Birthday Gift From The Gourd Lady

This is Ron's birthday present from his sister, Evie, who is truly a magician with gourds.  This bird house will not hang out in the trees this summer, but will be put where we can enjoy it.  The carefully and precisely carved design had to take a lot of time, and the effect is a "wow".

 These two pictures are the back of the gourd - Love the dash of turquoise - it sets everything off nicely.

 This picture shows a more true color of the gourd.  So glad that Ron had a birthday to celebrate!

The rather ugly winter weather must be blamed for the hiatus in the family blogs, with the exception of Dwight and his Curmudgeonly Professor, which keeps the wit and pictures coming.  We have had bitter cold weather, but the sun in the daytime has eroded the edges of the snow so that some of the grass is showing.  And this morning there is a light, steady snow to chase the inversion away.  As we live in the north end of Cache Valley, our atmospheric effects from the inversion are not as heavy as Logan, itself.

Beautiful Great Grandchild

Doesn't he look like a winter?  Fortunately for us, Jet's father is a photographer, and posts pictures on Facebook for us to admire.  This little guy has really grown.  I don't frequent Facebook often, and usually just browse, but it's a boon to great-grandmas like me, so that we can see these children who live far away. We live in a town where, often, families in close proximity. Great-grandparents, grandparents, mothers & fathers, children, etc., etc. all live in or near the community.  That's how life used to be for many.  However, we are prey to the logistics of society today - the jobs are far away, and ever evolving.  Once my aunt Cindy and uncle Norman moved to Smithfield, Utah and built a home to be near two of their children and families.  Within a couple of years, those children had moved away to follow employment opportunities.  My aunt and uncle stayed in Smithfield, and both are buried in the Smithfield cemetery, far away from their parents' burial place in northwestern Wyoming.  Such is life!

Wintry Morning from our window.

We've just been very, very cold this year - and the mornings have not been spectacular.  This picture is from a year ago - I don't remember if the day was glorious, but the sunrise certainly was.  It is wonderful to have this beautiful scene in its varying aspects at our back door.  Count my blessings.

Down by the Riverside

This long-ago wintry day was celebrated by Louise, Judy, and me with a walk down to the river in the snow.  We were dressed pretty warmly, but it was the idea of the photographer (me) to have them pose in the snow.  Dumb idea, but the pictures, taken with the old Baby Brownie, turned out okay.  Louise must have been  working away from home,and was home for the weekend.  Maybe you remember?

Anyway, these are good memories - I would probably have forgotten this time, except for the pictures that remain to tell about it.

Nostalgic Photo

Sometime in the late 40s, I got this coat for Christmas (if my memory serves me right.)  Some of us went up to Grandma and Grandpa Wasden's to show them our gifts.  I'm not sure what this pose is all about, but I do know that I thought that  this coat with the hood was just like a wonderful cloak that made me beautiful.

More of Our Christmas Decor

 These are special Christmas balls.  In Washington, Ron had a patient who was a glass blower, and had a glory hole in his garage.  We spent a Saturday there - Daddy didn't want to go, but we took Elna, and she made a ball.  Ron's and my balls are small - We didn't have the technique quite right, but it was a lot of fun and very exciting.  We took more glass balls home than we made.

 These little "Santa's Dwarfs" have traveled with us.  I first made these guys for a craft fair that we did in Powell - sold lots of them.  These have endured over the years - always looking patient.

 Ron had this paper mache Santa when we married - he seems to be very old.  He has to come out each Christmas.

 The little Santa clinging to the lamp base was a gift from Phyllis Hansen, a dear friend, who left us quite some years ago.  The carved Santa in front was made by a Mr. Nelson, a furniture re-finisher in Olympia, who retired and went to Arizona and picked up wood carving.  The Santa with the tree was painted by Julia in the days when we were doing lots of painting projects.  And, if you enlarge the picture, you can see my collection of Petersen mice in the display case.  Nativity scene on top, Ron's shelf is next, and mine on the bottom.

 Sorry this picture is so dim - These are a few of my nativity sets.  The center figures are corn husk dolls of Mary, Joseph and the baby, the set to the left that you can barely see is  one that I purchased in Jerusalem after I realized that we just couldn't afford the olive wood carved sets in Bethlehem, and the little white set minus shepherds, I bought in Olympia at a clearance sale.  The light is coming in from the windows, so the reflection on the table makes an interesting effect.

 At least you get the drift of the tree - never did get the angel at the top of the tree this year.

 I'm including this picture because the ghost hands at the far edge are mine - so much for taking pictures in front of a reflective window.  This stained glass poinsettia was made by a couple of friends in Mesa during the years we wintered there.

Part of our Christmas Traditions

 Some traditions are new - this Santa and Mrs. Santa (Do they have first names?) usually end up somewhere in our house at this time of year.  A gift from children.

 This is Julia's corner - She and Mike sent holly, and the blue Santa is one that she painted and gave to me for Christmas quite a few years ago.  He is very special

 Dorothy and Sara and their families spoiled us with a lovely centerpiece - In this world of artificial trees and greens, it's nice to actually smell an evergreen bough.

 The Wedgewood onion (another gift from Dorothy and Sara) hangs from our chandelier every Christmas - a perfect reminder of many things in our lives.

And this little Christmas tree always sits under the mirror at the entrance to the living room.  The fired clay Santa has holly in his pack - Many of the little ornaments on the tree came from our stay in Germany    More tomorrow!

Four and Twenty Birds that Are Black

The big apple tree at the corner of our lot and our neighbor's orchard is seldom free of fruit in the winter, because the apples are small and difficult to pick.  However, it does offer food to traveling birds.  This flock settled in to eat the fruit or just rest from their travels.  Couldn't tell what kind they are - it is so cold, and they are all fluffed up.  Enlarge them to see the red apples and the birds - if you are able to identify them, make a comment.  Anyway, the tree is decorated for the holiday season.  Unfortunately, the neighbor's grandson fired up a snowmobile to have fun in our lots, and scared them away.  The tree waits for the next occupants.

Weather - or Not

In the not-too distant past, when I took the pictures in the previous posting, we were heading south over Sardine Canyon between Wellsville and Brigham City.  On our return trip only a day later, this was the change in the landscape.  Of course, the top two pictures are taken from our backyard - there is snow at home, too.  Now, we are just freezing and thankful for a warm home.

Before Winter Really Settled In

All of the family blogs have been languishing the last three weeks - too much else going on.  However, I need to get going again.  Here are a couple of the pictures I took between Logan and Brigham City last month when we went south.  The mountain pass between Wellsville and Brigham City is called "Sardine" most of the time, in local usage, including the newspaper.  However, a few years back, the Logan paper ran a short feature on local mountain passes, and explained that the original Sardine Canyon road went over the mountains farther south, and that the highway we use should be called Wellsville Canyon.  "Should be" gets ignored, and everyone knows what we're talking about when we say "Sardine".

Pictures from Our Trip Down South

 Ron and Ann having a deep discussion about how to make an elk tooth ring.  Not your everyday topic.

Our visit with Dwight and Velna was delightful.  In spite of all the difficulties, a sense of humor still reigns in this household.  And, Dwight has perfected making pulled pork barbecue.  His culinary skills keep growing.  Of course, he still needs some appliances, but I'm sure that will come in time.  I loved seeing the row of marquetry above the balcony doors - a perfect place to keep them out of the sun and still enjoy them.  Dwight's wonderful photography decorates the walls of their home - so good to see them before they head to St. George for the winter.

Great Grandchildren From Afar

Mandy and John are proud parents of Kai - Looks like he is  ready to face the world.
This makes 13 great-grandchildren in all.  We have only seen a few of them in "person", but pictures keep us informed.  (It's a pity to live so far away from the action!)  They are thriving, and we feel that our heritage is continuing.  This little boy will be very loved, just like his brother and two sisters.  Congratulations!

"Tis the Last Rose of the Summer…"

In these lovely Indian Summer days after the first hard frosts, it seems like there is always a rose or two bravely blooming on.  This bunch has been especially lovely, helping us not to think about the less-than comfortable days of the cold winter months.  We'll hang onto Fall as long as we can.

From Gold to White - in a Day or So

After some very beautiful days last week, as you can see in the top picture, we woke up Sunday morning to the scene in the next four pictures.  Trying to gear us up for winter, I suppose!  Actually, most of the snow is melting - it had better, because all of the leaves aren't scooped up yet.  People do wax poetic about the wonders of the seasons, but as the years creep along, winter becomes more difficult, even though it is often beautiful.

P.S. Success at Last

Eureka - I called this morning at 8:10 to Ancestry, got a lady who knew what she was doing, and in 10 minutes everything was working!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel in computer land after all.