March 1, 2009
It’s official. Cybil’s two kids will from this point on be known as Jack and Alice. It turns out Kelly has veto power and that is why we have Jack instead of Noah, Alice instead of Ariel … there were a number of other options on the table. I hope to sway the cousins towards them at some point in the future.
I am hoping for another baby buck we can name Edsel. I think I sold Kelly on that one when I told him he could just call that one ‘Ed.’
March 1, 2009
I woke up at 5:30 this morning to my cousin’s call that there were babies coming! No time to lose!
I am visiting Mary Ann and her husband, Kelly, who raise goat in Upstate NY. They have been out here for about fourteen years on their little farm and have raised everything from cows to chickens, pigs and chickens. They love their goats though.
They have been waiting for Laverne, Katie, and Fannie to give birth any day. Cybil was not due until April 1, but they are apparently not keeping very careful track of Dad’s activity out there. I just found out they have no clue when Maggie is due. Mary Ann, Kelly, do you really need this kind of drama? Barn Drama.
Cybil did very well. It was a smooth and relatively short and she is now the mother of two beautiful kids, one female and one male. Kids I get to name! That is a big responsibility that I am taking quite seriously.
November 3, 2008
Salina (Back)
I love old things. I can’t remember a time I haven’t.
When young, I spent an inordinate amount of time reading and rereading the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read Good Old Days magazines as I waited for my grandmother to emerge from under her hair dryer and shed her rollers.
My Uncle John was a carpenter who dabbled in other ventures to supplement his income. He would scour estate sales and flea markets, filling an old barn from which he would resell his finds. My mother, sister and I would spend hours at a time there, waiting to see what would next come out of the old school bus he took on his outings.
I’ve decided it is finally time to finish the Salina sweater from Vintage Knits I started ages ago. It’s the least finished of my knit projects and of course the one I most want to have done. I love the tweedy yarn and it is green. Most things green make me happy so I think this is a good place to start.
November 3, 2008
Thing One and Thing Two
A number of issues – political, social, economic and environmental – have a lot of people on edge about the outcome of our next Presidential election. I share many of these concerns, which have lead to a sense of instability from time to time.
Recently I have found it helpful to focus on the traditions that the holiday season will bring. My family participates in a number of customs that have come down several generations and others are relatively new, but just as meaningful.
Not having children of my own, it has been particularly important to me to develop special traditions with my nephews. My favorite is actually an idea I borrowed from a school friend. I remember her telling me years ago how she and her sister would receive new pajamas on Christmas eve. They looked forward to opening their gift the night before Christmas and they would look fresh and new for the Christmas pictures taken the next morning.
Change … for the ‘better,’ change for the ‘worse’ … change is inevitable. But family and tradition help ground us.
I would love to hear what traditions others participate in.
