My new baby

Posted on February 8, 2010
Filed Under me and my brain, nostalgia, the written word | 1 Comment

I’d like to introduce you to my new baby–not THAT baby, not the one mentioned in my previous entry. This baby is new to me, but it’s actually older than I am. And it’s probably a little older than I thought it was when I bought it.

Here’s a 1967 ad for my new baby.

And here’s a picture from the adoption agency:
ADOPTION PHOTO

It works great so far… came with a correction ribbon, the manual, and the case. I suspect that between Rainey and this new (as yet unnamed) baby, I will be spending less time doddering around on facebook and more time writing useful things for myself and other people. Maybe that will even inspire me to write more here. These are all good possible outcomes, I’m thinkin’.

And the number one thing brightening our spirits in these cold months?

Posted on February 8, 2010
Filed Under christmas, das kiddo, family | 1 Comment

Rainey, of course!!

He’s still a long, skinny bundle of snuggly cuteness and charm. His head is pretty big for his age, and I think when people see him in his car seat they see his head first and think he’s really big for his age. He is long and he does have a big head, but he’s very light.

He yells a lot, and in addition to a lot of ah-uhing and gooing and hahing he has made a few other consonant sounds–fa and muh come to mind. He’s eating some solid food now, and with that has come a new understanding of the fact that he has a tongue and that when he sticks it out it’s kind of fun. He’s willingly eaten sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, bananas, pears, rice cereal, and baby oatmeal so far.

He pushes himself up pretty high on his arms and can rotate around from that position, though he’s not yet crawling. Now and then he seems to move backward from that position, but not forward (well, Ez said he saw him make forward progress the other morning, in honor of the Super Bowl, I’m guessing). When he really wants to cover a lot of ground, he rolls.

He got a lot of nice toys and gifts for Christmas. Family and friends were very generous with him. He’s been really into playing with his plastic Playskool blocks lately. They come in a pail, and he likes to remove the lid and dump them out, chew on them, etc. etc. He’s also a fan of his car keys, and he still loves the mobile in his crib (thanks Flemings!).

He’s such a bright shiny charming little guy. We love him to pieces.

Ezra’s Birthday

Posted on February 3, 2010
Filed Under Literary, art, daytripping, dining, music | 4 Comments

Yesterday was Ezra’s extra-fantastic birthday. He took the day off and we (Ez, Rainey, and me) all had such a nice time. We had yummalicious brunch at the S&S–haven’t been there in ages. (I had a boursin omelet and wheat toast, because I know you’re wondering!) There were at least four babies there besides Rainey, and overall it was pretty busy. It gave me a cozy feeling to see that they’re still packin’ ‘em in after 90 years. A woman sat down next to us and ordered borscht and chopped liver.

Then we hopped in the car. Well, we shimmied into the car. The S&S parking lot is a bit snug–all side mirrors had to be tucked in. We headed northward and did a little light birthday shopping in Kittery. Ez got a sweater, a cute hat, and funky shoes; Rainey got a few goodies, including a Steelers shirt for next season; and I even found something.

A trip northward is never complete without a stop in Portsmouth. Some years back–I think it was 2007–we wandered into Nahcotta Gallery on one such stop in Portsmouth and found ourselves surrounded by lots of the most wonderful little pieces of artwork. We had stumbled upon the very first Enormous Tiny Art Show. We wandered the pieces for a long time–probably more than an hour–and picked a piece or two that we hoped to buy. Alas, we were very much novices at the whole art buying thing, and all the pieces that interested us were already sold. The Enormous Tiny Art Show has become a biannual event at Nahcotta, and it’s even expanded to their sister gallery, Three Graces, as The Teeny Tiny Art Show. The Enormous Tiny Art Show 7 and The Teeny Tiny Art Show VI open this Friday, February 5th. It so happens that the folks at Nahcotta were busy hanging the art for ETA 7 yesterday, so we got near first pick of all the glorious goods. And, as it was Ezra’s birthday, we couldn’t say no. May I introduce…

Tiny Village
8×8
Gouache on panel
Laura Berger

and…

Her Past was Never Far Behind
4×7
Encaustic and mixed media diptych on panel
Beth Billups

Happiness!

Our trip to Portsmouth also included visits to River Run Books and BullMoose Music. Add American Rust by Philipp Meyer to my to-read list. Musically, I’ve recently been most interested in picking up jazz albums. In the last couple of weeks, those have included Giants Three: Nat Cole, Lester Young, and Buddy Rich (Verve, Recorded in Los Angeles in December 1945, vinyl), RCA Victor Vintage Series: Dizzy Gillespie (Recorded in the 30s and 40s, this collection released in 1966, vinyl), The Amazing Bud Powell (Blue Note, Recorded between 1949 and 1953, vinyl, some tracks feature Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Sonny Rollins), Atmosphere for Lovers and Thieves by Ben Webster (On Black Lion, 1965, vinyl), and Dizzy on the French Riviera (Dizzy Gillespie, Recorded 1962, Verve CD).

Giants 3 Bud Powell ben webster dizzy

(I couldn’t find a good picture of the RCA Victor Dizzy record.)

Actually, I found the first two of those last Sunday at Twisted Village in Cambridge. I wasn’t sure if they were still kicking, but they ARE, thank goodness.

Ezra’s birthday was appropriately rounded off by dinner at The Portsmouth Brewery (where I had delicious smoked tofu and polenta) and caffeine at Breaking New Grounds. It happened to be game night at Breaking New Grounds, so we got in a round of Bananagrams before heading home.

Here’s to another year of Ezra!!

A slice of January

Posted on February 3, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, family, friends, me and my brain | 1 Comment

Most people probably agree that the cold months following Christmas and New Year’s can be a little bit of a letdown. But there are always good little moments. Here are some of mine so far in 2010.

One long weekend I finished up the Santa puzzle my mom gave me for Christmas in 2008. It was a lot of fun… a really good cozy winter activity. I think it looked better put together than it did in the picture on the box.

During our holiday visit to the farm, Ezra’s sister Abby introduced us to Bananagrams. It’s so completely up my alley–a word game, sort of like Scrabble and Boggle put together, but better (well, definitely better than Scrabble anyway). So on that long weekend I mentioned we gave Bananagrams to Amy and Doug for Christmas. Of course, we played several rounds.

Amy’s fabulous creation with the Bananagrams tiles… not a part of the actual game

And, of course, we had to get it for ourselves shortly after that.

I’m still going through my Christmas postcards. I promise to share more about them soon (take that as a “coming attractions” or a warning, as you wish).

And… we’re back!

Posted on January 22, 2010
Filed Under the interweb | 2 Comments

I’m told ze comments are back in action. Sorry for the delay.

Phooey… Blog comments aren’t working

Posted on January 22, 2010
Filed Under the interweb | Leave a Comment

If you’ve tried to comment on my blog lately, your comment probably hasn’t gone through. Something seems to be amiss. We’re working on it!!

Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Mike Capuano

Posted on January 20, 2010
Filed Under me and my brain, politics, rant, the 'hood | Leave a Comment

… in the Democratic primary for the special election to replace Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. Here’s a link to Capuano’s official web site, in case you’re not familiar with him and his positions. He was the mayor of Somerville and we loved him. He’s currently our representative in the U.S. House and I still think he does a great job. He’s got a lot more spunk than Martha Coakley. I’d like to think he’d have beaten Scott Brown, but maybe the outcome of the election would have just been that much more depressing had it been him instead of Coakley. It would have been a much more spirited campaign–I’m sure of that.

On to brighter topics…

And finally… My Collections: Vintage Christmas Ornaments–Miscellaneous

Posted on January 18, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, nostalgia | Leave a Comment

I’ll finish up with some favorite odds and ends.

Red and yellow with flowers
Small red and yellow ornament with flowers

This one looks (to me) like a round grenade.
grenade
grenade bottom

Red with blue dots

Gold with pink dots

Flowers
flowers

Tree
Tree

Silver, Red, and Green
Silver Red and Green

Unsilvered lantern with pink and mica

This one is stamped West Germany.

Blue-green lantern
lantern

Pink and white with mica

Candles
candles

Silver striped lantern

I really love these last two.

Plaid with red and blue
red and blue plaid

Plaid with red and white
red and white plaid

And even more… My Collections: Vintage Christmas ornaments–Flocked and painted words and images

Posted on January 18, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, nostalgia | Leave a Comment

I found this one at an antique shop in Montreal.
Merry Xmas green

I have a larger one very similar to this but in worse condition.
Merry Christmas

Joyous Christmas
joyous

Silent Night

Merry Christmas

Santa on skis

Merry Christmas w/holly

Red Merry Christmas

Santa and stars

Now Dasher!

Song of the Day

The Essex Green-Sorry River

Photos

My Photos on Flickr

The Knitting Turnip

On My Needles

Rhapsody in Tweed cabled pullover for Ezra! using Tahki Donegal Tweed in Forest, from Fall 2004 Interweave Knits. I've just picked this one up again, so it's moving up in the queue!

Sweater with Cable Patterns pullover using Araucania Nature Wool Chunky in Mauve, from Rebecca Magazine Number 28

Heather Pullover using Classic Elite Wings in Larkspur, from Rowan’s A Season’s Tale... This needs the knit doctor. I'm going to have to frog back a little bit and redo the shoulder area. Long story.

Hush Pullover using Jo Sharp DK wool in Wine, from Rowan’s Calmer Collection

More scoop on my knitting endeavors can be found at my home on Ravelry (clicky here).

the shy turnip

My new baby

And the number one thing brightening our spirits in these cold months?

Ezra’s Birthday

A slice of January

And… we’re back!

Phooey… Blog comments aren’t working

Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Mike Capuano

And finally… My Collections: Vintage Christmas Ornaments–Miscellaneous

And even more… My Collections: Vintage Christmas ornaments–Flocked and painted words and images

Song of the Day

Photos

The Knitting Turnip

On My Needles

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