Large Feasting, small dining...

If you have ever spent any amount of time with me at any of my homes; you know I have never had a dining room. Of course, that has never stopped me from entertaining. In order to feed my friends and family, number notwithstanding, I have always used my coffee table as my dining table.

I not only felt welcomed in Lithuania, I felt right at home. Everywhere we went we were met with feasting of the highest order. Huge amounts of amazing food and drink...and we all cozied in around the coffee table. I enjoyed it there, as much as here.

Welcome to Vilnius

Janes Lithuania (15)
Originally uploaded by jstrong.

I am back at work and our wonderful trip seems like a glorious daydream. But it was very real. Pete now knows the Welch clan is not his only large family. We were met at the "aeroharbor" in Vilnius by his and Edward's family & Sabina's family, all carrying beautiful flowers. It was quite moving.

Of course we were in Vilnius less than 10 minutes & we were stopped by the policia. I used a little judgment & did not call them what I was thinking. Pete, of course, jumped out & was Mr. Chicago Cop. They were not impressed...but they did allow us to continue on to the hotel.




The hotel we stayed at was the Apia hotel(www.apia.lt) in the Old Town section of Vilnius. The hotel was charming, not air conditioned, but that was ok. This is a nice section of the city to stay in, as we were able to walk or be peddled wherever we wanted.




More later.

Wonderful, wonderful, Copenhagen...

Well we are finally home; quite jet-lagged, but the trip was more than we could have hoped for. The journey home was difficult. I will not bore you with the details, but the result was 3 hours of total sleep in 48 hours. Not good. The good part was an unexpected chance to tour Copenhagen.


It is quite a city. Pete says he thinks it could handle Katrina with just a little dust blowing around.


There are bikes everywhere. You can rent, borrow, use or purchase bikes at any point in the area. There are repair kiosks. They are serious about their biking.

We are just glad to be home. I hope to review the trip. It was too wonderful to ignore. I just need to get my "bearings" first.

Kryziu Kalnas

This is the Hill of Crosses in Siauliai (pronounced Shoo-lay) Lithuania. I thought this would be one more wonderful religious monnument. I was so wrong. I have never been to such a sacred place. There is no description that can explain what it is like to have so many millions of crosses. These are not a testament to a man-made religion; but to the spirit of man. The Soviets did not let Lithuanians practice religion. Some people put up a few crosses; the Soviets knocked them down, many more put up crosses, they were knocked down & so it continued. Amazing sculptures slipped in the dead of night. It continues to this day.

So, almost 3 years to the day since we physically lost Tom (you are with me always in my heart), we placed a memorial in this very sacred spot to very special people:



To Sabina's father, a patriot who died trying to free Lithuania. We have no knowledge where he is buried, but we know where to honor him.

To Pete's brother Joe, who died fleeing the Soviets. We have no knowledge where he is buried, but we know where to honor him.

To Pete's Mom, Dad & my Dad. Remarkable people we miss & honor always.

To my brother Tom & my nephew Joey, who were taken too early & truly had the spirit symbolized here.

Lithuania, the beginning

Well we made it to Lithuania & we are having a very wonderful time. This is Pete's first step on his homeland since he was a baby. Sorry about cutting off his head

He has found he is part of a large, fun, family & will add pictures as I have time & can figure it out.

The Party's Over....

...but the fun is just beginning. Pete and I can not find words to let you all know how blessed we are having all of you in our lives. This was such a team effort. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

As pictures become available we will post them. We have many. As Liza stated, the Flickr badge on the side & the link in her message will take you to the photographers pictures. I have an account that I am posting pictures the people have sent to me. They are great. I don't know how to do what the kids do, but I will ask them to help connect to my account. I hope this is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34056963@N00/

Nora also has hers posted on her blog. Tomorrow I will upload some from the ceremony on Friday, June 2nd. I will continue to add as we go along.

So now the question is what to do with this blog next?

We leave for Lithuania on Sunday night. Pete will be seeing his native country for the first time (he left as an infant). He will also be meeting some of his family. We are excited & perhaps we can share the trip?

Also, our Kelly did have a beautiful daughter on Thursday June 8th. Ella Rose is 7lbs. 7ozs, 21 inches. Family is doing well. So we have seven grandchildren to talk about; with #8 expected before the end of the year.

We could also discuss birds and being. Two of our other favorite activites.

All suggestions are welcome.

Say Cheese!

Hi, It's Liza. The professional photographer, Tanda, gave us the pictures digitally, so I've posted them on my Flickr account (Link). You can download them or order prints. Contact me if you have problems.

The Time is Fast Approaching

Well Saturday is the big day. We are certainly looking forward to seeing everyone. I will have various brothers and sisters at the farm on Friday. We will arrive Friday evening. I will have the bus schedule posted at the hotels. Please feel free to call (217) 346-3129 if you have any questions.

Don't forget the bar-b-que on Sunday. Make sure you have swimming, hiking, relaxing clothes.

Weather Again

Hi, Your friendly weather girl, Liza again with another weekend weather update:

Countdown...

Hi, It's Liza again. According to Weather.com the 10-day forcast in Oakland for Friday, June 2 is sunny and 81. We'll find out tomorrow what it is for the 3rd. Keep your fingers crossed!

GOLFING

Anyone who is interested there is a nice 9 hole golf course about two miles from the farm.
http://www.golfguideweb.com/illinois/oakland/jgag.html

There is a links style 18 hole in Tuscola which I haven't played due to the fact fourteen of the holes have water hazards, and being on a fixed income I can not afford to be losing that many golf balls.
http://www.golfillinois.com/departments/coursereviews/ironhorse-golf-club-1112.htm

- Pete

The Wheels on the Bus.....

It is about one month to the wedding. Things seem to be coming along.

You will at least have a place to sit and to dance, food to eat, liquid to drink, and most importantly, good stimulating companionship.

Please remember to let me know what hotels you are staying at. I will need to arrange for the bus to pick you up and drop you off. You can e-mail Pete (pelmo@earthlink.net), me (mstrong1@earthlink.net)

or you can post a comment to the blog.

The wearin o' the green has caused quite a bit of questioning.

If you are interested in standing up in the wedding; simply wear green:

somewhere.

Green is also my favorite color, we are "green" minded people,

Remember...

It's not easy being green!

A rose by any other name....

I just want to let everyone know, I had my name legally changed to Mary Jane Welch yesterday. I will not change it at work until all my various licenses have been changed. I do not plan to change it again. I would like to thank my sister Colleen, who was an enormous help.

Farm News

Hi, It's Liza! It is less than two months until the wedding; and the farm has had a lot of rain, which made the water levels high. The weather is getting warm though. Now everyone needs to hope that the wet weather continues so that the pond and lake will still be high for the wedding like my mom and Pete want them to be.

Well, when I wake up tomorrow it will only be 2 months left for getting things ready for the wedding! Where did the time go? Erin's wedding was wonderful. I was planning on putting a picture of her here & Nora beat me to the punch. See both of our pictures on her blog www.shemeanders.blogspot.com

We have the bus to shuttle people back & forth from the hotels to the farm. I will need to make sure what hotels people are staying at. Please drop either Pete or I an e-mail (see last entry) or you can comment on this blog. Of course there is the phone.
I guess we will be seeing you soon. Jane

Happy Birthday Colleen!

My beautiful niece, Erin, will be getting married next week. Her wedding allowed me not to focus on mine. I have no more excuses. It sounds as if it will be fun; many family & friends are planning on trying to come. It sounds like many will be flying into Midway, renting a car & driving to their hotel of choice. Here are more details as I know them.

Colleen will be at the farm on Friday getting things set up.

The ceremony will be at 4PM on Sat.

We are planning on having a shuttlebus run between the hotels & the farm & then taking people back to the hotels. We do not have this set up yet. Not sure of the times, but having the bus start at 2:30PM - having 5PM be the last pickup seems to make sense. I thought they could start again at 9PM returning to the hotels. This will be based on what is needed so if the times do not work, let me know.

If you are interested in standing up in the wedding; wear green...somewhere.

Breakfast will be on your own the next day. You are invited back the next day to enjoy family, friends & the farm. Pete will start grilling about 1 PM.

I hear there are a lot of questions, etc. Please contact us. Pete's e-mail is Pelmo@earthlink.net My home e-mail is mstrong1@earthlink.net

Where and what is Treehenge

I have been asked where and what Treehenge is? Treehenge is a place on Hummingbird Hill (the name of our farm...Thank you Mary Ellen). Treehenge is a circle of sassafras trees. Very druidic. This is the place where the ceremony will take place if the weather permits. See below.

...and the band played on....

After coming all the way to Hummingbird Hill for the wedding, we hope you will allow time to enjoy the place the next day. There is plenty of space for walking and talking, enjoying the trees & the woods along the river. Here is my favorite tree. It grows next to the river, it is huge, old & fun to climb (or look at).



There is also fishing, paddleboat, swimming (if it is warm & we actually get some rain between now & then).

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Pete says he can always find things for you to do...do you like to mow?

Since the news of our impending wedding has become public, a frequent statement to me is; "What! Not you! I thought you would be the last person to get married again! Although I acknowledge that the following has been my viewpoint for a long time...



... things seemed to have changed. Pete seems to be able to tolerate me & I him. Plus, we have all these grandchildren popping up all over...it seemed the thing to do.

Questions without definitive answers

Some of the questions that I do not have answers to, however are in the planning phase, but are NOT carved in stone:

What time of day? I would like it to be 4 PM.

How far from Hummingbird Hill are the motels? 13 to 20 miles. There are many more just a bit further. I am hoping to be able to lease a bus to drive a circle from Arcola to Tuscola to Hummingbird Hill starting around 2:30 PM and continuing ????

Where should I fly into? See below. Where are you able to get the best deal?

Who is coming? That is my question. I would like to know who is interested. I need to know a rough estimate...do I plan for 10 (not likely with my family) or 10,000? Gosh I would need a ton of portapotties!!!!

Are children allowed? Let the little ones come to us. Just know there is water around.

Please post any questions you might have; I am sure I won't have answers for them either. It will, however, help me know what I should be thinking about.