The Memories Table
On Sunday morning I was up at 4AM and got started on preparations. I got out bowls for snacks, utensils for serving, and did other jobs I could do while it was dark.
As soon as it was light, I went out and set up the memories table. I set out the masks in bowls at each door. Just as I set up the antique card table to hold masks at the back porch, at 7:30, it started to rain. The forecast had been no rain until 2PM on Sunday morning, after saying 5PM on Saturday, and 7PM on Friday. On the strength of that I’d not ordered sides to the tent. So I brought the masks back inside. I’d not have to set up the 2 outside seating areas.
The carpenter arrived to help set up at 8:30 and we had to rearrange the tables under the tent. The screen house was leaking. We had to get 2 more tables in the big tent and try to preserve spacing.
We found the hot food tent (screen tent) wasn’t leaking in the middle so we left 1 table there for the hot foods and ran a cord to it.
The cold foods and drinks were by the entrance, now much smaller. We finished about 9:45 and he went back home to get ready and I got a shower. The first guests arrived at 11AM. Here’s photos others took of the day. I had the camera out there but was far too busy and tired to remember to use it.
My surrogate grandchild, age 5
People came in 2 waves which was good. The rain kept about ⅓ of the people away. Tom arrived after 11 and got the slideshow running. It took a while longer to get the Ash Spreading video working.
My husband’s best friend’s brother. He’s kept the small engines running this year.
Me, my oldest brother, my mom at the end of the day
My window lady and the Memory Table with the slide show running
Tom and his son
Neighbors watching the video of Tom reading my letter on the Ash Spreading trip
Grandchild and Tom’s son
There was a lot of food, really good food. I had some of the lobster bisque, some cuke and onion salad, my brother’s baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and sampled some of the desserts.
A lot of people wrote stories and memories in the story books I’d put out. A friend who couldn’t make it put up a video of my husband and my son (age 4 months) he’d found on FaceBook. Unfortunately, FB would not let it play all day. It finally started to play after everyone had gone.
I did a couple house tours for those who hadn’t seen the house, keeping it to 6 people at a time. Everyone had to mask up to go inside.
My husband’s fishing buddy arrived with his girlfriend and one of his Kelpies, Gaby. Gaby had a grand time running around and getting pats from everyone.
My husband’s cousin came and brought his dog Snowflake. She had to stay leashed though.
My window lady, me, my friend
The electrician
The master cabinet maker came with his wife and brought a wonderful chicken divan. The mason who built the heater came with his little daughter.
There was a nice selection of volunteers, friends, family, and contractors.
Bouquets people brought
A friend I’d not seen since her daughter was 3 came. Her daughter’s now 9 and such a sweet girl. They brought the sunflowers.
The second wave of people came around 1 PM as the first wave was going. This kept it from being too crowded under the tent. The rain had mostly stopped, just like sprinkles here and there and the kids had a great time running around outside and eating. The youngest was my helper’s son, 6 months, and the oldest, my mom age 88.
My intern and her mom, “leaving” take 2
My intern and her mom, “leaving” take 3, they finally did it
All told around 45 came out of the 61 who had said they would come. I tried to sit and talk with everyone, but I missed one couple. I greeted them when they came and said goodbye, but I felt bad I’d not managed to visit with them.
Just after 3 PM the rain really set in and after visiting for awhile, my core group started cleaning up. We brought all the food inside and I put a lot in containers in the freezer.
There was still a LOT left over and it was divided up and Tom took the remainder for his freezer. They had worked outside getting the borrowed tables under cover, moving the rented ones farther under the tent and cleaning up.
Everyone left by 6:30 and I was wiped out. I got a load of dishes in the dishwasher and went to bed.
That’s when the whole thing hit me and I fell apart. It was a rough night.