Saturday, July 14, 2007

ADDENDUM

Anna from Spain posted on the other site that her DH has finally been awarded his disability and pensioner status. They are breathing a sigh of relief. Won't be rich but will have their apartment and food on the table. I encouraged her to request Eric admit her to this chat page. Her original one must have fallen into a black hole.

Jane

HAKA

Do the Maori have a traditional joy juice and if so, how much must one imbibe in order to do an acceptable Haka?

Just the idea of twelve kids makes my legs and hemorrhoids ache.

I'll post the mystery quilt top on the BB page. I've been reading although not taking the time to post. The terrible twins are arriving by air Tuesday at noon. I can't wait and DD says they are also very excited. I told her I feel like a kid anticipating Christmas. I'll probably feel as though I'm being released from a prison sentence when they leave on the evening of the 22nd. DD told me to save any muscle jobs for them. Hmm, I'm sure I can think of something hot and sweaty for them to do.

Jane

Now...THAT would be worth seeing !!!!!!!

Jock doing the "Haka" !! (Maori war dance..) No, I don't do it often ! Just in extreme circumstances.....

Marion. (enjoying the thought...)

Family

No, Marion, I would say that this family is exceptional in size. In the 'old' days, this number of children, one hundred and fifty years ago or less would not have been so. Their religious beliefs preclude profilactics (sp?) so every child is a gift of God and truly this is so for most people. The mom home schools the children as well. They are a lovely family but as the mom said yesterday when I visited with her, she remembers all too well what delivering a child means and at forty-seven is aware of the possible complications and of course, the pain. She will be glad when it's over. I'm not sure what size to make her receiving blankets. I guess, with no response, I'll head off to Fabricland on Monday and see what they say. My guess might be 1 yd. x 1 yd.

Marion, do you do the 'haka' (sp?)......Jock demonstrated it the other day. I'm glad he doesn't live in NZ. He might get arrested for that...well, maybe here, he would, not there...lol.

Rosey

Friday, July 13, 2007

Saturday...

and the sun is shining ! What a difference that makes.

I'm "child minding " again. DD and DGD are away for the day and the boys are at home with me. They had a great morning. We have a neighbour with her own little plane and she offered to take them flying through the mountains. What a thrill for two little boys ... Perfect conditions and beautiful views..

The visit is coming to an end. It has been great to have them all here but it hasn't all been fun !! DD has been keen to let the children catch up with their old school friends, she's been very busy, driving into town most days, to drop off or pick up one or the other. I've never been sure who she would return home with, sometimes more than she left with and sometimes less. It hasn't been much of a holiday for her but I suppose that is the "lot" of mothers during these busy years (the children are 8,10 and 11yrs) We are all off to a big bonfire and BBQ tomorrow so I hope it stays fine.

Rosey...good luck to your neighbour ! Are such large families common in Canada ? I don't think I've ever known a family with more than six children, they were such a nice bunch that it made me think that, maybe, it really was a case of "the more the merrier "!!

Enjoy the w/end.
Marion.

Receiving blanket size

I've posted to the Bulletin Board but not everyone from the Chat board goes into that board so I'll post here as well. My neighbour is expecting her 12th child in three weeks time, likely before. She needs to take her own receiving blankets into the hospital and does not have enough. Does anyone know a good size for receiving blankets. She prefers to have them square as they wrap around the baby better.
Thanks,
Rosey

removing stuff

gee Doris I guess it must be catching. I hope it keeps working. Since we came home two weeks ago I decided we needed to get rid of "stuff " also. It is hard to do when you are used to keeping "everything" because you just might need it.
So I made a deal with myself. I get rid of one thing every day.. I know it will take a long time to get rid of all the junk, but we have lived in the same building now for 34 years, so it has taken a long time to collect. We can take a long to to discard. Then I have to be careful how I do it because if it is taken to the dump some day , then when he goes and take a load he just might come home and say" Well Look dear what I found. It is still perfectly good and didn't we have one like this at one time.
Now I have to keep looking him in the eye and admit that yes we did and it must be here somewhere.
Such is the life of people who need all their stuff.
Have a good weekend.
Grace in On.

Ireland

Sara in FL - Great news that you'll be making the trip next year!!! You'll have to keep us posted re: the itinerary and then the travelogue. (grin) The Irish Soda bread usually does not keep past 2 or 3 days, so your experience was quite normal. I made a half batch after my first one, and used those mini-loaf bread tins for baking. Some recipes say to just form it into a round shape on a flat baking sheet and go for it. Nice thing about the half-recipe is I'm not tempted to eat the whole thing! ;-)

I'M ON A ROLL - in cleaning out clutter. I am a pack-rat, a "saver" and this is excruciatingly difficult but must be done. The going is slow but we have lived in this house 13 years and have accumulated quite a lot of stuff. Honestly, I do not need the box the camera (we bought 3 or 4 years ago) came in. Aaack! I really need to put notes on each box with the purchase date, so I can know when they're ready to be recycled.

Hugs to everyone,
Doris W. in TN

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Turn off the wren!

This is NOT a complaint. We have two little house wrens who are busy making a nest at this time of year (July 12) for what must be another batch of babies and they've chosen a decorative but sturdily-made hand-made wren house nailed to the corner of my vegetable garden low-to-the-ground cedar rail fence just outside our kitchen window. They sing from morning to night. At first I was delighted to hear them singing all day long and thought it miraculous that I was privileged enough to have this happen in my life. How extraordinary. Now, after three days of being seranaded, I'm wondering who will turn the bird off!

And in the split second of one minute, I sat down in my studio, at 6:12 a.m., looked to the north over the valley, which is getting increasingly more difficult because the trees have grown so in the nineteen years we've lived here, to see the hot air balloon scooting across the sky at a fast clip, which is unusual in itself because it launches one line to the east and hardly ever attains that height or pace this close to launch. Beside it but naturally some distance away, in sky-terms, flew a small aircraft in the opposite direction. More flights taking place at my bird-feeder directly outside my window which I overlook at the computer...blue jays and thos dreaded grackles for whom I wish to take a cannon and blow up...they are such huge hogs and leave few seeds for other birds coming into my feeder (and thankfully, Phyllis, we don't have the deer problem eating us out of house and home like you do in Minn.). Flight seems to be the operative word for today.

We have guests from North Yorkshire today and a delightful couple they are, making me wish that I could hop a plane and visit their area. I preferred the north of England to the south though both are beautiful. They live not far from where Heartbeat is filmed.

We've turned from meltingly hot to putting a duvet on the bed last night...up, down, like a woman in menopause. And yesterday, the day of a good friend's funeral, a joyful but sadly draining morning...my friend went to sleep Thurs. night and he didn't wake up Friday morning. A sobering reminder to enjoy our time this side of the grass.

And what I need is a grackle-swatter...a long-armed fly swatter just to shoo them away from my bird seed, darned things.

Rosey

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Making plans for Ireland

Thanks Doris! I visited my travel agent at 9:00 this morning to start on the plans for the June, 2008 trip. I had my books with me and some notes from friends. We are talking flying to Shannon and then drive around the south east area, then go to Dublin. DH mentioned he wants to go to Edinborogh (sp?) so we will dash over there for 2 or 3 days. Trinity college is something I want to tour, and maybe the John Calvin home. The travel agent had some good ideas about flights, so I'm glad I went to her.
Will be off the board for 3 weeks, no computer WWQP fix for a bit. Tomorrow going to south Fla. to stay with my 89 year old Mom while my brother goes off for 2 weeks. After that we will spend about 5 days in the Charleston area. It will be hot as blazes, but that's the way it is here also. Yesterday here it was 97 at the airport, and at least that in my yard. Thankfully we had some showers about 6:00 PM which cooled it down to 81 or so.
Taking the grands to see the Rat movie, can't spell it either. Heard it was good, and will give me the grand kid fix for a week or so. My DD is thinking of puting the older ones in public school this fall, as her pain from the arthritis is increasing and she hasn't slept well in several years. I think she is overwhelmed.
This will be a good move for the boys and for her. It's time she learns she isn't Wonder Woman. Sometimes it's hard to admit you can't do everything.
Thanks Doris also for the receipe for the Irish soda bread. I found out that it doesn't keep, even in a plastic bag, more than 2 days. The 3rd day it was starting to go bad, so had to pitch it. When it was fresh it was wonderful!
OK, off for a while.
Sara in Florida

Monday, July 9, 2007

I can't get a title in either.
I'm back home after a lovely visit with family in the DC area (DB, DSIL, and niece and nephew.) This is the first time I've visited them without my parents. I love them dearly, but they are not able to do the "tourist" thing as actively as I wanted to do, so I went without them this time. If you ever get a chance to go to DC, visit the Library of Congress. The building is unbelievable. I was expecting a "library," but the only book I saw was a copy of the Gutenberg Bible (under glass). Instead, you'll see the most incredible building in the area. Here's a copy of the photo I took that I like best. There are others that show more of the building, if anyone wants more.
After my visit to DC, I spent a few days in Montgomery visiting my parents. We didn't do much except eat and swim, so I need to get back to my routine and work on losing some more inches. Last summer's clothes are needing to be "shrunk," which is good, but I need to keep going.
I finally got home today, after leaving town 6/22. I have a week at home, and then I have to go to a workshop next week. School will start before I know it, and I haven't been home enough to finish anything quilty.
Rosey, I feel for you with the gum escapade. As a teacher, gum is one of the banes of my existence. I am glad it was that, however, and not one of the many other nastier things my students have sometimes participated in. How old are these DGC?
Laura in Alabama, where we've FINALLY gotten a little bit of rain.

"Dear Adult Children"

The following has just been sent out to my two 'kids'..both early forties now:

"The order in which the names appear is in no way indicative of pointing to a culprit but may I ask you to fleece your 'kids' mouths before they come into the house here as I found a nice compact mound of used chewing gum on my new, very expensive, copy of the antique at the cottage....my new daybed"

Grandma Rosey

The order in which the names appear is in no way indicative of pointing to a culprit but may I ask you to fleece your 'kids' mouths before they come i

Sunday, July 8, 2007

A couple of things.......the computer refused to let me title this post, so that's what I'm calling it.

I've lived in deer country over the last 25 years and almost got to the point where I refused to plant anything that they even remotely liked. For some reason daffodils are NOT on their menu, but that's much too small a planting window. Just recently I found out that there is a motion activated water sprinkler that is supposed to run the buggers off. Don't know if it would work on those that are really acclimated to human gardens, though.

When we moved south a year ago, we came to live inside a subdivision and have tall fences around the yard. For the first time in how many years I can't count, there is an abundance of tomatoes and flowers growing in my yard. I'm thoroughly enjoying it! Just checked this evening on how the tomatoes were coming along and discovered that two of the plants are up past my chin and are loaded! Can't wait for them to ripen.

The other thing I wanted to mention is the visits of grandchildren. We had two of ours for ten days earlier this summer....turned out it was about a week too long. They were good when their Dad was here, but after he went home we started hearing, "I don't want to do that" and "I don't like to eat that". Not to mention that the 12 year old is a TV addict. He couldn't go more than an hour without running upstairs to turn on the TV. I finally threw the breaker to the power in the family room. When their Dad (DS#2) said that it was OK for them to watch TV whenever they wanted because they were on vacation, he had absolutely no idea what that entailed. I'm sure that they went home thinking that Grandma and Grandpa are truly mean and awful people because we wouldn't allow My Space or violent video games. We did manage to throw some good times into the mix, however, so maybe they can look back on it later and realize that we were trying our darndest to show them a good time with the fishing, whitewater rafting, swimming, rodeo, etc., etc.

....and I'll join in and have some cheese with my whine, too.

Kathi