Frag-Blogging

I have been receiving some gentle nudges that it's time to blog again. The thing is, in my mind, blogging should be story-telling. If I wanted to just talk about the weather or what we had for dinner, I could just tweet about that... or post it to Facebook... and be done. Blogging is more fun for me because I love stories!  And sometimes I just haven't got a story. So that's where Frag-Blogging comes in. You can blame Mrs. 4444 and Keetha! Somehow they've managed to convince me that it's okay to gather up a bunch of fragmented pieces of almost-stories, weave them together, and voila! Blog-worthy story!

And so, we've had snow. Well, duh. It's January. In Idaho. So, yeah. There ya go.

I have to admit, there's something magical about watching falling snow pile up. I am kinda enjoying the way it's been coming this year. We've had several snowstorms with thaws in between, which keeps the white stuff fresh and pretty.

Cookie likes to lie in the window and watch the snow... and keep an eye out for any interesting passersby. She loves in play in the snow when it's deep and fresh. She pounces around in it like a puppy, rather than the more sedate 7-year-old lady dog she usually is. It is very fun to watch her.

What's not so fun is driving in it, though the snow plows are pretty good about keeping the main roads cleared off. The snow was coming down pretty heavy on Monday morning as Becky and I headed back to co-op.

Speaking of co-op, since this is a fragmented post, this term I am helping with a class of little girls (1st to 3rd grade) who are learning to crochet. Let me rephrase that. They are "learning" to crochet. See the difference? They think they are learning. Mostly they sit and hold their balls of yarn and crochet hooks, and giggle. One-by-one, the other teacher and I put our arms around them to guide their little hands to hold the hook and manipulate the yarn in just the right way, while they watch intently. I don't think they've caught on much yet, but this was just the first class. It will be interesting to see what progress they make by the end of 8 weeks.

On to the next fragment... Tuesday evening we had a birthday dinner at Olive Garden.

Our family had received a gift card to Olive Garden for Christmas, so we decided to go there for Laura's birthday. We also invited her BFF to join us.

And while they are "grown up" young ladies, legally adults and all that... they mostly just sat and giggled. Wonder when they outgrow the giggle stage?

Anyway, it was a lovely dinner.

Other than that, we've mostly just kept the home-fires burning (figuratively, since we don't have a real fireplace)... fought a virus that's going around...

...and tried to stay warm!

Hope you're having a good January!

People Watching

Last Saturday afternoon Lyle and I had a little date at a coffee shop I had recently discovered and wanted to take him to. Coffee dates are perfect for the early dark evenings this time of year. We enjoyed relaxing on a cushy couch while we sipped our lattes, chatted, and played Words with Friends on our phones with each other. We also like to eavesdrop on other people's conversations. Can I admit that without seeming stalkerish?

On one side of us was a group of college-age kids discussing a worship service they were planning. In the seating area on the other side of us was a couple apparently on a date. Their conversation seemed to be of casual get-to-know-you topics and nervous chuckles. I couldn't see them from where I was sitting, but I was curious to know what they looked like. Without being too obvious (hopefully), I glanced over their way when I got up to go the restroom. Turns out they were a nice-looking, casually dressed 30-something couple. 

People watching and eavesdropping on strangers is just so interesting to me.

So this morning, we went out for breakfast. We tried a new-to-us place, a little cafe that a friend had recommended. It was several blocks from the coffee shop we went to last week.

Just as we were finishing our meal, I recognized a familiar face across the room. Where had I seen that guy before? Then I remembered: it was the guy at the coffee shop. I peered around Lyle to see if his lady friend was with him. Sure enough, she was! So they are still together a week later... and going out for breakfast.

I don't suppose I'll ever see them again to know how their romance turns out. 

I wonder how many people we cross paths with multiple times like that without ever noticing?

Then Sings My Soul: Book 3 - review

When it comes to worship style, I am very much a traditionalist. I love the old hymns (and newer ones as well) sung in parts with a piano. I like holding a hymnal so I can see the notes as well as the words.

I also enjoy knowing the stories behind the hymns, so I have enjoy Robert J. Morgan's Then Sings My Soul series. Featuring over 80 hymns, Book 3 includes the sheet music for each song, plus a short article telling something about the composer and how each hymn came to be written.

It also includes a section on The History of Hymnody. Here are a couple of quotes from the book that I especially appreciated:

"If we lose the hymns, we'll lose a priceless legacy; and we'll be the first generation of Christians to ever do so. Every other generation of believers has added its songs to the hymnal without discarding the contributions of earlier eras." 

"A good hymn combines prayer with praise, keen theology with vivid imagery, and the majesty of God with our daily needs."

I love having this book (and the others in the series) on the shelf with my Bible and devotional books. It's a great resource for family worship.

The New Recruit - review

The New Recruit is Book 1 in Jill Williamson's Mission League series about a spy organization made up of Christian teens who fight the supernatural. It's a little bit espionage, a little bit sci-fi, and a whole lot of excitement!

The main character is Spencer Garmond who is decidedly not a Christian. However, his Grandma is. And when Spencer gets into trouble at school Grandma makes him choose: go to military school or join the Mission League on a trip to Moscow, Russia. Part of what kept me turning the page was Spencer's reluctance to be part of the group. I appreciate the perspective of the non-Christian teen... and how Christians who are all wrapped up in our church culture can sometimes come across to those who aren't familiar with it.

The setting of post-Communism Russia was also very interesting to me, and provided lots of excitement... especially for Spencer, who just couldn't seem to stay out of trouble. Written for teens, The New Recruit is a suspenseful thriller with great life lessons skillfully woven throughout.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from Marcher Lord Press in exchange for my honest review.

The Antique Buggy

Imagine, if you will, a young mommy in the late 1960s out for a walk with her baby. In your mind, what does that baby stroller look like? Maybe bright and plasticky, with shiny chrome metal bars and such? Yeah, me, too. (Go ahead. Google "baby stroller 1960s" and you'll see what I mean.)

Whatever you had pictured, it was probably not this, huh?

 Believe it or not, that picture was taken in 1966... and the dimpled little charmer? Yep, that's me!

You see, by nature and of necessity, my mother has always been quite frugal. When she needed a stroller for her firstborn baby, she and Dad went to the auction house to look for a bargain.

Alas, there were no strollers to be found. The only thing available was an antique wicker baby buggy circa 1925. Since it was forty years old and so shabby, they were able to get it for $10. Mother declared she liked it better than a stroller anyway, so they brought it home... and plopped me in it for many a happy walk.

I think I remember Mother telling how she used it to cart her wash from their apartment to the laundry room on the premises. She would set me in the back, and put the basket of clothes in the front.

 It was a very generous buggy. Plenty of room for two happy tots. In the picture above, aunt Rachel and I are considering how I should scoot over and make room for her.

See there? This arrangement works out nicely!

 Here I'm sharing with my twin cousins. The girl twin gets to ride in the buggy with me, while the boy twin demonstrates his strong muscles by "pushing" us. I wonder how far he managed to get us on the grassy surface. Looks like some wise adult had probably lifted the buggy over off the sidewalk to slow his progress. Runaway babies would not be good.

 And then, a year or so later, we had twins of our own! Girl twins. So Mommy pushed the baby sisters in the buggy while I pulled a wagon for the puppy to ride in. I wonder how far we got with that set-up? Looks to me like that puppy required a good deal of cuddling and not so much riding in the wagon.

 Not quite two years after that we got a baby brother, and he had his turn in the buggy. Some teens from our church came by to help with the little ones, and took us all for a walk. I remember we girls had strict instructions to hold on to the buggy and not let go.

Regrettably, I couldn't find a picture of my youngest brother in the buggy... because yes, the following year, there was still another baby. Probably we didn't have a camera, or maybe couldn't afford film for the camera, during his buggy-riding days.

After that, the buggy went into storage for many years.

And then, in the 1990s, my mother got it out again. By then it was too wobbly and delicate to be used in any practical way, but it made a perfect photo prop for those grandbabies!

My firstborn baby...

...and then my second one...

...followed by nine cousins over the next few years.

Mother finally relinquished the buggy to my care not too long ago. I am very happy to have it in my living room. We've had a "family" of porcelain dolls cuddled together in it for awhile. I think I'd like to put something different in it now. I'm not sure what, but I'll think of something.

So, for this week's Vintage Thingy Thursday, that's the story of the second half of the life of my antique wicker baby buggy. I'd be very curious to know the stories it could tell of the first half of its life, wouldn't you?