Moving to Montana

Martin received not one, but two job offers for positions in Helena, Montana. And the job he took was one he didn't even apply for, they came looking for him to interview. I am very, very proud of him and the work he does with the environment, groundwater computer modeling and geological field work. We are packing up and leaving in 16 days (eep!), Martin's dad is helping us find a place to live and dad or brother will likely fly in to Dulles to help take turns driving on our cross country move.

Saying Goodbye to Virginia

It is official: We are leaving Virginia. By the 14th of September, we will send our belongings out ahead of us, load up the cars with kids and cats and happily put the South behind us.

Where next is another question entirely. There is a job transfer within the company my husband works for to the Ann Arbor, Michigan office - closer to my family, or there might be a job in Helena, Montana for him - near his family. Just a few more days wait until we know. Either way, we are out of Virginia. This has all come together so quickly, I didn't think it would happen this year. I am thrilled.

Play time

We took advantage of the cooler and less humid weather last evening to drive out past Purcellville to the large park and playground. With a newborn arriving in the summer months, I've been sequestered inside with the AC and it was good to get out.

Shade Tea

Well, this had been sun tea up until noon when my covered balcony became cool and shady. Not that it matters. I once had neighbors who put out their tea jar at night to make "moon tea". I was eight or so years old and gullible enough to believe the moon beams brewed the tea.

When we can't get out

We won't be camping this summer with the terrible heat index, humidity and the babies. The new tent we got for a steal at a yard sale will have to wait in the closet a while longer. I suppose we could do a backyard camp out at my parents where the climate is more tolerable, though it may not be feasible smack in the middle of the wedding. Maybe a sleeping bag dragged onto the second story porch? So, the alternative to real summer escapes has been to escape into summer books. All my reading has been done while nursing Anne and Adrian (needless to say I've spent a LOT of time nursing this summer), pleased with another attempt at that two birds, one stone thing.

Not traveling back to Michigan yet this summer makes me feel cooped up and antsy. Reading others outdoor accounts and studying diagrams on knots and camping tips probably isn't helping that antsy to get outside feeling. I'd like to get out to the Catoctins in the fall or spring, sometime before we move but not in this heat!

Mary's quilt

Here is a glimpse of the quilt-in-progress for Mary and Bob's wedding, I will not have it completed on time but I'll print a photo for them to go along with the pillows and coasters I made earlier (and sent off to my mom's without taking any photos! I need to remember to take pictures of them when I'm in Michigan before the wedding day). The quilt fits on the top of my queen size bed, but it's intended as a large lap quilt to have handy near a couch or porch, something big enough to wrap around you or sit on top of.

My own belated 28th

I turned 28 two days ago. Skirting close to 30, feel like 16, and will tell everyone I'm 25 like Grandpa Van Galen did until his own children became 25 along with him. The above cake was from the 5th of July, when family was over to celebrate three summer birthdays. Company is now gone, and so is my 9-year-old. He flew with my youngest sister to my parents in Michigan for over 3 weeks of grandparent fun. Martin and I will fly out with the babes in August for my middle sister's wedding and to reclaim my oldest child.

For the 15th, I made taco salad and lemon cheesecake bars and took Anne to the pool. We spend the hottest parts of the day inside, fill the time with nursing, naps and chores, get outside in the cooler early morning for walks and to the pool in the evening. Our family just isn't cut out for southern living, and we are hardly south.

My husband is applying to jobs in Helena, Montana in hopes we might move out there to be with his dad and brother this fall before we have to sign another year's lease here. Because we are over-occupancy in the current location, we have to move to a bigger place in September - after we just moved last year! Otherwise, we'd be able to go month-to-month with rent and it wouldn't matter when Martin found a position in Montana, but with moving to a bigger place, it's another year's lease agreement. Urgh! So, we get lucky and head west by September 14 or stay in Virginia another year. At least we will not have the time constriction next year, we will not be bound with lease agreements after Sept. '09.

We knew we did not want to settle down in our current location, and renting has done us well for the 3 to 5 years we planned to stay here. Martin and I want to stay and settle in the next place we go, and we've done a lot of consideration about where - near family in Michigan or Wisconsin or Montana? Someplace new like Colorado or New England? Washington state where I once lived? Canada sounds nice.... We've decided on being close to family, and there were many other factors that draw us out west opposed to our beloved Great Lakes area. Too many and too personal to go into, but we also joked that we'll just swap houses with my sister for vacations as she and her soon-to-be husband have relocated to L'Anse in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. So, everything is in limbo at the moment. We have to move, but will it be 200 feet away or 2,000 miles?

Life at home

Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt for Adrian

These photos are from May (yes, I am so behind - let's call it a trend), and I actually sewed the binding on well before Adrian was born. Hurray for small accomplishments! I'll have better photos of the whole (and finished) quilt at some later date, life has just been too different, busy, and tiring lately to stop in here much. I have put all knitting aside for the next few months, or years, but organized the works-in-progress so I can pick right back up at any time without wondering what on earth I was doing with it or where I was at in the pattern.

In case I hadn't mentioned it, the quilt pattern was from a Better Homes and Gardens quilting leaflet, and while it's a variation on the disappearing nine patch block, it was not sewn or cut like one. I pieced the rows separately (no nine patch blocks to cut) because I wanted the most variety of fabrics - there are somewhere between 68 and 100 different kinds of fabric in there, mostly from my late mother in law's stash and maybe 20 or so from my own. The quilt top is hand pieced, the quilting also by hand but I put the binding on the top with the machine.

Adrian is here

35 weeks and 4 days pregnant, this is probably the last photo of me pregnant back in May.




Adrian Henry, born on Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 4:12pm. 20 inches long, 8lbs and 10oz, the exact measurements of his sister, who was also born during the 4pm hour.




Jonah is very happy to have a brother.




Anne was excited, but also worn out by all the activity and newness of the baby.



Adrian, a week old, and Anne taking the baby invasion very well.

I have not been around here much lately, mostly I have been plowing away at the baby's quilt in every brief spare minute and the rest of the time kept very busy with an energetic little girl. I am fortunate that the pregnancy has been relatively uneventful, I have been feeling well enough and even have had little back and sciatic pain thanks to my chiropractor. In the afternoon and evening I am tired, even dragging, but I'm not kidding anyone that caring for a little one and being pregnant at the same time can't be hard. The time is flying by, the weeks go by more like days and I only have a handful of weeks left. This little one will be showing up the first week of June, I will have labor induced a week before my due date (Flag Day) on account of my diabetes. Only a few small things left to get ready, and after having a baby just last year we have essentially been ready for this one from the start.

Goose Creek

On Saturday, we took a hike at the Keep Loudoun Beautiful park along Goose Creek. Trail information called the difficulty level "moderate", which was more up to my speed being 2 months away from giving birth than the Appalachian trail labeled "hard". We started off highway 7 near the golf course but didn't make it down to the Potomac. We turned around shortly after coming across an abandoned dam or water house. I checked into it this morning, I believe it was the failed Goose Creek canal, though I'll have to look into it some more to confirm this is one and the same. Edit: The canal seems to be at another location, closer to the Potomac. Still not sure what exactly we found here.






Geese perched on the opposite side of Goose Creek near the other canal remains.

Other photos from our adventure:

Dishcloth Submission

This is my submission for Larissa's call for volunteers, it will be sent out as soon as I get an envelope for it. Yarn is Sugar N Cream 04 Ecru, needles US 3, pattern #73 from Knitting Handbook.

Pieced Pillowcase

Just for kicks and to keep cabin fever at bay, I whipped up this pillowcase on the machine yesterday. It covers a foam sponge pillow for Anne's changing table. Inspired by some of the great quilts on the Flickr Modern Quilt-Along group.

One side in blues.



The flip side in pinks.

A quick update on life, I'm over a kidney infection and a chiropractor is doing wonders for my back and sciatic nerve pain with this pregnancy. I'm 23 weeks along, the time flies so fast the more kids you have. Winter is still here in the Mid-Atlantic, we still have bitter winds and occasional ice - along with a few 60 and 70 degree days to confuse the geese and humans alike. The days have been ordinary, mostly spent indoors while we wait out the last of the cold weather. Dinners have reflected this; clam chowder, grilled cheese, pancakes and sausage.

In fear of becoming an out of date and stale blog

This is a cross stitch piece Martin's mother made, she had several state patterns in her collection, this one might go back to Martin's sisters who lived in Washington for a time - I'm sure she made it for them. Eventually (ha!) I'd like to find the patterns for all the states Martin and I lived in growing up and together and have a collection to hang in the kitchen. So far, we'd need Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Washington, and Virginia.

Progress is coming slowly on the baby quilt, I haven't touched yarn or knitting needles in over a month. Everything is behind and I'm even getting laid up a bit with some strange symptoms, but tests and ultrasounds say that the baby is fine. Maybe I'll take some time to update my side bar while I'm on the mend, and not stay too far behind with this little blog.

Birthday Girl

Anne turned one year on the 18th, how time flies by. Today we are off for her third swim lesson, they have been great for working off all her toddler energy this winter when we can't always go outside. Most days we play in the morning while I get in a few chores, she naps around lunch time and I either crash and nap as well or try to get a few more blocks on the baby quilt pieced. Since it's been cold, I've been spending the late afternoon getting a dinner in the oven that can sit in there for a while and help heat the place at the same time. Tonight I'm going to tinker with The New Moosewood Cookbook's spinach ricotta pie, finished with stove top pudding (from a box, nothing fancy or exotic). We sort of hunker down for the cold, nothing too ambitious, nothing more than simple, and that's just fine.

At home when it's cold

The start of baby #3's quilt, much to go but there was a bit of light this morning and it may be months before we get the sun through the windows for any good amount of time.




I made a cinnamon crumb surprise cake/bread last night from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I love this book. I'd love it more if I could get my hands on some instant yeast in this area, but I've been going through the quick breads and other non-yeast recipes until I can find some proper yeast. The surprise part is a layer of apples and crumbs in the middle.




Robert supervised this photo shoot.

Perusing the monuments and memorials on New Year's Eve

Gifted Quilt and Hats from the holiday

Big Red lighthouse of Holland, Michigan. I only finished the quilting and put on the binding. Also quilted but not shown are four sets of quilted coasters.




A Nancy Blackett inspired seaman's cap for Ruth, a real life Ruth "Nancy" Blackett. From the Marsan watchcap pattern in Paton's Classic Wool in Bright Red.



A lacy chevron beret for Jessica in Jaeger Matchmaker in Feather.



I saw the Rangoli hat first on Livejournal's knitting community and knew I wanted to make it, well, just because. I used Galway Highland Heather in 732, it was gifted to Nicholas for his new girlfriend.

That's all I have for now, it's been a busy and lovely time with the family and we've all been battling a very stubborn cold. The kids and I are especially hit hard, we still have the gunk left over and Anne had a slight fever today and coughed a bit through the night. I have photos of Washington DC to post, but I'm not up for that now. I'm keeping things quiet with reading and piecing the new baby's quilt during the little time I have to myself. Despite being sick, the new year is starting out well enough. This year will be about pacing, flexibility and being realistic about having another baby join us in June. I can already see this blog moving into a day to day log of everyday life and less of a knitting a quilting showcase, though I do not plan to put those things totally aside. I will enjoy reading other's blogs and store up plans for future projects, probably too many than I can ever actually execute.

All knitting under cover, in the meantime, "Look! A cat!"

I can't post knitting photos just yet, the items have yet to be gifted and I won't ruin the surprise. Plus, we've had such grey days lately that I can't seem to catch any good light for photos. I did finish the advent/Christmas calendar, my son is thrilled with finding a new item each morning. Next year, Anne will be old enough to want to help.

I did not make this cat and kittens doll, but I was thrilled to see a similar one here. Mine has its kittens stuffed into apron pockets with scraps of vintage quilts cut from otherwise tattered and worn out old quilts. While this cat is mine personally, I may be inspired to make Anne her own, with a Katy No-Pocket type apron.