A Sad Bear Comes to Play.

I spied a very sad little yellow carebear that the big kids left behind in my yard yesterday. I ran to get my camera to document the spotting, then called out to it "Hey little carebear, do you want to help feed my baby?" Two little ears perked up... It nodded it's head and came running... And stopped at my door, looked up at me, and waited to be let in... To cheer that care bear up I let it feed the baby... Lilikoi's response to this: "I just LOVE it when big yellow carebears come to play!"

The DROOL has been nonstop... could she be getting more teeth? That seems to be every new parents question/explanation...
someone at work today dubbed her "slimer"(like ghostbusters)

GOOSEBERRIES

We are very lucky to have several berry bushes near our house. They are yummy for us of course, but they also draw in neighbors and hoards of children. Here you see Michele and her daughter Kessy lured in and eating from the gooseberry bush:We have mountain berries (my personal favorite) blackberries, raspberries, and gooseberries. We have had this particular gooseberry at the head of our garden entrance for 3 years now. The first two years it did not bear ANY fruit. Last summer it had a total of 3 berries. Alex gave this thorny bush an ultimatum last year that if it didn't start producing, it would be dug up. And behold all of this fruit! This is about 1/4 of what it gave off this year. Alex turned these into a tart and buttery gooseberry pie.

dramatic dusk sky tonight...

Because our land faces southeast, and because the mountain is behind and to the west of our home, we don't see sunsets. (beautiful sunrises) Tonight though, was a wonderful bright rainbow against a dark backdrop (in the picture notice the silhouettes of our echinacea flowers!), and some brilliant clouds drifting to the east. I included a photo of Alex posing with the laundry that wasn't drying very fast with this weather...

It would have been dry already if I had remembered to hang it before I drove into town this morning- but alas, it slipped my mind. I had a lovely stroll through the botanical gardens with my friend Livia who was down from NY for a visit and my friend Liz (who is 39 weeks pregnant) and her son Elijah while I was in town. It is nice to have a bit of fun on a town day as it is usually all business for Lili and me.

Just as I was driving the last stretch home tonight, a big white and red suburban came barreling over the crest of the hill almost completely on my side of the road. I had to swerve off the road, and luckily he also swerved back towards his lane. It was so close. Before I even had time to act I felt that mama-bear instinct and thought "Lili!" and my adrenaline kicked in.

Afterwards I felt very shaken and angry at the suburban. These roads we live on are so curvy and people drive so crazy. Ever since my friend Lucas died on our road from being hit by a van while he was riding his bike 3 years ago, I feel very sensitive to reckless drivers. But the reckless ones are whizzing by to fast to ask them to be more careful...

upwards and onwards

Although she has mastered the skill of crawling, crawling is second best to pulling up on anything she can get her chubby fingers on. This feat came within days of crawling. She pulls herself up and then excitedly and unsteadily rocks back and forth- a cross between a surfer riding a wave and Elvis rocking out. She just loves being vertical...
This is a picture from the first time she pulled herself to standing in the crib. I was getting dressed and turned around to see her grinning at me like this. I ran to get the camera hoping she wouldn't take a giant tumble while I was getting it. I got back and she was still gripping on. She was quite the ham while I took the photos, but I picked this one because I think it captures both her uncertainty and the success of what she did.

Garlic!

The story of this garlic is one of neglect and ignorance:
(However, it has a happy ending) A year and a half ago I planted some garlic in a little row in our garden just as the summer was truly winding down. It sprouted before it got too cold, and it overwintered very nicely. At which point I got pregnant and forgot about it. Until fall, when I checked on it for the first time in a long time. Poor garlic- it was not good as far as I could tell. Mushy. I just left it in the ground. But then, this winter I realized that all that abandoned mushy garlic was growing more garlic! I didn't do anything to it at all (not even thin it which would have been nice) and then yesterday we went out to the garden and harvested some of the plants. They are small because they were overcrowded, but they are a nice bunch of garlics eh?

So I cut the garlic tops off and set the garlic bulbs out to dry...

and then I roasted the garlic tops with potatoes and olive oil and some herbs for dinner tonight- Alex made some yummy chicken salad atop a bed of spinach from our garden as well, and we had some wine, and the baby was sleeping. Perfect!
(excepting the fruit fly who drown in my wine and I couldn't scoop it out for the life of me- not very dignified...)

Handmade Birth Flag

Yesterday I got together with some girlfriends to craft for a couple hours. We all made "flags" for a mutual friend who is pregnant- The idea being that she can look at the flags when in a time of challenge (such as birth) and feel the support and love from her friends. For my birth a bunch of friends did something similar for me. The labor went too fast to think of getting out the art to look at during, but after the birth we set up all the little paintings around our recovery room. All of the nurses kept telling us they just wanted to hang out in our room it felt so nice!

I started out thinking I would hand stitch the whole flag in an intricate pattern, but, quickly moved onto the wondrous glue-gun (an impatient or time-crunched girl's savior!) It was great to get together with friends and create something, even if it was small. Maybe I should initiate this stitch-and-bitch sort of thing more often. That would be one more avenue for motivation...

Saturday morning ~ Saturday afternoon

Cornmeal pancakes, local sausage, NH maple syrup, yogurt, and Coffee...Becca drove up in her car for an afternoon visit, while Dave rode his bike here!

Fancy Schmancy.

Last night we drove 1 1/2 hours to Madison county to attend a party. The invite said the dress was "business casual we got dressed up and made the trek (me in my black boots, and Alex in a borrowed shirt of Dave's). The party I am speaking of was the grand showing of Southern Living Magazine's Idea house in Whisper Mountain. Whisper Mountain is one of the many gated communities popping up in the high hills of western NC (they don't seem be affected by the housing crisis for some reason).
Each issue of Southern Living they showcase a different house or two. They have pictures of the interior, exterior and the gardens, and it is all decorated and made to look lived in, but in truth the houses are brand spankin' new.
The reason we were invited to this particular idea house gala is because I have a few small paintings decorating the wall in an upstairs bathroom. This isn't the type of party I am usually jumping at the bit to go... lots of people I don't know, uncomfortable shoes, long drive, etc. But because it is an honor to have work in the house I felt like I should at least show up and try to enjoy it. As we drove in the ornate gateway we noticed the hood of our car was smoking (we must have a little oil leak). We parked as far away from the house as we could since our car was smoking, and sloppy with tools and baby stuff... not exactly a business casual ride.
Overall, the party was a good time. The beginning was a little rocky- Alex suggested that we leave before we had even seen 1/3 of the house (not even my paintings) I reminded him we drove forever to get there, and that it hurt he didn't want to see my night's claim to fame. He apologized saying that he was just reading my grim face... So we drank some wine and toured the rest of the house. I went back up later to take some photos of my work as proof they were there. (I doubt this particular bathroom will make it inside the magazine) Alas, in the end, I did not schmooze with any rich or famous people, but I had had some good laughs with Alex, ate some fancy appetizers and felt encouraged to keep at my artwork.

Asheville painter Wendy Whitson and potter Josh Copus's vessels in the living room.

Here I am in the lime green bathroom with my paintings.

Lili thought that baby in the mirror at the grocery store was hilarious...

CORBIN...little CORBIN!

Erin and Adam had their baby this morning! I just found out and I don't know all the details and it is killing me. I know the birth stats and saw a picture which pacified my thirst to hear every little detail. But mostly, I want to hear Erin's voice to hear how it sounds post labor. I want to hear how the labor went. My dear childhood friend is a MOTHER! ... We have been friends for 20 years and today something happened that changes her drastically. I really want to call, but I am blogging about it instead. Best to leave them to some peace. Right? Well, okay then.

Ironically, I just sent out a care package to them today in preparation for their birth. The note inside said lots of encouraging things that I thought may help her through her labor. Things like "trust your body" and that sort of thing. Now in hindsight it seems pretty silly that I didn't take into account that she could have already birthed the baby. She will probably have a good laugh for her tardy friend when she gets it. Although, I am only half-way tardy, as the package will arrive on her "official" due date.

Look how beautiful he is. He really is so beautiful... I have been tearing up for hours. It feels good to be full of so much joy.Corbin _?_ Shaffer
Born Tuesday, June 17, 5:15am

8 pounds 2 ounces 20.5 inches

a little father's day gift from lili

you all mean the world...

Happy Father's Day!

COOL UNCLE ALEX...

The kids are on summer break and have moments of boredom already. It is hard for me to fathom being bored, but somewhere deep down in my memory I think remember saying those words to my parents on a long hot summer day...

So...Noah came and visited about 8 times today. On the seventh visit Alex took a break from our big weekend project of rearranging the upstairs to listen to some rock-n-roll and punk music with Noah. Our house was A-BLASTING with noise. The boys showed off some mean air guitar, and Noah did Lilikoi's hair in a faux-hawk for the occasion.
I will tell you: I was not bored.