a party weekend - and that darn fence

 This past Saturday, we had a family party in celebration of my mom's retirement.

We straightened and scrubbed inside, and mowed and swept and power-washed outside.

We got the patio all set up in case anyone wanted to sit outside for awhile - 

despite the 90 degree temps. 

We currently don't have matching patio chairs. We threw away the

matchy-matchy ones last year as they were falling apart ~

and I haven't found what we're looking for (vintage iron) ones yet.

So, in the meantime, cheap, unmatched chairs it is.

Outdoor striped rug is from Wal-Mart.

 

Remember in my last post, I complained about the neighbor's old, ugly

fence that bordered our property? Some of you said it wasn't that bad.

Well ~ you haven't seen the whole thing.

Take a look at this view where the fence is literally falling over!

In the colder months when the plants aren't there, there is actually

a huge gap underneath the fence. The neighbor can't even let

her dog run free in her yard because of this gap!

Anyway, onto the party girl. Doesn't she look happy and relaxed?

Her little dog, LuLu is so sweet. And, how do you like my quilt?

A very generous friend of ours - an older gentleman from our church -

gave it to my mom, and she gave it to me. This gentleman used

to sleep under this quilt as a child.

I am hoping that when and if I get a twin bed for the spare bedroom/office,

 this quilt will be on the bed.

Some of my lovely family...

From L to R: moi, my aunt by marriage, my mom, and my mom's two sisters (my aunts).

We had a ton of food...Italian beef, Italian sausage, baked beans,

Israeli couscous salad, potato salad, fruit salad, shrimp, chips and salsa,

cookies, ice cream, and sorbet.

Oh - and homemade sangria. Which rocked.

I'm going to make more this coming weekend and I'll be sure to take

a picture - cuz it's so pretty with the fruit floating in it - and post the recipe.