Goodness and Gracious

The one thing traditional about our Thanksgivings is that they are very nontraditional. Every year brings its own interpretation of the state of the year, nay day.  Flexible has been our guide word since a fourth child enter our world.  It's like the opening of gift each year; just what will our
Thanksgiving look like?  We've had Thanksgivings full tilt formal, we've had it delivered by friends when a family illness overwhelmed us.  We've had it in church basements with lonely college students,we've gone to an Italian menu, we've celebrated it with a video camera in Kindred Spirits brand new kitchen,we've gone bowling, we've had it while we packed up my mom for an ER visit.  With a multitude of amigos and single o; you name it; we've done it.

 However, I think we went over the top this year.

Baby Girl decided to grace this memorable Thanksgiving with her latest daughter, Delightful Della, in tow, born November 13th.  We had been on board to serve as mama's helper once she came home from the hospital.  We knew with a due date like November 20, that Thanksgiving was going to be another spontaneous creation.  And with nearly 40 years of planning Thanksgivings that way, I was up for it.

On this visit, we found out that we could rent one of the married student housing apartments for a minimum fee. Since Baby Girl, Illustrious Son In Law, Lil' Lady and Delightful Della were taking up pretty much all of their 500 square foot living arrangement, we opted to spread out a bit and rented the apartment for five days.

Crazy for a woman that never graced a college campus, to haul her stuff into the international world of a top ten university married student housing arrangement.  The smells of foreign cooking permeates all the common areas and you project yourself into the wider mindset available in a large metropolitan advantage.  The burkas, the diminutive,disciplined Asian population, the business as usual from the world not affected by our Thanksgiving, lent this Thanksgiving as Highly Unusual.  But Fabulous.

As you have guessed by now, a Thanksgiving celebration with the presence of a Nine Day Old infant certainly puts the most amazing, wonderful, exuberant, grateful, fabulous slant on what could become a dry, boring Feast Day.

While the little apartment was cozy and well equipped for a rental, I am used to every convenience, cookware/utensil/serving dish/dishware/etc etc that is known to common man.  Forty years of hospitality has outfitted my little kitchen with most of the needed gourmet tools for a successful dinner.  This year, I had three pans, two towels, assorted plastic cooking tools and a few semi good knives.

I love me a good food challenge.

Hubby and I set off for the local market and used all our creative devices to create a tasty, healthy and somewhat disposable Holiday Feast,  When we came upon the paper aisle, I announced with arms held open wide, Hubbiness, you are about to witness a rarity!  I am about to buy everything disposable for THANKSGIVING!  This from a woman who never buys paper plates, who has paper cups just because someone left them at my home, who looks askew at those that would wash disposable silverware, yes, this was HUGE!  In awe, Hubby watched as I selected paper plates, napkins, cups AND silverware.My therapist for my compulsive/obsessive disorder from years past would have lifted his glass in my victorious honor.

And I loved it.

It symbolized freedom from my years of slavery to the way things 'should ' be to the freedom of the need of the moment.

I had arrived.

One indulgence that I insisted on, was a proper pie.  Researching recipes, I found a dandy maple syrup pear pie, that really sounded amazing.  Seven dollars worth of Bartlett pears were selected carefully and placed gingerly amongst the cushion of paper goods in our cart.

Once 'home', both Hubby and I could not remember seeing the pears once we got in the car.  Remember, we did have the lovely distraction of our little two year old companion with us at the store, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, with a fairly new cashier at our check out.  The parking lot was packed to the very limit and the aisles filled with the absolute limit of customers.  Were we going back to fetch those pears? 

 Uh, no.

I had brought along three apples, borrowed a lemon from BG and her cinnamon, used our raw sugar and threw in some blackberries and of course, butter and the final product was considered by Illustrious SIL, that it was close to the best apple pie he had ever eaten.  Score.

 While the post dinner naps commenced, this Mimi 'cleaned' up by disposing of it all but little bowls full of squash and mashed potatoes and a modicum of turkey and 
proclaimed the Mini Meal a raging success!While the little family scooted back to their own little home, Mimi and Papa ventured outside and parked ourselves under a shelter to take some time to reflect on our blessings and drink in His Word in light of a most thankful year.

 Earlier in the week, we had the precious privilege of keeping Lil Lady occupied while her mama healed and rested from the phenomenal event of producing an 8 pound 3 ounce baby totally unmedicated or with any intervention of any kind.  Pure and natural, just like she prayed for.  Amen.
And spending time with Lil Lady?
Oh. My.
Imagination Station, Chick fil A, leaf shuffling, playground playing, play dough creating, hide and seeking, book reading, snuggling, blues clues watching.....Oh the delight of a precious, precocious two year old....!!!!

We departed the next day to leave the next shift of helpers to ooh and ahh over our new little addition to our family and be as blessed as we were.

Not too long after our arrival home, another Little Blessing appeared at our home...Sweet Adeline and her helpful beading ways...

What are we thankful for this most unusual of our forty years together? Just five things:

Vivien, Lailyn, Adeline, Hazel and Della.

Thank you LORD!!

Full Heart *sigh*

 Not many words today.
Heart is imploding and lots of sighs are expending but words just fall short.

 Having a house full of my favorite people just does a number on this very very very very thankful Mimi.

 Making food for my sweeties always takes me over the top.  Listening to their conversations while I saute and bake keeps a smile on my face for days.

 Taking part in my grands first holidays darn near takes me over the edge, emotionally.  Observing that I do indeed have the most adorable in laws ever, seals the deal.

 The transformation of the quiet little house to crazy, hectic party home tickles me like nothing else.

 Running the dish washer three times a day makes me laugh at what it must be thinking.  Wondering how four dozen eggs, innumerable loaves of bread, gallons of tea and juice and never mind the pounds of butter that were ingested and enjoyed, could have disappeared,  makes me giggle.

 Pretty sure my muscles groups that seldom carry little ones, are thinking that I've lost my mind.  Pretty sure I have.  And my heart. Many times over.

 Remembering the joy of pretend play as Papa, Unca Joco and Pretend Cousin Sara played Daddy, Mommy and baby horsies with Miss Viv for hours......

We even had two courageous men head out to Black Friday to score some deals....




























In keeping of the competitive and wacky spirit of gaming in this household, a trophy was awarded the high points of some video game that involved unicorns and rainbows.  I think.  All we know that Miss Viv's Mommy horse was sacrificed for the honor of becoming the trophy. I told you; things get strange around here.




On Sunday afternoon, after four days of wonderful camaraderie, lots of food and laughter and baby holding, my adorable guests searched the house for their belongings and added some things as well and packed their cars well as they headed off to their real lives, far away from this Mimi....... The silence was deafening as the house sighed in contemplation as to just what went on.




So as we head off to the Merry Month of December, let us carry in our hearts the warmth of our relationships and the priorities of family and friends.
And may we be kind - as if at the end of the Christmas Season, we shall receive a trophy as dandy as the one that was fashioned out of my sewing room this past weekend by Baby Girl's Hubby....


My dear children: I love you more than my luggage.....

Young Daddy's Gifts

The Time is ticking away....
Baby Girl's due date is looming large and so is my Baby Girl...
All signs of imminent birth are beginning and Grammy is gearing up.
Even though I had other pressing things in the sewing room, anything for BG/BG's seemed to take precedent due to the time constraint. From the very beginning of the pregnancy, BG's Hubby has been insistent that he wants to be the very involved, very connected papa.  When BG started going through my Handmade Beginnings: 24 Sewing Projects to Welcome Baby, her Hubby was close by selecting  t appropriate accessories.  He particularly wanted a Mei tai baby carrier that reflected him and not someone else's idea of a Man Mei Tai.  Grammy Deb convinced him that he would be able to tote his newborn babe around comfortably with a signature statement.  We selected this one.
And to make it, I used some pretty nice heavy weight cotton in a blue not quite denim but not too light of a shade either. The lining, which was very important since Grammy's little sweetie will be surrounded by it, was a compilation of Hubby's old flannel shirt scraps, worn soft by years in the factory.

Young Daddy Young really needed a bag that would suit his mobile lifestyle.  Something that he could be productive with as well as being nurturing.  He sat down and wrote all the Bag Needs that he had.  I sat down and looked through Anna Maria's book and altered her Dad Bag pattern to suit my more demanding son in law.

The Daddy Bag is made of two colors of suede and is lined with the softest vinyl Crazy Don could share with me.  The pockets are lined with scraps of Unca Joco's trousers that suited the softness and durability requirement.  I used webbing from a part of an old belt to trim out the zipper and the side pockets.

All in all, there is nine pockets, enough for solar chargers and cords of all types and maybe even enough for a few didies, wipes and clothing changes.
Hubby had brought home a passel of straps procured from Who Knows Where, complete with shoulder padding and open clips.  On my last visit to the Amish Leather Shop, (pretty awesome place indeed) I picked up some wonderfully durable brass attachments that probably belong to a horse bridle.  They became the attachment to the strap.                        
                                                           There was something extraordinary about making these things for Young Daddy Young.  There was the creative challenge.  There was the technological challenge.  There was the material challenge.  But aside from these practical things, there was the awareness that I was making these things for a man that is the father of my youngest daughter's child.  A man that had been prayed for and over and about for as long as BG took breath.   Knowing his deep love for BG and his preborn daughter, this task took on a more transcendental feel.  A grand thing to say about something so mundane as a diaper bag and carrier, but truly, profound things are usually spotted in the usual.  I truly felt honored to be supplying for this new daddy, tools that can help him provide nurturing for his newborn.  I felt pleased to be able to send the obvious message through the doing of it, 'I support you in how you support my daughter and granddaughter'.  I want him to know that I am here for him to help in whatever way, from babysitting to help in interpreting my daughter's needs and moods.  
So it was with great excitement that I delivered it to him on Wednesday as we drove to their home to celebrate a very special Pre Birth Thanksgiving.  I was overjoyed to be there and I think he was pretty stoked as well....
.Don't you think??                                                                                                                  

Tidying Up for the Holidays

Back in the day, before oak furniture was frowned upon, it was highly valued.  I'm talking way back in the mid '70s when the Antique Awakening took place.  Furniture formerly relegated to Grandma's attic, received their Glory Days.  Antique Stores were swamped with Newby Collectors eager to have the raging trend.

And I was one of them.  I lovingly caressed the legs of an old buffet discarded by Hubby's dad.  We had a huge table with carved legs and matching buffet that Hubby's father had found in a garage sale coup and took it to a furniture restorer while we awaited it to be dipped and stripped for our refinishing.  We waited a- l-o-n-g time since other Newby Collectors were dragging their estate sale finds there as well.  It got to the point that we would 'visit' our table and buffet, just to make sure it was still there.  While we waited, we collected bits and pieces of solid oak furniture, stripping some and (gulp) painting those things that were too far gone, finish wise.

In the mean time, by Grandfather passed away.
He had lived by himself for nearly 20 years after my Grandmother died.
A jolly, loving, practical joking kind a grampa, his housekeeping skills were a bit....um, lackadaisical.
He only had one eye and the remaining eye was a bit bad as well.  Needless to say, we would be hard pressed to guess if anything was moved from the time my immaculate grandmother died to his own demise.
Grandma and Grandpa had acquired some lovely pieces of furniture throughout their marriage but what was swell in the early twenties, was sadly dated in the early 70's, before the resurgence.
It was at his wake that I came upon this conversation between my uncle and my aunt, sitting in front of me.
"What in the hell are we going to do with all that damn furniture in dad's house? Who in their right mind would want that stuff?" (Their words, not mine.  Sorry)
I nearly bounded out of my chair to interrupt them.
Hubby and I had purchased a home the year before and we had the perfect dining room for this now, Very Desirable furniture.  Being on the Cutting Edge of Trends, I knew what the table (with six leaves) six chairs, large buffet with matching china cabinet with the original glass, was worth.  I knew it was more than I could afford.  But it was Grandpa's and my dad had played ping pong on it and hid his Easter Candy under it and all of our extended family suppers were shared on it.
I had to have it.
Estates being what they are, legally, the dining room set had to be sold, the price shared equally among my father, my uncle and aunt.
While Hubby scurried around to come up with the asking price, my benevolent relatives agreed to give us their share of the sale so that the three pieces could stay in the family.

So this amazingly strong, sturdy table has seated copious amounts of guests for over 35 years.  While no ping pong has been played like in the days of my drunken Irish uncles, there has been a fair share of painting projects, nails hammered into it, myriad hours of home school and countless patterns cut out upon it, including Eldest/Admin's wedding dress.

This summer, before the mama's collection First Annual Collection of Friends Retreat, I started scrutinizing things.  One of the glaring items on my To Do list for the retreat was to clean the dining table realllll good.  That little chore did not happen due to the humidity and oppressive heat.  You don't want  your table oily when company is bringing fabric to lie upon it.  The Ordeal of cleaning the table would wait till Holiday Cleaning .(She says as if she does this every year....)  With Hubby home this past month, we started working on the mile long Honey Do lists for Home Upkeep.  The cleaning of the table was right up there near the top.
During a long road trip this summer, I sat in the co pilot seat devouring all my magazines that had been sorely neglected.  It was then that I found this very successful recipe for wood cleaning. As you can see, it works just dandy.  And so that your dining table shall shine forth this Thanksgiving, I'm going to share it with you:

Wood Cleaner:
1/4 boiled linseed oil
1/2 cup turpentine
Mix in a closed jar.
Clean surface with warm water (very little) and wipe with a dry cloth.
Spread the mixture by dabbing with a #0000 steel wool pad.
Work with the grain.
Wipe off with a dry soft cotton rag.
Wait a few days (this is tricky) before adding a soft paste wax, carnuba, or bees wax to the table top.

Do not use this on questionable finishes or veneers or shellac.  When in doubt, try it on an unseen spot.
I have also seen 'recipes' with white vinegar included in the mix for extra cleaning power.
You decide.

Hosting Hint:  Always set your Thanksgiving Table the night before.  That gives you time to decorate without pressure while the pies are baking.  It also helps delegate out the chores from the busyness of the T-Day!!

Time to Backtrack

The day before Thanksgiving, before setting the table, making the last minute grocery run and before the last of the progeny came home, it was time for a little Thanksgiving craft at the elementary school.
Once a week, I volunteer at one of the many first grades.
I love helping out the very proficient first grade teacher, making copies, cutting out, tearing out, stapling or whatever else I can do to help her concentrate at the task of stretching these wonderful little kiddo's minds.
I love observing, listening and chuckling quietly to myself over some comment made by the usually uninhibited seven year olds.
Even on a day that was a bit willy nilly, I made sure that I took the time to be there to help Crazy Dee make necklaces for the pretend Native Americans in Mitchell's elementary.
A hoot as usual.
Worth every minute of it....
I am thankful for little minds that soak up knowledge and share their thoughts and emotions freely. I am thankful that some of them have school as a refuge to their harried lives. I am thankful for skilled teachers that truly love their students and spend an inordinated amount of time preparing for teaching them.
Having homeschooled all of my kids for a great deal of their schooling years, it is refreshing and comforting to know that bastions of learning exist like this particular teacher's class.
Next to Lovely Wife, she is one of my favorite teachers....



And since I have your attention, can I just share more Vivien stories/photos?
My little girl is very discerning.
Her eyes and hands latched on to this painting, done by her doting mother several years ago.
The bright colors and thick texture appealed to her good design sense..
Interesting, isn't it, that she was so drawn to only one of my paintings of the many in my home, and it was one done by her mama?

And here she spent some time watching the outside, while contemplating a good stand up...
Her little face melts me like nothing else....

Onward to Christmas, sewing for gifts for my faithful customers, decorating and otherwise enjoying this festive season....

Amazing Thankfulness

A new era of my life and a new depth of thankfulness occurred on March 9th of this year.
Seeing life through the eyes of my granddaughter, has allowed me to experience life with a novice viewpoint.
A perspective not checked out for many years.
Fresh, innocent and pure.
From the wonder of her first grape, pictured below, to the quizzical look of just what the heck is a dog doing in the house, I love it.


As you can see by my countenance, my unbridled awe of this little girl that has completely stolen my heart, taken me to that young mama place of many years ago, allowed me to see my very loving proficient daughter take on a new role that becomes her, it is through her that my life has been renewed and restored.
She and all her cousins to be, are my future and my new life.
And I am thankful.

Mail Bag!

Here she is!
The winner of the mama's collection First Ever Giveaway Bag Extravaganza!!!
Got this in my email yesterday with a lovely note:

....' the bag is already one of those items that just makes me happy to see it....!'

My Goal!! To share the comfort and fun of creating! Enjoy! (Psalm 92:4) Thank you God!!

Then I got this note as well:

....Wow, what a fun batch of burp cloths! We've enjoyed going over the details (pretty ones, I might add) of each one! I detect a theme- yellow, turquoise, sky, flowers, and personal homey touches -lace, initialing and oh, so feminine-- I love it!......

Imagine a new mom of a five day old little girl, having the presence of mind and TIME to thank me for the gift that she received less than 8 hours before....Wow...I am humbled and impressed! Thank you, Rachel, for the gift of new life......

Then this morning:

...."Gracie just went down to take her first nap of the day...and I tried to use another blanket to wrap her in (wanted to wash the Nana quilt to bring to Chicago) but she cried and wailed and screamed until I wrapped her in her Nana quilt and she rubbed her cheek on it and fell asleep as I was humming. She has a very, very strong connection to this blanket ....just like her Nana......'

Sigh..

Dare you even ask what I am thankful for this week?
Thank you Lord.....The Author of it all.......