Different Decades

Monkey Business

2012-01-28T16:16:00.000-08:00

It has been a long while since our last posting. Time has gotten away from us, but we are getting back on track. We're in the process of doing some re-organization on the blog. (That is the typical resolution for January, isn't it?) So please excuse our mess while we clean up and reorder a bit. Click on the title to read the entire post.

I had to make another amigurumi...this time for my little grand-daughter. These toys crochet up so quickly and are so cute they are addicting. Say hello to Molly.

Her long arms are the perfect size for little ones to grab and hang onto and manipulate into their mouths for chewing on. I embroidered her facial features instead of putting on the safety eyes because I don't trust those things. Embroidered eyes aren't such a choking hazard.

Isn't she cute? Seriously, I could end up making a whole zoo of these. Mom

Source for pattern: Amigurumi World Seriously Cute Crochet by Ana Paula Rimoli. The directions were clear and easy to follow.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Who's Got The Pumpkin!

2011-11-09T18:14:00.001-08:00

Halloween gifts for the grandbabies!

I picked up a little waffle knit shirt for Mr. T and painted a little pumpkin on it.

For lil P I had a onesie and painted a bigger, frillier pumpkin on it. I used Jacquard fabric paint and heat set it so it would last through washings. The babies are now the cutest lil pumpkins around and this was an easy peasy project. Mom

TRICK OR TREAT!

2011-10-31T13:42:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! Daughter

Fishing and Crested Butte

2011-09-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

The aspen are turning so it was a beautiful drive to Crested Butte. We stopped to check out the "hogs" (big fish) in the Taylor River by the dam. Guys were lined up trying to catch these fish...if just for a minute as all fishing is catch and release.

Beautiful color along the Taylor

This kokanee was a catch in the East River. These salmon run from the Gunnison up to the East River to spawn. They are catch and release although there is a hatchery where the salmon are "milked" and the eggs are raised for a new generation of salmon. So the life for this one is about over anyway.

It wasn't all fishing...we went into Crested Butte to catch the tail end of the Vinotok celebration. This celebration is a week long affair to herald the autumnal equinox. It was a lot of fun to watch the parading in the street along with the chanting to the beating drums. The costumes and flowers were really something to see!

Capping off a great trip was the drive over Monarch Pass. The mountains were an oasis of color with the aspen looking especially splendid this year with their crowns of gold, red and orange.

A great time of year to be in Colorful Colorado! Mom

Feathers Are For Chicks

2011-08-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was getting my hair cut and while waiting for my turn I watched a stylist pull out several hackles. Hackle is essentially the slender feathers collected from the neck of a bird. They have traditionally been used for fly tying.

Naturally I was surprised that there would be fly tying supplies in a hair salon so I asked the stylist if she tied flies...duh!! Nope! It seems that I have missed yet another fashion trend. As Daughter says it is hopeless and I will never be accused of being trendy. The current fad is to place a feather or two in one's hair as an extension. A style that evidently has picked up since Steven Tyler showed up on Idol sporting feathers in his hair.

Since hackle is now fashionable there has been a surge in demand resulting in fly fishing stores being swarmed by females with absolutely no interest in fish. Naturally this has resulted in shortage of supply and increased prices much to the chagrin of fly tyers. Hmmm now I am wondering what my saddles and hackles can fetch on Craigs list. However as with most fashion trends I am sure this fad is hair today, gone tomorrow....sorry I just couldn't resist! How about you? Are feather extensions now a part of your fashion ensemble? Mom

Pear Art Quilt

2011-08-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

For my July art quilt group meeting the assignment was to make the pear quilt in the book "Art Quilt Workbook" by Jane Davila and Elin Waterston, but to use a color different than a typical pear (yellow or green). I made my pear in orange. It was a good exercise in selecting fabrics to make the shadows on the pear. It was a fun project to do. Mom

What's In A Name

2011-07-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

They used to be called stuffed toys, but now there is a fancy new word...amigurumi. Get this, amigurumi is Japanese for knitted stuffed toy!! Go figure! Well at any rate I am broadening my foreign language vocabulary. I have to admit that these little toys are too cute. So I had to make one for Mr. T.

The pattern came from this book and it is crocheted instead of knitted. There are tons of patterns available for knitting or crocheting any kind of animal. I also got this book just because there were even more cute animals. Not only are there patterns for animals, but robots, food, people...just about anything!

Looks like I will be getting lots of practice crocheting. Have you seen any cute amigurumis? Mom

Celebrate!

2011-07-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4th OF JULY

Celebrate the land of the free and the brave!

Grandmother, Mom and Daughter

First Father's Day!

2011-06-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

This was my husband's first father's day and I wanted to make it extra special, so I made matching outfits for him and Talinn. That way everyone around town knew it was his very first Father's Day. Everywhere we went people were honking, shouting happy Father's Day and generally just staring at Nate and his shirt to figure out what was going on. Daughter.

Watch Out Girls!

2011-06-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

There's a new guy in town and he is a looker!

Mr. T got a new hat and he is attracting all kinds of looks from the girls and a few guys (who are envious and want a hat just like his)!

He thinks his hat is pretty cool and he enjoys all of the ooohs and ahhhs he is getting.

Notice the coordinating shorts that match the hatband. That Mr. T sure does know how to put an outfit together. Very cool, Mr. T! Mom

What's Black and White and Read All Over

2011-06-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

Ok so maybe it isn't read, but this little book is perfect for visually stimulating babies. Very young babies prefer to look at high contrast items and black and white are the highest contrast. I used the Imagination Book pattern in Amy Butler's book "Little Stitches For Little Ones". This project went together very quickly, but instead of using her graphics for the pages I drew my pictures. I then cut them out in freezer paper for the pattern. After fusing the material with an interfacing, I used my pattern to cut the material and fused it onto a white background.

The back side of the book is made using different cotton fabrics. There is also a little carrying case that you can make to put the book in, but I figured this book would be used so much that a case would be unnecessary. I did consider putting an elastic loop and button on one side of the book to hold it shut when it is folded up, but I don't like using buttons with small children. And I figured that Mr. T would play with this book once he is a little older and I didn't want that button coming off in his mouth. This is a book that will last a long time even once Mr. T starts paying more attention to other color contrasts as it can build his vocabulary, introduce some letters of the alphabet and since there aren't any words a whole new story can be made up every time the book is "read" to Mr. T! Mom

Dressed To A "T"

2011-05-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here is cute Mr. T modeling his new outfit I made him. The pants are reversible from the pattern Quick Change Trousers in Anna Maria Horner's book "Handmade Beginnings". The shirt is a onesie with an appliqued "T"....so simple.

Rolling up the pant leg makes a coordinating cuff with the reversible fabric side. Very stylish for Mr. T.

And to complete the look a third coordinating fabric on the little backside adds that irresistible final touch. Just makes you want to squeeze little Mr. T and smother him in kisses. Mom

Monday Muse

2011-05-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Grandmother: HELP!!!! Where's the manual?? I became a mom in the 50's: no computer, no telephone, no books! There in my arms was a perfect baby girl...what was I to do? After seven days in the hospital I went home where there was just myself and my husband and this small human being. What a challenge!!! She looked so small in the bassinet and my heart was filled with wonderment. What comes next?

I think becoming a mother is filled with days of trial and error; nothing is easy. As I look back on those early mothering days I realize I found my inner self and did grow to cope with many different joys and crises as I bumped along the road of "Motherhood".

I am proud of my accomplishments as mother to my three children helping them grow into adulthood. The joy they bring is overwhelming as I share in their lives. The good memories erase the bad ones. I am proud to be their mother.

Mom: Being a mother is one of the hardest jobs there is! When my son was in 3rd grade, he came home from school one day with a serious expression on his face. He asked me, "Mom, what does gay mean?" GULP! My mind raced through several answers, click...no not that one...click...maybe that one...click...ok that one.

Feeling rather proud of myself that I had dodged a bullet, I said, "Well, gay is another word to describe happy." YESSSS, High Five!! Uhhhh wait...oh, oh. The look on my son's face told me that was not going to cut it! RATS!

He cocked his head and said, "No, I don't think that is what was meant, because one kid called the other one gay, and that kid wasn't happy!"

Yikes! OK Time to get honest. I said, "Well gay can also be used when two guys love each other."

"Oh!" said my son, "Well then I am gay."

WHAT?! Wait, no! Uhhh, I mean, "Honey, why do you say that?"

"Because I'm a boy and Dad's a boy and we love each other!"

Oh, oh...my brain went into high gear...let's see...hmmm..."Well, honey that doesn't mean you are gay, because it is when two guys who aren't related love each other."

"Oh!" and that was the end of that. My son went off to do something while I collapsed onto a chair, panting.

Yup it sure isn't easy being a mom!

Daughter: I'm new to this whole motherhood thing, so I have a lot to learn. But it's amazing what I've picked up over the last seven weeks. For instance, just the other day I was standing on one foot putting on make-up while the other foot was rocking my son in his carseat. Talk about being multi-talented! And today I really needed to pick up around our place but Talinn just wouldn't have it. He wanted constant attention. So I decided to carry a silver rattle (that I got from my friends) around in my hand while I was making the bed, swiffering the floors and doing the dishes. It worked. As long as he heard that rattle, he was happy. And some nights I lay with my arm draped over the side of the bed while Talinn sleeps in his carseat, so that I can get a few z's. If he fusses, my arm instinctively rocks him in the carseat. Motherhood is about being creative, finding new ways to keep your baby quiet and happy.

Aside from the sleepless nights and the difficulty in doing simple tasks like dishes, laundry and showering, I am absolutely head over heels in love with my little boy. Some days I just sit and watch him. He can entertain me for hours with his little expressions from his serious furrowed brow to his toothless little smile. There is nothing like motherhood. You just fall in love with your child and you forget about how difficult things are and you are just happy.

Memo Command Center

2011-04-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

While at Daughter's house she asked me to paint the inside of this door with chalkboard paint. It is a door in her kitchen that leads to the fire escape and is always kept closed. Although there is a lot of info on the net and in blogland about painting with chalkboard paint, I had never done it and was a little unsure about the whole process.

Since the door is painted in an oil based paint, I needed to first apply a primer. We used this Kilz product which says it has low odor and zero VOCs. I would say it has no odor. I didn't smell a thing. After applying the Kilz I put on the chalkboard paint, which since it is a latex is very easy to clean up with just soap and water. Chalkboard paint comes in a wide range of colors, but since Daughter's kitchen is black and white, she preferred the traditional black chalkboard look.

The application of the chalkboard paint was no different from painting with any other latex paint. It went on smoothly. This is the first coat.

The final coat! Daughter knew that the chalkboard needed to be "primed" to make it easier to erase in the future. This consisted of placing the chalk sideways and covering the entire surface in chalk. After wiping the surface off the "chalkboard" is ready to use. This will make a very convenient message center for Daughter to list grocery items, appointments or just leaving notes for her husband. It turned out to be super easy and if Daughter should ever decide that she doesn't want this any more, it is easy enough to change by painting over it. Mom

Burp Cloth Extraordinaire

2011-03-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Here is baby modeling his burp cloth. This isn't just any burp cloth! It is a handmade product made by his grandpa, who is holding baby. Grandpa hasn't done a lot of sewing, but he cut out the material (flannel on one side and terry cloth on the other), sandwiched it with batting and stitched the edges with rickrack. He even had to hand sew the opening for turning the sandwich right side out. Grandpa is pretty proud of his work and baby doesn't mind using it for its intended purpose! Mom

Circle of Life

2011-03-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

It's official! The generations have expanded to four. Our little baby came a week ago making grandmother a great-grandmother, mom became grandma and daughter is now a mom. We couldn't be happier with our new roles. Our little guy is perfect in every way and daughter has become a terrific mom. Grandmother and I make a pretty exceptional great-grandma and grandma too, of course...and little guy will make his own terrific footprints in this wonderful circle of life. Mom

Finally!!!

2011-03-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

This wall hanging took forever!! It was like putting a jig saw puzzle together. It was a pattern from Bigfork Bay Cotton Company called 4 Ever Friends. I used material from my "stash" and had a good time working out the colors. The pieces were placed on the background and then fused a little until all of the horses were in place and then the final fusing took place. It kept me busy for quite a while this winter and now I can hang the finished product up and get that satisfied feeling of accomplishment. Grandmother

Amy Butler's Modern Diaper Bag

2011-03-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

I made this diaper bag from Amy Butler's book "Little Stitches for Little Ones". Pictures are deceiving as this bag looks like a decent size in the photos in the book, but in reality it is huge. I debated making it in this large size or following the downsizing mentioned by a few bloggers who had sewn it. I decided that since daughter lives a ways away from me that I didn't want her to have any excuses about coming to visit with the little one so I made it in the dimensions following the pattern. This bag, although big, would be terrific for car traveling or (hint, hint) airplane travel. You could pack anything and everything you would need for babies/toddlers/husbands...

Making the inside pockets is a bugger. The verbal directions with the lack of accompanying pictures drove me crazy trying to figure out what the heck Amy was talking about. I looked to see if there were any corrections to the published pattern as the pocket was not working out, but there wasn't anything listed. In the end I just eyeballed where the boxed pleats should be sewn and it all worked out evenly.

Another change that I would make if I were to sew this bag again is to omit some of the interfacing and fleece. Fusible interfacing and fleece is applied to every piece and while the bag is structurally solid, I don't think that all of that support is necessary. Not to mention that it creates a lot of bulk to push under the sewing machine needle. I had the good sense to use my Juki sewing machine to make this bag and it handled all of the bulk without any hang ups.

In the end I was pleased with the bag and so was daughter. Now she won't have any excuses for not coming out to see me with the baby! Mom

Someone is taking an extra long winter's nap

2011-03-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

What do all of these things have in common? Any guesses?

What if I throw in the fact that I'm 9 months and 1 day pregnant? Now do you know?

Okay, I'll tell you. Apparently, these are some good old fashioned home remedies for inducing labor naturally. So far none of them have worked. You'd be surprised about what's on the Internet as far as these remedies go. They run the gamut from eggplant dishes to primrose oil.

My husband and mother had a fun time using me as a guinea pig today. First I sat and bounced on the exercise ball for about 30 minutes. Then I took a 30 minute brisk walk with my mother. So far, so good. But then we got to the cumin tea, which looked like a glass of urine and tasted worse (at least I suspect it does). It was pretty awful. But my mom made up for it with the last home remedy--labor cake, which is basically chocolate, with more chocolate and then a final touch of a little more chocolate cake. I may just have to eat this cake every day until my son decides to come. At least it will make each passing day a little more enjoyable.

I think I'm going to cut my husband and mother off just so there's enough cake for me in case our little one decides to hibernate for a few more days. Daughter.

Nursery Time!

2011-03-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

We are slowly but surely getting our lil' one's room ready. It's been fun but we are still missing a few precious details. We are doing a combo guest room/nursery, which I'm hoping will make it easier for me when I have to get up in the middle of the night.

Here is a close up of his crib. His teddy bear is patiently awaiting his arrival.

Here's the little reading nook, where we will read our son his favorite stories. I'm hoping to paint "READ" in some fun color and hang the letters vertically behind the giraffe.

Here's a close of up Jimmer the Giraffe (my husband named him...think college basketball).

Here are a couple more of my favorite details.

{His books with inscriptions from his family}

{Our favorite little dog, a dwell studio frame that will house our son's photo and sophie the giraffe}

{Fantastic Mr. Fox, who is sure to never leave our son's side}

We have a couple more things that we need to get, so it's not quite finished. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our favorite rocker, the Joya, which will replace the black/charcoal chair that Fantastic Mr. Fox sits on.

We are also hanging some of Sharon Montrose's baby animal photos above the crib along with a turquoise letter (the first letter of our son's name).

And maybe we'll get this rug from Serena and Lily to finish it all off.

Now we're just waiting for him to make his appearance! Daughter.

Where's Baby?

2011-03-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

Grandmother and I made a quilt for "baby". Grandmother pieced it and of course she was done with her part by September. Fast forward to late February and you would have found me frantically spending hours at the sewing machine quilting. It was a race to try to finish the quilt before baby appeared on the scene. Now here we are at the beginning of March and the quilt is finished but where's baby??? He even has a cute fox waiting for him to play.

I did get a little carried away with the quilting. My initial intention was to do an open quilting pattern so the quilt wouldn't be too stiff but once I got started I started to feel like every surface had to be quilted. Hence it took me a lot more time and thread to get it finished.

Oh...there's baby! He's still nestled in his little?? womb...Daughter/soon-to-be-mom doesn't think the womb is so little anymore. Come out, come out little baby. We are waiting anxiously for you! Mom

DAD DUTY

2011-02-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

With the arrival of a new baby around the corner, Dad isn't exempt from changing a few diapers. With that in mind I made my son-in-law his very own diaper bag using Anna Maria Horner's "Dad Bag" pattern from her book "Handmade Beginnings". The bag went together fairly easily and it is a messenger style bag that doesn't scream KIDS or DIAPERS. It has plenty of room for stowing a laptop or kindle or even an old-fashioned book along with some wipes, diapers, bottles, toys...the necessary baby stuff. Although the outside is a go- anywhere kind of fabric I couldn't resist lining it with a baby themed fabric. No one really needs to know that this dad is cleaning up messes instead of looking cool.

My biggest critique of this bag is that it needs a little more stability. Horner's directions only include a heavy duty stabilizing interfacing on the lining back of the bag. When I make this again I am going to add some fusible fleece to the pieces of the bag and I don't think I will put in such a stiff type of interfacing. This should help give the bag a little more body without being stiff and bulky. Overall Horner's directions were relatively easy to follow and they were supplemented with plenty of drawings to illustrate a lot of the steps. Mom

Worst Snowstorm I Remember

2011-02-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Grandmother: The worst winter I can remember was the winter of 1949-1950. Living on a ranch we were more or less at the county's mercy to get the road plowed when it stormed. The storm hit two days after Christmas with blowing snow and cold temperatures. The windows in the house were covered with frost, you could write your name or blow a little hole on the pane so you could see outside. Naturally we had chores to do so everyone bundled up and headed to the barns for feeding cattle and milking cows. The roads were completely blocked with drifting snow and doors to barns had to be shoveled. The snow began to pile up. With New Year's Day just a couple of days away we wondered if we could make it to the annual dinner at the neighbor's. They lived two miles down the road from us. My sister, two brothers and I did not want to miss the festivities so we talked our parents into walking the drifts on the road. Since the drifts were uneven it was an adventurous trek. My mother did not see the merriment of walking up one drift and down another. We did make it to dinner and had a great time visiting, playing cards and eating. The trip home was much longer and everyone complained about the snow. The county bought a new rotary plow and tried it out on the road leading to our house, it took them two full days to dig through the drifts and free us. Darn we had to go to school.

Mom: Having lived in Montana, Colorado and Wisconsin I have seen my fair share of major snowstorms, but the one that is most infamous in my memory was in 1986 when we were living in Herndon, VA. I don't remember how much snow dumped on the area, but it was enough to paralyze Washington, D.C. for days. I joked to anyone who would listen about how easy it would be to invade the country (a precarious statement to make since two secret service men lived on our street). All the Russians would have to do was bring in airplane loads of snow and dump it on D.C. They could then walk right in and take over, because seriously the city was a ghost town in 1986. In fact our neighborhood was strangely quiet and not a creature was in sight...except for two little kids who had been booted out of the house!

School closed and stayed closed for 6 days. I thought they were never going to open it back up again. To avoid ending up crazy and secluded in a padded cell, the kids spent a lot of time outside. You would never guess it, but there were a lot of children who lived on our street...but on this day they weren't outside.

This is why it shouldn't snow in states where they don't have snow plows...I think they finally cleared some of streets with construction graders. Plus they waited for solar heat to do a lot of the melting and clearing.

You will be happy to hear that no children or parents were harmed (at least in our household) during the big blizzard of 1986 in Virginia!

Daughter: As an adult, I have only been through two bad storms. The first one was in South Carolina in 2005 where an ice storm caused a blackout that lasted about a week. Unfortunately, my super cool trendy cement floors proved to be impractical for cold, winter days without heat. So I spent the blackout with one of my friends and what could have been an awful, lonely, cold week spent under covers turned out to be a really fun adventure where we played games by candlelight and drank hot chocolate by the fireplace.

My most recent storm was not as much fun. I'm sure some of you heard of the Snowpocalypse that hit the Midwest last week. It was definitely the worst storm I have ever seen: white-out snow with 70 mph winds and thunder and lightning followed by sub-zero temperatures.

We spent the evening watching it all from the comfort of our home. But of course we had to venture out just once so we knew what 70 mph winds felt like and let me tell you they are not fun! While my dad kept telling me that this storm was nothing and he had to walk home from school in worse blizzards, pieces of Wrigley Field were flying off the stadium; one of the city's main thoroughfares was shut down and people were stuck in their vehicles for 9+ hours; and a lot of the city was without power. Goes to show him, huh?

When the winds had died down and the snow had slowed, we ventured outside. And this is what we saw:

Cars looked more like snowdrifts than vehicles.

The frozen, snow covered Lake Michigan looked like it belonged in Antarctica rather than in the bustling city of Chicago.

And our neighborhood was shut down and people were using the roadways as walking paths because vehicles were few and far between.

We are just happy to report that our son was not one of the blizzard babies because that would have been a disaster!

Warm and Soft

2011-01-24T16:09:00.000-08:00

I knitted this scarf for my Dad for his birthday. The mohair yarn is incredibly soft and not itchy at all. It is a pattern called Easy Mistake Stitch Scarf and let me tell you it is easy to make a mistake...even though this pattern is classified as easy and for beginners. I had to pay attention because when I did make a mistake, I couldn't back pedal and undo the stitches. It was hard for me to tell what what a knit and what was a pearl so I had to rip out whatever I had done and start over again. After doing that once I decided to pay attention and count stitches and make sure not to make a mistake! I am just so proud of myself for finishing another knitting project and having it come out looking like it is suppose to. Mom

New Visitors!!!

2011-01-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

It is always fun to see who has come to dinner at the "Feed Inn". We were surprised to see a bevy of quail on the ground scratching around for loose seeds but it was more interesting to see two of them fly up to the feeder station. They made themselves right at home and kept the small wrens, finches and sparrows at bay while they had their fill. Grandmother

Too Cute!

2011-01-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

Whenever I see anything "baby" there is immediately the "awwww" factor. I just can't help it and I am not alone in this. Whatever it is about babies and baby things you immediately start getting the warm fuzzies. In anticipation of my first grandchild I had to get busy making things. I am not much of a knitter, but managed to get this little hat done. I am especially proud that it came out looking like a hat and I didn't have any mistakes (that I know of anyway)! The hat pattern came from Purlbee.

I can hardly wait to see it on the little one's head! Since I had the head covered I next thought about the little feet and knitting booties was a little beyond my skill level so I ended up sewing booties from Anna Maria Horner's book "Handmade Beginnings".

I couldn't resist the little duck material nor the duckie buttons. So cute! I did have a little trouble putting the booties together as the way I interpreted some of the directions weren't exactly the way they were meant to be interpreted, so I did rely on my handy seam ripper a few times. If I were to make these again, I would use a narrower elastic for the closure. I am not sure why the pattern called for such a wide elastic.Anway they are still cute! Mom

A Look Back at 2010

2011-01-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Grandmother: 2011 is knocking at the door, as I look back over the events of 2010. I don't know why all the good things stand out, but as I grow older my life is full of good happenings.

The year is filled with family events. Visits from children and grandchildren fill my heart with joy. Our family is fortunate as every one is healthy and busy working, buying homes, decorating them, cooking, traveling and enjoying life. When the grandkids come, it amazes me how much they have matured, gaining everyday knowledge and how willing they are to spend time with us.

Their visits this summer filled our home with laughter, talking, creating and of course eating. Both our son and daughter make the trip to our place to check in on us and help out with yard work, cooking and aiding us in whatever way they can. Our granddaughter brought great news of an event to be fulfilled in 2011. She shared pictures of her home and how she decorated each room. When I stop to remember her room at her parent's home I can hardly believe she has a talent for decorating. Our grandson has accomplished a new dimension to his life as he and his father got first place for their first try at brewing beer. They entered their product in the brewing category at the Minnesota State Fair. Grandson and his wife have done a great job in redoing several rooms in their home doing the work themselves. They both have a talent for cooking, baking, carpentry and decorating.

All these good things outweigh anything that was bad and I like remembering 2010 in that way.

Mom: Although most would agree that time goes too quickly, there are probably more than a few who are glad to see 2010 end. With news of a major US oil spill in the gulf, record foreclosures, failing economy, increased joblessness and the growing chasm between the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, it is no wonder that we are looking to 2011 with a hopeful eye!

Even though the economy was mostly doom and gloom there were some bright spots. Take the iPad for example. Technology continues to shape our culture and iPad sales foretell of even more devices coming into the foray as competitors try to keep up with the ever shining Apple. Having grown up dialing a clunky phone, I can only wonder at what new electronic devices will be out there at the end of 2011. Wifi could be the next dinosaur as I recently read about offices in St. Cloud using ceiling lights to transmit data to computers.

No matter what comes of 2011 I agree wholeheartedly with Grandmother's view that the family unit remains crucial to our survival and that family should be our #1 priority. As communication continues to evolve with technology it should only bring us closer to our family members when we are separated by miles. But there will always be a place for coming together face-to-face and having heart-to-heart conversations the old-fashioned way. Some things should never go out of style!

Daughter: My husband and I brought in 2011 with a quiet celebration in our new home. We reflected on the past year and the adventures we've had--searching, buying and decorating our first home; going on a two-week cruise through the Baltic; and an amazing trip to Turkey. We've had so much fun and excitement this year, it's hard to believe that next year could top it. But it will as we are about to embark on one of the greatest adventures in life in 2011--parenthood. We spent some time on New Year's Eve thinking about all the anticipation we've been feeling in 2010 and how our long wait will soon be over. We thought about the moment we first found out we were going to be parents and the joys and um...not so great joys of pregnancy that have been experienced this year.

And when we think about 2011, we think of it as a year of firsts--the first time we will experience the world around us through the eyes of our child. It's hard to imagine what this year will bring or how many sleepless nights we will encounter, but we know that no matter what, 2011 will be a year we will always remember.

Monkeying Around

2010-12-22T15:50:00.000-08:00

Even though I am embarrassed to admit it, I just finally finished sewing this guy AFTER receiving a baby announcement for a baby born last February. Now in all fairness I didn't get the announcement until May so it looks like I am not the only procrastinator here! Anyway the little fella will better enjoy this toy now that he is older. Monkey is from pattern # 2394 Simplicity and although there were some tricky things (like not sewing the face to the back side of the head) overall he went together pretty well. He is made out of fleece and let me tell you it isn't easy to find fleece for a little boy that isn't cartoon characters or sports-themed. Now all I have to do is get it in the mail...yeah, that won't happen until the lines at the post office are gone! Mom

Monday Muse: Christmas Memories

2010-12-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Grandmother: One Christmas my Grandmother decided that my siblings and I should understand what Christmas was like in her day. Much to the chagrin of my father and uncle, Grandma won out. My Dad got the tree and my uncle got two buckets of water. The afternoon was spent threading popcorn on strings, with my brothers eating most of it but we managed to get four long strings to wrap around the tree.We asked, "where are the decorations?" Grandma said there wouldn't be any and we wondered what was so special about this tree.

After dinner we were herded into the parlor where the tree was covered with small white candles. My uncle had the buckets of water close by as Grandpa carefully lit each candle. Our eyes were wide with excitement as each candle took the light. Grandma said in her day this was their Christmas Tree. As we watched the candles gradually melt down, Grandma read the Christmas Story.

Luckily no water was needed to put out a fire and my uncle and Dad breathed a sigh of relief as each candle went out. To this day when I attend a candlelight service I think about that tree and how special it was for our Grandmother to share this tradition.

Mom: Christmas was always a time of great anticipation and excitement in our house when I was growing up. On Christmas Eve we would visit Grandpa and Grandma D. and have a huge dinner with aunts, uncles and cousins. I was so happy to go because Grandma D. made chicken noodle soup with home-made noodles for the soup course. It was always soooo good and the only time I ever had it was on Christmas eve. There was always a lot of other food, but it was the soup that I remember the most.

On Christmas morning after laying awake all night listening for Santa I would get up with my brothers and go out to see what he had left for us. Our Santa gifts were always unwrapped and in front of the tree and our stockings were always filled and always had an orange plus some socks and candy. No matter how hard I listened I never heard Santa. We would open our gifts and have breakfast and then the family would pile into the car and head out to the ranch to Grandpa and Grandma L's. There would be more presents under their tree and my aunts, uncles and cousins all had something. It was a huge family gathering and after opening gifts we would sit down to another big meal. There was lots of laughing and talking and great fun. I have always appreciated that I was so close to both sets of grandparents and grew up with them very much present in my life. Now Christmas is much quieter as my children are married and we only get together for Christmas every other year. It just makes those times all that more special.

Daughter: Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. There's just something special about the season. Even now as an adult, I get giddy like a child as December 25th nears and sad as it departs and we have only the cold winter months ahead of us.

The Christmas season in our home always began with the hunt for the most perfectly shaped Christmas tree. Every year we traveled to the nearest Christmas tree farm. My dad would hike the hills until he spotted it--the perfect tree. And somehow every year it kept getting bigger and bigger until my mom finally put a stop to that. Once we got the tree home, which never went as smoothly as it should have, we decorated it with all of our special ornaments. My ornaments were mostly barbie dolls and princesses while my brother's were mostly athletes and cartoon characters.

Christmas morning was always the best. My brother and I would wake up early and sit at the top of the stairs while we waited for my mom to get ready. It always seemed like she took forever on those days. But no one could set foot downstairs until everyone was up and ready. My brother and I used to try to peer between the railings or down the stairs to see if we could see what Santa had left, but that tricky Santa always had something up his sleeve to make sure we couldn't see what we wanted to see. Finally mom was ready and we raced down the stairs to see what was hidden in our stockings that no longer hung by the fire, but instead were stuffed to the gills and sitting on the floor. Santa always left me a note and I relished reading it.

After the stockings were finished, we were on to the pile of presents by the tree. The order was always youngest to oldest (the best way to do it in my opinion) or oldest to youngest. And I was always in charge of divvying the presents up.

The last gift to be given is my father's now famous Christmas breakfast. The steaks are cooked to perfection, the eggs are just a little runny so you can dip your crisp lightly browned hash browns in the yolk and there's always something sweet to finish it off. It's the perfect end to a perfect morning.

Fun with paints

2010-11-14T11:19:00.000-08:00

This summer my daughter, Grandson and Granddaughter-in-law came to visit. We girls spent an afternoon in my kitchen doing gelatin printing. We made gelatin plates, cut up material, got out several paints and picked some dried weeds, leaves, flowers, grass and whatever we could find laying around. Our creative sides blossomed and bloomed.

I finally took four of my prints and made a small wall hanging.

This was a fun time and quite productive, we had paint, material and various items for texture and look what I did. I think we entertained ourselves and let our creative juices flow. Grandpa and Grandson spent the afternoon brew tasting in the valley. Both Grandpa and I love it when family comes to visit. Grandmother

Crazy!

2010-11-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

Some of these people are insane!!! Mom

When Does Art Stop Being Art?

2010-11-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Grandmother: To me art is in the eye of the beholder. Each person must decide for him or herself if what they are looking at is pleasing to them. I can remember back in time when FDR proposed the WPA and federal money was used to put actors, painters, sculptors, poets, writers and other fine arts people back to work. Some of their works were criticized and booed and the fact that taxpayers' money was used to finance it, was a very controversial subject. When we were living in Salt Lake City there was a turmoil over pictures of nudes that were hung in the public library where everyone who entered could view the art exhibition.

Today we have the episode over the Enrique Chagoya art work that was attacked by a woman and destroyed. I don't really appreciate having one person mutilating a piece of art that I didn't get to view and letting me make my judgment about it. Now the famous artist Christo wants to put posts and wires along the Arkansas River and hang silks over them. He has put years of research and planning into his project and some people don't want him to finish it. What a pity if they stop it, we won't get to see the sky above with the water reflected on the sheer silk.

Our country is based on the four freedoms, if you don't like it, don't look at it, don't read about it, don't go to view it but for goodness sakes let each individual make their own decision.

Mom: Art is viewed and understood through individual perception. What one person sees is not necessarily what I see. In my town an art commission works to select public art works which are placed around the city. The art adds a cultured aspect to the environment and it does stimulate conversation. I believe that art should be uncensored. However, having said that, I have a problem with the proposed Christo project over the Arkansas River. Translucent fabric panels will be hung over eight different sections of the river between Salida and Canon City, CO. The exhibit is temporary and I have heard that Christo is meticulous in prepping the areas, installing the artwork and removing it. But do fabric panels hung above a naturally beautiful river really constitute art? I enjoy the river for the vistas and the wildlife and I don't believe that fabric will enhance or add to that beauty. I guess my stance is that art should be original and created from the ground up; not added to or layered upon a natural site that is beautiful just as it is.

Daughter: As far as Christo's installation goes, I disagree with my mom. If she feels that this isn't a true expression of art, then what of a painting of a majestic mountain or a field of flowers? Doesn't that allow the viewer to see the landscape through a different perspective, just as Christo's installation does? Or is that not art because it's an interpretation of what already exists?

I understand how changing a natural environment needs to be carefully evaluated, but I don't understand some of the responses. One opponent said: "Hanging rags over the river is the same as hanging pornography in a church." What?!?!? And here's another: "I feel bad for those folks out there who need art to see the beauty in the river." Well, I feel bad for folks who can't appreciate art or change.

Christo is taking every precaution to make sure he leaves the area as pristine as he found it. And he isn't changing the environment forever. The exhibit will only be open for two weeks.

You be the judge. Does this image below evoke any emotion in you? Does it enhance the area's natural beauty? Would you want to see it in person? I certainly would.

Rocky Mountain Fall

2010-10-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Mom

Monday Muse: Tea Party

2010-10-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Grandmother: When I think of "tea party" I remember the Boston Tea Party when the colonists threw boxes of tea overboard to protest the taxes imposed by England, or I remember having tea parties with my Grandmother where we drank milk mixed with hot water and had Ritz crackers. So when I read about the current Tea Party movement in our country today I was very interested.

What surprised me more was that it was originating within one of the major political parties we have, the Republican Party. The Tea Party is made up of voters that are tired of the way the government is spending money and running the country. This is a wake up call for both Democrats and Republicans as the Tea Party is looking to capture 7 seats. With no charter or council the Tea Party is steam rolling across the United States. Here in Colorado, where we have a large number of registered independent voters, it is quite active. Several rallies have taken place in our town alone and the candidates are showing up for debates and answering questions.

What will happen this off year election is anybody's guess and I wonder what it will do for the Democrats with this split in the Republican party.It should be an interesting election in November.

Mom: I have to admit that I haven't been paying attention to all of the ruckus that is occurring in politics...mostly because I despise the tit for tat campaign ads that run continuously from now until November. So when both Grandmother and Daughter suggested the Tea Party as a topic for Monday Muse, I was caught like a deer in the headlights muttering, "Huh????" I had to take a quick course in Tea Party 101.

From what I've read it seems to me that the Tea Party faction really is just another outgrowth of voters' malcontent. Just watching what it takes to pass legislation in this country is enough to disgust-----well, that is another topic for another Monday Muse!

I think that the Republicans and Democrats need to sit up and take notice. Just because the Tea Party seems to have originated with some disenchanted Republicans doesn't mean that the Democrats won't experience a similar abandonment on their side. Americans are getting fed up with the traditional party dogmas and the good ole boy system that permeates the hallowed halls of Congress.

So listen up Republicans and Democrats------more of the same just doesn't cut it anymore. Walk the walk and talk the talk or else watch out for the new team in town!

Daughter: I think it's great that people in our country are so politically motivated in a non-presidential election year. However, when the headliners of the above mentioned politically motivated group are Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, that's where I stop listening. I couldn't put it more eloquently than a protester of a Beck and Palin event in Alaska: "Palin and Beck 2012: Lipstick and Dipstick."

The Lipstick and Dipstick rally, known to others as the "Restoring Honor" rally, inspired liberals to jump into the political arena Saturday. Unfortunately many media accounts, describe the event as lackluster, but wouldn't anything seem lackluster next to Beck's grandstanding?

Additionally, Jon Stewart has announced his Rally To Restore Sanity, a spoof on Beck's rally. Stewart describes this rally of moderates as attracting people "who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive and terrible for your throat; who feel that the loudest voices shouldn't be the only ones that get heard; and who believe that the only time it's appropriate to draw a Hitler mustache on someone is when that person is actually Hitler. Or Charlie Chaplin in certain roles."

And it seems that people are actually responding, as more than 100,000 people showed interest in attending the rally just three days after it was announced.

All jokes aside though, I do think the political debate that the Republican movement has unleashed is fascinating and for the most part worthwhile. Because in the end, I think discussion is better than apathy, even if I don't agree with the discussion.

Fun project

2010-09-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

Finally finished this table runner. The inside design was created by using stencils and paintstiks on the fabric. It took me a while to get all the painting on the material. After several attempts to get the right color and using the color wheel, I managed to get a pleasing brown color. This was after 6 hours of instruction on how to use paintstiks and do a sleeve turn so there is no binding. Time sure did fly and I was anxious to get it quilted and put on the table for an October decoration.

Now I am ready for all the little gobblins and witches to show up for their candy treat. Grandmother

Little Spider

2010-09-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

I wonder if this is Miss Muffet's spider that sat down beside her. I walked out into the back yard and the sunlight was high lighting this spider web. I had to look twice because it seemed like it was suspended in mid air. After studying it I finally noticed the spider had anchored it to the ground.

Here he is suspended in mid air lazing in the morning sun. I was mesmerized by his fine work of art.

His creation did not last long the breeze came up and the intricate web folded up. Grandmother

Our Baltic Cruise

2010-09-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

We recently went on a Baltic cruise with my in-laws. It was quite a whirlwind, as we traveled to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Gdansk and Oslo. The trip started out rough as we missed our connecting flight to Copenhagen and all the Copenhagen flights were booked for the rest of the day. Luckily, we managed to get on a later flight on standby, so it seemed things were looking better. That is until we were in Copenhagen and Nate immediately found his bag and as we waited and waited and waited, I began to dread the inevitable--that my bag was missing. At that point, everything just hit me--the exhaustion, the stress of missing our flight, the lack of clothes for three plus days--and I crumbled in the middle of the airport.

Fortunately, we got all the hard stuff out of the way early, so the rest of the trip was wonderful. My favorite cities were Tallinn, Estonia; Gdansk, Poland; and Stockholm, Sweden.

Tallinn was definitely my absolute favorite. It had such a medieval charm about it. The whole city was protected from raids by a massive stone wall and you could tell there was so much history there. One detail that I really noticed was every single building had the most unique, colorful and creative doors I have ever seen. When Nate and I own a home, we will import our front door from Tallinn. That's how amazing they were. Here are a few photos:

{City wall}

{Nate and I in front of the stone wall}

{Alexander Nevsky Cathedral}

{One of the amazing doors}

Next up, Gdansk. I must say that what truly won my heart in Gdansk was my lunch-- this wonderful, juicy, perfectly cooked polish sausage. If you know me, you know the way to my heart is through food.

{Downtown Gdansk}

{the most colorful buildings}

Now for Stockholm. Somehow it managed to charm us even though it was pouring rain the whole time.

{Stockholm from the ferry}

{Gamla Stan- Old Town}

{Best statue ever- St. George slaying a dragon}

Next post, I'll do a roundup of my favorite trip photos and tell you about our adventures in Berlin. ~Daughter

Peach Raspberry Crisp

2010-09-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

The peaches from Palisade have been exceptional this year...so juicy that you need a bib to eat them! Having gotten a few of them during a recent visit I was craving a peach crisp. I hate making a 9 x 9 pan when there are just two of us. So I came up with a recipe that made 3 ramekins of a peach and raspberry combo.

1/2 C oats
1/4 C flour
1/4 C chopped pecans
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
Pinch of salt
1/4 C margarine
3 to 4 peaches peeled and sliced
1/4 to 3/8 C sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 C raspberries

Mix the oats, flour, pecans, brown sugar and spices. Cut in margarine to form crumbs. Peel and slice peaches and add sugar, cornstarch and raspberries. Spray 3 ramekins and divide fruit mixture among the 3. Put topping mix on top of each. Place on a baking sheet and bake in 350 oven for 30 to 35 minutes until topping is browned. Serve plain, with yogurt, whipped cream or ice cream. YUM! Mom

Proposed Mosque Near Ground Zero

2010-09-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Daughter: The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission cleared the way for a Muslim center and mosque to be built two blocks from the heart of ground zero. Although the center is still a long way from fruition, this decision has set off a national furor. I can understand why people are uncomfortable with a mosque being this close to Ground Zero, but as far as I can see, it's a constitutional issue and that's what really matters. What I don't understand is the way opponents are expressing their frustration. Instead of discussing the issue intelligibly, some are lashing out with prejudice and hate crimes. On top of that, by acting out in this way we are driving more Muslims into the hands of the Taliban. According to a Newsweek article, Taliban operative Zabihullah said: "By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor. It's providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support."

Additionally, the mosque in NYC is supposedly being protested because of its proximity to Ground Zero, not as a protest against all mosques and in turn Islam as a whole. Well, if that's the case, then why did someone attempt to set fire to the site of a mosque in Tennessee? Why are people protesting mosques and community centers in Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky and California?

I'll end with one last quote that really hit home for me from Zabihullah: "The more mosques you stop, the more jihadis we will get."

Why should we let the terrorists win? If the mosque were built, it would show the world that we haven't let the Taliban's actions taint our worldview of Islam and it would draw moderate Muslims to our cause rather than theirs.

Grandmother: I can remember the World Trade Center with smoke billowing out of the top floors and watching most of the day as it was demolished on 9/11. Now they want to build a mosque a couple of blocks from Ground Zero. I can see the people's opposition to it in New York City but one of our four freedoms is Freedom of Religion. Time has not lessened the smell of smoke, the sounds of destruction, the loss of life and the total frustration New Yorkers felt. We here on the west side of our nation were not there to feel the devastation of what was happening, but the hateful things going on to stop the building of the mosque is not the right way to go about protesting. This is still America where we have the freedom to enter into any religion we prefer to practice and build churches, cathedral, temples, mosques and other religious buildings.

Mom: There is no doubt that 9/11 will live on as a day that we hope is never repeated. But I wonder if there would be the protests and furor if a Catholic cathedral were being planned...or a Presbyterian church...or even a Jewish synagogue? I doubt that people would reject the proposal of any of those being built near Ground Zero. The fact that a mosque is being proposed sets off alarms. The reason being that people associate mosques with Muslims and Muslims are associated with al-Qaida and terrorists. That is where the reasoning goes astray. Terrorists and al-Qaida are fanatics. They are off the beaten path and they twist and turn and interpret the Qur'an to suit their actions just as Christian fanatics twist the words in the Bible to validate their protests at military funerals and bombings of abortion clinics. Just as the scriptures can be taken out of context, that also is true of the words in the Qur'an.

This is a time for us to educate ourselves about the Muslim religion and the culture of those who righteously practice it. Generalizations and ignorance will only result in chaos, religious discrimination and hatred. This isn't the first time that we have responded with hell-bent fury mindless of intellectual reasoning. Why do we never learn? Mom

Thunder Lake

2010-08-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Recently we hiked up to Thunder Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Not exactly an easy hike as it was 13.6 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 2,075 ft. The lake is at 10,574 ft. What surprised us the most was that upon getting to the lake there were quite a few people fishing. We didn't expect to see so many people after hiking that distance. It was a beautiful weekend and I guess we weren't the only ones who thought a day in the mountains would be fun!

This was the first time that I had seen elephant head, Pedicularis groenlandica, growing in Colorado. There was a huge field of it near the lake. It would be amazing to see it when it is in its prime bloom period.

The fly fishing turned out to be really good and we didn't have to fight the wind since there were so many good spots to cast from. Since the water was clear it was easy to see the fish come to the fly...the only hard part was not getting so excited that we jerked the fly away before the fish took it. We only catch and release so all of the fish were returned to the lake.

They were nice sized greenback cutthroat. Very pretty and vivid in their coloring.

On the hike out I saw these very colorful toadstools growing. I didn't see them any other place along the trail. The hike up and back was quite a workout. The next time we are definitely backpacking and camping! Mom

FUN FABRICS

2010-08-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

My art quilt group met this week and we had fun printing up some original fabric using gelatin printing. It is easy although a little messy.

You just make a gelatin printing plate by mixing 4 packages of unflavored gelatin with one cup of cold water. Stir. Then add 1 cup of hot water and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Take a piece of cardboard and skim off the foam. Pour the gelatin into an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 pan. Then take strips of newspaper and skim off any bubbles that have formed. Place in the refrigerator to set...it doesn't take very long.

After the gelatin has set. Remove it from the pan by placing the pan upside down. If the gelatin doesn't easily slip out take a knife around the edges to loosen. If it still doesn't slip out, you might have to place the pan in some warm water...but don't let the gelatin get soft. After you have your gelatin printing plate, add fabric or acrylic paint with a brayer. If you don't have a brayer try a foam paint brush. That is what I used. You can add as few or as many different colors as you want. Then place some items on the paint for texture...like threads, feathers, leaves, yarn, flowers...use your imagination. Just remember that the items will result in white space. If you don't want that you can paint the item with yet another color and instead of white you will have that color. You can also create designs with stencils or by sweeping combs, toothbrushes or other such objects across the paint. Next place your fabric on top of the gelatin with the texture items and rub with your hands to transfer your printing.

You will end up with your own originals. It's easy and the printing is quite pretty. You can also use this technique with paper to create cards or paper collages or whatever else you can dream up. Have fun! Mom

The Garden

2010-08-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

Here it is August and the flowers will be winding down and I haven't even taken you on a walk through my garden yet this summer. This is a perfect rose but I have struggled with my roses this year. I started giving them supplements of fish emulsion and they definitely like that diet. I also tried aerated compost tea but I didn't notice any immediate perkiness from that. In looking at studies most show that aerating doesn't really help the microbes in compost tea and sometimes it is just better to add plain old compost around the plants.

The Annabelle hydrangeas also didn't put on the show that they usually do. I think I need to do some thinning and composting around them. They just didn't get as big as they usually do.

My buddleia (butterfly bush) is looking as blushingly pretty as ever though. It has variegated leaves which I especially like when it doesn't have the show stopping blooms.

Love this lily with its turban look from the recurved petals. It adds an exotic flair to the garden bed.

The ever lovely Rose of Sharon who starts blooming in mid July and keeps going through the end of summer.

But not all is bright, perky and beautiful in the garden. Seems the root weevils have been busy dining at night on the lilac leaves. They should be big and fat for all of the leaves that they have notched...some more than others. They are too ashamed to show themselves in the light of day, preferring to hide in the soil at the base of the plant. The cowards only come out at night to do their dirty deed! Mom

SCHOOL DAZE

2010-08-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Since a new school year will be starting back up later this month, we decided to write about our memories of that first day of school.

Grandmother: School bells will soon start ringing. When I attended school years and years ago, we had a custodian who rang the hand bell to summon us in to start the day and again at the end of the lunch period. Sometimes he let one of us ring the bell. My schooling started with first grade and I attended the S. D. Largent school in Great Falls, Montana. The first grade teacher was Miss Odegard and there were 15 to 18 kids during that year.

The one thing that I can vividly remember was I had a new box of crayons with all the tips, no broken ones, no tooth marks and crisp paper on each brilliant color. I treasured that box and used them very carefully. I lived on a ranch and my Dad took us to school when he delivered milk. At the end of the day I would walk from the school down Central Avenue to where my Grandfather sold insurance. Grandpa came to the school each day for the first week and we walked to his office. The second week I was on my own so I dilly dallied down the avenue and came to his building. Unknown to me, Grandpa was a block behind me on that first solo walk to make sure I got to his office okay. Needless to say I think he had some choice words for my folks when we got home. After that I walked a little faster. The beginning of school was the first time I ever had a friend that was not a relative. Many members of that first grade class continued to the sixth grade so the friendships were lasting and fun.

Daughter: The first day of school was almost as big as a holiday in our household. There were weeks of preparation beforehand. Buying freshly sharpened pencils; brand new, crisp folders; and of course finding the coolest, most colorful trapper keeper. Then there was the search for a new backpack. Should this year's be blue, purple or red? It was always a crucial decision.

And of course, if you know me, you know the best part about a new school year is new school clothes. Every year, we always had a budget to spend on new outfits for school.

The night before the first day of school, our outfits would be laid out perfectly pristine next to our bed with our backpacks stuffed full of all kinds of goodies. We'd go to bed in anticipation. And the culmination of all this preparation was the first day of school photograph. I'm pretty sure we have pictures of the first day of school from kindergarten through to high school. And of course it was important to model just so, so you could see my pretty new dress and my brand-new backpack at the same time!

Mom: It's funny how some traditions are passed down from generation to generation. I remember my mom photographing all those first days of school and I continued that tradition with my kids.

Backpacks hadn't become a major school item, but lunch boxes were and every year I got a brand new one. It always was a Barbie lunch box with a neat matching thermos...I was sooooo cool!

Since my mom made most of my clothes when I was younger, the best tradition I remember about the first day of school was the annual shopping trip with my Grandma L. She would treat my girl cousins and me to a day of shopping at a local fancy dress shop. I never got any clothes at that store except when Grandma would take us to get a new outfit for school each year. We would have a ball trying on all different types of dresses and it was agonizing making the final decision on one outfit. There were so many I wanted and Grandma L. would have bought them except my mom sternly directed me to pick just one.

I could hardly sleep the night before school being so anxious to show off my fancy store bought dress and imagining myself to be the prettiest girl in school. Remember that when I went to school girls were required to wear dresses. It wasn't until I was in high school that we were finally allowed to wear pants. Since I grew up in Montana where the winters were cold, we were allowed to wear pants under our dresses but we had to remove them when we got to school. Boy have clothing styles changed since then! Mom

WYOMING WILDERNESS

2010-07-29T12:47:00.000-07:00

My husband and I recently completed a horseback riding trip from Cody, WY to Jackson, WY. All total we rode 100 miles guided by folks from the Double R Ranch out of Cody. We crossed two passes and traveled through WY wilderness following a trail that was used by early trappers. I have no idea how those people survived and lived in this country. We didn't exactly have all the comforts of home but we also weren't without.

We had two-man tents that were set up for us at the first camp by the time we arrived. After that though we learned how to set up and take down the tents and how to pack our bedrolls and cots. We also had a privy set up for us at each camp and we had the availability of taking a shower two days out of the eight we were on our trip. The shower was really something. The water was heated on the fire to our desired temperature and then poured into a small rectangular bin. A hose was placed in the bin and then connected to a small battery generator and another hose was connected to the output of the generator and a hand sprinkler nozzle was at the end. The shower stall was made out of tarps with two mesh panniers for the floor. You just squeezed the nozzle and got a nice stream of warm water. It was quite refreshing after several days of no bathing and much better than an icy dip in a stream!

We each had our own trusty steed and in addition there were mules and pack horses for hauling all of our gear. There were 28 head of stock total. At night the horses and mules were let loose to graze. The lead horses and mules had bells around their necks and the ones who had a fancy for flight were hobbled. All night long the tinkling and dinging of the bells could be heard throughout camp. Evidently horses don't need much sleep!

There were gorgeous wildflowers all across our ride. No garden can compare to the one put together by Mother Nature.

And gorgeous sunsets!

We enjoyed open air dining and food never has tasted so good.

Ron, who was the owner of the Double R and our cook, did all of the cooking over an open fire.

Ron also had his daughter, Rachael and two wranglers, Bill and Shorty, helping him in camp and with guiding our group. There were 7 guests in the group.

We had three different camps that we stayed in. Each time we moved from a camp we were up at 5:30 a.m. Ron cooked breakfast and then the camp was broken down and packed. It took us until 9:30 a.m. to get everything packed onto the mules and begin the ride to the next camp. After 8 days of being on a horse I was sure glad not to have to get on another one again. But it was a great trip with great scenery, some fishing, some wildlife viewing and best of all we only had rain one day and no snow...it did get down to 24 one night though! Mom

News flash!!!

2010-07-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

You may want to be careful when you are floating the Colorado River on the West Slope. Your toes may be tasty tidbits to a river creature. Just heard they had a reporting of an alligator in the Colorado River upstream from us in Palisade. Alligators are not native so the authorities are presuming someone dumped an alligator into the river when they could no longer take care of it. The report said this one was 5 feet long and had tried to get a dog that was at the shore line. The owner of the dog rescued him and reported what she had seen. With the hot weather there are many rafts and tubes floating along the river, so you may want to keep those feet, legs and hands away from hungry alligators. Grandmother

Monday Muse: The BP Oil Spill

2010-07-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Government Response
Mom: The BP oil spill occurred on April 20th and here it is July and they still haven't found a resolution for stopping the spillage. Now the estimate is that more than 1 million gallons of oil has been spilled.

According to the Clean Water Act "the President shall ensure effective and immediate removal of a discharge, mitigation or prevention of a substantial threat of a discharge of oil or a hazardous substance".

Let's see what the government has done. On April 30th President Obama gave orders that new offshore leases will not be issued until thorough review has determined if more safety measures are needed. He authorized an investigation of 29 rigs in the Gulf to find out the cause of the disaster.

On May 11th a press release from the Department of Interior said that the inspection had discovered no major violations. On May 30th Ken Salazar, secretary of the interior, announced a moratorium on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf for 6 months.

June 9th the FAA announced a no fly zone over the Gulf oil spill.

The Obama administration sent a $69 million bill to BP for the government's costs in clean up. And currently BP is to set aside $20 billion in assets to compensate the Americans who have been devastated by the castastrophe. BP has 4 years to pay into the fund.

However, has the President ensured effective and immediate removal of the discharge, mitigation or prevention of a threat? To some extent, yes. To complete fulfillment...NO! My question is why aren't companies supposed to assume responsibility from the start and have a viable plan to enact when such an incident occurs? This event has demonstrated that oil companies are not prepared when catastrophic problems arise. It is yet another example of being reactive instead of proactive.

Ecological Viewpoint
Grandmother: Did you know that the Earth's ninth largest body of water is the Gulf of Mexico? The Gulf is abundant with fish, shellfish and shrimp and supplies more of these than the Atlantic, New England and Chesapeake areas. Most oil spills are much smaller and the oil stays near the surface and has less impact. This oil eruption will affect the wildlife, fish, shellfish and shrimp.

The wetlands, beaches and barrier islands are breeding and nesting grounds to many birds and they will suffer when the oil gets trapped and settles.Oil is difficult to remove from the soils and may kill the grass. Herons and Egrets will loose their nesting areas and become unable to move when the oil washes up in these areas.
There are over 45,000 Bottlenose Dolphins in these waters, while some may shift into cleaner waters, many will be suffocated. Sea turtles, whales and jelly fish suffer in these oil polluted waters. Fish will drown because the crude will clog their gills.

Shrimp, oysters and clams will not be able to survive the hostile water once the oil settles in their habitats. The Gulf area supplies almost 67% of the oysters we consume, 26% of the crabs and most of the shrimp.

No one can really say how this spill will affect the wildlife, birds, fish, shellfish, shrimp and oysters and how it will play out in our economy. What a shame it would be if there is such a loss of creatures from this oil spill that species are wiped out. We are the stewards of the Earth and we should do all we can to preserve and protect this land!

BP's Response
Daughter: After BP officials confirmed the oil leak, they said the oil would never reach the coast. Here we are two and a half months later and guess what? The oil has reached the coastline and has spread as far as Florida. Yet, BP CEO Tony Hayward has said there would only be a very modest environmental impact on the region. What?!?! Why would he ever say that? This is just another example of BP minimizing the effects of this disaster and skirting responsibility.

In addition, it appears that BP is making money while all of this is happening. According to The Washington Post, BP's financial lost "might be serious, but [it] probably won't be fatal."

As of May 10th, BP had spent $350 million in the first 20 days responding to the oil spill and it paid claims for a total of $3.5 million. In contrast, in the first quarter of this year, the company's profits averaged $93 million a day, The Washington Post wrote. So BP is still making a lot of money

And if BP is anything like Exxon (after the oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989), it will go on to reap profits while contesting its punitive damages every step of the way.

And don't even get me started on BP's numerous attempts to cap the spill. It sometimes seems as if the public is working harder to come up with ideas to clean up the oil than BP is. Check out You Tube, where people have posted videos of cleaning up oil with hay, hair and even Kevin Costner has his own machine. I'm not saying that BP should try these options, I'm just saying that they should be exhausting all options and working around the clock to develop new, viable solutions.

Equal Rights!

2010-06-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

What's good for the gander is good for the goose. Catharine Pierce of Boulder has been in the news as a gardener who likes to garden in the...well should we just say she emulates Eve in the garden of Eden...before the whole apple scene! Actually Catharine isn't completely unpeeled, she does don a thong and gardening gloves. She takes the high road and informs any new neighbors of her gardening "style" and she will move to the backyard when children are present in the front or vice versa.

For this topless preference Catharine has been whispered about in her neighborhood and Boulder and threatened with eviction from her home. Now she has taken a stance that she is being discriminated upon as her husband can garden in only his thong and not even raise an eyebrow. Other men in Boulder and for that fact all across the U.S. can be seen gardening or doing whatever they please without any kind of shirt and Catharine rightly contends that she should also have that privilege. If men can go topless then that should also go for women.

I say, "Right on, Catharine"! If women want to go shirtless, there shouldn't be a problem. If there is a problem then I say, "Men, cover up those boobies"! C'mon Sisters! If it's good enough for the guys, then it's good enough for us! Mom

Tesekkür Çirali

2010-06-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

As you know, we went to Turkey for about a week. Our first stop was Çirali. It's on the southern coast of Turkey and it's a small rural town surrounded by the most majestic mountains. Up until about 10 years ago, there were no roads. But now, it's starting to boom with tourism, which is good because we got to go there, but bad because I think it will become overrun with cheesy tourist joints in a few years. We stayed at Arcadia and honestly we couldn't have picked a better hotel.

{the view from our porch}

{pomegranate flower}

{our beach set up}

{banana tree}

{the coastline}

Every morning we started with the most amazing breakfast of fresh jams, fruits, vegetables and cheeses.

{fresh breakfast}

{tomatoes with fresh goat cheese}

{homemade jams}

While we were in Çirali, we spent a lot of time at the beach. But we also took a couple of excursions. We went to Olympos, where there were ancient Lycian ruins that date back to the 2nd century B.C.

{nate in front of ruins}

{more ruins}

By far the best part of our trip to Çirali was our boat trip. We had this big boat all to ourselves for a day and we saw parts of the southern coast that we would never have been able to see any other way. A lot of the coastline was reminiscent of Hawaii with its vast cliffs and mountains.

On the boat trip, we swam through a cave, which was a little scary but also super fun. We had the best lunch, which consisted of fresh fried fish, an herb green salad and some of the most delectable fruits, including green plums, which look like miniature green apples but they are really tart.

{olympos castle ruins}

{boat with mountains behind}

{cave we swam through}

{me swimming in the most gorgeous setting}

Last but not least we visited the Chimaera, which is a mythical beast that breathes fire and has the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent. Supposedly the Chimaera was killed by Bellerophon with the help of Pegasus at the command of King Iobates of Lycia in the mountains near Çirali. And there the beast lives today beneath the ground.

{the Chimaera}

The mountainside is littered with these fires that continuously burn. We were told that some people have even snuffed them out, but they spontaneously reignite and no one is really sure how or why.
And that was our trip to Çirali. For more photos, check out our Picasa site. Next stop Istanbul! ~Daughter.

Monday Muse: Tributes To Our Fathers

2010-06-07T06:00:00.001-07:00

Mom:
I don't use a shovel like a girl,
thanks to my Dad!
I know how to hammer, drill and saw,
thanks to my Dad!
I know how to change a tire
thanks to my Dad!
I know how to fix my sprinkler system, install a ceiling fan, repair drywall,
thanks to my Dad!
I'm not afraid to try,
thanks to my Dad!
And for those times when I screw it up, can't figure it out or just get plain frustrated, Dad's there to help me out....Thanks Dad!

Daughter: Fathers and boyfriends have never gotten along. I'm positive that this truth dates back to caveman days. It's just the way it is. So of course, I always dreaded that fateful afternoon when inevitably my first boyfriend would have to meet my father, who is no easy match.

Mind you I had grown up believing that if I was ever daring enough to bring a boy home, my father would be there meticulously cleaning his rifle piece by piece. And you can imagine what that would do to a potential second date.

On that fateful day, my father sat in his recliner while his prisoner sat uncomfortably across from him perched on the couch with nowhere to go. My father then continued with about 20 questions one right after the other. How are you doing in school? What are you going to do when you graduate? What's your career plan? I mean really what sophomore boy knows his career plan? After about 30 minutes of interrogation, I was thoroughly humiliated as my father finally pronounced that we could leave. But really who wants to go on a date after that? Any chance of romance was gone.

Anyway after first boyfriend and about eight years, I met my soon-to-be husband. This time there was no 20 questions and thank goodness no shotgun. I mean I think my husband and father had each other at caddis (if you fly fish, you know what that is). To all those daughters out there, here's a hint. Find a guy who enjoys your father's favorite hobby and you're in.

Ever since that first meeting, my father has graciously welcomed my husband into our family. Well, except for when my husband called my dad to ask for my hand in marriage. But that's another story for another day.

Grandma:

Lessons From My Dad

You can do it! Dad's patient, Puritan
threads wove my life's pattern.
When I unraveled teachings,
he gently pulled, patched the tear.

Good behavior provided slack.Wise
words put tension back.
You can do it! He coaxed me to reach,
gave Hershey Kisses for rewards.

Respect for elders, good manners brought
praise, shaped my being. He held the shuttle,
supplied the warp, wove the pattern.
At times it was a very lumpy texture.

Failures knit a carpet beneath
my feet, had to try again. Job well
done sparkled in his eye, and I was
rewarded with hugs and praise.

His colors faded, edges frayed.
I picked up the string. You can
do it! I wound it into a small ball.
My turn to carry on.

Miss you Dad.

Happy Anniversary!

2010-06-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

Who knew it would last this long...can you guess what decade we were married in? Look at those sideburns and how pretty am I with those flowers in my hair? Mom

Log Cabin Tulips

2010-05-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

My art quilt group recently had a challenge to make a quilt using log cabin blocks, but with a spin on the log cabin pattern. I came up with this original design and created tulips. If you look at the tulip center and block off the two side triangles you will see the log cabin pattern. I added the triangles to make a tulip. I hand painted the background material with fabric paint, appliqued the tulips and leaves onto it and then threadpainted to add some dimension. The background is quilted in a simple, wavy line. Since this is an art quilt, instead of putting on a binding I satin stitched the edges to finish it off.

I like the quilt a lot but ended up giving it to my mom for Mother's Day. She liked it so much she is framing it. Mom

Wild Flowers on the Monument

2010-05-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature has put on quite a show this
spring. Due to the wet weather and the amount
of snow fall we had this winter, the flowers have
bloomed in abundance this year. For a desert
this has been a joy to behold. These are just a few we captured on film. Grandmother

A

Notice of Eviction!

2010-05-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

Remember this? That was wiley Mr. Fox sunning himself in what he thought was his backyard! He eventually moved away from the den he had dug under my bay window....but evidently being the stud that he was, he may have met this hot mama.

I'm not saying that he is the father or anything but she showed up towing three kits and they all claimed ownership to the den now vacated by the Mr.

I can't just have a fox family taking up residence
like they own the place. What would the neighbors
say? The kits playing and frolicking like it's their
backyard and mama even getting in on the action.

Not to mention that Mom brings dead stuff for the kits to feast on. That is being a responsible parent, but I don't want to see the neighbor cat's carcass among my flowers!

I had to issue an eviction notice. But Mom took off and left the younguns behind...some mother! I figured I was going to have to call animal control to take care of the situation.

But after heading out for an errand I got back to find no sign of the foxes anywhere. Mama must have come back and rounded up the kits. She either took the eviction seriously or maybe she was just taking them out for a little life experience lesson. Either way I had opportunity and grabbed it. I filled in the den with dirt and laid chicken wire along the perimeter of the bay window and staked the wire. And just to be extra certain there is now a sentinel of ceramic frogs, rabbits and pots lined up to protect the area...just in case the family should decide to return. Mom

Ding,Ding,Ding...We Have a Winner!

2010-05-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

The good thing about being an off the grid blog is that you have a good chance of winning when there is a contest! That is unless you are playing against Mr. Lucky! The winner is entry #4...Nate according to random number generator. Can that guy ever lose? Congrats to Nate. Your gift certificate to Amazon is on the way.

Better luck next time to all the rest of our faithful followers! We love and appreciate you!

Mommie Memories

2010-05-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Grandmother: My memories flood my mind when I think about my Mother. She had red hair, lots of freckles, could swear like a trooper, ride a horse, buy cattle and was ahead of her time. This poem sums up what she was and how I perceived her.

Momma

Momma danced the Flamenco on a gravel road.
Flames of Hell framed her face, licked her ears,
prairie grass colored her eyes.

Corralled by the times, angry fingers drummed
against wooden gates, echoed from the hills.
Her pain pierced a daughter's heart.

Whispered aspirations caught by tumbleweeds disappeared into the wind,
crossed open plains, fell upon the daughter's ear.
Her staccato beat wore away rusty chains, opened wooden gates, pulsed
through parched ground into the daughter's veins.

She was the match that lit imagination, prodded and rankled
when embers cooled. Left a long shadow in which the daughter grew.

Momma danced the Flamenco on a gravel road.

I am thinking about you this Mother's Day.

Mom: Well Grandmother certainly pulled out the creative juices for this one! Yup, that's my Mom. That's the strongest memory I have growing up under her guidance. She always was very creative. Back in the days when there were only 2 channels on TV, no computers, no DVDs, no video games, it was a challenge to keep one little girl and two rambunctious boys occupied....not so hard for the little girl because she was an angel to begin with, but those boys...YIKES!

Mom was great at coming up with activities for us to do. She got down on the floor and played jacks with me. She had us sit down and write letters to the current President in office and ask for photographs. I have signed photos of John F. Kennedy and his family and one of Lyndon B. Johnson and his family. Mom would pull the macaroni out of the cupboard and we would glue it to paper and paint it...or in my brothers' case, they would glue it to their hair and each other. Mom always had us making something on those days when we weren't in school and it was too cold or wet to go outside. She taught me to sew, embroider and crochet. She taught me to cook and bake and passed on her bread recipe to me. She tried to teach me how to can dill pickles, but dang it...mine never came out as good as hers.

For as long as I have been around Mom has been busy learning, making and creating. She is a great inspiration, not only for me but for my children. She is my best friend and I love her a bushel and a peck!

Daughter: I agonized about what I would write for this topic. But as I thought about it, I kept coming back to one memory over and over again. It was a birthday.

My mom came to visit me in South Carolina and we went to Charleston (one of my favorite cities) for the weekend. It was just my mom and me. We did the usual Charleston things. We went to the beach, ate seafood, drank martinis and shopped.

But these aren't the things I remember most. When I look back on that weekend, I remember it as a transition in our relationship. My mom wasn't the woman who scolded me when I watched TV while doing my homework anymore, who told me to slow down when driving too fast or who pushed me to better myself in everything I did.

She had suddenly become the person I shared everything with, the one I turned to for advice, the person I wanted to call when something wonderful had just happened. Somehow overnight she wasn't just my mother anymore she was my best friend, my inspiration and the person I aspired to be like.

Everyone told me this is what it would be like when I was younger, but you just never believe it. And honestly, it's one of the best things about being a grown up--having a relationship like this with my mother. I love how our relationship has blossomed and I trace it all back to that weekend.

They Said It Wouldn't Be Done!

2010-04-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

That's right! This is to all those naysayers in the family! You said it wouldn't be done for a year...some of you even suggested it might be three years! HAH! I proved you wrong. It only took me 5 months longer.

What is that? That is a baby quilt for my nephew and his wife's first baby. The baby was born in November...actually toward the end of November. I had intentions of having it finished in time for the little one's arrival...but you know what they say about intentions! I did manage to get the quilt done and the little fella isn't a year old nor is he 3 years old. Actually I think he will appreciate the quilt more now than he would have when he was a newborn. The material is a little more in line for a little boy than a baby anyway.

TADA! Excuse me while I go pat myself on the back. Mom

Our First Giveaway: You are What You Read

2010-04-25T14:36:00.001-07:00

I wanted to share my current reading list with you because let's face it blogs are a great way to find and share good reads. In fact, most of this reading wish list comes from fellow bloggers. If you've read one of these books, please share your thoughts with me and/or leave suggestions of other good books. I'm always on the lookout!

Right now I'm reading Mountains Beyond Mountains, which it seems everyone but me has read!

Some other books I have on tap are: A Spot of Bother, Half Broke Horses, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Alice I have Been, Half the Sky and The Lazarus Project.

I just ordered The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Lazarus Project as my husband and I are headed to Turkey this week. I'm hoping to find lots of reading time on the plane and the beach. More to come on that trip later!

Okay, okay I know you're all waiting to find out about our very first giveaway. So here are the details. To enter, you must leave a comment in the comment section telling us what book you are currently reading, what book you'd like to read or your favorite book of all time. To be included, you must leave your first name. The winner will be picked by a random generator and you have until 12 p.m. MDT on Monday May 3rd to leave a comment. And now for the prize...one lucky reader will receive a $15 gift certificate to Amazon.com to buy one of the books on their wish list. Good luck! Daughter.

What a week!!!!

2010-04-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

The irrigation water finally got turned on and we proceeded to go through the stations. Got through the first four and then turned on #5. Oh, Oh, Oh, water shot up in two places and we knew we had problems. On the first leak we discovered the pipe was broken. That was easy to repair but on the second one there were two pipes that had cracked and the tee needed to be replaced. Now I am not a plumber, so Grandpa drew the diagram and my son and I decided we could do it.

We got the first and second pipes along with the tee cemented in place. Turned on the water and discovered the pipe on both ends was cracked and water came seeping out. Much to our dismay and with another trip to the store for more pipe and fittings we returned to our project. Grandpa redid the tee and we did the cementing of the pipe in the break. Finally we turned on the water and guess what , no leaks, what a good feeling. Never say that little old ladies can't get their hands dirty and learn new things. Grandmother

Disaster Averted!

2010-04-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the bright idea to make cupcakes for my ESL class as one of the students has a birthday Friday. My husband wandered into the kitchen to help. He started the frosting while I got the ingredients for the cake part. I mixed the batter while my husband put the cupcake liners into the muffin pans. While I was pouring the batter into the liners, dear husband stuck his finger into the batter and proceeded to lick it. "YUCK!" "That tastes terrible!"

I glared at him..."What?!"

He said, "It's terrible...did you put in the sugar?"

Heck...I don't know. I scanned the recipe looking for sugar. I had started with flour...oh, oh! Sugar was the first ingredient listed...2 cups of it! No sugar! @#!!%

I started lifting out the cupcake liners and scraping the batter out of them and back into the bowl. Finished that and gave husband directions to add 2 C. of sugar while I ran to the grocery store for more cupcake liners.

All in all the cupcakes turned out and were edible and were enjoyed this morning by the ESL class! Whew!! Good thing husband stuck his finger into the batter, otherwise baked cupcakes would have gone into the trash! Mom

A Tisket A Tasket

2010-04-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

Crocheted baskets! Back in the olden days...that would be the '70's I crocheted a lot. But there are only so many afghans you can have and given that the yarn we used then was akin to polyester pantsuits, it just doesn't wear out. In fact my husband still enjoys wrapping up in an afghan that his grandmother made in the early 1970's. That thing will long outlast us! Oh! I digress...as I was saying I crocheted a lot, but stopped doing it when the afghans were piling up in the linen closet.

Just recently though I have rediscovered that crocheting has gone through a modernizing facelift and now there are so many new and interesting patterns available for crocheting...like these baskets. How great is that!! I wasn't sure if I would be able to follow the directions as it has been so long since I have picked up a crochet hook, but happily I discovered it is like riding a bike. It all comes back to you. I was especially happy when they turned out looking like baskets. Since I used a thicker yarn they came out quite a bit bigger than the suggested yarn, but I think they would be great as baskets to take to the farmers market or to hold those extra pieces of fabric or yarn that seem to multiply in our craft rooms or to put items in for a trip to the beach. I ended up giving these to my daughter and daughter-in-law so now I have to make one for myself. Crocheting makes me happy so I am really glad to find that it is back in style....and not just for granny squares! Mom

Monday Muse: Healthcare

2010-04-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Grandma: What a controversial subject! Healthcare! Boy if you want to discuss this subject with other people you get a lot of different views. Living in a town that is full of senior citizens I have to wonder where their views come from especially when they say "I don't want government doing my healthcare." What do they think Medicare is if it isn't socialized medicine run by the government!!!!

I am for universal healthcare, but I think they railroaded a bill through and didn't give it a lot of thought. Our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will be paying for it for years.

Where is the equality in the coverage when it forces people to carry it? If they don't have money to pay for premiums now where are they going to get it later? How do the homeless and unemployed people get coverage?

Making insurance companies take out the pre-existing clause in their contracts is a good thing. Uncapping the maximum to be paid out is also a benefit. I think we have a start with the bill passed, but it needs a lot of work to get coverage to everyone without penalties. It will be interesting to see what our representatives and senators do next.

Daughter: I'm a little lost when it comes to this issue. There have been so many different versions of this bill on the table that I found it difficult to keep track of them all. Eight months ago when this all started, I was excited to see what would happen and what would change. But now eight months later, I'm exhausted with the topic and all the political crap surrounding it. And I know that this is probably true of many of my peers.

I really got turned off listening to all the political back and forth and the stalemate between the Republicans and the Democrats. I think what will be more interesting to me is what happens now. What will change? And how will this all play out?

Mom: Assign a project for the government to complete and you can be guaranteed that they will make it as complicated as possible before coming to a conclusion. When the bill was introduced it contained 176,276 words. By the time Congress got through with it there were 395,096 words!

As many pages long as the healthcare reform bill is, I wonder how many of our esteemed representatives have even read the bill. Do any of them even know entirely what it is that they voted for or voted against. I think that our healthcare system needs revamping, but I get so tired of the bipartisan finger pointing that it seems like Congress is more of a circus event than a body of legislation.

If our representatives had chosen to work together to come up with a masterful plan for healthcare reform then maybe someone wouldn't have to explain to me exactly what it is that has been passed.

Another Accomplishment!!!

2010-03-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

I got the embroidery module for my sewing machine last November and after taking a couple of classes I embarked on a new adventure. I began with some animal designs thinking it would be a piece of cake. HA! Each color has to be threaded in the machine, and it is interesting when you break a thread or run out of thread in the bobbin. I am making good use of old thread left over from other projects. Finally after a couple of attempts I managed to make five squares. I was feeling very proud of my efforts so I put them together to make a small quilt. This quilt will be given to the Linus Quilt Project.

Feeling confident in my newfound ability I managed to take a design, add an initial and come out with a monogram for my daughter. I decided to place it on a piece of toweling and give it to her for her birthday. Now off to the sewing store to get more designs and thread. At this rate I will have to take out a loan to afford the thread! Grandmother

Spring Time In The Rockies

2010-03-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

life renews with blooms
color springs forth energizing
then cold snow descends.

by Mom

3200% Too Much...

2010-03-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I tried to make a gourmet dinner. The keyword there is "tried". I went through a ton of recipes to find this gourmet meal, Roast Beef with Coffee Gravy. I woke up on Sunday and hurriedly began the process because I had to meet a friend. I threw all the ingredients in the crock pot and was proud of myself all day. I even bragged to my friend letting her know how great I thought I was.

My confidence, however, was eviscerated when we went to finish the meal. I realized I made a huge mistake. Instead of adding 2 cups of coffee, I added 2 cups of coffee grounds. Whoops! In my defense, I don't really drink coffee, so I don't really know how it works. My husband on the other hand has no defense as he makes coffee all the time and knows the difference between grounds and coffee.

I was so ashamed of my mistake that I didn't want to let you in on it, but he convinced me otherwise. My embarrassment and frustration prevented me from taking pictures of the mess of grounds that we strained from the gravy in an effort to salvage the meal.

But this was the disaster zone. Luckily, we were wired with plenty of energy to clean up after dinner.

And honestly, the dinner wasn't really salvageable. I mean we ate it but I can't say it was very good. The redeeming part of the meal was the fabulous brussel sprouts and the goat cheese mashed potatoes. That part was excellent and I highly recommend both recipes. Goat cheese is a refreshingly, deliciously, wonderful complement to mashed potatoes.

And the brussel sprouts were so good that we couldn't stop eating them! I mean who says that about brussel sprouts?

Daughter.

R is for....

2010-03-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

I started teaching an adult ESL (English as a second language) class through a great organization, Intercambio de Comunidades, three weeks ago. Intercambio is specific to my city. They go a step beyond just having volunteers teach English...they also emphasize the sharing of cultures. There was so much interest in my class that we finally had to close it after 17 students showed up. In the beginning of each class another new one or two students would show up. They are a great bunch of folks and really try hard. This is no easy feat because I do not speak Spanish. They are essentially in an immersion class of English. I do have a few words of Spanish that I understand and say, but I would guess a 2-year-old is more proficient than I am.

Yesterday we learned about colors and as an activity I had them toss a beach ball to each other. When they had the ball they had to pick a color, say the name and spell it. After a rousing round of tossing the ball they threw it at me and told me I had to say a color....in Espanol I picked red and said rojo. Then they said I had to spell it, so I started off saying "r, o".

"No, no en espanol!" they responded. Oh! I had to say the letters in Spanish. I looked at them with no idea of how to say "r" in Spanish. They all shouted "erre" with a trilled "r". I got through the word slaughtering the Spanish language as I went but, they loved every minute of it. After I finished one student said, "Teacher, you red!" At which point they all started laughing again. Mom

Dumb, Embarrassing Moments

2010-03-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

Grandmother: During my lifetime I have a book of embarrassing moments, so it is difficult to just pick out one. Probably my worst one was the time my husband and I had to go to a wedding reception and I had not picked up a gift. We drove downtown to get something and could not find a parking space. Remember this was a long time ago; no malls, no parking garages. So Grandpa decided to drive around the block and wait for me. I ran in and got some towels, had them gift wrapped and ran back outside and waited for Grandpa. I waited, waited and waited. Finally I saw the car coming down the block and I dashed out, threw my package in the back seat and proceeded to get in and yelled "What took you so long?" I looked over and saw this stranger looking at me speechless and wondering if I had lost my mind. I very quickly removed myself and slammed the door, when a voice rang out "Ma'am you forgot your package." I grabbed the gift and felt so dumb I couldn't say anything. I often wonder about the story he told about the crazy lady who climbed into his car.

Mom: Grace has not been one of my strongest attributes. In fact no one in my family has ever been accused of being graceful. We are pretty much all klutzes. Unfortunately my lack of grace usually rears its ugly head not at home when I am alone, but in the throes of crowds. Such was the case on the day when I exited the grocery store, pushing my shopping cart out into the parking lot. There are square stone blocks placed between the sidewalk entrance and the paved parking lot and as is typical with these types of blocks there are gaps between them. As I merrily pushed my cart, one of the wheels got caught in one of those gaps and my cart went up on two wheels. Feeling that I could somehow get the cart back upright by placing myself off balance, I clutched with both hands and raised one leg to thrust the cart back into the proper position. How I ever thought I could achieve such a feat, I do not know. Because within seconds the cart was toppled onto the ground with groceries spewed about and I was half under the cart flat on my backside. Since the only thing hurt was my pride, I quickly looked around while I jumped to my feet to make sure no one had witnessed my inelegant plop. YES! No witnesses. I scurried to gather up the spilled groceries when out of nowhere appeared a young man. His concern registered on his face when he asked, "Ma'am are you ok?"

My first inclination was to say, "Yes, go away!" But I refrained and said I was ok as he collected my groceries and my purse and handed them to me, once again asking if I was ok. I did thank him as I hustled to my car. It just would have been so much better if there hadn't been an audience...even if it was an audience of one. At least it is nice to know that if the situation had been more serious that someone would have stopped to help! Oh....and the other good thing is that I hadn't bought any eggs or anything in a glass container!!

Daughter: Once you hear this story, it will sound like it's made up. But alas, it is not. Every detail from start to finish happened...and unfortunately it happened to me. It was Friday afternoon and I was working at my bureau post for the local newspaper. I was packing up my things at the end of the day when I got a phone call about a breaking news story. Silently cursing my luck, I got in my car in a flurry. A tornado had just touched down near an elementary school about 40 minutes away. I rushed to the school to interview teachers, parents, students and the principal.

The weather was awful. After the tornado touched down, cold wind and rain started beating down on us. And of course I was wearing business casual clothes, not the most appropriate attire for post-tornado weather. So I was cold and very wet but went about my job anyway.

I had to call into the office every time I interviewed someone or got another piece of critical information. So I was in and out of my car a lot. Well, I was in a hurry and after I called my editor with the latest news, I hopped out of my car and quickly slammed the car door shut. In my head a panic bell went off and I immediately tried the door. My heart sank, as my hand told me what I already knew--the door was locked. I quickly searched all my pockets in a last ditch effort before I realized the truth--I was locked out of my car. And in this scramble I accidentally stepped in a huge red ant hill. So there I was locked out of my car, soaked to the bone with little red welts up and down my legs, more helpless than the children who had just been face-to-face with a tornado.

Now I was really cursing my luck and after assessing my options, I realized I had no choice but to swallow my pride and go up to one of the police officers and humbly ask for help. The officer, who I had interviewed several times during the course of the night, thought I was joking and looked at me like I had two heads. And he reluctantly called the police station to have them send a guy over and it cost me $40. Then I had to make the dreaded call to my office and let them know the situation.

Eventually the guy came and let me in, but my job was not over. My editors wanted me to stay at the school until the last person left. In other words, I didn't get home until 9 p.m. I remember sitting in my tub at the end of that horrible, embarrassing night and thinking how glad I was it was over. I mean really how much stuff can happen to one person in a night?

Bag Lady

2010-02-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

I took a quilting class to learn how to use my stitch regulator for my machine. They gave us big pieces of white cotton to practice on, I scratched by head trying to figure out some way to use the finished work of "art". I finally decided to make another bag to use for shopping.
Since the bag looked drab I decided to paint a picture on it and dress it up. Now when I go to the grocery store, the clerk usually has some comment about it. I am not an artist but I am very happy with the result. My bags always "dress up" my groceries. Grandmother

Breakfast For Dinner

2010-02-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite dinners is breakfast...and pancakes are one of the top choices. A family recipe for pancakes was passed down from my husband's side of the family and these pancakes turn out light and fluffy without a lot of effort. Honestly if you try these, you won't ever use a mix. They are so much better. Just make sure you use real buttermilk and not the powdered stuff!

2 C flour
1/4 C sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

Beat together: 2 C buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 C oil

Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and stir just until all ingredients are mixed together. You can add in additional ingredients like blueberries (we like to plop these onto the pancakes after we have the batter on the griddle), craisins, cinnamon/sugar/butter (we also plop this onto the pancake batter after we have it on the griddle), chocolate chips...whatever your taste buds are craving at the moment.

Added bonus: Turn these pancakes into waffles just by separating the eggs and beating the egg whites until stiff. Fold in the egg whites to the rest of the ingredients.

Trust me these pancakes have been around for awhile and they have stood the test of time! Enjoy! Mom

Monday Muse: Public vs. Private Education

2010-02-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

This is our first Monday Muse post, where each of us will offer our viewpoint on a variety of topics the first Monday of every month. Our first discussion is on public education and private education.

Mom: I have always been a proponent of public education. I grew up attending public school and worked as a speech pathologist in public schools. Our family was fortunate in that we lived in places where the public schools were of high educational standing. There was only one locale where my husband and I considered private schooling for our children. But in the end we agreed that if we didn't place our children in public school then we would not be faithful to our philosophy. If public school is not supported by the public, then it will eventually become less stringent in educational achievement and it will only offer the most minimal education for those who can't afford private school. Schools are successful when there is an investment of time and attention and that is best given by parents and by the community. It is a parent's responsibility to reinforce education. A parent needs to support the school in volunteering time to help in whatever capacity he/she can. Parents have to be actively involved in the PTO of their child's school. They need to check on the homework assignments and make doing homework an important part of their child's day. They need to communicate regularly with the teacher and they need to reinforce that school is a priority and learning is the number one activity in their child's day.

So what, you say! You can do those same things in a private school setting and pay for a better education. Well remember that one place where we almost enrolled our children in private school? If we had done that, our children would not have attended a school that exposed them to racially different schoolmates. It would not have allowed them to learn about and develop respect for other cultures. It would not have enriched their lives beyond book learning. In my opinion they are far richer and better educated to have attended a public school. Oh and as far as their educations...they went to universities that were top ranked in their areas of study and got university degrees just the same as those children who attended private school.

Grandma: I say amen to what Mom said. I am also a proponent of public school systems. My husband worked for the school district and had first hand knowledge of how it worked. Very seldom did a school bond levy get voted down. The people in our town knew schools had to be supported. Teachers were well known and respected for their dedication to their profession. There were times when I disagreed with a teacher's discipline philosophy but after discussion with the teacher and my child things got worked out. All three of my children knew how to read by the time they got out of first grade due to the diligent efforts of their teacher. All three of them attended colleges or universities, so I am thankful that they had the opportunity to be taught in a public education system.

When I attended grade school there were very few private schools in our area so it was pretty much left up to the public schools. The teachers I had, Miss Odegard for first grade, Miss Brady for second, Miss Caseman for third, Mrs. Luke for fourth and Miss Burns for fifth and Miss Torkelson for sixth grade left an impression on me for all the things they taught. My education was a good one and was based on the three "r"s. We respected our teachers as leaders and educators.

I am not against private schools and I can see a need for them but we need to support the public schools. Every child needs an education and we need to support our teachers. The "no child left behind" program could be better, if the teachers and principals had more input in it and if there were more volunteers among the parents to help tutor the underachievers. This country of ours is built upon the public school system and we owe it to all the children to help them get a good education.

Daughter: I was raised to believe in public education, but slowly I've begun to question its merits. While I was a reporter, I saw first-hand the condition of schools in rural South Carolina. In most schools, teachers were working with dated materials and crumbling facilities. There were no bells and whistles. And unfortunately this was not an area that supported its schools. When there was a referendum for more taxes to improve the condition of the county's schools, an overwhelming percentage of residents voted it down, because they didn't understand why students needed new computers, or a roof that wasn't leaking, or walls that weren't crumbling. And contrary to what they thought, these things did affect the quality of education.

I have seen schools that look like small universities with smart boards in every classroom and Olympic sized swimming pools. But then there are those that have been forgotten--where buildings are deteriorating from age and the education is woeful. Sadly, the difference lies in the wealth of an area. It seems that those children who happen to be born into a poor region of the country have less opportunity to grow and advance than those who were born into wealth and opportunity.

My husband and I will face a very big decision once we have school-aged children because public education in Chicago is awful. It's not just bad; it's terrible. Most people either move to the suburbs once they have school-aged children or they pay for private school. Is it better to move to a new wealthier locale, where there are excellent public schools, or to stay where you are and pay for a private school? Are you really supporting public schools in that case?

Some people believe that the more parents support private school, the more likely it is that public education will become a poor man's institution. But maybe if we have school choice, public schools will no longer have a monopoly and they'll be forced to compete against private and charter schools to attract their customers. When an organization has a monopoly, they have no need to have the best product. If they have competition, they have to offer the best.

I know that the solution is much more complicated because it really comes down to dollars and cents. And if the federal government and state government can't commit more money and local residents won't either, then there's really nowhere to go.

The Good Ole Days

2010-02-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

Winter continues to roar, keeping an icy grasp on many places...some more than others. When winds are howling and snow is flying the natural instinct is to just hunker down and avoid venturing out, although that wasn't the case when I was younger. As a kid I seemed to have an innate ability to ignore freezing temps and it was often freezing and windy and blizzarding in Montana.

An especially fun wintertime activity was when we would drive out of town to my Grandparent's ranch. Somewhere along the rural road Dad would stop the car and pull a sled and rope out of the trunk. He'd tie the sled to the rear of the car and my brothers and I would pile onto the sled with scarves tied around our faces and knitted caps pulled low. We would shriek and scream as the car pulled out slowly and the rope pulled taut and then we were off whipping along behind the car. Snow billowed up from the tires blowing into our faces and the wind would bring tears to our eyes but we loved it. Yup...winter just isn't the same anymore! Mom

New Name

2010-02-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

If you have been following us, you might have noticed that we had the title "Generational Viewpoints" while our URL was "different decades". In an effort to make our name easier to remember we decided to match our URL to our title...so we are now Different Decades. If you have had trouble remembering our URL this should help...but if you really want to keep tabs on us, consider putting us into your reader. You can set one up easily in google. Keep checking our blog for a new feature we will be initiating soon! Mom

Lacking Inspiration Today

2010-01-27T13:51:00.000-08:00

This week just has not been my week. It has taken two, soon to be three days, for me to clean our apartment and it's only 1,o00 sq. ft.! Granted I've been sick, but still what is wrong with this picture??

Today, I was in the process of finishing the cleaning when I slammed my leg right into the open dish washer. Who's to blame? I know, I know...me! So I limped to the couch and gave up. I figured it's just not my day, right? And besides, my mom has been pestering me to post a blog, so I decided to share my frustration with the world. Lucky you, huh?

Anyway, on to happier things. This picture makes me smile, mostly because of the headband which I got on Etsy, my favorite place ever! What I love about Etsy is that you support artistic individuals, and you end up with a completely original piece!

Anyway, I hope you dear readers are having a better day! Hopefully I will muster enough energy and resolve to clean the bathroom before the end of the day! Daughter.

Scarecrows galore!!!

2010-01-23T14:28:00.000-08:00

I saw this pattern in September and thought it was a cute table runner. It took until now to get it finished. There are eight of these little fellows scaring away the crows. All of the material in this table runner was from my "stash". We are now ready for the next Halloween.
I even found enough yarn to add for their stuffing. This is the completed runner. Grandmother

Despair Beyond Belief

2010-01-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

It started out like a typical morning. A check of the weather showed the morning temp at 16...brr! Too cold to run so that meant a bike ride on the trainer. I climbed onto the bike and began cruising. Before long I was out of the safety of my house and pedaling along streets of devastation and despair. Buildings were piles of rubble, people in the streets, lost faces looking for salvation. The piercing screams of a young boy, probably 8 or 9 years old. His mother frantically trying to relieve his pain with her arms wrapped in loving embrace. But it wasn't enough to numb the feeling of a needle piercing his skin, sewing a gaping wound without the benefit of anesthesia.

I pedaled faster wanting to leave the scene of devastation, but my eyes wandered to the young American woman; wanting to make life better in another country she now found herself in a hospital bed with one leg partially gone.

Then there was the priest who left the bedside of his dying mother in the US, as she told him he was needed by others. He did what he could administering last rites to a hurting people who had nothing to begin with and now had less than nothing.

This bike ride was painful and haunting. I flicked off the TV, but the visions still roam in my head. They won't leave. How can a people, who were in poverty before this earthquake, build new lives? How can they face life when they are starving and have lost loved ones? How can they be helped? Mom

PS You can also click on the "Craft Hope for Haiti" button on our sidebar and purchase or donate handmade items with the proceeds of the sale going to helping Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.

Another New Year

2010-01-05T17:07:00.001-08:00

We're already well into the new year and it's the time for making all kinds of promises to ourselves about how we are going to improve this, lose that, learn this and that...but here I am looking back at the last days of 2009 and wishing that I could turn the clock back. The tasks of life have already started to overwhelm me and fill up the pages of my calendar.

For Christmas we traveled to northern Wyoming to my mother-in-law's. Although she has a computer, it is dial-up to get online so tapping into technology is extremely painful...it's so bad grown men have been known to run out of the house screaming! Consequently we don't get online. There isn't any cell phone coverage so that nixes the use of iphones and droids.

She does have TV, but we don't even turn it on. That leaves wildlife viewing as our major form of entertainment. We had wild turkeys (Tom and Henrietta) in the yard, moose down the road and deer all over the place. Tom and Henrietta didn't even know that they were in danger of being served cooked on a platter...not really...but they were pretty trusting that we were harmless. And in between viewing the wildlife we went snowshoeing and cross country skiing. We ate when we wanted to and did what we wanted and took pleasures in the simple things. Sigh...Mom

Just in time for Christmas

2009-12-25T14:45:00.000-08:00

My thumb isn't green so when it comes to growing flowers indoors I usually don't have good luck or anything to show for my efforts. Several years ago a friend gave me a square box with a picture of a showy flower. I didn't think it would grow to be like the picture but with a little water it opened up and brought a lot of joy into a dark dismal winter day.

Since that first time I have always bought a new bulb and hoped for the best. This beautiful bloom is an Amaryllis. It is native to South Africa and grows wild there. This year my Amaryllis opened up two buds on the 23rd and today it was in full bloom.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Grandmother

The Twelve Dishes of Christmas

2009-12-24T13:13:00.000-08:00

For Christmas at the cabin, my Grandma made for me:

12 rolls a' rising
11 wines chilling
10 pounds of taters
9 scoops of dressing
8 eggs a' frying
7 plops of gravy
6 pounds of bacon
5 sizzling steaks
4 bowls of bisque
3 candied yams
2 pies baking
And Tom Turkey roasting in the oven.

Burp!

Merry Christmas Everyone,
Daughter and Mom (with the help of husbands)

Our New Look

2009-12-19T10:55:00.000-08:00

We've just redesigned our blog. Let us know what you think of the changes by participating in the poll on the right. We want to know your thoughts. Thanks! - The whole gang.

Spicy Tomato & Blue Cheese Soup on a Wintry Evening

2009-12-18T10:19:00.000-08:00

This recipe for Spicy Tomato & Blue Cheese Soup is a must try. At first glance, it may seem like an odd combination, but in reality, it is a delicious, spicy, creamy concoction. And even if you don't like blue cheese, I think you might still like this soup. The cheese only adds a hint of flavor, but a heap of creaminess.

I could not find Roth Kase Buttermilk Blue Cheese as the original recipe calls for, so I just picked a generic soft, creamy kind. It worked just as well. I would not however make Adam Roberts' other substitution. You must use sriracha sauce, as the recipe states. Do not substitue Tobasco for it. Sriracha has a wonderful complex spiciness that just can't be replaced by Tobasco.

I paired this delicious soup with a homemade boule from "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day", a must for any bread lover. My mom, both grandmas and my sister-in-law have this book. All are wonderful cooks, so that should speak volumes.

I also made a fennel and apple salad. The recipe is here. If I were to redo this, I would have cut down significantly on the fennel or maybe even eliminated it, as the apples in the vinaigrette were delicious enough by themselves.

Clearly, this meal wouldn't be perfection without a nice, cold bottle of Winter, White Ale.

How fitting for a day like this?

Daughter.

A NEW PET

2009-12-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

We have a new pet, Roxie! I think he is a boy but Foxie Roxie is a name I couldn't resist. He thinks that this is his yard. He has moved in under a bay window and dug out a hole for himself. Luckily he has been careful and not disrupted any plants. I tried filling in the hole several times but he is a persistent bugger. I happened to walk past the window and spotted him perched on a rock with his eyes half-closed basking in the sun. Taking a photo through the window I caught him in the middle of a yawn...what a life!

Hmm..what's that! My movement must have caught his attention. He turned to see what might have disrupted his peaceful respite. I must say he has a beautiful coat. With the cold weather we were experiencing, it is full and lush.

Just too much activity around here for any napping! Shortly after this picture I tried to get closer to the window for a better shot. He caught sight of me and turned on his heels, ducked under the fence and headed off where he could relax without so much interruption!

Christmas Ornament Memories

2009-12-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

It takes me a couple of days to decorate my tree. It is filled with special memories with all the ornaments. I store my ornaments in old metal lunch boxes. They are categorized by who makes them. Some of the older bulbs came from my Mother's tree. No one wanted them when she offered them so I became the proud owner of them. Many of the ornaments were made by our kids. The boys made space ships, God's eyes, race cars. My daughter contributed angels, trees and stars. One box is especially used for Grandkids offerings. Clay baked candy canes, ballerinas, horses and a Santa. Most of the ornaments are hand made which make them a one of a kind. Each child, grandchild and special person who contributed to our tree is remembered. It is a fun time as I remember unwrapping special hand made ornaments when we opened our packages and my kids saying "Do you like it Mom"? These are good memories. Have a Merry Christmas. Grandmother

Hic...cup!!

2009-12-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

Paperwhite narcissus are a popular bulb for holiday decorating, but one of their faults is that they can get floppy. A sure fire remedy for floppy paperwhites is a stiff drink. While a stiff drink makes me giggly and floppy, it has just the opposite effect on paperwhites. They stand up tall and straight when they share a cocktail with you. They are cheap drunks as you don't need the expensive stuff. Just plant your bulbs as usual and water...the plain stuff...until green shoots are about 1 to 2 inches tall. At that point begin hydrating with a solution of water and liquor about 1 part liquor to 7 parts water. If you need scientific research to convince you, check out this website. Cheers to you and your paperwhites...hic! Mom

The Last of the China Trip

2009-11-19T11:13:00.000-08:00

I'm sure many of you are wondering if I ever made it back from my trip to China. Well, I did! It took me about two weeks of constant sleeping before I emerged from zombie land. And then of course I got sick, so I've been battling that. And now (a month later) I finally got around to blogging about the conclusion of my trip. Last I left off, we were in Guiling. Before we headed to Shanghai, we went to the Reed Flute Cave in Guiling, which was spectacular. Unfortunately we rushed through it, as we had a flight to catch.

Once in Shanghai, we drove to Zhouzhang, which our guide referred to as the Venice of the East. We left our hotel at 5 a.m., so that we could catch the sun rise over the canal city.

We even went on a gondola ride!

And the gondolier sang! (Unfortunately I am still new to video and cannot for the life of me figure out how to rotate it.)

Sadly, the waters around Zhouzhang are incredibly polluted. While we were there, people were throwing their cigarettes and garbage into the canal. Even more disturbing is the fact that people wash their clothes and food in this polluted water.

We ended our trip in Shanghai, which is such an unusual city. In between the skyscrapers and futuristic architecture, there are alleyways filled with drying laundry. It's the hum drum of every day life mixed with the elegance of big city living.

Our last adventure in China was on our last day. My mother-in-law and I decided to venture out by ourselves. With only a map to navigate us, I am very happy to report that I got us to our shopping destination relatively unharmed. But because we love to shop, afternoon quickly turned into night and sunshine quickly turned into rain. We needed to get back to our hotel and quick. Our guide had told us that we could easily catch a cab. All we had to do was hand them this little card that had the name and address of our hotel in Chinese. Well, we followed these simple instructions, and the cab driver started yelling at us in Chinese. He was so angry, he made shooing gestures. Not knowing what he could possibly be saying, Sheryle and I scampered from the taxi.

I wasn't very confident that I could navigate us back to the hotel in the dark. So we started walking and came across this rickety, old moped with a multicolored umbrella duct taped over a seat that looked like it could only safely hold one person. But being the adventurers that we are (and with no other option), both of us somehow got into the one-person seat and piled our bags on top of us. Well, the ride was intense to say the least. At one point we were driving toward a large truck head-on. Yes, head on. And at the last minute our Chinese driver swerved back into our lane. While I was on the moped, I was profusely sweating and questioning whether we would make it back to the hotel alive. When I got off all in one piece, I proudly patted myself on the back for being such a courageous adventurer.

The most hilarious part of the story is not that Sheryle and I were basically sitting in each other's laps, it was that both Sheryle and I argued with the Chinese moped driver when he dropped us off. We both contended that where he dropped us off was not our hotel while he adamantly said it was. Mind you, we were having this conversation in gestures and head shakes. After about five minutes of arguing, we resigned ourselves to our fate and paid the driver. Lo and behold we walk to the front of the building and what do you know it is our hotel! I would love to know what that little driver was thinking about those two blonde Americans! Daughter.

What A Trooper!

2009-11-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

Remember this scene last month? 14 inches of snow and cold. It was a stern warning for plants to pull down their heads, shed their colors and enter into blissful sleep for the winter. Most of the plants in my garden took heed... all except for one rebel!

Scabiosa 'butterfly blue' has tossed her worries to the wind about taking cover from the wrath of old man winter. She is continuing to dress in her finery and toss her head about, pooh poohing snow, wind and cold. She is the lone bloomer amidst the downed leaves and browning stalks and even though she is small in stature she has a brave presentation.

Scabiosa or pincushion flower is one of my favorite flowers. She blooms all summer long with a little deadheading and although most sources say to keep her roots moist, mine survive and flourish with minimal watering. Pincushion flower is a perennial that likes full sun. You can't help but admire this flower with her saucy attitude! Mom

Scrappy Quilt finished

2009-10-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Finally finished the "scrappy strip quilt" I have been working on this summer and fall. It seems to take longer when the weather is pleasant and the garden beckons. This quilt took one roll of strip pieces and several others from my "stash". Just love using material I have on hand.
This is the back side, I used left over strips and had to purchase additional yardage for the border. I figure the cost of material in this quilt was close to $40.00 by using left over fabric from previous projects. I didn't keep track of the time in sewing it together, quilting and hand sewing but I estimate close to 10 hours at $7.00 (minimum wage) for a total of $70.00. So the entire quilt cost me $110.00. Now remember this is a throw size quilt (58"by 68"). I took time to figure the cost of this because I was going through some old clippings our parents had and came upon an article in the 1942 paper someone placed. It was an ad "Quilt For Sale", Double wedding ring, yellow background; extra large. Price, $15.00. I think that Double wedding ring quilt was a good buy. Grandmother

It's Simple...Really!!

2009-10-28T16:12:00.001-07:00

A snowstorm that has knocked us right out of fall into winter before even the trees were ready

PLUS

so much accumulation that I had to shovel the driveway and sidewalk not just once but twice and now it is looking like yet a third time

EQUALS

a cup of hot chocolate and a chocolate swirl brownie!!!

Mom

Everlasting Flowers

2009-10-25T10:48:00.001-07:00

Outside it is nippy and grey and the kind of day where you just want to hunker down. I am sad to see summer go, but I do like having the change of seasons. With the approach of winter I can cross off all of the undone chores in the garden and tackle some of the projects waiting for me in the craft room.

I just made this wall hanging for a silent auction. It is from a pattern by Patch-Abilities designed by Julie Bohringer with a few changes. I liked this wall hanging so much I almost decided not to put it into the silent auction and wanted to keep it for myself. It was a deja vu moment as I flashed back to a childhood birthday party I was invited to. My mom (aka Grandmother) and I went shopping and we picked up some cute little Trolldolls for a gift. Trolldolls were all the rage then...ohhh so long ago. Anyway I liked the Trolldolls so much that I decided I wanted to keep them. Of course I was reasoning that Mom would let me keep them and then I could get something else for the party. But no! Mom didn't quite see it that way. Her sage advice to me was that I needed to make a decision. Either I kept the dolls and didn't go to the party or I wrapped up the dolls and gave them to the birthday girl. I was torn but in the end I wanted to go to the party so I gave up the dolls.

Now where was I going with this??? Oh right...the wall hanging...I ended up giving it as a silent auction item. But I can make one for myself and I will, just so I can hang it up and dream about flowers when I am up to my armpits in snow! Mom

Many colors of fall!

2009-10-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

The greens of the trees and bushes are slowly changing to yellows, rusts, oranges, reds and brown. Fall is a colorful time of the year. This is a currant bush that has cast its green tint and changed to a reddish orange. The sun reflecting off the colorful leaves makes one stop and soak in the beauty all around. We live in an arid part of Colorado where we get very little rain or snow so the bushes and the trees we have we enjoy.
This is what they call "burning bush" around here and this year it has been a vivid pink turning to a vibrant red. What a kaleidoscope of colors this year. Grandmother

What to do with green tomatoes

2009-10-16T13:36:00.001-07:00

Lots of green tomatoes on the vines, too many to ripen since the nights are getting colder. The recipe book came out and I leafed through the relish recipes. Found one that had all the veggies I had, only had to purchase onions and red peppers. I ground up the green tomatoes, onions, green peppers, red peppers, added a few cucumbers and cooked them up. Now we will have relish for our pot roasts, hamburgers and hot dogs. Grandmother

China Beyond the Masses

2009-10-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

When you think of China, you think of the 1.3 billion people that live here...or at least I did before I came. I never imagined rolling hills with winding rivers and lush greenery, but that's certainly what I saw. On Friday we left Li Jiang and headed to Guiling, which is in the southwest part of China, We were in Guiling for one evening and I was glad to leave because it was overrun with tourists. We took a boat to Yangshuo, which was absolutely breathtaking. And in Yangshuo we traveled to the countryside where we were able to get away from the masses of people and the beauty was just overwhelming.

But the people were unbelievable. I'm not sure if it's being white or foreign or whatever, but the only thing they see when they see you is dollar signs. There were women carrying their children in baskets over their shoulders waiting along the roadside asking for money for pictures. And they bombard you. It's not like they ask one time. They follow you and ask you a million times for money. Others parade their water buffalo and as soon as you take a photo, they ask for money.

I did give in to this one though because of the cute little baby buffalo.

I only paid for one other photo. It was of this beautiful Chinese girl. She was selling some trinkets but she was really more interested in us than in selling her stuff. She was the only one who wasn't aggressive, so I gave her 10 yuan to take her photo.

Our guide told us that some of these people in the countryside don't even work. They just make a living off tourists. It's amazing to me. It's especially insulting since everywhere I go, the Chinese are photographing me! If I were making them pay, I would have made money to buy souvenirs! Daughter

National Day

2009-10-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Today is National Day, the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The streets are deserted and Li Jiang is quiet. The few people who are out and about are watching Beijing's celebration on their cell phones. Everyone else is watching the activities from home. It doesn't really seem to be much of a celebration though. It's more like a show of power as tanks and soldiers march down the street.

Li Jiang had its celebration yesterday. Unfortunately I wasn't able to watch as much as I would have liked. I spent the morning in the bathroom getting sick from food poisoning, so I was very weak. But I had to capture some of the festivities. Most of the ceremony was in Chinese so I was at a loss there. But I'm sure much of it was propaganda touting Communism and the Chinese government. Many people in the village square were dressed in the traditional Nasi style. Musicians were playing Chinese instruments while a group of beautiful women sang.

But my favorite part was the dancing dragon!

This evening all of the townspeople came out of hibernation and were dancing in the traditional Nasi style in the village square. I joined in just for the fun of it.

Since this is the anniversary of the People's Republic, here are some of my initial thoughts. So far, I haven't seen much of the effect of Communism here in China. I have not seen one homeless person though. And even in the village we saw today, which we were told was very poor, everyone seems to have a home even if it is rustic. The people we have met seem content, so I have not seen the depressed country that is so often depicted. The most obvious effect of China's government was seen in our tour of Beijing. There was absolutely no information about Tiananmen Square. Our guide told us absolutely nothing about it and as we entered we went through some pretty intense security. Unfortunately, I don't think I can write about that experience until I am back home, because the Chinese government censors the internet...so more on that later. Overall from my perspective I don't know whether people support their government or if their voices are just hushed. Daughter

The Blonde American and the Naxi Herder

2009-09-30T09:03:00.001-07:00

We're in a very rural village today that is about 1100 years old. It is pronounced Bai Sha.

The village is surrounded by beautiful mountains.

I left our tour group this morning for an adventure of my own. I walked off the main drag of town and headed for a dirt road that led into the mountains. The views from that road were spectacular and stretched to the horizon. There were corn fields, Chinese style homes, rice paddies, mountains and vistas. It was a feast for the eyes. I began climbing a road that twisted up the mountainside until I got to a clearing where an old Chinese man was leaning on his cane. He gestured to me and I thought, "Why not?", and followed him. He was a Naxi (pronounced Nasi) cattle herder. The Naxi's are native to this area in the Yunnan Province.
The Naxi herder had about 10 cows and 6 dogs with him. His face was lined with age. His skin was dark from the sun. And while his teeth were yellowed and crooked, his smile was beautiful. He had only a simple wooden cane and a tattered backpack.

He wouldn't let me take his photograph (but I sneaked a few anyway). We traveled together up the mountainside following his cattle. The only words we had in common were "thank you" in Chinese (pronounced ju bai say) and "hello" in English, but somehow we managed. I'm sure it was quite the scene: an American blonde who is a bit clumsy and an agile, old Chinese man traipsing up the mountain. He showed me these old stone structures, which I later found out was a graveyard. He tried to teach me some words as he chattered to himself in Chinese. He also looked through my journal and was excited to see the only Chinese writing, which symbolized the word "China". He pointed to himself and said something like "chin quoi", which means Chinese, and then he pointed at me and said "men quoi", which I took to mean American or foreigner.

Mostly he enjoyed watching me take photos of his cattle and was amazed that he could see the finished product on the camera screen. He taught me how to move the cattle up the mountainside and together we made the gutteral Chinese sound that was a signal to the livestock. When we hit the road again we parted ways. He pointed at himself and gestured farther up the mountain. Then he pointed at me and gestured down the mountain. I thanked him many times for his kindness. The whole time I was torn between two feelings: fear that I would lose my way as we traveled through the mountains higher and higher, and exhilaration at being able to have this experience. Happily, the fear dissipated as I started seeing familiar sights and I was left with the feeling of exhilaration. Daughter

I'm Here!

2009-09-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

A visit to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square certainly stirred up some reactions. I traisped across the square so I could see the bullet holes on a statue; the only evidence of the Tiananmen Square protests and resulting massacre in 1989. When I took pictures of the guards I got yelled at and one guard help up his hand and said, "No pictures!" in English.
The Great Wall is absolutely breathtaking. It seems almost rainforest-like with all the greenery and the mist that hangs in the sky. One of the group members got lost while we were hiking the wall and she ended up walking 25 kilometers. The Great Wall is a huge place and there are six different entrance points. She was lost for about 3 hours or more until she got to a police station. I was actually a little jealous (I know that's not a good thing) because it sounded like she had quite the adventure.

The Chinese peoples' reactions to me have been a bit unnerving. At the Great Wall two young Chinese girls kept taking pictures of me and then they both wanted to take pictures with me and they were so excited. Everytime I saw them they would shyly smile and wave and just watch me. I guess I am an oddity here.
A visit to a Cloisonne factuory was amazing. Cloisonne is original to China although now people associate it to France. Cloisonne is made out of copper and then a design is made and painted.
This is a Naxi man in native dress in Li Jiang. To get this picture, I had to pay the man 2 yuan...less than 50 cents. The Naxis are similar to American Indians. They were originally in Mongolia, but the Mongols drove them out and they settled in Li Jiang. In Li Jiang a beautiful woman is one that is dark and very fat...I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder! Daughter

Splenfloriferous

2009-09-29T12:09:00.001-07:00

A trip to the SW part of Colorado over several mountain passes led to some splendid scenes of color. The aspen in the high country were beginning to turn...not quite at peak but still a beautiful show with the mountains framing the background.
For those who think that Colorado is dull and brown take another look at the range of colors...yellows, golds, blues, ambers. Mother Nature's palette is full of colors.
I do hate to see the leaves changing as that means that winter will soon be following. Summer definitely was not long enough and I am not ready to give up my shorts and tops for wool socks, hats and mittens. Oh if only fall would linger for a time longer! Mom

China: A Contradiction in itself

2009-09-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

I head to China tomorrow. Wow, even as I write that I can't believe it. I really have no idea what to expect, especially since my research has led me to a complex history that seems at odds with itself. Take Mao Zedong. His image is everywhere in China. The Chinese revere and celebrate him. But under Zedong's leadership, between 40 and 70 million people died, which according to some historians is more than the death toll under Stalin and Hitler. How can someone whose policies and reforms killed so many people be so avidly adored and honored? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Even the political and economic systems seem to be in conflict. On one hand China is Communist, but on the other it has a market economy. Deng Xiaoping led this economic reform and argued that socialism and a market economy are not incompatible. I would argue that ruling a country with an iron fist does run contrary to the ideas of a market economy, which depends on some level of market freedom.

It's funny because the Chinese also venerate their history, which is one of the oldest in the world, but they don't seem to care about the physical manifestations of that history. In Beijing, old homes, buildings, temples and landmarks were torn down at a rapid rate to make way for the new China. Under Zedong, each of Beijing's entrance gates--Xibian Gate, the Gate of Earthly Peace, Chaoyang Gate, Dongzhi Gate, Chongwen Gate, etc.--were demolished. Again, it just seems inconsistent from my perspective.

Even the country's official name, the People's Republic of China, seems to be an oxymoron, as the people have no voice because it is suffocated by the government.

I certainly don't claim to know all of the events that contributed to the China we know today and I can't begin to understand everything. But the small perspective I have gained as an outsider looking in is that the country is full of contradictions. Right now it doesn't make much sense to me and unfortunately I don't know that it will make any more sense after my trip because I can't freely ask questions and if I do, I'll probably get the generic, government-mandated answers. So I leave tomorrow on this journey and can't imagine what I will encounter, but I hope I will be able to share my perspective--which will only be a small slice of the truth--with you. Daughter.

Update on Gramps

2009-09-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Since Gramps repadded the sax and had it tuned, he decided to get some "How to play the sax" books and began his journey into the world of music. After practicing the scale and learning the notes he has now mastered "Jingle Bells" (should be ready for Christmas), "Abide with Me" and "When the Saints Come Marching In". He blows on his sax for about 45 minutes every day and is enjoying this new found hobby. I guess you can never be too old to try something. Grandmother.

Backcountry Camping

2009-09-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

As mom mentioned, our family went backcountry camping in Glacier National Park. This was pretty much unprecedented for everyone but my husband, who has backpacked through the Australian Outback.

My brother and sister-in-law have experience camping in the Boundary Waters but camping when you have a canoe is a little different than camping with a backpack, as they quickly learned about a mile into the hike. They spent the rest of the trip calculating whether their little luxuries were worth it.

My dad goes hunting each year so he's used to the perks of a hunting camp, where you have large, delicious meals and these little things called guns which protect you from things like...bears. Unfortunately, guns are not allowed in Glacier so we resorted to things like bear spray (like I'm actually going to let a bear get close enough to me so I can spray him) and chants like "Hey Bear" (which make us sound ridiculous). Really great protection, huh? Even though the safety video we watched said not to run because the bear could catch you, I thought well I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun at least one of my camp mates, so that was my plan. Luckily, we didn't encounter any bears at least while backpacking.

As for my mom and me, let's just say our limited experience involves car camping, which again involves luxuries that I cannot fathom carrying on my back. So needless to say, this was in the truest sense an adventure. To bring a little of the adventure to you, here's a video of us hiking into our campground. Be kind though, as this is my first experience recording video and I'm hiking, which as you can tell from my mom's admonishing may not be the smartest move. But I didn't fall down the mountain!

Here are some photos of our campsite. We spent our time fly fishing, reading in the hammock, napping, playing cards and most importantly drinking whiskey because no camping trip is complete without a little bit of booze.

This is where we had to hang all of our food, far, far away from our tents to ensure we didn't get any unwanted visitors.

And lastly here is a video of our trek out. We had a steep climb up the side of a mountain.

Only the promise of some hard-earned, ice cold, Montana brewed beer got us through it all. Daughter.

Goldilocks and the Bear

2009-09-09T08:22:00.001-07:00

Just got back from a trip to Glacier National Park with the kids and kids-in-law. The photo is of Upper Quartz Lake where we backpacked and camped. We had a great trip, but it seems that bears are mistaking me for Goldilocks. On our last day in the park we went fly fishing on the North Fork of the Flathead River. My husband and I had been fishing in the morning downstream while our son-in-law checked out spots upstream. We had our bear spray with us, but had only seen sign of deer by the river.

After lunch our son-in-law said he had found a good spot by a beaver jam and had pulled out a lot of fish. My husband and I made our way down to that spot although he was slower than I was. I was reeling in a nice fish standing in the middle of the river by the time he got there. He went on past me and around a bend. Unfortunately the fish I was reeling in ended up breaking my line and taking my fly with him. I tied on another fly and cast several times but couldn't interest anything. About the time I took up my line and was going to check out how my husband was doing I sensed that I wasn't alone. I looked up to see a black bear 25 yards opposite me on the shore. About the same time I was looking at it and saying to myself, "That's a bear! Oh gosh...that's a bear!", the bear spotted me. I froze and then checked to see if I could see my husband because he had the bear spray....nope, no sign of him. Great!! Since we had viewed a presentation prior to backpacking on what to do when you encounter a bear, I did what they said...I started to walk slowly backwards. About this time the bear turned to leave, but for whatever reason he turned around again and stared at me. "Oh, oh...this can't be good!" I was still walking backwards but now was starting to shake. I was looking at the bear and then thought, "Oh don't look at the bear...quick! Look away!" The video had told us that bears will assume you are aggressive if you have eye contact with them. Geez, it's kind of hard not to look at the bear! About this time I was shaking so I did the next thing the video suggested...talk in a low voice. So I started saying, "Easy, easy" over and over. It was more for me than the bear because I wanted to turn and run, but that is the worse thing you can do. The bear kept staring at me but as I was getting closer to the oppposite bank, he finally decided to turn and headed into the trees. When I hit the shore I did a quick step watching over my shoulder to make sure that the bear wasn't following and yelled at my husband. About this time he had seen my peculiar backward two-step and realized that there must be a bear. He never did see it, but he had started making his way toward me. Of course I let him know in no uncertain terms that he was suppose to stay by me because he had the bear spray and I could have been attacked and drug off by the bear and that my life had flashed before my eyes. His response...he had the whole thing under control. Yeah, right!

I think I have had enough bear encounters this summer. I don't need to see any more! Mom

A Tote from Scraps

2009-09-05T14:34:00.001-07:00

I am always looking for ways to use scraps of material from quilts I have made. While I was browsing the fabrics in my favorite quilt store I found this interesting tote pattern. It is from "Kimie's Quilts" and is a Country Tote. The pattern calls for 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 squares which works out well using my scrap stash. I have a hard time throwing any fabric away so the remnants are squirreled away in boxes, which were put to use in sewing this tote. I also collect buttons from jackets, shirts, dresses before they are recycled. These came in handy for this tote. I think it is even more interesting when they don't match. Love it when projects come from items on hand.
Grandmother

Tour de Cure

2009-08-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Today I accomplished a 50k ride for Tour de Cure to raise money for diabetes. That was 30 miles, which is a lot for me. It doesn't sound like much when you consider that there were options for riding 100 miles and 60 miles. My husband completed the 60 mile ride. When I was on the last half of the 30 miles all I could think about was how glad I was that I wasn't doing the 60 mile ride. Maybe after some more time on the bike....and a much softer seat I could do 60. But I sure couldn't have done it today. Who knew that a bike seat could turn into a thing of torture???

My accomplishment pales in light of the "Red Riders"...the people with diabetes who were pedaling. We were suppose to say "Go Red Rider" whenever we passed them, but most of the time they were passing me. If that wasn't enough to make you sit up and take notice there were also riders from a team from the Paralympics. One of the gals was riding the bike with only one leg and kicking butt doing it!

There just isn't any excuse for not getting up off of the couch and moving. If someone dealing with a medical condition or a disability can do it...then what excuse does anyone else have? Mom