Making a Memory

You and me 
We should be 
Making a memory whenever we're together, yeah… 

Well, it’s the end of spring break here. Oh yeah, and daylight savings time started. Woo hoo! I’m kidding. I dislike daylight savings time. A lot.

Truth is it kicks my butt. It doesn’t matter if it’s spring forward or fall back. It makes me tired. I don’t ever seem to get that extra hour of sleep the news talks about. And in the spring, when it’s not dark until 8:00 or 9:00 o’clock, I tend to stay up late. Then when it’s time to get up, it’s pitch black and I just want to stay in bed. Add the time change and the Littles together and there wasn’t much rest!

This is the first time that all three have come to stay for more than a day or two. I didn’t think it would last long but it was the whole week. And it was fun!

We didn’t go out much; to the park one day, to the grocery store another. Evan went with his cousin a couple of times and he came here but otherwise they just played together.

Ouch! Bike wreck.

My kids, their mother and uncles, loved to go outside and play on the ‘mountain’. They enjoy it just as much. They find crystals, or fossils or flowers or cactus. I’ve told them over and over to stay away from the cactus. This time for some reason, Caleb had a really strong curiosity about the cactus. He and Belle came in a couple of times with the tiny needles in their hands. One time the two of them came in and Caleb said he had needles in his tongue. I told them to go in the bathroom and I would be there in a minute. The next thing I know Caleb is throwing up. Belle had tried to help get the needles out of his tongue, gagging him until he puked! I found out that their other grandpa was eating cactus. Napolitos are the edible paddles of the prickly pear cactus. I got them a jar of pickled ones at the grocery store and no more curiosity!

I fixed them their favorite things to eat. One day we had tiny little pancakes for breakfast. Many tiny little pancakes! We had pigs and blankets, steak dogs, and cinnamon rolls. I made French toast one day and sliced it into fourths. I put it on the plate in a square with a little cup of syrup in the middle. Then I sprinkled powdered sugar over the whole thing. Evan came to the table and said, "Mamye, you always do things so fancy!" It really wasn’t but it made me happy that he thought so.

A happy note!

One of the funniest things was when I made spaghetti for them. They were downstairs watching a movie. I put the spaghetti in bowls and cut it up so it was easier for them to eat. I mixed up some grape Cool Aid and put it in wine goblets then sat it all out on the table. The only thing I forgot was the camera to capture their reactions!

They got to the table and their little mouths literally dropped open! In hushed voices they were saying things like, “She’s giving us wine.” “You try it.” “No, I’m not trying it!” Finally one of them was brave enough to taste.  "It’s just Cool Aid!!” I wonder why they would have even thought that I’d give them wine!?

Sleeping was an adventure for sure. Alan and Junior just moved to another room. Then the rest of us  climbed into the king size bed. The hard thing about sleeping with them is that they all want to be beside me. That’s fine if we take turns but that doesn't happen. Close is what they want to do; all at the same time! I need to be on the outside or I get claustrophobic. I might have started out on the outside but sometime in the night, besides Belle the human magnet, a little boy would be on the other side of me. Then another might be at my feet. Instead of everyone being at the head of the bed like we started, I might wake up to a set of feet on the pillow. Sometimes even two! It was fun but there wasn’t a lot of rest going on. Around midnight I’d finally get everyone settled in. If I was lucky we’d sleep in til around 10:00. And if I was really lucky I could get up and have a cup of coffee and they’d stay asleep a little longer!

It works...if I don't move!

It was a fun week for me and with any luck for them as well. I hope they remember the fun and look back at the time as the week we made memories. And I look forward to making more.

Look at me 
Can't you see? 
We were meant to be. 
Making a memory… 

I’ve been on a crochet kick, making many half double crochet Mobius scarves. No reason. They are quick, fun and the yarn has been colorful. They will make good gifts I suppose.

Three of the cowls.

I also went to a bracelet workshop to learn to do a heart in the kumihimo. It was fun and quick too.

Kumihimo. Can you see the hearts?

Then I tried an experiment with a straight chain closed with a button. It’s kind of cute and summery. I don’t like how I attached the button but I can work on that.

Long chain with big button closure.

While the kids were here they wanted to make crafts. Well, Belle did. Next time I’ll have some little projects she can work on.

We should be 
Making a memory whenever we're together, yeah…

Hey Jude

Hey Jude, don't make it bad…

Today is Julian Lennon’s birthday. He turned 50. 5-0 years old! Wow!

I'm blessed with relatively young parents, in their early 70s. They got married right out of high school and I was born a year later. When I was three, my sister came along. They were kids with kids.

This kind of looks like my dad's hot-rod...the family car!

We’d cruise the drive-ins, windows down, radio blasting and the two of us, my little sister and I, feeling so important, sat in the back seat. Sometimes we’d hear country music and sometimes something more exciting, like the Beatles. We’d sing, “She Loves Me, Ya Ya Ya” or "I Want to Hold Your Hand", loud as we could until dad changed the channel.

It seems like it was just the other day. And now I hear Julian Lennon’s been around for half a century. I wonder where the time has gone. I turn on the oldies channel to hear the Beatles. Occasionally their songs are too old for even them! If they aren’t found I’ll put in a CD. I’ll sing along, loud as I can, and nobody changes the channel. And I think about the two little girls, singing off key, in the back seat.

Take a sad song and make it better…

Except for the clasp, I’m finished with the kumihimo cord for my pendant. The pendant came from Anthelion Jewlery and is beautiful!

Waiting on the clasp to finish this necklace.

I’m either going to have to figure something out with end caps, which is suitable, or wait for the clasps to come in. Oh the decisions…

Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.

Dreamboat Annie

Heading out this morning into the sun... 

Most likely not every family has a cow for a pet. But we do. It wasn’t a planned endeavor but when a mother cow died after giving birth, we found we had an orphaned calf to raise and care for. I should clarify that there really isn’t a lot of ‘we’ to this story. I didn’t do much at all. The care and the duties of Mother Cow fell to my husband, Alan, and Ray, a family friend. Being the creative souls they are, and because she was an orphan, the pair named the little calf Annie.

Little Orphan Annie...

Annie was spoiled from the beginning. She had to be bottle fed, of course, so Alan would feed her and talk to her two or three times a day. If he was tied up for some reason, Ray would come out and give her a bottle. Besides the food, Annie got a lot of personal attention from both, in the form of petting and chatting. Annie hung out with the chickens and played with the sheep. She had the whole place to herself and explored freely. One of her favorite places to sleep was in the chicken house. I think she really just thought she was another hen. She’d back in and barely fit, but that was where she wanted to be.

Where's Annie?

Annie and her ear bling

I came home one day and Annie was a ways down from the gate in the middle of the road to the house. I drove up slowly hoping she would move. She just stared at me. I honked my horn and she still didn’t move. The stare was becoming a glare. Suddenly she turned, kicked up her heels and galloped a little way down the road. Then she stopped. We had to play the whole game again. After the fourth or fifth time I wasn’t having fun anymore!

You talking to me???

Annie and I weren’t friends. I don’t think she liked me for some reason. Maybe it was the honking horn; I don’t really know. I’d call her and she’d ignore me. She was at the edge of the driveway when I parked one afternoon. I got out, called her and she just stared. I moved towards her and she moved back. I returned to my previous position and she resumed hers. It was like a bovine waltz with one step forward two steps back. I gave up. Annie walked away and mooed. Then she kicked up her heels and bolted off.

She looks so innocent.

Although I don’t know the ratio of cow years to human years, I’m pretty sure that Annie was a teenager. She acted like one anyway. One day she was a nice docile cow and the next she wasn’t. Sometimes she was really naughty! She ate all the chicken’s food and made herself sick. She’d hide and no matter how much Alan or Ray would call she wouldn’t come. She’d get mad, too, and sulk. When she got her ear tag she wouldn’t look at or acknowledge Alan because he was the meanie who stuck her with that thing. She didn’t even care that she had the best tag ever because it was blinged out! Sometimes she’d nose around and get into things, like the trash barrel. She’d knock stuff over and scatter garbage around and leave her calling card of a nice big pile of poop. That’s what cows do.

Nosy old cow...

I was skeptical and really didn’t believe it would happen but the day came when Annie had to go live with the other cows at the ranch. Not only did she have to leave but she had to get branded as well. It was by the luck of the draw Ray got the privilege. You can imagine Annie’s reaction to a hot branding iron!

Annie knows how to snub...

After her first night away from home we decided to check on her to see how she was adjusting to her new digs. We arrived at the location of her new home and looked around. There were other cows, calves and even a bull around, but no strawberry blonde named Annie. So we drove. And we drove some more. We called and looked but alas, no Annie. Was she hiding because of the outrage she’d suffered at the upheaval from her loving home? Was it the anger over the indignity of receiving a brand? Or was the poor silly thing just lost in her new surroundings? Searching unsuccessfully until dusk, we returned home.

Annie, Dreamboat Annie

The next morning, early, Alan headed out again. Just to check. After all, it was a new place and Annie might not know where the water was if she got lost. I didn’t go. When he came in, a little before noon, it was with the good news that Annie was with the other cows, doing whatever it is that cows do all day. And she was still her flighty cow-self. She’d come when he called her but she snubbed Ray. After all, he was the one with the branding iron!

No one knows the lonely one whose head's in the clouds… 

For something different I’m working on a project called kumihimo. It’s a form of weaving and the end product is a cord. It looks complicated but it’s really simple.

The bobbins holding the different threads

The threads on the disk

The woven cord.

Did you ever make one of those vinyl woven key chains when you were young? It’s the same thing but instead of holding it in your hands it’s on the round disk. Of course there is a lot more you can do if you really get into it but I’m just doing a simple 8 strand cord. I’ll put a pendant on it when I’m finished. It’s really kind of relaxing after you get going!

Oh, Annie,
Dreamboat Annie, my little ship of dreams...