Gadding About at Grandson Brooks' Graduation from UNC Chapel Hill

Grandson Brooks. 

Time flies.  Now my second grandson has graduated from college.  It was fun attending the graduation activities last weekend.   Brooks received his diploma from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC on Saturday afternoon at the Dean Dome. 

Proud grandparents. 

Brooks and his diploma. 

Since I had attended this awarding of diplomas, I did not attend the main graduation on Sunday at Kenan Stadium, but I did go to the brunch at the DKE Fraternity House after the Sunday ceremony. I almost missed it, because when I went to the Friday Center parking to catch a shuttle, the shuttles had quit running, but luckily a Chapel Hill Safety Transit car came checking in the huge parking lot and rescued me and three others who had missed the shuttle. I got deposited at the Carolina Inn across the street from the DKE House. Wonderful!

All the grands were there, as well as many of Brooks and Zach's friends.  (Zach graduated last year from UNC).  The food was especially good. 

DKE House

Meg and Victor keep the DKE House running. 

Grace. 

Zach and Grandpat.

Tyler will be a sophomore here next year. 

The whole crew.L to R Grandpat, Grace, Tyler, Meredith, Brooks, Michael, Zach, Mike.

The youngest grandson Tyler will be a sophomore at UNC next year, so in three more years we will be attending yet another graduation.  I'm wondering if granddaughter Grace will become a Tarheel as well.

Deviled Eggs for Cinco de Mayo

Deviled Eggs with a Mexican twist. 

I like deviled eggs, and I was inspired to make these today by Lisa Prince's recipe on WRAL. 

Ready to remove the yolks. 

I halved the eggs and put the yolks in a plastic bag so they could be mashed along with about a cup of guacamole, some Mayo, some sour cream and a bit of hot sauce.  I had never thought of mashing the yolks this way, but it works wonderfully.  Salt and pepper were added to taste.

Everything all smashed together.  Easy. 

Piping the mixture into the egg halves. 

After snipping a small hole in the corner of the plastic bag, it was easy to pipe the mixture into the egg halves. 

Ready for Cinco de Mayo. 

For some of the eggs, I added a dollop of salsa.  Salsa in the middle of the dish with chips and a bowl of chips on the side, and this is ready for tomorrow.

I couldn't wait to try the eggs so I added a few to my lunch today.  I have enough of the mixture to have Guacamole Eggs on toast for breakfast tomorrow.

My lunch today. 

Gadding About with Pedestal Source

The new pedestal for a new piece of pottery.

I needed a pedestal to use as a base for my new piece of pottery, so I went online and what I found was Pedestal Source.  They made exactly what I needed.  I can't say enough good things about this company.  There customer service was first rate. (I am not a paid advertiser for them by the way.)

When they finished it and was ready to ship they sent me a video.  Check out this Video.

The package arrived by FedEx promptly, and there were even instructions on the box as to how to open it.  I followed the steps, and the pedestal that was well protected with foam in the box came out with the bottom on the floor, and all I had to do was unwrap it.  I am so happy with this product.

The box. 

Instructions for unpacking.

A top piece of foam thanking me on the top of the wrapped pedestal. 

Foam all around the pedestal. 

Bottom on the floor ready to unwrap. 

The pedestal's new home in the dining room. 

Now I'm pleased that the new piece of pottery has a place to be displayed in the dining room.  Thank you Pedestal Source.

Gadding About at the Green Chair on St. Paddy's Day

What was better for a sunny afternoon on St. Patrick's Day than to attend the Green Chair Project's Open House.  This is one of my favorite charities.  As I am downsizing I like to donate items to them as much as possible.    Here is how they describe their mission:

Working together to provide everyone the comforts of home.

We reuse donated household furnishings to renew lives of participants referred from area programs who are recovering after homelessness, crisis or disaster.

As I toured their site that is undergoing a massive renovation (yet they still manage to stay open for their clients), I saw lots of GREEN items around.  I concentrated my photos on the GREEN things I observed.

A beautiful welcome as you entered.

Families  can choose their furnishing package at a reasonable price.

Among the many sofas and chairs is this GREEN one. 

Among the linens from which to choose, this lovely GREEN one. 

Many decorative items available. 

As I toured the construction area I noticed the hard hats are even GREEN.

They even had GREEN desserts on this special day.  

I'm sporting their sticker.  You can get one too.  Just give them a visit.  

If you aren't familiar with this charity, I suggest you give them a visit.  They are truly an inspiration!!!!  You can view their website HERE.

Gadding About With A Blind Date

Yesterday was Valentine's and I thought what could be more romantic than a blind date.  I was to meet my blind date at the Cameron Village Public Library. I was so excited!  When I told my younger son, he expressed a bit of concern.  I assured him it was quite okay.

The Librarians had created a novel activity called a Blind Date with a Book.

I love books, so I thought how romantic!

Sure enough just in the entrance to the Library was a collection of gift-wrapped books, in colorful Valentine's Day paper.  Each book had a little synopsis, but no title.  You had to unwrap the gift to see who or what your blind date was.

I notice that many of the books that the Librarians had selected seemed to have a theme of love, marriage, or relationships.  How appropriate!

This is the "date" that I chose. 

I'm heading out of town for the weekend, and I'm taking my blind date with me.  I may even fall a sleep with my blind date beside me.  Thank you Librarians for a clever activity for Valentine's Day. And friends I hope you are not a bit disappointed, because you may have expected a different "blind date" for me.  : )