Keith and Phyllis visit Olive's house

Keith is one half of the group 'Comfort Food' with my cousin, Joe.  They graciously played a benefit concert last October at the Olive McLorn home.  It was a great day and everyone enjoyed their music so much.  Keith was intrigued by the home and all he learned about Olive.  When I saw him at the family reunion in Kansas City he mentioned that he would like to bring his Mom up to visit the house.  It turns out that Keith's Mom, Phyllis, and Olive had a lot in common.  In fact, their lives intersected at at least one point!  (more on that later)

Keith and Phyllis came over to Julie's house the evening they arrived and we all enjoyed listening to Keith practice some songs in the living room.

The next day we met for lunch at Take Root Cafe before going to tour the Olive McLorn house.  So glad Julie was able to join in for lunch.

Julie, Phyllis, and Keith

First stop at Olive's house was the sitting room and photo albums from the trunk.  Phyllis was recognizing many places in the photos because Phyllis herself grew up in the International sector of Shanghai as her father was an engineer building roads with the Chinese government.  Clearly we could see that her family and Olive & David had run in the same circles.

Then an incredible thing happened... Phyllis quietly pointed to a photo in the album and said, "That's my Mother."  What??  We all jumped up we were so stunned!  Phyllis pointed to one particular photo and said, "yes, that is my mother in this photo."

This photo makes me smile... Keith getting a good, close look
at the photo his Mom had just pointed out...

"Yup," Keith confirmed.  "That is my grandmother in the photo!"  Isn't that incredible?  It still gives me goosebumps.  :)

We learned a lot from Phyllis because she was able to tell us where many photos were taken and who they were of (tennis group, ladies club, etc.)  What an experience to sit with her and go through these photos together.

Then it was time for the tour of the house.  Phyllis is an art historian with an emphasis in Chinese art, so the house was quite interesting to her.

It was heartwarming to see Phyllis and Keith
enjoy the house as much as we all do.

I think this dress really caught Phyllis's heart.

I have to say the signs that were so lovingly placed on Phyllis's walker touched my heart deeply.  I had to take a photo because I was so moved by them.  Beautiful.

This one says "Awake, put on thy strength."

And this one says "Tender mercies are holding you.  Love, your son."

Okay, that one did me in.  Keith, you are a wonderful son and I am proud to know you. And Phyllis was a delight to meet and spend the day with.  Her resilience and determination had a lasting impact on me.  Although she has great difficulty walking, she made her way up the flight of steps to the second floor because she wanted to experience the whole house.  It is something I won't soon forget.

I really love this photo of Phyllis and her son, Keith.  

Random June

Random moments from June...

I have so enjoyed the new patio furniture this spring/summer.
Especially my chaise lounge.  :D

Family interview time with Mama and Daddy...  :)

Marvin finally broke down and bought a new mower.  I am so thankful!!
This one runs like a dream and works every single time he goes out to get on it!
Worth every penny!  

Marvin enjoying cutting the grass with his new mower.

Jackson wanted to try out Marvin's old golf clubs
so we dug them out of the attic for him to take.  

Seemed like a moment to document to me... :)  

Mama came up on her lawn mower to get some gas from Marvin.
I love seeing them visiting - they are two peas in a pod.  :) 

Daddy's eye issue is slowly improving.  In these photos he had been up to check on the garden.  

Using his Andrew Taylor Still walking stick - he looks regal.  :) 

Marvin and Jackson were discussing how to get a big limb down from being stuck up in that tree.
Jackson managed to get it down the next day.  

Mama and Daddy were heading out and I thought they looked nice so took this photo.  :) 

Dear Sheryl spoke to the Quota Club about Olive and the house.  I was so happy that Judy invited me to attend so that I could also hear Sheryl's talk.  I never get tired of hearing about Olive!

April Wine Night

This was a terrific evening.  It combined two of my favorite things - wine club and the Olive McLorn house!  Fabulous!!!

The wine we studied in April was Merlot and some of the recipes had olives in them.  So of course it seemed only fitting that we meet for this month at Olive's house.  I was so excited for my wine club ladies to get to 'know' Olive and knew they would fall in love with her, too.  Yes, they definitely did!!

Dear Sheryl joined us this evening so that she could give some history about Olive and later show us all around the house.  We sure appreciated all she did for us that evening!

Sheryl giving us an introduction to Olive.

Andrea and Dana

Judy, Barb, Megan, Laura, Audrey, Hannah, Sheryl, Deb, Andrea, Dana

April wine night brought us another wonderful treat!  Judy has a 'wine guy' for her restaurant and he graciously agreed to come and speak to us about wine.  Scott was terrific and informative and so much fun.  We learned a lot and appreciated his encouragement about what we are doing with wine club - our attempts to truly learn more about wine.  We hope he will come back again sometime!

Judy introducing Scott

We always have such good food at wine night!

assorted cheese tray

herbed bread for dipping in olive oil

beef tenderloin with au jus and horseradish

a picture of Olive with the Olive bar!  (and chocolates)

Eggplant Parmesan bites

Almonds, Dates, Prosciutto, and olive oils for dipping bread

my plate (plus plain bread in basket for dipping in olive oils)

Audrey, Hannah, and Sheryl

Barb and Megan

Those labels get smaller and smaller....  :D 

Mount Veeder 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon
(the Ringer) #2 on wine tasting sheet

Kenwood Merlot #3 on wine tasting sheet

Barefoot Merlot #4 on wine tasting sheet

Single Vineyard Pays D'OC Merlot #5 on wine tasting sheet

Yellow Tail Merlot #6 on wine tasting sheet

Casillero del Diablo Merlot #7 on wine tasting sheet

Chateau Haut-Surget Merlot 2014 #8 on wine tasting sheet

Hogue Columbia Valley Merlot #9 on wine tasting sheet

Sheryl and Deb

Kendall-Jackson Merlot 2014 #10 on wine tasting sheet

Wonderful Scott!!

Sheryl begins the tour of Olive's house

In David's room

Judy looks great in one of Olive's hats!

So does Megan!  :)

It was fun to discover this lovely fan!  :) 

a wrap that was pretty cool 'back in the day'....

Megan was able to try on some of Olive's dresses

She even gamely :) tried on that wrap!  

:)

This was such a cool dress!

This may have been our favorite dress. 

It even had pockets!  :) 

You maybe can't tell in this photo, but Dana and 'Olive' are
wearing the same colors - just in reverse.  :) 

Hannah and Audrey appreciating Olive's book collection.

One of the most interesting things Scott shared with us was how Missouri 'saved wine'!  :) I had never heard of this but then came across this article completely by chance just a week ago!!
https://www.feastmagazine.com/drink/features/article_9f36933e-29c8-11e7-9a7d-effeecb28e31.html


We didn't actually get to watch any videos this time since we met at Olive's house.  But here are a couple just for future reference.


The Best Red Wines for Beginners - Merlot




Reclaiming the Honor of the much maligned Merlot