Haiku source:   haikuworld, April 2006 Kukai

We always look forward to our visits to Utah:  a year is not complete without eating far too many raspberry-butter dinner rolls and sweet corn at Maddox, and it’s comforting to know that the sun still shines somewhere, even if its existence is in question around the Pacific Northwest.  But better still, the Things get to see the grandGimlets and play with their cousins.

The week started off with a drive south to Provo to see a new Pride and Prejudice musical.  This year we’ve been lucky enough to see three different Jane Austen stage plays:  Sense and Sensibility at the Meydenbauer Center (so-so), Persuasion at Book-It (excellent!), and now Pride and Prejudice at BYU.  Unfortunately we saw each play near the end of its run, so there wasn’t time to publish a useful review.  As for Pride and Prejudice, the cast gave it their all and had great singing voices.  Fans of the book (and especially fans of the 1995 miniseries) would enjoy the characterizations.  It’s understood that many scenes must be cut in the interest of time, but this adaptation managed to portray or mention quite a few favorites — plenty to please fans and enough of the story was left for newcomers to follow.  If the musical visits any other community theaters around Utah, it’s worth considering for a nice evening out.

We also made a day trip to a neighboring valley to visit the home in which my grandfather grew up.  We called ahead to make sure we would be able to see inside the house, and learned that it’s open for tours most Saturdays during the summer months from 11-3.  The town is small (population about 650) and a sign on the street corner ensures that out-of-towners can easily find the house.  It was built by my great-grandparents around 1872, and modeled after the but-and-ben cottage in Thurso, Scotland in which my great-grandfather had lived before emigrating to the USA.  As the family expanded in size to eventually include ten children, the house grew as well.  Thick stone walls still keep the rooms nearly as cool as air conditioning in the summer, and massive cottonwoods provide shade in the garden.

The house and its furnishings are an excellent example of what life would have been like in Utah in the late 1800s.  Quilts and other handiwork, all made by my great-grandmother and her daughters, are displayed in every room.  The family photos and other treasured mementos were delightful to see.

A baby cradle is in the front bedroom:  my great-grandmother would rock the cradle with her foot while reading or doing handiwork.  After ten children, a small groove has been worn in the cradle’s edge.  The Things liked the upstairs sleeping porches; one year as the house was being prepared for summer tours, a baby raccoon was discovered sleeping in a crib on the sleeping porch!  The Things also enjoyed their special “cousins only” tour of the cellar.

This photo of my grandfather was taken around 1914 while he was an LDS missionary in Scotland.  (He’s the rather large gentleman in the center; click on the picture for a closer look.)  We had a wonderful visit with John, my second cousin who conducted the house tour, and soon realized that we both needed to bring members of the previous generation with us next time.

Before the windows were replaced and before our summer vacation, the Gimlet spent about an hour making some changes to the laundry room door and the basement door.  What could those changes be?  Can it be possible?  Yes!  Team Gimlet is preparing (some more enthusiastically than others) to welcome two Ragdoll kittens to our family!

After deciding that the Ragdoll breed’s handsome appearance and mellow temperament would be a good fit for us, we found Cashmere Rags, a small cattery near Snohomish.  When we visited, we were won over by the incredibly clean facilities, owner Lorna’s friendly and professional approach, and (of course) the cats and kittens we met.  As one litter had just been born and another was due soon after our visit, we made plans to return six weeks later and choose our kittens:

This male kitten is a seal mitt, which means that his markings are similar to a Siamese Seal Point, plus he has a white front, chin, and paws.  He was a little shy at first, but was curious about us and began to play with the Things in no time.  He comes from the older litter and his parents are Gus and Truffles.

The Gimlet was the first to notice this kitten’s stunning deep blue eyes.  (Like Siamese, Ragdoll eyes stay blue.)  Although he’s younger than the seal mitt, this seal point already has beautiful markings.  His parents are Stetson and Emma Rose.  Emma bestowed her maternal endorsement upon The Gimlet, first by sticking her face in his shoes, then enthusiastically rubbing his feet.  Apparently his toes are catnip-scented.

The kittens will be grown up enough to join our home in mid to late September.  Meanwhile, we get our kitty fix by looking at the photos on Cashmere Rags’ kitten page, and if that’s not enough, Cashmere Rags’ photographer Chris has his own gallery.  To learn more about the Ragdoll breed, visit Ragdoll Fanciers Club International, Ragdoll International, or Ragdoll Fanciers Worldwide.

It wasn’t a small project (or an inexpensive one) to replace the front door and all the original aluminum frame windows, but since we hired a highly recommended company to do the work for us, and the crew finished the job and hauled away the debris in two days, it feels easy.  DIY has its advantages, but these windows had some tricky problems which we weren’t sure we’d be able to manage, and we knew we wouldn’t have the time to finish the job before winter.

We’ve been thinking about replacing the windows ever since we moved into the house, but it didn’t become a high priority until two of the more brittle windows cracked this spring.  The project is proving its value already. We chose a new door with a row of windows across the top to let light into the once-dark entry.  The new windows look great, and with wider openings and screens, we’ll be able to cool down the house in warm weather and keep out insects.  Outside noises are more muted than before and our furnace hasn’t been turning on as much as it used to (it may be August, but there haven’t been many hot days this summer).  The frames have only been primered, so we hope September’s weather will cooperate and allow us to paint the house.

The Gimlet’s report from this year’s week at Scout Camp. See the entire photo album in the Gimlet Gallery.

Hello Mudder, Hello Fadder, here I am at Camp Pigott. So it doesn’t rhyme. It didn’t rain and we had fun.

Early Monday morning we met at the church. As Scoutmaster I have to make sure the boys who are going to camp have their physical forms. One boy didn’t and his father had to drive him home to get it. When the Assistant Scoutmaster showed up he had the physical. Ooops! After we got that taken care of we drove to camp. We had to take our gear to our campsite, change into swimsuits, and then wait in line for the physical re-check. After the re-check, we were in line again for the swim test. Then we had lunch. The boys did not know what to think when the staff began singing the “Announcement song.” The “Announcement Song” began the same way each meal, but a new section was added for each subsequent meal.

After lunch was a frenzy of merit badge sign ups and then immediately the boys took off to their first three hours of classes. Then dinner and after dinner the last class. We had the opening campfire after the last class. The boys complained that the day was really long.

On Tuesday the normal class schedule began and the boys seemed to enjoy themselves. | … continue reading Announcements, announcements, ann-OOOUUUNCE-ments …

The band sampler (Heirloom Birth Sampler chart by Victoria Sampler) is finished, and in a little more than one month! The date is still blank; that won’t be set for another month or two, but everything else is done.

Here are some before and after photos of the Hardanger band. Just in case I completely messed up cutting the linen I wanted to document that at one time the sampler looked pretty. But that part of the process went well, so instead it’s interesting to see the difference that the drawn and pulled stitches make to the design.

As a Hardanger newbie, I wanted all the help I could get. Hardanger Basics and Beyond by Janice Love was the book I relied on most of all to make sure I stitched my kloster blocks (groups of satin stitches) in the proper order, cut the threads just right, and weave or wrap the remaining linen threads. The book is full of diagrams and clearly-written, detailed instructions. Best of all, there are plenty of left-handed directions! As the title suggests, basic Hardanger elements (kloster blocks, wrapped and woven bars, dove’s eyes, square filets, etc.) and motifs (tulip/ship and star) are introduced and explained. Projects are small: sachet-type pillows and bags.

I also highly recommend Victoria Sampler’s Beyond Cross Stitch series of small learning samplers — the samplers are grouped into six levels of ten projects each and each sampler teaches one or two new stitches. The diagrams and directions are excellent. Extra hints are included for each level of stitches (ribbon embroidery, pulled thread, Hardanger) and those are very helpful, too. (As I do most of my stitching after the Things have been put to bed, the advice to avoid cutting when tired was timely). Both the VS kits and Janice Love’s book were confidence builders for learning this type of embroidery. I found that the stitches weren’t particularly complicated; following the directions slowly and carefully yielded the best results.

Look for photos of the entire sampler in the fall once the date’s in place and the sampler has been framed.

Aside: the finished sampler will be mounted over a colored mat board so the Hardanger embroidery will match the ribbons and lettering. To take these pictures, I recalled the advice of my favorite Jane Austen hero (and his equally admirable sister) that muslin (or in this case, silk) always turns to some account or other … thus my ball gown becomes a fine backdrop to show off embroidery projects.

Sunday night The Gimlet and Thing One were packing for scout camp. Thing Two found his mini sleeping bag and a hat, added them to the pile of gear, and announced, “Thing Two can go to scout camp, too!”

Oh, dear.

So the mini tent and sleeping bag have been assembled in the family room for “Mommy and Thing Two camp” and I’m trying to think of some fun activities for the week.

Later Monday evening we were watching the dinnertime rush around the bird feeders at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. The goldfinches and the chickadees constantly compete for the feeder perches, with the occasional hummingbird entering the fray. The birds were swooping and diving in every direction, and finally one little chickadee hit the window. The acrobatics didn’t even slow down so it must not have been hurt (and it didn’t sound like it hit that hard), but Thing Two composed the following story in honor of the occasion:

The Crying Chickadee, by Thing Two

The chickadee flew into the window. He was sad. He was crying. The chickadee’s mommy gave him a hug.

(Repeat several times until bed time.)

It’s not quite Gilbert and Sullivan, but still quite affecting under the circumstances. But more significant is that Thing Two may have found an artistic outlet for his disappointment over scout camp.

Wherein The Gimlet takes his Scout troop river rafting, and all return home safely! See more photos from the trip in the Gimlet Gallery, and look for the report from Scout Camp in mid-July.

Friday, June 20, 2008, we set off for Cashmere outside of Wenatchee to go rafting. We arrived at the home of the grandparents of one of the adult leaders. They had the three professional rafts and we camped on their large, park-like, yard. The first night we cooked hamburgers and hot dogs over an open fire. The Gimlet’s ginormous tent housed all the boys (about 14 of them) with room to spare. The adults slept in two other tents.

After a pancake breakfast Saturday morning we were off to the river. We were guided by able guides who volunteered from the local church unit. (The guides had 15 and 20 years of experience.) The section of the Wenatchee river we rode is a Class III river. The ride was great; Drunkard’s Droop, Snow Blind and Suffocator were particularly exciting for our group. Snow Blind knocked the entire group of paddlers, except for Thing One, into the bottom of the boat. The guide had to do a 180 degree turn after Snow Blind to keep us from going through Suffocator backwards. Excitement! Only one paddle lost, and we recovered it in the calm water after the rapids.

After the river trip, the boys enjoyed the hot tub back at the host’s home, and then we packed up and drove back to the city. The new SUV got nearly 25 mpg! Not bad since the first part of the trip was in Seattle’s Friday evening traffic.

The local strawberries are finally in season, and they are tender, sweet, and so delicious! The season is later than usual due to our chilly spring, and according to the farmers at the fruit stand, the strawberries will last through mid-July.  We’re lucky enough to live within walking distance of a pair of fruit stands, and in addition to the Hood, Puget Summer, and Totem strawberries, have been indulging in fresh Rainier cherries, and the free samples of plums, nectarines, and melons.

We made enough freezer jam to last the year and have been enjoying the rest on shortcake and homemade strawberry milkshakes. If you’re feeling ambitious, this melt-in-the-mouth white chocolate strawberry bagatelle will make good use of the berries and is well worth the effort, but if you can’t wait that long, try our favorite snack: fresh berries dipped in sour cream, then rolled in brown sugar.

Grandmas always have the best ideas for entertaining bored kids: the Niña’s weekend visit to the Center for Wooden Boats was a perfect way to spend a sunny morning.

The original Niña, Christopher Columbus’ favorite ship, disappears from records around 1501. A historically correct replica of this 15th century caravel was built in Valenca, Brazil using hand tools and period-correct design and construction techniques. The new Niña was completed in 1991, appeared in the film 1492, and now visits ports around the USA and Canada as a ’sailing museum.’ She visits Seattle from 18-23 June; other local stops include Tacoma, WA and Victoria and Port Alberni in British Columbia before sailing to California.

We were all surprised at how small the Niña is: just short of 94 feet overall with a deck length of 66 feet and beam measuring 17 feet. The replica houses a seven-person crew, but in Columbus’ day there would have been about two dozen or more men on board, plus the animals stored in the hold. Thing Two was intrigued by the ship’s rudder and tiller and the large opening in which they were placed; Monkey almost fell into Lake Union when his keeper tried to give him a closer look. (Unfortunately the photo of this event is too blurred to share; your humble narrator chose to lunge for Monkey instead of keeping still. We need a faster camera, and perhaps I should make a tiny life jacket for Monkey as well.)

The Virginia V, a classic steam ship from the Mosquito Fleet, was also open for tours. Thing One preferred the Virginia V to the Niña, especially the steam engine room. At the entrance to the Center for Wooden Boats a local artisan was busy creating a canoe from an immense cedar log.

Our morning ended on a sad note when Thing Two made it clear that he had expected to do more than simply tour a ship. Deeply disappointed that we didn’t actually sail on the water, he sobbed softly all the way home. He may be living up to his namesake: a great-great grandfather who is reported to have boarded a sailing ship at age 14, served in the Danish navy, and had many seafaring adventures in the process. Poor little Thing Two, would-be powder monkey; you’re too young to break your mother’s heart and run off to sea just yet.

Exploring Further:

• Gimlet Gallery album of our visit to the Niña. Includes more information about the ship and plaques describing the captain’s quarters, the ship’s boat, and the hold.
• Niña’s official web site: history of the original and replica ships, photos, tour schedule, and more.
• More about caravels