Cabin Crafted

Tag: family

  • The Changes

    I have lived in this house for about 8 1/2 years now.  Mountaingdad for about 6.  When I first moved in, Son #1 and his family were living with me, but they moved to the university town after a couple of years and the household was just Mountaingdad and me for a couple of years, then 3 years ago, we added the pups and we had visits by Son #1 and family, Daughter and family, and Son #2 and family from time to time.  Two summers, we kept Grandson #1 for extended periods to help out.

    Almost three weeks ago now, daughter, 2 grands and granddog moved in as her husband tries to sell their home in Florida and moves here with them.  They will live with us for a year or two.  It has been a new experience for everyone.  The children are having to adjust to not having Dad in the house for now, but having 3 adults monitoring their behavior.  Mountaingdad is very good about staying out of behavior correction, I’m not as good, but try to defer to their Mom dealing with issues that arise.  The household experiences the pattering around of children, the dog that barks at our cats, the visiting cows, anyone coming or going on the driveway or walking around in the basement or the loft if he hasn’t seen the person leave the room he is in.

    Since their arrival, we have had only one afternoon that was both dry and warm enough for the bundled up Floridians to play outdoors, but they loved having the huge yard in the midst of the farm on which to run, bike and play without fear of cars on the road or the canal behind their house that was home of “Chewey” the 5 foot alligator that appeared at times.

    There have been times when each adult has had to escape for a bit, to a closed bedroom or to leave the house for an errand or two without kids.  Fortunately, they are okay being left with one of us for a while.

    Granddaughter has had the hardest adjustment at night.  Because our bedrooms are spread out over all three floors of our home, with the master upstairs, two on the main floor and one off the finished basement, the kids are sharing a room with a twin over double bunk.  Eight year old grandson took right to it, getting the top bunk.  Granddaughter has the double bottom.  They each had a double in Florida in their own rooms.  Daughter has been trying to keep Granddaughter in her own bed for naps and at night, but Granddaughter has other ideas and will resist until she is so tired from crying that she finally falls asleep, sometimes for an hour, sometimes all night.  Yesterday was a resistance day and this is where I found her…

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    Curled up with her blanket, stuffed toy and pillow, outside her Mom’s bedroom door on the floor.  She had cried for over an hour before falling asleep there for her nap.  I texted daughter not to come out of the room quickly and sent her the photo.  She slept there for about an hour.

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    Lately, we have been having a nearly daily visitor, Jumper Jr., the ginger cow in the background.  She comes over to graze, I guess our field is more appealing to her than her own.  Yesterday she brought her Mom, Jumper.  They got their name because neither of them can be kept penned up.  Daughter and I decided they should be Ginger and Blondie.  We don’t mind the visits and the kids think it is great.  Granddaughter runs to one of us whenever she spots the ginger cow and excitedly states, “Jumper’s here.”  Now if we can just get their dog on board with this idea too.

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    Today, we are having a winter storm that began around 10 a.m.  They closed the schools 3 hours early and brought the kids home.  When Grandson got home, his Mom and I were both knitting and he decided that he wanted to learn too.  Since daughter is just beginning to pick it up again and is a novice knitter, and since Grandson and I are both left handed, I was nominated to be the instructor.  This is lesson one.  He is excited about learning and eager to make a scarf.  I patiently have had to tink (knit backwards) more than one of his rows this afternoon to repair his work, but he is being persistent.  I think he is going to catch on.  I don’t know if his interest will hold, but it is fun teaching him.  Three  year old sis thinks she is “big and strong enough” to do it too.  I think we may buy her a spool knitter or pot holder loom to start on.

  • OLIO 1/19/2015

    Olio: a miscellaneous collection of things

    This has been the birthday weekend for the 8 year old grandson now living with us.  His Dad flew in from Florida to be with his family for the weekend.  The celebration began with three generations bowling, 6 of us.   I can’t remember the last time I bowled and in spite of sore stiff joints, it was fun.  From there we were off to the birthday boy’s favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse for steaks and ribs, then home for a birthday cake that took his Mom 3 hours to decorate while he was in school on Friday.  He wanted a Corvette Stingray cake and she managed it nicely, placed high enough that he couldn’t see it until serving time Saturday night.  Sunday they went out for family time and lunch together and today, his actual birthday was supposed to be a school holiday, but ended up being a makeup day for a weather missed day last week.

    Before he got home from school and while his Mom was taking Dad back to the airport to fly back to Florida, I finally cleaned up the garage from the move in night when we quickly unloaded their trailer into the garage.  Son #1 had left his butchering station cleaned up, but left in place after we did fall chickens in hope of the deer he never got this year.  I dismantled it and put it back in storage until it is again needed. The box of outdoor toys was finally opened, the crate shelf moved to a more convenient place, the bins of balls, bats and helmets filled, bikes lined up until we can get wall hangers for them.

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    Toys are now accessible and I can walk through the garage to get to the outside.

    Also today, 10 gallons of whole grain chicken feed was made and stored.  Before grandson got home, I made 18.6 oz of homemade Mozzarella cheese, solo this time, in preparation for homemade from scratch pizzas, his request for a birthday dinner.

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    In 20 minutes, I can make this cheese with a gallon of milk at a cost of about half of the price of 8 ounces of “fresh” mozzarella from the grocer.

    Winter day_markedIt was a beautiful day for all of these tasks.  This gorgeous sky was seen while awaiting his school bus to arrive. Once he got home, I stayed outdoors with him for a bit of archery practice with his bow and arrows that he got for Christmas.

    The pizzas were made and savored, followed with left over birthday cake and ice cream.  The end of a busy and full birthday weekend for the young man.

  • A Week of Adjustment

    Tomorrow evening will mark a full week since Daughter and children arrived with me and their trailer full of household goods that we have been incorporating into our mountain home.  All but one box from the garage has been brought in and mostly unpacked.  On Thursday, the first day that the school counselor was to be back from the holidays, we scheduled to enroll grandson in 2nd grade, but the weather played havoc, treating us to unseasonably frigid temperatures and strong winds with sub zero wind chills and school was cancelled.

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    The Principal and bookkeeper were there, so we went by to pick up paperwork and take the necessary documents to try to expedite the process the next day.  I worked as a school counselor for most of the 37 years as an educator and never in all of that time did we refuse to register a child who had a valid school physical form from another state, if they had all of the necessary vaccines.  This school said that the info had to be on the Virginia form and signed by his doctor.  His records had already been transferred to the new Pediatric practice in this area, so a quick appointment was made for the next morning and instead of starting school, he went to the doctor.  Once the forms were complete, he did get to go meet his new teachers, see his 14 classmates and get to ride the bus home.

    On Wednesday, in the frigid weather, we drove two towns over and bought a twin over full bunk bed for the room the kids will share.  It was delivered on Friday and we realized that the foundation under the mattress made the bed too tall for the three year old, so back to the furniture store to get a full size bunky board.  Their room is more spacious with the bed turned 90 degrees and pushed up against a wall, our huge heavy headboard and footboard with the rails and foundation stored in the basement.

    Daughter realized the bookcase that we brought from Florida would not hold all of the kids books and the board games, so she purchased a second bookcase and we put it together yesterday.  She and grandson are sorting and arranging the books on it.

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    After an initial moment of intimidation with the big dog, granddaughter has decided that she loves “Stranger” (Ranger) and he loves her back.  A very tolerant beast he is, fortunately.

    We are getting used to the activity of having little ones in the house again, they are getting used to not having Daddy here yet and living in a different place.  All of us are trying to get used to the cold, though it does look like we might see more seasonable temperatures this week with a bit of rain and then snow, followed by a few even warmer days.

    The chooks are laying a few eggs again, though they aren’t happy about the frigid weather either, spending much more time in the coop.

  • Happy New Years from away

    For the first time since we met, we were apart on New Year’s Eve. He proposed on New Year’s Eve 37 years ago. We had returned from a ski trip in Vermont, got off the bus and took me to the ER to have my shoulder x-rayed as I had injured it on the trip, in a newly acquired sling to support the separated joint we went out for an early drink then home to my house to celebrate the coming new year quietly. The proposal came just about as the year changed.

    Yesterday, I was scheduled to catch a flight in the afternoon to arrive in Florida just after dinner, but before we left for the airport,  I received a text notification that my flight was delayed by more than 2 hours. We dallied about, drove to Roanoke where the airport is located, purchased a t-shirt to replace one of the 2 that I had gotten him for Christmas that had to be returned, had dinner at his favorite restaurant and dropped me off at the airport. As soon as he drove off and I walked in, another text delay.

    I finally arrived in Florida after 10 pm and was greeted by a bouncing 3 year old in a frilly glittery dress and cowboy boots, hugging my knees and any 8 year old holding a hand drawn welcome sign. Hugs all around and an hour drive back to their house, we arrived to watch the ball drop in Times Square, wish my home alone husband a happy New Year by phone and go to bed. Not a typical end of year.

    But it is all for a good reason. Today daughter and I finish boxing what goes in the trailer, they meet with the Realtor who will likely list their home for sale and prepare to load up the trailer tomorrow for the drive to Virginia. This will be a new chapter in all of our lives, a very welcome one for us.

  • As the year ends

    My usual routine is to take down and pack away all of the Christmas decorations on January 1.  This  year, I am flying to Florida on New Year’s Eve to help daughter load a trailer on the 2nd, and share the driving on the 3rd and 4th as we relocate her to Virginia, our house until they have sold their house in Florida, settled into new jobs here and feel ready to begin house hunting again, maybe in a year or so.  Since we will be bringing the two children, 8 and 3 with all of their indoor and outdoor toys, dressers, clothes, a few furniture items that she wanted removed from the house before it went on the market, and their 85 lb Golden Retriever, I felt it might make settling in here a bit easier if we weren’t also taking down decorations and cleaning up tree needles, so even though I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday with a post Christmas cold, I began the process of wrapping and packing, laundering the holiday bath and table linens and boxing them.

    Today, feeling less like I had been hit by a truck, I packed up the tree ornaments and lights and removed the tree from the house, vacuuming and putting the furniture back in place.  After errands and lunch, I tackled the two huge plastic boxes of Santa figures and got them wrapped and packed.  The boxes that have lived off season in one of the ground floor bedroom closets were toted down to the basement closet under the stairs as one or both grands will be living in that bedroom in a week.  I have cleaned out both bedroom closets, except for a pressure canner that needs parts, up on the top shelf in a corner and Mountaingdad’s childhood guitar that we have stored and moved ever since we married, but I have never heard him play a guitar.  I guess it too will move to the basement.

    With the decorations down and having had the furnace serviced and a new filter installed on Christmas eve, the downstairs got a good dusting and vacuuming.  Those efforts have spent my energy for the day so the upstairs and rest of the laundry will just have to wait until tomorrow.

    By this time next week, all three of our children with their families will have spent a couple of nights with us in the past two weeks.  What a great way to end a year.

  • Merry Christmas to all

    The pies were made, from our homegrown pumpkins, cranberries cooked with a bit of honey to sweeten them, cooked mustard made for the ham. Mountaingdad asks for it each year, a simple recipe really.
    Mustard
    1/3 c sugar
    1/4 c dry powdered mustard
    2 beaten eggs
    1/4 c vinegar ( I use raw cider vinegar)
    1/4 c butter
    Mix sugar and mustard in a small saucepan. Stir in beaten eggs and vinegar and mix well. Turn heat to low and add butter. Cook stirring  until mustard thickens. Store in the refrigerator. It will keep for a couple of weeks.

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    The roll dough mixed and stored in the refrigerator until this morning. Rolls to bake, turkey to roast, potatoes to mash. A late afternoon feast will be enjoyed.
    Another tradition with our kids and carried on to grands is the reading by Mountaingdad of Clement C. Moore’s poem, “The Night Before Christmas,” which will be read over the phone or by Skype to the Florida family while we join in from the living room. Stockings will be hung and eager grandson put to bed.
    Wishing my readers the most wonderful of holidays however you celebrate. Enjoy your family and friends.

  • A Time to Rest and Enjoy

    The shopping is done, groceries stocked, gifts wrapped and under the tree.  Tomorrow, Son #1 and family will arrive back in my car that they drove home at Thanksgiving and we will have time together, sitting by the fire, enjoying the Christmas lights.

    Tomorrow is supposed to bring a wintery mix, much less than had previously been threatened, the front is passing farther south than predicted earlier this week. If the weather permits, we will venture to the Farmers’ Market to try to buy a beef or pork roast for one of the dinners while family is here.  Perhaps we will get some other meat as well, with the family also eating from the freezer, we will use the stew beef and ground beef and it will be two weeks before we can return to the Farmers’ Market.

    Tonight, I am tired and cold, having done some clean up, some laundry, split a few dozen pieces of firewood from sections that were too large to get to burn easily.  Dinner has been prepared, eaten and cleaned up.  With a cup of Cocoa and Chambord, I am sitting with my knitting and a book, soaking in the warmth of the fire, . . .

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    enjoying the tree, . . .

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    with the gifts awaiting an eager grandson, and glad that I did unwrap and display my Santa collection, though this is but a few of them.

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    Wishing you all a happy holiday with your loved ones.

  • Tis’ the Season

    We are but a week from Christmas and the house is just today finally decorated.  When we had kids or a grand in the house, I was always anxious to get the decorations up, but this year the spirit has been lacking.  After Thanksgiving, I did unwrap my collection of Tom Clark gnomes and Santa gnomes, put up the two foot artificial tree with the Hallmark mini ornaments that used to adorn my office when I worked and pulled out the quilted and cross stitched wall hangings that my very talented sister in law and step mom had made for us years ago.  Then I stalled.  There was no Christmas music in the house, we weren’t listening to it in the car.  The CD player took a power surge sometime after Christmas last year and quit, I changed to an Iphone with only 4 g memory and it is full of my non Christmas music, we don’t have a radio in the house except one that gets weather stations and emergency info, so no way to play the Christmas CDs.  Today we finally decided to go out to get a tree and run some other errand and while I was in a store, Mountaingdad found the radio station that plays all Christmas music this time of year and I began to feel some spirit.  The same SIL and step mom over the years had also given us a collection of cross stitched and quilted ornaments.  Before we moved to the mountains, we had a 5 foot artificial feather tree that I decorated in the den with all of those ornaments given to us and our kids.  Two of the kids have taken their box of ornaments, the third one is stored here and for the past several years, I have tried different ways to display those beautiful hand crafted gifts.  The first year, I draped the loft railing with cut pine swag and hung them from that.  The next year, I bought a vine swag and hung them from it, then left the vine swag up year round, changing the bows securing it to the railing with seasonal bows.  Last year after Christmas, it was taken down as it had gotten so dusty and covered with dog hair that it no longer was attractive.  While visiting family last week, I mentioned to step mom that I was thinking of getting a huge wreath and putting them on it.  She asked why I don’t just get an artificial one and secure the ornaments well enough that the whole thing can be taken down after Christmas and put in a big plastic bag to store it until next year.  Today, I did just that.  We bought a huge wreath, a spool of red, green and gold plaid ribbon to make a bow and once home, I secured the ornaments to the wreath and fashioned a large bow.

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    It was hung on the center post of the loft this afternoon.  While we were out, we went to one of the local tree farms and selected an 8 1/2 foot tree and a new stand as our old one had the screw in pins that had become so bent they wouldn’t hold up the tree.

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    A walk on a chilly day to pick the right one.

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    Waiting for the tree to be cut and taken to the car.
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    Home, in the stand and watered.

    Each year since we met in 1977, we have bought an ornament for our tree.  Sometimes they are Hallmark ornaments, but in recent years, they more likely represent a trip we have made or are hand crafted wood, pottery or metal.  The years that one of our children were born, a baby’s first was also added and we have been given a dozen or so by parents or grown kids since then.  The tree decorating was always a family affair and as it is just the two of us now, we joined together to get the tree decorated, joking about a few ornaments that one of us doesn’t like and where it will go on the tree.  There are ancient strands of candy cane yarn roping that always results in a joking playful fuss.  The lighted tree top star failed last year and we had returned from a cruise with Son #2 and family with a huge dried starfish.  That became our new tree topper and was used again this year.

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    While preparing to get the decorations up today, I remembered that I could play the CDs on my laptop plugged in to my speaker that I bought to play music from the phone, so we had Christmas music!  I even unpacked the rest of my Santa collection for the first time in several years.  The house is decorated, awaiting Son#1 and family sometime next week to have Christmas dinner with us on the eve, a turkey and ham purchased today, and to be here for Christmas morning.  The decorations will remain up for the grands from Florida to see when we arrive here on January 2nd or 3rd from helping them move.  Daughter and I will pack them away after the first of the year.  I finally have some spirit, but I still don’t know what Mountaingdad is getting for Christmas this year.

  • Holiday Thankfulness

    We have just returned to our mountain farm from a few days with family elsewhere.  We were fortunate enough to have a neighbor farm sit for us so we didn’t have to board the dogs, find someone to deal with the outdoor animals and worry about the house in our absence.  This is the first time we have done it this way and it was such a relief to not have to worry about it all.

    Our adventure took us away from here on Thursday morning to the coastal area of Virginia, though I have to admit, we never even drove down to the beach.  I don’t miss it at all now that we are in the mountains.  We spent 3 nights with my 91 year old Dad and my step-mom in their home in Norfolk, enjoying some quiet visiting time, a decorated house, and great meals.  Saturday we spent all day with Son#2, our youngest and his family.  Mountaingdad took grandson to see a previewing of Night in the Museum 3 on tickets that Son #2 and DIL had won on a radio contest.  While they were off riding the light rail into Norfolk from the city line and in their movie, Son #2 gave me my first cheese making lesson.  With his help and guidance, I successfully made my first pound of mozzarella cheese.

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    We used the cheese as a caprese salad as part of our lunch and it was delicious.  We will see if I can make it again by myself at home.  I am excited to have taken this step in being able to prepare another food we eat and will be able make it with local milk.  If I master this one, I may move on to other cheeses.

    Once grandson and Mountaingdad returned and we had lunch together, we celebrated our Christmas with their family.  As they had made most of our gifts and as I had made some of theirs we opened each other’s gifts.  Grandson immediately put on his Steelers hooded sweatshirt and wore it all day.  We, as a family, walked over to their neighborhood park for him to launch his foam tipped rocket with the rubber band launcher then all met with Mountaingdad’s sister and her friend, plus my Dad and step-mom at a restaurant for a big family dinner together.  After dinner, Son#2’s family with us went to a Winter Wonderland and Christmas decorated petting zoo to see the lights, the animated displays and the animals; goats, chickens, ducks, alpacas, llamas, a pot bellied pig and ponies.

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    Unfortunately, Santa had already left, but as we wandered out from our walking tour, we stopped by one of the many fire rings that they had set up for making S’mores and enjoyed the warmth on a chilly night.

    This morning, after attending the lessons and carols Christmas service at the church I attended as a child and in which both we and our son were married, we returned across the state to our own bed in the mountains.

    It was a wonderful way to spend a long weekend, having quality time with my Dad and with our youngest son and his family, spending time with the grandchildren that we see too infrequently.  Now that our daughter is coming to live here and we know that our neighbor will farm sit if we all go away, perhaps we will be able to reestablish more contact with those grandchildren too.

    Lovin’ life.

  • Progress

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    Today, after a trip to the fabric store, I finished the two doll quilts with pillows.  These are my first two quilts that weren’t made from a kit and the tops are made from my scrap basket, many of the blocks from dresses that I made for one of the grand daughters who will receive a quilt for her babies for Christmas.  That granddaughter is getting a doll bed for her babies from Santa.  Each of these little three year old girls, different families, will also receive a little dress-able soft doll with doll PJs for them.  The girls each have a hand knit sweater from us, very filled with love gifts.

    Boxes, tags and another roll of wrap were also purchased today and the gifts that need to be sent off soon are wrapped, except for an item that hasn’t come in the mail yet and a grandson sweater that is close, but will still requires another couple of days of dedicated knitting.  Hopefully the missing gift will arrive, the sweater finished and a box packed for mailing by mid week.

    We still have some closet clean out to do, a tree to get and put up and the month seems to be speeding by.  I better get back to the knitting.