Being a Grandmother, Knitting and Gardening

Sometimes life just seems wonderful.  For me it is at it's best when I'm with my daughter and her new daughter.  My daughter is such a wonderful mother.  My children tell me I was the best mother, that I could not have been better.  However when I watch my own daughter interact with her child, I don't think I was that good.  The baby's diaper is barely damp and she is changing it.  I did not have disposable diapers with my first two children, I used cloth diapers.  I recall putting a double diaper on them with plastic pants for the long haul at night. If they didn't do a big job in their diapers, I didn't change them.  I would nurse them when they woke up in the middle of the night and put them right back down to sleep.  Who wanted to wake up a sleeping baby and get it all stimulated while changing a diaper?  To me it was a crime to waken a sleeping baby in the middle the night.  I was so grateful when I had my next two children to have the option of cloth or disposables.  It was a no brainer and Huggies were my salvation!  My daughter prefers Pampers. But of course many improvements have been made with disposable diapers, therefore I'm sure she has  chosen the one that works best.  There is a little yellow line going down the center of the diaper when it turns blue, it's wet!  It's just amazing how easy it is to care for a little one these days.

I had a swing for my babies but nothing like the one she has.  Her carpet is littered with entertainment systems for the baby lest she get bored.  I believe this child has everything that Target has to offer in their baby department.  She received so many gifts for the child that some were duplicated and had to be exchanged with an effort of finding something she didn't already have.  As we walk through the baby clothing department at Target our heads do not turn...for there is no interest.  This child cannot possibly wear everything she has more than once.   I purchased several newborn outfits for her from Macy's department store which she outgrew very quickly.

I've knitted a little Bolero jacket for my granddaughter to wear for a special occasion coming up soon.  It has to match her little sleeveless dress.  The yarn I chose was not bright enough for my daughter's taste.  Baby's are wearing very bright colors these days and not so much pastels as in the years past.

The original yarn I chose was 100% cotton.  I was more than half finished with the project when I showed it to my daughter.  She was very polite but hinted that it wasn't exactly what she wanted.  So in an effort to please her I stopped at Michael's on my way home and purchased a skein of Bernat Cottontot's yarn in a very bright pink to match her little dress..  This is a shocking pink and I wasn't sure about it.  But now that it is knitted up I am very proud of it and thrilled that my daughter likes it.

This little bolero was the first one I started and decided to finish it.  My daughter decided it would look cute with a pair of jeans and white tshirt!

I apologize for punctuation and left off sentences in this blog but either blog spot or my computer are having problems that I do not seem to be able to fix..

It's Spring!

Ah, Spring has arrived at last.  Even though we did not have a severe winter, I still thought I was going to freeze to death.  My husband insists on keeping the thermostat set at 67 in the winter.  For me that might as well be 67 below zero.  My hands, legs, nose and feet get frost bite.  I wear 4 layers of clothing, socks and booties.  I even wear a jacket, hat and sometimes fingerless gloves in the house.  Many nights I go to bed with a knitted hat on my head under a down comforter.  It sounds like I'm a skinny unhealthy person but actually I'm 10 pounds over weight and considerably healthy!    I'm in my 60's with a slow metabolism.  I have noticed that if I jump up and down or run around the house a few times before crawling in bed that I do warm up enough to get in bed without dressing for the arctic circle!

About a month back I saw a lone swallow checking out the nests in the porches.  I was thrilled, for I knew that warm weather was here to stay!  Shortly later the swallow family followed and has been busy since remodeling their nests!  The next sure sign was the hummingbirds.  I had not seen any yet but about 2 weeks ago I put out their feeder filled with syrup and they appeared on cue.  I put away my winter clothes and pulled out my sandals and cotton shirts.  Since then we have slept with our windows open listening to the orchestra of swallows lulling us to sleep every night. We are wakened in the mornings by the sounds of the doves calling.  It makes me feel that all is right in the world.

My husband has tilled my garden.  I have made nice raised beds, defined by cedar timbers, some purchased from Home Depot, some cut from our land with my husband's Stihl chainsaw and a bit of sweat!  This year I have planted, squash, cantaloupe, honey dew melon, watermelon, cucumbers, Armenian cucumbers, blackeyed peas, herbs, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, okra, green beans, Swiss chard.  Our several different varieties of grapes are loaded with clusters of tiny grapes due to good Spring rains.  We fertilized our grass and put down wet grass seed. The weeds seem to be declining and the grass is taking over.  The fruit trees are bearing fruit..... peaches, pears, pomegranates, persimmons, apples, plums and figs.  We even have a berry vine that is flowering.  I feel so fortunate to have the promise of nature's bounty on the horizon!

My roses are blooming with all they have in them as if they were just waiting for spring to arrive so they could burst forth!  The butterflies are kissing our shoulders and the doves are eating my seeds as soon as I plant them!

My daughter and new granddaughter have paid us several extended visits, to our delight!  It's so wonderful to have a new life in the house again.  I can't quite explain that feeling.  Maybe it is something only a grandparent feels. When they leave, the house seems dead quiet.  When I go into public with her, other grandparents reach out to me and begin talking about their own grandchildren.  It's a certain kind of pride that I can see in their eyes....it must be in mine also.  Sometimes we don't speak but just look at each other...myself and the other grandparent coming down the walk.  We meet eyes and smile and we each know what the other is thinking...it's a silent language only known to grandparents!

I hope this summer brings more rain than the year before.  The hills are green now and life seems almost perfect.