~~HERE'S  TO  POPPY~~ (* and a note)
Our grandchildren had a name for my husband Alan; it was "Poppy."
And this name was 'adopted' from his own grandfather - who was called Poppy as well.
After Alan passed away, a "Scrapbook.com" friend of mine made a beautiful card with a sweet 'poppy' focal point.   I happened to share with some of my SB.com friends about Alan being called poppy, and she ended up sending me the card!  To use as I wanted.  Thank you Laura : ) 
 I had hoped to use it for a lay-out of Al,  but when I ran across this photo of grandpa (Poppy); I felt some inspiration and created this.  The reddish foreground paper and also the poppy embellishment  were from Laura, with a few of my tweaks~

His real name was Charles.  Grandma called him Charlie (or Chuck if she was 'not happy'!lol : )  but to the rest of the world, he was simply Poppy~
Born in 1911 in Brooklyn Heights Ohio (near Cleveland I think.) He was the middle child with a sister older and a sister younger.
As a young man he was a produce seller at local markets and became a gardener for a private (well-to-do) family. 
He later built and started his own greenhouses and was self-employed until the greenhouses were sold in 1981.

This photo is a bit closer.  He looks like he's a little 'spit-fire' in this shot!! : ) But really, he was the most gentle man I knew.  It is his picture I featured here > GENUINE  on my blog in January~ 
I have been working on a few décor changes around the house and I hung 2 -100 year old windows in my living room; and am adding family photo's to them.  This small lay out will be proudly hung there : )
Thanks so very much! For stopping in today~
I am sure most of you know I do not have internet @ home - and so when I get to work on Mondays, I sometimes see 20+ posts from my friends! and I get a bit overwhelmed; wanting to get a visit in to each one. Please know I do stop in! and hope to comment if there is time~
God bless,   Karen


***May I please add, for any of you who have read to the bottom here : ) That it has been difficult for me to blog lately; well, for a while.  Let me tell you why~
My grief is still so real, and difficult.  I often feel like "nothing really matters" - although I know that that is not true~  I still feel it - and that makes for a hard time creating, and a hard time in expressing myself.
Yet, in these waves of pain, I know the Lord is with me and teaching me; thru the grief and pain that I experience. It is the place to grow and learn.  If I don't 'experience' it, how can I move past it?
Each one of us is unique in how we grieve, I know that, but (for myself) I must 'feel' it, in order to move beyond it;  and it comes in waves for me.  Perhaps that is a good thing! as God knows how much I can handle (and it still be beneficial - not overwhelming) vs. me trying to guess my way through all this and navigate my own course.
So, Thanks be to God! for His guidance and safe-keeping over me.
And a full-hearted Thank You to all my dear blog friends; for your love and support!
 Though at this time I am not the full/real 'me', I hope you are seeing glimpses' of
her, : ] and some day we can truly meet~ 
As I journey on . . .
God bless,
Karen