A Frog Pyramid

Dear Mom,

I think we have acrobatic frogs in our pond.

Look...there is another one in the water coming up to complete the pyramid!

Love, Bonnie Jo

A Sweet Poem

Dear Mom,
I was cleaning out paperwork and doing some filing the other day, and I came across a poem I had cut out of the newspaper several years ago. It was worth saving.

KIDS WHO ARE DIFFERENT

Here's to the kids who are different,

The kids who don't always get A's,

The kids who have ears twice the size of their peers,

And noses that go on for days...

Here's to the kids who are different,

The kids they call crazy or dumb,

The kids who don't fit, with the guts and the grit,

Who dance to a different drum...

Here's to the kids who are different,

The kids with the mischievous streak,

For when they have grown, as history's shown,

It's their difference that makes them unique.

Copyright 1982 by Digby Wolfe

I like that poem.

Love, Bonnie Jo

I surprise myself sometimes

Dear Mom,

It shocks and shames me to admit that last week, as I stood in the long line at the grocery store, I caught myself perusing the latest issue of Country Music Weekly magazine. It was a slow moving line. I could try and blame it on GinaWhoCanParallelPark, but she wasn't there to put the issue into my hands. Because I did take a swift glance, I was able to give her the scoop on Toby Keith's new clothing line. GinaWhoCan ParallelPark has her finger on the pulse of celebrity gossip, so scooping her is a significant achievement.

As if that admission isn't bad enough, later that day, in an effort to put myself in Time Out so as not to "lose it" while dealing with the kids, dinner and homework after school, I found myself in my bedroom with the door closed and the tv tuned into QVC. (for the record, I didn't intentionally tune into QVC, I just somehow landed there) I was weak. Other than the one time I ordered the "Miracle Mop" when the kids were really little, I have never ordered anything from QVC.

I was vulnerable. There he was, telling me that I was worth it, that I could do whatever I needed to do. All I needed was to believe in myself, and that he believed in me. And it was the QVC deal of the day. I caved.

I ordered the entire library of Richard Simmons' "Sweatin' to the Oldies" DVD's.

I have "Sweatin' to the Oldies" 1, 2, 3, and 4. I have "Party off the Pounds", Richard Simmons SuperSweatin' Aerobic Workout and finally, I have "Boogie Down the Pounds", Richard Simmons SuperSweatin' Disco Workout. The QVC special included the bonus disc "Richard Simmons Love Yourself and Win, Six Steps to Self-Esteem and Permanent Weight Loss" which I suppose next time I put myself in Time Out I should watch rather that flip through the channels and land on QVC again.

Love,

Kim

Audrey Kay

Dear Mom,

I would like to tell you about my beautiful friend, Audrey Kay. She is a librarian at my local library. She sits right there at the front desk. She is the first person we see. Always smiling; always helpful. Not just to us--to everyone. A welcome sight. Take a deep breath and get drunk on Audrey Kay's kindness.

Audrey is also a cancer survivor. I didn't know her when she was battling her cancer but I think she fought with grace and humor. I'm also sure she dug her heels in and fought with anger, too. She was NOT going to let cancer win!!

She is a mother of 2 very beautiful children. Sarah is very much like her mother, humble. Will has a wicked sense of humor, also like his mother.

Audrey knits and crochets. She is involved in several ministries at her church; she knits or crochets prayer shawls AND comfort afghans. If she isn't knitting them herself, she is sewing squares for comfort afghans that people have given to her. I don't know that she has ever knit anything for herself. She is always giving afghans away. I was even the very privileged recipient of a poncho handknit by her for my birthday!!

Are you getting that Audrey Kay is some kind of wonderful?!?!

Sadly, Audrey Kay's husband suddenly and unexpectedly passed away last Thursday. The memorial service for her true love was yesterday. A cold, rainy April day. The kind of weather that puts an exclamation point to a memorial service. The service was full. To honor her husband, but also to honor Audrey Kay. Hopefully we banded together and got to show Audrey Kay what a difference her life is making in our lives. I think, though, that Audrey Kay was more of a comfort to us. She is strength. Grace. Beauty.

Today is her birthday. And while it is marked with sadness, my birthday wish for Audrey Kay is that she will know. KNOW. that she is loved. Deeply loved. Appreciated.

Kim blogged once about channeling her inner Audrey Hepburn. My hope is that I will be able to tap into my inner Audrey Kay.

Happy birthday, dear sweet Audrey Kay!

Love, Wendy

Apple Oven Pancake

Dear Mom,

On a cold, rainy April day, nothing tastes better than eating breakfast for dinner!! One of our favorite "dinners" is an Apple Oven Pancake.

Baked in a deep dish apple pie plate, it comes from the oven like this:

While the "pancake" is baking, I prepare our apples. The apples are finished at about the same time as the pancake and get poured into the hollow pancake. Like this: We slice the pancake while it is still very warm and sprinkle powdered sugar over each slice.

This particular piece is huge and did get cut in half. Our apple oven pancake is pretty rich and sweet and goes superbly with a cold glass of milk. We have talked about serving this with sausage links but we never do. A fruit salad takes away from the cinnamon-y apples. Toast isn't worthy. Apple Oven Pancake is perfect just the way it is. And for dessert? A snuggle with the sweeties!!

Apple Oven Pancake
1 cup milk

6 eggs

2 Tbsp. melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray dish with nonstick spray. Combine milk, eggs, butter and vanilla. Whisk in combined flour and salt until egg mixture is smooth (this is a runny batter). Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and continue baking 15 minutes or until sides are crisp and golden brown.

While the pancake is baking, prepare apples as follows:

7 apples, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg
Melt butter in medium skillet. Mix apples with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until apples are coated. Saute apple mixture in melted butter (cover skillet for approx. 5 minutes to soften apples). Remove lid from skillet to caramelize apples.

Serve with powdered sugar. Enjoy!!

(Note: if you are weird with textures, the apple oven pancake is an eggy pancake and not your typical bready pancake. Just lettin' ya know. I don't want to hear about weird textures from any of ya'll . . . .)

Love, Wendy

How I know she's mine

Dear Mom,
Often I feel like I am an outsider in my own home. In so many ways, our kids are very much like their Dad.
Every so often, though, something happens and I know part of me is in there somewhere. One of those somethings happened Friday evening.
The Young Lady was hit "in the eye" with a tetherball. And she didn't see it coming.
Yep, she's mine.
Love,
Kim

Free Radical

My most recent finished object- The Shipwrecked Shawl

Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.- Voltaire

Dear Mom,

Enough is enough.
Reading that people who drink soft drinks are 2 and 1/2 times more likely to be anxious and depressed is making me more anxious and depressed.
Free radicals are caused, among other things, by stress. The fight against free radicals is Stressful.
Avoid the sun, but get out there and absorb the Vitamin D you are deficient in.
Combat free radicals with antioxidants and Stop the Aging Process! But embrace the "you" you are today, you've earned those laugh lines, stretch marks and gray hairs......
Go organic! But those naturally occurring free radicals? Well not that organic.



Enough is enough. My head hurts.






I am choosing to embrace my inner free radical!

Free- easy, independent.
Radical- a person who holds or follows strong convictions.

And Knitting is my organic, stress-relieving antioxidant.





If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.- Mary Engelbreit


Love,
Kim

Chicken Breath

Dear Mom,

My chickens like chives! This is a problem I had not anticipated. I try to shoo them off, but they sneak behind my back and eat more!

When they were back together in the coop, I noticed their breath smelled like chives! Can you imagine...chive-smelling chicken breath?! I hope their eggs don't taste "chivey", although that might not be too bad in an omelet!!

Love, Bonnie Jo

I can't make this stuff up

Dear Mom,

Just a few days ago, the Young Man was standing about where I was standing when I took this photo:

He couldn't find a hanger.

Why is it that I am the only one who can walk into a room that any member of my family promises has been thoroughly searched for whatever that one thing is they can't find and put my hands on it immediately?

It has come to this: Now when I am told "I can't find blahblahblah", I respond with, "Well, if I find blahblahblah, then you owe me $x.xx." Sometimes this works and they go scurrying off to find it themselves, but not always. I have yet to be paid.

So, knowing he was looking for a hanger, I tried to step outside myself and observe as a scientist might observe animal behavior in nature as the Young Man opened the laundry door and began his search. Search= stand here until the hanger magically appears in my hands. Or until my mother finds it for me. As he began to turn in my direction, the question on his lips, I said "Turn around. Face the washing machine. Right there, directly in front of you. Reach your arm straight out. It will touch a hanger."

"Oh, thanks Mom."

Love,

Kim

Just Dandy!

Dear Mom,

There is a new project brewing at Peacemaker Farm...we are attempting to make dandelion wine.

Cheerful neighbors looked on as we "harvested" chemical-free dandelions from their yards, and excited children were eager to help us collect the yellow flowers! Approximately 2 quarts of dandelion flower heads were collected. The wine recipe requires most of the green material to be removed from the flower heads, leaving a heaping pile of petals. The petals were then covered with boiling water and left to steep for two days.

We are new to the art of wine making, so we are learning as we go. The ingredients are simple: dandelion flowers, sugar, oranges, water and Champagne yeast. It will take six months to a year before we will even know how it tastes!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Cancer Survivor

Dear Mom,
Gracie is my neighbor's granddaughter. Today is her birthday. She is four years old. A lively, active, very funny four year old. She is also a cancer survivor. When she was 15 months old, the doctors found a tumor in her kidney. She had her kidney removed and months of chemo, with a central line in her chest because chemo tubes and needles are so painful for a not-even-two-year-old. We had to be careful when we picked her up, even though that is all we wanted to do. Pick her up and snuggle with her and try to make her feel better. We wanted to try to understand. She has a scar that covers the entire width of her belly; a scar from one side to the other side of her. But two years later and if you don't know Gracie, you would never know she had cancer. She is a survivor. And she is also a deep comfort to me in a way no one knows. She is the baby that we held and cradled and drew comfort from when Daddy died. She was only days old when Daddy died so suddenly. In the shock of Daddy, a baby. In Gracie, there are reminders of time without Daddy. Four years already? I still remember my last conversation with Daddy, like it was yesterday; the laugh of Daddy during that conversation. I also draw strength from Gracie, the little four year old that has survived so much already. Gracie, the baby that provided quiet comfort on a cold and rainy April day.
Happy birthday, Gracie girl!!!
Love, Wendy

Happy Easter and A New Family Tradition

Dear Mom,

The Young Lady's Chocolate Eggs were a delicious success, and I think a new tradition is born. She will be making these again. And again. We've even discussed modifying the decorations for other holidays. The recipe is simple and she made them herself with just a little bit of guidance.

Chocolate Bunny Eggs

makes 2 dozen

1/3 cup butter, softened

3.9 oz. package instant chocolate pudding mix

1/3 c boiling water

3 cups powdered sugar

8-oz. package semi-sweet baking chocolate squares, broken up

tubes of frosting, candy sprinkles for decorating

Combine butter and pudding mix and mix well. Add boiling water and stir until well blended.

Stir in powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix well until you can form a ball. Chill for about 15 minutes.

Using your hands, shape tablespoonfuls of chocolate mixture into small egg shapes about 1-1/2 inches long. Set eggs on a tray or baking sheet covered with wax paper. Chill for 30 minutes.

In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate squares on high setting for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes, until partly melted. Stir until smooth.

Dip eggs into melted chocolate with a fork or toothpick. Return to wax paper a chill. Decorate with frosting and sprinkles. Keep refrigerated.

Happy Easter!

Love,

Kim

Meanwhile

Dear Mom,

While Wendy was having the new sprinkler system installed, things continued on pretty normally around here. Normal for Spring Break, anyway. The highlight of Spring Break (for me): The Annual Purge.
We accomplished the annual purge of the kids bedrooms in One Day (a new record!), leaving no surface untouched and every toy, trinket, article of clothing, bead, bobble and scrap of paper evaluated. "Keep", "Trash" and "Goodwill" were the buzz words of the day. I didn't stop to cook. My Hero brought pizza home. With a professional beauty shop hair clip in place to keep my bangs out of my face, we moved furniture, rearranged the Young Lady's bedroom, sweat, dusted and vacuumed our way to completion. They have come to realize after so many years, that I Mean Business and the sooner it is done and behind us, the better.


We rewarded ourselves with a movie the next day.


Last night My Hero took us downtown to Iaria's, an Italian restaurant, family owned since 1933. Curvy red booths. Chianti and calamari. Pizza with real cheese that stretched and stretched from the slice to the Young Man's mouth. The food was delicious, reasonable and plentiful. The bread was still steaming hot when it was delivered to the table. The Young Lady's description of Spumoni ice cream: "It tastes like taffy!"


After dinner we went duck pin bowling, which nobody is really good at, and the Young Lady did better when she used the ball that was so beat up that it wobbled all the way down the lane if that tells you anything about the skill level. Of course, "the boys" did lots better than "us girls", but we all had fun.



That leaves coloring eggs. We tried a recipe the Young Lady found that used beets, onion skins and blueberries to make the dye. An interesting experiment, but if vibrant colors are what you are after, nothing can replace the good old food coloring and vinegar dyes.

beet colored egg

Today we try making chocolate eggs for Easter. If successful, we will bring them for dessert to your house tomorrow.
And it is time to get a grip on laundry and the reality of setting the alarm and back to school on Monday morning.
Love,
Kim

This Can't Be Good, iii

Dear Mom,

After yesterday's post, this is what happened:

The source of the water main break was in front of my neighbor's driveway (the neighbor to the right of us). The water company dug up the street. And we lost all Internet, phone and cable service. For the entire day.

Then this is what happened to my other neighbor's yard (the neighbor to the left of us):

And we lost the free water. For the entire day.

I baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and shared with the repairmen. They were afraid to tell me what was coming so they did this:

This is my front yard. The repairmen drove this into my front yard, parked it and left it there for several minutes. To prepare me. For this:

What you can't see are the repairmen in the hole behind that huge pile of dirt. The work was finished at 7:00 p.m. All of our services are restored. I can do laundry again, but not for free; we can surf the web and talk on the phone again. It was a beautiful day so everyone just played outside anyway. I knitted and read outside. The cul-de-sac and its residents have new copper water pipes. And the water company is sending a lawn service to reseed the yard. Woo hoo!

Love, Wendy

This Can't Be Good, ii

Dear Mom,

The water company came out last night and tied our water together with the neighbor's water. We are sharing water so that neither of us will lose water.

On the upside, the water company has taken our water meters so that our water is "free" since we are inconvenienced and sharing with the neighbors. I have since washed all of our bedding, curtains and anything else I feel needs to be laundered. I have also taken several jacuzzi bubble baths to recover from all of the laundry . . . anyone need to wash a blanket?

Love, Wendy

This Can't Be Good

Dear Mom,

Uh-oh. The water company has been called. I predict the cul-de-sac and several driveways being dug up during our spring break. Specifically, our driveway.

I will keep you posted!

Love, Wendy

All Creatures, Great and Small

Dear Mom,
We've never been one of those families that head for warm climates over Spring Break. Someone needs to stay home and take care of the neighborhood pets.
This year the kids have been responsible for 2 cats (Maxwell and Cassie), Penny the guinea pig, a beagle (Millie) and a gecko (don't know the gecko's name). Add one neighbor's mail and mowing a lawn to that list. They may not have tans when school resumes next week, but the kids will have made some spending money.
As much as we all love animals, I feel significant relief when the pet duties are over with no mishaps. I hope the gecko doesn't run out of crickets. The Young Lady is managing the gecko on her own admirably, but I did need to help her capture an escaped cricket earlier in the week. If we need to "reload" the gecko with crickets....well, I really hope it doesn't come to that.
And I feel bad for all the lonely animals. The cats that try to ignore you early in the week are meeting you at the door mid-week. And the beagle will probably come over to our house for a few hours today just for the companionship.
The photo above is our Lucy laying on top of Smokey, the rabbit who lives. HA! Lucy is On Top of Old Smokey. I thought perhaps Smokey had gone to the rabbit hutch in the sky since Lucy was laying on his neck, but he was just laying there, letting her. The guinea pig with attitude has dominated a rabbit.
Love,
Kim

As we become Nocturnal

Dear Mom,
The kids are on Spring Break this week, and as nobody loves a good sleep in more than I, we are slowly becoming nocturnal. Up a little later each night, sleeping in longer each morning.
We all stayed up very late last night watching "The Goonies" on TBS. My Hero is not on Spring Break and since he did have to get up for work this morning, went to bed before the movie ended. The Young Lady's heavy eyelids got the better of her with a spare 15 minutes left in the movie, leaving the Young Man and I to finish the movie.
It turns out the kids can outsleep me now. Even the Young Lady, who used to be our early bird, is developing that pre-teen talent of sleeping in. It is nearly noon, and I probably should go wake them, but I have a stronger desire to enjoy these quiet hours as long as I can.
Love,
Kim

Bandit

Dear Mom,

My BFF/BFFL Brooke crocheted this for me. (Well, I think she really crocheted it for the yarn store but I loved on him and played with him so much that I think she broke down and just gave him to me so I would just stop already!) His name is Bandit (he was named immediately, even before his head had a body!) and I HEART him. I think he HEARTS me, too, because he wags his tail at me and rolls over when I want to rub his belly!

Bandit is super cute, super sweet and super loving. Just like my BFF/BFFL.

I just can't quite shake the feeling that I have seen Bandit before . . . .

Love, Wendy

Never Enough Purses

Dear Mom,

I have a new favorite obsession! I learned how to knit beaded purses! I LOVE it!! A friend of mine taught me last night so I have been a little crazy today. It took me just three hours to restrand my beads from the manufacturers' thread onto the Pearl Cotton floss that I will be using in my project. I wrapped my beaded floss onto one of my favorite old spools for easier knitting.

It took me only another hour to knit my (approximately) 9 rows, complete with beads.

When my beaded purse is finished, I will hand sew it to the silver clasp (in the picture above) and I will be able to fit a lipstick in it if I'm lucky!

My friend made my needles especially for me; they have a Celtic Friendship Knot on the ends of the needles! They are size 0000 needles. In non-knitters terms, this bag is being knit using toothpicks and sewing thread!!! I'm up for the challenge!!!

A girl can never have too many purses. We have many occasions for our different purses: weddings, funerals, date nights, shlepping to the store, girls nights out (to name just a few). We have big bags, small bags, knitting bags, going green grocery store bags, every day bags, pool bags, diaper bags (although, thank goodness, not me anymore)! My new beaded purse is perfect for a wedding or an anniversary date. I have orange beads to tempt the diva's love of colors. I'm also thinking about knitting a pink purse and pipsqueak can have a tooth fairy bag!!!! See, I told you I was crazy obsessed!!

Love, Wendy

A Squirrel's Nest

Dear Mom,
One morning when the Young Lady was quite little and just old enough to be in a "big girl" bed, I found a very large flashlight under her pillow while I was making her bed. How she slept with that thing under her head, I do not know. Here we are Years Later and the miscellany she manages to squirrel away in her bed and still manage to sleep in it is amazing. Yesterday when I changed her sheets I found, in addition to her pillows and quilt, the following:

2 small stuffed animals (1 cow, 1 dog)
1 medium-sized stuffed animal (dog)
1 very large stuffed animal (over-sized Valentine's Dog from her Daddy)
1 boxed set of 6 Star Wars books
a small notebook
a lap desk
a Nintendo DS
1 fleece throw blanket
1 crib-sized blanket
Flarp Noise Putty (don't ask- it is pretty much what it sounds like it is)
the shredded knot of yarn known as "Blankie".

All I can say is that it is probably a good thing she is confined to an antique double bed. Anything larger and who knows what I might find in there!
Love,
Kim

Pardon me, Ma'am

Dear Mom,
Earlier this week, I treated myself to my annual mammogram.
Enough has been said about the extreme squashing and the contortions involved and I will not add to that here. I will just say that, for me, it is not the Flattening, or the rib-poking-sternum-bending, relaxyourshouldersloosenyourgrip part that I find most difficult about the process. It is the command to "hold your breath" that bothers me the most. There is nothing like being told not to breathe that makes me suddenly need to hyperventilate.

Over the past few years, a few lymph nodes have decided to migrate to the warmth and comfort of the ma'ams. Typical lymph nodes are supposed to be kidney shaped and being that my lymph nodes (like my cheeks and my, ahem, cheeks) are round, I have had many extra pictures taken. A lymph node stalked. Like the paparazzi. I've had so many mammograms over the last year and a half that I actually found myself holding my breath during dental x-rays.

I have seen the same Mammography Tech, Ginger, so many times now that I ask for her. We talk about my knitting and where she is going on spring break. But most importantly, we have a Routine. We really work together and git 'er done. And this time we were able to get all the views we needed with only ONE "retake". And the Best thing is that all is well, there are no changes, and no new lymph nodes have taken up residence. No need to "follow up" in 6 months!
Ginger and I will have to wait a whole year to catch up.
Love,
Kim

Eggheads

Dear Mom,

I'd like to introduce you to Kary Mullis. The teenager did research, wrote a research paper, complete with bibliography, and fashioned an eerily-similar-to-the-real-Mr.-Mullis Mr. Mullis from . . . . an egg. A Buff Orpington egg, which was given to us by Bonnie Jo, straight from her farm. That led to another research paper of sorts about the Buff Orpington hen, which the teenager included as an addendum to his Kary Mullis Egghead Research Project. The teenager has a wicked sense of humor; hopefully Mrs. McDowell, his science teacher, will appreciate him for his gusto as well as for his no-help-from-us project! In the meantime, we can all appreciate the scientists in our world and their Nobel Prize winning discoveries, even if they have been reduced to jr. high eggheads!

Love, Wendy

Throwback

Dear Mom,

The May issue of Creative Knitting Magazine arrived in my mailbox this afternoon. My second professionally published knitting pattern is in there!

On page 62.

See!

Love,

Kim

A Blog is Born

Dear Mom,
I am not gonna say my old friend, I will say my long-time high school friend, Jill, has started a blog. The photo above shows our friend Polly, me, and Jill holding her 5 month old daughter. Our first time meeting the baby and seeing our friend as a Mother.
Jill and I have kept in touch over the years, never failing to send Christmas cards and gifts and sporadically writing letters. I am thrilled to now be able to regularly keep up with her and her family and get a glimpse of her life through her blogging.
Jill has had an exciting life as an Air Force wife and is now enjoying retirement. She and Her Hero have built their dream home in Florida after years of living all over the country. Jill literally felt the earth move when the bomb went off in Oklahoma city and evacuated Key West when hurricane George came to call.
Jill, Polly and I had great fun together with Susie, Colleen, and Erin in high school: Friday nights at Polly's house practicing disco moves [HEY! It was the late 70's!!] which Polly and Jill were good at but I was much too uncoordinated and laughing too hard to mimic their moves-especially when Ping Pong paddles were involved, talking about boys and handsome teachers, falling in L.O.V.E. with Rocky Balboa and rushing out into the mall (we had to hurry because one of our Mom's was picking us up) when the movie ended to buy beefcake posters of Sylvester Stallone to hang in our bedrooms, (in fact one snow day I recall Jill and I sculpting a Stallone torso onto our version of a snow man), getting lost and scared when we found ourselves in a bad part of downtown on the way to Paramount Music Palace and even more scared when the song Highway to Hell played on the radio, (I probably never told you about that- but see I am still here! It all turned out okay!!!). We were Good Girls. Heck, when the rest of our class spent Senior Skip Day getting drunk at the track, we had a picnic at a park and practiced cartwheels, fed the ducks, soaked in the sun and LAUGHED.
When you have some time, go take a look at Jill's blog. And soak in some of that sunshine.
Love,
Kim
Edited to Add: Reminiscing some more- we swooned over Paul McCartney's "ooooaah" at the end of the song, Jet- and shared many, many bus rides home with THE most unfortunate looking, angry bus driver ever to get behind the wheel. (I must admit, however, that if I were forced to drive a bus, it wouldn't take long for me to look that bad and feel that angry.)

Rare Ladybug

Dear Mom,

I think this may qualify as a rare ladybug. One never seen before.

I'm sure our discovery will be posted in all of the bug field guides, front and center on the Ladybug Project page!! Until then, pipsqueak should feel quite proud.

Love, Wendy

Late

Dear Mom,

Lest you think I am a slug for not hearing the phone ring when you called this morning because I had gone back to bed after the kids left for school, let me explain. I stayed up late watching something EDUCATIONAL. (And knitting a sock, which I finished.) I got really hooked on the John Adams series that was on HBO- now on DVD, borrowed from the library. It is probably a very good thing that the first disc had only 2 episodes on it, or I would have stayed up even later. As it was, I turned it off just as the Continental Congress Declared Our Independence. I didn't think it possible to be so mesmerized. It isn't as if I don't know how it all turns out! But I love seeing our founding fathers brought to life. Humble John Adams and his love for the law, his simple life and his family; clever, wise and amusing Ben Franklin; intense and brave George Washington; and intelligent, passionate Smokin' HOT Thomas Jefferson. Abigail Adams fighting smallpox. I see that some things never change as John Adams becomes frustrated with "politicians who only talk to hear themselves speak". And marvel at the courage of those brave citizens, soldiers and statesmen, who changed the world. And that is only after 2 episodes!

I also hunted down one of our lady bug guests after reading Bonnie's post. We are not plagued with the rare 9-spotted ladybug. Our visitors are Asian Ladybugs, introduced here for biocontrol and known to spend the winter, you guessed it, inside houses. This summer, we will keep our eyes focused for the Nine-spotted ladybug and send a picture in to the Lost Ladybug Project if we see one.

In the meantime, I leave you this. The dog who thinks he is cute, and what I usually find laying on the floor behind me when I sit here at the computer. He thumps his tail to attract my attention. And it works. Every time. Only something a dog's "mother" could love...

Love,

Kim

In Search of Ladybugs

Dear Mom, This is a picture of a nine-spotted ladybug. After reading Kim's post about the ladybug invasion, I saw an article in John Deere's Homestead magazine which caught my attention. "In Search of Ladybugs" tells about how some ladybugs are missing. John Losey, an entomologist at Cornell University said, "Over the past 20 years, several native ladybug species that were once very common have become extremely rare". Mr. Losey has developed The Lost Ladybug Project, supported by the National Science Foundation. He is asking people to find and photograph ladybugs! Two children actually documented the first nine-spotted ladybug seen in the eastern U.S. in 14 years! The project website gives instructions on how we can help by "Finding ‘em, photographing ‘em, and sending ‘em". They even have a Field Guide that identifies eight different types of ladybugs, each having a unique color pattern and number of spots (I didn't know there were THAT many types of ladybugs, did you?!)

I think Kim's Young Lady just found herself a good reason to adopt one or two of these pesky little house guests...at least long enough to photograph and identify them!! What a neat little summer project this could turn out to be!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Spring

Dear Mom,
I have been unusually busy these past few weeks. I have been weird busy. A photo shoot here, a knitting class there. Laundry, spring cleaning, taxes, knitting, ripping and reknitting a sweater for the store. We have had typical spring weather--busy in the yard between rain storms. We are enjoying magnolia blooms, crabapple blooms, crocus, daffodils and hyacinths. I am hanging laundry on the clothesline and then running out to rescue fresh laundry before the rain again. I am cleaning closets, changing over from winter to spring. Always a reminder that the kids are growing and I am shocked at how they have all outgrown so many things! A gentle nudging to enjoy them TODAY.
It is raining today--my favorite kind of rain. The kind of gentle, steady, all-day rain that feeds the new growth without threatening to blow anything away. I wanted to leave you with a beautiful pot of daisys; a thoughtful gift from a friend who knew I needed the sweet gesture. Now I am paying it forward--enjoy your pot of daisys today!
Love, Wendy

The Big Reveal

Dear Mom,

Tights are the Enemy is finished. I figured out a way to finish the neckline that looks pretty and easily slides over the Young Lady's head. The picture above shows the top after the ends have been buried and the sweater blocked. The Young Lady did not want to model the finished product and did not Cooperate.

In fact, the expression on her face was quite like the one I made that time you were trying to take a Christmas card picture of the four of us in the morning before school.

Okay. So we're even. Paid back. HA. Ha. ha.

She happily modeled the sweater before blocking with strings hanging off of it.

See? Strings. And~ Oh MY! A guinea pig on the couch. Zooming in on these photos is quite revealing......

Love,

Kim

Updated

Dear Mom,
You will be relieved to know that today, after a clueless 2 months, and an alarmingly aware 3 days, I am no longer driving with an expired license. They didn't even scold me at the BMV, so I'm guessing this happens a lot.
They were also really quick. I had all that yarn to knit and only knit about 14 stitches before I was out of there.
If forgetting to renew isn't alarming enough, for the first time EVER I missed a letter on the vision test.
The photos are now logged in with some facial recognition software, so "you can smile, but don't show your teeth". I don't know how to do that so I didn't smile. Plus if I ever got pulled over and had to hand my driver's license to a police man, I don't think I would be smiling anyway. This facial recognition trick is supposed to prevent identity theft but I suspect it is some kind of Homeland Security thing.
And then I saw the face of a middle aged woman looking at me on MY driver's license. With a wrinkled neck. And maybe even an extra bit of chin or sagging jowls. I am going to pretend that when I smile all of that disappears. I do not think I can wear turtlenecks all year round, but I sure wish I wore one today. I do notice that my "tinted glow enhancer" seems to be doing its job under my eyes, so I take what little comfort I can in that.
Departing the BMV, an old coot seemed to think if he tried t-boning me into the right turn lane I would move faster or get out of his way. I stopped and gave him my best "I just saw how old I look on my driver's license so don't you be messing with me MISTER, and besides it is Ladies First" look and then took my time to make my turn safely. I didn't want to have to present my fresh license to a police man so soon.
Love,
Kim