A Sad Gathering

Granddad made the long journey to the mountains of Pennsylvania to his sister's funeral. T. drove through ice and snow to get him there. 9 more inches of snow arrived while they were there, but the gathering of family was warming. It was a time for remembering and reminiscing and catching up with a part of the family we've seldom seen. Aunt Eileen was two years younger than Granddad.

Her great-grandson Jonathan is three, and this was the first time Granddad had seen him.

Having a lively little boy and a train to play with cheered everyone up.

Touching

Today at Wonderlab we talked about our sense of touch.

Everyone wanted to pet the soft bunny.

Everyone touched the bristles of the brush and said "oww!"

(The brush was very jealous of the bunny.)

We mixed "Cloud Dough" with our hands.

Here's a recipe for those readers who have little hands in the house.

Take 3 parts flour

1 part oil

3/4 part water

Put in a big bowl.

Push it and stir it and swish it with your fingers.

Add more or less of each ingredient to make a smooth, silky dough.

This dough is great for pretend cooking. Or you can roll it into snakes. You can make balls and then flatten them with your fist. Knead it and push it up between your knuckles.

It is also therapeutic for adults who might need to work out some tension.

And the nicest thing about Cloud Dough is that it leaves your hands feeling soft.

At the library during the Inauguration

Today was a day that seemed lifted out of the ordinary run of life. Even if we weren't there. Today we turned the TV in the media center on and let it run all day. We could see what was going on and during lunch hour, we could hear it. The halls were quiet. Every TV in the school was on, every classroom watching.

Today we felt ourselves a part of history, even though we still checked books in and out, and told stories, and discussed friendship with second graders.

Dream on...

The sun is teasing us, saying "Look how lovely it is outside". Yeah, right. Freeze your nose hairs if you step outside the door.

So what to do?

Pour a cup of tea and open up some garden catalogs and dream on.

It doesn't take long before you are distracted as you contemplate the totally weird - like the Black Bat Flower . Yes, sure you'd love to grow a flower that looks just like a malevolent bat. How about the white egret flower instead? Graceful. Or a pink flamingo. Nothing like picture after picture of perfect plants. "My garden could look just like this", you think.

Soon you find yourself getting hungry as you check out Echinacea Tomato Soup or Mac n Cheese. Who names these things? Maybe you should look at vegetable seeds - be tempted by an Egyptian Walking Onion or marvel at a Watermelon Moon and Stars.

Hours pass. Then you find the perfect garden for today:

Yes, indeed. Let's all plant a Money Garden !

Let it grow

It was below zero this morning when I trudged out to feed the birds. The sun was rising and the snow was sparkling. Now the mercury has soared to 15 degrees and sunshine is warming the south windows. In the midst of winter all seems dry and withered outside, but I am still watching for buds and blooms. They are inside, of course. Like this plant, inherited from the Bloomingtonauts, which is covered with little green buds. Does anyone know what sort of plant it is? I check it every morning to see if the buds are open yet.
The shamrock likes the light from the eastern window, which has coaxed these blooms out.

Thanks to Hoosierkitty, this lovely poinsettia continues to grace the kitchen.
My winter indoor garden also glows with the green of the asparagus fern and the papyrus, the silvery leaves of the rosemary, and the oregano leaves striped with yellow.

So, though "the weather outside is frightful" inside it's still delightful - let it grow, let it grow, let it grow!

The Original...

It is cold and getting colder...the perfect time to browse the Farmer's Almanac to check on the annual predictions. I love knowing that there are only 65 days until Spring... and that the moon rises at 10:18 tonight. Household superstitions and folklore are always a favorite read (see, I didn't make it up about the penny when you give someone a knife), although "How to buy a hammer" is probably more practical (if one needs another hammer.) Besides the best days to "Can, pickle, or make sauerkraut" (the 18th and 19th, for those of you so inclined) and the best days to start or end projects, I notice that today is one of the best days for dental care. And I happen to have a dentist appointment! Which I made without consulting the almanac. Which just goes to show......

What we like

I'm teaching five weeks of preschool classes on Sunday mornings. This week I shared a very old story: The Friendly Bear (published in 1957!) At the end of the story wise old granddad gets ready to read a book to Matt, because that's what Matt likes, but first he gives Matt a big hug - and in the woods the bear gives his bear cub a hug - because that's what everyone likes. So we talked about what people in our family like. Then each child made a collage for one of their family members of things that person would like.The conversation was constant as they selected cut-outs and talked about what their Moms and Dads (and one baby sister) would like. They were amazingly on task. Some of their ideas were right on (notice all the "healthy food" for Kinsley's Dad) and some were clearly wishful thinking - "My daddy would like a doll and we would like to play with it"
They were so involved that their parents arrived before we even got to snacks.
And that's what I like!

Making plans

The winter storm that the weatherman predicted has passed us by. I'd planned a whole day around ice and snow outside and me cosily inside. This plan took the place of the original plan for the day, which was to spend the day traveling and visiting an exhibit at the IMA. When that plan fell through I'd shaped an alternative day with a neatly printed list, which involved not only the tasks I needed to do but also listening to this music while I did that and that music while I did this, accounted for a pleasant break between activities here and a simple but tasty lunch there...

All of which, as you are anticipating, did not occur as planned.

You are unsurprised - this is, after all, the norm.

This is not to say that today wasn't productive and pleasant. Just that it didn't go exactly to plan. All because the snow and ice passed us by.

I sometimes have the feeling that someone somewhere is having that other day, the one I visualized so clearly when I planned it.

Treats

My breakfasts are sweet since Christmas.

Besides the honey, I also opened a jar of marmalade.

It did not result in orange trees being given to deserving farmers.

But clearly it was made for me.

It was a very good year

I spent an evening looking through all the pictures from 2008. It took all evening! This was a generously full year.

It was a year full of arrivals

and departures. A year marked by significant accomplishment

Dr. Richey!
Dr. Hartman!

As well as significant life changes.

It had its silly moments

And lots of reasons to smile

2008 was a year for

seeing people

who live far away



and came to visit

A year in which we also went visiting

And there were holidays and birthdays and lots and lots of good times

There were significant events, like the presidential election.

And lots of stuff that went on undocumented.

And I wished I could post hundreds more pictures.

Let's just do it all over again this year.

Bee sweet

On Christmas I opened a present of honey. It came with a note.

I was excited. "You got me bees!"
T was worried - "Real bees?"
Well, where there's honey there's bees, real bees -

but these bees were not for me personally.

Some one will get those bees in my name from

Heifer International.

I hope those bees make honey as wonderful as the sweet Hoosier honey in the pumpkin jar that I unwrapped.

Putting the year together

Just like a metaphor for the new year ahead of us...all the pieces of Granddad's new puzzle are jumbled on the table.
He's up for the challenge of putting it all together.

See? There's a bit done already.

Hope the title of the puzzle is prophetic.