9/11/01

9/11/01

Let's always remember everyone who was killed or hurt or effected in some way by these terrorists attacks.

Fifth Day of Christmas

Photo of Tammy Thobe Celeste, My Niece and Godchild, With Her Hubby Guy Celeste and Their Daughter Kristina

The Entire Family Spends A Great Deal of Time At Guy's Italian Eatery, Pacentros, in

Monaca, PA. If In Pittsburgh Area, Do Visit This Relaxed Italian Eatery.

Guy Will Treat You Like Family.

********************

Fifth Day of Christmas Stocking Stuffer From Our Daughter Jeanine Is

A Belgian Beer Called Delerium Ale
***************

Jeanine hit this stocking stuffer right out of the ball park because

1. Mom likes all things French including Belgium.

2. Mom likes beer.

3. Jack likes beer too.

4. Jack collects elephants and their is a photo of a Santa Elephant on the bottle

Home Run

The End

Happy Birthday Tammy Celeste

Happy Birthday Tammy Thobe Celeste!

You were born October 2, 1964 near Russia, Ohio.

This photo was taken the summer of 1965.

You are in Grandpa Gariety's swing with your young Mom and Dad.

Here you are in Grandpa Gariety's family room sitting in your Grandma's rocker.

You had the reddest hair and the biggest blue eyes. You were a doll baby for sure.

Now look at this '60's era room complete with paneled walls, modern furniture, one of the very first color TVs made by Motorola and the view of Grandpa Gariety's woods through the picture window.

As you grew bigger you got cuter and cuter.

This was Christmas 1966 in the brick ranch house Grandpa Gariety had built.

Here you are with your family on your wedding day in Pittsburg, PA.
Mr. and Mrs. Guy Celeste surrounded by the Thobe Family: Jerry, Mary, Tracy and Tina. Everyone looked thrilled to welcome an Italian to the family clan.
I think at the wedding reception your first dance was to an Italian love song.
Here is another wonderful occasion in your life.
The day little Christina, your adopted daughter from Moscow, Russia got baptised.
She may be Russian but she sure looks and acts Italian to me.


And this is your pride and joy today. The Italian Restaurant that you and Guy run so well in old town Monaca, PA.
Pacentro's

I wonder what your special will be today?

Italian birthday cake?

Tammy, you created a really warm atmosphere in the dining room.

Jack in red is stuffing himself with lots of Italian food while talking with your husband Guy.

Ahh, yes, bring on the brushetta!

Tammy I hope you have a wonderful birthday with Guy and Christina.

Note: Blog readers, it is worth a trip to downtown Monaca, PA to eat at Pacentros Restaurant.
That's right. The restaurant name is Pacentros.

Pacentro's.

Pacentro's.

Pacentro's.

Tell them Joann and Jack sent you there for some great Italian food.

Lunch In A Garden

Last Friday in Philly we managed to visit two gardens and to have lunch in a garden to boot! If you are touring both the Barnes Foundation and Arboretum and Chanticleer Gardens, a great place to stop for a bite of lunch in King of Prussia is at the Cassis Bistro and Ponds Restaurant. We had lunch al fresco style under this awning with lots of other diners enjoying the view and the great weather last Friday.

Jack and I standing by the entrance to both The Ponds and Cassis Bistro which is in a woodland setting.

Gene and Sandra taking a moment to pose on the bridge over the creek leading to the restaurant.

All during lunch I was eyeing this beautiful white swan that was busy pruning her feathers and gliding on the water.

I like the reflection of the swan in the water in this photo.

It reminds me of the Claude Monet painting of The Boat House that I viewed at the Barnes Foundation.

Sharing old stories of days with Army Audit in Germany with Gene and Sandra while waiting for our food to arrive.

And here's lunch: romaine salad, a Kobe beef burger with bacon and a small bite of chocolate cake with fresh fruit. We washed that all down with Gene's favorite local brew: a Yuengling beer from Pottstown, PA.

Perfect lunch!

Another Stop and Another Garden

Another Stop and Another Garden

Before we toured Chanticleer Gardens last Friday we went to the Barnes Foundation and Arboretum in Merion, PA to see one of the world's most outstanding collections of French Impressionistic, Post French Impressionistic and Modern paintings. We were excited to visit this private art collection that is open to the public only thru advanced ticket purchase. Sandra acquired our tickets two months ago so it was one of the main reasons we went to Philly last weekend. Mr. Barnes was an art lover and as he acquired more wealth he acquired more paintings for his private collection. At the time of his death Mr. Barnes owned quite an impressive collection of paintings: Pierre-Auguste Renoirs (181), Paul Cezanne (69), Henri Matisse (59) Pablo Picasso (46) Chaim Santini (21) Henri Rousseau (18) Amedeo Modigliani (16) Edgar Degas (11) Vincent Van Gogh (7) George Seurat (6) Edouard Manet (4) Claude Monet (Monet). Can you even imagine owning that many famous works of art. As Gene commented to us as we were touring the collection how many Renoirs does one man need? But Mr. Barnes who came from a blue color background and attended Philly's Central High School before becoming a doctor and a chemist in Philly started his art collection for the workers in his chemical factory. He would hang famous oil paintings in the factory and give art appreciation classes to his workers. What lucky factory workers.

Eventually Mr. Barnes bought land and had a museum built to hold all his paintings. Today the Barnes Foundation continues Mr. Barnes's vision by offering tours, classes and special events. But the security is very tight. No coats, purses or cameras in the galleries so we had to check our things. So you will not see any photos of paintings today. But if you would like to gain more knowledge about this fascinating man and his art and arboretum, please go to this website for the Barnes Foundation to learn more: http://www.barnesfoundation.org/c_main.html

Below are photos we were allowed to take of the gardens and arboretum which has an outstanding collection of old growth trees as you will discover in these photos. We found by the museum building a huge old fern leaf beech tree with low branches and by the second entrance gate a horse chestnut tree with big white blossoms. Take a look below and enjoy but do click on a photo you like to get a real virtual experience. My favorite pic in this group is the one of the fern leaf beech tree.

Mr. Barnes's Home
Fern Leaf Beech Tree
Huge Old Chinese Fringe Tree
Sandra Checking Out How Tall That Ancient Dogwood Tree Really Is
Private Woodland Oasis
Horse Chestnut Tree
Close Up Of Pinkish White Horse Chestnut Blossoms
The Formal Gardens With Tall Purple Alliums

Some Fellows Taking Photos In The Gardens

A Jackson Perkins Climbing Rose?

(If so, I have three like this in my gardens in VA.

A gift from my next door neighbor Dickie, the author of Dragonquilter Blog on my blog list.

Thank you, Dickie!)

My World Tuesday = Chanticleer Gardens in PA

Last Friday our hosts in New Jersey took us to Chanticleer Gardens in King of Prussia, PA.

Enjoy these photos of Chanticleer Gardens in Mid May.I admit I got carried away and took over 115 photos.Here are 27 photos of the gardens for your enjoyment.

Hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of the gardens. Now go and visit some other My World Tuesday memes by clicking here: http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/