Three Good Women

45°f/7.2°C, overcast.

It has been a rough start to this year. 

I wondered why we hadn't gotten a card from Becky, who was the wife of Larry's late brother Maxey. Then my card to her was returned. Had she moved? That would have been surprising, because Becky rarely traveled out of her usual and very limited routine.  A Google search provided the answer. Becky had passed away last March, at her home. 

We rarely saw her, honestly. Our lives just didn't intersect very often, but we always enjoyed seeing her. Since she wasn't great at answering her phone, contact wasn't easy. Becky had a wry sense of humor, and a kindness that shone from her eyes. She had no children or living children, so there really wasn't anyone to let us know of her passing. She was only 75, so we were shocked when I found her obituary. Rest in peace, dear Becky.

Then the lady I did not know in person, but her reputation as kind, smart, funny and talented,  shared by her husband (of The Catalyst blog), made me feel like I knew her, and I greatly admired her too. Her passing impacted many of us who share  our lives with each other through our blogs, and I know we all feel her loss. My heart is with her dear mate.

Yesterday came news of our friend Tonya's death. Not unexpected, as she has been fighting hard against that cruel killer, pancreatic cancer. Tonya was only 54, and it seems so wrong that she should be gone already. 

An old saying predicts that things come in threes. Well, I am ready for three good things. So if you have some good news or happy thoughts, please pass them along!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Looking Back: 2025 in Review

25°f/-4°C, clear and sunny. Expecting a high in the 50s today.

I have not done a year in review for several years, but it seems like a good idea to give it a go.

January:

We grabbed a chance to travel over the mountains to meet up with our great-grandson and and hide Momma Kate at our oldest son's house,

and later that month Larry and I made a snowman for the first time in several years.

February:

A road trip in Ohio yielded iconic scenes, like this one:

The ice man cometh ! And ice formation along our road.

The first flowers began to emerge!

March

Hellebores were in full bloom.

A beautiful quilt arrived from blog friend Quinn of the Comptonia blog.

Daffodils! Such a sight for winter- weary eyes.

An evening of fun in Charleston, WV, listening to the Charleston Rogues, a Celtic punk band.

April

Fun time in Thomas, WV, listening to my favorite sea shanty group, The Wellermen. They are just fantastic, and it was amazing that such a group showed up in tiny Thomas. I had been following them on Facebook, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have an opportunity to meet them. 

Fangirl Granny!

The first morels of the season.

At the Great Greenbrier River Race, a triathlon held in Marlinton, WV, our family and friends made quite a showing. We had 6 family members in the race. This was the 16th year family have competed, some years with more taking part than others.

May

Glorious flowers, what says May more than flowers?

We visited Charleston for one of Larry's many VA doctor appointments, and I grabbed a photo of our beautiful Capitol building. 

Jerry's Florist in Leesburg, VA, sends me monthly pictures of the flowers I have them put on my son's grave. They do a beautiful job.

June

The gardens were really hitting their stride, and that is where I was most of the month, weeding, planting, fussing about.

A fascinating play of light on the ridge as a storm approached.

We had some fun too: the Washboard Festival in Logan Ohio was a blast.

They still make washboard here.

Musicians were everywhere. 

And then there was the No Kings rally in Charleston.

July was a busy, busy month. Gardens began producing in earnest. The herbs were especially  prolific.

Our first Monarch of the year!

On auction pickup day, we stopped in Marietta Ohio for lunch, and enjoyed watching the beautiful river.

Ah, summer. It was hot and dry, but so lush 

My friend Suzy and I visited my friends Lynne and Jerry, for lunch, chat and floral delight in their gardens.

Yet another Charleston trip, this time stopping in thd part of town called Elk City, where this fabulous mural by Jupiter Hamilton lives the streets 

Monarch sightings continued, much to our joy 

We made a road trip halfway across the state to pick up a sweet vintage dinette set in the quaintest little community, and spied this old car. 

We completed a major task: painting the deck and porch.

My first ever hot air balloon ride. Kinda disappointing in that it was a tethered balloon, but it was still a thrill.

August

Gardens, gardens...

We began attending the Tuessay night open mics, such fun. Suzy is trying to develop her storytelling skills.

Canning season was in full swing.

And of course, the booths kept us hopping, as they do every month.

We canned about 70 quarts of tomato juice in one day. Talk about tired.

So we earned this weekend trip to Geneva-on-the-Lake. What a fun trip that was.

We also stopped at the Kennedy Ledges park to walk the glass walkway, visited the Hippley Gardens and another garden near there, and spent the night at the historic Spread Eagle Tavern.  

September: some time to relax a little!

Planted mums in the big pots.

Canning continued, but the pace slowed down. Phew.

I got on stage for the first time in 5 years, but just at open mics 

A late Monarch visited.

Pip arrived in our lives. 

Sunset on the lake along my son's road.

Oops, out of order! Haley's wedding in September!

Me and mah boyz  😀 

We took another weekend break, this time to Millersburg, Ohio, seat of the very Amish Holmes County. We had such a good time!

November

The cellar was full to bursting. It was a good year!

The sunsets were quite something.

Last of the squash. We said a relieved farewell!

First snowfall arrived quite early in the month.

I attempted to photograph the aurora borealis,  which was visible here for a couple nights. 

Christmas decorations came out! We have to get the booths ready by mid-month, so i just went ahead and did the house too.

Derek brought us hickory nuts and Larry gathered walnuts, so he began the slow job of picking out the nutmeats. Fortunately he enjoys it.

The apple butter crew arrived!

Larry was sick on Thanksgiving, so it was a non-event. But by the weekend he felt well enough to go to Holly Jolly Brawley, an annual trees and decorations event in Charleston. We had a blast.

December started off with the annual Christmas parade in town. Downtown looked so pretty before the parade. 

Decorating was completed for one more year.

More snow, so pretty, but very cold at -1°f.

My friend Jenny Allinder and her friends came to play Celtic music for the open mic.

This year's tree...it's still up.

My first wine-tasting, DeFoe Winery offered Pee Wee, WV. (I have no idea how that community got its name.)

And finally, Christmas!

Then a trip across the mountains to celebrate again with our oldest son and his family.

I'll tack on this photo, which was actually yesterday so not really 2025, but this visit got delayed a bit due to weather and other things, so we finally got to visit our #4 son Aaron and his family for Christmas fun. We visited at their home, then went out to dinner at a great Italian place called Mama di Roma in Fairmont. 

Aaron and his wife Jaime

James and Beth

Michaela with her mom and dad 

And that's a wrap! This post certainly got long! And I left out a bunch of stuff. It was a good year for us as a family, while nationally....well, you know.

Here's to a better year for this poor old world in 2026.