Visitors and Visits

Our most constant and numerous visitors are the hummingbirds. Michael fills their sugar water feeder daily! It is very difficult to photograph the half a dozen or so flitting about at one time. Perhaps you can see a couple in this pic.

Sunday, somewhat tired, we decided to take one of our gift cards and eat out. We enjoyed the nearby Brittish cuisine at Payne's Restaurant. The more recent Garfield statue there reminded me of the years when Elijah and I followed the Grant County Garfield tour on his January birthday trip. 

Mid afternoon, Stephan called and invited us to join them at Ivanhoe's. We never pass up an opportunity to be with our kids! 

Nor can we pass up Ivanhoe's strawberry shortcake!

The funny thing was that we were scheduled to meet with our home group for ice cream that evening at the newly remodeled Cammack Station! We definitely exceeded our calorie intake that day!

Between these outings we were still preparing to welcome guests. The "Ship Room" was rather empty after Moriah moved out so Michael purchased a couple pieces of furniture and spent hours assembling them. 

Three arrived Monday mid afternoon. A kind friend of the Eichers drove them all the way from Chicago and then immediately turned around and headed back home.

Joanna Vasudevan, Enoch and Asha Eicher

The Eicher siblings are Andi Eicher's children and grandchildren of our dear friends, Ray and Christa, and now fourth generation Taylor alums. Asha and her friend Joanna are returning juniors. It is Enoch's first year and first time in America.

They caught on rather quickly to Splendor, our favorite game, and it became a nightly ritual with Enoch.

The girls could move into their dorm earlier because of roles and responsibilities on campus. They were happy to have Enoch along to haul their luggage.

Enoch offered to cook for us. He came prepared with all the necessary Indian spices. So we were introduced to pav bhaji, a spicy vegetable mash that you scoop up with rolls fried in butter. 

Thursday we were invited to dinner with the Pawley family. They are on furlough from Cambodia. The two older boys are entering Taylor University, their dad Eric's alma mater. Joe, the oldest has been on the robotics team. MeeSun prepared food from her homeland, Korea. They will be leaving two sons behind, and Tom the youngest will be on his own. Who do you think is feeling the separation the most?

Friday evening was the popular House Hunters, a very well organized event where the women of the church travel in groups to homes on their assigned route and have a contest to see and find out certain things at each place. 

The house that stood out for me was where Argentine artifacts were displayed on the walls: a cow hide mate surrounded by pictures of gauchos and a boleadora, a type of throwing weapon used to entangle the legs of cattle or game.

Boleadora

Felix Aguilar VI, the homeowner, comes from a long line of important Argentines. His great great great grandfathers' portrait hangs over the mantel. Two framed documents from 1954 certify that the then president, Juan Domingo Perón, assigned him as Argentine consul in Chicago with jurisdiction over twelve mid western states, and that President Dwight D. Eisenhower recognized him as such.

Saturday I introduced Enoch to two special places. At the Helping Hand store he purchased a couple good jackets for colder weather.

And at Ivanhoe's he had a sandwich and a sundae, and the obligatory photo by Garfield.

Those are the highlights of our week, but not the end of visits and visitors. Come back next week for more.

 

A Very Full Week

Cousin Karin's bouquets from Tennessee continue to delight.

Our garden does not yield such varieties. But on my walks, I notice and enjoy many wild flowers each time, and attempt to read and learn about them. For example, how do I tell the difference between Queen Anne's Lace and Hemlock, its lookalike?  

A lovely Sunday surprise: Stephan called and said they were headed our way to dine out at Payne's and could we join them! 

In addition to the great food and conversation, we were noticing all the timber framing in the addition to the restaurant. Stephan is working on that this week. (See Karen's blog.)

A different kind of surprise awaited Michael Monday morning when he opened the meter base to figure out what had caused the oozing stain. He immediately called the electric company to come out and  unlock the top part. The guy had never seen anything like that. 

Monday night I had a meeting, so Michael sent a photo of the meal Stephan served. Karen did much better than that, she sent home food for me! 

Notice the tomato baby, and the zucchini brownies! They were wonderful. She sent me the recipe, now the pressure is on for me to make some.

Wednesday, Rebecca and I had our usual fun activities and ended with a short walk on the Taylor campus. I am so grateful to have these weekly opportunities to spend time together.

Michael deserves all the focus this week. He's in the middle of several big projects. This week he and Leah painted little climbers on the finished climbing wall. 

Michael spent two days priming the side of the building for a mural to be painted next week.  

Back-breaking work

He also made several trips to Stephan's to begin work on all things electrical.

On the way he always stops to buy sweet corn from Moriah's cousin.

After one long day, he tackled the process of prepping six dozen ears for the freezer!

He never stops! It's against his religion!

In lieu of a photo of the messy process

Despite the many projects, we are enjoying summer!

Michael wouldn't think of missing his long Saturday bicycle rides with the Muncie group. 88 miles this week. 

I had fun at the Farmers' Market. Among many other goodies, I bought this bouquet of tiger lilies.

There's so much more I could write about.

We just keep plodding on, grateful for each opportunity and the necessary health.

New Week, New Beginnings

A favorite photo surfaced this week, especially because of the caption: "It's a wonderful day to break ground." Stephan and Karen's loooong-awaited building project has begun!

Another long process also began this week. Leah was pronounced cancer free last week and began taking a very strong medication this Monday. It is a long term treatment meant to prevent recurrence by 25%. She and Jimmy had a teaching session with the oncologist to learn how to handle it. Leah's notes explain how the drug works.

Monday also marked another beginning. My dearest Argentine friend's husband passed away. I love the photo I received of Aldo holding a friend's granddaughter and his beautiful smile. I wrote about my friend Mirtha here. Her grief became almost unbearable by the fact that she was not allowed to see him the last ten days when he was hospitalized. Unable to communicate directly with my friend was heavy for me.

A bright spot for me was to share Tuesday afternoon with my own greatgranddaughter. Rebecca and I watched the Basics Jr. video telling the story of Jesus' interaction with a woman who was unloved and hated, and His offer of living water to quench her soul thirst and continually satisfy her longings. Amazing love! We tried to make a well, a jug, and people out of Play-Doh.

Michael found yet another place for us to hike--the Wilderness Park in Hartford City. We explored it Wednesday afternoon.

We were ready and hungry for Kendra's promised treat--a Cambodian meal, coconut curry over rice. Yum!

Michael still likes to ride his bike if time and weather allow. Thursday afternoon was one of those opportunities. I was interested to notice from the jersey he wore, that we had done the Hilly Hundred event in Southern Indiana back in 2001, probably the first of several.

If I really wanted to know, I could consult our many Meemaw Moments books to find out the total number. Years ago I replaced the annual albums with hard copies of my blog. This week the 2019 and 2020 volumes arrived. I had missed ordering one last year, so jumped at the opportunity of an almost two for one deal early in January.

Saturday morning, I volunteered at Helping Hand. I always come away with a few special finds. Among other things I found two pairs of shoes for this little guy, a great excuse to stop by for a visit.

We had fun banging on the overturned hamper like a drum. And he walked to me and smiled a whole lot. An added bonus was as I was kneeling on the floor and Ruff the big dog sat next to me and gently put his paw on my shoulder!

The day ended with a painting event for the "We Live In The Same House" group, as our chat line is called. It was a Taylor Coffee and Canvas deal that the girls picked up for our evening entertainment as a "family." 

We followed a tutorial, supposedly for beginners, with varied results. A very enjoyable experience.

Notice the fun and serious expressions. 

And that was the end of January full-week # 3.

Christmas

One of three tables ready and waiting--tablecloth from the Basque Country.

A change from Monday Night dinner--Sam's family rented a whole theatre room for a limited number to watch "A Christmas Story". Later, the boys opened an early present, slingshots. The photo caption: "Hope they don't shoot their eyes out!" was a perfect follow-up.

Rebecca "helped" me Tuesday while her mom was at the library. We did a variety of activities, including painting rocks.  Any favorites? Which ones are Rebecca's? You may have to enlarge the photo to get the full effect of the bottom row.

However, her greatest accomplishment was to learn to play Splendor--the game that always sits at one end of our table ready for the nightly spousal contest. Surely she is not old enough, nevertheless smart enough!

Still had last minute shopping to do Wednesday, after another brief visit with consuegra Debby. One stop was nearby to this delightful folk singer, Mrs. Kate. Her grandkids dragged out all the totes and cases full of her merchandise and helped me choose CDs and finger puppets for each of the grandkids. Then they performed a couple of songs.

Thursday Diane joined us for Stephan and Karen's annual Christmas Eve brunch. The group was smaller, but as always we enjoyed food, fun and fellowship. 

Thank you, Stephan and Karen!

Christmas Day was spent with Diane who stayed here through Sunday.

In the afternoon, Michael went with his hiking buddy to the Rangeline Nature Preserve in Anderson and covered 3 1/2 miles of trail at the expert and intermediate levels.

Meanwhile, back at the homestead, Diane and I were pleasantly surprised by a group of carolers and a plate of cookies--our neighbors, the Vosses, had walked over through the woods to surprise us!

Saturday was our ALL family gathering. For this year, that was our Christmas miracle. We hadn't been ALL together since Thanksgiving of 2018. The Krazy Kochs photo was my favorite! Notice our newest family member's pose.

We so enjoyed remembering the story of Jesus' birth as read by Kayla and Rebecca, and then visualized for us by the new little family, Skye, Destiny and Kalani.

When Diane asked the meaning of inn keeper, Michael was reminded of an early play on words. In response to a reading in first or second grade, he drew a house-of-sorts with a tree next to it and the name was "Come Inn."

I am reminded of the song:

Into my heart, into my heart,

Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.

Come in today, come in to stay,

Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.

Sadly, when God came in the flesh to dwell with us, he was not welcomed, "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." (John 1:11)

May our world today welcome Emanuel (=God with us), the promised one who was and  is "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)