Adelaide Lemonade

Found It!

Frustrating.  I finally get back in to blogging - and for that matter, finishing projects, and I lost my camera's battery charger.  I finally found it yesterday.  What a relief.  I have four finished project to share as soon as I can wrangle some models into posing for me.  Given Addie's dislike of sweaters and the humidity today, it could be tough.

In my sewing hiatus, I did finish this little Santa Cross-stitch.  

It's not something I do very often, but this time I found it very relaxing.  When I'm working on sewing clothes or knitting sweaters, I always have doubts that they're going to come out okay.  With counted cross-stitch, as long as I followed the formula, I knew it was going to come out fine.  Kind of nice.

The pattern comes from The Prairie Schooler via my local needlework shop, The Stitching Mantis, which I think may be closed now.  They make a new Santa pattern every year.  I finished this knitting guy a few years ago.

I'm pretty sure I also made this sewing guy, but I can't seem to find him.

And ages ago, I made this one.  There's also a quilting one that I think I'll make next.  

I'm not usually a fan of this primitive style, but there's something about these Santas that really appeals to me.

Are you starting to think about Christmas yet?  I bought some fabric yesterday to make Addie a Christmas dress.

Finally, the big news for today is that my older daughter, Maggie, is turning 14.  Hard to believe.  She's every bit the teenager - nice at school, nice to her friends, and pure meanness to her family.  She'll grow out of it, right?  She hates when I take her picture, so it was a struggle to find one where she's not making a face.  Here she is with our (mostly her) dog, Myrtle.

For her birthday, she's requested that we go shopping, so she can pick out her own gifts.  Fine by me.  She mostly wants clothes, and I don't think any of the rest of us has a chance in heck of picking out the right things.  I think we will make our way down to Kittery.

My husband and I already walked down to Mr. Bagel to pick up the requested breakfast bagels which she heart-breakingly said she preferred to my homemade.  (I should be relieved, right?  Less work for me.)  For dinner, she wants Annie's mac & cheese and Pioneer Woman's Molten Chocolate Lava Cake.  Easy enough.

Hope you're enjoying a lovely weekend!

My Grandfather

My grandfather, my mother's father, passed away last night.  To me, he was "Gompa".  I'm the oldest grandchild on that side of the family, and when I first learned to talk, that's what I called him.  My siblings and cousins pretty much call him the same thing.  I remember being so embarrassed in grade school when I first learned that that wasn't what everyone called their grandfather, but even now, that's what I still call him.

I know I can't possibly think of the right words to describe him.  He was pretty quiet and serious especially as he got older, and I think he often didn't hear us, but he still had an easy laugh.  I can still picture his face and hear his chuckle when he got a kick out of something.

Along with my grandmother (Gommy), he was so active and involved - role models for the rest of us.  In their 90's, they still exercised daily (more than me!) and had lots of hobbies.  One of Gompa's was to record stories of his youth during The Great Depression and in World War II which we all have listened to with great interest.  I'm so glad that those will be such a lasting memory of him.

My grandparents had a beautiful marriage.  I should know how long - probably almost 70 years.  I think that's what saddens me the most.  My grandmother is so strong and vibrant, but I just can't imagine going through the loss of the love of your life (It makes me think about that Natalie Merchant song "Beloved Wife").  If you want a good cry, listen to that song.

I debated about whether this belonged on my blog, but it is my journal after all, even if it's primarily about sewing.  I like the idea of looking back on it years into the future and remembering what I was doing, thinking, feeling.

I've been lucky so far in that not that many people close to me have died, so I'm not sure quite what to do or think or feel.  Not, I'm sure, that experience makes it any easier.  I'm still processing it all, but I am sad.  Expect to see lots of by-products of sewing therapy in the next few days, weeks.

Thanks for reading.

Back from Vacation

We just came back from a wonderful long weekend in Rangeley, Maine.  We swam in the lake, swam in the pool, canoed, kayaked, played games, ate, drank, and best of all just relaxed.

I was working on this project which I love, but I think sewing might have ruined my patience for knitting.  There was wi-fi at the cabin - which was a little unfortunate - because I like us all to avoid technology while we're on vacation, but I ended up spending a lot of time pining away for my sewing machine by visiting lots of flickr and Pinterest quilting groups and ogling the gorgeous quilts.

The 3 boys (Frank brought a friend), Addie, and I arrived around 3:30 on Friday - a bit later than I had hoped, but packing for 6 is a bitch bear.  We got situated then I headed out to the IGA to get enough groceries for dinner and breakfast the next day while the boys played whiffleball.  After I got back, we checked out the lake.

The boys jumped right in and swam out to the dock - a right of passage, don't you think?

Addie looked forlornly on because I didn't feel like I could watch her on the shore AND the boys in the other direction at the same time.

The shore was pretty rocky, so it wasn't the best place for a young wanna-be swimmer.  We hit up the pool right after the lake, so Addie could have some time in the water.

The rest of the family, including Myrtle, arrived around midnight.

The next day, Maggie and I woke up early and took a morning dip in the lake.  It was actually quite nice and reminded me of our morning constitutionals off the boat.

After some more relaxing, the over 5 crew headed off to Smalls Falls for some crazy waterfall-sliding, cliff-jumping action while Addie and I did some cooking and shopping.  Thankfully, the crew came back in one piece.  After some good story-telling, the kids got a good whiffleball game going.  

(Way to keep your eye on the ball, Joe.)

Well, it could have been a good one, but it ended rather quickly after some arguing about the rules and whose turn it was.

Dad made the rest of the dinner, including our first corn on the cob of the season.

While Maggie, the planner, grilled him on the plans for the next day.

The next day, we ended up taking out 1 canoe and 2 tandem kayaks for the 7 of us - 8 if you include Myrtle.  None of us are expert paddlers and having Addie and Myrtle (and my phone and only car key) in the canoe was a bit nervewracking.  While we were out, I saw another couple in a canoe with fishing poles and a big cooler.  They didn't appear to be paddling much.  Perhaps they were just going whereever the wind/current took them and would paddle back at the end of the day.  I think that must be the way to do it.

We spent the rest of the day in the pool and then back at the cabin eating and drinking some more.  Mike and I did escape from the kids for a bit to sit in the Adirondack chairs by the lake.  While Mike made excellent burgers for dinner, I took some of the kids for one last dip in the lake.

They wanted me to take pictures of them jumping in, but my lens wasn't quite zoomy enough.  I love how Frank's feet haven't quite touched the water yet in this photo . . .

And I did manage to get a cute close-up when we were getting ready to leave . . .

The sun was starting to set, so it was making the water gorgeous and sparkly.

It was so nice to be swimming in the evening and not worrying about baseball games or dinner or a messy house or going to work the next day.  I need to try to hang on to that feeling as I head back into the office today.

June 5th Grade

June 5th Grade is finally here!  That's what Addie has been calling her birthday for - I think - the past two or three years - ever since her older sister was in 5th grade.  She finally stopped calling it that a month or so ago when informed by a friend (or maybe a teacher) at school that "you don't really say it that way".

When I was pregnant with Addie . . . 

(And boy, was I ever!  That was 10 days before she was born - or "borin'" as she calls it.)

I had completely forgotten all the requirements of a newborn, and Addie was - and still is - pretty demanding - maybe it's a trait of a family's youngest.  She did - and still does - exhaust me.

She's a ball of energy - going a million miles an hour every second of the day - until she finally crashes at night.  Sometimes, I just have to ask her to stop talking.  She doesn't stop talking then - she just stops talking to me.  She moves on to talking to her toys, her siblings, the dog.  The most common thing I here emanating from various rooms in the house from my other kids - who mostly dote on her - is "Addie, stop!" ("Stop" being empahsized and drawn out into two syllables - can't you just hear it?).

(Addie at a week or two.)

But she's SO cheerful.  

(Addie at 1.)

You just can't be grumpy around her.  And she's funny.  She says the craziest stuff.  Nothing is sacred.  I wish I could come up with some good examples right now.  I think she recently said - in the nicest possible way - that my eyes were the color of armpit hair.  Lovely.  She says lots of nice things, too.

(Addie at 2.)

She is a fixture in my craft room.  I let her play with my buttons and emtpy thread spools.  I figure that's better than plugging her into the TV (although, I'm really not above the peace that can come from that).  Currently, no matter where I set foot in my craft room, I'm stepping on buttons.  She's given me a perfectly logical explanation about why she can't put them away just yet.  She is very persistent and persuasive.  She wins way more than she should.

(Addie at 3.)

We have literal writing all over the walls in our house.  She finally gets that she should only draw on paper - although, just the other day, she asked me if she could just color on the walls in her room.  At least she's asking first - that's progress.  (And I said no.)

(Addie at 4.)

Happy 5th birthday to Addie!  She's going to be bringing the requisite cupcakes to school, and we'll be celebrating tonight with two large boxes of mac & cheese (I make a mean homemade - but the orange, Kraft stuff is what she wanted) and ice cream cake.

(Addie on the morning of her 5th birthday.  Snapped this morning at 5:30.  The only time she's quiet.)

Date Night

A long weekend was just what I needed.  I know, Memorial Day is more than just a long weekend.  I did send some thoughts toward those I think of being memorialized, but otherwise, we'd been so busy that I was content to just keep things low-key.  Our weeks and weekends have been so jam-packed with activities that it was wonderful to have a relatively low-commitment weekend.

Baseball/softball season is killer for me.  My two boys play baseball, and my older daughter used to play softball.  I'm really not that upset that she doesn't play anymore.  One less place to have to be at the same time.  Next year, with Addie starting t-ball, will be a different story.  

Here's one of my players (complete with the post-practice Gator-Ade mustache).  Frank had a great game the other night with a single and a double and an out made as catcher.

My husband also coaches and umpires every free minute, and I actually do like to see him once in a while.

About two weeks ago, we decided we needed a date night, and this weekend provided the first free night.  We decided to go to Pier 77 in Cape Porpoise where we'd been several times years (like maybe 7?) ago and loved.  I'm glad I made a reservation because it was packed when we arrived.  It's such a gorgeous location that even if the restaurant was terrible, the drive would be worth it.

But the restaurant certainly wasn't terrible.  It was really just as good as we'd remembered it.  We started off with some bread and Prosecco.

The prosecco was yummy.  Not too dry and just a tiny bit sweet.  I wish I could remember the name.  Something like Casteglieri.

I had a spinach salad with warm goat cheese.  Mmm.  Mike had the soup which he said was delicious.

(Isn't he cute?)

Then Mike had the ribs, and I had the salmon.  Both were great, but I think the ribs were better.  We took a peek at the dessert menu but opted to seek out another place for dessert.  Unimpressively, we ended up at Friendly's.  Anyone have any recommendations for a good place to go just for dessert in the Portland (Maine) area?  As teenager's we used to go to Peter Ott's in Camden for Eleanor Klivans' amazing desserts.  I wonder if you can still do that.

We had a nice little walk around after dinner.  The lobstering harbor reminded us so much more of where we grew up than Portland does.  Maine seems to have so many different worlds.

Hope you all had a great weekend as well.  Best of luck getting back into the swing of things tomorrow.

End of an Era

We went sailing last weekend with my Dad and my brother who was visiting from Minnesota.  In spite of a little extra adventure, we had an excellent time.  Maggie had a birthday party to go to and my husband, Mike had lots of umpiring to do, so the boys, Addie, and I went.

My dad has a beautiful sailboat with plenty of room for everyone.  I always end up in the front cabin.  Frank slept in the "living room".

Even though the cockpit isn't really meant for sleeping, Joe and Addie slept there.

I love taking pictures of the kids as they wake up in the morning.  I can't believe they slept as long as they did with the sun streaming in.

My dad is an interesting guy with lots of different hobbies.  Sailing is something that he's always wanted to do, and he really took it to the extreme.  Some people might take a lesson or two or even buy a boat for weekends, but no, my dad has been living on his boat for the last 8 or so years.  We've taken full advantage of it by making at least one memorable trip almost every year.

There are a few hearty sailors (my Dad, me, my brother) who make it almost every year.  Here's my brother Simon on board.

My husband and my oldest son, Joe are pretty much fixtures on the annual cruise as well.  

I wasn't as good at taking pictures when we first started, but check out Joe on one of our first sails (doing something important - lowering the dinghy, I think.)

compared to him now

(That's him standing on the right.  My younger son Frank is sitting on the left.)

And here he is - still doing something important - tightening the jib line while tacking.

Joe also has the honor of being the ship's bartender.  He's not that helpful at home, but with Joe on board, you have a gin and tonic in your hand before you even know you want one.  It's pretty good service.

But Joe is more than just a bartender and deck hand, he can steer the boat as well.  On our trip to Provincetown, he drove pretty much the whole way there and back.

I love this photo.  You can tell from both Joe and my dad's looks of concern that they're in a sticky situation.  My dad is very good about giving people responsibility.  I'm sure he was probably itchy to take over the wheel, but he let Joe stick it out, and he managed.

Beyond the five of us regulars, there's a varied crew each year that just adds to the fun.  My brother has lots of interesting friends who sometimes join with interesting stories to tell and lively music to play.

That's Jeremy on the harmonica.  He's been on at least two cruises that I've been on.  Some of the photos in this post - the better ones - are courtesy of him.

That's my brother on the guitar.

One of my favorite memories is staying up late (2 am, maybe?) listening to my brother and friends playing, lending my singing whenever I knew the words,  (Man, I wish I could sing.  Even Addie says I'm bad) and getting yelled at by the occupants of the boat moored next door.

My dad keeps his boat in the Boston area, so we've always sailed from there.  We've sailed to Provincetown, Edgartown, Marble Head, Rockport, Gloucester.  We didn't get very far on our sail last weekend, but last year, we sailed to Edgartown.  We spent a day traveling all over Martha's Vineyard.

For all of us, I think our favorite part was "The Bite" in Menemsha.  Mike read "Jaws" on the way there and back just to feel the full flavor of the Cape.

When my dad bought his boat, it was called the "Sea Biscuit".

There were many passionate conversations around the dinner table about what the boat should really be called.

Last year, my dad finally changed the name to "Perseverance".  

Just to keep this post a little bit crafty, here are some pillows I made for my dad before the name change.  My first foray into applique.

Not only are we well provided with drinks and entertainment, but we eat like kings as well.  One year, my husband's one condition to come with us was that he be able to do all the cooking and have no one help him.  Umm.  What's the catch there?  No one argued with that.

These were a different kind of "Sea Biscuit".  I never did much more than pull cold cuts out of the fridge to make sandwiches, but between Mike's cooking and everyone else who also volunteered to cook on different cruises - I've never eaten better.

Last year, I had arugula on my pizza for the first time.  I haven't been able to get it out of my head since.  Here it is pre-arugula.

It was getting late, so they had to cook by flashlight, but being on the boat isn't exactly roughing it.  On one visit to the boat, my dad rented "Bolt" for the kids.  Here's my dad watching with Frank.

I don't remember this, but I love how the pictures show that my dad was first a little bit interested then finally had to sit down with Frank and really watch.

My daughter Maggie hasn't made as many trips, but we've slept on the boat several times the night before a feis.  What other Irish dancer can say that?!

And lest you think it's all cooking and bartending and sailing, there's plenty of time for relaxing too.

 

We tried fishing on one trip.

But didn't catch anything - whales, sharks, or otherwise.

And fed the ducks on another trip.

 My brother introduced the idea of a morning constitutional.  I'm still not sure what that really means, but to us it meant a morning dip in the ocean.  I'll spare you a photo of all of us in our bathing suits, but here's a photo of Joe - just out of the shower - wisely just watching us crazy adults.

(This photo is one that's courtesy of Jeremy.  He actually jumped in then had someone hand him his camera - while he was swimming - so he could take photos of the boat.  Nuts.)

One time, we thought it would be a good idea to try to clean the sides of the boat while we were swimming.  I ended up with little tiny sea creatures crawling all over me.  Thank God there's a shower on the boat.

Even though steering can require a lot of focused attention - especially in a busy harbor - it can also be pretty relaxing.  Here's my brother in his over-the-glasses Grandma sunglasses looking pretty relaxed and probably steering with his feet.

There was always lots of good conversation to be had on the boat.

In fact, there are special chairs reserved for just that purpose.

Young and old alike are required to pay a visit to the conversation chairs.

The conversation chairs may change location, but even the very youngest can't escape.

Like I said, my dad is a man of many hobbies, and he's about to move on to the next one, so Perseverance will be taking a break for now.  I'm so excited about the new things to come and the new fun times that we will create, but I can't help feeling a bit sentimental about moving on.

Sea Biscuit/Perseverance and all the good times - oh how you will be missed!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a nice morning at the parade.

It was a gorgeous day, so there was a good crowd.  Everyone was in good spirits for St. Patrick's Day of course, but you could sense an even bigger shift in mood with the promising signs of spring.

Well, everyone except Frank.  He was hungry.  Addie was mad, too.  She wanted a balloon.

Maggie has done the parade almost as long as I can remember now.  It's becoming a family tradition.

That's the wave of a teenager who's slightly embarrassed of her family.

My favorite part is the dancing, of course, but there were lots of other sights to see.

The bagpipe music is pretty cool, too.  I was trying to talk Frank into playing the drum.  He wasn't too into that idea.  Maybe it was the kilts.

We got our fill of celebrating today, so we're foregoing the corned beef and cabbage.  Whew.

Hope you're celebrating, too.

Ode to the Jeep

Okay maybe not an ode, but just some memories.  We sold our jeep today.  We'd had it for over 13 years.  We bought it when we lived in Myrtle Beach and were about to have our second child.  Having two 2-door cars just didn't seem tolerable anymore with two kids.

It was technically our jeep, but I can hardly remember ever driving it.  It's definitely something I always associated with my husband.  When you sat in the driver seat, you could immediately picture the way my husband sits when he drives.  You were stuck in that exact same position since the seat had become molded that way (and eventually had to be welded into place after the seat became detached).  It had a unique sound, made louder by 160,000 miles of hard work.  I always knew when he was arriving home without looking out the window.  It was full of paraphenalia representing my husband's many hobbies and fatherly duties; baseball bats, more baseballs and whiffleballs that most normal people will own in their lifetimes, sleds, hats, mittens, math text books, umpire gear, buckets of sand for an icy driveway, and who knows what else.

When we worked for my father at his cheese company, there was a set of lockers for hanging up aprons, lab coats, and storing boots.  It must have come from a school or something, but there was some grafitti that we both remember that said, "Chevy Rules, Mopar's for Fools".  True or not, we often joke about that line.  The Mopar seemed to work out okay for us.

About a year ago we deemed it not fit to leave town.  It was reasonably dependable in getting my husband to work and dropping kids off where they needed to go, but it made things complicated when one of us needed to leave town.  I just got a new car, and we just got a hand-me-down station wagon, so it was time.  My husband put an ad on Craig's list this morning around 8, and by 5 it was being driven away by it's new owner.  Wow.

It's just a car, but I can't help feeling sentimental.  After all these years, the jeep seemed like part of my husband's personality and part of the family.

Just for kicks, here's a shot of another jeep that was part of my family (1979, maybe?).  My dad had the great idea to have my sister and me stand on the roof to pick pears from the pear tree in our back yard.

Mopar Rules, Chevy's for Fools.

Feeling a Bit Spoiled

In the spoiled brat kind of way, that is.  It's a three day weekend, and I haven't had as much dedicated sewing time as I would like.  I'm determined to make up for it tomorrow, but I've already heard that one kid might go skiing (2 hours of driving for me), another one wants to go to the mall (20 minutes driving for me), and another is going to hang out with a friend (hopefully no driving for me).  I'm even torn between sewing all day or making the hour drive to my favorite fabric store.  I don't really need any fabric, but a fix would be nice.

I'm feeling pretty baby-ish about it because it has been a nice weekend.  My husband and I have spent a lot of time together.  I spent a few hours shopping with my older daughter yesterday and had a nice visit with my dad in the evening.  We've had great, spring-like weather lately, so the whole family went for a nice walk in the woods.  I really should appreciate all that, but I get really antsy if I feel like I have a shortage of finished projects.

I did finish a knit dress I was making.  Thank goodness.  I really want to like sewing with knits, but it drives me crazy not to have the nice, crisp seams and folds you can get with woven fabrics.  Most of the time, I can't wait to wake up or come home and continue working on projects I've started, but this dress wasn't too inspiring.  I actually love how it came out, so I'm glad I pressed on.  Addie wore it all day yesterday and most of the day before.  It's in the wash now, but I'll share some photos soon.

In the meantime, here are some shots from our walk.  Myrtle, the dog, got to come.  Here she is in our new car (which I love!) photographed by Frank, the photog.  Much safer, since I was driving.

Addie deemed herself in charge of the map.

Which was kind of funny, since it was actually a brochure with no map at all.  That and she doesn't know how to read yet.

Not everyone was excited about going.

But they all ended up being good sports.

Addie talked the ENTIRE time.  My husband thought we should start calling her C.C. for "Constant Conversationalist".

She promised Joe and Frank not one sticker, but an entire page from her sticker book, since they'd been so helpful to her on the slippery ice and snow.  Then Joe, who had been walking behind us during this exchange, decided to move up ahead.  Addie was not pleased and decided to retract her sticker offer.  I asked if she couldn't just give him one sticker, since he really had helped.  She quickly replied in the negative, "My rules are my rules."

Worth missing a few hours of sewing?  I suppose so.

Happy Valentine's Day

Belated Valentine's Day, that is.  I started this post yesterday but couldn't manage to find the time to finish it.  It's review time at work, and at home we're playing the all-consuming, time-sucking, silly, manipulative car buying game.

We're not doing much in the way of Valentine's Celebrations, but we did have a lovely family weekend in Boston this past weekend.  We found a cheap hotel in South Boston near UMass, so after crashing for the night, we started out our Saturday in a local establishment.

It was called the Galley Diner which I had found via Yelp.  You couldn't beat the local atmosphere, and the staff was very welcoming.  The food was just okay.

Check out these two neighborhood thugs.

After that, the girls and boys parted ways.  The boys went to the JFK museum and library while we girls hopped on the T to do some shopping.

Doesn't she look like a pro?

We got off at Park street and headed straight to Windsor Button where I got 10 bucks worth of bulk buttons and some pretty Malabrigo lace weight yarn.  I asked there if there were any fabric stores nearby (which I had totally researched before hand - I wasn't about to leave that to chance!).  The super-friendly guy behind the counter gave me excellent directions to WinMil fabrics which was just a five minute walk away.

As much as I LOVE quilt shops, it was nice to visit a store that seems to specialize more in garment fabrics.  Addie was being a bit wild, so it was hard for me to concentrate on picking the right things, but I found some hot pink, nice heavy wool for a jacket for her and a couple of selections to try to make something for her older sister.  After that, it was all about shopping for the girls.

After being dragged around for a while, I needed a break, so we stopped at a cute little cupcake shop called "Sweet".  The decor was really cute, and it was very quiet in there.

Yes, those are Addie's socks on the table.  Maggie was helping her change into her new socks and shoes.

It was very pleasant and relaxing to sit in there for awhile and look at the pretty view out the window.  You can't tell from the photo, but there was just a bit of snow falling lightly.

We continued to shop and ended up at Quincy Market.  I think we hit just about every shop there including Baby Gap where Addie modeled this hat.

Right in front of the boys underwear.  Cute.

We finally headed to Chinatown where we were due to meet.  The boys had moved on to the science museum and were still there when we arrived, so we hung out with some shady looking characters at MacDonald's while we waited for them to catch up.

Once we met up, we walked a few blocks to get Dim Sum.  I had it once in Hong Kong over 10 years ago then one other time in Boston and have been wanting to get my family to try it ever since.

The boys were really good sports about trying it.  They (including my husband) liked the pan-fried pork dumplings the best.  My favorite, hands down, are the sweet sesame balls.  

My oldest was a pro with the chopsticks.  My younger son, not so much.

But I guess if you can't bring the food to you, bringing yourself to the food works.

My oldest, Joe, spent almost the entire meal trying to get Addie just to try a bit of the dough around the pork buns.  No luck, but it was fun anyway to get the family to experience a bit of food culture.  I'm sure there are several good places for Dim Sum in the area.  We ended up at a place called Winsor Dim Sum Cafe which again, I had found via Yelp.  We were quite happy with it.  We had a nice big table.  The service, food, and atmostphere were all great.  What more could you want?

Once we got back to the hotel, the girls chilled out in front of the TV while the boys conquered the world with a game of Risk.

I'm not sure whether or not the Ukraine was weak in this game, but 10-year-old, Frank was quite pleased with his first ever success in world domination.