Long Story Short

This is John's little brother Tim, his wife Carolyn and their son Jack, who is actually John David, named for his uncle John, but who wants to deal with two Johns?  They'd end up like Little Sharon and me, and we confuse ourselves. 

I cooked my favorite meatloaf recipe on Sunday - doubled it and added oven baked potatoes and carrots.  We had a family dinner.  We're family!  These are the moms, Carolyn and Shannon, and cousins, Jack and Olivia.  Tim was adopted a couple years after John.  John says Tim was so cute, he was a "chick magnet" and so he always wanted to hang with him.

A energetic game of something went on for a long time in the backyard.  It involved no rules and two yellow balls, lots of running and general nuttiness.

It was followed by some indoor cooking.  They were working hard here while I was working hard in the kitchen.  Kidding.  I had mixed up the meatloaf that morning and was enjoying the evening with everyone else.

After dinner we celebrated Christina's birthday, which is actually today, but Karen is awesome and that's just the way she does stuff.  We were chatting one evening and she mentioned that someone, after learning that her boys were adopted said, oh - you did it the easy way.  I am the queen of speaking before I think, but I'm still trying to digest that insensitive remark. 

I can't in this short space digest all the things that have transpired over the past 26 years, but there is no way John's parents chose the easy way.  They were the only adoptive parents Chrissie considered and they have been more than perfect.  Easy way?  I still reel at that.

I am so proud of Christina and now her granddaughter.  Her decisions as a pregnant 15-year-old teenager made this event possible.  She didn't care what anybody else thought of her and she did her best to be healthy for her baby.  My mother was behind her all the way and Chrissie never looked back.  We come from a line of strong women.

We tried to get a four-generation picture but Alexia was wired.  This is the best it got with a picture including John, because she was so obsessed with him - her brother. Obsession - serious obsession.

This photo touches me deeply - four generations of women from the Craine/Wilson/McPherson side of my family.  I have a genealogy map that predates my family to the Revolution.  I don't aspire to membership to the DAR.  The map was made so my uncle could be admitted to the SAR.  When we flew home, I left behind family more akin to me than anyone on a genealogy map.

The flight home Monday was unforgettable.  We got stuck with six hours in the air due to a strong headwind and a late push-off time while they calibrated weight and jettisoned standby passengers.  I didn't pay for the onflight WiFi connection so was stunned to be playing a game on my iPad and receive a one-line news blip that two were confirmed dead and hundreds injured in Boston.  A message popped through from my son - "get out of there, Boston has been bombed.  Not kidding."

Because of our delay, we landed and sprinted to the next gate to make our connecting flight and so were out of touch for hours.  Monday will be etched in our minds as for most of Americans.  I think for my generation it will be much like, where were you when John Kennedy was shot.  I'm sorry to have that cloud hanging over our reunion. 

The flight was painfully long - cramped seats, cramped knees.  After the first hour, Alexia entertained herself by going to the bathroom.  Mommy took her first, I took her second, and then after that she was confident enough to go on her own.  Mostly she was visiting with the stewards.  She apparently told them her whole history because when we deplaned they all called to her and said - goodbye Auntie. 

Cutest six-week-old baby picture in the world.

Or maybe this one.  I know how rich I am- rich where it matters.

Historic Deerfield

It rained hard all day Friday.  Paul and Karen had flown to Illinois for a graduation so we stayed in our pajamas and played cards all day.  And ate junk food.  We had hoped to attend the Revolutionary War reenactment at historical Deerfield on Saturday and the forecast for sun was right on.  It was a fantastic day.  John came with us but Shannon and Olivia stayed home as both were still recovering from their colds.  This young "boy" explains to Lu the difference in weapons and what they size munitions they fired.  

The program was meant to be authentic and instructional.  I was impressed by the skill these kids had as they demonstrated loading this small cannon.

They fired off a cannon - very loud.

Paul Revere came.

 The drum and fife corps led the rabble out of the muster area.

They were asking for volunteers who would willing to join the militia and fight for freedom.  Christina and Alexia signed on.  The British are coming!!!   The structures are part of this living museum with costumed docents, including a tavern and silversmith that we visited and more that we didn't.

The volunteers are getting trained by a scout and a drummer.  The drummer explained that the drum beat is what they need to listen for instruction - it's the sound that gets through all the cacophony of war.  They are drilling with sticks in lieu of rifles.

Ready to muster - and, march!

We got a very special ride back to our car.  We were all tiring and still wanted to make some headstone rubbings. 

We had visited the graveyard behind the prestigious Deerfield Academy earlier in the week when Karen was showing us the sites.  We were armed with paper and crayons and had been looking forward to this for days.  We had seen this plaque at the entrance and thought it was to label the headstones that were too worn to read otherwise.

We learned that the plaque actually identified the people buried in this mass grave.  The inscription simply says "For the dead of 1704."  I have never had much interest in American history but that has just changed.  I know about French and Indian war, but when I realized that I was walking on the site of a skirmish, I was instantly fascinated.  The French took women and children captive, back to Canada.  I realized that had they won, we would all be speaking French.

We whipped out the paper and crayons and went to work.  I think we might have set up our work station on top of a grave of sorts - not sure.  John wasn't interested at first, but he succumbed to our enthusiasm before long.

They worked on this headstone together.  Alexia did very well but John moved his paper while rubbing and it's pretty much a blob.  She adores John and he's very patient with her.

She also adores her little niece.  I can't believe how busy this week has been - I've wanted to post more about our trip each day but it's not happening.

I subbed today for the first time in an elementary school and it was a blast, though I am exhausted tonight.  I had eight classes for library visits and finally had the opportunity to read to and interact with the pupils - lots of pupils.  I'll want to sub there again.  In the meantime someone needs to do my laundry, but tomorrow is CERT traffic control training.  Good grief.

Massachusetts

We got to the airport Saturday with plenty of time to spare.  Alexia felt very grown up and was excited about her first airplane ride.  She told everyone including the stewardess as soon as we stepped onto the plane.  But when it was time for takeoff, that changed and she was suddenly terrified.  After a outburst of shear panic, Christina pulled her head onto her lap and covered Lu with her sweatshirt.  Landings didn't scare her so much, but she experienced all four takeoffs with her head on her mommy's lap.

Just a quick note, if you're new to my blog, my daughter, granddaughter and I few to Massachusetts on the 5th.   Christina gave up a baby for adoption when she was in high school.   It was an open adoption and his parents established communication four years ago, feeling John would benefit from meeting his biological family.  He became a daddy March 1st and they invited us back to meet the baby, Olivia Grace.  Phew - that was a lot in a few words.

We were in awe of the historic buildings.   American architecture has been an interest of mine since high school and this is the very first Richardsonian Romanesque building that I've seen in real life.  It's the Amherst town hall.  And just so you don't sound like a foreigner if you go there, the "h" is silent in Amherst - Amerst is correct.

John's parents are Karen and Paul.  Much of our visit centered around Amherst since Paul is on the faculty there.  Karen took a day off from work to give us a tour of local sites.  This is Emily Dickinson's house.  Her father was on the faculty at Amherst as was Robert Frost.  Karen is full of fun and this picture is so typical of her humor, catching me taking a picture of Chris taking a picture of Alexia.

More Karen humor - she posed us on the front steps.  John, Shannon and Olivia were all recovering from colds.  Olivia was still experiencing a lot of congestion for the first few days so they stayed home.

Paul rode his motorcycle to work so we could have his car for the day.  He suggested that we visit Mount Holyoke college.  He feels it's one of the most picturesque of the eastern colleges.  Chrissie and I were overwhelmed by the dates.  John C. Fremont didn't come to Nevada until 1843 - the first white man and explorer to see Lake Tahoe.

Amherst College is really a pretty campus but Paul is right.  This campus is a movie set gorgeous.

Paul explained the "five colleges" which are UMass Amherst, Smith, Mount Holyoke (both still girls schools), and Hampshire.  They've formed a consortia with buses running between the schools.  Admission covers all five colleges.  If you can schedule the classes, you can take them and design your own degree.

Paul gave us a tour of Amherst followed by lunch in the student dining commons.  The school actively pursues diversity and sitting at lunch with the students was stimulating and invigorating.  It was especially neat to see Paul in his own environment.  He introduced us to his support staff who had known our story all these years and were excited to finally meet us.  I think Paul and I are going to try to put our story into writing.  It's ambitious and scary.

And no visit is complete without a trip to the flagship store of Yankee Candle, the second most visited tourist destination in Western Massachusetts.  I wonder what's first - hmmmm.  It's massive and cannot be done in under 90 minutes, which is all I could manage.  Christina figures that she and Lu spent close to five hours but in several trips.  The Christmas world, as you can see by Alexia's body language, is magical.  I didn't expect to get caught up, but I did and I bought candles.  In fact, I'm burning one right now.

John and Shannon wanted to take us to Northampton.  They really like the town because it's bigger and the shops are interesting.  Plus, we were meeting Karen there after she got off work for dinner.  It was Wednesday, John's bowling night, so Chrissie and Alexia were excited to go to the alley and bowl a couple of games alongside of him.  I decided I'd come home with Karen after we ate.  I learned that I was in the home town of Webs, and ironically, I had an order in transit from Webs that I made before we left so it would be waiting for me when I got home.  We stopped at the visitors center for a map and in the conversation, the lady mentioned that she had popped down to Webs at lunch.  Just a couple more blocks on the same street.

This is their store greeter.

The store is massive.  This is the back warehouse area and it's where Cascade 220 superwash was on sale for $7.59 a skein.  It's my favorite yarn to knit for children. At that discount it was like buy three, get one free.

This is my loot.  I also bought the floor model of Schacht's version of the old "Weave It" sampler loom.  I've wanted one for a long time and was glad to finally get one.  They said that these little looms are backordered for the moment.  Lucky me!

We were on the go the entire time we were there so it's hard for me to figure out what to share and what to leave out.  I'll leave you with a picture of Olivia with her mommy Shannon. 

Counting Down to the Weekend

This is the battery operated ATV that Grandpa bought from a neighbor for $50.  Ian thought it would be fun for the kids at the Gathering.  Noah loved it when he visited in February and Alexia has been anxious to get a chance to ride it herself.  Even though it was sprinkling lightly, I told her if she'd be patient and let me make a batch of soap, I'd walk with her and the quad. 

She loved it as you can see.  The quad is great on level surfaces and downhill, but uphill requires a boost, i.e, me pushing.  She calls it an ATD.  I guess that's just the way she hears it.  I can't criticize.  I always wondered who Addle was.  My mother said we were going to see Addle (Seattle).

Lu wove for a while on Wednesday and then lost interest.  Then she realized that she wanted to wear the scarf on our trip so went back to work yesterday with renewed vigor.


I love watching her weave.  She has gained so much confidence and while she worries about her "weaver's angle," it pays off in her perfect selvedge.

Off it comes.  It's always so final when you cut those warps.

Tah dah - the finished scarf.  It's fantastic.  You can see if you click for big that there are selvedge errors on the left and I told her that's a good thing.  The right is perfect so no one would believe that she wove it otherwise.  She's already thinking about the next scarf.  She liked winding the bobbins but didn't like advancing the warp.  She's come a long way since last year, and she's only eight years old. 

She's says my new Dorset is hers and Maudie Mae is half hers.  I said I thought we should call the Dorset Dora, after Dora the Explorer.  She said, I *hate* Dora.  I think it's a good name for discovery and exploration, I said.  She wants to call it Big McIntosh.

I worked alongside of her and was able to finish my projects too.  These are the dishtowels from the hyacinth colorway.  I'll list them on Etsy when we get back.  That's her loom, folded up in the background.

I was able to finish the lap robe that I was weaving on Lilith.  It will also go on Etsy when we get back.  There's nothing like it for sale so I'll just have to see how it goes.  It's handspun yarn from two of our wethers.  I wanted everything done by this afternoon so I could finish it on the mini-mangle.

My suitcase is packed and the dogs are nervous.  I'm happy that TSA now allows small scissors as Alexia and I plan to knit on the plane. Tomorrow is an amazing and wonderful day. 

All Lu, All Week

Lexi and I had a long day yesterday.  Among errands, we went to Jimmy Beans Wool for yarn - she's started to knit and weave again.  Then we raced to Target to buy exercise pants since Grandma forgot to pack hers.  This is her new gear bag.  She now has her own equipment and is as serious as ever about fencing.

After her 90 minute fencing class yesterday, Mommy met us for dinner and then we went shopping at the mall.  We're too late in the year for cold weather clothes so bought nothing but had a great time shopping.  I haven't shopped with anyone since Melissa moved away - it was fun.  Lu and I got home at 9:00 and she couldn't wait.  She was chomping at the bit to cast on and knit, and so we did.  Bedtime was after 10:00 - bad grandma.

This is my beautiful great-granddaughter sleeping under the  blanket I wove for her - both are beautiful, but only Olivia is precious.  We won't get to Hartford, Connecticut until 9:45 Saturday night so won't get to hold her until Sunday.

This is the book I got the pattern for those adorable baby booties from.  Everything is knitted with Cascade 200 Superwash so is cute as well as utilitarian.

I've finished this sweater and slippers from the book and have a hat in progress.  I'll work on it tonight while we watch a movie that Ian bought for Alexia - Hotel Transylvania.  I'd like to wash and dry everything before I pack it.

We went over to Mim's this afternoon to get eggs.  She told me that she had baby goats when I called.  Alexia was over the moon.  I told her we would go after lunch, which in my language is after 1:00.  You know where this went, right?  You just had breakfast - no, it's not lunch.  And no, waiting in the car doesn't get us there faster.
My life is so rich.  I loved this visit, and for those of you who know Mim, she's still in the boot for two more weeks for the injured Achilles tendon.  It hasn't been easy tending a flock in it, and she says it's given her incentive to cut back her flock.

Lu could not wait to get started weaving.  Talk about pressure!  We finished breakfast, I wound a three yard warp at 4 1/2" and told her to take a bath while I dressed the loom.  She was talking nonstop while watching me so that was perfect - she got her hair washed and I got her ready weave.  She's worked on it off and on since then.  She's very excited about my new Dorset loom and already considers it hers.  It's been a year since she tried weaving and she has come back with renewed interest.

One of our projects today was to repot two plants.  The kalanchoe on the left was the token plant from Noah's Waldorf School program.  The violet in the middle was the plant we received last year.  The orchid on the right is from Costco.  I bought it a month ago and then recently watched a YouTube video on orchids and realized that it absolutely need repotting, drainage and orchid food.  Alexia and I were stunned to take the plant out of the Costco pot and find that it was inside a plastic sleeve inside the pot with the roots bound in soggy moss.  The stench of rot was unbelievable.  We both worked hard to free the roots and then move it into this pot with drainage.  When we bought the new pots at Home Depot yesterday we saw more orchids planted in the same bondage.  It's guaranteed death to the plant.  I hope we were able to save this one.

And this post launches my eighth year of blogging.