Mr. MacRobie

I got the pattern for this tea cozy at The Attic, a fabric shop in Gualala. I knitted it up for Stephanie (in a variation of her favorite color) and added the ladybug decoration by sewing a snap closure to it. By the way, I got the yarn at a shop in Lake Oswego where Kristin buys her knitting and crocheting supplies.

I made it to fit a teapot that Stephanie and I each bought in New Zealand in 1998. We got the teapots at Mr. MacRobie's shop in Blenheim. It was a wonderful little shop with bits of everything from small appliances to buttons. Once I wandered around in it behind a lady who kept talking to her husband, saying things like:

"Morris, what do you think of this? Do we need this, Morris?

Oh, Morris, look here. Morris, should we get one of these, Morris?"

It occurred to me that Morris might be wishing he could change his name.

When Bern and I were in New Zealand in 2001, we went looking for MacRobie's shop, but couldn't find it. We stopped for a cup of tea at a place nearby and asked the server what had become of it. She said very kindly, "Oh, yes, dear, old Mr. MacRobie. He died this past year and his shop is shut now. We miss him very much. Such a shame."

I am very pleased to say that I never failed to buy something from dear, old Mr. MacRobie whenever I was in Blenheim. His inventory was fascinating, high-quality and useful. I wish there were more places like his around these days.

Well, well...

Yesterday my mother's doctor told her that, in his experience, patients who pray and believe in God get better faster and stay well longer than his non-believing patients.

Sunset sky at Andra and Michael Harris's wedding

The words of my Great-Great-Grandfather Cross

My maternal grandmother was born May 17, 1904 somewhere in Kansas. Her name was Theo Nettie Jane Smith, but her mother's maiden name was Nora Cross. Nora Cross married Julius Smith and bore him two sons, Roy and Pete, and three daughters, Theo (my grandmother), Nora, Alberta and Pearl.

When my Grandma Theo was nine years old, her mother died, leaving Theo to step in as the homemaker and mother to her little sisters. The family lived on a Kansas farm and her dad and brothers had all they could do to work the crops and care for the animals. Theo was in charge of the house and farmyard with its chickens and pigs. She learned to cook for a big hungry family everyday, as well as wash all the clothes and clean the house.

I have heard this story many, many times and always felt so sad for my grandma. She had to bear with the grief of losing her mother and then, suddenly, had to take on her mother's household responsibilities.

Not many of my grandmother's belonging survive from those early days, but we do have a letter that her Grandpa Cross sent to her sometime after her mother's death. He obviously loved Theo and wanted to encourage her. I want to share his words, just as he wrote them, because I find them very touching. He must have been pretty elderly or ill because he didn't expect to live long after the letter was written. His handwriting is beautiful script that varies in size as he covers the page. He writes all the way to bottom and finishes with a couple of broken phrases that float on the page in a meditative, brooding way. For what they are worth, here are my great-great-grandfather Cross's words:

"Darling,
As this may be my last [letter] to you I am going to send you this little boot of purer gold than the other. It's this
When you wake up in the morning, just think, Lord, I am one of your creatures. I am yours, You made me. I am yours. You know all about me thousands times more than I know about myself. You know my faults, failings, weaknesses and sins. Please do the best you can with what there is of me to do with today, and make as much of me as there is to make with to please you . And help me to improve myself.


Then at night, think Lord I am ashamed of myself that I did so little to improve myself, but you know all about our weaknesses. I thank you for mercy forgiveness and grace. Forgive my sins and love me still. I know you do. Oh I am so thankfull.


Now you need not use these words sometimes others will be better. sometimes you will want advise. Ask for it then do the best you can think, he will lead your thinking but if you get a wrong understanding and do the wrong thing, he will take charge of the results.

It may take you a long time to understand him, but he understands you!

And you may be sure he loves you more than I do. that's lots, heaps, tons, and bushels and he will be proud of what he can make of you.

Of course I know that soon he will open your eyes to his teachings. then you can read his saying and acts understandingly. little by little, step at a time, until you won't read the Bible as smart people do but as he wants you. But you lean on him, he understands the bible as he understands you.

Your "dearest"
Grandpa

Of course I know that you will forget morning after morning, night after night but if you keep trying it will become easy in time.

Then something else will come. A change, you will hardly notice it or it may be sudden that depends.

_______________________________________________________

Theo went on to marry young and have seven children of her own. She and my Grandfather, Jacob Ennes Thiessen, moved to California during the dustbowl days when their farm blew out from under them in Kansas. They were strong people who lived for their family and enjoyed them tremendously.

Grandma must have cherished this letter from her grandfather because it was among her belongings when she died. She had lived up to his hopes for her as she and Grandpa Jake headed a family of scores of people who still walk in faith to this day.

Portland , April 2-6

Home to Me

The Last Homely House

"That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, 'A perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all'. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear and sadness."

From "The Fellowship of the Ring", J. R. R. Tolkien

Goings on in the Garden

This spiderweb actually appeared last spring. I saw it through the window and went out to take a closer look. The spider was resting in the center of the web as the morning sun warmed her spinneret-work. It was anchored to the tree limb above and the grass below, a span of about 10 feet! I was amazed at the engineering feat of this tiny creature.

Abby loves to chase the birds that flit around the bird feeder I put up. Last year that drove them all away, but this year there are so many of them that she can't keep up. She has taken to lying on the grass and pretending they are not there, except for the lovely mourning doves that boldly land on the ground a few feet from her nose. She can't excuse that behavior so she always jumps to her feet and dashes after them. They fly up with that peculiar whistling sound that comes from their wings.

The good thing about a little dog in the garden is that she makes life miserable for the neighborhood cats that prey upon the songbirds. The most nasty, stealthy cat can't stand against Abby, the birds' noisy little champion. Once the cat has leapt over the fence she does a complete patrol of the perimeter to make sure there are no more of them lurking.

Sea Dance

1 Min. 7 Secs. of dolphin enchantment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMCf7SNUb-Q

Dolphins know how to blow underwater bubbles and then turn them into toys. I saw it on the news tonight.