Friday, March 05, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
The Fairy Files
After deleting the fairy diary, I discovered that I could start a new blog dedicated just to that story as long as I keep up with Miss Ingu and Mr. Beachy to keep the peace here. That might be hard because I've been so scattered lately. Besides feeling very ADHD, I am revisiting the questions that come along in the teenage years. For example, I have just too many things going at once; yet I can't just do one thing at a time. Right now I have several sewing projects going - a baby quilt, a pillow cover, plus a pair of blue jeans and a sweat shirt to mend. I'm working on a family tree and a painting for a friend. And my kitchen table is full of Christmas cards to answer. There's also nursing CEUs to complete and a ballot to fill out for voting. Not to mention the LEGO galactic bases to be made and battles to be fought and a new little wee person to hold......The questions are those age old ones of what is important, what to do with my life, and how much is important and what is just straw. They are the kind of questions that you have to be very quiet and very still to answer.
Friday, January 15, 2010
In Which Miss Ingu is Served Breakfast In Bed
The sun returned today and everyone's mood is much improved! In fact, I was surprised today when Mr. Beachy brought me breakfast in bed.
Coffee had been made and a sweet fruit and cheese plate delivered to my bedside. Yum-m-m! The cheese brought back good memories and it was a special gift because I'm sure Mr. Beachy doesn't even like cheese. I don't know anyone besides myself who likes this kind of cheese. Perhaps he's making up for the past week's silent treatment.
The cheese was Ektegjetost from Norway. It's a sweet brown cheese that taste almost like carmelized sweetened condensed milk. You put a sliver in your mouth and let it melt. When our first child was born everyone we knew was church mouse poor. Our baby was just a day or two old when a friend of ours, named Richard Birnbaum, showed up with a gift of this cheese. I knew that he probably spent all the extra money he had for it. It was like a gift from a magi.
Richard was a tall, thin graduate student from Columbia who had dark curly hair and a scraggly beard. He was very shy and soft spoken. He wouldn't sit down, just wanted to stop by for a moment, but we made him hold the baby and share some of the cheese. He must have been her first visitor. And she was most certainly the first baby he'd ever held! I heard later that he had become a legal advocate for immigrants.
Mr. Beachy had also prepared a mango cut in half with the seed removed. He filled it with my favorite plain Greek yogurt and chopped almonds. A meal fit for the gods!
Coffee had been made and a sweet fruit and cheese plate delivered to my bedside. Yum-m-m! The cheese brought back good memories and it was a special gift because I'm sure Mr. Beachy doesn't even like cheese. I don't know anyone besides myself who likes this kind of cheese. Perhaps he's making up for the past week's silent treatment.
The cheese was Ektegjetost from Norway. It's a sweet brown cheese that taste almost like carmelized sweetened condensed milk. You put a sliver in your mouth and let it melt. When our first child was born everyone we knew was church mouse poor. Our baby was just a day or two old when a friend of ours, named Richard Birnbaum, showed up with a gift of this cheese. I knew that he probably spent all the extra money he had for it. It was like a gift from a magi.
Richard was a tall, thin graduate student from Columbia who had dark curly hair and a scraggly beard. He was very shy and soft spoken. He wouldn't sit down, just wanted to stop by for a moment, but we made him hold the baby and share some of the cheese. He must have been her first visitor. And she was most certainly the first baby he'd ever held! I heard later that he had become a legal advocate for immigrants.
Mr. Beachy had also prepared a mango cut in half with the seed removed. He filled it with my favorite plain Greek yogurt and chopped almonds. A meal fit for the gods!
Thursday, January 07, 2010
It's just - we're grumpy.
Faithful readers will notice that the recent Fairy Garden entries have been deleted. This is due to honesty issues. Mr. Beachy had been holed up in his room for several days and I finally approached him to ask what was the matter. He...was...grumpy. He explained ever so curmudgeonly that this blog was supposed to be OURS. Not some silly fairy tale. And I considered his comments and especially his grumpy way of showing his feelings, and admitted to him that he was right. After promising him that I would delete said entries, I heard him outside in the garden. Chilly and damp as it was, I could hear him whistling and I know all will be better for it.
Friday, January 01, 2010
First Day of 2010
Mr. Beachy woke up grumpy again this AM despite sleeping through the fireworks last night. Couldn't remember the password for this blog. So much happened in 2009 that it's impossible to recount it all. This picture of Emmett, the chameleon(whose name used to be Scout, but was changed to Emmett because of his sad clown smile), just goes to show how much has changed. He is now 6 inches long minus the tail, which could be another 6 if it's uncurled. That's a lot of crickets consumed! Harper has grown. Impossible to realize he'll be 6 yrs. old in another few weeks! And, it took all year, but now we have a new member of the family. His name was secret for so long that I almost forget he has one. It's Gus! And Gus it is! The brothers are already conspiring together - Gus uses the Force while Harper maneuvers the Wii Jedi characters. All is well and as it should be as this new year begins Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
Amazing
The other day, SIE and I went to the pet store on Broadway to get a better cage for the chameleon. The box was about 4 inches thick, but about 2 feet x 2 feet. SIE wanter to carry it and he was doing OK as we manuevered between the aisles. When we got over to the checkout, I turned to help him lift it. He was emphatic: "No-o-o!"
Then with a lower voice he says for my ears only, "I want them to see how amazing I am."
Sunday, July 05, 2009
My Dear Gardener
Mr. Beachy informs me that a wee creature is growing out near the cabbage patch. He tells me it is definitely male, but so small that it may take 5 months or more to ripen. Oh, the joy that the Christmas snows will bring this year!
Saturday, July 04, 2009
The Stealth Hunter Has Arrived
There's a new addition to our family. I know it hasn't been so long since hammy died, and it's not that we don't miss her....but the opportunity arose to add a baby veiled chameleon to our household. I could watch this guy all day. He is the kind of chameleon with mitten-like feet and eyes that move in all directions, being able to see in front and behind himself at the same time.
He is a slow mover as far as lizards go, which makes him perfect for SIE to hold. And what a great way to get SIE to wash his hands! I told him he should wash them before and after holding him. He went on to say it was because of the oils in our skin; maybe he heard that at school. This is a five year old who knows everything.
We are having some trouble with names. "Cammy" was a natural...in homor of Hammy, of course. But I was going for something a little more sophisticated. Hapapapa suggested "Mosie", because he just mosies along. I jumped to "Moses", which caught the evil eye glare of Hapapapa, who corrected me: "Mosie". He does that sometimes thinking he can manage me. hah! I personally think he's a "Noah" rather than a "Moses". That's just my personal take on him. Yesterday, we named him "Scout" because of his stealthy hunting habits. Also I thought it would be fun to name all my future pets after characters in To Kill a MockingbirdGet the subconcious connection to HarperLee? We'll see if this name sticks.
This new addition regretably has made me learn about cricket keeping. He's tiny, but can chow down more than 8 crickets a day! Now I have a very nice cricket habitat set up in the mud room. Plus about a half dozen loose crickets jumping around my house. How do you catch a cricket? I invented this technique myself, although others must have thought of it before me: You put the cardboard from an empty paper towel roll into their cage. The crickets crawl in to sleep. You easily reach in and cover both ends of the roll and take it to the Death Star and let those prisoners loose. Sometimes there aren't enough crickets sleeping in the roll, so you gently herd them into a corner with the roll covered at your end, and they hop and scurry and push and shove and run inside it thinking they are escaping, only to face the flying tongue of the Stealth Hunter.
He is a slow mover as far as lizards go, which makes him perfect for SIE to hold. And what a great way to get SIE to wash his hands! I told him he should wash them before and after holding him. He went on to say it was because of the oils in our skin; maybe he heard that at school. This is a five year old who knows everything.
We are having some trouble with names. "Cammy" was a natural...in homor of Hammy, of course. But I was going for something a little more sophisticated. Hapapapa suggested "Mosie", because he just mosies along. I jumped to "Moses", which caught the evil eye glare of Hapapapa, who corrected me: "Mosie". He does that sometimes thinking he can manage me. hah! I personally think he's a "Noah" rather than a "Moses". That's just my personal take on him. Yesterday, we named him "Scout" because of his stealthy hunting habits. Also I thought it would be fun to name all my future pets after characters in To Kill a MockingbirdGet the subconcious connection to HarperLee? We'll see if this name sticks.
This new addition regretably has made me learn about cricket keeping. He's tiny, but can chow down more than 8 crickets a day! Now I have a very nice cricket habitat set up in the mud room. Plus about a half dozen loose crickets jumping around my house. How do you catch a cricket? I invented this technique myself, although others must have thought of it before me: You put the cardboard from an empty paper towel roll into their cage. The crickets crawl in to sleep. You easily reach in and cover both ends of the roll and take it to the Death Star and let those prisoners loose. Sometimes there aren't enough crickets sleeping in the roll, so you gently herd them into a corner with the roll covered at your end, and they hop and scurry and push and shove and run inside it thinking they are escaping, only to face the flying tongue of the Stealth Hunter.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Top O' the Morning
July 3rd - I think an old friend of mine, Larry Santo, was born today. He's gone now a year or two, but I woke up thinking of him so it might be today's his day. He was a character. I first met him at St. Patrick's Parish in Northside. He actually was the first person there to speak to me and he was a gentle soul. The church florist, sacristan, eucharistic minister, and server par ex-cell-ance. He loved to say he taught me all I know about serving and floral arranging, and that could be true. Along with my keen eye for observation and artistic temperment, of course.
Shortly after my arrival at St. Pat's I observed that Larry always wore a shade of green when he was on the altar. Later, at St. B's, he always wore the appropriate color tie to correspond with the vestments of the day. I think of him as the Irish/Northside version of Mr. Beachy. May he be teaching the angels a thing or two today!
Shortly after my arrival at St. Pat's I observed that Larry always wore a shade of green when he was on the altar. Later, at St. B's, he always wore the appropriate color tie to correspond with the vestments of the day. I think of him as the Irish/Northside version of Mr. Beachy. May he be teaching the angels a thing or two today!
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