Diana, Princess of Wales

Another ten years has gone by since I put up this post, yet it's as burned into my memory as it was then.

 

On August 31, 1997, 18 years ago today, Diana, Princess of Wales, passed away in the early morning hours. Do you remember where you were when you heard the news? Sophia and I were in Florida, Vic was on deployment in South America and when the phone rang very late at night, I thought it was just another instance where he hadn't paid attention to the difference in time zones. It was my friend Denise in California, however, calling to ask if I'd heard the news. The first time we met, years ago, Denise and I found that we had a common interest in the British Royal Family, and we had kept in touch over the years, always talking about the Royals, Diana in particular. I turned on the television and pretty much stayed glued to it all week as there were countless programs about her life and the worldwide reaction to her death. 

This is how I will always remember her, a loving, doting mother, lavishing her sons with all the love that had been missing in her young life and sadly, in her adult life as well. She became the People's Princess, but she was first and foremost, William and Harry's mother. She was right when she said in her Panorama interview that there had been three people in her marriage but the one who should never have been there was Diana herself. Of course, if there hadn't been Charles and Diana, there wouldn't have been William and Harry.

I don't begrudge Charles and Camilla the happiness they found. They should have been together from the beginning. She's done a lot to soften him up and make him more in touch with the people, and she has risen above the people's animosity and become an integral part of the Royal Family.

Around the 'Net

 

What will autumn look like for you?

I'm team crewneck, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin bread, and autumn baking.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Volume 517

 Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge!  Here are this week's questions, which you should answer on your own blog and then pop over to Joyce's blog (click on the graphic for the link) Wednesday to add your link to the party.

1. When someone finds out what you do or where you're from, what's a question they always ask? 

The question is usually where did Vic and I meet and when I say Saipan, the comment is always "Where is that?"

2. Did you participate in 'Greek Life' when you were in college, or have children who did? If so, what was your experience like? Taking another tack...have you ever been to Greece? If not, is that a destination on your bucket list?

No, I did not participate in Greek Life as I went to college when I was in my 30s, a Navy wife, and mother of a toddler.  There were no sororities or fraternities at my daughter's college, as students have repeatedly voted them down, feeling that these organizations run counter to the school’s ethos of diversity and inclusion.   I have never been to Greece and it's not really on my bucket list...too hot.  If we take a Mediterranean cruise, there will no doubt be a stop in Greece, but I'd have to plan carefully to visit when it's not so hot.

3. Do you like Greek food? If so what's your favorite dish? 

For a savory dish, I love souvlaki with tzatziki.  For sweets, I love baklava and loukoumades.

Our most popular Greek street food consists of small pieces of meat grilled on a skewer. Souvlaki can be eaten straight off the skewer, wrapped in pita, or on a plate as a sit-down meal with tzatziki, fries and vegetables on the side. Traditionally it is made from pork or chicken, although beef, lamb and vegetarian versions can be found. Its name comes from “souvla”, meaning spit, and the diminutive suffix “-aki”, therefore the small spit = the skewer. 

4. What incredibly common thing have you never done? 

This is a tough one and I'm drawing a blank.  Maybe not participated in most water-related activities like water skiing, rafting, canoeing, or kayaking?  It just doesn't appeal to me.  I swam in the sea when I was younger, and I might be tempted to dip my toes in the water somewhere like Hawaii, but apart from that, I'm not really bothered.

5. What is a telltale sign that you're upset? 

I get very quiet.  I can have a temper so if I feel that I'm on the edge, I go silent, so I don't say something I'll regret.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Are you a DeWalt, Ryobi, Milwaukee, or Makita house?

If this is Tueday, it must be England #187

 

Have you tried any of these?  The only one I have not tried is the Sussex Pond Pudding although I saw it prepared on The Great British Baking Show.  It's a suet pudding with a whole lemon baked inside.  The description says it makes a lovely lemony surprise but I'm not so sure about that.  Sounds a bit odd, a whole lemon inside?

August Rudolph Day

What's Rudolph Day? Here is the definition according to Organized Christmas:

A few years ago, members of our Christmas community began to observe "Rudolph Day" on the 25th of each month.

On that day, we take a few moments to plan some simple tasks for the month ahead, in order to get ready for Christmas Day with plenty of time to spare. By starting early--and working a bit at a time on each month's Rudolph Day--it's easy to prepare for Christmas, save money on gifts, and cut holiday stress.

Here's the annual line-up with the sub-theme in parentheses:

January - Tie Up Loose Ends (gather ideas and organize your Christmas notebook)

February - Begin a Holiday Letter

March - Birthday Gift-Buying Strategy (party planning for the holiday season)

April - Plan Holiday Crafts 

May - Catalog Shopping Tips

June - Recipe Round Up

July - Choose a Holiday Plan (Christmas in July celebration)

August - Craft Control (thinking ahead to Elf on the Shelf)

September - Prepare for Holiday Gifts and Giving

October - Plan Holiday Meals

November - Write Holiday Letter

The bottom line is...prepare for Christmas by doing something every month and make the 25th of each month a Rudolph Day by doing something Christmas-y!  This month, it's time for some craft control - get those supplies organized and ready for any craft projects you plan to complete before Christmas.  For those of you who have fun with the little guy or gal in the red suit, it's time to think about what mischief he or she will get up to in December.

This has to be one of my favorites from our Elf in the Shelf days:

My Christmas group (Magical Holiday Home Forums) has a hostess for each Rudolph Day who puts up suggestions for the month.  August's hostess recommends the book The Man Who Invented Christmas by Les Standiford and a vintage Good Housekeeping Cookbook.  She had a couple of questions for the group, and my answers are below:

1. Do you change up your holiday decorating theme each year or keep it the same?

It's pretty much the same - I have a mish mash of all sorts - things we've had since Sophia was little, things my Mum made, no real theme running through my decorations other than lots of red and green.

2.  Share a memory of Christmas from growing up.

I think I've shared this before but as I have a few new readers, here it is again.  My parents always locked the living room door when we went to bed on Christmas Eve.  I think that came from the year the babysitter and I unwrapped all the presents and, unsuccessfully, tried to re-wrap them!  I have always been an early riser on Christmas morning, and my parents didn't want me to be celebrating on my own before anyone else was awake!  So, the door was locked and Christmas morning, my sister and I are frantically waiting for the door to be unlocked but my dad made a big to-do about not being able to find the key!  It took FOREVER (probably 5-10 minutes but that's forever to us being 9 and 3 years old at the time).  Finally, the key was discovered and Christmas morning commenced.  Come to find out several years later, the key was never lost but Mum couldn't find the flashbulbs so Christmas could not begin until she had the camera ready!  Flashbulbs, that's how long ago this was, LOL.

3.  What's your favorite holiday drink?

I splurge on a couple of Starbucks drinks during the holiday season - chestnut praline latte usually but I have enjoyed the eggnog latte, and they used to have a gingerbread latte.  For cold drinks for celebrations, I love to modify mimosas with cranberry juice or with a liqueur like Chambord.

Life Last Week (18-24 August 2025)

 

It's the last week for the summer photo - next week it's autumn.  I know it doesn't actually start until September 22 but in this house, it starts September 1.

Google was giving me fits and starts on Friday, so I wasn't able to comment on many of the blogs I read regularly.  I'm going to go back and give it another try today.

It's a double post day as it's the 25th of the month and that means Rudolph Day.

The weather for the week ahead:::

On my reading pile:::

I finally finished Madame Fourcade's Secret War - good grief, it took me three months to get through it!  I've moved on to The Book of Last Letters by Kerry Barrett on my Kindle and I've also got Jackie and Maria:  A Novel of Jackie Kennedy and Maria Callas by Gill Paul on Audible.

On my TV:::

We've watched all sorts on TV this week.  Vic usually picks out our evening viewing so it could be anything from a rough 'em up Arnold Schwarzenegger-type movie to something from Hallmark.  I think I need to do one of those "Watching and Listening" posts.

Checked off the list:::

• Honor Roll, the senior luncheon at church was a fun outing with a delicious chicken salad and a great talk by two of our church members who sold their house here in Washington, hit the road in their camper for nine months, and then ended up in Arizona where they bought their retirement home.
• Vic finished the installation of the hanging garage organizer rack from Lowe's and got it stocked.

• He also purchased the instructions to build this workbench from VanIsleStudioStore on Etsy.

• I watched the Instagram Live Reveals of the December Daily products and chatted to my friend Jodie about what we liked and what we didn't like.  December Daily is a craft project we do together (with the help of frequent video calls since we several states apart) in the month of December.
  

Crafts roundup:::

Still keeping current on my memory planning.  Working on December Daily 2021 because when I went to file away 2022, I realized that I had never completed 2021.  Fifteen stories told, ten to go.

 

And in other news:::

Scored early access tickets for Downton Abbey 3!

Lunch on Sunday at Jollibee - we had a good laugh when Vic said he applied for a job there (in the Philippines) when he was in college but wasn't successful.  He said he guessed he didn't have the "pleasing personality" called for in the job opening announcement!  Shame on them, he has a very pleasing personality!

Friday Favorites - August 22, 2025

 

A quick wrap-up of a few of my favorites this week.

After a nasty stomach upset and the associated diarrhoea, we stopped feeding Malone kibble and switched him to The Farmer's Dog.  He's doing great and can't wait for meal times.

In human food news, Costco's French Toast Bagels are amazing!

Lots of great TV coming up.

The Thursday Murder Club premieres on Netflix on August 28.  Solving crime over tea and biscuits, how can you not love that?  What a great cast - Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie.

The Great British Bake Off (aka The Great British Baking Show in the US) is coming in the UK in September which means it will be on Netflix shortly thereafter.  Another very diverse cast of home bakers who will no doubt amaze (and at times dismay) us with their creations.

The Diplomat Season 3 premieres on Netflix on October 16.  I can't remember how Season 2 ended so I'll just have to go back and watch it again!

The fashionistas are back in Emily in Paris Season 5 (or should it be called Emily in Rome?), also on Netflix December 18.

And I saved the best for last - All Creatures Great and Small Season 6 takes us back to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales for more heartwarming human and animal tales but, this time, we find our beloved Skeldale gang in a somewhat different situation as we join them in 1945, just as the war in Europe is coming to a close. We arrive back in Darrowby to veterinary advancements, expanded families, and new faces as they all look ahead to a brighter and more peaceful future. This season will see Herriot’s wonderful characters navigating the opportunities that a new world brings, a host of animals great and small, and of course, each other.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Around the 'Net

I'm amazed at the things I stumble on as I scroll through Facebook and Instagram.  Are you a Downton Abbey fan?  Do you fancy owning a piece of the series?  Here's your chance.

Bonhams, a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques, will offer an auction of iconic props and costumes from Downton Abbey.  There will be a free exhibition open to the public between 18 August and 16 September at their New Bond Street saleroom in London.  Oh, to be in London now.

Check out all the details here.  Is there something on your wish list?  How about Lady Mary or Lady Edith's wedding dresses?  Or Lady Sybil "Harem" pants?  Or the Dowager's walking cane?  Cricket whites?  A riding habit?  Shrimpie's Scottish formalwear?  What an amazing collection.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Volume 616

  

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge!  Here are this week's questions, which you should answer on your own blog and then pop over to Joyce's blog (click on the graphic for the link) Wednesday to add your link to the party.

1.   What's worth standing in line for?

Something delectable from a bakery when it opens and the baked goods are just out of the oven.  I really miss village life in England where we could just walk into town and pick up bread and pies fresh from the oven.

2.  Tell us about a favorite food related memory.

Between 1969 and 1973 (I was 9 to 13 years old), we lived in Belgium and had a trailer at the beach.  We would go up every weekend from April to October and spend our time in the sea and in the sand dunes, just having a blast.  My aunt would come over on the ferry from England and one year, we all went into the local town, to the market and to stop at the bakery for a French baguette and to the British food store where Mum picked up a bottle of HP sauce (it's like A1 but thicker).  Anyway, this particular day, it started to rain so we ducked into the cinema to see The Jungle Book, the animated feature that had come out in 1967.  We were a little hungry, so Mum tore off chunks of the baguette and poured a little HP sauce on each piece.  Why we didn't get popcorn, I don't know!  As time went by, with tummies full and the warmth in the theater, the adults (Mum, Dad, and my aunt) started to doze off while my sister Barbara and I enjoyed the movie.  When the show was over and the lights came up, everyone started to laugh because we were all covered in breadcrumbs!  I can't look at a French baguette or a bottle of HP sauce or see a photo of the animated Jungle Book without this memory.

3. What are some things you find particularly peaceful or calming? 

I love the sound of the ocean, of waves lapping the shore.  I think it brings back the memory of our times at the beach.  I love to sit in a rocking chair, on the porch or the back deck, just rocking and dozing.  I enjoy watching old black and white movies, especially ones that have lots of amazing fashion from anytime when women wore hats and gloves when they went out. 

4. Is there something you do now that gets you just as excited as it did when you were a child? 

Funny you should ask as I just saved this the other day:

5. To what degree are you in touch with friends from grade school? high school? college if you attended college? 

Facebook put me in touch with friends from the late 1970s, my high school years.  I went to the seventh grade in an American high school on the military base in Belgium and then we moved to England.  It's been wonderful to reconnect with friends that I haven't seen for years, to see their families and what direction their lives took.  I'm not in touch with anyone from college - I went to college in my 30s so I was a young mom and Navy wife and not living the single life to go out with friends and develop friendships.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My friend Jodie and I had a hilarious conversation about drinking coffee while camping.  I had visions of a blue enamel coffeepot on the campfire, but she squashed that idea quickly saying, "We have a Keurig!".

Camping has come a long way.  I had to snap this photo of Vic at the local sportsman's store.  The blue enamel camping coffee ware lives, even in espresso sizes!

If this is Tuesday, it must be England #186

  

Happy Belated Birthday to Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, the most hard-working member of the Royal Family. Her birthday, which was Friday, August 15 was somewhat lost in the shuffle of all that was VJ Day.  Her Royal Highness is 75 this year.

 In 2024, she racked up 217 engagements, sometimes more than one in a day.  Renowned for her unwavering dedication and commitment to public service, her position at the top of the list of working royals comes as little surprise to royal watchers and commentators.  She has undertaken royal engagements for 57 years.  

In celebration of her special birthday, a royal first as the Royal Mint released a commemorative coin to commemorate her remarkable lifetime of service.  

This is the first time Her Royal Highness has been honoured on an official UK coin, representing a significant numismatic milestone in British coinage.  Don't you just love that word, numismatic?

Life Last Week (11-17 August 2025)

 

It's time to get back to blogging!  I so want to put up an autumn graphic - the BER months are just around the corner - but I'll give summer just a little bit more time.

The weather for the week ahead:::

On my reading pile:::

Madame Fourcade's Secret War

It's a LONG read - almost 400 pages including a four-page Selected Cast of Characters.  It's taken me three renewals at the library and another checkout, so I hope to get through it this week.

On my TV:::

With VE Day and VJ Day this year, we rewatched Band of Brothers and The Pacific on HBO, both excellent series.

On a lighter note, Our Little Secret on Netflix was cute.

Checked off the list:::

• Dropped off the latest box going to FOREVER for digitization and finished labeling and sorting the 1250 photos that came in the last box.
• Lunch Bunch for August was fun since one of our former members (now living in Florida) was here to visit her daughter and grands and was able to join us.
• Ran all those pesky errands - post office, bank, Costco, Lowe's pick-up (new hanging garage organizer), and Vic's VA appointment.

Crafts roundup:::

Caught up on my memory planner and designating Monday as the day to work on the week before so I can stay current.

 

And in other news:::

A trip to Seattle for Vic's VA appointment meant a trip to Le Panier, our favorite French bakery.  So much goodness.

Lunch for Vic - Spinach Puff Pastry Tart

Lunch for me - Jambon Beurre Baguette - there's nothing like French butter

Roulé Cannelle - Croissant swirled with cinnamon and sugar

Chouquettes - little airy choux pastry puffs

Espresso Eclairs

It's a good thing we only stop here once every couple of months!

Almost top on my list for last week was the announcement that December Daily is coming and the publication of the timeline for the next two weeks, as well as special dates for October and November.  This is my favorite craft project each year, a story a day during the month of December.

This, however, was top on the list for the week - Sophia got a full-time job for the next school year.  She'll be working in a private arts-integrated program that offers play-based learning for preschool and Pre-K students, focusing on self-expression and confidence through various art disciplines such as visual arts, music, and theatre.  The program is designed to support cognitive, social, and emotional development, providing a creative environment for children to explore their interests and talents.  Camp programs are also offered during school breaks, allowing children to engage in week-long themed camps that explore painting, sculpture, drama, and more.  She's been working as a relief teacher and also during the camp programs, so they are happy to have her on staff full-time.

Last week was a great week, friends.