Family – Page 2 – movingforwardslowly

Hartell Reunion 1993

Grandmother & Grandfather Hartell’s church

I recently received some old family pictures from my stepmother Marilyn. She is my father’s widow. Most all of the pictures were from a Hartell family reunion that took place in Plattsburgh, Missouri back in 1993. I had forgotten the exact date, and the pictures did not help with this. Then I remembered the quilt square my cousin Pam had made for all of Florence Hartell’s grandchildren. Fortunately, she had written the date of the reunion on the back. I have taken good care of my square.

I was surprised to see the picture of my husband, Jim, holding our daughter Laura. She was 3 years old at that time. He is dressed up and smiling. I had never seen this picture before I received this recent package. I had to post this to show what a handsome man I married.

I was raised a Disciples of Christ. My grandparents Hartell attended the First Christian church in Plattsburg, Missouri. My parents, siblings, and I attended the First Christian church in 7-Corners, Virginia. I posted a screen shot of the Plattsburg church, and a screen shot about the Disciples of Christ faith. I was baptized in the First Christian church in 7-Corners, Virginia (Falls Church) I posted my grandparents church because several reunion pictures were taken there, and I remember attending this church from time to time when we were visiting them. The picture of my husband and daughter was taken in the general vicinity of this church.

Date Palm: Phoenix dactylifera

This picture was taken from the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park Alliance website

My fascination with Palm trees continues. With Palm Sunday arriving this weekend, I have been exploring the Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera). There are many of these trees on the property owned by the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park in California. One of my fondest memories is taking my daughter on a Safari drive through this park when she was young. We were visiting my sister who lived in Los Angeles at the time. My daughter was thrilled and a little scared to feed the giraffes carrots. They would come up to the safari truck and with their prehensile tongues they would scoop them out of our hands.

The fruit of the Date Palm tree are called Medjool dates. I bought some the other day at one of our local grocery stores. I have eaten them in salads at restaurants, but I have never bought a box of them to consume at home. We have been eating them today, and I can definitely say that they are delicious. My plan is to chop some of them up to put into a pound cake I hope to make this weekend. I enjoy experimenting. One of my recent goals this year is to try new foods and experiment with different recipes. I am currently focused on the Medjool date.

The dates I bought were grown in the Bard Valley of California. I had to research the name Bard since I attended an elementary school in California in 3rd and 4th grade by the name of Richard Bard. Curiously I don’t ever remember eating whole dates when I was young and lived in California. This is a shame since I could have discovered them long ago.

If I end up making the cake this weekend, I will post a picture. It would be a nice addition to a Palm Sunday brunch.

I made the Vanilla Sour Creme Pound Cake and added chopped medjool dates. I baked it this morning. Now all I need to do is make the brunch tomorrow morning to go with it. It will be simple.

I found a picture (08/09/25) of Ivan the giraffe that would use his tongue to scoop the carrots out of your hand.

Heart Strings

The common name is bleeding heart, but I like the name heart strings better. The scientific name is written in the caption. The pictures were taken by me long ago at Meadowlark Botanical Garden not too far from our home.

Today we celebrate the 35th birthday of Laura. We had lunch at Carrabba’s Italian Grill. The quote written on their to-go bags is: “There is no love more sincere than the love of food.” I would like to add “and family” at the end. However more people probably agree with their version.

We all agree that Carrabba’s Cannoli Cake for Two was incredibly delicious! Better to have birthday cake out than have a whole cake at home (way too many calories.).

This cannoli cake for two** at Carrabba’s Italian Grill is very moist and wonderfully delicious.
It was shared by two people, and still the calories should not be consumed daily.

In attempts to get a picture of this cake to share, I found many recipes out there trying to recreate this cake at home. It is good to know I will be able to find the recipe if I ever decide to make one at home. I am definitely more inclined to go back to Carrabba’s. They had a wonderful promotion on taking home meals. I should be set for the rest of the work week ahead. Thank you Carrabba’s!

Happy Birthday! Dad

My dad was born December 30, 1930. He passed away in 2013. I was inspired for several reasons to find the picture of him climbing a palm tree in Hawaii when he was stationed there with the Navy. My brother was born there.

The background picture today on a new family computer was full of needle palms, and I recently purchased a new shower curtain with a palm tree and beach scene. The ponytail palm I purchased within the past 12 months is doing well. In any case, all these connections to palms, and the fact that today was my dad’s birthday, made me remember the picture of him climbing a palm tree. Happy Birthday Dad– you are remembered fondly!

I also added the picture of myself, my dad, and my brother pictured next to the Lincoln bust located at the Gettysburg, PA cemetery. My brother was the family comedian and always had us laughing as we were growing up. My brother and dad were about the same height around 6’1″-6’3″. In this picture my brother looks much taller because (if you notice his feet) he is standing on his toes with his heels resting on the back wall. He is pranking my dad.

Another funny thing I remember fondly about my dad was his sense of fashion. Being a farm boy he was always early to rise in the morning. I have several memories of him getting ready to head out to the hardware store early on a Saturday morning wearing a combination of clashing colors all connected to the red color family. It turns out he was partially color blind, and he could not distinguish the difference between colors in the red, orange and maroon family. When going out to an important event he needed to rely on others to help him coordinate his colors.

Today I found a good graphic which tries to illustrate how different people can perceive or not perceive colors. There are several different types of color blindness, not just the total absence of color. This problem is apparently more common in men than women.

There is much more available information about this topic today than when I was growing up. I did not include it here because it can be easily researched now.

The Mustard Seed as a Simile

I received a mustard seed necklace from my grandmother Florence when I was a young girl. I was reminded of this today when I saw a modern version of it for sale. The mustard seed can hold powerful symbolism depending on one’s faith. Jesus uses the mustard seed to represent how the smallest grain of faith can grow and grow into something big and powerful.

I cannot say that I have always been faithful. However a small seed was planted in me long ago when I was a young girl. It was pushed into the back of my mind as I grew. As an adult and a mother my faith has been remembered and nurtured again. I cannot say that I am the most pious person, however, I have never sought to harm others. I try to live by a creed of kindness, and by acceptance of others different from myself. During the past decade my faith has come to my rescue many times as I struggled with depression and the illness of family.

Seeing the mustard seed necklace recently reminded me how this symbol can be a great gift for someone. It serves as a reminder to them that through faith they can thrive, and become a force for good. Life can be long and tiresome at times, but faith will hold your hand, and God’s love is unconditional.

This is the AI image generator’s version of a mustard seed necklace. It made me laugh, however, I like the idea of showing some growth. The common version is simply a lone seed.

Cornucopia: An Abundance of Goodwill

C – celebrate the season

O – offline with family and friends.

R – remember their names.

N – notice their smiles and listen.

U – understand their point of view.

C – count your blessings.

O – open your heart to theirs.

P – provide comfort when needed.

I – invite compromise when needed.

A – ask for forgiveness if necessary, and say “thank you.”

P.S. — Acrostic poems were practiced in school today.

Celebrating with Bells

Old brass bells found in box of books. Now they hang from the doorknob of a new door.

The holiday decorations in our house are getting sparser as I age, especially since it has always been only me that puts them up and takes them down. The bells help celebrate the “reason for the season”. I put the new keys to the new door on a guardian bell key fob. Keeping with the bell theme, I decided to hang the bells pictured above from the door lever. They make a strong and clear clanging that is musical to my ear.

This new door was one of the upgrades that was researched this summer. Planning ahead is always a good idea. This door is fully accessible and opens out to our deck, patio, and back garden. It replaced an old sliding glass door that was too narrow to be fully accessible.

As I went through the old Christmas decorations picking and choosing a few reminders of the season, I found a garland of tiny gold bells. Hanging them over the new door was my private celebration. The 3 brass bells were found this summer in old box of inherited books. They seem appropriate for Christmas, and I can imagine them being attached to a gift box of books. Giving books for Christmas was something my great aunt Bess liked to do. You cannot take the teacher out of an older retired teacher.

This Thanksgiving season I am grateful for many things. My father’s favorite poem, Desiderata, comes into my mind. He used to have it on a poster in his home office. My favorite lines from this poem are: “You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”

My hope during this time of year is that love and faith continues to guide me. And to anyone that might read this post, I hope that you can find peace and joy during this season of Thanksgiving.

Sincerely, Kathy aka Katherine

Remember Your Roots and Vote

Charlotte’s Web

My mother's first name was Charlotte. She was never called by this. She was called June.
It seems as if Charlotte has become a popular name these days.
My sister's name is Diane and my daughter's middle name is Diane.
After finding the book about Diana I have been reading a little bit more about the royals.
Prince William and Princess Kate (Catherine)have a daughter named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
Princess Diana's younger brother, Charles Spencer, has a daughter named Charlotte Diana.
Chelsea Clinton's first daughter is named Charlotte.
My name is Katherine, spelled with a K.
The coincidences are weird. I have not decided if it is a good weird or a creepy weird.
It does not really matter because it is what it is, and your perspective depends on your position.

Monarchs in the light. Another picture from the past in Kathy’s garden.

My Married Name in Elements

The heart necklace in my last post was purchased at the Etsy website. I was surprised to find that I still had an account with them from way back in 2015. I had forgotten my password.
I was able to change it so that I can now access it.
I decided I should support the small entrepreneurs that create a variety of things to sell on Etsy.

Since I work in a school, I thought maybe I could find a fun T-shirt to make students think.
I found a vendor located in my state that creates T-shirts using the periodic table of chemical elements.

The T-shirt came today. It is a standard crew neck, so I just pictured the important message on it. It makes me think since I am not trained in chemistry, though I have read a book or two on the subject. I have worked in 8th grade science in the past, so I do know a little about chemistry, at least enough to support the students. I got an A in high school chemistry way back when I was in high school. I took no chemistry classes in college.

The three elements of Potassium, Rhenium, and Indium are useful together only to spell out my last (married) name.
And of course I noticed the numbers, and it made me laugh!