I Saw A Baby Born!

Little Jennifer Jean entered the world and I got to be there.  It is the first time I had seen (as opposed to participating) the complete birthing process.  What a privilege given to me by Norma and Mike.  I arrived at the hospital about 6:00 AM and Jenny was born about 2:50 PM.  Her Mommy labored hard and her Daddy was a great coach.  I was cheerleader and photographer.    I almost got to see her big brother Mark born but he was in distress and the birth was by C-section.

 ….as I watched…I felt tears running down my face…I hadn’t felt like crying but it was such a momentous event ….

As the little one was pushed out, I thought, who is to say if birthing or dying is more painful to the individual.  Little Jenny emerged, the cord was cut, and she met Mommy and Daddy crying.  After a move to the warming crib, a wipe down, a syringe in mouth and nose, she was weighed, measured, diapered, topped with a hat,  foot printed, and swaddled.  From then on for the next hour she was wide awake and looking at her world.

Addendum to Canning

Today I went to finish recycling the cans.  I thought I’d load the pickup and haul it to recycler…instead I found the weekend brought lots of new “goodies”.   Lots of bags with glass bottles and they all have to be opened and the glass removed.  Then lots of water bottles, Gatorade, crangrape etc added which also have to be sorted out.

An older woman  (that means older than me) came as I had bags pulled out and she put a smallish bag in and just about tripped.  I thanked her for donating…she quickly climbed in her car and left.  When I got to her sack inside were two of the biggest plastic vodka bottles I’ve ever seen!  Watch little old ladies!!  It was also windy so I did the parking lot can dance trying to capture a runaway liquor bottle and a plastic bag!

And so two pickup loads to the recycler later (and a cockroach, and maggots, and mold) I finished.  So far I haven’t found the perfect season to can.  Winter -  it is cold and windy, and spring brought rain and wind…I still have summer and fall to experience. 

Life is an adventure!

Diapers from T-shirts!

My oh my ……diapers from T-shirts?….but of course!  Dare I say I got a new sewing machine so I could zigzag the edges?  And also a pinking shears?  My old machine has a date of 1950+ on it….an old Singer that is sturdy…no plastic and I can hem jeans and plow right over the flat felled seams with no problem. Alas it didn’t zig-zag.

 Sew and Do at church involves making quilts for Lutheran World Relief, making health kits, baby kits, and school kits.

Since cloth diapers are so expensive and getting harder to find, someone creative has figured out a way to sew a diaper from the bottom 2/3 of T-shirt or using flannel and a strip from a mattress pad!  See the picture for how colorful the diapers can be.   The baby kits also need 2 blankets, so I’ve crocheted and knit a couple.

So far at Sew and Do day I’ve been sewing straight seams on the edges of the quilts that the group makes.  The group works assembly-line style.  The tops, backing, and sometimes the filler (if it is not fiberfill)  are all pressed.  Next the layers are measured and stacked and then pin-basted.  Next someone sews almost all the way around, turns it right side out, presses, and then sew all around on the right side.   Next a couple people tie the quilt with embroidery floss and it is finished. This year the group completed 71 quilts.

T-shirt diapers and baby blankets

71 quilts, plus health and school kits boxed and ready to ship

Recycling Continues!

 At the end of March, Megan and Marinus came to visit and then “offered” to help me "can".  6 year old Marinus loaded beer bottles nonchalantly but caused me to need a picture!

This week as I sacked cans….someone or ones had put in recyclable plastic….but unfortunately no nickel attached so that had to come home with me.  The next day I called to get permission from the recycling center only to find out they are full up…and I need to wait 2 or 3 days.  And this time Bush Light is ahead!

Marinus Loading the Pickup