Brigid is Two

When Connor was born I had a baby blanket made up by the time Heather had her baby shower.  It was embroidered pictures, pieced green and white blocks and machine quilted.  As with most second children, Brigid had to wait for her quilt. Two years after she was born.  But I saw an easy way to make a quilt with lots of fabric and very little piecing.  And I bought some fun trims to add a bit of interest.   This is the back. I rotated the direction of the bands on this side.  

 

This is the front but it really does not matter which side is up.  I used the trims to cover the seams.  I found a nice flannel sheet at the thrift store and it was on 50% off Tuesday so I only paid $3.00 for the queen sheet.  I have fabric and trims left over to make a baby doll blanket for later this year.  

I especially love the jumbo rick rack!  It is over two inches wide.  I love it.  

I had planned to arrive early to help Heather get ready but my mind does funny things when it comes to time.  I am often late because I get the wrong departure time in my head. I missed a flight home once (with my boss) because of this.  I was late to work at a job, on the first day of work.  It is something I have never been able to work around this either.  So we arrived just in time for the party and not to help.  I really felt bad because there was nothing going on at home that was making me late, just my silly pooh bear brains.  

Brigid was dressed in a cute pillowcase top Heather made her.  Heather plans on changing the number on the corner as she ages so she can wear it for many years to come.  

And the theme was Elmo.  

She had a nice dinner of Kenny's Fried Chicken (the local grocery store) homemade mac and cheese and some other yummies!  

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After the kids were fed Heather did one of the games.  She said not all the ducks were winners because she thinks not every one can be a winner in the games. Like when we were kids.  

So when Brigid went first and pulled a non winning ticket, I leaned down to her and said in a sweet, sappy voice, 'Aww Brigid, your a loser.' And I was just teasing Heather more than Brigid.  And then the other kids started pulling losing ducks and started whining that they wanted a balloon too.  It was too much for Heather. She caved and handed balloons to everyone.  

Brigid has a Mimi too, Heather's mom Cindy.  And Brigid is as attached to her Mimi as Baylor is to his Meme.  She used to be my aunt but she divorced my uncle years ago. I am not sure how many men she has dated, lived with, been engaged to, and or married in all that time.  She  is one woman who will never find happiness with one man.  It is a bid sad but Heather has a good attitude about it.  She is her mom after all.

And then it was time for the gifts.  Being two, it was not really a huge deal for her but she had plenty of assistant to help unwrap and keep things moving to the next gift they wanted to open for her.  

Even Charlie came out the to help.  He ended up walking through the balloons and carrying them off to the kitchen before they could get his legs out of the strings.  

I know Heather liked the quit and I received a text for her that evening that Brigid was using it already.  

After gifts it was time for cupcakes and ice cream.  

She was not interested in blowing out any candles. She was a bit more daring than that and wanted to pinch them out!  

Don't worry, it was already out before she touched it.  

There was Baylor, Kylie, Connor, Maclen, Delaney, and Brigid celebrating together. 

Brigid loved her cupcake and I know all the kids did.  

Even Baylor!  

Brigid found some jello and helped herself.  

Before all the kids left there was one more game, Place the Nose on Elmo.  There was a clear winner and I am pretty sure she could see because she had it lined up perfectly.  But no worries, it was only a game. 

I could not get a photo of Baylor's turn because there were too many bodies in the way but he enjoyed his turn. 

We really loved being a part of Brigid's birthday celebration.  

Our First Trip to the Yellow Breeches

Well, before we could go to the creek we had to deal with a little mulch.  By a little I mean 3 cubic yards of mulch.  Thankfully we decided to stick with three and not bump it up to eight.  OMG there would be no way I could have moved that much mulch! We worked on a few loads and got down to the real fun.

 

 

Blowing wishing flowers and

 

making our way to the creek.  It is really not a long walk and other than pulling a wagon with rocks on the way home it is quite a nice one.  Baylor loves it there. He loves throwing branches and sticks and rocks into the water to make big splashes. 

 

We saw tiny little fish fry in the still water area. 

 

And he did some water's edge dancing which may be some ancient little boy ritual to prepare for walking in water. 

 

And then he was ready to start walking in the water. 

 

There is a long, shallow, rocky swath that nearly spans the entire creek.  We walked out as far as we could before the ground dropped off and the water ran fast.  We talked about how to tell where we can walk safely and where it was not safe to walk.  We will have that conversation many times I am sure.  He is a cautious boy so he was fine holding tightly on to my hand and talking about the water and rocks the entire time. 

 

We also saw a creepy creature as he called it. I called it a crawfish. He was more interested in scurrying away from me that he was being photographed.  Baylor was quite interested in staying away from him anyway.  We did see a small water snake and we both stayed clear of where he was hiding. 

 

So the boy who will not pee in the shower is just fine peeing in the creek and not caring who could see him.  We were not alone but I don't think they were paying much attention to us anyway. 

 

Up the hill from the path to the creek is a rocky area.  We have never wandered up there before and I thought he would be ready now.  Taking a toddler around a big rock with a high drop off never came across as a good idea.  But he has enough caution now to not run directly off the rocks willy nilly.  And he did not disappoint.

 

Back in the day, long before we moved here there was a dam here and the water was much deeper.  My coworker Bob tells me stories of his childhood spent at the rope swing and skinny jumping. Of getting caught by the cops with beer so the crossed the creek to the other county where the cops could not get them.  Of the fishing there.  Of sitting on a ledge under the water coming over the dam and being able to hide under there. And of the drownings. Not long after we moved here and before I ever walked down there, the township removed the dam as it was a hazard.  But apparently it is deep enough here to still swing out.  I did not explain to Baylor what the rope was for. He just thought it was for safety to hold on to look over. Worked for me. 

 

Looking down the creek to where we walk and where the dam used to be.  The shallow place we walked on took us to the tree and white branches hanging out over the water in the very center of the photo.  Baylor loved it.

 

Looking up the creek.  This is the creek that the peeper frogs peep in beginning in early spring and running all summer long.  I love their music coming in the through  kitchen screen door.

 

Sunday was a beautiful Spring day with blue skies, bright sunlight, and a cool weather.

 

And pretty Queen's Anne Lace flowers. 

We had a fun trip to the creek and I know we will be back soon. We do need more rocks for the garden after all! 

Molly's Place

Saturday after the Aunt's Meeting, Mom and Dad took Baylor to their house and I meet Andy and Tammie at Molly's home.  I knew I was in her will but I thought it was just for the enamelware we bought together.  We would be shopping and both covet an item.  So we would agree that one of us could buy it now, but when we died, the other would get it.  Lori knew that if I went first Molly got first choice on my collection before she started getting rid of it.  When we received a copy of Molly's will, we were named to receive her entire house hold contents.  I was shocked when I read that.  I called Andy and told him the story of the enamelware and that we were not prepared or able to take everything in her house.  Anyway, Saturday was the first time we could meet there to get started. She owned a small half a house on a old and established street in Lancaster.  She loved her flower beds as much as I do and it was fun seeing them start their growing season.  Her front garden was primarily a white flower garden but there were pops of other colors also.  

Andy is in the door goofing off for a photo. He looks so much like Molly in the eyes.  He already lost one brother years ago, before I knew Molly and both her parents died since we have known each other.  Andy and his sister Cindy are the only two left.  He is quite and funny and Cindy is a whack job.  I know Molly would agree with that assessment   

I took photos of the rooms so I could remember it in the future.  We had many good times in her home over the years and I was so weird to not see her sitting at her dining table or her couch.  

When she first moved into her house she was asking about the tiles in her bathroom and how she did not like them or the wall colors.  I looked and her and told her to just paint the walls then.  She was a bit shocked at the idea because she was a renter all her adult life so painting walls was not an option.  She went with the idea and we painted several rooms in her house.  I took the cabinet doors off and painted them at the time we were living in our old house.  We painted the walls and to match the cabinets.  

The house was old, the kitchen was tiny!  One person could be in there at a time.  And she was a collector like me so there was more stuff than space.  But she made many a good meal out of this tiny space and cleaning it out was sad.  I did find her cook book that she wrote her favorite recipes in and that lives with us now.  Someone in the family must have kept her recipe box because I could not find that.  

Her last day at her house was Christmas Eve day and the table was piled with her bakeware for the holidays,    cookie pans, cheesecake pans, loaf pans.  And with the painted Christmas ornaments she made every year.  The bags on the floor had the items she had at rehab in January.  Is it wrong that I fished out the gifts we gave her at Christmas?  She never was able to sleep on her sock monkey sheets or use her tippy tree cookie cutter, or her lavender bath soaps.  

The living room had more items from the hospice and her funeral.  Andy gave me a large pile of photos and he told me no one in the family expressed any interest in anything so I was free to take whatever, that is what she wanted anyway.  

At the top of the stairs is bathroom, painted in a lovely lavender shade. 

I made the sheer shower curtain.

I did take one necklace that reminds me of her.  

Across the hall was her bed room.

It was the second room we painted.  The walls are a lovely deep raspberry and the ceiling is a pale peachy orange.  The colors look really nice together.  At the time I worked at a fabric shop and I found the perfect fabric for curtains.  So I made those too. 

The other bed room was white walls with red, white and blue decorations.  I spent many a night there when I would stay over.  There is a tiny hall closet on the left also.  

I was there from 2:15 to 5:30, with a run to the grocery store to use the restroom as her water is turned off.  Andy and Tammie had left after I arrived so I worked alone, talking to Molly and rooting through things.  It was sad, I cried many times.  It is so weird to be cleaning out a person's house.  It is hard to describe and I know I am not the first one to do this but it is the first time I have had to do it.  

I worked until the back was full and I did not get a few pieces that I will need to go back for.  I do not plan on keeping everything myself but I will spread it around in my family first before I decide what to take to an antique store.  I need to thin my collection as well so I guess that will be a summer project this year!