Lo's World

picking wineberries

lommiles — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:09:18 +0000

After 4 weeks without rain, our raspberries shriveled up on the brambles. But I vaguely hoped that the wineberries might survive. Wine berries? I had never seen or heard of them before about five years ago. They look like juicy red raspberries in a fuzzy husk that opens when they’re ripe. Thanks to the internet, we could find out what these odd berries were and whether they were edible berries, “bird berries” or if, upon eating them, we would experience an excruciating demise. We certainly didn’t plant them. The birds must have sown them as the meadow is full of not only black raspberries not planted by human hands but also these never before seen wineberries. And they are really good. Really, Really, Good! Sweet. Juicy. Not as seedy as other berries. And sooooo delicate that one can only pick them oneself – I doubt that even Farmers Markets could carry them. One of the luxuries of farm living!

Picking bramble berries requires one to wear clothing that completely covers the body no matter what the temperature might be. Closed shoes and socks. Jeans. Long sleeved shirts. And a bandana to keep loose hair from being grasped by thorny twigs. Mind you, I don’t wear gloves and therefore end up with plenty of scratches on my hands. But gloves are not conducive to gently picking hands full of delicate tenderness. Happily, wineberries don’t seem to be as vicious as the other berries we pick. But they resemble berries covered with thin layer of honey. Really sticky! And we are lucky here in PA with a noticeable lack of mosquitoes even in the meadow woods. In IL, I had to use the extra strong woods and camping brand of mosquito repellent in order to pick berries. And reapply every half hour. Annoying. But not here. I heard a few mosquitoes but managed to shoo them away without being attacked and carried away.

I spent two lovely solitary hours harvesting eight quarts of sweet berries in the meadow sauna.

Well, the temperature is in the nineties again. Or still. I think this is the fifth “heat wave” of the summer with two days of high eighties to “break” the heat each week. I’m loving it. But I thought about the joys of cool showers unavailable to our predecessors even fifty years ago. And I thought of many other things. And it occurred to me that my urban friends who think we live a pioneer existence might find such activities monotonous. Far from it! Such a wonderful time for ruminating. Or singing. Or storytelling. So, I now post a selection of my berry picking meditations for the interested and/or the unwary!

On Mosquitoes. What purpose do mosquitoes fulfill? What is their niche in the evolutionary chain of life? Is life simply “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”? violent and bloody? What purpose other than malaria and other diseases? OR on the other hand, is the mosquito a result of the Fall? A failure of insects to live out their God-given telos? Is there grace for mosquitoes?

On Silence. People speak of the silence of the country. Living here, we listen to the noises of the farm: birds chirping loudly and constantly; hens in hysterics for who knows what reason; roosters defending their cackling harem; dogs announcing farm visitors or the movement of other animals. Song birds singing; locusts and mosquitoes, flies and bees buzzing; wind blowing through the leaves and pine needles; twigs crackling with no visible cause — we don’t have bears here. Do we? We aren’t that far from the mountain. Cats don’t make noise walking through the meadow. Unless they’re large cats. Do we have mountain cats here? Some say so. Foxes for sure since they kept taking our chickens and I think I saw a coyote on our road today. Snakes? We rarely see them but certainly have them.

Spiders are quiet. At least, they make no noise that I can hear. Shelob is probably not a quiet spider but then, what indeed is Shelob? Spiders contribute to the joys of berry picking. And the conversation of grandkids when we pick together. Screams! There’s a spider! Oh, that’s just a nice Daddy Long-legger – he won’t hurt you. But he’s REALLY BIG – I don’t LIKE spiders. But even for confident grandmothers, spiders cause thoughtfulness. Or the webs do. Huh! I didn’t see that web. Oh, there’s a web, where’s the spider? What kind of spider is it? a nice Daddy Long-legger or a tricky harvest spider? Hmm. Never seen that little chartreuse one before. So, self, shall I go around this web or just barge right through? How many berries are on the other side? Yes, this time it is worth whacking one web to pick a quart of berries.

On Children. Children are less of an expense and more of an asset to the farming family. Farm clothes are different than “going somewhere” clothes that will eventually turn into “staying at home” clothes. Stains are not a problem since very little on the farm does not cause a stain. And, therefore, going somewhere clothes are NOT worn outside the house on the farm. Friends who come must bring play clothes that can endure stains and rips and tears. As long as one has a couple outfits to “go somewhere,” other clothes just need to cover the essential (depending on the project) parts of the body.

Children are capable of an amazing amount of work from an early age. Berry picking is fun, entertaining, delicious, useful, memorable, character building, and productive. Three year olds can pick berries. Really! I heard a story this year that my grandparents discovered their son’s color-blindness when he kept picking unripe berries. Since the berries went to market, he was given other jobs that didn’t require seeing color. Three year olds pick a lot of berries but a whole afternoon of picking may only produce a single layer in the bottom of the pail — besides the full tummy. Fresh organic snacks, seconds from the source. Five year olds can pick a half a berry basket while words and questions pour out of their mouths non-stop. (Help! I’m talking and I can’t stop!) They can even talk with their mouths full of berries. What kind of spider is this? Is this berry good to eat or just for the birds? What kind of grasshopper/bird/tree is that? Don’t pick up the deer poop – those are not good eating berries. Spiders build webs to catch pests and eat them. Stop pesting your sister!

On Memories. Picking berries with the children creates memories that expand to fill a lifetime. Daughters-in-law state that their husbands insist ”we did this every year.” Yea, not so much. We did this a few times; we did that only once! But the memory is so vivid that it saturates their entire childhood. Not every year produces every thing. Some years are good for berries; some are too dry, too wet, too cold, too hot. Some years produce cherries, some do not. This year gave a bumper crop of apricots – that happens about once every five years.

On Luxuries. Ordinary farm life produces luxuries one cannot buy. Hearing and smelling the rain before one feels it. Eating berries plucked seconds ago. Eating berries too delicate to transport. Gorging on berries. Gorging on anything in season. Eating cantalopes by the bushel. Tossing out the ones not sweet enough. Sweet corn in the pot within five minutes from the stalk. Picking tomatoes and peppers for supper — at five o’clock. Composting produce of the quality one sees for sale in town. Bouquets of roses in every room of the house. Rooms fanned with the fragrance of outdoor lilies. Or lilacs. Perfume of wild honeysuckle that produces berries for birds not us. Watching a tiny bird build a nest.

Remembering that a warm shower is a luxury that grandparents did not enjoy. Indoor plumbing can still be a luxury. Knowing that without electricity, we can still use an old outhouse, butcher our own meat, pick berries and dig fresh potatoes. And spin yarn and weave cloth. Someone needs to buy some sheep soon.

June

lommiles — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:55:42 +0000

Just some pictures of what happened in June:

RD came up with the family to help his dad and Reuben remove the rotting light pole.

And since we are having company soon, we/I rearranged the living room to include more people than just the hobbler and me. We don’t need wheelchair access anymore. Yea! D is doing well and hobbling around the farm. He’s doing better than anyone ever promised him!

May Again or Still…….

lommiles — Sun, 30 May 2010 01:50:19 +0000

So it is not quite June so that makes two blogs this month. But we had a Memorial Weekend Picnic. It really wasn’t our picnic – it was the DeM’s picnic from T’s Mother’s Circle. A nice group of people came and enjoyed the hot dogs and sausages roasted over the fire along with S’mores for dessert. And plenty of “dishes to pass.” D drove the usual garden tractor hay rides with two wagons and plenty of excited kids. It’s nice he can drive the tractor again – makes him feel useful. Kids played in the tree house and no one fell out although there was one child who insisted she needed a “bigger kid” to help get her out cuz she was too scared! Not any of our home kids. That was a friend kid.

Simboy managed to get whacked in the head because they “were playing dangerously with big sticks” according to the Agirl who accidentally inflicted the damage while trying to protect another girl. In spite of being carried out of the woods by three large adult males franctically pressing a cloth to his forehead (in the wrong place it turned out!), the damage was only worth a large bandage and no stitches. I didn’t have to call up my nursing skills since one of the men had grown up in a doctor’s house and was quite adequate to the job. We had all the equipment needed leftover from D’s foot surgery. Sterile water, large bandages, gauze, meds. We are Very Prepared here. And the best news was that we didn’t need to call the ER Dr. back to our house again since he’d left just a few hours earlier.

Did you know we have a house call doctor out here? He came out once to sew up R’s hand about a year ago when R tried sawing it off. This time T was carefully cutting the heel of a loaf of delicious homemade sour dough rye bread for the kids’ lunch and sliced into the heel of her own thumb! Agirl brought me the news that Mom Needs You – she cut herself! So, by the time I wended my way down the stairs and across the road, T had her hand in the sink with a cloth pressing it together. She took it off so I could see it and I got a long clean rag to wrap it back up immediately since there was more blood than what I figured a butterfly bandage would hold. She rested on the floor for awhile until her head stopped spinning and then hunted up the dr.’s number. He would be back in the Valley about 3 and it could wait that long, no problem. We eventually took off the rag, just to make sure we weren’t calling him out for nothing and saw that there was a largish flap of skin and muscle no longer attached to the rest of her thumb heel. We put it back with a large non-adhesive pad from D’s supplies and wrapped it all up with gauze. It looked much more presentable than the rag bandage.

Meanwhile, people are showing up for the picnic so I cleaned up my kitchen for the surgery and about 4 the Doc came by and took off my lovely bandages to have a look. The wound had stopped bleeding quite so profusely so it didn’t look quite as bad but the doc managed to put 6 stitches in (with novocaine) and wrapped it all up nicely again. His bandage looked nicer than mine ONLY because he had some hot pink sticky tape that he wrapped around it. So, now, the doc says Don’t Bump Your Hand for 4-5 days. He said this to a mom of six including 1 yr old twins. And don’t get it wet for a while either. Stitches in for 10 days. Call if there are any problems.

So that’s how we began our Memorial Weekend Festivities. I left out about R being sick and all the kids having summer colds and Gtwin still having problems with her legs and fun stuff like that. Hope you all are having nice weather for picnics, too.

May

lommiles — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:08:19 +0000

It’s been a while since I wrote an update to Dave’s status. I wanted to wait until we knew what was happening with the “abdominal mass” that the drs. found during his first ER visit. Well, the exceedingly good news is that not only is it benign but he does not need surgery either. It turns out to be a lipoma (fatty growth) on the valve between the small and large intestines. So, it is definitely true: Dave has internal belly fat.

Also this week, he began his outpatient therapy. He has been pushing the limits of optimism by putting more and more weight on his feet to the point that he prefered just to carry his walker around. I did not nag. Nor did I remind him more than once of the version that I heard the dr. say that contradicted the version he heard. (He says I nagged with my eyes!) Nevertheless, the physical therapist approved his cane use and now Dave uses the walker only when he needs the extra support and balance. The PT explained more than we probably would have heard since he had a student observing, so we were happy with that. He also explained what foot and ankle activities he would be working on and how Dave would be feeling it. (A friend says in her circle PTs are referred to as “physio-terrorists.”) Meanwhile, Dave has found a matching pair of shoes he can wear but he often finds the special boots more comfortable still. He is also learning that he needs to put his feet up after he’s walked around for a bit.

Dave has really been enjoying the electric scooter lent us by friends. He is able to get out, see the garden, work on the tractors, play tag and croquet with the gkids. It keeps him from suffering cabin fever. He still plays board and card games with the gkids. And watches “Engineering Disaster” videos with them.

In other news, 2009 may have been the year of grandchildren but somehow the kids didn’t think that 6 new babies were enough. Last week Karl and Cori had their 2nd baby, Lily Jane @ 9# 2 oz. (and number 15 on the grandchild list.)

One year old Andrew is thrilled with his new baby and having everyone altogether in his house. We offer great thanks and praise that Cori was “saved through childbirth” [1 Timothy 2:15 ESV Yet she will be saved through childbearing- if they continue in faith and and love and holiness with self-control. (and yes I know how theologically difficult this verse remains!)] and ask for prayers for her extended recovery. Consistent with those prayers would be God’s direction on Karl’s career so that he can support his family without Cori’s full-time employment. His new cd comes out this month. He has a band and tour upcoming. Numerous radio stations have requested his full cd in Scotland, Australia and all over the US. The feedback is all good. http://karlmilesband.com/

Meanwhile, we are enjoying the warmer than usual weather — at least I am! Today is 78F/25C and cooler than the weekend. We had 2″ of rain Sunday night and another 1/2″ since then. And another storm front is blowing through. Exciting times. The flowers are a month ahead. I have blooming iris and the lilacs are past – before Mother’s Day. Our cats seem to be on schedule for kitties, though, since they always seem to have a litter by Mother’s Day.

WillowHavenFarm http://willowhavenfarmpa.com is growing well and we all have hopes for a successful year. Our son-in-law has introduced two beehives, a sheep fence to keep the twins in the yard, and is preparing pasture for future sheep. I picked out some sheep for him when I attended the Maryland Sheep and Wool fest this weekend. I didn’t buy any sheep this time – just wool. Gotlands would be just the ticket according to my thinking! http://www.americangotlandsheep.com/ I can dream, though!

March

lommiles — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:09:13 +0000

I just looked up to see it snowing big fat flakes again! The sun was out and it was warm for a couple hours. Warm being a relative term, of course. Dave enjoys having the front door open so he can see the world through the storm door. Sometimes he even wheels himself onto the front deck altho he needs help getting back in the house again.
His feet are healing well. He’s off the pain meds except at night. We see the surgeon again on Tues and fortunately the newest storm is scheduled for Wed instead.
I get out about once a week or so to get library books, dvds, etc. and pick up groceries. Friends are still bringing in meals which is a huge help. Some days I think all I do is wash dishes, put out meals and empty the chamber pot. Now I’ve caught a cold as well so Dave is feeling alot more active than I am. Well, we’ll get out on Tues and see what else he wants to do then.
Meanwhile, we’re still here and looking forward to spring.

Good News, Bad News

lommiles — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:50:03 +0000

So, on Monday 1 Feb, I went to get my biometrics (electronic fingerprints and facial recognition photo) taken for the British Consulate and my student visa. Since we had the whole day in Philly, we even stopped at a PO and mailed all the info posthaste to CA. (I don’t know why the visa office is in LosAngelos.) And visited our son and his family there. Then on Tuesday, Feb 2nd, Dave celebrated Ground Hogs Day in the hospital.

The good news is: Dave landed on his feet.

The bad news is: he slid off the roof on the shed he and Reuben are building on the farm and fell 11′ onto frozen ground. (Yes, OUCH!)

Good news: the ER was amazed at how little damage he did to his body. From the ankles up, he has barely a scratch.

Bad news: From the ankles down he dislocated, fractured, smashed and “nutcrackered” various bones. (There are pictures on Facebook if you care or are inclined that way.)

Good news: The trauma orthopedic dr. says that they don’t treat this damage like Napolean’s surgeon Lisfranc did – by amputation!

Bad news: He won’t be able to put weight on his left foot for at least 6 weeks post op, 8-12 wks for the right. The one Napoleon’s dr. would’ve removed.

Good news: He will be able to walk again

Bad news: His feet will be stiff and not like uneven ground. So no marathons or all day hikes on the Appalachian

Good news: He has really good upper body strength which he developed by working on the shed…..

Bad news: His trauma dr. says he doesn’t have a leg to stand on!

Good news: the grandkids will be more than happy to help Gpa and keep him occupied by playing games

Bad news: Gpa can’t get up and leave when he’s tired of games

Good news: Dave has a really high pain threshold

Bad news: He’s not getting any of the really good meds to take home for me!

Good news: The drs did a full body scan because there are usually other traumas (leg, spine, head) from that kind of fall. No other damage occured!

Bad news: They found a mass in/on his small intestine that has to be removed so they’ll stabilize his feet first and then talk about doing the abdominal surgery soon thereafter.

Good news: We are home now for a couple weeks until the swelling goes down so they can do the surgery.

Bad news: I am not going back to Scotland this year!

Good news: My visa was waiting for me when we got home from the hospital tonite.

Bad news: I have to figure out how to contact the powers-that-be so I won’t be persona non grata in the UK for the rest of my life!

Good news: My supervisor was very understanding and figures if God wants me to finish in the future, he will make a way for me to get back there in his time. Meanwhile, Dave and I are both experiencing the concrete application of my thesis: Choosing God’s choice for oneself, being available to live out that choice, and being as “obedient as a corpse” who is moved by others without objections and protests.

More good news: friends and family have rallied around us and helped with the immediate and practical needs as well as prayers and visits. Thanks very much to everyone.

Christmas Greetings

lommiles — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:41:48 +0000

2009 Miles Christmas 2009

Warm and Merry Christmas Greetings to All

This year proved less fruitful academically than I expected but more productive than expected with regard to the grandchildren. My brain has finally recovered and plans are progressing to return to Scotland as early as possible in 2010. But the big surprise was that instead of the four grandchildren expected this year, we have had six—with another one due in April. Since all the brothers were having babies, Tessa and Reuben produced twins. Does anyone think the family is competitive?

In April I went to a theology conference in Wheaton, enjoyed running into a couple of colleagues from Aberdeen as well as hearing both Gordon Fee and his daughter speak.

The highlight of the weekend, however, was meeting Andrew Michael Miles on his birth day April 16^th. Karl and Cori have been enjoying watching him grow and acquire skills quickly. At seven months he is taking steps by himself, playing soccer and has 6 teeth. Cori insists that her physical therapy occupation is not a factor and Karl at home playing with the boy all day isn’t either. Or so we are told. Meanwhile, Karl has found a promoter and is expecting to go on a Midwest tour in spring with a live band. Other exciting news includes grandbaby number fifteen who is due in April 2010 as Karl and Cori hatch their “Irish twin.” Their doctor said this baby had miscarried and recommended a d&c. They decided to wait for nature to take its course and discovered the next week that the dr. was wrong. This ‘Lazarus’ baby is alive and well and they’ve changed doctors.

The same day Andrew was born, Tessa found out that she was expecting twins! Three weeks later, Gwendolyn Marie and Isadora Grace were born on May 7^th and 8^th. Yes, 10 min. before and 10 min. after midnight! No, they are not identical but it is easier to tell them apart when Gwen wears green and Isa wears pink. So summer was busy what with adjusting to the demands and space requirements of two babies. Laundry, homeschooling and feeding the troops fills the days. Tessa didn’t get as much canning done as usual but the twins are cuter than a wall full of jars any day.

On Monday the 11^th, Teri and Rachel’s baby Immanuel David arrived. (He does look like his namesake, doesn’t he!) Three weeks later they left for classes at U of North Dakota in Grand Forks with Wycliffe’s SIL program. But it worked out well and they became interested in Wycliffe’s program translating the Bible for deaf communities. They have two more summers in ND to finish their masters’ in linguistics. At home, Rachel is still teaching and administrating in a St. Louis charter school while Teri has taken on the role of Mr. Mom. Everyone seems to be thriving. We enjoyed visiting them in ND and took them over to visit our Nordeen-Johnston roots in Bemidji and Hines, MN, a short jaunt away from their classes.

Five weeks after Immanuel’s arrival, Randy and Shari produced Elias David on June 22. That made five grandbabies in ten weeks. Micah and Serena are quite thrilled with this happy and cheerful brother. Randy is still content his quantum physics/chemistry research and gardening. Shari has survived sending Micah off to kindergarten and being involved in numerous mom’s activities at their church.

We took our usual July trip to the Midwest in order to visit family including Andrew and Immanuel. And, very conveniently we are able to stop by Indy to visit James and Tina and the kids on every trip. James decided to leave his IT job and join the team at Charles Schwab this fall. Will also started Kindergarten and loves math. Alex loves his preschool and recreates Nascar races with his toys. Not to be outdone by the siblings, James’s third baby Marcus Allen–our fourteenth grandbaby– arrived Dec 18^th.

Dave was finally let go from his job of 20+ years at IR/Volvo on September 30^th so the next day we packed up the car and left on a month long tour of the Southwest. Dave had never seen the Grand Canyon or the Rockies from ground level so this was our opportunity. Our goals were to see the Grand Canyon, visit my sister in Santa Barbara, visit Dave’s sister in Salt Lake City and return to St. Louis at the end of October for Immanuel’s dedication. Everything else was serendipitous! On leaving St. Louis, we discovered that we were inadvertently following The Historic Route 66! So, we enjoyed a Route 66 museum in Missouri, a Uranium mining museum in New Mexico. We took a bus tour of Santa Fe and visited the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. We drove through the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. We spent a night with good friends in AZ and wished we had a week to spend there. On our way to the Grand Canyon we drove past a sign for the Meteor Crater and stopped to see that. It really was the great Meteor Crater we’ve heard about all these years! What fun!

Driving up the East side of the Canyon we meandered through the Navajo Reservation and then along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to the main lodge area. By mid-afternoon I started feeling the effects of the altitude so we headed on down to Williams, AZ for the night. I guess that’s what happens when one spends 2 years at sea level in Scotland. Apparently high latitudes and high altitudes have nothing in common. Who knew! In Williams we ate at the only diner in town — with a lot of people we’d seen on the Canyon wall — after which we drove out of town to enjoy the zillions of stars only visible in the desert sky.

Our trip through the desert and mountains to Santa Barbara had a couple interesting stops. After looking for a place to eat lunch in English, we finally stopped at a gas station/diner. On noting the updated and hygienic lavatories we decided it could be a viable option for victuals. Lo and behold, it was a Route 66 diner with retro tiled walls and banquettes, posters of Elvis and Marilyn and huge platters of good hot food. The other interesting event was a tractor pulling up to the pumps for gas. Oh, and the other diner who was wearing an Elvis toupee. Lovely.

We had a relaxing visit at my sister’s in SB, took a whale watch tour on a sailboat and saw sea lions and birds – no whales — and enjoyed the quiet ocean air for a couple hours. Betty and I knit and watched Numb3rs. We went to early church discovering on arrival that everyone else came in their pajamas because of the youth sleep-over. We had way over-dressed! Then we met Jeff at the East Beach for brunch with the seagulls. Monday we drove up to Solvang, the Danish heritage tourist trap, to visit the knitting stores. Betty and I had a good time and the hubbies were both most tolerant.

Tues we left for Salt Lake City and just made it to the Hoover Dam 5 minutes before the last tour. Dave dashed off to catch that while I moseyed on down to the outdoor café and shop. He took pictures of the generators. The next day we toured Zion National Park, an amazing place well worth many days of adventure although we had only one. We made it to Dave’s sister’s in Salt Lake City that evening and enjoyed their hospitality. We really enjoyed driving through all the open spaces with mountains and plateaus and deserts surrounding us. Amazing how much empty space there is – amazing how much desert there is in this country. Who knew the East was such an unusually verdant rainy land! We toured the Mormon Square, surprised that symbolism is so entirely foreign to their life and theology. Niece Kristen was kind enough to fly down to her folks for the weekend so we could see Ellianna, another spring ’09 baby. Park City and Antelope Island occupied us the next day. I walked around the block in Park City, bought some yarn, and discovered I was not enjoying the altitude there now either! Fortunately, Antelope Island was on the Salt Lake so I could recover there.

The next day we took 70 across Utah to the Rockies and I realized that I would not be enjoying the mountains what with my inability to adjust to altitudes. So Dave dropped me off at “our weekend cabin in Denver” i.e., Karl’s friends Troy and Jenny. Evie (age 4) determined that I was her special company as we sat on the couch and had private conversations and knit. Dave drove up as far as he wanted as fast as he wanted and saw the Rockies in the snow! We visited the Red Rock Amphitheatre and Dave drove down to Pike’s Peak – another opportunity to drive recklessly with no cringing spouse. Monday we visited James Dobson’s recording studio thanks to our son’s friend who works at Focus on the Family and gave us a private tour of his area. We then headed back to St. Louis, stopping in Salina, KS to visit more family roots. We toured the farm vehicle museum and the history museum. It was nice to have the time to visit random things we found interesting. We discovered that we enjoy seeing the amazing natural wonders and family and agricultural history a lot more than urban culture. These are good things to know in order to plan our next adventures. Still on David’s list of things to see is Yellowstone Park.

In December, my folks came up from Florida to visit and meet the twins. They are the first twins we know of in any branch of the family tree (other than one set of identical second cousins on my dad’s side). We had a Grover Christmas celebration with Tessa’s and Randy’s families – nine of their fourteen great-grandchildren. And it was the coldest week of the year just because the Floridians came.

What now?

Dave has had a few interviews for new jobs but is beginning to wonder if he even wants to start over at a new job. Reuben and the grandkids are keeping him plenty busy as it is! Reuben is farming our land, developing an organic vegetable market called Willow Haven Farm. www.willowhavenfarmpa.com. Right now Dave and Reuben are building a market shed behind the house so he can prep and deliver his veggies more efficiently. Everyone is enjoying Daddy and Grandpa being home most of the time. Dave is still involved in Bible Study Fellowship and Choir although his deacon term has ended. He is looking into serving in ministry if anyone would have need of his Oracle and SQL database experience.

I am planning to head back to Scotland by February. Lord willing and my visa comes through. I’ll be there for at least six months and up to two years depending on my supervisor’s wishes. I have no intentions to be doing this after I turn sixty! There are too many grandchildren to visit and I’ve enjoyed my time at home too much!

Meanwhile, we wish you all the peace and joy that passes all understanding.

Christmas Blessings,

Dave & Lo

(We’re on Facebook, too, now, in order to keep up with the kids!)

Number Fourteen

lommiles — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:08:58 +0000

As stated in our last blog, months and months ago, another addition was due in December. So here it is: Our latest grandbaby was born this very weekend. James and Tina enjoyed a weekend retreat at their local hospital and the doorprize was Marcus Allen! At 7# 5 oz., 19″, he was the smallest of their boys but he is healthy, kicking, moderately happy and very hungry!

Lucky Thirteen

lommiles — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:18:12 +0000

Here’s the latest grandbaby and last until Dec.
Elias David, third of Randy and Shari
June 22nd – born on his uncle’s birthday so we conveniently don’t have to remember another birthday.

Since you asked……

lommiles — Thu, 14 May 2009 02:58:15 +0000

What with all the babies, the new moms have been asking who their babies look like. Some have thought they looked like strangers. (How could THAT be?!?) But I can reassure you all: the babies look like Miles’ babies. With a few distinctives. You were more than a rent-a-womb. These babies were not fully formed embryos implanted in a garden in the hopes that a perfect man-child would be born. Woe to the garden that let a cold east breeze pass by or gazed upon a montrous animal and thus a female or some other defective monster came to birth. Indeed, the dark hair that doesn’t turn blond in a month must be expressing your genetic code. So, too, are the different mouths and chins. Oh, is that hairline not halfway up the skull? That must be from the mom then. Unfortunately, some of these babies look more like their uncles than their dads. Not to fear. There may be some lovely personality traits that follow. Or odd ones. Depending.

Going really back in time, I’ll put up a long ago shot of my brother and me. I would’ve been about 3 at the time and it looks like he is about 12- 18 months or so.

They used to take pictures the same day babies were born. So T and WJ look a little beat up yet.

WJM

Number 3 and that’s a fox not a cat. I don’t know why. It was cutes.

See! Now the babies are looking a little more together.

and Number 5

Now for the fun part - here are the 2-3 month pictures.

Isn’t she adorable?

So, big deal. He gets two pictures. He was cute then. Just think of one of them as the fifth baby and we’re even.

So happy! I made these overalls with leftovers from his dad’s leisure suit. They were both quite dashing and styling!

Unfortunately, Number 5 has no official 3 month pictures. I am sure we would have had one, except I was doing rather poorly after that birth so maybe that was one more thing I neglected. Along with his shots. He did get his shots – finally – by kindergarten.

But to rectify that oversight, we will now post many many pictures that include the fifth.

Look at the hair! It was very stylin’ in those days. And I couldn’t have survived this baby without my sister. And my mom.

Great Grandma N. and all the kids.

Grandpa G’s birthday party in May 1982.

WJM and T. What loving brothers.

This is one of my favorite pictures. A very typical night, too, until T1 got tired of sharing her bed. T2 would’ve still been in the crib so that’s why he’s not part of the puppy pile.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this long ago and far away tour. Hope it helps you figure out who your babies look like!!