Birthdays

Cousin Karin's Sunday bouquet

 Monday morning I woke up and began singing Happy Birthday to myself. Then I said, "Let's go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast." This is rather uncharacteristic, my behavior, my idea. But we went!

I wrote a birthday post based on one of my father's messages.

It was a good day filled with many good wishes. The finale was when we went to Stephan and Karen's for Monday Night Dinner. As we arrived they were singing "76 Trombones." The special plate awaited me. Stephan served a delicious meal and Karen a delectable Crème Brûlée for dessert.

Michael unfortunately had to deal with a broken phone. Off and on throughout the week he's been working on making ear savers and filling several orders. 

A 3,500 order to ship to Chicago

Our lovely neighbors came over for some honey, and a few rides on the zip line.

Did you know that May 20 was World Bee Day? A friend sent me the link to a coloring contest.

My bones, at least in my ankle, are healing well. However, I had to have two teeth extracted, and now have these little temporary ones for four to six months while the post and bone grafting heal. I'm not thrilled but other scenarios are far worse than mine.

Our lovely daughter got some test results this week that lead to a long journey ahead. She is coping with the symptoms as best she knows, and facing each step forward with as much courage as possible.

Michael has enjoyed the Saturday bike rides with a small group out of Muncie. This week they rode close to 90 miles. However, he took a tumble and may have a broken rib.

I ventured out to the store and met Skye and Destiny, getting salad fixin's for their contribution to our family get together Sunday.

What a lovely pasta salad. Thanks, Destiny!

Kalani was introduced to everyone. He is two months old now.

Skye's cute little family

Steph n' Karen 

Nana Leah

Sam n' boys

Oh, but one is missing. Where is he?

Aha! Elijah found a Ruby! 

Oh, my, I am missing pics of a few family members. I do believe, however, that I got to talk with each one. That is my goal and what I treasure in my heart.

I may have captured some of the others in the video of them singing the crazy Koch birthday song.

 Actually they were singing for all the birthdays we missed in March as well as Michael's only two days away. Sorry, no photo of the other cake.

Plodding on . . .

Another beautiful Sunday bouquet from cousin Karin! I hope and pray these will soon adorn her church as before.

Lovely candlelight enhanced our Monday night dinner as well as a good group of friends.

I tackled one the many unfinished projects this week and completed the five scrap yarn hot pads (or whatever they are). They were started so long ago. I wish I could remember the pattern.

Now that I am getting around and can drive again (the boot on the left foot does not interfere), I was able to take Leah to her appointment, spend some time together, and get to see Kalani baby and Daddy Skye (still wearing the beanie I knit for him years ago)! 

The next day Leah had both her grands in the house while Kayla was having her wisdom teeth out. This is my favorite great grands pic of the week.

Michael is out and about most of the time, working alone at the shop cutting "ear savers", running errands or riding his bike. Here I caught him looking after his bees. 

Oh, he still likes to do a lot of the cooking, but is very happy that I am able to do the clean up now. He made cheese again and then used the whey in making soup and bread.

The round of doctor visits started up again. Michael had a necessary skin care appointment and I went to my eye doctor. 

On the way I stopped to see Diane. The stay-at-home order is getting her down, she's eager to get out. While I was there we were able to call and talk to her daughter in Wisconsin and that seemed to cheer her quite a bit.

We are grateful for the extra time we have to spend together and the many interests to keep us occupied. We started watching the series The Chosen and highly recommend it. You can get the app or watch on YouTube.
I have been increasingly focused on family history research in the archives of the Grace Brethren Church. It's been a fascinating project. I was amazed to find information about nine out of the ten Hoyt siblings. To think that from this large family came pastors, missionaries, university professors and administrators. Even through poverty and dysfunction they were highly educated and achieved so much. I know they would give credit to God and say that they were greatly blessed. I would love to know more about my grandmother's part in it through her godly influence.

Visits and Visitors

First, a virtual visit to cousin Karin's flower garden via her Mother's Day bouquet which includes lilies, roses, daisies, irises (lavender and peach), and more.

Next a trek up the lane to the mailbox and a view of the spring greening and profusion of yellow flowers. Yes, I am walking!

A neighbor down the road brought the wrongly-delivered box of Misfits. He remembered me from 12 years ago when we taught at the same school.

I'm able to drive again, so on my way to the orthopedic center, I stopped to see what Michael was up to at the shop in Matthews where he spends most of his time. There were tables set up with kits to be assembled. On the first meeting of robotics students five showed up and assembled 150 face shields. Later that day he delivered, to the Anderson team mentor, boxes of shields and kits to be assembled and shipped. Now he is cutting hundreds, even thousands, of ear savers, i.e. surgical mask tension relief bands. 

While I was there, the local paper was delivered with an article our friend wrote about the work we've been involved in.

Oh, and about the appointment: my ankle is healing but not there yet, so I must continue to keep it fully supported with the boot (always outdoors), and/or a brace (indoors).

I'm so grateful for online views into the homes of our loved ones. Here are a couple favorite sights of baby Kalani.

Aww! That's his blankie!

He's so alert, when he's awake.

Kayla was kind to send me a photo of Daddy Skye, now in his third week of work at Ivanhoe's.

Saturday, I found out that there was going to be a Zoom meeting for those who had served on the ship Doulos from '83-'85. Our family joined in '78 and left mid '83, so there were not as many that I remembered, but a few very good friends were there. It was an especially inspiring meeting with 60 plus people participating (three Zoom-pages worth of screens) from all over the world and lasted over three hours. Each person had one minute to share their stories. Wow!

Almost immediately after it was over and Michael was back from working at the shop, we had a very special pre-Mother's Day visit. How wonderful to see our dear ones face to face. They brought much cheer, and lovely gifts (the plant to the right) and sweet words voiced and written in a card.

Sunday brought more surprise visitors! We are so blessed to have our children living in the area. 

Each one expressed their love on Mother's Day.

Now that the ice carving business is non-existent, Stephan started working this week at Fuller Architectural Hardwoods only three minutes from his home in Daleville.

The last visitor of the week was Harvey the groundhog. He races around our deck almost every day. To my surprise, this time he actually paused and stared at me for a minute or two before sauntering off.

Any surprises in your neck of the woods?

Life goes on . . .

Yet another Sunday bouquet from cousin Karin--roses and two kinds of irises.

My delightful Monday visitors--Kayla and Rebecca and . . . (don't know the name of her little companion).

They planned to explore the woods and have lunch at the picnic table.

Other types of visits followed every day of the week: phone calls from near and far; a WhatsApp hour-long conversation with a friend/cousin in New Zealand; a couple Zoom meetings. These all break the monotony of enforced isolation. 

Sitting most of the day, has led me to learn how to better use my laptop computer. I resumed the search for information about my parents and other relatives in the digital archives of the denominational magazine. At least seven members of my father's family were involved in various ministries within the Grace Brethren Church. I discovered so many interesting tidbits in the 1946 volume, that I decided to summarize my gleanings and share them with the Hoyt Cousins. While still learning how to navigate these online resources, I am also grateful for the progress.

Meanwhile, Michael, my saintly husband, (this week an old friend of mine called him a saint) has not slowed down at all even with the additional load of household chores. 

When he ran out of materials for the tension relief bands, he began cutting plastic shields and putting together kits for PhyXTGear volunteers to assemble in their homes. Another team unrolls and cuts the enormous 1000 lb. roll of plastic that was donated. Michael then laser-cuts the workable-size sheets following a standard pattern for shields. He can prepare up to 50 kits per hour.  Most of that time he spends on his feet.

Some days after hours of work at the shop, he still goes out for a 20-mile bicycle ride. Saturday, he joined seven other riders for his first long ride of the season, 85 miles! The weather was beautiful, the governor had lifted the stay-at-home order, and many were out enjoying the Greenway.

St. Michael's culinary exploits continue. This week's winner was a round of cheese. When I asked what inspired him, he said he'd been thinking and reading about it for over a year! The experience proved to be far easier than he anticipated, and tasty too!

I was reminded of how he got into beekeeping. First he read and studied about them for over a year, then he jumped into the business. 

Last weekend, he purchased two packages of bees to replace the ones lost over the winter. Installing and feeding them is an added chore.

We rolled over into a new month. When I turned the calendar page to May, there were sweet reminders of Mom's last Mother's Day on earth, and Rebecca's visit to her great great grandmother.

Saturday marked the third week since the misstep that changed my routines drastically. Yet here I am dressed and ready for a new day, and all by myself!  I'm beginning to get around better, finding ways to help with a few tasks, and gradually putting more weight on the left foot. 

We are so grateful for livestream resources from our church--Bible studies, a couple Touch Point segments per week to keep us informed and connected, and especially the Sunday morning worship service. The first Sunday of the month we celebrate communion. We were prepared here at home with a version of the bread and the cup. Though meaningful, it is not quite the same without our church family.

Speaking of bread, Stephan baked a bunch for Saturday morning sale in their kiosk at the top of the lane. It was gone before noon.

The stay-at-home order and no ice sculpture deadlines, allowed Stephan to tackle a list of big projects--clean and paint the barn, build a three-point carry-all, among others. 

I will close with a poetic quote I came across in the archives from my scholarly uncle, Dr. Herman A. Hoyt:

The clouds may come and the clouds may go,

And the winds of life may breathe and blow,

But the value of a human soul never changes.