Schrodinger's Kittie

So, here are some of the wonderful things I got from my delightful and spectacular family.

My mother finished the king sized quilt she’s been working on for me for years. I love it!

Then, if that weren’t enough to blow me away – Daddy gave me a spinning wheel! He made it out of jarrah wood. It’s got ash splines in the wheel; but, otherwise, it’s 100% jarrah. It’s gorgeous and the weight of it is surreal. It definitely won’t be walking across the floor when I use it.

Plus a gorgeous cedar box. And, Dad let me play with his lathe and make myself a jarrah rolling pin out of the left over wood. How much does my Daddy love me? Well, he found out he was allergic to jarrah when he started making the wheel. Yet, he pushed on through and finished it for me – in a wood he’s allergic to!

Finally, we pieced together the family blanket. Each of the blocks was made by someone in the family:

Emily – age 10 – did the brown and blue variegated squares.
Jessica – age 12 – did the rainbow variegated squares.
Jason – age 17 – did the ivory squares.
Julia – my sister – did the maroon squares.
I did the oatmeal squares.
Mom did the green squares.

I did a key square to fill the one spot that was left empty. As you can see, not everyone got their full number of squares done.

I love how it turned out.

The best Christmas present I can ever receive is the love of an item that I’ve taken the time to make for someone. I am blessed to belong to a family of people who truly appreciate hand crafted items. I think the highlight of my night was when my mother and her sisters loved their shawls…and even better than that? When my little cousin, Kaylee, actually fit into the sweater I made her. I was so worried that it might not fit…but, it was as if I’d had her there to measure against. Amazingly perfect fit.

Photos:

They all opened their presents at the same time and loved them. I managed to select the perfect colours for each of them. Yay!

Then the cuteness overload began:

Of course, who can focus on just the knitting when there are so many other wonderful things going on and so much wonderful family and laughter?

I am going to cheat and just post the whole crew here, to help keep the post from going way overboard in the photo area – but, I am so glad to be a part of this family. I can’t even begin to explain how much they mean to me – each and every one of them.

Back Row (left to right): Grace, Emily, Matt, Jessica, Deborah, Wayne
Front Row (left to right): Bryan, Kaylee, Lesli, Dianne, Robert, Helen, Carol, Delbert, Julia

If only Jaz had been there, it would have been perfect. As it was, we all thought of him and called to let him know he was missed and loved.

I spent a good bit of time on the phone with my cousin, Fred, up in Dallas on Saturday. It was absolutely wonderful to get to talk to him. He’s got tons and tons of information and stories to share and I’m just flat out tickled to have family so close. Ok, maybe a lot of people might think that people who belong to my father’s mother’s father’s side of the family are a bit far removed to consider family; but, I disagree. In my mind, they are very much family.

Heck, one cousin I consider as close as a sister is a bit more distant than that in the family tree. Let’s see….my eleven times great-grandaddy had two wives. The first wife’s children is who she is descended from and I am from the second. Or is it the other way around? I’ll have to go look. Needless to say, it amused us no end to find that out, since we’d been friends for years before we realized it. Even more amusing is that she is most likely a cousin to my son from both my side of the family and his father’s side of the family. Closer on his father’s, but still. What can I say? I’m easily entertained.

On a totally different subject…There is this homeless man who stands on the corner with a little sign that says “Lear jet out of fuel”. It always makes me chuckle when I see it. That man is always there. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of days I’ve headed to work and he’s not been there. And, every time, I worry about him. Is he ok? Did he have difficulty? Has he gotten sick? He’s by no means young. He always has a smile and a kind word. And always nary a whiff of alcohol, nor a glaze in his eye. I don’t ever recall having seen him smoking, either. He’s always so sweet. And…he’s always there. Day in and day out, he is there.

Today, it is cold and rainy out. Nasty weather. Yet, he walks up and down that little stretch of road with a smile and a kind word for everyone who takes the time to see him. Just see him. I’m not the only one won over by this gentle, old man. I saw someone the other day do something I do for him from time to time. She gave him her lunch. I, sometimes, stop for coffee on my way in to work in the morning. Almost every time I do so, I get him one too. Especially on days like today.

I want to make him this big, toasty scarf to be able to wrap up around his ears and lower face to help keep him warm – maybe brown with a darker brown jet worked into the end of it. Just because I want to do something for this man who inspires me. And, he does – if that man can be on that corner every day…in weather like this…at the age he is. I can sure as heck manage to survive in my comfortable office, sitting on my arse.

You know the one reason I hesitate to do such a thing for him, though? And, I find myself so ashamed of the comfortable people for this…but, if he had a nice scarf on, along with other warm clothes so he could more readily withstand the weather he braves every day…the thought that would go through people’s minds who see him (and I dare any of you to deny it) is that he has money enough to afford something nice and how stupid would it be to pander to him even more?

Maybe he could get a job – even at his age – I don’t know. I do know, if he did, whoever his employer was would have one of the most reliable employees they had ever had the good fortune to employ.

_{**Photo: Portait of Homeless Man in a Pensive State By: Leroy Skalstad, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,USA, Formerly Homeless. This photo looks much like the gentle man I am speaking of.}