Emma’s birthday is just around the corner (where did the year go?!), and in anticipation of it there are a few projects that I am working on.
The napkins are for the party that we are planning to have with the Smillies, and the ribbons might be part of Emma’s first year album that I am hoping to have finished by then.
At the rate that I am finishing pages, though, I will be doing well to have the album done by the time Baby #2 is here!
…and the ornament that I made for her.
My Gramma used to give each of us grandchildren all the same type of ornament each year: Daniel got soldiers, I got ballerinas, Anna got angels, Julia got nativities, etc.
I decided to make Emma’s first ornament this year, and made her a bird. I hope that one day she’ll have a whole collection of birds, one for each year.
Both my grandmas were wonderful cooks.
Grandma Jacobsen always made this tea ring for Christmas breakfast, and the plate in this picture is from Gramma Moose who organized her church’s Christmas Tea each year. They each had their specialty dishes: Grandma J. always made goulash for everyone to eat the first night we of our visit (it’s an easy dish to rewarm in case we arrived late, which we often did since we drove 3 1/2 hours to get there) and Gramma M. would cook lamb chops with mint jelly for the grandkids when we visited one at a time.
And now I’m tearing up ………
I put a large bowl of clementines on our coffee table, thinking that even if Emma could reach it she wouldn’t be able to damage them (the worst she could do would be to suck on the fruit). Well, our little one has longer arms than I thought! And now she spends several minutes after each nap standing at the coffee table under our window pulling clementines out of the bowl and either dropping them or handing them to me. And sometimes she lets me keep them, too. :)
Gramma Moose died yesterday morning. We knew that it was going to happen very soon and were expecting it at any moment, but still, we are mourning (and rejoicing for her).
For the past several days I have been thinking about her, about her life and my memories of her.
There are so very many wonderful memories, but the one that is sticking out at the top right now is of syrup. The picture of little pitchers of maple syrup sums up many of my memories of Gramma.
Maple syrup (I can’t remember any other kind in her house) in little pitchers with pancakes or Belgian waffles was almost always a part of our visits with Gramma. In everything she did she tried to be and do her absolute best, even if it cost her a little more, so that she might bless those around her. If it cost more, she just graciously made do with less or saved somewhere else and didn’t let it interfere with her goal of making the time special.
Little pitchers were important too, so that each person would have their own by their plate because each person was individually important. Gramma was one of six children and she understood how very important it is for a child or an adult to feel thought of, special as an individual and not just part of the larger group.
There are so many memories, good and wonderful memories.
Maybe I’ll share them with you later ………
Gramma, Anna and Lizzie, 1988Emma, Sarah and I took a last minute trip to the Bay a week ago Wednesday. Gramma is not doing very well, and she wanted to see me and Emma again. It was a good trip, but a difficult one.
I’m still feeling rather numb, but going through some boxes of old photos is helping. It’s bringing the memories and the tears.
This hymn is one of my Gramma’s favorites. She taught it to me when I visited her in San Mateo during the summers, singing it as she tucked me into bed at night in the “pink” room before we prayed. Even now, after her stroke, she still has a beautiful singing voice.
a rooting jar, hanging in our window… from posts all about Emma, that is (and yes, I did just go look up “divergence” to see if it really is a word, which it is, and if it means what I want it to, which it does).
I love Crate & Barrel. I mean, I love Crate & Barrel. Not obsessively, but I have a very strong affection for that store. I even registered there for our wedding when there weren’t any C & B stores in Fresno. Walking in and seeing rows and rows of shining glass, white porcelain and china, and the brilliant colors of the crisp linens brings me such joy. It also brings memories of the first time I was introduced to it by my Gramma, walking in carefully and holding her hand lest I break something, enjoying the smell of candles and wood. The vivid colors and all that white china, the pots and pans. The gadgets I had no idea what they were for. It is such a wonderful place …..
So, imagine my delight a few weeks ago when I found out that there are others who share my love!
“the feeling of being with [my mother], in that store, surrounded by so much cooking possibility, stuck with me. Contained within the shelves there, packed away amidst the plain white plates and jelly jar glasses, were meals as yet uncooked, conversations unspoken, a whole future of smells and tastes and togetherness.”
“… being surrounded by anything food-related — kitchen ware included — brings me a calm usually reserved for places of worship.”
–Emily Franklin, Too Many Cooks
There is something so exciting and yet restful and calming about a store that is devoted to homemaking, entertaining and cooking. And I can’t get enough.
In the last month she has learned to smile (with a kind of scrunched up “cheese!” smile) when she sees me pull out the camera.
