did a bit of yard work.

Moving on, we went to Tulsa last weekend. Suffice it to say we had a wonderful time and ate very, very well. While we were there, we went to the NatureWorks Wildlife Art Show and Sale. This show has been held for around 25 years and we have only missed going one time. It is one of our favorite shows. You can read more about the organization here. Make sure you check out the “monuments” page. NatureWorks has placed amazing bronze monuments all over Tulsa. James and Patrick joined us at the show. I think they enjoyed it. We also ran into several friends of mine from the Petrohawk days. Okay, here is the only picture:

NatureWorks show

We also got to visit with Matthew Higginbotham, an artist from Sante Fe. We own two of his pieces and just really enjoyed seeing his latest art. You can check out his website here.

We had a steady rain coming down Saturday during the Saint Patrick’s day parade. I did not get pictures, but you can check out last year’s parade here. My brother, Pat and his wife, Carol were in Bella Vista visiting my sister Liz. We were able to meet up with them for dinner Saturday night and a good time was had by all. The food was excellent too.

I had two orders last week for leather bags. Here is the brown one, which is going to Cincinnati:

Brown Tote

The second bag is still being made! It will be a very large, black tote for a lady here in Fayetteville. These are the first sales since Four-Legged Bird closed their doors. I miss them.

Well, as I said, this post is about a whole lot of nothing! Hope everyone is as excited as we are that spring is almost here! Randy has another week of class before spring break. This semester has flown by!

Okay, that is all from me.

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Send in the Clowns!

On March 2, 2015 · 5 Comments · In Life

One of my all time favorite songs is Judy Collins’ rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s song “Send in the Clowns”. You can go read all about it on wikipedia here. This song always makes an appearance in my mind when I cannot control a situation!! This last weekend we had a winter “storm” with ice, snow and dark of night. In true Fayetteville fashion, that means everything closes down. We had reservations at a restaurant a block away and the restaurant called my sister to say they were closing early. Everything came to a screeching (pun intended) halt. My sisters and I had plans to attend a wedding shower for my niece and BAM we could not get there. In addition to the shower, my plan was to eat lunch out, go to shower, go to “good” grocery store and pick up enchiladas for dinner. Suffice it to say we had soup and cornbread.

Well, with plans run amok, I read a couple of books. The one below was good and a “gift” from MJ. She was going to buy the book for me for my birthday present but then she remembered that I don’t like to keep books once I have read them. So, being the brilliant person she is, she wait listed a copy at the library, checked it out when it came in and delivered it to my front door! So glad she did this because I really needed some reading material during the storm. Here is the book she thought I should read and I enjoyed it!

Good read

While I didn’t like the cold, these cardinals in the tree sure did!

cardinals in the tree

Those red birds were certainly a bright spot in the landscape of white.

Well, that about wraps up our life recently. They are calling for another storm midweek and maybe that will be the last of winter. In the meantime, I am just going to keep humming “Send in the Clowns” and particularly this verse:

Don’t you love farce?
My fault, I fear.
I thought that you’d want what I want…
Sorry, my dear!
And where are the clowns
Send in the clowns
Don’t bother, they’re here.

As an aside, I wanted this song performed at my wedding, but alas the harpist said NO!

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February: Passion and a Parade!

On February 15, 2015 · 4 Comments · In Life

Well, February has been fabulous so far! The weather has been wonderful and we have taken full advantage. Randy and I went to Wilson Park on a gorgeous 70 degree day. Between the college kids playing frisbee and soccer, we took a walk around the park.

Randy!

Those trees look like they are ready to dance!

Randy had a birthday and we celebrated in style. We went out to dinner two nights in a row and had dessert! Randy also went to a home show and brought home barbecue for our dining pleasure. We are pretty passionate about our food. If you know me, I am not a very passionate person. Must be the down to earth, realist in me. Other than food, I guess you could say I am passionate about my first cup of coffee everyday, but that might be it!

Speaking of passion, Valentine’s day came the day after Randy’s birthday. He hit the ball out of the park with his gifts to me! Since I am not a real “lover” of gifts, I am hard to buy for. This year, Randy got me the cutest little card from the Fine Art’s department at the U of A. I loved everything about it! It was tiny, handcrafted and not a hint of mass production was found. Here are the pics with a normal size card for scale:

My Valentine card

Inside Valentine’s card

He also had a parade in my honor! Okay, I jest. The parade was for Mardi Gras and it was wonderful. We walked the 1/2 block to the parade route and met up with our neighbors.

Randy and our neighbor enjoying the parade

Our neighbor Judy enjoying the show

Friends of ours were on one of the floats as King and Queen of their krewe. Took me quite a few minutes to recognize them!

Steve and Lisa playing King and Queen! Steve is hiding behind the heart.

And there was music:

Parade music

And Roller Derby:

Roller Derby on Parade

Cool Trucks:

Great trucks

And more:

Colorful

We finished up the day with a gorgeous sunset:

Valentine Sunset

Well, as I write this post we are experiencing sleet and expecting several inches of snow. It has been such an easy winter up to this point that I suppose I can handle a short winter storm!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and come visit us! We are always up for visitors.

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Cobbling together a life during January

On February 1, 2015 · 1 Comment · In Life

Well, for the past two years, I have been cobbling (yep, pun intended) together a life in retirement. I am here to tell you that it hasn’t been easy finding my way post career. What has been easy is not having to set an alarm clock! I have spent time working in my workshop down the road since we moved to Fayetteville. The workshop location shared a parking lot with the store that sold my leather work. It was downright convenient to have Four Legged Bird right there as my neighbor. Unfortunately, they made the decision recently to close! I have been in mourning.

So what is a person to do? Well if you are me, you buy a couple of sewing machines! Because everyone needs 6 sewing machines.

My “Viscount”

My “new” Singer 401A

I am probably going to shed shoemaking and move my workspace home! I plan to stock my ETSY store in the near future. I will let you know when that happens.

In other news, Randy and I spent my birthday visiting the KC Royals caravan! I do not like baseball but Randy loves the Royals. Here are the pictures:

STEVE PHYSIOC and JOHN MAYBERRY

Christian Colon
Second Baseman

Dave Webster the historian and the Tropy

Dave Webster the historian and the American League Championship Trophy

So now we are looking forward to going to spring training in Arizona.

Emily went to OMAN for a 12 day business trip and here is a photo she sent us:

Emily’s pic somewhere in the Middle East

She had a wonderful time and Muscat was much warmer than D.C.!

All in all, it was a very quiet January. Hello February.

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This, that and everything else!

Willett Wedding and Voight 4th of July!

“Going to the Chapel” and other stuff

Another Spring 2015 Trip

Legends of Golf Tournament

Surprise, Arizona and K.C. Royals

A whole lot of nothing.

Send in the Clowns!

February: Passion and a Parade!

Cobbling together a life during January

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