A Little Imp

I have a grandson who is sometimes a little imp.  Yes, that's a good word for him.

My favorite dictionary defines the word "Imp" as "A mischievous child" and that about sums it up.  Anyway, we were fortunate enough to get to visit him and his family recently.  They have a wing backed chair at their house which I find quite comfortable.  But he soon noticed it was my favorite and so it became a game to see which of us could sit in it.  If I got out of the chair you could be sure he'd be in it as soon as he could.  Anyway, I needed to go up stairs for a minute and he assured me he would not get in it while I was gone.  Yeah, sure you won't.

So as I walked across the room and started up the stairs, I looked back every few steps to see if he had gotten into the chair yet.  All the way up the stairs, I kept checking, and sure enough, he did not take the chair. Even as I went up the stairs to where I could not see him anymore, I kept looking back and he had stayed on the couch.

But, just a minute later, as I came back down, guess who was now in the chair.  And, yes, he had a huge grin on his cute little face.  What a sweetie.

The New Beginning

As you might guess, I have been anxiously watching the weather, waiting for the conditions to get right so I could get out on my bike.  As spring as progressed I have found myself more and more often day dreaming about being out on my bike.  In watching the extended forecast, I have been looking forward to today, since today was predicted to be the first good day with everything falling in place; warm enough, dry enough, and not too windy.  Plus, for these first few rides, the roads need to be dry enough to be able to get around without getting all wet.  It will be a few weeks yet before the trails are melted off and dry enough to get on so, at this point, we settle for mostly dry roads.  But, as hoped, today everything came together and we got out.  

This year there was also an added element, Brombeere got a new bike.  Yes, yes, I know, she just got one last year.  But that was a new upright bike, which she liked very much; it was way better than the older bike she's been riding for the last several years.  But as things have developed, she was beginning to feel less and less comfortable on her bike, she was worried about losing her balance, tipping over, and getting hurt.  We have both had a few spills on our bikes these last few years, but we've been lucky and, for the most part, neither of us has gotten seriously hurt.  I don't count in that the time I got hit by a car, that was an exception; it wasn't my fault.  Pretty much all the little spills we've had on our bikes have been our own doing, or the result of the bike getting away from us.  Be that as it may, Brombeere was feeling less sure of herself on her bike.  That combined with some health issues that have recently surfaced that make it a little more important now that she not get seriously injured.  And so our thoughts turned to getting her a recumbent, where the chance of falling off is much less than with an upright bike.  After all, I got one last year and have really enjoyed it.

So we went back to the same shop where I got mine and took a look at what they had.  Brombeere was looking for some different things in a recumbent for her so she ended up getting one a bit different from mine.  Mine is sometimes referred to as a "tadpole" trike (with the single third wheel out back), where she wanted a more traditional trike (with the single third wheel in the front).  She tried a few they had, including one like mine, and liked this one best.  So we bought it.

It took them a couple of days to do the adjustments and add the accessories she wanted, but it was ready today so we picked it up.  We were really hoping it would be ready in time for today's good weather.

Then we dug mine out, pumped the tires back up, and got it all ready for the road, and off we went, for a season opening ride.

We kept it short, and stayed pretty much to the roads since the trails are still snow covered or very wet.  Brombeere's endurance is also still getting back up following a hospitalization she had a few months ago.  But she did better than she thought she was going to be able to do when we first started, today's ride was only slightly shorter than most of the first rides from previous years.  It was actually longer than my first ride after the run-in with the car a couple of years ago.  And it was so nice to be out, cruising around town on what promises to be the first of many rides during the upcoming season. Definitely a good time!

Whoever Dies with the Most Toys Wins!

I think I've mentioned before how Brombeere likes to sew, especially quilts.  Since before we got married she's sewn clothes, which grew into sewing lots of things for us and our kids.  I still have a shirt she made for me when we were dating.  Stuff she has sewn typically plays a large part in Christmas and other gifts for kids and grandkids, to some extent or another, depending on how much time she has.  Anyway, Since retiring she has focused mostly on sewing quilts.  A couple of years ago she replaced her old Pfaff that's she's had for a long time, mostly because it was getting hard to get it serviced.  Part of the sewing she did on her new machine was a big quilt for Moosbeere, which turned out very nicely.  And so she has done a lot of sewing.  

The place she has normally taken her machine closed a while back because the owner retired.  She found another place here in town but a few years after she switched, the city was redoing the road in front of his place and was going to take his parking lot.  Instead of arguing with them or relocating, that guy decided to just retire as well. That was the guy who had told her he wouldn't be able to continue repairing her Pfaff because he was having a hard time getting parts. That led Brombeere to start looking around for another place to take her machine.  She has a couple of friends who are also quilters, and she got talking to them about where they got their machines serviced.  That led her to a new shop in a neighboring town.  So one day when we were in the area, she decided to drop in and check them out, she liked what she saw.  A short time later we had Erdbeere's machine because it needed some service so we went this new shop.  In talking with them about repairs she came to find out that they are a Pfaff dealer and could still service her old Pfaff machine so both machines went in the shop and a short time later, Brombeere had her old Pfaff back and working and suddenly she had two working sewing machines! 

Two machines, twice as much sewing, twice as fast, right?  Well, not quite.  Brombeere has also been learning to machine quilt, which is a bit different from hand quilting, much faster, but it has its own issues.  

While the Janome is a good machine, it's for general sewing, not specifically for quilting.  It doesn't have a big "neck" and so sewing a big quilt can get challenging some times.  Sometimes Brombeere would have to do things to make the material fit in the neck, especially when she was working out in the middle of the quilt.  On a big quilt that can be pretty hard.  So she started looking around for a new machine again.  She did a lot of research online and talked to her quilting friends.  She even went to the sewing shop and tried several different machines they had in stock.  Finally she made a decision on which machine she wanted and began looking around for the best price.  She found that price online and placed her order.

A few days later her new machine arrived!  This was a happy girl that day.

It came in a big, heavy (emphasis on the word "heavy") box but we got it inside and she began unpacking it.

Then she lugged the machine downstairs to her sewing area.

It took her a while to get it all out and assembled and set up on her sewing table so she could actually sew with it.  She had to consult the directions several times, even for stuff as simple as how to thread the needle.

The first thing she sewed on was a wall hanging she's been working on for a while.  She had been working on this wall hanging but, since it is a Christmas decoration, she figured she had plenty of time to finish it and had set it aside because she wanted to work on a quilt she's been working on for Erdbeere for some time.

Then she got out a piece of cloth she had brought home from the sewing shop where she tried some machines, and did some more quilt like sewing. Then, at last, she was ready and comfortable to try it on Erdbeere's quilt.

So she moved the Janome off her table and got all set up to do some serious sewing on Erdbeere's quilt.

And sew she did. The more she sewed the more she decided she liked this new machine.  Designed for quilting, this machine is much easier to do machine quilting on; getting a third machine is going to be a happy thing. She quickly decided this was going to be much better.

Just Like Old Times

 When I was growing up my parents had a big yard, much of which was in garden and orchard.  There were several peach trees, an apricot tree, as well as an apple, a plum, and a cherry tree. There were grape vines and they grew all kinds of regular garden vegetables; tomatoes, corn, beans, onions, strawberries, and other kinds. All of this got bottled and stored and we got to enjoy it all winter.  But all that yummy goodness didn't come without a whole bunch of work at harvest time.  I have lots of memories of all us kids sitting around the kitchen table, under the careful supervision of my parents, peeling, slicing, chopping, and bottling all the bounty from our garden and orchard. Mom would be at the stove, pressure cooking all these bottles.  We learned to love the sweet sound lids popping as they sealed, ready to go in the storeroom.

Anyway, the other day Blaubeere came into a whole bunch of apples, so much so that she was more than happy to have a little help getting them all into bottles, or at least a whole lot of them into bottles.  So we planned a time and went over to spend some time socializing as well as helping with the apples.

Just like when I was a kid, most of us were gathered around the table, working on the apples in something like an assembly line.

Some of us were peeling, that was where I was assigned, which was perfectly okay with me, it was my preferred station.

Others would take the peeled apples and chop them in to smaller bits.

These were fallen apples, for one reason or another they had fallen off the tree and been picked up from the ground.  That meant that they had bruises and stuff so they weren't the prettiest apples.  But they were still fine for making applesauce after having all the bruises and spots cut off.

After they were all peeled and chopped, they went over into the kitchen to be cooked and put in the bottles.  That was Blaubeere's and Brombeere's job.

Once in the bottles they went into the big pot where they cooked the allotted time.

And lastly, they came out of the cooker and onto the counter to cool.  This is where we were able to listen to the lids pop as they cooled.

In the end, Blaubeere ended up with around 27 bottles of applesauce.  She also ended up with a couple of gallons of chopped apple pieces that she'll use for baking muffins and such.  Some mighty fine stuff comes out of Blaubeere's kitchen. And some got made into apple fruit leather. And that's in addition to all the apples that got munched on and eaten because her family really likes fresh apples.

It was a fun way to spend a few hours with Blaubeere and her family. It was a good illustration of the old adage, "Many hands make light work."  And it was a pleasant reminder of all the good times my own family spent doing the same thing when I was growing up.  All in all it was a good time.

Nailed It!

I'm sure you've seen them, memes on social media where someone was trying to reproduce something they saw and it didn't turn out quite right.

This is kind of like that.  I've tried numerous times in the past to get photos of snow flakes, I think they're beautiful.  But they're tiny, and they don't last long.  Conditions have to be just right to get any kind of picture at all, much less a real good one.  And yet, you see them now and then...

So this morning, as I walked out to the car to go to church, there on the side of the car was a single snow flake, all by itself.  And it looked to be pretty much intact. It's hard to tell because they're so tiny. And, because it was only 9 degrees, it was still there, just sitting there, not melting away super fast like they so often do.  So I took a picture of it.

I didn't really know how good it was until I looked at it a little later, up close.  All in all, I think it turned out fairly well.  The photography is okay, the flake itself was somewhat hammered, but it was hard to tell seeing it there, sticking to the side of the car, all tiny like snow flakes are.  But, even though the actual snow flake isn't a pristine sample, I thought the photo turned out pretty well.  At least, it's the best I've ever gotten.  So we'll keep trying and who knows, may some day ...

The Bathroom

A while after we moved into our current house we noticed a couple of cracks in the bathtub  The one in the back of the tub may have been there when we bought the house.  I'm not sure, I didn't notice it until we'd lived here a while.

The one in the front happened when something was dropped while someone was taking a shower.  We're not going to get into who that might have been.  That's a hazard with bathtubs, I guess.  

Neither of them was very big and we never saw any evidence of them leaking.  The bathroom is above our unfinished storeroom so if it had been leaking you'd think we would have seen wetness in the basement.  But we never did.  So we made a mental note that the tub needed replacing but that's not a simple thing.  Especially since the tub was a single piece and would have had to have been installed when the house was being built, there's no way it could have been maneuvered into the bathroom after it was finished.  It was just too big.  And that meant getting a new one in was also going to be tricky business.  Way beyond my expertise; we were going to have to hire it done, which meant it was going to be expensive.  And so it waited.

Until a short while ago, the time to replace it had finally arrived.  While we have lived here we have painted and changed all the fixtures in the bathroom except the tub.  Now it was finally time for the tub.

On the day it was scheduled to be replaced we took a last look around and then took all the stuff down to get it out of the way.  This was to be an oft repeated process.

Early the morning of the replacement the plumber showed up and we were ready.  So they got to work.  First they took out the old tub.  They had to cut it into pieces to be able to get it out.

Then they brought in the new tub, also a piece at a time.  The whole process took most of the day.  

But at the end of the day we had a new tub.  Although it didn't look very pretty, it was usable.  We were very glad of that.  We only have the one shower/tub in our house so this was it.  The new tub was also slightly smaller than the old one.  That meant we were going to have to do some work on the walls and floor to take care of the gap left by the difference in size.  That also meant this job was going to be a little bigger than a simple switch out in tubs.

First step was to patch the gap in the drywall around the tub.  Across the top and at both ends.  That took a few days after all the patching, sanding, redoing, sanding, more redoing, and finally the texture coat that finished the drywall work.  There was a day's drying time between each step.

The next step was taking up the old flooring.  Couldn't do a simple patch, we had to take up all the flooring so it could all be replaced.  A "matching" issue.  Yeah, we've dealt with that before.  

Then, while the floor was up, it was time to paint.  That meant taking everything out of the room.  That included the closet because we wanted to get it painted as well.  So during the painting time, when you got a shower you had to remember to stop by the bedroom, where all the stuff was, to grab a towel and whatever else you needed to get your shower. There was more than once somebody had to be rescued: "Please bring me a towel!"  Yeah, such fun.

Then it was time to paint, which went pretty good except that the painter forgot to do the closet.  More on that in a minute.

With the paint on it was time to put the new flooring down.  That went pretty good.  With both the paint and the flooring, we had to go pick it out and have it ready for when it was time to put it on.  That wasn't so bad.  And it's always fun to pick new colors for a room.  

Once the flooring was done it was time to put all the "accessories" back on the walls.  Things like the shelves, hooks, and stuff.  In the process of all this work we also finally replaced the light fixture in the ceiling.  It had been desperately in need of replacing, it was all rusty and such but it was also an odd size (the fixture itself was an odd size but so were the light bulbs, they were a specialty size and expensive, and because the fixture was bad they kept burning out real fast). We have been looking for years for a new fixture but because of its size and position on the wall, we hadn't been able to find one that fit, let alone one we liked.  So while we were having drywall work done, we had the hole worked on and got a new light fixture.

So, yeah, the painter missed the closet.  But it was such a small amount of space and we've painted plenty of times before we decided to just do it ourselves rather than make a stink and call the painter back.  So one morning Brombeere put on her paint clothes and did the closet.  

Then we finally we were able to move everything back into the closet.  That included a thorough cleaning.  This is where we keep our medicine; we found some in there that expired in 2013.  Yeah, so it's good to go through and clean out the bathroom closet now and then.

We also replaced the mirror in the bathroom.  The old one was starting to get a little rust and corrosion on it, it also has been in there since we bought the house so long ago.  So this whole process took two months from when they took the old tub out until today, when the painting was dine, and cost quite a bit more than we originally estimated but it's so nice to have it done.  The down side was that all these workmen wanted to start at 8:00 am.  We had to be up, showered, and have the room cleaned out before they got here each day, pretty hard for two old retirees.  But it was real nice that they were able to do all that work and never leave us without a shower or toilet overnight.  We never had to skip a shower.  That was especially nice.  

In Similitude of Covenants

The Lord led the Children of Israel out of Egypt. Once they crossed the Red Sea (near the north end of what is now known as the Gulf of Suez) and were on the Sinai Peninsula, instead of turning northeast to go directly to the Land of Canaan, the land that had been promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel for an inheritance, the Lord led them southeast, taking them down the west side of the peninsula and bringing them finally to Mt Sinai, or Horeb, a distance of about 340 miles. This was the same mountain where Moses had seen the burning bush and received his call from the Lord to deliver Israel out of Egypt earlier in the same year.

On the trip to Sinai, the Children of Israel had witnessed and been sustained by several faith promoting occurrences. Miraculous things continued at Horeb, including receiving instructions on building a tabernacle (a precursor to the temple they would eventually build in Jerusalem) and several items that were to be kept in the tabernacle. After giving instructions on building the tabernacle itself, the first artifact the Lord instructed Israel to prepare, to be kept in the tabernacle, was the Ark of the Covenant (Numbers 10:33), also known as the Ark of the Testimony (Exodus 25:22).

The Ark continued with Israel for almost 900 years, with one brief interruption in about 1070 BC when the Philistines took it during a battle with Israel but returned it later the same year. In about 586 BC, the Ark passed out of Israel's hands again when Israel was conquered by Babylon. Although there are several theories as to the Ark's current location, the two most credible place it at sites considered sacred and therefore not available for archeological exploration.

We are told that many things in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, are types, symbols, or similitudes of Christ (2 Nephi 11:4, Mosiah 3:15). As suggested by its name, it seems to me that the Ark of the Covenant has its symbols as well. One of those is it being symbolic of the covenants we make with Christ.

The Ark was a chest of acacia or shittim wood, which is a beautiful wood.

Acacia trees are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including the Middle East. It is a beautiful wood.

The wood of the Ark was overlaid with gold, 2½ cubits long, 1½ cubits broad and 1½ cubits deep. As the Lord described the manner in which the Ark was to be constructed, using the finest of materials, this seems symbolic of the nature of covenants; we are to give our finest efforts in making and keeping our covenants. They are not something to be entered into lightly, or treated lightly once made.

The handling of the Ark by Israel was a serious matter. Prayers were recited before it moved or rested (Num. 10:35–36), and during its progress it was treated with the greatest reverence. The Lord had said the Israelites were not to touch the Ark (Numbers 4:15), hence there were rings installed at the corners so that poles could be inserted and used to transport the Ark without actually touching it. There is the story of Uzziah being smitten for touching the Ark as the oxen pulling the cart it rested on stumbled (1 Chronicles 13:9-10). Likewise, our covenants are to be treated with great reverence and care.

When the Lord gave Moses the instructions on the Ark of the Covenant, He spoke of the purpose of the Ark and its role in their relationship with God. The Ark of the Covenant, or Ark of the Testimony, was the resting place of the scriptures, or record of the Word of God (Exodus 26:34, footnote b, Deuteronomy 31:26), which were kept inside the Ark, under the Mercy Seat. It is at the Mercy Seat that the Lord said He would meet us and commune with us (Exodus 25:22). This seems, to me, to be symbolic of the scriptures as a source of revelation

Israel was instructed to place the Ark within the temple, behind the veil (Exodus 26:33), which, to me, is symbolic of the sacred nature of covenants, not secret but not out on display for general view. Placing the Ark within the Holy of Holies seems akin to the additional level of preparation and worthiness required to enter the temple, a privilege reserved for those willing to make additional effort and give extra attention to qualify to enter the temple.

Another symbol the Ark represents is deliverance. After Joshua had been called to lead the Israelites they again came to a body of water that was separating them from the Land of Promise. This time it was the River Jordan. As the priests who were bearing the Ark stepped into the water, the water parted, allowing Israel to pass through on dry ground (Joshua 3:15-17). By bearing the Ark in the manner the Lord instructed, Israel was at last enabled to enter the Promised Land and possess it. Likewise, our covenants, kept as the Lord requires, will deliver us into all that the Lord has promised. 

I liked the similitude between the Ark of the Covenant and the covenants we make with the Lord. Keeping those covenants will result in some blessings, many of which are incomprehensible to me. But one of them I can understand, an eternal family. And so to help me remember the role covenants play in being able to have my family forever, I got something to remind me. Something made of acacia wood, like the Ark of the Covenant.

When John the Beloved was on the Isle of Patmos, he saw into heaven.  One of the things he saw there was the Ark of the Covenant (Revelations 11:19), resting in the temple. The message of John’s revelation is one of deliverance, of triumph, the victory of Christ. Our covenants, faithfully kept, will, by the grace of Christ, enable us to participate in that victory, and thereby I can keep my family into eternity.

Another Try

I've been reading in the news, the last little while, about a comet from the outer reaches of our solar system that is making the rounds around our sun right now.  So far out it would take it 80,000 years to make the trip.  That's a long ways.  It was discovered last January and the guy who discovered it was able to have it named after him, a guy named Greg Leonard.  Its technical name is C/2021 A1 but its short name is the Leonard Comet. It is the biggest, brightest comet of the year and, because it is supposed to be visible right now, sometimes gets called the Christmas comet.  When I first started reading of it I got the impression that it would be bright enough to be visible with the unaided eye, but, as part of an attempt to see it, saw that there have been no reports so far of anyone seeing it without some kind of magnification.  Although binoculars have been enough for a lot of people.

But it was worth a try.  So tonight we went out north of town, which is relatively free of light pollution, and gave it a shot.  The time it's visible, in our area, is short; it has to be dark enough for it to show up but before it dips below the horizon. While we never saw the comet, we got to watch a very nice sunset.  This is Venus, in the southwest sky.  The comet was supposed to be slightly below and to the left a little of Venus.  It felt a little bit like when I was trying to catch a glimpse of the Humanity Star a few years ago.  

Maybe we just didn't stay out long enough. After all, it should be visible up until just before Venus slips below the horizon. Maybe we'll try again in a couple of days and stay out until Venus goes out of sight.  Still, it was a fun evening, a nice time with Brombeere, out in the dark countryside, watching the sun set.  The comet is supposed to be visible for the rest of the year as it makes its way toward the sun.  It is not expected to survive the trip around the sun so it may or may not be back in a few months.  It's already getting dimmer and some experts think that may be because it's already starting to break up. In any case, it's expected to get ejected form its orbit around our sun and get hurled out of the solar system, never to return, if it survives that long.  But it's getting lots of attention right now.

A Tough Repair

Several years ago, not long after we moved into this house, Brombeere was out doing the local yard sales and came across a rocking cow.  That's right, not the usual rocking horse, but a rocking cow.

That was a pretty unique find so, of course, she bought it and brought it home.  It has been loved by our grandkids ever since.  Even when it wasn't getting ridden, it was always near by, always ready for a ride.

It's a fine, sturdy little rocking cow; colorful, well built, and solid.  Very creative.

Perfect in every way except for one thing: it was missing an ear.  Over the years we have searched and searched for a replacement ear.  That's not something you can just run down to the hardware store and pick up, but each time we found a friend with woodworking skills, we'd asked about getting a replacement ear made.  Unfortunately, in all the years we've been looking we were unable to find anyone willing to tackle it.  It's a unique shape and basically needed to be hand-made.

Then one day Maulbeere's husband was over visiting with her, saw it, and volunteered to give it a shot. That was amazing!  He took the remaining ear off and took it home with them.  Then, several days later, they were back with a new ear!  We knew he dabbled in woodworking, but had no idea he was up to this kind of work.

So he brought it back and put on an initial coat of stain.  There was some interesting help with that (a very interested young man), but he kept things under control quite nicely.

Once he had it stained and it had dried, he took it downstairs, along with the original ear, which he had used as a model, and put them both on the cow.

Now the little rocking cow was whole again!  We talked with him about doing some additional staining on the ear, it's not quite a good match.  But the hard part is done, the ear is made and on!

Brombeere is a happy grandma again!  The real test will be when a grandkid climbs on and takes the cow for a ride; the ears double for the handles to hang on with.  But we're halfway there, the ear is made and attached!  All is well in the world again!