Lines and Contours

Hi everyone. Happy Thursday to you.  And Thursday means it is time for Rain's challenge.

Today for Rain's challenge her theme is Lines and Contours. I'm thinking about Lines in a very different way than from an art perspective, that is family  trees, which as you know contain lots of lines and connections.

Last weekend my niece was married in Maine. My husband and I took a trip to Waterford for the wedding, where we rented an AirBnB house for a couple of nights with my daughter and her fiance. The house worked out great and was very convenient for the weekend celebrations. (There were events both Friday and Saturday evenings, but my post today is only about the Saturday wedding itself.)

The best thing about the weekend was being able to see my family. I hadn't seen my brother (although we speak every few weeks) since covid began. It was also good to see my niece the bride, my nephew and his family, and one of my cousins and his family. Although I have a slew of cousins, this one cousin is like my second brother. ( And the only one invited to the wedding because he's the only one out of all my cousins that really knows my niece.)

And no, for those who know my mom is still alive,  my mother was not at the wedding. At 92 (she'll be 93 in 2 months) with short term memory dementia, she doesn't do well in places she doesn't know. Plus she's been suffering from some small health issues lately, nothing horrible. My brother and I talked about her attending, but we both agreed she just wouldn't do well with the whole event nor with the travel. She was never comfortable with traveling even when she was a younger woman.  I am sure all of us will share photos with her, and since she won't remember anything we shared, it gives us something to talk with her for several visits.

The wedding venue was beautiful.

You can also see all the chairs were in lines, just to relate back to Rain's theme a bit. 

The wedding was at 4 in the afternoon, and by evening, the view was especially beautiful. 

You can see the inn where the wedding and reception were held in the next photo. The barn on the right was where the reception was held. It was a bit crowded in the barn, so I was very happy we were seated next to the wide open big barn doors and weren't surrounded by the other guests. You can't see those doors in this photo. 

The other buildings are rooms that you can stay at, or in the case of when the venue is rented for an event, that you must also rent out. The bridal party stayed here for the weekend.

I was  seated next to my cousin, his wife and his 2 daughters. As kids, my brother, my cousin and myself were often like the 3 musketeers. 

I know you may not be interested in family photos, but here's myself and my cousin. You can just see the edge of the open barn door near us.

And in this next photo,  throw in my brother too, the father of the bride. 

Weddings are always fun, but this one had a bit of sadness  since my brother's wife, the mother of the bride,  had died in 2019 from breast cancer. 

They had a nice memorial for her, and they even shared  a glass of wine which she would have enjoyed.  It was a day with many smiles and many tears too.

And just so no one says that I didn't include the bride in my post, here's a photo from the wedding service.

I must say my favorite part of the event was being outside on the lawn of the inn. They had cornhole games as well as some other yard games, and even a couple of fire pits. As it was getting dark, my husband and my cousin got a fire going in one of the firepits. My cousin’s kids had left, but his wife, my daughter and her fiance joined us.

By then the guys had had a bit to drink, and the banter going on was quite funny.  I was impressed that the inn provided bug spray and blankets as well as all the materials to get and keep a fire going.   I don't know why  my daughter is giving me the look, unless she is looking at my cousin who was sitting next to me on the other side. 

I thought I took photos of dinner, but I must have totally forgotten to do so. I can tell you the meal was served family style to each table and was delicious, but sorry I have nothing to share this week for the dinner part of Rain's post. I actually give the inn very high marks for service and quality of food. I also think my niece did a lovely job planning the event so everything went off without any major problems, and of course, I must thank my brother for paying for the wedding. As my brother told me during the event, our Dad taught him to always be sure your guests left with a full tummy and that they had good time. That does sound like my father. 

That's my post for today. I hope everyone's August has started off nicely.