Office Help

Tua was helping out her grandfather in the office when these shots were taken. What fun all the new objects were. Among her favorites were the paper clips and the pencils. The paper clips appealed to her as a fashion accessory. The pencils just tasted good and were fun to drop.

Gjush & GiGi

By now most of you know of our connection to Albania via Bug's folks David and Sarah, through their mission, Planters Seed Foundation (see link above under prayer requests). Therefore, it was no surprise to us when they offered their new titles as grandparents to be in the Albanian vernacular. Below are some great shots taken by Bug of Tua with her Gjush and GiGi, by now two of her most favorite people in the world.

Sewing Session

Bug and Sarah have been using what little spare time they have to make curtains for the house. Tua, as befits her character, has wanted to help with every detail.

World Tour Tua

A normal week for Tua involves meeting no more than one new face. These weeks in Illinois are proving a deviation from the normal. The first photo below is of Tua and her Great-Grandmother Whiteford. Following that is one of Bug and Tua with great-great aunts Orvetta and Doreen.




"Two of a kind." There is a story behind this, but I've only been told some of it. I believe it involves a certain generational fashion sense. Apparently, Bug had found the 'perfect' skirt a few months ago and has been trying for some time, unsuccessfully, to find the pattern, with the intent of making a few more like it. After church on Sunday, she walked into her grandparents house and her grandmother was wearing the same thing. Her grandmother had made the same skirt in the same fabric. Thus, this story has the happy conclusion of Bug obtaining the perfect pattern for the perfect skirt from her fashion savvy grandmother.

Tua and her new Illinin-wear.

Manito

Just down the road from Green Valley is the town of Manito. It is here that Tua's grandfather David spends the majority of the growing season. It's close to the fields, the equipment, and most importantly, the irrigation systems. The task of getting up at 2 am to turn a sprinkler off is made much easier by the fact that your bed is within a five minute drive. It's too bad that Bug and Tua didn't make the trip out in July. Tua's sleeping habits would have been right along the same schedule as the spinklers, thought I don't think that she would have appreciated the brief soaking one gets as one walks up the lane to shut the water off. The top picture of Bug and Tua in front of the combine is followed by one of Tua and her aunt Hannah. Hannah, I have been told, has been having the time of her life with Tua.

Tua's First "Work" Pants

"Wait a minute" you say. "When did they get new kitchen cabinets? And what's with the tile? I thought they did wood floors?"

Very observant on your part, dear reader. The above shots were not taken in Bridgwater, Vermont. They weren't even taken in Vermont. Tua and Bug are spending two weeks on the farm in Green Valley, Illinois. Only in a state where the volume of corn and soybeans produced is matched soley by the tireless work ethic of the folks who grow it will you find things like Carhartt bibs for your 10 month old. Tua's heritage runs deep out here. You can see it in her smile.

While they are away, Seth has a list of tasks which is entirely self imposed and non of which need to be done necessarily. Bookshelves, for instance, would liberate an entire mass of floor space in the living room.

Killington

The color is on its way out. The reds and yellows of the birch and maple above 2000 feet have already disappeared. The three of us took a short hike up Skye peak on Sunday to catch the glowing colors in the fading afternoon light. A month from now, these trails will be neck deep in snow.

Crayons and Belly Laughs

A gift from Plymouth

This is another sweater picture. Seth's grandmother hand-knitted this sweater for Tua despite having arthritic hands. We thought we should grab Tua for a photo-op to show it off.

Miss Tua

Here she is after our walk in cooler temperatures this afternoon. She was on my back and lost her shoe somewhere on the walk, but it turned up on our doorstep later in the evening. She didn't seem to mind because she was so warm from her lovely new sweater that Werner & Rosemarie gave her from Germany.

Today's Foliage Shots

I thought I would try to take some shots of the hills in their foliage splendor, but these really didn't turn out that great. I will try to take some later in the week when the sun is out. Some of the hillsides around here are great and there have been a lot of tourists out and about. As for me, I have been staying home.

Walk in the Woods

While the crisp was baking in the oven, we decided to make the most of the warm autumn air and the clearing afternoon sky. Our path took us up into the hills behind our house.

A DeKalb vest and a Pioneer shirt. Hmmmmm............

More Apples

Brian and Arlyce made the drive up from Boston today for an afternoon of apple picking. Tua reaffirmed her keen interest in the fruit. Each time I would reach up to pull an apple from the tree, she would make a sharp screech of excitement. I would then, pass the apple back to her for her inspection and then put it in the bag.

Back home, as we sliced up our spoils for crisp, she couldn't take her eyes off of this one.

Rittersport

We were graced by the presence of Werner Hoffmann on Saturday evening. Herr Hoffmann (my brother Justin's father-in-law) is visiting this week from Kandern, Germany. On Saturday, Werner, Justin, Nadine and Pascal came over for a brief visit. Werner always remembers our love for confection and brings us a couple bars of Rittersport in the peppermint variety. These bars of dark chocolate and mint are the finest around and cannot be found anywhere in the states.

While they were here, we also got in a few shots of Tua and Pascal who is now about twice the weight of her and three times as fast. Watching his moves is just a glimpse of what we're in for in the coming months.

Ruby

We have been buying our milk straight from the source lately. Today, I met up with Bug and Tua at the new Dairy Barn at The Farm and Wilderness Camp where my friend Eric, the farm manager runs the operation. He gave us a tour complete with an introduction to Ruby, the 15 year old Jersey which despite her age and the fact that she's only running on three cylinders, still produces 18 gallons per week. Tua was thrilled with the experience.

Brushing Teeth