The Year of Turning 70

Totally feeling like a genius after removing my old computer's hard drive and transferring years and years of videos and pictures. In doing so I found this video of the Yearlong Celebration of Turning 70!

North Carolina Memories

Click on this link to see a short video of  North Carolina Memories.

North Carolina Chinese Lanterns (Is that racist?)

Barbara's Pink Saturday

I'm just going to recycle a post from years ago...one of my favorite. I don't have a pool or cute grandkids around today but this has always been a favorite of mine.


Beverly has faithfully hosted Pink Saturday for six years now. Her blog is How Sweet The Sound and on that site I have met some of my best blog, Facebook and art buddies.  Thank you Beverly for bringing me into your World of Pink! Were it not for Pink Saturday I probably would have stopped blogging completely by now.  I’ve written just under 600 posts over six years now. When we had the antique store I always had things to write about and some really interesting pictures. So rather than just stop completely I’m just posting a lot less frequently these days. Unfortunately for you guys…I will never run out of my old pictures that I can show on here! So on that note….
I’m pulling out one of my most favorite pink pictures today. This is over 18 years ago at a nursery in Austin. What’s not to love about a herd of Pink Flamingos with my little grandson in the middle of them.


He was absolutely adorable! I’ve been putting my 50+ years of pictures in order and I can’t believe that I’m almost done. I finished my Christmas book which was a huge accomplishment! In another unfinished art album from an online class I took and completed one page….I converted into a timeline of wallet and school pictures of my two sons and grandsons. And then since I was on a roll I made an album out of an old accounting ledger and filled it with those 3 x 5 and 5 x 7 portraits. The 4 x 6 prints of which I have multiple prints of the same thing went into different sets for various people. I punched a hole in the corner, put them in order by date and ran a ribbon through them or used a binder ring.

“I've at times in my past been so unhappy, and thought, like, 'I would give anything for this not to be happening.' And, you know, as people say, time passes, and then you think, 'I'm kind of glad that happened to me.”
That is what I tried to tell my little guy in the middle of the flamingos  this week as he worries about his college angst. Some of the best things and people in my life came out of circumstances I absolutely didn’t want to happen and now…I wouldn’t change a thing.

to all of my blog friends along with Beverly for sharing ideas, projects, your kids and grandkids, and your homes with me. And thanks for allowing me to share my life with you!
xoxo Nancy

Pink Saturday Challenge

Couldn’t resist this...
 Pink Saturday Photo Op
Isaiah & Grant playing on a Flamingo...what could be better...maybe a granddaughter with 
“pink hair“!

This is a challenge to my YaYa Sisters!

Sincerely, 
Rio Star Rosita

The Life of CoronaBarbara: A Reading Blogger

During this time of Corona isolation I have found myself searching for mindless Hallmark reading. I guess I’m not the only one.  Jackie was feeding Jules and looked over and Otis had climbed into the baby’s seat, grabbed a book, crossed his feet, and started reading.  She said he was just babbling away...kinda what I’m doing right now.  I’m here in NC filling my head with romance and fantasy.  What are you girlies doing?  Any good books?  I’ll let you know if my new one is any good...so far they are so so! I imagine because I only read free prime books but it keeps me busy.  I can’t make excuses to go clean my closet because the closets here are meticulous...except Tori’s!  How true the old saying “like Mother like daughter”!  I just got a pop up from KSATWEATHER that today will be the hottest in the last two years and then a LaVerne pop up with a Rain Prayer.  So today the life of CoronaBarbara will be reading, praying, and planning our trip home.  I will stop my babbling or blogging which seems very similar right now.  I love my YaYas and miss you all!

Beach Memories

South Padre Island – Beach Memories

My memories of the beach go back as far as I can remember. South Padre was always within reach. I also remember the drive down the “back highway” and it seeming like we would never get there and then the sunburned sandy trip back home. I wish I had pics of those days but I don’t. The oldest picture I could find was just one from a trip there when the Reebs visited from Ohio in 1968. We were quite upscale and rented one of the Cabanas (with a shower!) for the day. We packed a picnic and spent the day there. Here’s Jeffy and I eating our lunch. Bring back babushkas!!!

How about a few YaYa pics? We have so many memories of trips we took together there. Remember how we would plan for months? And we’d drag so much stuff we could hardly get it up the steps at the beach house?

Family Tides 

The first YaYa Sisterhood ceremony. 

Remember judging the vollyball tournament. Boys against girls. They thought we were old so we’d be fair. We would call the most blatant things for the girls!!!

And here are a few pics of our non cyber Round Robin letters - prelude to The YaYa Letters! This was the year we were celebrating our grandkids!

I'll add more to this later...still finding pictures!

Posted by Countess Cockle Doodle Doo.

73 year old Blogger succeeds!

This was my first attempt at blogging and you can see by my Blog Title that is was surely misnamed!  It should have read 73 year old Blogger is a Loser but she will try and try again!  Thank you sweet YaYa Sisters for your patience and tutelage.  Your talent to help those of us with none is more than amazing and extremely appreciated❤️

A YaYa’s Revisit To South Padre Island

Who is with me at the beach?

Early memories of SPI!

South Padre Island Public Beach.Memories
Sitting here in our basement bedroom suite in North Carolina or should I call it our YaYa Hideaway I found myself wanting to contribute to the first edition of YaYa Letters. I snuck into the photo closet looking for anything beachy and found a few photos from 1971.  I must have escaped to potty in the sand dunes (Picture #1) and left someone to babysit my baby...who could it be and what is your clue🤣.  These were the days before the beach house when we would pack up for a day trip.  I loved those days when we hadn’t gotten spoiled.  We actually had to pack up clothes, food, & the kitchen sink and drive a couple of hours to paradise.  We would drive directly on the sand until you found your own little piece of heaven and park.  If there were 2 cars we could tent from door to door and voila...your own personal cabana.  Our trunks were our kitchen, drawers, and sometimes bassinet.  The sand dunes or a trip into the beach water was our own personal “baño”.  These Early marriage 1971 trips were all extended memories from my own childhood when all our aunts & uncles would pack up their cars and we would caravan down the Military Highway or often referred to as “The Back Highway”.  We would play games all day long, collect shells, build sand castles, and at the end of the day fall back into the cars a sandy mess and drive home.  All our trips to the beach from the 50s thru the 70s, 80s, give me such comfort. I’m so grateful for my memories.  When I get sad and think those days will never happen again I’m reminded of my big ole daddy’s saying “Never say Never”!  We will see those South Texas sunsets again & the peaceful walks on the cool morning sand will happen again.   Covid has given us but another view into our treasured past through our new revisited online Round Robin Letters.  Good night all!

Thank you, Aunt Whilma

This afternoon I had a lovely surprise...a phone call from Mother's last remaining sibling, her younger sister, my Aunt Whilma. Aunt Whilma is in her 90's...probably 95 this September. I mostly write or send cards to her since phone conversations are not always 100%...her hearing is not 
 the best anymore so I usually just drop a note now and again.
 Well, our 62nd  annual Bielke family reunion had to be cancelled this summer,. Of course, it must have been a huge disappointment to her...she and Mother were big organizers and innovators every year. It was the high point of summer... For many it was one of few social outings. We all realize that many of the older family won't be around for many more summers.
 I couldn't have been more surprised when she called... cheerful and positive as ever and always. The assisted living  staff , where she now lives, wants them to call someone every day and today, she picked me!
 When the subject came around to the family reunion, I was expecting sadness and woe, but instead, she talked about this cousin or that distant relative with health concerns.  " It's not a good idea for  Harry Lee to be around too many people with Jenny being so frail." (Jenny, his wife, has Alzheimer's ) She talked about  some of her generations, second cousins who are "elderly" and need to be careful. Never did she complain or show bitterness. Disappointment, yes, but not the kind of futile sadness I might understand and even expect given her isolation away from children and grandchildren. She was concerned about others, you know, "the elderly".
We talked about staying in and not going out and how some people were having such a hard time following guidelines. We decided that people reared in homes where "No"  meant  "No" and rules were to be followed are having an easier time because we respect rules and can accept that we don't always get what we want. And we talked about the strong-willed Bielke women like Mother and what a gift their strength and guidance has been. It was a beautiful conversation and so in the middle of this turmoil, I had a gift...a wonderful gift...It's a Wonderful World.
She has a grand-son-in-law who is a doctor and he can come in and visit and run errands for her. She is so appreciative and up-beat talking about about happy things . The Holy Spirit picked me for Aunt Whilma to call today to put my mother's words and example even if not  her voice back in my ears. Thank you, Jesus.

My Girls

I don't have a beach post but I saw this today on an old You Tube video I hadn't seen for years. They were so beautiful. I'm just heartbroken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsuTpWoS618

The Four Loves

 “In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers.

In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births,

a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one

university instead of another...the accident of a topic being

raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances

might have kept us apart.

But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances.

A secret master of ceremonies has been at work.

Christ, who said to the disciples, "You have not chosen me,

but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends,

"You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another."

The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste

in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals

to each of us the beauties of others.”

C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves  

New Memories and Old Memories

It's been a long time since I've set up a new blog but in looking back over My Crafty Little Page and the 500 plus posts I found it to be a timeline of what I was doing and feeling at that point in time. Now we, the YaYas, have decided to do a collaborative blog. It will be like our Round Robin letters that we started years ago. Barbara, Judy, LaVerne, Nancy and Patty. We'll have a weekly theme and each of us will write a post. At least that's the current plan as to what we'll do but you never know...we can change our mind anytime we want!!!