Father's Day

 Happy Father's Day to my love!

Our kids won the jackpot in life with a father like you!

Of Frogs, Princes and Fathers

One upon a time, in a land far away (well, 90 miles south of Key West, actually), 

there lived a little girl who loved to read – a habit nurtured by her father, a serious book lover and avid reader. 

While she was growing up in the sixties, the Evil Communist Regime was strengthening its yoke on her beautiful country.  Books were becoming scarce, but her father was part of an informal network of neighbors and friends that would lend out books, just like a library.  While the little girl continued to read, there was no opportunity to re-read, one of the true pleasures of reading aficionados, because the books had to be returned right away.

One summer afternoon, however, the father was actually able to buy and present his daughter with a brand new book for her very own collection: “El príncipe rana” – The Frog Prince - which she promptly devoured and reread many times over the coming months until it was in tatters.  

The little girl fell in love with the story, in part because she could relate so much to the princess in the book:  She was a bit lonely, a bit spoiled, definitely daddy’s girl, and had a powerful aversion to frogs.

Then, that very summer, on another sunny afternoon, a frog happened to jump through an open window and got inside the house.  The little girl began screaming, while her mischievous brother tried to catch the frog.

Finally, the father came running, rescued the poor frog, and set it free in the garden.  The little girl never forgot that summer, and her love for her father-champion and for books continued to deepen as the years went by.

That lucky little girl learned more than a few important life lessons that summer.  Among them, the sanctity of all life, including that of an ugly frog, and, because in her young mind, the king in the book got mixed up with her father, both honorable men, she also learned the importance of keeping her word.  Lastly, she learned that under no circumstances whatsoever would she ever eat frog legs.

It was not until much later in life that she finally understood one more lesson from the events of that summer:  Handsome princes come in all shapes and sizes.

In honor of all the wonderful lessons that little girl learned from her father, I’ve prepared a breakfast tray fit for a prince - my Prince, that is.

Featuring FROG Jam!  Have you ever tried it?  It's made from a combination of fruits - Fig, Raspberry, Orange - and Ginger.  Delicious!  It seems the time was just right to crack open that precious jar I'd been saving for a while . . .

I first spotted this lovely tray at More Fun Less Laundry, a blog that has become my primer for beautiful living.  

I looked for it everywhere, because, naturally, it was no longer available, until I finally found it in an obscure website.  

The tray box was a mess, and the tray itself was covered in dust, but I didn't care, I now had my own lily pad tray with frogs, butterflies and flowers!  Perseverance pays.  Oh, I'm going to have such fun with this tray!

A blue and green plaid napkin seemed perfect for both frogs and princes. 

 The leafy napkin ring did, too.

And the tray was brought upstairs to the bedroom, so my children's father could have a grand start to his Father's Day celebration . . .

like the True Prince that he really is.

Happy Father's Day, darling!

Joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

Happy Father's Day!

Lee's Father's Day began at the crack of dawn. My son had to go to San Diego to attend a seminar with some classmates, so Lee drove John to his friend's house, where a taxi would pick up the group and drive them to the airport.

To Lee, parenting has always been simply defined: “Son needs help, I provide help. Son needs love, I provide love.” That's it. It's always been that simple and that profound. He has been an amazing father to our two sons, and the three of them have such a wonderful relationship!

I wanted to post a recent portrait of Lee and to my dismay, I didn't have one, so I tried to create one in Photoshop. This is the original . . .

Here's what I ended up with . . .

And here's some "guy" food. Bratwurst cooked in beer, and then grilled.

He took it easy today, probably because his body clock was all messed up from getting up so early. So there was some weed pulling, a little playing with his new Bluetooth headset, and some TV watching. It's been a nice, quiet day.

Father's Day

This photo was taken on Father's Day 1993. We went to church, and then to breakfast at The Paddle Wheel, a local Greek diner where we knew we could take the boys and no one would frown on the crumbs left in our wake. They also served pretty good pancakes. Now they weren't Daddy's pancakes, but he deserved a break on this day.

"To her the name of father was another name for love."

— Fanny Fern