Now that the weather has turned chilly, all I want to do is knit, spin, and sew.
Unfortunately, I'm still deadlining, the farm isn't quite fully winterized, and there's no spare time in my life.
I've got some great yarns sitting in bins waiting to be knit, lots of sweater designs in my head that need to be put on paper, there are warm socks to knit for the Little Woodchuck and for Mister Woodchuck, I've got fleece all washed waiting to be carded and spun into more yarn. I need to make curtains for one room, new tablecloths and napkins to sew (the ones I made nearly 15 years ago have held up well, but they're worn and faded from much use), and I'd like to make some fun projects too.
There's just never enough time in my busy days.
Postscript: LW is doing great with potty training! I'm so happy!
30 October, 2009
27 October, 2009
Bad Mommy.
I haven't started LW's Hallowe'en costume, and I'll probably not get it done in time if I do start. I'm a very bad mommy. I know I can get away with not putting her in costume this year, but I know next year I won't get away with it. She'll have a full awareness of the whole Hallowe'en business by then.
LW is quite suddenly taking great interest in her potty seat. It happened after our playdate with her two little friends last week. I took all the kids into a bathroom to wash up for lunch, and her little friends (both potty trained) told me they wanted to go potty. LW watched in utter astonishment as they went potty, and the very next day she used her own potty seat willingly for the first time. And she's been using it with some regularity ever since. Amazing.
We put a star on the calendar for each day she successfully uses the potty, and today there were five stars accumulated so she got a little surprise gift for that fifth star. She thought that was pretty darned cool.
I had a meeting yesterday afternoon with a knitwear designer friend. Her pre-teen daughter, who loves my LW, played with and amused LW while us mommies met and got work done. It was lovely.
I made a really good apple pie over the weekend. I've got enough apples left to make another, so I'll do that by the end of the week. 'Tis the season for pie! LW helps me with the entire process of making the pie. She really loves helping in the kitchen prepare our meals.
Still deep in the deadlines crunch. I think in another three weeks, the worst of it will be over.
LW is quite suddenly taking great interest in her potty seat. It happened after our playdate with her two little friends last week. I took all the kids into a bathroom to wash up for lunch, and her little friends (both potty trained) told me they wanted to go potty. LW watched in utter astonishment as they went potty, and the very next day she used her own potty seat willingly for the first time. And she's been using it with some regularity ever since. Amazing.
We put a star on the calendar for each day she successfully uses the potty, and today there were five stars accumulated so she got a little surprise gift for that fifth star. She thought that was pretty darned cool.
I had a meeting yesterday afternoon with a knitwear designer friend. Her pre-teen daughter, who loves my LW, played with and amused LW while us mommies met and got work done. It was lovely.
I made a really good apple pie over the weekend. I've got enough apples left to make another, so I'll do that by the end of the week. 'Tis the season for pie! LW helps me with the entire process of making the pie. She really loves helping in the kitchen prepare our meals.
Still deep in the deadlines crunch. I think in another three weeks, the worst of it will be over.
25 October, 2009
Relieved.
See my previous post for the story of the accident.
Tonight, a relative of the woman in the green car contacted me via email. Whoa. The woman, whose name is Elizabeth I now know, survived and is slowly on the mend. What a relief. What an absolute relief.
Tuesday last week, I took LW to the library. She'd been very withdrawn since the accident, I think the sound of the crash and all the noisy emergency vehicles gave her a bit of trauma. We were very careful that she didn't see any of the accident aftermath, but she certainly heard things. Anyway, I took her to the library for story hour, and she went into a panic when we got there. She told me she was scared to be in a room with so many children, and started crying.
I took LW to the picture book room instead. There were two children there, and two moms. While the kids played and read (LW was still being rather withdrawn), the moms and I talked quietly together (I was acquainted with one of them). I very quietly told them what we'd witnessed Friday before, and that it had had some effect on LW. One of the women startled at my story; turns out she's friends with a relation of the woman in the green car. She took my email address and name when we all left the library.
And then all was quiet. I set up a playdate Thursday for LW and her two favorite friends, and she came out of her shell. By today, she was her old self again.
And tonight I received the email from the woman's relation. I wrote back to her, thanking her for contacting me and telling me that Elizabeth was on the slow road to recovery.
I do believe I will sleep well tonight. It's been an anxious week.
Tonight, a relative of the woman in the green car contacted me via email. Whoa. The woman, whose name is Elizabeth I now know, survived and is slowly on the mend. What a relief. What an absolute relief.
Tuesday last week, I took LW to the library. She'd been very withdrawn since the accident, I think the sound of the crash and all the noisy emergency vehicles gave her a bit of trauma. We were very careful that she didn't see any of the accident aftermath, but she certainly heard things. Anyway, I took her to the library for story hour, and she went into a panic when we got there. She told me she was scared to be in a room with so many children, and started crying.
I took LW to the picture book room instead. There were two children there, and two moms. While the kids played and read (LW was still being rather withdrawn), the moms and I talked quietly together (I was acquainted with one of them). I very quietly told them what we'd witnessed Friday before, and that it had had some effect on LW. One of the women startled at my story; turns out she's friends with a relation of the woman in the green car. She took my email address and name when we all left the library.
And then all was quiet. I set up a playdate Thursday for LW and her two favorite friends, and she came out of her shell. By today, she was her old self again.
And tonight I received the email from the woman's relation. I wrote back to her, thanking her for contacting me and telling me that Elizabeth was on the slow road to recovery.
I do believe I will sleep well tonight. It's been an anxious week.
19 October, 2009
A Very Bad Day.
Friday was a Very Bad Day.
My mom's cancer surgery went well Friday morning. I had her home by early afternoon, then MW and LW came out to Shelburne to pick me up and take me home. On the way back home on the Trail, we came around a bend not far from the town line and there was a car driving toward us at high speed, oncoming IN OUR LANE. The road was empty, he wasn't trying to pass anyone, just driving on the wrong side of the road and fast. By some miracle MW swerved to avoid, the wrong-way driver gunned his engine and slammed head-on into the car about 100 feet behind us. It was so terrible, I can't believe we didn't get hit (thanks to MW's fast reflexes) but the poor woman in the car behind us . . .
MW pulled over and stayed with LW, I ran back to see if I could help the woman. Other cars pulled over, people called 911 and men stopped traffic. The woman was in really terrible shape, moaning and barely conscious. The front of her car from the dashboard forward was crumpled like tin foil, all the windows were blown out, and the engine was just gone (I have no idea where it went). Blood everywhere, glass and gasoline everywhere. I held the woman's hand and stroked her hair, careful not to move her, and told her over and over that I would not leave her. Then I felt a six-inch-long piece of glass buried in the top of her skull and nearly lost it. But she was in such bad shape I had to stay with her, I didn't want her to die alone. It seemed like forever but a bazillion police and fire engines and ambulances showed up, and the medics made me leave the woman. We gave our statements and then drove home. We have terrible survivor's guilt, but there is not a thing we could have done to keep that idiot guy from hitting the woman's car. There's not much anyone can do when someone is driving at high speed in the wrong direction.
I called the state troopers in Shelburne to see if I could find out if the woman survived. I was told that she was flown by helicopter to Springfield.
I never did go over to see if the idiot guy was alive or dead. I probably would have started beating the shit out of him for what he did. Some men were keeping him in his car, he was trying to bolt apparently. The car was a black Audi with Florida plates. What the hell the guy was doing driving on the wrong side of the road is beyond my comprehension.
I'm grateful that my little family was not harmed, but I really truly did not need this today or any other day. And I can't stop thinking about that poor woman.
My mom's cancer surgery went well Friday morning. I had her home by early afternoon, then MW and LW came out to Shelburne to pick me up and take me home. On the way back home on the Trail, we came around a bend not far from the town line and there was a car driving toward us at high speed, oncoming IN OUR LANE. The road was empty, he wasn't trying to pass anyone, just driving on the wrong side of the road and fast. By some miracle MW swerved to avoid, the wrong-way driver gunned his engine and slammed head-on into the car about 100 feet behind us. It was so terrible, I can't believe we didn't get hit (thanks to MW's fast reflexes) but the poor woman in the car behind us . . .
MW pulled over and stayed with LW, I ran back to see if I could help the woman. Other cars pulled over, people called 911 and men stopped traffic. The woman was in really terrible shape, moaning and barely conscious. The front of her car from the dashboard forward was crumpled like tin foil, all the windows were blown out, and the engine was just gone (I have no idea where it went). Blood everywhere, glass and gasoline everywhere. I held the woman's hand and stroked her hair, careful not to move her, and told her over and over that I would not leave her. Then I felt a six-inch-long piece of glass buried in the top of her skull and nearly lost it. But she was in such bad shape I had to stay with her, I didn't want her to die alone. It seemed like forever but a bazillion police and fire engines and ambulances showed up, and the medics made me leave the woman. We gave our statements and then drove home. We have terrible survivor's guilt, but there is not a thing we could have done to keep that idiot guy from hitting the woman's car. There's not much anyone can do when someone is driving at high speed in the wrong direction.
I called the state troopers in Shelburne to see if I could find out if the woman survived. I was told that she was flown by helicopter to Springfield.
I never did go over to see if the idiot guy was alive or dead. I probably would have started beating the shit out of him for what he did. Some men were keeping him in his car, he was trying to bolt apparently. The car was a black Audi with Florida plates. What the hell the guy was doing driving on the wrong side of the road is beyond my comprehension.
I'm grateful that my little family was not harmed, but I really truly did not need this today or any other day. And I can't stop thinking about that poor woman.
06 October, 2009
New arrival.
We have a new arrival at the farm. She arrived today. She's a lovely Border Leicester ewe named Snowdrop.
I add animals to our herd with extreme care. Not only do I have to make sure we can afford to feed a new animal, I have to make sure it will fit in with the group and be a benefit to us for the rest of its natural life. Animals who come here stay here for the duration.
LW is at my mother's house for an overnight stay. I feel so guilty for enjoying this rare time to myself. I know this sounds terrible, but I sometimes miss my pre-motherhood days very, very much. Sigh.
This weekend we're taking LW down to Look Park for rides on the train and time on the play equipment. I had so much wanted to take her there regularly this summer, but two+ months of rain nixed that plan.
I add animals to our herd with extreme care. Not only do I have to make sure we can afford to feed a new animal, I have to make sure it will fit in with the group and be a benefit to us for the rest of its natural life. Animals who come here stay here for the duration.
LW is at my mother's house for an overnight stay. I feel so guilty for enjoying this rare time to myself. I know this sounds terrible, but I sometimes miss my pre-motherhood days very, very much. Sigh.
This weekend we're taking LW down to Look Park for rides on the train and time on the play equipment. I had so much wanted to take her there regularly this summer, but two+ months of rain nixed that plan.
01 October, 2009
Hello, October!
It's cool, cloudy, and colorful outside today! The trees out in the pastures and along our fencelines are in full color. Just waiting for the aspen grove to turn its traditional yellow, and then it will be official.
LW is now three years old. We had a lovely family pizza-and-cupcake party for her on the big day, and she was in her glory. Also, at Story Hour at the library, all the children sang Happy Birthday and she loved it. LW got some really swell presents, and she's enjoying all of them over and over and over.
The outdoor party we were going to hold has been canceled. Saturday is supposed to be a wash out, and that was the rain date. Rats. I've contacted the invitees with toddlers and we're going to schedule an impromptu giant outdoor playdate on the next non-rainy weekend day we can.
Our hay was finally delivered this week. Oh, the relief! It's good looking stuff, too. Really nice second cutting. Now I can face winter.
I'm facing impossible deadlines with my paying work. It's times like this I wish I could afford daycare for LW. It's so hard to get work done with her underfoot. Poor girl, she just wants someone to play with.
Tomorrow she has her annual physical exam. Flu shot for sure and the usual lead test because our house is so old (mid-1800s). I'm sure there are other booster shots, too, and I feel bad for her in advance. I have to get my own flu shot pronto.
Back to the grindstone. It's hard work!
LW is now three years old. We had a lovely family pizza-and-cupcake party for her on the big day, and she was in her glory. Also, at Story Hour at the library, all the children sang Happy Birthday and she loved it. LW got some really swell presents, and she's enjoying all of them over and over and over.
The outdoor party we were going to hold has been canceled. Saturday is supposed to be a wash out, and that was the rain date. Rats. I've contacted the invitees with toddlers and we're going to schedule an impromptu giant outdoor playdate on the next non-rainy weekend day we can.
Our hay was finally delivered this week. Oh, the relief! It's good looking stuff, too. Really nice second cutting. Now I can face winter.
I'm facing impossible deadlines with my paying work. It's times like this I wish I could afford daycare for LW. It's so hard to get work done with her underfoot. Poor girl, she just wants someone to play with.
Tomorrow she has her annual physical exam. Flu shot for sure and the usual lead test because our house is so old (mid-1800s). I'm sure there are other booster shots, too, and I feel bad for her in advance. I have to get my own flu shot pronto.
Back to the grindstone. It's hard work!
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