Wahsega Valley Farm

Learning to spit

Jesse, Sarah and Margot came up a couple of weekends ago and I grabbed a few pictures of Margot learning how to spit watermelon seeds. I don't know how you guys do it, but here in the South we like to eat watermelon outside and just spit the seeds as we go. The squirrels and bird love them and for kids in particular, it's just plain fun. "Really? I can spit them out?" It seems a bit crass at first I guess, but it's certainly the way to go around here.

Here is Margot (with her new and first haircut), inspecting her piece of watermelon, perhaps looking for more seeds to spit:

And digging in:

And, though you can't see her face here, she is concentrating very hard on the art of spitting. I think she enjoyed it!

Sarah's and Jesse's photos

When my son Jesse, his wife Sarah and my granddaughter Margot visited last Sunday, Sarah took lots of pictures. Jesse took some too. They're really nice so I thought I'd post a few of them here. Click any to enlarge.

Here is a shot of Mike holding Clyde and Sarah petting him while I'm holding the hose and Margot washes her hands. In the picture below, Margot is still washing her hands; she seemed to have fun with it.

Here's Margot checking out the cochin chickens.

And a shot of Buzzard and me.

 
Look at our headless chickens... lol...

Jesse and I are walking down to the garden in this picture, with a very tired Margot.

Here I am picking okra from the apparently midget Clemson Spineless plants I got this year. Last year they were taller than I! I really like the light in this picture. And Sarah was stealthy; I didn't know I was having my picture taken. But it's a good one, because usually when I'm picking veggies I don't look nearly as presentable.

You can really see the beautiful feathers on Clyde in this picture.

Here is Margot petting ol' Clyde.

Pretty Sarah... 

And one last shot of Jesse and Margot checking out the chickens.

Nice pictures guys; I wish I could post them all!

Sunday visit

Jesse, Sarah and Margot came a-callin' yesterday and we had fun playing with the chickens and wandering around the garden. I also tried some new recipes on them - trying to use some of our garden produce - that I'll post about tomorrow or the next day. I'd not seen Margot since Christmas and she is now walking and talking! Not a lot of talking, but certainly a lot of walking! 

Sarah had a new camera and took many pictures; I can't wait to see them. I handed photo duties over to Mike since I was picking beans, squash and cucumbers in the garden and messing around with the chickens to show how friendly they are. 

Here is Margot with her daddy, walking cautiously towards the chickens. I love the look on her face. 

And here she is approaching me...

... while showing her how friendly the birds are, hugging on a Brahma girl (pardon the construction background)...

... and then me smiling at Mike while holding one of my Buff Orpingtons.

 
Here's Margot getting close to some of the chickens.

She ended up petting some of the birds later on, but I don't have any of those pictures. She was quite taken with them and it was fun watching her reactions.

After hanging with the chickens, we walked down to the garden and I picked lots of green beans, some cucumbers and summer squash while Sarah took more pictures and Margot took it all in.

Here she is, shot through some cucumber vines.

And here, apparently in deep thought...

Sarah was taking so many pictures, Mike only got one shot of her...

... taking pictures!

We had a nice time together and next visit I'll be going into town to see their new place. It's in an old neighborhood not far from where Jesse and I both grew up called Virginia Highlands, so it'll be fun being there again. And maybe we'll all go to the DeKalb Farmers Market together. Oh, how I miss that place:

For a foodie like me, it was heavenly... so many foods from all over the world and local stuff too. So many choices at the best prices. Sigh... it's so far away from me now. 

Maybe when the summer heat has left, I'll go to town. I don't want to wait too long between visits this time.

*****

To those I owe emails to... (and I know who you are, even a special person who I owe a very very very late email to) ...I will be responding soon. 

One year old

My goodness, time sure does fly by these days.

Last Saturday was Margot's first birthday; it's hard to believe! Margot is my granddaughter and I don't see her nearly as often as I would like. She lives about two hours from where Mike and I live now, but I drove in last weekend to spend some time with her because it was a day to celebrate! Here are a few pictures...

This is Margot chillin' before the party crowd arrived: 

And with her daddy - my son - Jesse:

 

She's learning how to walk and is practicing with her "walker":
 

Sarah is helping her with her birthday cake here (a carrot cake they made and was sooooo good):
 

And digging in:
 

Margot is the best tempered child ever - just like her daddy was when he was little. No fussing or anything. If I had about 20 people staring at me, I'd be freakin' out! She didn't seem to mind at all.

Happy first birthday, Margot!

 

Lotsa crochet

I had a lot of fun making gifts this holiday season and thought I'd finally post some pictures. I mostly crocheted, but also made some body butter (with a new recipe I came up with) and painted Margot's little chair. Oh yeah, and Mike's "Why I Love You" jar that I mentioned in this post. I love making things so had a great time - and benefitted by improving my crochet skills - though still have a long way to go for other things I want to make. Anyway, here are some pictures.

This is Margot's chair as it looked when Jesse, her daddy, had it as a child - only Mike had already repaired two of the spindles here.

 
And here is how it turned out after I painted it, in Margot's room. It's much happier looking now, huh?

 

I made this hat and scarf for my friend Laurie in Mill Valley, California. It's my favorite yarn right now in my price range...Lion Brand's Homespun - love the colors:

 
And this set was made for Sarah, with her modeling it in this post. The scarf was made from this super easy pattern in more Homespun. I love how it spirals and want to make one for myself soon. Very quick to make.

 
The scarf below was made for Mike's daughter, Jessica, and the picture just doesn't capture how pretty this yarn is. It's more Homespun by Lion Brand, in "Tudor".

 
I made this long circular scarf for Sarah. It can be wrapped like a shawl, scarf, over the head - and in any number of ways. I wish I had a better picture of it and what it can do.
 
And here's a sweater for Margot to wear with her little jeans:

 
And the sweater set seen in a previous post:

 
And one of the cardigans:

 
And Margot wearing it at home:

 
And another sweater (I was having so much fun experimenting):

 
And Margot modeling it:

 
Another cardigan and scarf:

 
And Margot wearing it:

 
I also made some hats, shown here. The top one is Mike's and the other two are for my son, Jesse and/or Sarah:
 
Here is Sarah, wearing one:

 
And Jesse and Margot with their hats on:

 
Phew, that's a lot of pictures and my computer is really slow today. I think that's about it!  

Happy New Year everyone!

Opening gifts

I love the holidays - and seeing my son Jesse, Sarah and granddaughter, Margot. They came up from Atlanta on Wednesday after the snow melted and spent the afternoon with us. I'd not decorated very much in the cabin since there really isn't room for a big tree or other decorations, but here is a shot of our little Christmas area:

 
And from afar:

 
And from the other direction:

 
Tiny decorations for a tiny cabin...

We had fun opening our gifts and here is Margot wearing one of the sweaters I made her while she was practicing standing up - with Sarah holding the chair steady. The little chair was Jesse's when he was a toddler. Mike replaced and hand whittled the two side spindles and made the whole chair more secure and comfortable, and I painted it. I'm going to post before and after pictures in another post; it turned out so cute!

 
 
Jesse was giving Margot a "horsey ride" here and she loved it. She's added the matching hat and is wearing it in the "slouchy" option.

 
And here's Margot wearing her new scarf that matches a little cardigan sweater I made for her (not shown), while holding her juice cup and one of her new moccasins.

 
Here is Sarah trying on the hat and scarf I made for her... I just knew she'd look beautiful in it! ...and Jesse smiling in the background of course.

 
And here is one more shot of Margot in another hat I made her. She wasn't feeling great when she first arrived since she'd just gotten a shot for a bad ear infection she's had - so was a little quiet and subdued, but she livened up quickly. She is the best natured baby ever and so much fun to be around. And Jesse and Sarah are such good parents; I love seeing them all together.

 

I'll post more detailed pictures of all the things I crocheted tomorrow for those who are interested since most aren't in this post. I made some hats for Jesse too, but didn't get a picture of him trying them on... and quite a few other things...

Here is the present I made for Mike this year, "50 Reasons Why I Love You", in a little bottle:

 
He takes out one "reason" a day, each morning, and reads why I love him. It was fun making a list of all the reasons and I've come up with a few others since I filled up the bottle. I'm thinking about just adding them as I think of them.

 
And Mike gave me a honker of a pressure cooker - one I can use for canning when my garden really gets going. Check it out; I love it!

 
We had a wonderful extended Christmas and today is New Years Eve already! Holy cow, time is flying by. Our big plans are to stay home and have a quiet evening tonight; we're not one for crowds and noisy places. I think we'll try the new wine that Jesse brought Mike. We won't make it to midnight though; we never do!

Happy New Year everyone!

Sunday visit

Jesse, Sarah and Margot came up for a visit yesterday! Jesse is my son and he is married to Sarah, and Margot is their 7-month old daughter - who I've not seen nearly enough of. They live in Atlanta, so it was a bit of a drive for them, but the weather was gorgeous and breezy and we had a wonderful visit. We walked around our acreage to give them a "tour" and then came inside to have waffles with blueberries and strawberry/maple syrup sauce.

And we took lots of pictures!

Margot is the happiest baby. She didn't fuss once while they were here and was so much fun to be around. Her temperament reminds me a lot of Jesse's at the same age because he was a happy baby too and not demanding at all. Just cool as a cucumber.

We need to see each other more often! In the meantime, I have some pictures to hold me over 'til the next visit...

 
  

 

 

 

 
  
I think it's time to figure out what I want to crochet for little Margot. It's getting colder here every day (I had the heat on today for the first time since last winter). She'll need some stylin' warm sweaters and things soon.

Too cute for words

Margot just began "speaking"! Check it out:

She is just too cute for words.

Margot and me... and mama and daddy too

Here are more pictures of Margo and her mama and daddy, plus one of me rocking her in the rocking chair. All the shots were taken by Jesse or Sarah (who were quite tired, I believe) and I think they're just beautiful...

 

 
  
 
 
   
Sigh...

Welcome, little Margot

On Friday night Margot was born! She weighed a little over 6 pounds and is a tiny thing - and so beautiful! Okay, I might be a little prejudiced since she's my granddaughter (I'm a grandmother! I'm a grandmother!), but nah, I think she is the prettiest little baby girl I've even seen! She slept the whole time Mike and I were there, but Jesse tells me she complains plenty when they move her and she's not ready to be moved, or when they put her down to sleep in her little bed. She made a few funny faces while shifting around, but for the most part, was calm and sleeping during our visit. I rocked her in the rocking chair for awhile and it didn't seem that long ago when I was doing the same thing with Jesse.

Here is a picture of the little family, taken yesterday, after they'd had very little sleep since her birth:

 
  
And here is a closer view of Margo:

 

What a little doll face.

Sarah had taken some pictures of the nursery, so I thought I'd add them here as well, for your viewing pleasure...

Here is Margot's crib - that she'll use when she gets a little bigger.

And an bird mobile that Sarah made. She stitched the birds together by hand and Jesse gathered the little branches and I really, really love it.

And a picture of the mantel in the room with some of Margot's little stuffed animals.

 

And a few pictures on the wall... 

 

Jesse told me it was amazing when he held Margot for the first time right after she was born. It's a love you just can't explain until you've felt it - and now he's feeling it. He's going to be so head-over-heels in love with his little girl.

Hopefully they can catch up on their sleep soon, but even dog-tired they all looked wonderful and I can't wait to spend more time with them.