With the birth of our newest grandchild, changes are coming to the barnyard that none of the babes have ever experienced before.
Yes, we’ve had a baby Squagon to care for, two baby dragons to feed, a tiny Lilly that flew in on a dandelion, and a passel of Moonlight Dreamers flitting above the rafters in the barn. I also realize that Brutus, himself, came to me as a tiny one… but a baby, an actual baby, has never before been experienced around the barnyard.
Osrig is so confused that he doesn’t know what to do. He just keeps looking at her with such devotion, without knowing why he feels that way. He just sits and stares at her, smelling her hair and occasionally licking her tiny little fingers… it’s actually quite adorable.
Even Peanut has taken one of the bedrooms just off of the nursery, hoping I’ll let him help with anything baby…
While I wish that I could splatter a thousand pictures of our Maisie all over the doors, windows, and walls, I must also respect my daughter and son-in-laws privacy. This is where our SugarPlum comes in as a happy little substitute…
I had to invite our little SugarPlum into the barnyard, because I’ll be caring for Maisie when her mamma goes back to work. Obviously, my daughter said there wouldn’t be any wild boat rides allowed, so who else will travel abroad with us, sailing the high seas, and all that?
Babies are so fragile, I wouldn’t dream of risking her safety out on the high seas. Just so that you don’t worry about SugarPlum, she’s perfectly magical and fluffy, and fit for sea adventures… I promise!
I know it wasn’t actually on my birthday, but I don’t care!
On December 4th, we welcomed little Maisie (aka… SugarPlum) into the world. 8lbs 14oz and as per usual, tons of hair! My bloodline has big babies, so she’ll hold her own, I think.
I know it’s been some time since I’ve actively written, but babies trump everything else, lol.
If you could afford me a bit more time away from the keyboard, I assure you that I’ll be back in the swing of things here shortly.
After the grocery shopping debacle that morning, her good mood had soured and gained a downward run that she knew would not improve. Her shopping cart wheel had given out in just the right spot coming off of the curb in front of the store letting everything in it simply fly, full force, into a passing car in the parking lot.
After completely re-shopping, off of her crumpled receipt that had a piece of old chewing gum in it, she hurried home in an attempt to unload before her youngest child awoke from a very brief fake nap.
Driving home, the officer did not appreciate the narrative she reeled off as her excuse, giving her a speeding ticket anyway.
Once home, groceries unpacked and children playing, she tried to find solace in a piece of chocolate cake that she had reserved on top of the microwave the night before, only to discover that the cat had peed on the front of the microwave. And yes, she had already eaten the cake when she discovered this bit of information. It had been one of those days!
When she walked into the room to check on her children as they played, she was certain that she heard her 5-year-old say to her Barbie doll, “You #@*ch!”
In shocked horror, the stressed out young mother began to let loose with a scolding lecture regarding language. Looking up from the dollhouse in confusion, her daughter asked, “Mommy, if I can’t call this a bench, then what am I supposed to call it?”
Perspective!
I so want to go back to having the perspective and imagination of a child, without all the grown-up things that derail the good stuff.
That’s a perfect world, which this is not, but the beauty of the human soul is that it can learn, recover, forgive, and grow.
Sometimes, one must simply call it like it is, you know?
As per societies rules about routines and such, we all get up every morning, and obediently slip into our adulting patterns… day after day after day. Ewwwww!
Of course I’m going to try getting out of adulting, if at all possible… wouldn’t you?
So just remember, if you see me adulting… well, I’m possibly faking it!
So, in case anyone was waiting for the rest of the haircut memory…here goes!
Remember my girlfriend saying that I could one day laugh at her? Well, if your wondering, I did have the occasion to take her up on the offer to enjoy a laugh, at her expense. Probably about 3 or 4 years after the Horse Hair Tragedy of 95, I got an unforgettable call...
My girlfriend declared, “I am calling you first because I said I would, and you get the first chance to laugh before anyone else does.”
Let me back up just a tad…
From the time of his birth, my girlfriend’s son began receiving Beanie Baby Bear memorabilia from his grandmother, as well as, other friends and family. His baby room was covered wall to wall with adorable beanie bears, all perfectly encased, in those little plexiglass cases. Everyone knows that for a collectible, its value is in its preservation… especially the tags attached to the item, from its beginnings.
Well, with the confusing logic that’s usually employed by children, my friend’s son took it upon himself to take the tags off of all his beanie bears. He did this, not being concerned at all with the monetary importance of the tag being intact.
After getting all of his bears off of the shelves and out of their cases, he proceeded to get out his preschool scissors and cut off not only all of the tags, but any ear or foot attached to said tag.
I cannot remember exactly how many bears were maimed that day, but I do know it was a lot!
To this day we laugh about this memory, along with many other crazy things our babies put us through
One morning, while standing in my kitchen and talking on the phone with my girlfriend, I just knew something wasn’t right! I kept glancing out the window suspiciously towards the sound of singing.
There was my five-year-old, happily playing on her swing set in the back yard.
Something wasn’t right with the scene I observed, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
You see, it’s usually the absence of noise that signals childhood mischief, but I could see her clearly and she was simply swinging. Wait a minute… that’s it!
I could see her but not clearly because of the distance between us. I asked my girlfriend to hold on a second, momentarily placing the phone on the counter. Leaning out the back door, I called for my daughter to come into the house. Hopping off of the swing, she happily made her way toward the back door, where I stood waiting.
As she drew near, my eyes became riveted to her forehead, where her bangs had once been. My baby gave herself a reverse mohawk! I saw what looked like a small monk! She had somehow sheared off all of the hair on her forehead!
In mortified shock I grabbed the phone up and cried to my friend, “You have to come over and look at my baby girl’s hair”!
Hanging up the phone, I attempted to calmly ask my child what happened… note that I said attempted. She looked concerned at my anger and said, pointedly, “My hair was in my eyes, so I got out your sewing scissors and cut it off.“
I was in tears by the time my girlfriend walked in and I turned to her for comfort in my hour of need. All I got from her was a long round of hysterical laughter. Point in fact, she laughed for a good bit, to my dismay.
“How can you laugh” I cried… “It’s not funny!”
As she tried to contain her laughter (not very well, I might add), my friend said, “I know this seems awful, but her hair will grow back. Look, kids do things like this. I’m sorry for laughing, but I can’t help it! Its hilarious, really it is! I’m sure you will look back on this and laugh, someday. In fact, you can laugh at anything my kids do to me when it happens. I will even call you first.”
After my girlfriend left, I had to hunt down all the evidence to be found. Underneath my own bed, I retrieved my scissors… along with a massive pile of hair! There was a lot more contributions of hair than I had anticipated, which was rather alarming! My thoughts momentarily raced to my other children, but then quickly moved on to one or more of the family pets in the house.
When I asked whose hair I’d found, she confidently took me to her toy pony, sittling in the corner of our family room. The poor jumpy horse had received an army style crew cut, and was never the same after that, the poor thing.
Of course, my girlfriend was right! I did look back and laugh.
And if you are wondering, I did have the occasion to take her up on that offer. Several years later, I did get my chance to laugh at her child’s silly antics.
When I opened my eyes this morning, I found Tilly staring back at me, from across the pillow. She held something that looked like a letter, and I couldn’t see who it was from, but the look on her face was answer enough. Young Henry had written to Tilly, that much was quite clear!
But, why the long stare fest? What was in the note? At first, I honestly thought Tilly looked more frightened than happy. For a moment, I feared something unpleasant may have occurred. Only after taking the letter she offered me, did I come to understand her conflicted emotions…
The words of the letter were few, but very heartfelt, as young Henry wrote down his words of love for our young Tilly.
My Tilly I love you I hope you love me Meet me at our spot by the river, if you can I want to ask you something.
Henry
No wonder Tilly has such a strange look on her face… She is truly in love. The rush of emotions, fear of the unknown, and excitement for what’s to come, all bouncing around inside… yep! I’ve seen it before, and even though I’m seeing the backside of my fifties, I too, remember the butterflies, giddy laughter, and rush of emotions at every smile or touch… yeah, I remember them like it was yesterday.
So, it has now become my joy and honor to walk this journey with our young Tilly. Whatever she needs, we’ll be there to help and guide her along the way… that’s what family does.
Once Tilly saw how excited I was, her face relaxed into a more dreamy and confused state. She just kept twirling into things, as she wandered about looking for what to wear. I picked out several of her favorite dresses, in an effort to speed things up a little. For the next hour and a half I watched Tilly get dressed in one outfit, leave for the river, and then return to change into a different dress…
Finally, she made up her mind…
I do really love that sweater she’s wearing. Young Henry’s mother made it for Tilly while we were out to sea, presenting it to her upon their first visit, once we’d returned to the Barnyard. Tilly absolutely loves that sweater, as I think it bears a great deal of love, woven throughout the garment.
So anyways, I watched from the front porch as Tilly scampered across the grass, and down the path toward the river… I stayed there to watch til long after she’d disappeared into the trees. I could only guess as to what would come………………….
…she’s late…
… maybe she won’t come…
I think she loves me…
… what if I’m wrong, and she says no?
Well, God told me to ask her, and I did read that verse saying, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart”. I think it was Psalm 37:4…
Here, she comes…
I can do this, I can do this…
Ok…
Ahhhemmm…
Miss Tilly…
I love you with all of my heart. In fact, I’ve loved you from the moment we met. I offer you all that I have in this world. Please say that you’ll be my wife…
……… give em their moment…………………………….
(10 minutes later)
I am getting married… I am getting married! He asked… he really, really asked me to marry him…
…………………………………………………………………………………………
… she said yes… she actually said yes, God…
What am I standing here waiting for… I gotta go tell mamma! We’ve got things to do…
…………………………………………………………………………………………
… What am I doing dancing around in the woods? I can’t wait to get back to the barn and tell Ma.. Mee… oh for heavens sake, I’m callin her my Mamma cause it suits her, and she’s always been there for me…
… and I’m gonna need her now, more than ever! I hope she knows what we’re supposed to do. I don’t know the first thing about getting married…
Undoubtedly, most everyone has a mental list that they’ve probably carried with them since childhood, filled with possible adventures, achievements, hopes, and dreams. But, as most of us discover over time, that mental list morphs into three… would you, could you, or should you!
Take for instance, surfing… surfing, or any water sport, for that matter, could have been something worth trying, but not only has it now turned into a question of whether or not I should, but also aligns with the reality of would I even want to try it?
The answer, in this case would be that while I could have tried a number of open water sports, I wouldn’t have… are you crazy? There’s sharks swimming out in those waters, so I’ll stay on the boat, if you please! Not only that, but at this point in my journey, there’s no way that I should try it… not without breaking something!
I shall now try to write a new list of things that I could, would, and should try for the first time. It’s not nearly as easy as you might think. For example, there’s Karaoke, which is something I always thought I wanted to try. It is something that I can say I would try, and even go as far as to say that there’s no reason why I shouldn’t try it, but the trouble now is that I’m not sure I could! Perhaps what I should try for is the confidence needed to get up in front of people. Will I ever find the courage? Probably not, lol!
Before you start thinking that I’m just a coward, and am too scared to try new stuff, let me remind you of what I have tried…
Modeling, College degree, dog breeder, bird breeder, the entire field of equine husbandry, and horsemanship (dressage, vaulting, breeding, and showing), Mother, Bible Seminary, global travel (England and Ireland), camping, hiking, driving in a semi with my husband for 3 years, painting, pottery, ceramics, crocheting, sewing, becoming a blogger, publishing a book, and soon to be a Grandmother of 8 + my Godson, Peapod!
So, as you can see, I have always had a list, along with every other human being. Who knows how many more years I have left on this beautiful planet, but I don’t ever want my list to stop growing, not ever! I’m fairly certain that I’ve caught God writing on it, though He is rather sneaky about it… He absolutely loves to give me gifts and surprise me with things. I’m not gonna give that up, are you crazy? Don’t ever give up on your list, because that’s where God gives you purpose, my friends.
Don’t forget to try these new cookies for the first time…
I’ve had sort of a rough week when it comes to food, so I want to give a disclaimer, here. **All testing and results may vary, as I’m not certain if my skills, my stomach, or my taster were behaving properly!**
My baking adventures started out seemingly normal. I gathered up all my ingredients, recipes, and cooking tools…
And, yes, you heard me correctly when I said recipes, plural, meaning more than one…
You see, I found this recipe for a delicious looking Pumpkin bread, but then also saw a recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting. Unfortunately, I can’t have dairy. So, I had this notion that maybe Tofu might work as a comparable substitute for the cream cheese.
There’s a huge number of frosting recipes available using Tofu as a substitute for the cheese, so the assumption was made that it should be a success… right!?
Wrong!!!! I’ve never smelled something this vile in all my days, aside from Salmon, Slime, or that Vietnamese fish sauce stuff. Now, I don’t know if it’s just me, what with my health issues, or if it was truly that rank! I didn’t have the heart, nor the stomach to ask my husband to sacrifice his taste buds… so I tossed it! It smelled like a combination of playdough and that Paper Mache glue we used in elementary school.
I went ahead with the Pumpkin bread idea, opting for a simple maple glaze of my own creation. I’ve shared the bread recipe I chose, below…
Classic Pumpkin Bread
Homemade Pumpkin Bread is a favorite Fall recipe that’s loaded with warming spices and packed with tons of pumpkin flavor. It will make your house smell so good that you’ll forget you just bought a pumpkin spice candle! This delicious pumpkin bread recipe is super moist and both gluten-free & dairy-free.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
Beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl or stand mixer on medium speed.
Add the pumpkin, then slowly add oil and water. Beating well after each addition.
Add the flour mixture and beat on low until well combined.
Pour the batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly.
Bake for 1 hour or until the center comes out clean with a toothpick.
Let the loaves cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes and then turn onto a rack to cool completely.
Did you know that those plastic Ice-cream tubs work great for mixing bowls? Use it if you got it… that’s what I say!
Anyway, I followed the recipe verbatim (exactly as was written), except that I used Olive Oil. Well, I did also switch out the two bread pans for a single 12 inch spring form. (Some of the best places to find specialty cookware is Goodwill, believe it or not!)
It did have to be baked for 80 minutes, in contrast to the 60 minutes for two bread tins that the recipe reflects…
Voila!
Now, I must confess that I used my husband as my taste tester this week… don’t blame me, blame the Tofu! You guys, I couldn’t get that smell out of my head, or out of the apartment for the entire day. It was awful!
To be fair to vegans around the globe, I think that I may have an aversion to Tofu, along with the Salmon that I mentioned earlier. Memory has a funny way of messing with you, sometimes. And, many people use Tofu in a number of ways, swearing by it! So, if you would, kindly go easy on the Tofu community. Let’s just call this one Operator Error, and move on.
All that I did here as a substitute for the frosting, was to make a simple drizzle with 1/8 cup Maple Syrup (any brand will do), 1 cup powdered sugar, and 2 tsp of lemon juice.
My husband gave it 2 thumbs up, and if he likes it gluten-free, you will too!
As for me, maybe it was the Tofu, or quite possibly the Barium sludge I had to swallow the day before, but I don’t know if pumpkin and I can ever be friends again, seriously!
Next week should be far better, as I’m going to tackle a gluten-free, dairy-free, cinnamon roll, or sweet buns, if you like. I’ve never worked with yeast in gluten-free baking, so it’ll be a bit of a learning curve.
Hey, if you’re game, I am! Why, a young King David slew Goliath, with not but a stone and sling, so I am confident that I can challenge a loaf of bread, with not but Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour!
Gluten-free bread baking, here I come. Wish me luck…
As most of you already know, I’ve a new granddaughter arriving in late November. Can you believe that she’s almost here? As my mind, my heart, and my soul are wrapped all around this little bundle of blessings, I can’t help but want to include her in this part of my life, so that you might be a part of our journey.
With this in mind, I’ve been toying with differing ideas in regards to creating an Avatar just for my little Sugar Plum! As far as a real baby name, her mamma says they’re torn between Maize Anne, or Laney Grace, but they won’t make their pick until after she arrives. So, for now we stick with her nickname… that’s the Sugar Plum part.
Now, beings that I love making an Avatar that truly reflects the personality behind the image, I’ve been working toward some ideas that I think might be really adorable.
Ok, so my daughter and her husband are the equivalent of urban homesteaders. Within the humble space of a typical city dwelling family, they’ve a passel of chickens that lay the most wonderful eggs, and a glorious garden, overflowing with delicious fresh produce. My son-in-law loves to garden, as well as, raising chickens… and both of them work full-time! Honestly, I don’t know how they do it… but, I sure couldn’t be prouder!
Lets look at what we have to work with for our adorable Avatar? They’ve a boatload of pets, including four dogs, and two cats. The picture above is one of a baby with features of a kitten, but let me show you some of the other initial images Norbert (My AI) offered…
If I want to make a new creature with the features of animals and humans combined, Norbert throws a fit. Honestly, I think ai programs can easily mimic something already created, but when you ask it to come up with something new and unusual… they fall flat! Well, at least they do for this writer, because I don’t want the Norbert to lead my ideas. I am the content creator, the one who sees, imagines, and writes out what she sees. All I desire the image program to do, is to follow my descriptions. I don’t want someone else’s stock photo. I want an image of what I imagine… not Norbert!
Before I move further into the creation process, I must ask your opinions on several possible directions to follow, here.
The biggest decision to make before proceeding, is to either accept or reject the idea of using a human feature, at all! I don’t think I’ll be able to successfully add more than one animal feature to the image, without it greatly distorting the avatar’s features. Rather than an image with three differing species types, I end up with something warped and mutilated, with extra appendages and glaring flaws.
I did really enjoy the baby combo with kitten ears.
But, then again, I really like the tiny white kitten, even if it’s not photorealistic.
See my dilemma?
I have the same problems with most of my creature avatars. The program really tries to keep them all animated and plastic, unless I get lucky. There have been those images that really hit perfect on the first run, but most often not, when it comes to mixing image types. Hey, I never said I was an expert at this stuff. Personally, I just want to write… but, it is what it is!
Oh well, it’s not like I have to be in any hurry, right?!
Slow and steady wins the race, as they say, so I’ll just keep working at it, for now. If you would, could you simply leave an answer in the comment section, as to whether we should continue with the baby idea, or one of the others?
If you really want to go hog wild, you can help me create our virtual Sugar Plum. You can do that by giving additional creative ideas, and/or suggestions. Then we can really make something special!
Journey With Me! 