The Hat I Had to Buy

Remember the tea cozy I bought to wear as a hat?




You do? Well then, you'll understand....



...why I HAD to buy.....





....THIS hat!




Not a tea cozy posing as a hat, it's a hat posing as a tea pot!

All together now! -

I'm a little tea pot short and stout,
here is my handle, here is my spout.
When I get a steamed up, then I shout!
Just tip me over and pour me out!"




And now I must be off, to the tea room with my hubby. Of course I'm going to be wearing my new hat.

More Oregon Beach

No words today. Didn't seem necessary.

Beautiful Scenic Oregon

While picking through a box of books at the thrift store recently, I found one of those travel guides full of glossy, slightly out-of-date photos. I read the the cover to myself out loud - "Beautiful Oregon". A man standing on the other side of the box looked up and said "Scenic Oregon". I turned the book around to see he was reading a large caption on the back of the book. Simultaneously we said "Beautiful Scenic Oregon". Oregon is indeed both those adjectives.

I was up in Oregon over the last weekend plus. I had a couple of reasons for the trip but before I mention one of them, I'll just let the photos I took speak, for the most part, for themselves.




Pull out the batting and drag it along the hilltops where it snags in the tree tops.




A tree top penthouse.




Nature leaves random sculptures about the forest.




A downed snag or the skeletal rib cage of a fallen giant?





Water falling from the sky, water leaping up from the sea.




Clouds caught in a tidepool.



Thirteen birds on a wire.




A lone raven. Or crow. Sometimes I find it hard to tell which is which without a size reference.

If you want more ravens, and other amazing creatures, hop like a raven over to Laume's Studio and check out the beginnings of the totems created by some amazing artists during a retreat I attended over the weekend.

And Her Name Is.....

Berkley Jae. It does not mean "place where people go to college". It's a Scottish name that means "birch meadow" - isn't that pretty!

And now I bring you more baby photos. The theme primarily "Berkley being held by different people." I mean, how much posing can you ask of someone just a few days old?




Joli wasn't allowed in the maternity ward and had to stay in the waiting room during hospital visits. So she was so excited to meet her new cousin when they finally came home.




Jax wasn't as thrilled about meeting anyone. Of course he had no idea there was anyone to meet. He knew something was up though. He pretty much glued himself to my side when I was at the house and his "mom and dad" were still at the hospital.





I don't need to meet any baby. I just want to show off and have you rub my belly. How come you guys were gone so lonnnnng!!!




I think this is such a cute photo. It's actually Joli just making some comment about the baby and being caught midword. But if you didn't know the people in the picture, you'd think it was a mommy and daddy introducing baby to big sister and said big sister saying something along the lines of "I don't THINK so!"




Berkley chilling with her Daddy. I didn't realize until I put the pic up that you can see the photographer in the mirror.




And hanging out with her Grammy.




Another cute pic, looks like two little girls laughing and telling stories together already!




Here Joli is saying "Awww, she's so cute."

Joli asked to hold her. I suggested she "hold" her in the nursing pillow, just like Ashley was holding her in the nursing pillow. I slid the pillow over onto Joli's lap. Joli didn't buy it. She looked at me with an exasperated look and said "No. I want to hold her in my ARMS!"




So, it was done.




Of course Uncle William had to have a turn. He and Hubby drove over on Thursday.




"Papa" with his newest granddaughter.




Eventually we took the baby back and handed him some other small creatures. Rosie wasn't at all impressed with Berkley. She's the sixth grandchild. - Ho hum. Seen these little humans before, they're too young to drop food for me. Boring.

Maggie didn't even notice the new baby as she was too worried about that big ol' bulldog chasing her around and around! She's keeping an eye on him while I snapped this photo.



We did let the new parents hold their newborn a little bit. Although if truth be told, Sam hogged her from Ashley. I guess Ashley's been "holding" her more for the last nine months.




Lisa was stir crazy and we all went out to eat at Souplantation when Joli was four days old. Ashley cut that time in half, we went out to eat with two day old Berkley. Lisa showed Ashley how to wrap her up where the general public couldn't poke their noses or fingers in at her though.



Sometimes you want to be the holder. Sometimes you want to be the holdee. Joli wanted Papa to hold her. Papa looks pretty happy about that.




I had to laugh - this is a page from the baby shower gift list. Yes, a page - there were many. Check out the last two lines. LOL




I never did get baby shower pics up. Sort of a moot point now, 'cept for some nice family photos I managed to snap. But they scored big time, there was a mountain of gifts. Here's Ashley the evening of the shower sorting out just a small portion of the goodies.




And here's a drawer of her onesies. Think she has enough!? Think she's got enough PINK!?




One more picture of beautiful Berkley. Getting her diaper changed. Better hold on tight to Grammy's finger.

After she came home, they ended up bringing her back to the hospital the next night for a night under the bilirubin lights for some jaundice. Very tired worried parents. But all was well and she's back home again and the family all managed to get some sleep eventually.

She's a week old now and every day I'm tempted to drive back over to see her again. Hey, it's only four hours of driving, no big deal, right? But, common sense and snow storms have kept me from acting on the impulse. Fortunately, I will be driving back next week for another visit on the way through for some other travel plans. I'm counting the days.