Finished Another Project

For months I've been knitting with this mint green yarn and I finally finished the baby blanket.  Whew!  I definitely wanted to finish it otherwise I would have had to lug it back home, work on it some more, and mail it back to the baby.  The pattern was complicated and 32 rows long.  I kept my place with a paper clip as I knitted each row.  But now it is done and looks huge for this baby.  She'll grow into it I'm sure.

Evangeline, A Tale of Archadie

I just finished reading Evangeline, A Tale of Archadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I got a history lesson in the process.  This story is actually a long poem and is written about the historical events of the British forcing a French village in Canada to vacate the town and leave all their belongings to the King.  Some of the people left to go to Cajun area of Louisianan.  Others went to New England.  This story is about a young woman who just becomes engaged.  Her fiancee and his father leave on one boat.  She waits at the shore with her father who dies before it is time to leave.  She buries her father and leaves her home to find her fiancee.  This is just about the saddest story I have ever read.  I did enjoy the descriptions of the family life, the scenery, and the travel.  I quickly got used to reading the poem.  This story is less poem like that most poems.  Although Evangeline is a fictional character there are statues of her in Louisianan and in Nova Scotia.  Evangeline is famous!  I hope my granddaughter's life is nothing like this Evangeline though .

Nice Walk Today

I've been taking walks down to Dyes Inlet and the Lions Park.  Today I lucked out and discovered a black tailed deer fawn standing next to a roadside creek.

A crow let me get pretty close to it as it found something tasty to eat and pulled it out of the water.

The crow moved it's lunch to this rock.  I've seen crows and Pacific gulls pick mussels out of the water, fly high above the road, and drop the mussels to crack open the shells.  Then the birds fly down and eat the mussels and leave the shells on the road.  The birds do this quite a bit.  As I walk along the road I step on the shells because they make a satisfying crunch sound under my sandals.

Caught Her Smiling

I could sit and stare at this baby for hours.  When she's in a deep sleep her face doesn't move much but as she progresses towards waking she starts making a variety of faces.  Her little eyes move under her eyelids so she must be dreaming.  She'll frown.  She'll pull one side of her mouth up.  She'll suck in her sleep.  She'll make duck lips.  She'll purse her lips into a tiny "O."  And she makes a lot of noises. Every one of her noises is cute of course.  She grunts and groans, hiccups and burps, makes little mewling noises and anxious throat noises.  Children are so entertaining.

We Will, We Will Rock You!

I can sit and stare at a baby for hours and never know what they feel.  Does she know when she is held?  Does she realize someone is caring for her?  Is she beginning to trust that her needs will be met?  Can she see my face?  I hope she can't smell my breath sometimes.  Does she really like Queens "We Will Rock You" and the beer barrel polka or is it just coincidence that she stops crying when I sing it to her?

Once she gets to the point of opening her mouth like a baby robin and moving in all directions hoping to latch onto a nipple, singing isn't going to take her mind off anything anymore.  She has a one track mind sometimes and she is quite assertive.  And that is a good thing.  She is a fighter!  But I know that sometimes she wants to suck for reasons other than hunger.

I tell her that her Mommy can't be a human pacifier but does she listen?

Ferry Ride

I accompanied Offspring #2 on her travels by taking the ferry from Bremerton into Seattle.  Here we are coming into Seattle.

We walked from the ferry down to Pike's Market.  We passed the Seattle Art Museum on the way.  Outside they have a giant black moving statue of a man wielding a hammer.

We walked around Pike's Market.  We bought some fruits and vegetables at the Famers Market.  We had lunch downtown.  She headed toward the airport on the light rail while I took the ferry back to Bremerton.  Here I am leaving Seattle.

Seattle is a pretty city.  The views are awesome.  In exchange for great views of water, the residents of Seattle put up with terrible traffic snarls.  Cars on Interstate 5 were stop and go.

The ride takes about an hour.  The fare from Bremerton to Seattle is free.  The fare from Seattle to Bremerton is $8 for a pedestrian, more for bikes and even more for cars.  I would guess this ferry held about 70 cars.

On the first post is a group of 10 pelagic cormorants.  I see them all over the place but it took me a few days to make a good identification.  I also saw a white winged scoter (black duck with red legs).

Even a tiny creature like a six pound baby can learn fast. She already knows she has the room now to stretch out her arms and push out her little legs.  She has learned how to suck.  She has learned that her favorite position is attached to a nipple.  If she is awake and the nipple in not there she opens her mouth like a little baby bird and moves her head in all directions looking for it.  Look at this kissable feet of hers.  Where will they take her?  Will she be a dancer or a soccer player or a postal employee?  How many continents will she travel?  Will she be restless or settled?  The opportunities for these tiny tooties are unlimited.

Homecoming

We got the house ready for the new resident.  We stocked up on groceries and did some cleaning.  But we also spent two hours coloring a poster because that is what Grandma's do; at least what this Grandma does.  I did the words.  Offspring #2 did an awesome job drawing the animals, a pig, a donkey, two red squirrels and two slugs.  Everyone is home and safe and healthy and happy so nothing could be finer. 

That Moment

That moment when you hold your grand daughter for the first time.  She is all cleaned up and measured and examined.  You put your left hand under her tiny head and support her six pounds of weight in your arms and try not to sob like a fool in front of your children.  She is curled up tight like she is still in the womb.  Her arm or leg moves just a tiny bit.  She opens her blue eyes and studies your face.  Her stomach lurches and some amniotic fluid comes up and makes her choke a little so you suction her mouth and wipe her tiny lips.  Her nails are surprisingly long and razor sharp.  She claws at her face and mouth so you try and protect her skin by pushing her hands away until someone brings you tiny hand covers with teeny tiny cow print on them.  She probably did that in the womb but the nails weren't as sharp under water.  Her skin is flawless.  Her hair is dark and curly.  Her nose is your nose.  Her ears are tiny perfect circles - not elongated like most ears. You talk to her and she looks up as if she understands.  She goes to her mother and nurses for the first time.  You hear that smacking sound babies sometimes make when they nurse and this is the very first time she made that noise.  She comes back to you and you cup her face in your hand and sit her up and pat her tiny little back.  She belches like a longshoreman.  With a stomach the size of a small marble this girl can burp loud.  You think about how things are different for her now compared to 12 hours ago.  No more tight warm womb to live in.  Now she has to suffer the variations in temperature.  Now she has to breathe for herself ALL THE TIME.  Now she has to take in nourishment through her tiny mouth.  Now she can hear more clearly and see shapes in the light.  Now she isn't head down and facing her mother's right all the time.  In fact her head is up and must feel heavy on her tiny neck.  This tiny girl has the responsibility of breathing, maintaining her own temperature, and gathering her own food now instead of having everything she needed supplied to her via a cord.  This girl is no longer  a parasite but a human being in her own right. Her body has to adjust it's own hormone levels now.  She is everything you hoped for.  You give her back to her parents.  They sit together on the bed and admire her.  The sunlight streams toward them from the window and what you see before you is a work of art.  You take some pictures.  You walk out of the hospital so they can have more bonding time.  Then the tears that you have been suppressing fall.  Tears of joy. Tears of wonderment.  Tears of relief.  Tears of ecstasy.  Tears of hope for the future.  Tears of gratitude that you could be here.  Tears because you can't come back to see her until tomorrow. 

I Am In Love

Torn

Labor and delivery are a very strange thing.  As an observer I am torn.  Usually, no-scratch that, more than usually, 99.9% of the time I don't wish pain on suffering on anyone.  But when babies are over due and the Mother is not comfortable anymore, I DO wish pain and suffering would start.  Is it wrong for me to mentally poke a hole in the amniotic sac?  Living with an overdue pregnant woman is like living with a ticking time bomb.  We never know when she'll go off.  Things have started now.  The sac has been punctured. Soon I will be a Grandmother.  I aspire to be half as good as the two Grandmothers that I had. I had some awesome Grandmothers in my life and they set the bar real high.

Pacific North West

I have been here in Bremerton for five days now, living in the Pacific North West.  I could get used to the fresh air, the tall pines and firs, and even the slugs.  The roads are hilly and curvy which are my favorite kind of roads.  The shoulders on the roads are narrow and I would not feel comfortable walking around on the country roads for fear I would be run over.  And I would not use a bicycle out here either.  I like living by the sea.  Since this area is on the Dyer Inlet the water is fairly calm.  The tide makes the water level vary by probably 8 or 9 feet.  I would really enjoy using my kayak around here.  I've seen a couple people canoeing but no kayakers yet.  Gasoline is more expensive and traffic is pretty bad.  Many people use the ferry to get their car to Seattle or other towns on the Puget Sound.  Traffic is bad around ferry times.  Some times the ferry line is so long that even if you get there early there may not be room for your car to fit.  Today we visited a nursery.  Oh, the flowering shrubs around here are outstanding.  Ground covers seriously cover the ground and come in many more varieties than we have at home.  Gardening would be a lot of fun but also work because everything grows so lush you have to really work at trimming it back before it takes over your yard and your house.  If I did live out here I'd have to go on several guided birding hikes before I felt comfortable identifying the birds.  I see birds flying around here that I can't even find in the bird guide.

Walking Around Bremerton

We saw some anemone that looked like brains under the water line.

And a Great Blue Heron

And the ferry from Seattle coming into port.

And a cormorant.  It's a double crested I believe.  They have 3 kinds of cormorants here.

A large fan celebrates 100 year anniversary of the Naval Shipyard.

Here in Lion's Park you can volunteer to take care of a patch of the shore by weeding.  A person named Marty volunteered for patch 33.  Marty is also the nickname of the baby we're waiting for.

We are Whate Riders.  If you haven't seen the movie Whale Rider, you should.

Guillemot Cove Hiking Trail

We went hiking down a steep trail at Guillemot Cove and saw a tiny house from above.

An outhouse maybe?  We didn't check.

Slugs are common here but no wood ticks to worry about.

One of my companions is fully pregnant and the other one had a twenty pound baby on her back.  Still I was proud that I could keep up with them.

Trees are growing on the awning of this abandoned house.

This is a dying fruit tree desperate to propagate so is blooming in a dying effort to pass on it's genes.

A stump house?  Maybe a hobbit house?

Many tall, straight, stately pines.

A beautiful place to hike.

Having Fun While Waiting

We went for a walk at Illahee State Park.  This giant tree fell over.  At the top end the tree was taller than my head.

The tide was low and this gull caught a crab.

The Puget Sound is a beautiful area.

Low Tide exposes barnacles on the posts of the dock.  The dock rises with the water.

We found a crab on top of a purple starfish clinging to the post.

Wild flowers bloom in the woods.  I don't know the name of this one but I did learn the name of the bright yellow flowering shrubs that line every highway.  Just by looking at how much there was of this pretty shrub I knew it was an invasive species.  The name is Scotch broom and it is everywhere.

The forest looks like a rainforest because vines crawl up the trunks of trees and moss dangles down from the branches.  Everything is lush and green.  The fir trees have the most interesting vertical strips that add texture to the trunks.  The azalea bushes are HUGE and come is a wide variety of colors.  The evergreen shrubs grow so well here compared to Minnesota.  Some of the flowering trees are so pretty my eyes can't believe it.  One had dangling purple flowers all over it.  The purple flowers hung down unlike a lilac but it did smell like lilac and even look like lilac.  Another tree had six inch yellow flowers dangling from the trip of every branch.  I see holly growing in the woods.  I would love to garden here.

Flying Down Concourse E

I am super excited this morning because I'm traveling to the west coast to await the arrival of MY FIRST GRANDCHILD!  Will it be a girl?  OMG!  What if it's a boy?  OMG!  The due date is tomorrow but babies have their time tables.  I could not sleep at all last night because I had so much to think about.  I am taking on a new role in life here.  I often wondered if grand babies were in my future.  I really owe this daughter in law a huge debt for giving me this chance to be a part of another person's  life OMG.  I am so excited I could almost fly down Concourse E at the airport. Maybe because I don't have to go through labor and delivery but I seriously think I am more excited now than I was when I had my kids.  This new baby has given me wings on my back and my feet are about 30 inches off the floor.

Tasty Tree

Almost two years ago I attended a edible wild plants class offered at a state park on the Saint Croix River.  Our instructor mentioned basswood leaves.  I perked up because I have basswood trees.  She said that in the spring the young leaves of the basswood are delicious eaten as a salad.  I remembered that this morning as I was packing my lunch.  I am planning a trip so I am down to slim pickings as far as fresh produce goes.  So after I threw a vegie burger in my lunch pail I went outside to my back yard and picked some basswood leaves to top my fake hamburger.  The leaves were small.  I believe the largest leaf was 2 inches long and vibrant green in color.  After harvesting my tree I packed the leaves in my lunch pail and ate them for lunch.  And.  They. Were. Delicious!  Crisp like lettuce and tastier than spinach the basswood leaves had a slightly sweeter taste.  I was surprised how tasty they were.  I will have to try that again someday.

Rescue

I have read a few of Anita Shreve's books and I liked them very much. This one?  Not so much.  Her writing was good but the character development, usually something she excels at, was lacking.  After reading an entire book about Peter Webster the EMT, Sheila his wife and Rowan the daughter, I feel like I really don't know them or their motivations.  The book was entertaining and it kept my interest but it wasn't up the usual caliber I have come to expect from Anita Shreve.