Better late than never…for Easter (um-huh!) I knitted a bunny for each of my two grandchildren. These bunnies are adorable (if I don’t say so myself) and stand approximately 8 – 8 1/2 inches tall. Using a pattern from Debbie Bliss, I created these darlings with yarn remnants. Like other Debbie Bliss toy patterns, the rabbit arms and legs are movable and the sweaters are removable (which they were in about 5 seconds of giving them to the girls)!
Do you find yourself wondering what to do during these long, beautiful, summer weekends? If you please…let me suggest the patronizing of your local fair/festival, the zoo, and the harvesting of veggies from a backyard vegetable garden for a light, quick and easy dinner.
Heeding my own advice, I spent some time with my daughter and two granddaughters this past weekend. We enjoy ourselves at their local community festival on Saturday and on Sunday, we enjoyed a visit to their local zoo and was gifted, by my daughter, with the harvesting of some fresh veggies (from her garden) to take back home with me…these are the makings of a truly memorable adventure!
Saturday, Mike and I traveled to visit with our daughter, granddaughters and our son and daughter-in-law (who happened to be in the area). It was an opportunity we could not pass up. In a world of over-booked schedules, we put aside other commitments and headed south to gather with family.
Remember enjoying the rhythmic motion of 
swinging on a swing and quickly gliding down a slippery slide? Well, Adelaide has also discovered these treasures!
I have often equated farm life with living a simpler life. Maybe it’s the slower pace and the physical utilization of my body and mind (unlike sitting at a desk for eight hours a day) that resonates within me. So…imagine my delight when my daughter suggested we visit an actual working farm during my stay with her and my granddaughter this past weekend. Not only does this farm shelter a variety of farm animals (chickens, roosters, turkeys, cows, sheep, horses, and pigs), it also includes an orchard, flower and vegetable gardens, a summer kitchen, a farm house, and barns. Owned by a neighboring community, this family-friendly property is freely open to the public.
Here are some of the photos taken on this excursion:
If your weather has been anything like ours, I’m betting you need a little sunshine in your life. Here are some photos meant to put a smile on your face and a glow in your heart. Enjoy!!!
Having a nine-month-old granddaughter allows me the opportunity to observe “life” from a whole-new-perspective! Think of the word “flower”….a simple concept which is easily understood by you and I….and, yet, to a little one like Adelaide, this single word has become a repetitive game/lesson in which each picture book displaying a “flower” is quickly connected to the flower wall prints hanging in my daughter and son-in-law’s living room…or to the flower fabric print on their living room chair…or to the actual flowers that border their walkway to the front door entrance. Isn’t this how we all learn? By repetitive movements, actions, and thoughts?
As I continue to grow older, I embrace this little one, who in turn, has taught me to slow down and smell the flowers of life.
During a recent family get-together, one of my sisters offered some sage advice to our young nieces and nephews on the importance of family. La Familia! The family connection and extension…biological or not… which plays an important function in defining our personalities, values, and place in this universe!
As we all participate in a variety of family roles, it amazes me how each specific role continues to evolve, change, and expand throughout our lifetime. As an example, my very first relationships to my family were: child, daughter, granddaughter, niece, and sibling. Today, in addition to these relationships, I am an adult, mother/parent, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, wife, aunt, grandmother/abuela, great aunt, cousin and friend.
Not only do we add to these types of relationships, but the relationship itself develops into a more complicated two-sided give-and-take. What do I mean? Well…as a baby, I took more than I could give. While I may have given some small smiles and coos, I depended on my parents (as all babies do) for shelter, warmth, food, and love; the essentials for survival. Today, as the role of daughter, I can give an ear for listening, advice for the taking, dinners for the eating, drives to the doctors, excursions for the fun…in fact, I can even give knitting lessons to my mom. It evolves. We grow.
And what about those that choose to become a part of the family….the in-laws. Isn’t it a two-way street? Do we not volunteer to become a part of our spouse’s family as well, thereby expanding the family in ways never imagined?
As we all continue to grow, love, and celebrate those new to the family or the legacies of those no longer with us, be mindful that whether in Ohio or Virginia/Maryland, la familia is truly what matters!
Congratulations to the bride and groom-to-be, Laura and Bob!
A mother and her daughter
A husband and his wife
A grandfather and his granddaughter
Siblings
A Bride and Groom-to-be!
If you haven’t heard, there is another wee one on its way into our lives; our second grandchild. Her name is Lyla June and we are eagerly awaiting her arrival. In anticipation of Lyla’s birth, I recently knitted her a V-neck Bolero, using the Sirdar 1676 pattern. This is a quick knitting project which requires only one 50-gram ball of yarn for the 0-3 months size. Instead of using the suggested Snuggly 4-ply yarn, I substituted Araucania’s Ruca Multi yarn (#05 Pink, Coral, Beige, Purple Blend). Made from sugar cane, it is somewhat similar to bamboo yarn which can easily split if caution is not taken when knitting with it. Although the challenge of this knitting project was the use of this delicate yarn, the end result produced a soft and beautiful, short-waisted, knitted jacket for our little Lyla (see below).
*As always, please ask permission before using any of my photos.*
Photos were taken along the Maumee River
sagesweetgrass 
