“On the trees are only a few gnarled apples that the pickers have rejected. They look like the knuckles of Doctor Reefy’s hands. One nibbles at them and they are delicious. Into a little round place at the side of the apple has been gathered all its sweetness. One runs from tree to tree over the frosted ground picking the gnarled, twisted apples and filling his pockets with them. Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples.”

(Sherwood Anderson, “Winesburg, Ohio”)

SICK DAYS
We were all, and I mean all, sick this week. We dropped like dominoes, and none of us saw it coming. We assume we caught it from Lucy, who probably got it at the church nursery. Thankfully, she was feeling better before we all went down: Doug, 4 PM on Wednesday; Caroline, 7 PM on Wednesday; Hannah, 4 AM on Thursday; and Tim, & AM on Thursday. Really bizarre! It was a bummer to miss the good weather this week, but we’re all back on our feet. No complaints here.

UNDER PLACES
There are some places in my home that I avoid. I call them the “under” places: under sinks, under refrigerators, under the stove top, and this place…

It is a picture of space under my oven. That is where there is usually a drawer. “They” say it is for storage, but I believe it is where oven accidents and monsters live. I don’t open that drawer, unless someone’s life depends on it. 

While I cannot imagine what possessed the man to do it, tonight Doug decided to clean that under place for me. I walked into the kitchen to check on supper, and found the drawer was gone. He was working away at it in the tub. God bless him. He said he wanted to surprise me—he really did! 

BOOKMARK & PINS
I’ve been purging bookmarks and pinning, instead. If you aren’t familiar with Pinterest, but utilize the internet often, it can be a great way to organize things you find online—recipes, websites, ideas—or even to coordinate an event with other people. For me, it’s a great work space.

APPLESAUCE
The church that hosts our weekly prayer meeting has a food pantry, and I got the idea (Thank You, Holy Spirit!) this week to ask Doug to bring me the worst apples—the ones no one would want. I was making the applesauce for Lucy, but on Day #2 of our Big Sick it was all some of us could eat. The Lord’s provision, for sure. Such a blessing!   

A GIRL & HER WHISK
She was sooooo sleepy here, all snuggled up with Poppa at the end of her playtime, with her favorite puppy and a new favorite toy—my antique whisk. I honestly can’t blame her—I love it, too!

A girl & her whisk? Go figure.

WARNING: Lots of grandbaby and “White Christmas” talk here tonight.

A GIRL’S GOTTA EAT
Lots of baby food making and testing this week. Lucy has some food allergies, and some food particularities. So, it can be a challenge to make sure she eats enough solid food, with enough variety. I don’t dive into new recipes quickly, because…well, I rarely do anything that without a lot of contemplation, unless God says, “Do this.” So, I did a lot of research last Saturday, and this week I’ve done some cooking and testing. The goals were to add more protein, iron, and variety.

Vegetables are so beautiful! I think it’s safe to say sweet potatoes are her favorite, with butternut squash a close second.

Teeny-tiny, gluten free, vegan, buckwheat pancakes. She hasn’t tried them, yet. I hope she likes them. They have lots of goodness in them—black strap molasses, apple cider vinegar, and flax.

Marble-sized chicken, quinoa and zucchini meatballs. With just a dab of barbecue sauce, she liked them a lot. This makes me very happy!

WE ALL DREAM OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS
“White Christmas” is now a part of any visit with Lucy.  It started with a snow globe Hannah gave me years ago. I unpacked it with my Christmas decorations, and Lucy not only liked the snow globe action, but the snippet of the song it plays every time you set the snow globe down. She quickly learned that there is a button on the bottom of the snow globe that she can push to hear the song.

The next step into this winter wonderland with Lucy was a little souvenir book, also a gift from Hannah. It’s not a storybook, just a trivia book about the movie, the stars, etc., but everyday this week it has been her favorite book. We make up a story each time, or just sing the songs that match the pictures, and she sings along with us! You know the beginning of the song, the slow and almost ominous “Iiiiiiii’m…”? This is what she sings most. It’s bizarre! And, each time she sees Bing Crosby’s picture, she sings a “B-b-b” sound, which is her trying to copy the sound Doug sings, mimicking Bing’s famous B-b-b-Bing nickname (inspired by his scatting).

The last “White Christmas” story I have to share.  One day last week, I received a text from Hannah: “So, guess what Lucy took off the DVD shelf and brought to me? She was pulling movies off, as per usual, and purposely brought this over….”

She recognized the artwork! Such a funny and sweet girl. I love that she loves this movie, and I certainly don’t mind watching it with her everyday—at least, not yet. Besides, watching her watching it is a lot of fun, too!

Just relaxing in her Poppa’s arms.

She sat up with this song started. She really like this one and the version with Bob and Phil.

No, I don’t let her stand that close to the TV, but sometimes she just needs to get reallyclosetothescreen, and then we move her back. I couldn’t resist taking a picture, though.

LITTLE SNOW BIG COLD
You have no doubt heard about the snow hurricane that hit New England this week. Perhaps, you experienced it firsthand. It gave us all a few days inside, grateful for heat and power and running water. The seacoast was hit very hard. Temps have been painfully low, but I hear it will be in the high 40’s by Friday.

WE KEEP TRYING
About once a week, we try to get a picture of ourselves with Lucy. Here is attempt #39,452. This is the best one from the past two weeks.

HAPPY NEW YEAR
I was thinking today about lessons I learned in 2017, things I will take with me. I’d like to write them down, maybe in my journal, and just meditate on them. I want to make sure I really learn the lessons and remember the important experiences. I failed in some very important areas in 2017, and I am bringing into 2018 some of those failures and personal disappointments. There is a lot of work to be done in me. I want to keep those things before me as I go forward, so that I can keep asking the Holy Spirit to correct me.  I don’t want to arrive in Heaven’s throne room in my present condition, you know what I mean? God has a lot of work to do.

I do, too.

God bless and keep you all! ❤