Little Girls

First, some from a long time ago - 89 or 90 years. At the family reunion, a cousin had some pictures we could go through and take what we wanted. I love this one; I don't recall ever seeing it before. I'm sure the oldest one was Aunt Mabel. Based on that, and having learned the order of the twelve siblings very young, I believe the others are Ethel (my mother), Esther, and Nina (right to left). I like the way all their hems are the same distance from the ground. Those black stockings look very uncomfortable.

And then some current little girls - no pictures, though. Friday I picked Rose up from day care about 3:30 and we went to Metropolis. At 5 pm we followed Alyssa and Stephen to the Massac County fairgrounds where Lexi entered her cat in the cat show. There were five kids in her age group. I found it very interesting that the cats were ranked in the order that they were examined by the judge. Ginger (and Lexi) got fourth.


After that, we took the cat home and then went to the church where Lexi and Devon had attended Vacation Bible School all week. The kids did some singing and recited a couple of Bible verses. Then we had some refreshments and picked up their crafts. Lexi and Rose came home with me.


The girls spent two nights here and did a lot of complaining because I wouldn't turn on the A/C. Yes, it's hot, but I've remained reasonably comfortable with windows open and fans running. I go in most public buildings and freeze to death. I wouldn't want them to not use their A/C, but do they need to keep it cold? We're supposed to wear lighter-weight clothes in the summer, so thermostats should be set higher than in the winter.


Anyway, the girls survived and Sara picked them up an hour or so ago. About the time she came, a storm started rolling through, and the temperature dropped at least five degrees in five minutes.

Hats, etc.

 I'm not sure why I felt like knitting hats recently. Winnie the Pooh was very obliging when I asked him to model for me, and of course modeling is Miss Head's (Edith?) sole purpose in life. Both hats are knit with sock yarn on size 2 needles. The one Pooh is wearing was done before my trip; the other was one of the projects I took with me, but only did a few rows.

 This little toddler skirt I did in the last couple of days on a whim. The flowers and butterflies are buttons.

This little shawl is another of the projects I took to MN. I guess I did about half of it on the trip. I should have done a lot more, but I kept dozing off.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with any if these things.

Gardening?

I spent an hour or so this morning in the yard. First I trimmed some branches from the Japanese Maple tree in front of the house. They were blocking my view, when I sit in my new knitting spot, of the Crape Myrtle that is in full bloom.

Then I weeded my little garden. I put this frame around the daffodils in the spring to protect them from my neighbor's lawn mower. About three weeks ago, I planted some sunflower seeds, and two weeks ago I set out some parsley, basil, marigolds, one tomato and one pepper. The tall plants on the right are the sunflowers.

 I also harvested three cherry tomatoes from the plant that volunteered beside my compost bin. They were very good!

Family Reunion

I got home this afternoon from my trip. Pauline and Mac dropped me off shortly after 2 pm, and then continued on to Stanford. Pauline called a few minutes ago to say they had arrived there safely.

I'm really glad I went! It's always nice to see the relatives. Unfortunately, we only saw one Ross cousin. Carol came over to Wadena on Friday morning and had breakfast with Pauline, Mac, Renee and me. 

 We went out to the 'old home place' about noon on Friday to see off those who were going tubing on Crow Wing River. They had plenty of tubes and life jackets for the twenty or so people of all ages who went. Autumn and Aidan (age 6) went, while Liam (age 2) stayed with Renee. Those of us who didn't go, sat in the yard and talked for a couple of hours.

There were several pup tents in the yard. We thought that the kids had slept in them, but Karen, who owns the farm now, said the adults had used them.

The old barn is still there - still used every day. Aidan enjoyed watching the milking and playing in the hay mow with some of the other kids.

 Renee tried to convince Liam that the calves wouldn't hurt him. I don't think she succeeded - he's a city kid!

Looking out beyond the calf pens to the pasture. Isn't that sky beautiful? We had lovely weather for the entire trip.

 Saturday night we had supper at the Pizza Ranch in Wadena. I think there were about 75 of us there. When I went to the register to pay for my supper, I asked if they took out-of-town checks. The girl hesitated and then asked the manager. He asked if I was part of Gordie's group. When I said I was he told the girl to take my check and said, "Gordie has a lot of influence around here." It's nice to have cousins like that!

 I don't know what my cousin Grayce Trosen is saying to her son Brad, but I like his t-shirt. It says 'One of the Trosen Few' followed by the name of the dorm he and his wife serve as dorm parents at a school for missionary children in Africa (I can't remember which country).

 Richard (second from right) is the baby of the family. That's his son Brett on one side of him and his wife Barbara on the other. Beside her is their daughter Beth, then Brett's wife and son. Dick and Barb's other three children couldn't make it.

Here are Dick and Barb later at the farm. They are the oldest of the group who attended.

 Olive is the youngest (Or maybe Liam is). Here Olive is sitting on her grandfather Gordie's lap while he talks to Gene and others.

 On Sunday afternoon, we had a picnic at a park. These guys are waiting for us all to gather 'round for the group picture.

Here is most of the group - some had started wandering off after the 'official' pictures were taken.

Off to Minnesota

Has it really been ten days since I posted last? I guess nothing significant has happened. I've been mostly sitting here knitting, with windows open and fans on. I closed the windows and turned on the A/C Saturday when Alyssa and Stephen were on their way to bring me a hide-a-bed sofa and to take Lexi's bed and a few other things. I'll leave the A/C on until I leave tomorrow for Minnesota.

My sister Pauline and brother-in-law Mac will arrive this evening, and we will leave tomorrow for a family reunion in Minnesota. No idea how long we'll be gone. These reunions (Mother's side) have happened every four years since 1958.(Once they had one after three years; that's how they got to be in uneven-numbered years.) I've gone several times, but also missed several. Eight years ago I drove up by myself, mostly staying off the Interstates. It was a lovely drive. I stayed home four years ago, and would have this time also if Pauline and Mac hadn't invited me to ride with them. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Mom was number six of twelve children; only the two youngest are still with us. Number nine, Nina, whom we all have wonderful memories of, died a couple of months ago. Florence and Richard are something like 87 and 84. Then we start with the cousins, who range in age from 82 down to 46. I recognize the cousins, but when we get to the next generation - forget it.


A cousin on Daddy's side is going to try to get some of those cousins together while my sisters and I are up there. (My other sister, her daughter, and her two grandsons will be there, too.) Daddy and his six siblings have all been dead for several years. Since those seven were all within nine years and three months for each other, rather than the 25-year span in Mother's family, we cousins are not spread out so much in age - 73 down to about 55. There aren't quite as many of us either - 22 Rosses, 31 Liens.

I have a few more things to do today - finish packing (both my suitcase and my knitting bag - I should be able to get a lot done, sitting in the back seat), get all the trash out of the house (don't want any of it starting to smell bad while I'm gone), run the dish washer after I have my lunch (don't want it to start smelling either). Alyssa should be here sometime to get a few more things, including her cat and Lexi's turtle. Last week, Lexi went to Panama City, FL with her dad and a couple of his friends. She came back with a little turtle. She (and it) spent Saturday night here, and we left it here when we went to church yesterday. After church, we met Alyssa, Stephen, Devon, and Stephen's parents in Metropolis for lunch at a Chinese buffet (Yum! I love the way they do vegetables.) Lexi went home with Alyssa, so her turtle is still here. I didn't know where she had put it, so it took a few minutes for me to find it - I guess Ginger (cat) had knocked it off the shelf onto some stuffed animals that were sitting on the floor. The cage had not opened, so the turtle is still OK.