Ladyslipper update

I just got a few more pictures of Ladyslipper from Shoeshine and figured I'd share. She and her mom visited Boulder over Memorial Day weekend.

Looks longer and leaner than my rolypoly babies!  The lack of hair is the same however.

We are still hoping for a visit to Maine but X's classes have caused the original plans to be changed. Maybe in September I'll get a chance to hold this little doll.

My goodness, Mondays are busy blog days

I'm always pleasantly surprised at how many blog posts I get to enjoy reading on Mondays and today was no different. I wrote one yesterday and don't really have much going on to write about today.(or any other day really :o) I called my parents to chat and my mother said wistfully "Your father's on the computer checking to see if there are any blog posts to read * sigh*. Nothing new."

So, even though we talked for 48 minutes and nothing has happened to me in the last hour, here's a new post for you to read. Now, Ma will be all kerfuffled about me quoting her online. She tends to apologize for things that are not her fault or even wrong, and she hates to upset anyone. She is a very nice person, and funny too- even when she doesn't mean to be.

Here's a picture of her holding a puppy- if I remember correctly, my grandfather raised beagles for some time. He was a loud man and would have given her holy heck if that one had gotten loose, hence the choke hold around the neck.

Both of my parents are in this prom(?) picture. What a good-looking 1950s couple!

When #2 and I were around 12 and 13,  we each got a goat as a pet. This led to the family getting into breeding and showing purebred dairy goats for the next 15 years, maybe longer. They also sold goat milk, and each of my kids drank that as babies when no longer nursing.

That's my dad, youngest sister and my mom- I don't know the goats' names, but if you care, from left to right is a Nubian, La Mancha and an Alpine. I always liked the Nubians because they come in a lot of colors and coat patterns.

It was a pain having to get up early enough to milk the goats before school, and no one liked cleaning out the barn, but looking back, it was nice to have an activity that the whole family was involved in. At least for awhile- #2 didn't last too long, and #3 preferred horses. 

This is about the only picture I have with my grandmother with one of my kids, I think. This is me and my mother, with her mother holding Ms. M.  Mama O was already ill at that time and when I visited with the children, it was always a short one. 

When my folks got married, my grandfather gave Ma several acres from his farmland on which to build a house, so we grew up just down the road from them. I remember my mother walking up to her mother's for coffee, pushing the baby carriage and me pushing my doll carriage. After having 4 babies close together, I completely understand her desire for a break from the confusion and noise of 5 of us. Her younger brother was just 3 years older than me, so I think it was a break for both mothers!

I've written before about my parents helping us, both with advice and hands-on instruction for various projects over the years. J and I used to laugh at the back and forth 'discussion' about the right way to do anything, but over the years have noticed we are now doing the same thing! It's hard for my folks having to sit and supervise, but they are still ready, willing and able to tell us the right way to go.

Ma also sews very well. She made us girls matching outfits when we were small, mini skirts and maxi dresses in high school, and wedding dresses for at least two of us. She not only made Barbie clothes, she let us try sewing them too.  She made Cabbage Patch doll clothes for my kids, and curtains, slipcovers and pillows. I recently benefited from her cleaning out her fabric stash, since she said she wouldn't be using it- but she recently finished replacing her kitchen curtains and cushions.  

When I was little, she and my father made braided rugs, my mom braiding and my dad sewing the lengths together. They made furniture, beds, dividing walls and a goat barn, as well as a lean-to shelter early in Maine, then later a cabin. We picked bayberries and made candles. We raised orphaned squirrels and a baby skunk. We had a mean inbred collie named Lassie, and a parakeet named Scrooge who would whistle with my mother as she washed the dishes. After we kids left home, my mom enlarged her flower gardens and they built a waterfall and fish pond. 

It should be no surprise that her children think they are able to tackle just about anything around the house and yard! Or at least they are willing to try. I can't think of any area in which they set a bad example for us- of course it could be I am a little prejudiced! 

So, there you go Ma- a new blog post for you!

If you hear the sound, did a tree fall?

We missed the 3 tornadoes here in Maine last week, thank goodness, but we did lose a tree to the same storm system. I didn't realize it at the time but had heard the "CRAACK" when it went down, immediately after a very close flash of lightning. I actually expected to see smoke when I looked out the window, thinking a tree had been hit, but saw nothing.

Coming back from the post office the next day, we saw the tree lying in the pasture. J was home, having dropped an antique two-man saw on his leg while putting it up in his shed. After I told him it was stupid to try to hang a big thing like that himself, he changed his story to "I decided to stop when we lost electricity, and leaned it against the bench. When I turned my back, the saw decided to attack and slid down my leg to bite me in the ankle bone"  The stab was not very big, but it was deep, so I was happy that his appointment for his physical was the next day. He got a stay-home-from-work note which would have made him happy had he been able to walk without pain. As it was, he spent most of his time with ice on his elevated footsie.

Anyway- he managed to hobble down to the pasture to check out the tree with me- it didn't look so bad from the field, but the brush was too thick for us to see the trunk clearly. Plus the horses were a little too friendly. I don't like having them stand over me while I am crawling under the electric fence wire.

So, after dinner I went down to take a closer look. There is an old wire fence lining our field, about 10 feet or so out from the stone wall which is our property boundary. In order to bypass that fence, I had to get to the wall about a ways up and balance my way down to the tree. And by stone wall, I don't mean the pretty neat kind you see by people's houses, with the flat tops and all.  These are the big old honking  I-don't-know-how-farmers-got-them-to-the-side-of the-field rocks.

So I teeter my way down, worrying about bee's nests and breaking a leg- J would never hear me yelling, so how long would it take for him to miss me and limp out to check on me? I made it safely however, and found that the tree had not been hit by lightning(darn it) but had been broken right off it's roots. Apparently it grew up between the rocks, or was there when the wall was built.

It's about 30 -36 inches in diameter, and 5 feet  long from the broken tip to the bend in the trunk.  No way was out little electric saw going to make a dent in that- even if we could get power down there!

We let our horse people know about the tree on the fence, and one showed up the next day to cut up the wood and repair the wire.  J assured him that we didn't expect him to clean it up, just wanted them to be aware of the escape potential, but he was nice enough to cut the limbs in the field and left the rest for us to get later. 

Taking this as a sign that we needed a 'real' chain saw, we bought one Friday, and called it our anniversary present. J can't wait until his foot heals enough to try it out. The saw, not his foot.

Still Mr and Mrs Crazy after all these years

Saturday was our 33rd anniversary- go team! We had a very nice day, taking a little road trip and eating out, which we don't do often. More about that in a minute, first I want to reminisce (boy, is that a hard word to spell, it took me three tries to have word checker get it) a bit.


J and I first met in 1974, when I worked in the credit union down the street from his job at the hardware store. The first Friday night he came in to cash his check, I was hooked. He says he was too, although it took two years for us to date. J's story is that was because he knew we would get married and he wasn't ready yet. I left that job and worked one year as an aide at an elementary school where his mother was a teacher's aide, and his brother-in-law taught 5th grade. So I got to know them before I went back to the credit union, and walked past him every day to get a soda from the corner store. J would just happen to be out on the front step most days to say hi.


Our first date was his store's Christmas party, and I believe the only reason he was finally pushed to ask me was that another guy who worked there said he was going to. A couple of weeks later he called again, and that was it, we were engaged by St. Patrick's Day. For such a romantic guy (and he is mushy) the (first) proposal was anything but. Sitting in his truck outside my house, he asked me if I liked camping (yes), kids (yes), and spaghetti(no), then concluded 2 out of 3 wasn't bad. J then stated: "We've been spending a lot of time together. Maybe we should break up?"
Me: "Do you want to break up?"
J: "No. Do you?"
Me; "No"
J: "So, do you want to get married then?"
Me: "That's not the kind of thing you ask after drinking so many beers. You better go home" (Note- Apparently I didn't think he was too drunk to drive home, but I worried that he would forget that he had asked me. How embarrassing would that be?)


When I told my mother about this, she almost died: "You didn't say yes?!" (I was 23 and she was worried about old maidage) I told her not to worry, he would ask me again. And he did. 

And immediately said "We don't have to tell anyone right away." 
After straightening out that he just wanted to enjoy stringing his eager family and coworkers along a bit:
Me: "Okay, when do you want to get married?"
J: "Maybe...1980?"
Me: "How about July?"

We couldn't do the cool 7-7-77 date because it wasn't a Sunday. And we chose to get married on a Sunday because of J's boss. The hardware store was open 6 days a week, and Everett didn't want to have to close so everyone could attend the wedding. He made an offer we couldn't refuse.

                             7-17-77 still sounds good.


Fast forward to Saturday and our ride. We drove east, then south along the Kennebec River, and found some roads we'd never been on. I remembered to take the camera, but J isn't very good about slowing down for photo ops. That's okay, the windshield contributes to the road trip vibe. Some cool silos. Papa, Mama and baby sizes.

                          Over the river in Richmond.

Woolwich, I think? J says these are buoys, but I prefer to think of them as unexploded mines.

Back over the river- I tell you, it was a gorgeous day and there were lots of nice shots that got away! This is what I was able to get.

Okay, now in the interest of national security, I cannot tell you where or what these next shots are. Suffice it to say that J worked here for 15 years- well, his working period covered 15 years, but with several layoffs and a strike, he probably worked about 12 and half of the years. 

As I was photographing the drydock skyline, I commented that I hoped taking pictures wasn't illegal. It was then that J noticed the purple sign stating no pictures were allowed. We quickly left, taking the back roads to shake off any tails. I must admit, I struggled with this since I am a rule follower, but what the heck, I am sure my readers are not troublemakers. Right? 

We then zipped back up to Augusta for some food, along the way passing a snazzy little red sports car.( Obviously, this is not my picture)

J: "When I win the lottery, that's what I want!"
Me: "Well, you'd have to ride in it alone, because I couldn't get in or out of that thing"
J: "Babe, if I drove that, I wouldn't be alone"

Stopping by the grocery store later, we parked right next to a similar car. J takes a good look.
J: "Hon, you could get out of that car"
Me:"Kicking me out before you even get one?"

It was a good day.