Sonnystone Acres

we’re moving ahead at breakneck speed toward the real, live wedding…last night’s rehearsal went well–oh, except the organist got her times mixed up and didn’t show up until we were leaving! mom-of-groom did what she does best–took charge–and actually played (more like gingerly touched) one of the finest pipe organs in this part of the country. everything is fine, though, and we had a great time at the dinner, where i was presented with some hypnotiq and a lovely bracelet. i think i’m supposed to share the blue vodka/cognac, but i think husband will look great in the bracelet. we set up the reception hall yesterday and it looks beautiful. stay tuned.

my cuzn ronna is 2 years younger than me, the daughter of my mom’s youngest sister. because we looked a lot alike as we were growing up, we pretended we were “twin cousins” like patty duke and patty duke (ronna says i always made her be “kathy”). there were actually about a dozen of us cousins around the same age who would land in grayville (where my grandma lived) in the summers, back in the day. ronna’s family moved to florida when she was a teenager and we lost track of each other. we hooked back up when we were in our 30’s and no matter how many years go by it always feels like we’re connected. ronna, with her husband, tom, has lived all over the world, currently new zealand. her 3 daughters live down in alabama, which was their last american address. she arrived yesterday around 2 p.m. with her youngest, stephanie, after a weekend crawling the grayville bars. we proceeded to talk, talk, talk, till 2 a.m. there is a special closeness with us and it felt so good to be with her–and stephanie is so much like “us” that we had a great time. she’s on her way back to alabama and will return to new zealand on the 26th. since i hadn’t seen her in so long, it seems funny to now miss her, but i do. and i hope we can get together again sooner than 3 years.

i might have to try to teach morals to wink—he slept with ronna the first night he met her!

it’s been work, work, work around sonnystone this last week. i took advantage of the summer-like weather to tear apart a flower bed and plant more lavender, add bee balm, move the sedum and the hydrangea. my hollyhock succumbed to some nasty disease despite a couple of sevin-dust treatments, so it had to be removed. i moved some limelight into the space where it was, but it looks a little sad about it. i finished up the vegetable garden with cherry tomatoes, eggplant, and another basil– it’s looking pretty good now, but remind me next year not to plant so early! i put some begonias in the front containers and have some red geraniums for another, but haven’t found the right spot yet. husband has finished the siding on the carriage house and is now painting the trim. my couch and chair are both finished and look beautiful. boychild and fiancee’ made a 24-hour trip home for her sister’s highschool graduation party and they’ll be back at the end of the week for the pre-nup prep. i’m not sure when the new york city family is arriving, but the time’s starting to fly. cuzn ronna is over in grayville and she and her daughter stephanie will be visiting tomorrow, probably an overnighter. i haven’t seen her in a couple of years and am pretty excited about that, too. wink ate all the other kitten’s food and camped out in her litterbox, so he’s sleeping it off. stay tuned!

i bought this 1940’s couch and matching chair (not pictured) a year ago for $50. i had a vision, you might say. at first it seemed the upholsterers were going to charge more for their work than it would cost to buy a new one. the fabric was going to run $15-20/yard, so it sat while i thought about it. when i spoke with interior-decorator friend from noma faye’s he told me about a guy who would upholster for $200/couch, $100/chair! i found 16 yards of lovely damask marked down to $5.99/yard, sent it to the professionals down in kentucky.(huh)…and..oila!

the camera flash makes the fabric look more red–it’s actually burgundy–or merlot, if you will. leaving off the fringe brings out the kidney shape and altogether it looks smaller….i’d say better, wouldn’t you?

okay, we bet requests and hunches: andromeda’s hero, sun king, noble causeway, high limit, flower alley, high fly, afleet alex, bandini, bellamy road. these are all show bets at varying levels with no exotic wagering. darn it. we are drinking kentucky bourbon over crushed ice with syrup & mint. we’re wearing hats. what a beautiful field of horses, a beautiful day, a chance of a lifetime for the 2-year-olds. god bless the run for the roses (especially my favorites).