Belatedly Christmas

A poem I came across again, from a favorite poet, David McCord.  I should have pictures with this, but I don't at the moment.  I just love the poem and had to put it down.

COME CHRISTMAS

You see this Christmas tree all silver gold?
it stood out many winters in the cold,

with tinsel sometimes made of crystal ice,
say once a winter morning - maybe twice.

More often it was trimmed by fallen snow
so heavy that the branches bent, with no

one anywhere to see how wondrous
is the hand of God in that white world of his.

And if you think it lonely through the night
when Christmas trees in houses take the light,

remember how his hand put up one star 
in this same sky so long ago afar.

All stars are hung so every Christmas tree
has one above it.  Let's go out and see.

Oh Christmas Tree

This should have been posted closer to Thanksgiving.  Babymomma set up this wintry scene for the babies.  In their shared gait trainer, this desk is the perfect height for them.  The two colored "buttons" are touch activated, the slightest touch, and they are plugged into a box that you can set for time so when it times out, the buttons need to be tapped again; teaching the little ones cause and effect and also empowering them.  One button turns on all the lights, the other button sets the King and Queen to dancing while playing Zippa-dee-do-dah.  We wish it played a Christmas song, but covered in "snow" it makes for a very festive scene.  Grandbaby girl was terribly sick for the past six weeks or so, making it pretty much impossible for her to be in her gait trainer so we would put the buttons on her lap in her stroller.  I was hoping for THAT picture, when she first turned it on and her face was full of wonder but she's just been too sick to really enjoy much of anything.  She is doing much, much better now so for that we are very grateful.

The Bluebird of Happiness

Well, I don't know about that, but they do put a smile on my face.  December First arrived with a gentle snow and rain mix throughout the day and a couple of Eastern Bluebirds.  My header picture is from that day, with a bit of snow falling in the background.  Tuesday was a foggy, drizzly day and the front yard was just a-flutter with activity!  Three bluebirds were in and out of the holly all morning and while waiting their turn, sat in branches above the yard.

Waiting to drop into the holly bush.

This Bluebird found itself in the company of Mourning Doves!

Joy

I can't remember which Christmas this little guy found his way into my stocking.  He's missing a few pompoms and I'm not sure if he was holding a lantern or a Carol book, but I think he was holding something.  My mom always managed to find something unique for each of us that would sit peering out of the top of our stocking, or end up hanging above our stocking on the edge of the staircase.  I can't help but smile when I look at this face, with such chubby cheeks and eyes all squinched up with such a light in them.  For now, he is standing in a little basket between the kitchen and dining room, daring us not to be joy-full as we celebrate this season of Advent.  I introduced my grandbaby girl to him the other day and she reached out and gently touched his cheek and said "hi" in her sweet, tiny voice reserved for babies.  We are full of joy as she has had a few days of feeling mostly herself again after a long gloomy November.

Flashback Friday...Sort Of

Well, this is posting on Thursday, which is the actual anniversary, but I'm overlapping it to Friday for "Flashback Friday"!!  Four years ago, on a warm but rainy Saturday, my daughter got married.  It feels like a life time ago, as this young couple has and continues to go through so much as they raise two precious babies  most likely not into adulthood.  They are an amazing pair and I love them dearly.

This was the top of their wedding cake.  My daughter found the spider's (across their middles it say "Newly Webbs") and made a little veil.  It was so very her. Happy Anniversary and may you continue to thrive and grow in your love and with God's for many years to come!

A Blustery Day

Hum, dum, dum, dee, dee, dum
Hum, dum, dum
Oh the wind is lashing lusterly
And the trees are thrashing thrusterly
And the leaves are rustling gusterly
So it's rather safe to say
That it seems that it may turn out to be
It feels that it will undoubteadly
Looks like a rather blustery day today
It seems that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubteadly
Looks like a rather blustery day today

 This *from Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day and "the rain rain rain came down down down" (also from Winnie the Pooh)  have been in my head all day today!!
 I think when daylight comes tomorrow, there won't be any leaves left on the trees!  Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, we have had bands of gusty winds all day.  I've been enjoying my dogwood which had just reached it's peak fall color, but it has been taking a beating today. (We attempted some photos on the rock under the dogwood on Friday.  Apparently, I wasn't low enough and grand babygirl was more interested in seeing what I was up to than looking at the camera!)

 The hornet nest was disappearing by chunks throughout the day and gone shortly after lunch. 

 Thanks also to Sandy, my hubby was home today so we were able to get a few things done around the house that have been low on the priority list!  Did I mention it is so very quiet around here, other than wind and rain?  We are empty nesters for a few days while our other family is on vacation.  I'm hoping they will have a great week away from nurses and appointments and us and will be able to enjoy being just the four of them.

Acorn's Promise

  

A beautiful birthday gift....two, actually.  Two quilt kits full or material that is just gorgeous.  I hate to begin the process, laying it out and making that "do or die" first cut.  Without the cutting, it will never achieve the potential it has...to be something even more beautiful.

Quite the Week...But It's Only Wednesday!

Quite the week and quite the show going on around here.  We seem to have been having more than our share of gloomy, wet and cold but for a moment Monday morning the sky was glorious and I do mean the whole sky!!  I almost missed it but looked up in time to just drop my jaw and run from window to window.  This was a sunrise that spanned the sky, it lit up my WEST facing front yard as if someone turned a spot light on!  The colors went from pink to pumpkin and eventually gray but it was just SPECTACULAR!!  I managed to snap a picture out one window, but it doesn't quite do it justice.

Tuesday was my birthday and I "felt the earth move under my feet."  A 4.0 earthquake in Maine that only lasted for a few seconds was felt throughout much of New England.  My husband and I were eating at a Rainforest Cafe and didn't think it was part of the special effects but thought maybe there was a hidden hallway behind us behind the wall and they were moving something really big and heavy.  Moments later a text message from our daughter informed us of the earthquake.  She told us our house actually shook as though a really strong wind was blowing.  I've had snow on my birthday before, but this is a first!  My hubby gets points for wishing me a happy 6th birthday and my daughter outdid herself with two very special handmade cards ~ one hand painted birch trees and the other my grandbabies' hand tracings!!

Wednesday began in Boston at a hotel near the airport with hubby catching a shuttle to the airport at 4 am.  I tried to catch a little more sleep and ventured out into traffic by 8.  It was a beautiful ride home!  I am always amazed when I work myself up into a tizzy, worried about traffic and finding my way, it seems as though the sky could not be bluer, the way more clear, traffic tolerable, and the show of foliage all the way home was just gorgeous.  The rest of the day was just full, with a funeral for a dear woman in her 90's who loved and served her Lord and Savior, then running some errands for my parents and finally settling in at home to hear from my husband that it's 75 degrees and his hotel room overlooks the bay in San Diego.

Normal

Yesterday was such an incredible day!!!  The culmination of a dream and planning and preparation and a brave leap of faith.  A birthday party for a 3 year-old attended by eight 2, 3, and 4 year-olds accompanied by moms with a few dear friends.  An Abby Cadabby themed party

 as Abby was the first character who captured my granddaughter's heart and attention through a video screen and still does.  Other than a few visits with 2nd cousins, the birthday girl has not had the privilege of play dates or Sunday School.  She has been living the life of a shut-in especially during the winter months.  This summer was just too hot and humid for her to be outside much and she was so sick the month of July.  So, yesterday really was an incredible leap of faith.  A guest list was made, invitations mailed, and then lots of praying.  Would Grandbaby girl be healthy or would we have to cancel?  Would the invited guests be healthy or would no little ones be able to come?  Would the day be too hot for the birthday girl or rainy and we'd have to be inside where her toys and air-space would be compromised??

We were just incredibly blessed!  A blue-sky, breezy, cool day!!  Outside it was with canopies for shade and plenty of open space for little ones to run. Grandbaby girl was healthy!!!  Only one little guest had to cancel due to possible illness and her other grandparents and Aunts will be coming for their own visit next week.

The other fear ~ how would the little ones respond to the birthday girl?  She looks more like a baby than their peer, she is on oxygen, she can't sit very well, can't walk without a special gait-trainer, can't "talk" understandably, can't blow out her own candles, can't eat cake.  How would the birthday girl respond to all the commotion of a party and all the little ones??

She was in her element and as I carried her around to greet her guests (down on one knee at their level), she smiled and did her special kissy greeting, and the girls got a one-on-one look, but most did wave or say hi or blow a kiss in return.  She sat in her specially decorated little booster seat on a blanket on the ground with the girls sitting around her so they were all the same height.  Candles were lit on cupcakes for the girls and they each blew out their own candle so the birthday girl could see lit candles but did not have to contend with one of her own.  While a clown was face painting, the birthday girl wanted to lay down on the blanket and gab with one of her guests.

 Pretty soon two or three were sitting around her, one brought a book she and her mom had brought for a card (we had said no gifts) and another one was trying to read it to grandbaby girl.

  When most of the guests were running around with their tutus and wings and wands, we decided to put the birthday girl in her gait trainer.  She is not strong enough to really move it well on grass, but Grampa moved her near to the action, and one of the 2 year-olds decided to push her around!!

  It was just the most precious afternoon ever!!!  Party guests seemed surprised at the no gifts request, but what they didn't realize was that they were the gift!!!  I do not have a vocabulary big enough to describe how I felt watching her face throughout the afternoon.  An afternoon to just feel normal.  Simply amazing.

Misadventures in Kayaking

The last time we went kayaking, it was Memorial Day!  This past Sunday provided an opportunity we couldn't pass up.  We headed out with friends to try a paddle in a pond attached to a large reservoir about an hour away from home.  The description in her book was enticing, no motor boats, eagles, pristine.  Following directions in a book and putting the address into two GPS, we did eventually find Gate 43, although my eyes were shut for a few miles while we went on what seemed like a toboggan ride over a dirt road through the woods!  Arriving at our destination, the ranger told us we were not allowed to use our own kayaks in an attempt to prevent the spread of invasive plants.  This information was not on the Government website nor in the paddle book.  Having kayaks on our cars, we did not want to shell out money to rent kayaks so we were directed to another pond not too far away.  This was a little disappointing, the brook leaving the pond was overgrown and not navigable.  We did spy a little thing swimming across a patch of lily pads.  My friend said snake, I said muskrat?  The men ahead of us said SQUIRREL.  It was too funny!  I wish I had had an unobstructed view to snap a picture.  The men made a valiant attempt to navigate a few channels into the marsh grass and succeeded in rousting out a heron.

Kayaking adventures continued Monday.  We dashed up the road after supper to a small pond, just to get a little time together while there was still some daylight, maybe see some beaver.  As we began to take the boats off the roof, my hubby groaned.  One of our paddles comes apart for easy packing and one is permanently stuck.  He had taken the stuck one out of the car so he wouldn't have the mud in the front seat on his commute to work.  It was still at home.  Two kayaks....one paddle.  No problem!!  It was different, but we managed with half a paddle each!  Canoe strokes were remembered and I appreciated the lighter weight of half a paddle.  So, not complete misadventures but certainly not the paddles we had visioned.

Stuck

Last fall, my sister and I spent a few days in New Hampshire.  It was a much needed escape from responsibilities, a chance for uninterrupted quilting, and take in a little shopping and a few short hikes.  While we were there, we decided to take on a challenge of memorizing the book of Colossians and reconvene a year later to recite the whole book.  I had found the challenge here ~ two verses a week with built in times of review.  Seemed very do-able.  Well, I do not want to admit defeat yet but I have a lot of ground to cover to catch up to my sister.  She is ahead of the game and should be all done mid-September as she had already committed a few portions to memory over the years.  I keep letting life get in the way.  Ok, I admit it.....I am TERRIBLY UNDISCIPLINED!!!!  I am a poor manager of time!!!  (That's putting it mildly)  I desire to come up with a schedule and stick to it ~ there is plenty of available time that I just waste.  I need to set aside just a few moments a day to memorize, exercise, and work on some special projects ~ transcribing my grandmother's journals for one.

So, I find myself STUCK in chapter two!!  I should be nearing the end of Chapter three by now or even further.  The middle of Chapter two hit me hard and so I was just stuck there ruminating.  Now, I'm just stuck.

 Colossians 2:6-7 ⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Overflowing with thankfulness

It just hit me like a ton of bricks.  I arrived at this section just before graduation season and it was just perfect for my desire for high school graduates in particular.  So many young people who have professed a faith in Christ leave home and their church family and completely turn their backs on everything they know is right to experience what they think they are missing.  This is my desire for them that they would be strengthened in their faith and not be so weak as to walk away from it.  

But that last bit, overflowing with thankfulness.  How had I missed that??  Forty some-odd years and yet I guess I've just skimmed over that part, missed it completely!  So, I have been stuck this summer on "overflowing with thankfulness."  Rooted, grounded, strengthened in the faith, continuing to live in him all these years, YES!  But overflowing with thankfulness??  I must confess, I don't think my life reflects that at all.  So, here I find a challenge within a challenge.  While I need to get on with the memorizing and try to catch up with my sister so we can finish what we set out to do, I need to overflow with thankfulness!!  

Music for a Monday

Music for a Monday.....

This hymn has been swirling through me this morning.  I think it is the response of my soul to times of transition.  No transition for me other than an empty house while the Babymomma and her babes are visiting the other Grammy.  I guess I am feeling a dear friend's angst as her youngest heads to college.....and I think I am probably tuned in to my young warrior as he packs up for a big transition ~ a temporary leave or not being able to return? I'm not certain, but in between is an adventure in Africa, then packing up his stateside residence and relocating.  I am proud of him and so glad he is free enough to be able to pick up and move and stretch and grow but I also know that there is a piece of him that is churning and anxious and wondering if it will all work.  For both of these precious ones, I am praying that they would feel a blanket of peace over these next few days especially.

A Perfect Storm

July 4th week ~ Grandbaby girl's been healthy so we were optimistic that we could get her up to our small town's "3rd of July" festivities....band concert, supper picnic, see lots of people, bring her home before the bonfire and bugs.  Maybe even a local parade on the 4th!  Well,  the storm clouds crept in.

Tuesday, baby brother had a well baby appointment and Grammy and grandbaby girl spent the morning at Barnes and Noble.  She loved seeing all the books and people and met an adorable 3 year old autistic boy in the children's section.  Meanwhile, the pediatrician spotted something on baby brother that she didn't like and called over to the local hospital who spoke with the first rumble of thunder....go to Children's.  Phone calls, dad home from work,....off to Children's.  Grammy could handle supper and bed with grandbaby girl.   Thunder and lightning....an evening in the ER, no real answers, but mom and dad and little one home at midnight.

Wednesday, in and exhausted, disappointed to be just home...but .a ray of sunshine through the storm clouds, a patriotic photo shoot in the livingroom....sporting duds they'd have worn to a parade...

Thursday, surviving a week without our day nurse, staying in while the waves roll, a visit from our hospice nurse, grandbaby girl is a bit more secretional but we chalk it up to teething.   In for the day, preparing to pick up Grampa at the airport on Friday and deciding babies and Babymomma can come for the ride.  Somehow, we were completely unaware of the dark clouds forming quickly on the horizon, the full moon looming which would impact a tidal surge.

Bedtime Thursday night, grandbaby girl throws up shortly after going to bed......

Friday morning, completely socked in and the storm just hits us from all sides.....no airport trip (thank goodness)....grandpa is stuck due to sandstorms.....fever just soars for grandbaby girl......all her medical personnel locally are on vacation.....no night nurse Thursday night, no day nurse, pediatrician away, back up pediatrician away, Hospice and VNA nurses both away!!!!!  Babymomma manages to get a hospice nurse to come out and the PACT team is called, by afternoon a Coast Guard Cutter is sent our way, and now Grammy is left with baby brother while the Babymomma gets to be strapped into an ambulance holding grandbaby girl for a ride to Boston.

A weekend spent at Children's, they came home Sunday night.  Baby brother survived the weekend with Grammy.....or is it Grammy survived? Grampa finally arrived home ....a surf advisory was in affect for the rest of the week, but we at least had some nursing coverage to help.....and above all, God who made heaven and earth and holds us close.

Things That Make Me Smile

Since the bear in my yard, I have not put the bird feeders back out.  I've missed the activity of busy parents and fledglings.  Since the boy and the dead frog, I haven't been down to the swamp with the motion-sensor camera or even just with my binoculars.  (I'm just chicken)  Between my parents and my grand-babies, I'm often tied up in emotional knots but I've been desperately wanting to focus on the positive.  So, we close out June with a few things that have brought me a smile this week.

Shopping Therapy ~ It's not terribly easy to get out with the babies, or to leave one behind when we have a nurse.  After a barrage of doctor appointments and evaluations and meetings, we have found ourselves with a couple of quiet weeks.  Getting my daughter out of the house for a couple of short jaunts is definitely something to smile about.  I picked up these for some color and finally found a replacement for a tea kettle my daughter gave me when she was in the 5th grade.  I love a side-handled tea kettle!

An Outing for the Babies!!  ~ One of our quick shopping jaunts to Walmart ended with a visit to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's.  Walmart should hire Amber as a greeter!  She couldn't stop smiling or saying hi.  I still can't believe my mom, at 86, got down on the floor with the babies.

The Two Warriors Finally Connect ~ Giant smile producer here and a flood of joy.  After two deployments each, these two finally find themselves in the same war torn country in a civilian capacity.  Hubby had a business trip in May but couldn't make it work to get to  the boy.  This trip, they've already had lunch together and bumped into each other for dinner.  

Trip to the Airport~ Middle of the day, driving out of Boston alone, the city is just so pretty with its blend of history and new, trees green, glimpses of rooftop gardens, all the water around, a hint of mountain in the west, and a beautiful cloudy sky.  That experience Monday kicked me into this week of stopping and being thankful for the moments that make me smile. 

Colossians 2:6 and 7

 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Trying to memorize the book of Colossians with my sister this year.  I am far behind her but finding such joy in verses that I've probably read hundreds of times but now seem to jump off the page.  "Overflowing with thankfulness" really hollered at me.  I'm much more whiny than thankful.  I am memorizing these in the NIV 1984 version, because that's the bible I had with me when we embarked on this challenge.  The bible I use most often is one my parents gave me for my high school graduation (a very long time ago).  These verses are highlighted in yellow and in the margin "CILT Graduation."  What a smile this brings and a flood of memories.  An intensive two year, Camper-in-Leadership-Training course taught by an incredible woman who was serious and demanded thoroughness and excellence.  You had two weeks at camp for two summers but two years to be working on things and then wrapping it all up at camp.  This was before the days of passing everybody and sheltering young people from disappointment and failure.  She was tough and those of us who passed grew and stretched in ways we didn't think possible and learned lessons and skills for a lifetime beyond the realm of summer camp.  Thank you, Joy!

NSTAR WALK!

Tomorrow we will be walking as part of "The Mighty Metabolites" to raise money for Children's Hospital Boston.  We are walking to say THANK YOU on behalf of our grandbabies for the care they and their parents receive, and for the generosity that allowed for a certain test to be done regardless of cost.  We thought the insurance company had paid for it......only to find out a year later that they had not.  We are so very grateful.  Someday we will come up with a great idea to help raise money to help find a cure or treatment for I-Cell disease, but in the meantime, we will give back to Children's Hospital to say thank you.  The Babymomma came up with this "Mighty Mouse" inspired outfit for the grandbabies to wear.  Ted was very gracious to model as adjustments were made and the design tweaked.  I'll post some pictures after tomorrow's walk.

Today's Post is Brought to You by the Letter "B"

Last week was a busy week in my back yard.  The beginning of May, I changed the batteries in my motion sensor cam and redirected it.  I was hoping to catch the edge of the swamp as there are always lots of prints in the mud under my viewing log.  The black flies were eating me alive so I didn't take the time to change the date and time.  I finally retrieved the camera at the end of last week.  It was FILTHY!!  All muddy and a big glop of I don't know WHAT in front of the motion sensor.  I brought the whole thing up to clean it off and reviewed my catch.  I think this guy's responsible for the condition of the camera.  I chose a blurry photo of him to spare some gory details.  The horizontal log (the bigger of the two) is my viewing perch to survey the swamp.  This guy (eleven or twelve, I'm guessing) is apparently hunting frogs just beyond my log.  He knows my camera is there and sometimes ignores it and other times performs.  This particular day he drops to his knees and waggles the dead frog in front of the camera and then I'm guessing he left the frog on top of the camera as a gift for me.

Something else found it first (THANK GOODNESS) and had a tasty snack, leaving my camera rather dirty in the process.  I cannot say exactly what it was as it was much too close to the camera, but we're guessing it could have been a young Black Bear.

 My daughter took this shot out my office window, maybe 25 feet or less from the house.  Mid-afternoon she got a call from a neighbor across the street saying the Black Bear was crossing the road into our yard.  Before my daughter could grab the camera or bang on the window, he had grabbed a bird feeder.  He is sitting just on the other side of the stone wall, working on the contents of the feeder.  She took a few pictures and then opened the window and yelled.  Our day nurse was headed home and banged a pot and pan as she crossed the yard to her car!  The young bear came back that evening for the front feeders but I had already grabbed one.  I could have had an amazing shot as he stood on his hind legs to pull the thistle feeder down but I've already lost two shepherd hooks to this hungry guy.  Instead of grabbing the camera, I slammed the front door and he took off like a shot.

One final shot from the swamp cam, a Bobcat!  I have the camera set for a burst of nine pictures and only got this one!!  Wish it would have captured his face but I'm just thrilled to have finally caught a picture!  Two summers ago I had a Bobcat kit chasing a bird in my backyard and I don't think many people believed me.  A picture is definite proof!

Turtles

It's that time of year when the turtles  make their way up the steep hill from the swamp to find prime egg laying spots.  For the past eight years, I'd say, we've only seen Eastern Painted Turtles.  Yesterday afternoon, we had a fairly good sized Snapping Turtle.  The Courageous and Very Curious Babymomma had to go check it out.  I missed the shot of her running back to the house as it turned quickly to check her out!  Last week I had captured a Very Curious Gray Squirrel checking out an Eastern Painted Turtle.  

I don't know if it successfully found a good spot to lay eggs.  Many years ago, come September, we would have cars stopping as dozens of tiny snappers were crossing the road.  I think the Snappers continue up the hill across from us to lay their eggs.  Quite the trek.

I'm always amazed at how high they raise themselves up to walk and how quickly they can move!

The Eastern Painted Turtles decide my yard is good enough, often at the edge of the driveway or in the gardens.  I wish I knew more about them, especially how long from laying to hatching.  Often in July we'll spot broken eggs withering on the surface of the grass.  Not sure if something dug them up or if they've hatched already.  Last spring when we were working in some flower beds we found tiny empty turtle shells.  This April we found quite a few tiny turtles in our driveway. So I'm not exactly sure when they hatch or how long it takes them from hatching to get to the swamp.

Honey, I've Got to Go!

Not my proudest moment, this morning.  My hubby is overseas on business and called!  There was a sandstorm and he was going to be stuck for the night in a remote location...."at least I brought a blanket and some snacks."  The phone call was more than touching base, it was a way to kill time.  As we're talking, I'm walking and something just catches my eye.  Still talking, I'm looking everywhere for my binoculars.  There is a bird but it is in the shadows of the leaves and I am seeing only a hint at color.  Can't find the binoculars anywhere, so I am doing my best multi-tasking; talking, looking for my camera, keeping my eye on the bird. It suddenly darts out of the shadows and onto the bird feeder and I catch that gorgeous shade of blue.  "HONEY, I'VE GOT TO GO!  THERE'S AN INDIGO BUNTING ON THE FEEDER!!" 

While You Were Sleeping

I've heard reports of bear in the neighborhood for several years, but my bird feeders have always remained unscathed.....till now.  The bird feeders themselves were fine, just dirty.  The lid opened on one, but the other remained closed.  The shepherd hooks, sigh, they will need replacing and I will now join the ranks who bring the feeders in at night and put them out in the morning.

Prowling Predators...By Land and By Air

This morning has been quite distracting.  My cats kept running to windowsills, from one side of the house to the other.  I finally joined them with binocs and camera in hand.  I wasn't able to capture the action, only the culprit...a solid, black cat with a white bib and socks, trying to take on two turkeys!  He had them on the run   but he finally got tired and left.

 Next up was this Sharp-shinned hawk, I believe...it could have been Cooper's, but I think it was smaller.  I ran to an upstairs window that doesn't have a screen so my shots wouldn't be too terrible.