"A Dish Full of Sinks"

Anyone ever hear of Mary Englebreit's famous line: "A Chair Full of Bowlies"? Well, Boxing Day morning I told Nancy when she called that I had a 'dish full of sinks'. The sad thing is that I didn't know what I said until she told me so I wasn't even being funny on purpose! Must be quite a lot of happy stress around this house, eh?

Hope all your Christmases were merry ones! And that 2007 is not too full of blunders for you and yours.

Love from Oma and Pops' house!

Mini '06 Xmas Blunders at the Baker's

Teddy made a huge blunder this year just before the 'East Coast Baker's' Christmas meal was ready. It hadn't even been served, eaten or cleaned up yet when he plugged up the kitchen sink!

Though he was very remorseful, the repercussions have been amazing. First of all, Danielle and Nancy did a lot of the dishes in the tiny sunroom bar sink. But we saved the bulk of them until the next day, (in hopes that the plumbing would be fixed relatively quickly). It ended up, though, at around noon, that two big boxes of dirty dishes got brought to sweet neighbor Jane's house (where the water was running).

Meanwhile, Thomas' good friend Brett had come over and he told us that it was possible to unclog a kitchen sink by using a garden hose. He was then kind enough to stay around to supervise and to hold the stopper over one sink, while Ruth helped Teddy with the hose and Thomas manned the spiggot in the back garden.

FINALLY we had success and a free sink! (As well as clean dishes from across the street!)

Teddy, you are forgiven but you'd better thank Plumber Ken and his entourage.

The Painting's Nearly Done

Removing miles and miles of painter's tape is much easier if you use your head!

The word is that Mom and Dad (Baker) are quite content in their new 'quarters' - that is, the bedroom on the main floor that Ken and I have used for years. We got the toilet area and closet painted just in time for their arrival - and now there's Ruth's bathroom to work on before she arrives Christmas Day. Ken and I are getting some much-needed exercise going from one upstairs area to the other. (Our new bedroom is Danielle's old room - also repainted - are we nuts?)

So many good changes!! And the carpets get cleaned today.

I might show some more 'decorating' pictures later but it's actually pretty boring - truly just maintenance that we had put off for far too long. Feels good to be on top of some of it for sure! Now if I could just get some time to go through the boxes of stuff that I moved from our nightstands and bathroom shelves. I believe the trash man will be surprised at how much we have to offer this week.

We're almost ready for Christmas! How about YOU? Love, Oma Marijke

Making Stockings

Let me tell you the 'Christmas stockings' story.

Well, when Garrison was about to be born, Erika thought she would like green and red velvet stockings for her children. She liked the idea of a crocheted top - and a photograph of the child with his or her parents. So I made the first one with a scalloped edge. When that seemed a bit too 'feminine' looking, I altered the top and put initials on instead. Then, when Daniel came along, I made initials for the top of his red stocking - along with a little picture of him alone with his parents.

Something didn't feel quite right for Erika, though. Sure enough, when I made Jack Greer's stocking, Erika knew she'd like the same for her boys (and upcoming baby).

Since they don't take too long, I was happy to oblige, coming up with three; they have either red, green or white stripes on a taupe background. She says they're perfect even without initials on them (like Jack Greer's). (Now I wonder if Schelyn will want Jack Greer's changed somewhat to make it look more Christmasy.)

Anyway, one day in early December I had a feeling that Erika's best friend, Stacy would be in need of a stocking for her daughter, Grace. Sure enough, when Erika called her to find out about it, she said that she had just picked one up at the store. Because Erika told her how cuddly these stitched stockings were, and that I had offered to make one for Grace if she still needed one, Stacy gave me permission to 'stitch away'. (As you can imagine, Mommy and daughter were both delighted when the package arrived - and it fits a lot differently than Jack Greer's does!)


The two red and white stockings in one of these other pictures are Olice's and his new brother or sister's. And the VERY BIG stocking that Jack Greer is using as a blanket is Todd and Schleyn (Flippin)'s to share for now. (S&T may want me to make them a different big stocking for next year - this one kind of matches the Fisher family's 'theme' - we'll see!)

I'm trying to get a huge one ready for Thomas - in the colors of his favorite college. In the meantime, though, does anyone know someone who would like some beautiful velvet stockings? It's not too early to be thinking about 2007!! And I should have enough time to crochet different initials by then, right?

I have posted some new (and a couple old) pictures of Jack Greer at: http://sevenschepers.blogspot.com/
Check them out if you want!
-S

The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round...

So, a collegue and I attended the unveiling of a mural downtown at the Bus Transfer Center... lots of interesting things to note there, not the least of which is the fact that we were deep inside the bus transfer center to dedicate a mural that most of the citizens of Greenville will never see nor appreciate... Anyway, it was also the 30th anniversary of the GTA bus system in the city. Here we are with our smiling faces, which can also be viewed by going to: