Josiah has joined the family!

On Sunday, January 11, 2009, Josiah was born in a little under two hours. Whew! Here he is with a proud Pop pop. A couple of really cute guys.....

We kept his two sisters with us for four nights and they went home to join their brother last night. I miss them already! There is nothing like seeing sweet young faces come to the breakfast table in the morning.

Mommy and baby are doing pretty good. Once again, I got to be there at birth, and help her and her hubby. What a blessing. They have been so generous to let me participate. Josiah came into the world fast, and gave his first cries almost before being all the way born. He is a sturdy little guy and weighed in at 8 pounds and 1 ounce. Please join us in praying that his good health will continue and that mommy gets strong quickly and, you know, all the things we hope for when a new life comes into the world!

Where I Create

Recently on my favorite site, MaryJanesFarm, the question was asked, what does your sewing room look like? Well, I sew by hand, but I do have a craft table where I make cards, piece quilts, and do most of my crafts. Here it is. This room used to be our daughter's study, and originally her play room. It is right off of the bedroom that was hers, but is now the domain of our granchildren.

Hubby and I have made this room our office, and it has his desk, our computer and my ancient oak drafting table. This table has been with me a long time......since my little garage apartment in 1974. It was old then, too. There are stains where a long ago draftsman actually parked his cigarettes and let them burn down into the wood! Can you believe it? To the right is a sampler on a hoop I have been stitching for ages. I hope I get it done before I die. And as far as I know I am not sick right now.

Poppop and Abigail in the garden

Here is hubby and granddaughter Abigial, the day after Christmas, picking broccoli for dinner. They had a good time and got a good load! We have had a casserole and have steamed some too. Yummy!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

I miss it already! Yesterday, December 28, we turned it on and nothing happened....no lights. So we decided to dismantle it, and sure enough it was the main power cord going up the middle that was faulty. I am so glad it was AFTER Christmas Day.....otherwise, there would have been a lot of work involved in getting it back on. And grumbling too.

It was a real tree.....although they are more work and mess, there is nothing like a real tree to me. It smells so good, and this year ours stayed really fresh...it was up five weeks, but I was ready to enjoy it at least another week.

I found the quilt about 15 years ago at an antique shop in Marianna, FL. It is an old crazy quilt, with wool batting. It makes the perfect tree skirt, I think, because it is a little too heavy and too old to sleep under, but just right for presents to lay on.

Christmas Cookies - finished!

No more jammies either! The cookies came out really good, with lots of icing. What are cookies but mere vehicles for lots of icing?

Christmas Day - Men making cookies - little gals too!

Here the guys (Poppop and Daddy) help the little ones roll and cut cookie dough. Most of Christmas day was Jammy Day.....we opened gifts, had brunch, made cookies, took a nap, put the turkey in the oven, iced the cookies, ate dinner, played with all of our new stuff, and had a wonderful day!

Our daughter and her hubby live in town, but they packed their bags and moved in for two nights and almost three days, and we had the best time. It was so nice falling alseep at night knowing all the beds were full of family.

Don't they look serious about their cookie making?

The Cosby Cabin in Maggie Valley NC

Love this cabin!!! I will post more photos of it soon, as I took some of the inside too. We had a fire one night and it was so cozy. We cooked pork chops on the grill on the back porch, read, watched the election returns on TV (yes there were all the comforts of home, even a washer/dryer) and took lots of walks around the property.

The pets on the property claimed us, and there was canned food in the kitchen for them, which is why they claimed us. Two little Jack Russell terriers followed us everywhere; they had boundless energy and then fell exhausted on the porch when we cooked out.

The cabin was well over 100 years old when it was found and brought to the Boyd tree farm. Old bits of newspaper still cling to the inner walls where it was once used for insulation.

How fun it was to cook and sleep and sit by the fire in an actual old log cabin.