Happy Decoration Day

A quick history lesson to help us better remember those who have fallen.

http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history/videos

With deep gratitude...

Gathering

I'm in Boston! Here's some of the backstory, as shared in photos over the last month leading up to this gathering with snippets of associated comments that were made by my funny, sentimental extended family members:

 "Okay, this is insanely awesome.,, Grammy and Grampy (I die). "

(I hope you know how much I am enjoying this....!!:)   
I think that's me on the left with the bad bowl cut and dead stare.  look how tan I was! no wonder I have so many wrinkles. Look how white I was! Yet still wrinkly. Shoulda laid out more. 
Ellie is like the rainman of Flatley history

I look like a sparkly linebacker. 
This is still how I picture all of you guys- beautiful princesses in sparkly gowns!! I idolized all of you!! 💖💖💖 (what’s with the past tense)

️In honor of Mother's Day

Could we look any paler?? We all need to go outside a little more!☀

But the real question is: Who is wearing the Aunt Jemima scarf in the background? 

How many of these people can YOU name? smile emoticon

Wonderful...just wonderful

   LOVE. Love the huge difference between the Bigs and the Littles... 

And look at how well dressed we all were. How did they do it???

This photo was taken at the family dinner celebrating Uncle Brian's 25th ordination of being a priest!

Auntie Mary and the guys....? 
What happened to those ties? I could use a few of them today!

 the little ones 

Happy Siblings!

Belly Up

If you've lived in San Diego for any amount of time, you've likely been to the Belly Up. It's actually not located in San Diego proper, but up the coast a bit, in Solana Beach. It gets my vote for best music venue in the San Diego area.

It's small, it's unique, it has great sound, two bars, lots of wood, a good ratio of seating to floor space, and it books great and varied talent.

It's not hard to get up close and personal. It's almost always a convivial crowd, at least at the shows I go to, so if you really need to be front row, it's not hard to make it happen. It's also a good place to score after-show goodies, like set lists and guitar picks.

Jacquie scored me a sweet pick from Ben Harper that says simply, BEN.  I LOVE IT. Although I can't quite remember where it is, so I don't have a photo for you. But rest assured it's somewhere safe. (But you get what that means, right? Ben was there up on that small stage right in front of us. Swoon.)

Last year on my birthday I had tickets to a show there. It was actually in the middle of a magical birthday-week Belly Up line-up. I saw three of my all-time favorites acts all within 8 days: Trevor Hall Sunday night, Xavier Rudd Thursday night, then Rising Appalachia the following Sunday night. (They really should have some sort of frequent flyer program.)

Here's the set list from that May 28th, 2015 Xavier Rudd show:

I originally had tickets to see Xavier on my birthday proper, the night before, May 27th, but I got an email from the Belly Up a month or two before the date saying that he would not be performing on that night. I'd need to trade my tickets in for the next night's show.

Come to find out, the Rolling Stones played a private party there the night of the 27th instead. The ROLLING STONES! And I was still holding a Belly Up ticket for that night AND it was my birthday. I should have gone up there an begged to get in. But I guess chances were slim when you're paying (a rumored) 2.7 - 3 million dollars to have them play, and you can only bring ~500 people, that's 6k a head!

But it's not all about the big names, the Belly Up is also a great place to see up and coming talent. My man's band, The Moves Collective, debuted there last Friday night - opening up for Hot Buttered Rum.

It was exciting. The energy was high.

I got to go backstage!

Ok, it's not crazy or anything, but that fridge did hold pitchers of IPA & other goodies. And there was this sweet pre-gig jam.

And then, right on time, they hit the stage. And there I was, front row, like on so many other nights at the Belly Up, dancing and singing along.

Field Work

Having a Field can be hard work.

And Mistah has risen to the task.

He's always out there raking and chopping and lopping and clearing.

And voilà, a new hole in the fence.

I get into the act, too. See all that brush?

Cleared it right out.

And then the best part? One gets to admire one's work.

(Why yes, we are still wearing hats in late May.)

Speaking of late May, it's Iri Season around here.

But anyway, back to The Field.

The other best part is sending Mistah out into it with his camera.

I can't get enough of the view of the back of our house 800 miles away.

The worm's eye view.

Mistah and Frankie have taken to Frisbee Frolicking in The Field.

And sometimes we like to have photo sessions on the Weed Tree Trunk:

(Remind me to tell you about that weird house in the background. Seriously.)

But then, always, it's back to work . . .

. . . A Work In Progress.

jilly bowl

You know that moment when you're at a concert and it gets sorta quiet, and then you hear a few notes of a really great song? I love that.

Last weekend it was Billy Joel, and Vienna. What a song, that one. Is it just me, or do you  belt out the words to that song whenever you hear it and immediately add it to your karaoke/soundtrack/lifestory playlist? I mean, c'mon.

Slow down, you crazy child. Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while. It's alright you can afford to lose a day or two.

You sing it out, alright. And even when you notice that you're the only one doing so,  you just sing louder, because it's a great song. You're in the cheap seats, after all. Amateur hour.

Then later, you move down to a really great spot where you kindred old-drunk spirit tribe is grooving to the Big Shot vibe, making eyes and making out and dancing with big smiles on that beautiful night at the ballpark.

Again, it gets quiet. Again, the first notes rock your socks off. Because it's Scenes from an Italian Restaurant! And you jump up and down with all the happy peeps and you are so glad to be down here where everyone is going to know the words.

And yet? When you look around for a likeminded belter outer as Brenda and Eddie meet their inevitable fate, you once again find yourself the only one singing. And it's fine, because it's a great freaking song and you're kinda famous for your enthusiasm and for knowing all the words, but really the only question that lingers in that lovely, lonely moment is.... where are my sisters?

Jump for joy

I somehow neglected to get a group photo of my mom, my girls, and me on Mother's Day. We were too busy sharing the most delicious cinnamon bun in the universe I suppose. (Seriously, Banker's Hill Bar & Restaurant. Try it.)

Or maybe we were lamenting how these heirloom tomato seeds, placed in this cute little tin and accompanied by this lovely jam recipe (given to all the mom's in attendance that day), were no doubt going to go to waste. (Jacquie - I've got two tins - they're all yours!!)

Whatever the reasons, my attempt to capture the day somehow turned into this motherless series of photos.

Happy belated.

The Field Frolic

On Friday we found ourselves the proud owners of what was formerly Finnegans' Field.

See that house way back there in the background? That's the back of our house . . .

. . . and this is our new backyard.

And THIS . . .

. . . is -- finally -- our tree.

You know our tree, right?

Well now we can frolic under it with abandon. Because it's ours.

And if it rains, like it did on Friday . . .

. . . well, no worries because that big tree keeps all Frolickers warm and dry.

And the view from under there is pretty great, too.

We had several Frolickers join in on the Friday Field Frolic Fun . . . The Dibbs . . .

. . . and the Freibs . . .

(that's short for FriendNeighbors and is difficult to spell) . . .

. . . the lovely Jennie . . .

. . . and the lovely Laura . . .

. . . but, mostly, we all only had eyeballs for this nugget:

Pretty cute, right?

Come on over and frolic any time you like, kiddo.

We will be frolicking.