Having a Baby - Then and Now

My oldest daughter just had a birthday the other day.  My youngest daughter is having a baby in July.  I guess these two things combined to make me start remembering and thinking about having babies and how different it is today from what was way back in 1969 when my first child was born.

Remember?  They made you stay in the hospital for a minimum for 5 days!  Jeez!  What the heck for???  And it wasn't even any fun!  You did not have your child in the room with you.  Oh No!  The babies were all kept in the nursery behind glass.  You could walk down there and stare through the window at your child - but you could not touch!

The nurse would bring your baby to you at feeding time all wrapped up tightly in a receiving blanket and you got the priviledge of feeding your child during the day.  Not at night!  You needed your rest, you know.  And absolutely NO ONE could be in the room with you when you were feeding your child - not even the father!

Speaking of fathers - these poor guys never even got to touch their child the whole time they were in the hospital!  They only could gaze at them from behind that nasty glass partition.  They were not allowed in the delivery room and they were not allowed to touch their baby until the day you brought it home.  How crazy was that!?

I remember one time when the nurse brought my beautiful little girl in for feeding and I just could not help myself - I unwrapped her from that tightly wrapped blanket.  I wanted to count toes and touch her knees and just behold the wonder of it all.  When the nurse came in and discovered my sin you would have thought that I was dangling her out the window by her feet!  Man, did she scream at me!  Oh the horror of it all.  She snatched that child from me, wrapped her up and stormed out of the room leaving me feeling like the worst mother on the face of the earth!  What have I done!  I UNWRAPPED her!  I have ruined her before I even took her home.  Somebody shoot me!

Lots of other things have floated through my head about the differences between then and now.  Things like no such thing as disposable diapers, plastic pants that got all crinkly and hard in the dryer, sterilizing bottles, tee shirts with snaps (no onsies back then) diaper rash (remember Desitin?), no car seats.  Oh and this one - You absolutely  NEVER put your baby to bed laying in his/her back!  Heaven forbid.  You must ALWAYS put your child to bed on its stomach - to prevent choking.

Yes, lots of changes between then and now.  But one thing that has not and never will change -  The joy of having a child.  The wonder at watching him/her grow.  The miracle of gazing upon a sleeping face and knowing all is good with the world.

Flashes of Memory

I recently had an email exchange with one of my cousins in which I had shared a little childhood memory with her.  It was a rather insignifcant memory - just something I used to do once in a while when I was a little girl.

But for some reason recalling this memory from my childhood seems to have opened a floodgate of memories.  Ever since this email exchange, I have been having the most amazing flashes of memories from those days long gone by!  Little vignettes of my childhood flash through my mind in little bits of what is almost like one minute videos of people, places and things that I have not thought about in years. 

There does not seem to be anything special about the memories that come forward - they are totally random.  They are not necessily memories of really important stuff either - just stuff.  For instance, last night as I was falling asleep, I had a flashing memory of myself and a good childhood friend, Margie, running down an old gravel road barefoot!  We were running and laughing and must have been heading somewhere fun!  I mean, I could feel the gravel under my feet!  It was a hot summer day and we were running so fast I was getting one of those stitches in my side.

I have never been one to always be looking back.  Well, I do somethimes think about my childhood and feel lucky to have lived in the time and place that I did.  See this early blog I wrote about my hometown of Winneconne.  Once in a while through the years my kids will ask about life "way back then" and I would tell them about the games we played (Annie Annie Over, Kick the Can) or the things we did that I would NEVER allow them to do - like play in an old abandoned barn, take long, long (and I mean all day) walks just following the railroad tracks just because.

But most of the time, I am content to live in today.  I acknowledge that my past - for better or worse - had a great deal of influence in shaping me into the person I am today.  But otherwise, I just sort of left the past in the past.  But I have to say these flashes of memories are fun!  I rather enjoy laying in the grass again with Janie Gavin and watching the clouds go by and finding shapes in them.  And I always loved swimming in the Wolf River so it was kind of fun to have that great flash of me running down the dock and jumping in and feeling that icy water cool my summer hot skin.

So come on memories - show me some more!

Halloween

Wow! This was a great Hallowe'en for Granny and Grampy! We went to visit with our granddaughters and go out Trick or Treating with them. The weather could not have been better! And the kids were out in huge numbers. I mean the streets were loaded with goblins and witches and spidermen and bunny rabbits and all kinds of fun and interesting creatures.

I love going to visit my grandkids at this time of year. They always have the most creative costumes that they put together with the help of their very creative mom. And the people in this small community really go all out. Lots of the grown ups wear costumes, they houses are decked out with some of the most creative and fun decorations I have ever seen!

Here are a few more of the creativeness we saw on Halloween night:

Still Trying to Learn the New Camera

So I got this new camera a while back and am having mixed success in learning all the ins and outs of using it. It is a Canon Rebel. I like it because it is a digital camera but has features that Grampy and I missed when we gave up our 35mm manual camera - the ability to take lots of shots without the delay you get with a digital, having a zoom lens and focusing ability. One of my favorite settings in the "Sports" setting which allows me to just hold the button down and the camera will take about 5 or 6 rapid shots. This is especially useful when trying to get photographs of my grandkids when they are riding their bikes or doing gymnastics.

The above shots are not very good, I admit. I was trying to get some good shots out my patio door of the birds at the feeder. I was trying to catch some in flight using the Sports setting. The lighting wasn't very good and the darned birds were just too quick for me most of the time. I sorta just stood there with the camera aimed at the feeder and was trying to catch some as they were flying in. Unfortunately, they were already landed before I started clicking - bummer!

But, I will keep trying. So along with the pictures I posted some time back of the Red Tailed Hawk that adopted us, I thought I'd post a couple of my not so hot bird pictures here and maybe we can see how I progress as I post some more in the future. Winter should be a good time for getting some great bird shots!

BiFocals Suck!

As if the wrinkly skin and aching bones wasn't enough, old age had to further make itself known to me by requiring that I now needed to wear bifocals! Yuck!

Actually the adjustment from my prescription reading glasses (which I have worn for years) to bifocals was not that difficult with one major exception. I did not have the problem many have with going up and down stairs or with reading. Thankfully, I quickly found the right head position for machine and hand sewing. What I could not master was seeing the computer screen!

No matter what I did; no matter how I held me head; no matter how I tried to adjust the location/position of the screen it was just a big blur and kind of made me sick to look at it. I finally gave up and went back to see the eye doctor. Well, it turns out that the bifocals probably will never work for me when working on the computer and needed to see the full screen. You see, I have what is called a "lazy eye" and usually only use one eye (the left one) when looking straight forward. So finding that mid-range "sweet spot" for looking at the computer screen becomes much more complex and often impossible.

There is a solution, however. Per my eye doctor I am now using my old prescription reading glasses for computer work. Because the prescription for these is the same as the close range prescription in my new ones, she assured me that I am not doing any harm to my eyes by switching back and forth. She cautioned me, however, to only use the readers for the computer so that I continue to perfect my ability to use the bifocals.

So old age continues to creep up and play nasty little tricks on me. I am trying to fight back as best I can. I just got a new bike and am taking up bike riding after more than 20 years. I am having a little problem adjusting to the new-fangled bikes. I did get one that is made especially for people like me who learned to ride on the old fashioned biked that did not have the seat up so high and the handle bars straight out. That seems to be working pretty good for me but I still have to adjust to the skinny tires. Wish me luck and pray that I don't break a leg!

Uncluttering................

Grampy and I decided it was long past time to start getting rid of some of the junk we have been saving up in our basement for years and years and years. We pulled the family together and said "Let's have a Big Ass Garage Sale!"

So in a couple of weeks our three families are going to put all our collective junk out in the driveway and hope that someone else wants it. You know the old saying - "There's a sucker born every minute" - we are hoping that a few will show up at our garage sale and save us from this clutter.

I have been working out in my mind (yes, I do have one!) the ad that I will be placing in the newspaper as bait to draw in the unsuspecting. How does this one sound?..................

"OK folks, we have all this junk in our basement that is just taking up space and gathering dust. Why not stop by our 3-family garage sale and see if there is any good stuff here that you could take home to take up space and gather dust at your place for a while. We have a wide variety of stuff, with something for everyone. Old pots&pans, old fishing equipment, ice skates, all kinds of mismatched dishes and glassware, tools and so very much more. I mean, really, we could hardly walk through our basement so there will be a boat load of stuff for you to browse through! Come early because if, by chance, there are some hidden treasures, they will go fast!"

Actually, I will probably break down and write a more conventional ad. It is just fun sometimes to say (write) the truth of the matter just to see how it plays. So, if you are not doing anything on June 13 or 14, mosey on over and check my junk!

If you click on the images at the top it will enlarge the image so you can get a good look at it (if for some reason you really want to) and remember, this is just some of it - yes - there's more!

This is a Hoot!

I was in Minneapolis this past week end to celebrate my granddaughter's 5th birthday and my ??th birthday with my daughters and grandchildren. We had a wonderful time. We decided to check out a Craft Sale in White Bear Lake. It was wonderful and I was happy to see so many etsy sellers there.

While walking around checking everything out, I was really drawn to the table of Popsie Daisy. She makes the most adorable little creature knitting bags for holding your small knitting projects. I had picked up a card with every intention of checking her on line shop when I got home.

Well, somehow (probably when I was filling my face with carmel corn!) my hubby and the kids sneaked away and purchase this adorable Hoot Owl Bag for my birthday. I was thrilled when I opened it later that day!

These bags are just the perfect size to hold your yarn when working on a small project like socks or small purses. It is nicely weighted at the bottom so that it does not tip over when you are using it. It has a zipper in the back for easy access to your yarn. But, the BEST feature of these little creatures in the hole in the back to thread your yarn through!

If you need a project bag or you need a super and unique gift for a knitter in your life, check out Popsie Daisy's shop. She has wonderful creatures and the price is quite reasonable!

Another Backyard Friend

Anyone who knows us, knows that we seem to have a wildlife sanctuary going on in our backyard. Like most of you, we have a large bird feeder on our deck that we keep filled for the many birds that frequent our woods. Grampy keeps building and adding more birdhouses of various types so those birds that build in a house have several to choose from.

However, our wildlife extends way beyond birds. We have a grouping of FLYING SQUIRRELS that comes to visit us every night. They are nocturnal so they come around after dark. Grampy has built them special feeders and we buy special food just for them. What a treat they are to watch. We have a couple of raccoon that visit every so often. They come up on the deck and try to eat the squirrel food. We also are visited by a friendly possum - again, he is looking for any tidbits of leftover squirrel food he might find.

In the winter we feed a herd of about 13 deer every night. We see them infrequently during the summer. But, they do treat us at least once a summer by bringing their fawns up for us to see. We also have turkey (not often but enough to make it exciting), coyote, rabbits, woodchuck and an occasional pheasant.

We have a pair of mallard ducks that comes back every year. They spend their lazy summer days swimming around in our fish pond and relaxing in the shade of my flowerbed. Unfortunately, they have never brought their babies to our pond for us to see and enjoy.

This hawk is our newest addition to the backyard zoo. He started hanging around and seemed to show little or no fear of Grampy when he got up close to him once when he was eating something on the ground. So we threw out some venison we had in the freezer that had been there way too long and needed to be disposed of anyway. So now he hangs around all the time waiting for us to throw some more goodies out for him.

I told Grampy that we are never going to be able to move - we have way too many creatures depending on us!

Something Old is New Again

About 15 or 20 years ago I saw this little child's chair at an auction and fell in love with it. I fell further in love when the owner told me the story of the chair. She was around 80 at the time and told me that her father had made the chair for her when she was five years old.

I bought the chair and brought it home. I did not have small children anymore and did not yet have grandchildren, but the chair had a special place in my home from that day forward. After time, the seat split and it was no longer safe for little behinds to sit on. By now I did have grandchildren, so I kept a plant on the chair so my granddaughters would not sit on it and get pinched in a very sensitive area!

Ah! If this chair could talk! The stories it could tell. I look at it and imagine that father from long ago carefully handcrafting this chair for his beloved daughter. I can envision him in my mind carefully selecting, cutting and sanding the wood for this gift to his daughter. I can almost see him lovingly running his hand over the seat with that special smile that father's have for their children making sure that it is smooth and perfect. I imagine the pride and joy in his eye as he presents his precious child with this gift on a Christmas morning or maybe a birthday. A true gift from the heart.

Obviously the daughter loved the chair. She kept it long after she could no longer sit on it or have tea parties or do her embroidery or any of the other wonderful things she did on her special chair.

She kept it and passed it on to her children. My minds eye sees her children sitting upon this chair reading, having tea parties, or using it at the "kids" table at family gatherings. And then they too outgrew the chair.

But still she kept the chair. And then another generation of children used the chair - her grandchildren. Again, the old chair her father had crafted so many years ago hosted the games of childhood. Again the old chair was brought out and used to bring a little love and joy to the play of childhood. And perhaps there were great grandchildren - yet another generation to benefit from this wonderful gift from a father to his child.

Now the chair is going pass on to a new generation and a new family. Grampy has lovingly restored this chair to close to its' original condition. He took it apart, re glued, sanded, stained and varnished it so that it is once again beautiful. I watched as he lovingly ran his hand over the seat to make sure it was smooth and perfect. And, he had that special smile that grandfathers have for their grandchildren.

This chair is going to our grandson. We hope that he will find hours of fun sitting at this chair reading a book, drawing a special picture for mommy or daddy, or just sitting at the window watching the birds hop around in the yard. And who knows, maybe someday he will lovingly run his hand over the chair as he contemplates giving this chair to HIS child - and he will have that special smile..............

On Growing Old

We all know that there are many things about growing old that suck! "Support Bra" takes on a whole new meaning, headstands and cartwheels are but distant memories, there's only about 3 things left on any menu that you can eat and "taking a risk" can be something as simple as walking to the mailbox down an icy driveway.

But, I thought about at least one thing this morning that is good about growing old! I now have a built in excuse for every stupid thing I do and dumb thing I say! I just shrug and mumble "Let's just chalk this one up to old age!" and I am off the hook! Everyone just shakes their heads and say "Yeah, the old gal is getting old - Alzheimer's must be kicking in."

I now have a ready excuse for forgetting important dates likes birthdays and anniversaries. I just pull out the "I'm getting old" thing after I spend 20 minutes looking for my glasses that are resting on the top of my head. I no longer have to explain why I came home from the corner grocery with 27 items - none of which are the one I went for in the first place.

So my boobs may now be closer to my knees than they are my chin, my face crinkles have become full blown wrinkles and I take a one hour nap in my chair every night before bed but I smile with a small touch of joy when I realize that my days of being accountable for my daily foibles are diminishing.

A while back I posted a blog about my youngest granddaughter and her first knitting project - the monkey hat!

Well, now I need to brag about my oldest granddaughter and her first SEWING project. Look at this wonderful MP3 player tote bag that she made! Can you believe that she did this? Six years old!!! I mean - check out that stitching! I cannot believe that she sewed so straight!

I am so proud of my grandchildren and their interest in doing these kinds of things. It is so wonderful to watch the learn and appreciate the joy of doing things yourself. And, I have to give most of the credit to my daughter who has nurtured this love of creativity, curiosity and joy of learning in her kids. It just warms an old Granny's heart!

Granny Has to Brag a Little!

It wouldn't be a "Granny" blog without a "Granny Brag Book" so here is my brag. Maggie, my beautiful, talented grandchild made this hat! She is FOUR YEARS OLD! Can you believe it!??? She got a wonderful knitting machine for Christmas and look at her go!!!

I am the most fortunate Granny in the world because I have such talented Grandchildren. Maggie's sister Lizzie is also a creative, talented little girl. She is aged six. She got a sewing machine for Christmas this year and I am looking forward to seeing some of her finished projects. We did a little sewing on the machine while she was here over the holidays and I think she is a natural!

I also have a very talented Grandson. He is aged 5 months and he already shows signs of being a wild and crazy guy! While he probably won't do much sewing and knitting, I am sure that his Dad and Grampy will show him the ropes around woodworking and other such creative outlets.

Getting back to the sewing, I am currently on a mission to put together some easy-sew kits for my girls. I am working on creating some of my own and/or finding some to purchase. I would love to have some pre-packaged kits to take with me on my next visit so I can work with the girls to create some satisfying finished projects. Any suggestions?

It makes me feel really good to know that so many of these things that I thought were becoming lost arts - sewing, knitting, crocheting, beadwork are making a strong comeback with the young people. It makes me feel especially good that my children and grandchildren are so interested in the creative crafts and have an appreciation for doing it yourself!

So please check out the hat. Maggie was positively bubbling over when she called me to tell me that she had made it. Thanks Maggie for making your old Granny so proud!

Reflections of My Childhood

I don't know if it just a natural part of growing older or it is because I am retired now and have more free brain space, but I often find pictures and memories of my childhood running through my mind.

From out of nowhere, a picture from that long ago past, a name, a place, an afternoon game will all of a sudden float through and (usually) bring a smile to my face. I truly enjoy being able to retrieve these things from my past that I had thought were gone forever.

I grew up in a sleepy, dusty town in Wisconsin. Sleepy, dusty towns in the 40's and early 50's were truly that - sleepy, dusty and isolated in a cocoon. We had no television or Internet to connect us to the rest of the world - or even with that town 30 miles down the road. For those of us under 12, our whole world was what happened within our own town borders. In my case it was in a little place called Winneconne.

I remember swimming in the Wolf River. I remember the walk home when we would all pick apples from a tree along the route. We always stopped at the grocery store and bought a Popsicle. They were a nickle and we could split them. Sometimes we were able to splurge and buy a dreamcycle. They were only a nickle too, but we did not split these so you got to have it all to yourself.

I remember playing Annie, Annie Over across the roof of our old, tattered garage. I remember long afternoons of Jacks, Jump Rope and Uncle Wiggley. I remember Jane, Margie, Mary, Lucille and all those other wonderful "best friends forever" from my childhood. I know we can't go home again (well we could but it just wouldn't be the same now that we are all grown up) - but sometimes I think it would be nice to go back in time for just one day and once again feel that warmth and freedom and innocence of being 10 in small town America.

So, thank you Winneconne for hosting my childhood and filling it with such wonderful memories and providing me with a venue in which to just be a kid. Thank you!