Thursday, June 16, 2011

Our "Nana"

Yesterday I took Noah and went in to visit my grandma "Nana" and take her to lunch.  My sister in law Glenda met us over there too.  Nana has recently moved into a new assisted living home, and she is getting settled in.  We arrived and visited with her in her room for a bit before going out to lunch.  Noah had brought a little tin lunch pail with his trains inside to play with.  And without hesitation, my Nana got down on the floor to play with him!  Nana will be 98 years young on August 1st.  She has been blessed with good health and longevity!  In fact her entire family has been.  Her big brother, my great Uncle Joe, will be 100 this November!  And their little sister, will be 96 in November!!!  Their parents, my great grandma and grandpa, lived into their late nineties, and I remember them well.  Here is my much loved "Nana" on the floor playing with Noah.  Prepare yourself to smile.


Do you see Noah playing hide n seek back there behind Nana on the floor?  These just  make me smile so much!  Nana LOVES these kids.  She loves babies, and just gets so excited to see her great-great-grand children.  We had a nice visit, and nice lunch at Marie Callender's.
When we got home, the giant shrub removal was complete, and this is what the side of our garage looks like now.
Now we need to decide if we are going to put concrete in, or level it off and do gravel.  Or remove that gate, and put a new one up closer to the front, level with the front of the garage, and park the boat or motor home behind the gate on this concrete pad?  So much to figure out yet.    But I am glad that messy plant is gone.  But I do not like how much it opened up the view to my neighbor's house. 
Good news, my Rhode Island Reds are laying again!  Snacker still is not.  But she is getting healthier every day.  Since we have put the 6 baby hens in the coop, Snacker has stopped going up to her roost at night, and is staying down on the hay underneath the light with the babies.  I asked my go to gal at the feed store why this is, and she says she is "mothering" them!  
Awwww.  I knew she would be the Broody type.  We have some suspicions that Noah's chicken, Ham, might be a Roo.  Noah has insisted since Ham was 1 day old, that SHE was a HE!  When I asked him what he wanted to name his chicken, without skipping a beat he said, "HAM."  I said, "Noah, this is a girl chicken.  Ham?  Really?"  He said, "NOPE, it is a boy...I name him HAM!"  So Ham it is. Some time later, while looking something up that Greg was reading, he excitedly calls me over to read what he has discovered.  He says, "listen to this Bunny, (he calls me Bunny) HAM is son of Noah in the bible!!!"  Can you believe that?  SON of Noah!!!  Noah says his chicken is a boy.  And he names  him HAM?  NOW, we see that Ham is looking quite different than the other girls in the pen.  Ham  has longer tail feathers, and his looking more regal in some way.  And acting sort of as leader of the pack.  If "she" or "HE" starts to cock a doodle doo, we will know.  I said to Greg, "what will we do?  We can't keep a rooster!"  Greg says, "there is NO WAY we are giving Ham away if he is a rooster!  No matter what!  He is Ham.  He is son of Noah.  We are keeping him!!"
I will keep you posted.  Ham is the larger of the babies. The black and white one.  She/or he, is  Light Brahma.  With beautiful feathers on her/his feet, that remind me of ornamental feathered moccasins.  Here are the little "B's" all tucked in for the night in their modified playhouse/coop.
I hung my bunting in my sewing room last night.  Now I am working on my patriotic bunting for the 4th of July.

I love it!  Some of you asked me a couple questions regarding making the bunting.  I used a template that I downloaded and then I enlarged it to the size I wanted.  I drew it out onto card stock, and then cut my flags out using my pinking rotary cutter!  It is by Olfa, and is called Wave Cutter, I believe.  I used double wide bias tape, sold by the pack, for a little over a dollar a pack and it is 3 yards long.  I used three separate pieces of bias tape.  You could use twill tape, or make your own bias tape, or even twine, or cording.  I pinned the flags between the folds of the bias tape, and then sewed it all the way across, spacing the flags a couple inches apart.  I think I got 9 or 10 flags per piece of bias tape.  Oh...after I cut the flags out, I sprayed them liberally with heavy spray starch and ironed them for a nice crisp piece.  This gives them body and makes them much easier to work with too.
For the patriotic flags I am doing now, I am going to make my flag template an inch or so smaller.  This way, I can get more cuts using 1/4 yard pieces.  A quarter yard cut is nine inches.  So I can set my template on it and use nearly every single bit of fabric for the flags, with little waste.
It is RAINING here!  Well, drizzle really.  But wet!  My garden is singing, I can hear it from here!!!
See you soon!

18 comments:

Dawn said...

Nana looks great and sure is flexible for her age. So nice to have so many generations still alive:) It is the same in our family. Hope you don't end up with a rooster, thing could get hairy around there. Glad to hear your garden is doing well.

Bethany said...

I love the smiles on their faces in that one picture. She probably loved that he didn't have some new-fangled techno gadget and went with a good old-fashioned standby :)
Also--I adore the bunting. I need to find a reason to make some. Do you really need a reason though? Probably not...

NanaNor's said...

Hi Kris, What an incredible blessing to have your nana with you still-great genes girl. I never met my grandparents and my own mom died at 61 but my dad lived til 83. I'm hoping I get his longevity. Your grandparents etc must have a very healthy lifestyle-to be so flexible!
Have a great day friend.
Hugs, Noreen

Stacey said...

OMG, your yard looks huge now!! It looks completely different :) And, I can't believe how great Nana looks.. It's amazing the longevity in your family..

How crazy is that about Ham?! It's like it was meant to be for you to have him.. Is it normal that Snacker is still not laying eggs?? Do you know when she might??

Holly said...

I miss the bushes. Silly huh? The bunting looks great hung in your sewing room, you did an amazing job with it. Ham, son of Noah...Priceless!

Unknown said...

96, if only. Great job, life lived well.

Take your time. Look at a few days or weeks before you decide what to do. You never know what might pop into your head.

Thanks for all the bunting directions. Nice tutoria. I think I've got it, now I just have to go and get the stuff.

And yes, just in and they are biting,
Kate

Whosyergurl said...

Kris,
We think we have one "roo," as you call them. Doug told me this a.m. 'round about 6, that if I would go out to the pen I could probably hear him attempt to crow. He is so funny- sounds like he has a cold and is trying to clear his throat. I haven't named him yet. I was wearing my crocs which are my "house-shoes," and I have two widgets in them...a lady bug and a duck body. It is just a duck body because Chelsea ate the head off of the duck. Well, the chickens were pecking away at those widgets. Several of them eat out of my hand.
xo, Cheryl

Nancy said...

It's been fun visiting with you and your bright and cheery blog....I am your newest member....

I can't get over your aunt on the floor playing....that is the best picture I have seen in ages....that's my goal to be just like that...on the floor with future generations playing and having a wonderful time....

Thank you so much for sharing that even as it really touched my heart.......

Sandy said...

Wow! Your family has some good genes to live that long! That is awesome! And I love the Ham story... that is so funny. :)

Linda said...

That's wonderful that you still have your Nana...I miss mine. That area looks really big with the bush gone...can't wait to see what you do! Love the bunting...very British!

Tammy said...

Nana is what we called my great grandma. Love it! Those are amazing/great pictures. Sad to the bushes go, but I think it's looks nice like that too. I was going to ask you if you had one of the chickens with the feathers on their feet. I think they are so cute. We saw some at the farm we went to on Sunday. Love the bunting! So pretty!! That would be something east to start with my sewing machine, right? (I still haven't used it. Eek!!!) That's crazy! Ham is son of Noah! How cool! Smart boy. =P

Genn said...

I thought the same thing about the drizzle this morning... that my garden is growing. :)

Those pictures of Nana with Noah, oh they melt me. Seriously. When can you go out again with me so I can take the girls too?? Maybe we can just pick up mcd's or something and go to her?!

The story about Ham is so funny. I wonder if he's a rooster???

Genn said...

Oh yeah, and the side yard looks good. Looks so big now. I think you should put a gate right across at the end of the garage. That would put space for your motorhome on the concrete. So, wait, does that mean we have to pay for that gate and concrete? :)

Kristi said...

Oh my gosh! That story about Ham cracks me up!! Too funny! Love the pictures of Noah with Nana, simply precious!

Sue Pinner said...

WOW! some good genes there Kris
Love the bunting
Hugs Suz x

DaCraftyLady said...

NaNa looks terrific how lucky that you come for wonderful "Genes" of longitivity.... :) Noah was loving her visit too...

annielizabeth said...

Your Nana is amazing, on the floor even, wow. I hope I get to live long like her and still get down on the floor and get up again! Those will be such cherished pics in the years to come.

Love the bunting and can't wait to see the patriotic one. You've been a busy lady!

Red Geranium Cottage said...

What adorable photos of Nana on the floor playing with Noah. That is the sweetest thing ever.
Love the banner. I'm making some too. So much fun!!!