Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Papa's Party, part two

As I mentioned the other day, we recently celebrated my father-in-law's 75th birthday and the end of his chemotherapy treatments. We enjoyed a lovely outdoor party at my sister-in-law's country home. For part one pictures, click here.

Papa's eight grandchildren were thrilled to be together and in a place with lots of fun activities to do. Here's my daughter making use of the tire swing.
 They also enjoyed the trampoline.
 And played baseball. Impressive that brother-in-law #1 can play with a drink in his hand, huh?
In an earlier look at my sister-in-law's home, I showed you some of their many animals. This little doggie, above, is a new addition to the group. After an extensive search that turned up no owners, they figure someone abandoned her on this country road. She couldn't have happened on a better place. My sister-in-law cannot turn any animal away.

And this dog certainly appreciates it. She sticks to my SIL like glue, following her everywhere and even waiting outside the bathroom door. The funny thing is, whenever she couldn't find her new mom at the party, she went straight for her mom's sister, pictured above, bottom right. Not so much of a dog lover as her sister, my other SIL put up with the attention nevertheless.

An interesting story: My SIL decided to call this little gal Coco, even though her kids wanted to use another name. She then discovered that a previous owner had written Coco faintly inside the dog's collar.
Maple, who joined the family as a puppy last December, is becoming GIGANTIC. She is one lucky dog, and makes good use of her time, following the kids, following the chickens and wading in the pond.
 Unfortunately, I think she is hunting for frogs. I didn't stick around to find out.
 I think my brother-in-law might have slightly overstocked the pond with frogs. What do you think?
 With four children in the house, I can understand the sign that my SIL has displayed.
Their garlic crop is impressive. That's about 3,000 bulbs, most of which will be replanted so that they can start selling in the future.
 Here is Papa enjoying his party, along with his brother-in-law.
 Two of Papa's sisters.

Another of Papa's brothers-in-law.
Brother-in-law #2, our host, with after dinner drinks. Both of my (Italian) sisters-in-law married redheads from the East Coast of Canada. And, their brother married someone whose parents come from Nova Scotia (that would be me).

The party went on after dark, as we gathered around the fire. We ended the party as we usually do, with some guitar playing and songs. My husband played guitar, while brother-in-law #1 sang and played guitar. I wanted to share a little video with you, but I can't get it to upload. Maybe later!

Are you getting a chance to party this summer?

9 comments:

  1. Oh so sweet photos! :)

    xx

    http://mademoiselle-s-blog.blogspot.fr/

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  2. What a fun party! Looks like a blast. And I don't think I've ever seen so much garlic!

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    1. It was a lot of fun! That's the first time I've ever seen so much garlic too!

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  3. Oh how fun!! I do hope you are able to upload the video!

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    1. I had to put in on Youtube first to get it to upload. I can usually just put it into Blogger. Weird.

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  4. I am really intrigued by all that garlic. I purchase fresh organic garlic fresh off a local farm.

    It is so nice to see families taking the time out to enjoy one another and give thanks. When I was growing up this was an ordinary thing that you saw all the time. Now so many people are spending a lot of their time at the mall.

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    1. I usually buy garlic at the grocery store, just because I am there, but it is often terrible and dry.

      You are right. I think people did spend more time celebrating with others when we were younger. Parties were often at homes rather than at the Paintball place, or the movies, or wherever. I noticed this year, though, that my children's friends are returning to having parties at home.

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  5. What an awesome property! Your family remind me so much of the Italian families I know, here in Australia. Good times when family get together! And thumbs up for tofu lasagna!

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