In Loving Memory

Rebecca Victoria N.

December 8, 1954 - August 31, 2010

We loved you in life, miss you in death, and now look forward to seeing you again one day in a more beautiful place than this.

~Rebecca's niece, Cora

Looking Out My Window...

This is what I see:
Four little raindrops smiling at me.

There aren't just four raindrops out there - more like four thousand.

It looks to be an emotional day. My aunt has been in a deep coma since Sunday, and today she took a bad turn for the worse. I'll be spending the day with my grandma, because, with Grandpa staying with my uncle through this ordeal, we don't want her to be alone.

Please keep us in your prayers.

'Tis a Sad Day

Today I found out that a dear friend of mine passed away last night.

It's strange to think of our village without Connie. I have so many memories of the evenings when she'd pop over to visit. She always kept up to date with us kids and what we were doing in life... she loved seeing my knitting and other crafts. So encouraging and such a beautiful heart. And now she's gone.

The funeral is on Saturday, and I have to be at work.

*cry*

I know I will see her again in Paradise, but until then, I will miss her.

Re-Cap on the Trip

Yesterday... ah, yesterday...

The journey East began the night before, when the Cowboy got me and drove out to his parents' house (almost an hour east of here). We got there at 10:30. The next hour was spent rushing about getting canning jars prepared, things packed, and enjoying random jabber. We knocked off about midnight, the Cowboy went home, and we all went to bed. I ended up not getting to sleep until about 4 in the morning (sleep and I have an issue-filled relationship that I am trying to resolve, but to no avail). At 6:30 sharp, we were roused, fed, and preparations to leave were underway. 8:30 we pulled out of the driveway.

Commence future SIL's mobile internet connection and Pandora Radio with minor arguments between members of the outfit regarding gummy bears, speed limits, and whether we listen to classic rock or country music.

I have no idea what time it was when we reached the destination (a fruit field owned by a good friend of my great uncle). We picked a bazillion boxes of peaches. I think there were nine in all. Then four boxes of pears and five of tomatoes. I saw okra for the first time! And brought home some purple bell peppers! I had no idea those existed! Then we stopped for burgers and headed home.

Commence more music and minor arguments.

The Cowboy got me home at about 8-8:30pm and I went to milk my goats. And that was about it. Woot. I brought back to my mother three boxes of peaches, one box of pears, and one box of tomatoes. And two purple peppers (how could you pass THAT up?). Oh, and a cantaloupe.

And an acorn squash. Oooooooh, I can almost taste the buttery, brown-sugary goodness in that squash, cooked up in the oven until the butter melts and turns the sugar into a lava sauce that burns your mouth and is divine... *hearts* I love food.

Of Dreams and Schemes

First and foremost: All work for/on the local fair is over! Yay! We got done with all the clean-up and everything. You can tell I'm exhausted because I spelled "done" as "dun," then stared at it for a moment before realizing why it looked funny. *Siiiiiiigh*

Nextly: I went to a little, tiny SCA event (Society for Creative Anachronism [How did I spell that correctly and misspell "done" up there?]) and saw lots of cool stuff. They study Medieval society and attempt to recreate it. Made me want to sew up some new costumes.

As stated in the title, I had a funny/odd dream. I was finally given a chance to play my zither in concert (a very large concert), but I couldn't, because it wasn't tuned. Talk about depressing! I really need to find someone who can tune instruments. A zither generally looks like THIS, only mine isn't that pretty.

And the scheming mentioned in the title is in reference to the plans the Cowboy and his mom have of going to Eastern Washington tomorrow and picking peaches. I'll probably go with. Loooooooooooooong drive...

My 101st post!

Wow! 101 posts on this blog so far!

Well, last night it was finished. I fought against the sewing machine and won! Yaaaaaaay! Last night, I folded up the sleeves and hem of my original series Star Trek Science Officer's uniform and sewed them up. The machine is evil and hates me (seriously! It loves Mom and hates me.), so it refused to pick up the bobbin thread most of the time. I couldn't tell you how many times I had to stop and re-sew. I was continually doing the frog stitch (rip-it! rip-it! rip-it!). Roar. But 'tis done. And I made a little Star Fleet insignia out of felt, shiny gold fabric, and a Sharpie. Very professional, I know.

Oh, the muffins are done! ...And one looks like the leaning tower of Pisa. Or Mt. Rainier. :-/

*ahem* Anyway, as I was saying, I got the outfit all done and put on a mannequin to admire the work. And I, um, put pants on said mannequin. I love Star Trek and all, but those original series "mini dresses"! :-O Quite shocking!

And when my parents return from Hawaii with the camera (Tonight! They'll be home at midnight!), I might take pictures for all of you people out here in blogland. And for those of you waiting to see pictures of my very cool staff (or walking stick, but a staff is cooler), I will take pictures of it.


In other news, my Shibori dyed tichel that I posted about brought home a "Best of Class" rosette and a cool prize from the fair. Woo! I did enter some other projects, but I'll leave those for a later post.


Also a helpful tip: If your alarm clock does not seem to wake you up on time, check to make sure you set it to AM instead of PM. Tomorrow maybe I'll be on time... :-/

~Cora

Me: "This isn't funny." Goat: "Maaaaaa!"

Once upon a time, Miss Heidi went to milk her beloved goats, Jasmine and Joanna. It was a lovely morning - overcast and a bit chilly, just the way Miss Heidi likes it. So with her pail a-swinging in her hand, she strolled down the hill to collect her four-legged-friends from the hillside.

But what is this? A goat cry from the wrong direction? Say it's not so! But, yes, a wayward Joanna stood in the brush, little tail wagging, and ears pointed straight toward the morning sky. At the sight of Miss Heidi, the little goat came tripping to her side. "Maaaaa!" she said. "How did you get out?" Miss Heidi asked. Joanna, not missing a beat, replied, "Maaaaaaa!"

With the goat being entirely unhelpful in the current crisis, Miss Heidi left Joanna and inspected the fence. It stood as strong as ever. She inspected the gate. Intact and in place. Or was it? Upon closer inspection, Miss Heidi discovered that when her little brother, Fritz, had done chores last night, he'd chained the gate incorrectly. The gate could swing open a little, but enough for a wily goat to escape into freedom and delicious blackberry vines.

So Miss Heidi finished her chores, chained the gate securely, and returned to her hill-top cottage. She poured herself another cup of coffee and sat down to blog about the experience.

~Miss Heidi

Behold, What Manner of Love!

As I was having adventures in the sewing room this morning, I got to thinking about "the manner of love the Father has given unto us," and I began to list them. My list is by no means complete, so feel free to comment with more!

The love of the Father for us:

As a father loves his child.
As a brother loves his sibling.
As a master loves his faithful servant.
As a devoted servant loves his master. (for our Lord came not to be served, but to serve)
He loves us as His bride.
Also as His greatest creation.


Then I thought of a favorite song "He's Everything to Me." As I thought about this list, I realized... We are everything to HIM.  As the Cowboy would say, "It really humbles you to think about it."

A Long-Favorite Poem

The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


Good-night, my friend. Sleep well.

It's That Time Of Year

You may or may not have gotten a mail-in ballet for the primary election (I know some of you invisible readers live "across the pond" so disregard this post...), but if you did, please vote now and mail that ballet!

And if you live in Washington State, Cora endorses Dino Rossi for State Senator and Jaime Herrera for State Representative. If you wish to know why I'm voting Herrera over Castillo, shoot me an email, and I will explain my reasoning.

Important fact! Even if the candidate is running unopposed for their position, you should still vote for them! They need to win a certain percentage of the total votes to win! 

The odd part was going through the list of elections and seeing my mother's name on the ballet. She's running for something? Huh! Didn't know that! :-/ Well, I voted for her...