Nine Years Ago Today

My son was born.

All my birth and infant pics are in storage. Oops.

But I can still tell your birth story.

I had been having contractions for the previous two days, and this was your projected due date. Your sister was six days late, so I wasn't too concerned when I left work for my 40 week checkup. Then the midwife told me I was already five centimeters dilated.

I waited up all night because I knew that you were coming, and we even gave the midwife an extra hour's sleep. The second can certainly be quicker.

Into the world, fast and furious. Fast, only three hours after arriving at the hospital. Furious, because you were 2.5 pounds larger than expected. Will never forget the look on the midwife's face.

"Oh. He is bigger than I thought."

Yup. You were my big boy. Still are. Loved by your family forever and a day. I celebrate each moment we have together.

Thank you for telling me you will always love me and never want to leave me (although you may change your mind after graduating high school, or in a couple days).

I love you too niblet. Happy Birthday.

#followalibrarian

I have been on Twitter (@booksNyarn) for a couple months now. It has been a good way to check in on friends, colleagues and interests. You get to "follow" people - and people follow you.

Each Friday is a Follow Friday. Users will hash tag (#) their subject in the tweet and then people can search Twitter for those conversations based on that hash tag. The top ones will be shown on your Twitter profile.

Today was started #followalibrarian and I was awestruck by the amount of virtual colleagues and cohorts I could find. New connections for work and play are always a find. I went from around 60 followers to over 100, and met some new librarians along the way.

Follow along!

Reading List

Summer has brought a lot more to do - and the time passes much faster than school days (Why IS that?)

However, the niblets and I still make it to the library once a week. Not only to receive my fix of the greatest free addiction a person could have (I can have all the books I want for FREE? And I don't have to store them in my house; I can give them back?) but of course the kids also have reading assignments over the summer. Trying to convince them that yes, Dracula is a classic but no, I still don't think they will accept you reading the graphic novel form, has been a challenge.

Especially since the only time I read Wuthering Heights was in third grade. In a graphic novel. This is where the "Do as I say not as I have done" argument gets inserted.

But, I do have a stack in my living room that includes:

How I Learned To Cook: Culinary Educations from some of the World's Greatest Chefs, edited by Kimberly Wit

How To Freeze: Everything You Needed to Know about Freezing and Freezer Management by Carolyn Humphries

The Everything Canning & Preserving Book: All You Need to Know to Enjoy Natural Healthy Foods Year After Year

Childhood Unbound: Saving Our Kids Best Selves - Confident Parenting in a World of Change by Ron Taf

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg

Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich

I also recently purchased a book that I have read but knew I needed to add to my collection: Plenty by Alisa Smith. In Canada, this was called The 100-Mile Diet, and brought to light the notion of buying locally.

Many people used to think this was a quirk - local buying, canning and preserving, growing food. It used to be a pleasure, a hobby. For many, it wasn't a consideration. But in this day and age, with what our country, even our world, is facing, I believe a lot of the future will be based in the past. Ideas, pastimes, even civilizations are created and destroyed, picked up and put down and picked up again. The Wheel Turns.

What Do June Showers Bring?

Rain has been rather consistent this past month. I have heard reports of 27 out of 30 days had rain here. Don't get me wrong - I love rain. It has beauty - both in sight and sound. Lying in bed listening to the rain fall is a wonderful pastime. Except when that time is 4am and you cannot get back to sleep.

The rain nourishes the Earth. It is a very important part of the cycle of Life, and I would rather have it than not. It makes the days that the sun comes and makes his presence known that much more dramatic.

And the rain's effects can be dramatic also.


This is what I started out with for my tomatoes. The transplants were about six weeks old and pretty hardy.

Now I have these:


Needless to say they are a LOT bigger. I had Romas last year, and the plants were of decent albeit smaller size, not quite 3 feet tall. This year I have heirlooms: Black Brandywine and Orange Banana and Green Skin Long Keeper. They are large plants. Many have topped the stakes I put in.


My only real concern with the large amounts of rain is that there will be not enough sunshine to help produce the tomatoes. But, we still have a lot of July to go. I am hopeful.

I had some new plants this year too, for the little faerie garden I put in out front: foxglove and violets and bee balm. They have grown huge also, overtaking the planter and swooping down towards the grass. While I certainly wouldn't mind them running rampant through the yard, my landlords probably would. But, I did have my first bee balm bloom, and I can see why those insects would be drawn there. Gorgeous.