Flowers

I gots those too.  I was surprised to see that a piece of the red daylily plant stayed down by the streetlight post after the Public Service guys dug just about everything up when the post toppled a few years ago. 





In the flower quarter of the garden, the daisies are just about to open and the few remaining bee balm are blooming.


 





Along the west side of the yard, the orange daylilies are just starting to bloom.  I was happy to see that there are a couple milkweeds still there.  Of course there's baby grass all around over there so I can't get too close but I'm happy to see the flowers.





I remembered to sit down and write for an hour.  This early in the challenge my brain is still fussing over linking what I wrote the day before to what I write today but one of these days (soon!) I'll just plunge in and get words on the page.  I need to at least rough out what each of the keys on Rose's iron ring unlocks.  I made a list but need to start fleshing that list out.  I worked on the first one today.  The cool thing is I don't really know what's in the places the keys unlock.  Friends have asked and when I say, "I don't know; I have to write it to find out," I get quizzical looks.  But it's true, today I started with a letter from the bank and ended up finding a newspaper clipping that Hemmingway came to the Seaview fishing in 1959 or 1960. (he committed suicide in 1961, I looked it up)  Now Rose just needs to find a photograph to put up in the lobby.  I have no idea where stuff like that comes from.



On Thursday when I was sewing up that red & white Dress no. 1 to wear to the cookout, the serger was acting up which meant that the tension was all haywire.  So this afternoon I went downstairs and rethreaded the machine with threads to match the color of the tension knobs so that I could sew on a scrap of fabric and see which of the knobs needed adjustment.  All fixed.


 

So I got the white threaded back in and sewed the last cut out Dress no. 1 together.  I got the neckline bound but then came upstairs to have supper and watch 60 Minutes.  I'll get it finished tomorrow or Wednesday.

This morning I finished knitting the tube of the Afterthought Everything Socks and, of course, I used my usual bind off on the cuff without thinking that it needs to stretch over my foot.  So I finished binding off, tried it on, and couldn't get it over my ankle.  I'd already cut the yarn (arrgh) so I ripped back an extra round, looked up how to do a super-stretchy bind off, and played yarn chicken hoping not to run out of yarn before I ran out of cuff.  I won.  Whew.  After supper I took the waste yarn out of one heel spot, using very skinny needles to catch each stitch (only dropping one which I caught on the first round), then started knitting the afterthought heel, which is basically a toe in another place.  Easy peasy.  I'll get both heels knitted before separating the toes.  That should be a challenge requiring an hour's silence.  I'm up for it.

07 July--Barbara Malcolm, Horizon. 

             By the time I’d finished my tea and gotten dressed, the town plow had been down the lane, so I fired up the snowblower to clear the driveway and the walk from the house to the garage.  After a shower I called Clara to tell her of Elizabeth’s arrival.  We talked for a few minutes about the joys of grandchildren and I let her know I’d be away for a few days.  She agreed to take in the mail.  Packing only took a few minutes, then I toasted a bagel for breakfast, rinsed my dishes, and left.

            Turning out of the lane onto the highway, I was nearly blinded by the sun on the new snow.  The roadway was clear and almost dry so I knew my two-hour drive to Aaron and Sara’s in Steven’s Point would be an easy one.

            The trip went quickly.  The plows were out shoving snow into ditches and spraying salt or sand on the pavement.  I sang Christmas carols with the radio and wondered who Elizabeth looked like.

David burst out the door waving a photo as soon as I pulled in.  “Grandma, guess what?  I have a new baby sister.”

            “You do?  What did you name her?”  I got out of the car and hugged my excited grandson.

            “I didn’t get to name her.  Mama and Dad did.  They picked Elizabeth Gail; the Gail’s for you, Grandma.  Did you know that’s your name?”

            “Of course I did, you silly goose.  You didn’t think I’d spent my whole life with everyone calling me Grandma, did you?”

            “Not really.  Want to see her picture?”  He waved the already creased snapshot in my face.

            “I do.  Why, David, she looks just like you did when you were born.”

“You mean I was all scrunched up and covered with blankets too?”  He took the photo back and stood frowning at it.  “But not pink ones, right?”

I opened the back door and pulled out my suitcase and the bag with the quilt.  “Yes, you were swaddled just like that the first time Grandpa and I saw you, and no, you weren’t in pink.  Can you carry this bag for me, please?  Great-Grandma Hardy made a quilt for a boy and one for a girl when I was expecting your Uncle Sam and now after all these years we have Elizabeth to sleep under the girl’s quilt.”

He tucked the photo in his jeans pocket and carried the bag toward the house like it was fragile.  “Grandma, were you waiting and waiting for a girl?  Are you sorry that there’s so many boys in our family?”

            I set down my case as soon as we closed the door, crouched down to David’s level, and looked him right in the eye.  “Everyone’s making a big fuss over that new baby girl, aren’t they?”

            “Uh-huh.”

            I could see he was feeling overwhelmed by all the excitement over his new sister.  “I couldn’t have been happier when your dad and uncles and all your boy cousins and you came along.  I’m kind of nervous myself.  I’m not sure I know how to be a grandma for a girl.  But then, I’m a girl and your mom and aunts are girls.  We’ll figure it out.”

            “I guess.”  He turned and shouted, “Dad, Grandma’s here.”

            My middle son, flushed and disheveled, poked his head around the door from the kitchen.  “Hi, Mom, I’m glad you made it in one piece.  Sara just called.  They’re kicking her out in about an hour so I’m getting things tidied up before I go get her and Elizabeth.”

             “So soon?  I thought she was staying until tomorrow.” I shrugged out of my coat and hung it in the closet.  “What can I do to help?  Do you have fresh sheets for your bed?”

For the next hour, the three of us moved through the house putting things away, cleaning the bathrooms, and making everything ready for the new mom.  I told David that I thought he was a much better helper than his dad had ever been, which made David giggle and Aaron pretend to scowl..  David and I hurried Aaron, showered and shaved, out of the house and finished the tidying.  My grandson and I also made a ground beef and noodle casserole so that Sara wouldn’t have to worry about feeding anyone but Elizabeth when she got home.

Sara and Elizabeth had barely gotten in the house and settled in the rocker when David hauled the bag with Mom’s quilt over to them.  “Look, Mama, Great-grandma Hardy made this before Uncle Sam was born.”  He grabbed a corner and pulled it out of the bag.

Sara reached for it and said, “Oh, Gail, it’s beautiful.”  She spread it over Elizabeth and ran her hand over the tiny stitches.  “This is the perfect shade of pink for her skin.  Look, she just glows.”

I had tears in my eyes looking at my daughter-in-law and granddaughter.  I thought they looked like a modern Madonna.  Evidently Aaron thought so too; I could hear the click of a digital camera behind me.

            I had the chance to get acquainted with my new granddaughter while Sara took a shower, saying she hadn’t felt really clean after her speed shower in the hospital.  I sat on the couch with David beside me.  We unwrapped the blanket so we could see the whole baby. 

            “Wow, she’s little, Grandma.  And she looks like she’d break really easy,” David said.

            I had to laugh.  “Oh, babies are pretty tough, but we have to be careful all the same.  See the soft spot on top of her head?  If you touch it gently, you can feel her pulse.”  I took his hand and we felt it together.

            “Cool.  Can you feel mine?”  He tipped the top of his head toward me. 

            “Not any more.  As you grow, that spot closes.  Elizabeth’s will soon enough.”  I planted a kiss on top of his head instead.  “So, what do you think of your new sister?”

            “She’s okay, I guess.  She doesn’t seem to do much.  I was hoping we could play, but she’s too little.”

            “Don’t you worry.  Soon enough she’ll be watching you like a hawk.  Look at her; she’s already turning her head toward you when you talk.  And in a few short months she’ll be following you around, messing in all your stuff, and you’ll be wishing she was back to being this tiny.”

Just when I think I'm over the hump, grief-wise, I have a day like yesterday when I could barely wriggle but I extended my walk this morning and got lots of fun things done today.  I also ate a little better which also helps my motivation.  I'll figure life out one of these days.
--Barbara