Each Monday morning Oli and I visit my favorite person — my father-in-law Bob.. We head over after my bigger kids have shipped off to school. We arrive just as my father-in-law is getting up. He gets situated in the kitchen, I put on his slippers, and fetch the first of many many cups of coffee for him. We chat about the weather, the kids, and catch up on what’s happening that week. I read to him and sometimes prepare his breakfast, fetch his razor or toothbrush, bundle him in his blanket or help him with some personal care and read some more. He’s 83. He’s also blind, hard of hearing, and confined to a wheelchair but none of that really defines who he is. He is a brilliant man with a sharp mind and gentle loving heart. He’s raised 5 children and has been a doting grandfather to nine (plus one great grand-daughter). While I’m there, we peruse the New York times (we LOVE the editorials), and the local paper as I fetch snacks for Oli. Life is slow but sweet over there. After a few hours, I’ll gather up a reluctant Oli and head back to my home, carrying my father-in-laws words words home in my head….carrying his wonderful presence home in my heart.
Archive for April, 2007
Trash-picked Treasures
These were tossed on the curb last weekend. John and I immediately stopped the car, opened the trunk and in they went (along with a laura ashley rug which, unfortunately, is not my style…..). Oh the possibilities……
A kitchen morning
It feels like it’s been a while since I devoted an entire morning to working in the kitchen. Lately, life has been busy so meals have been grabbed on the go and most food I’ve served has been quick and easy. This morning, I finally had time to slow down and spend time on the basics. I cleaned out the fridge and took a brief inventory of the freezer for next weeks meals. I ground the wheat berries that have been waiting for a few weeks to be turned into fresh flour. I pulled out the stockpile of eggs in the fridge and made quiche. Yummy, delicious quiche — broccoli, ham & cheddar and bacon & cheddar. I have butter softening on the counter for a batch of cookies this afternoon and some ripe bananas awaiting their transformation into cake. Aaahh…..it feels good to be back in the kitchen.
A girl and her chicken
Mojo is my animal loving child. She is fascinated by them and fearless about handling them. Here she is with “Snowy” — our speckled egg layer.
A boy and his robot
DNA just turned nine. Ever since we bought a roomba robotic vacuum last fall, he’s been curious about and interested in robots. Our local science center has a lego mindstorms exhibit. He’s tried it out several times and was buzzing with the thrill of building his own robot. So…..for his big N-I-N-E, we took the plunge and here he is with his new buddy.
Five things I like about me
1. I’m a good mother
2. I sew cool kid clothes
3. I like my body (so does my husband…)
4. I have an active mind
5. I’m fairly upbeat and happy
Egg Dyeing
I know this is way after Easter but I just uploaded a bunch of pictures. This year, we went crazy dyeing eggs. As our chickens produce brown eggs (except Monarch!), we bought a packet of white eggs. What was I thinking?! I only bought a dozen and that’s not nearly enough for 3 excited children to play with. So, in desperation, we dyed our brown eggs too. And you know what? They turned out magnificent! The colors were deeper and oh-so-beautiful. I especially like how the speckled eggs turned out. So pretty. You can tell just by looking at the picture which ones they are.
A tiny baby
Last night a little baby joined our family for a few days. He’s our first foster child. His name is Javy and he’s three months old but, perhaps, the tiniest baby I’ve ever held. He was extremely premature and sick for a long time so he’s working hard to catch up. He’s with us only temporarily for respite care while his primary foster mom is out of town. The reasons why he’s in care are many and who knows what his future will hold. Maybe he’ll wind up with his birth mother….or maybe he’ll be placed into an adoptive home. I carry him around in my sling and coo gently to him. I smile into his wide open eyes as he stares at me and grips my finger as I feed him his bottle. I kiss his silky head, hoping to fill him with enough love to carry forward wherever he may go.
Art Sunday
Our local art museum has a free family program every Sunday. This program ties into the museum’s collection — usually there is a tour of a particular gallery and a project to go with it. This week, the focus was on landscapes. The project was to draw our own landscapes and they provided the chalk pastels and paper. We had a fine time of it — and then wandered around the museum a bit — especially Oli’s favorite part — the medieval armor. Here are our new masterpieces (sans one by Oli who had fallen asleep in the car and was not in a drawing mood).
In Celebration….
Of Monarch’s first egg. Monarch is our little bantam chicken — we’ve had her for over a year and finally she has laid her first egg. We’d given up on her ever laying….in fact we had thought she was a rooster until yesterday…..John went and gathered eggs and there was this oh-so-cute little white egg. Turns out Monarch is a hen. After further research we’ve classified her as a Sebright Bantam. So…..I made myself a new clothespin apron (with little white eggs on it) to celebrate.
Living my simple life 