The Games Kids Play





The happy relief of their arrival.

 My son, Sharif, and his family living in Japan visited us again, this time for just two weeks, in February.

Right after they arrived his two sons (Liam who turned 7 in January and Chris who will turn 4 in March) seemed to feel at home in our house.  Liam improvised a game right away wherein Chris would 'hide' his eyes and Liam would hide some stamps around the house.

Here Liam shows off the grid.  Chris
is shy and refused to pose with Liam.

Then Chris would look for the stamps and when he found one he would stamp a grid that Liam had drawn.

Liam loves to build things, and I gave him these snap together blocks that he used to create these magical creatures.

I let them set up a electrical 19th Century skating rink from Christmas.  Chris was fascinated with the skaters that floated around this little Christmas tree on a  magnetic track.

 We visited the Art Museum
for a program

on Black History and then made colleges in the Cast Gallery.

We made pom-pom Easter eggs, rushing the season a bit. 



Later the boys hunted plastic Easter eggs with small amounts of candy inside them.



Liam asked if he could eat a piece of candy.  I said, "OK.  One piece."  The next thing I knew Liam's mouth was so full of candy he was unable to speak.  All candy in his eggs was gone, gone, gone.

The weather improved until we could enjoy the outdoors despite the overcast skies.  Chris helped his mom rack leaves up in the front yard. It hasn't looked so good since the last time we mowed it.

Here Chris is letting his dad know that he does NOT want to ride the bike nor wear the helmet that Sharif is preparing to fit on him.

Then they bounced on the trampoline with the neighborhood children.

They had plenty of drawing and painting experience.  Here are our ROCKETMEN!!

Time to leave.  Off to see cousins in California and enjoy Disneyland.  Now they are back in Japan, and we miss them still.

Blizzard! February 1, 2011

Since this blizzard (snow and wind) is the biggest snow Columbia has had in a generation, I feel the need to write about it, although the Upper Midwest and the Northeast might hardly take notice of our 20 inches.

  The snow began Tuesday morning like a sheer curtain blowing in the wind outside of our windows.  The birds seemed determined to eat the seeds on our deck even as the wind blew the birds about, particularly the little juncos. 
My husband went out in the afternoon to spread more seed and to position a kitty litter top with a round opening in such a way that the seeds inside wouldn't be covered by snow.  Even though the juncos were leery about going into the protected kitty litter top.  Once inside a couple of them tried to stake their claim and drive other birds away. 

The Carolina wren came around eating the suet cake and looking for the meal worms in the bluebird feeder, but it was filled with snow.

The snow continued all night, and tapered off early the next morning. 

Wednesday saw clearing skies without the dangerous wind predicted. I took my camera outside to snap some snow pictures and was surprised to find our neighbor already clearing our driveway with his snow blower.   He estimated the accumulation at about 20 inches.

The front gate leadiig the the backyard

While Bill ran his snow blower for an appreciative audience of two (my husband and me), I also snapped several snow pictures.

This is neither our house nor our spruce, but they are both beautiful in the snow.



The birds are a continual fascination, at least to me. The cardinals are the kings and queens of the deck.  Sometimes I count a dozen cardinals either feeding on the deck or waiting a turn in the nearest redbud tree.

However, the starlings also gather in the redbud and wait for an auspicious time to conduct a raid.

My favorite wren finally got to finish off the mealworms I had bought last summer for a bluebird who never materialized. 

I kept them in the refrigerator, until my husband finally set them out, but they still showed sign of life. I had put some out for a mockingbird several weeks ago, that came to drink in our heated birdbath.  Perhaps the feeder was too small for him to alight on, but he ignored the mealworms to the wren's delight.

Mother of Millions

It's January now, and I am still looking longingly at the Christmas decorations, hating to put them away for a year, yet not wanting casual visitors to think I am just lazy! Therefore, as a antidote to post-holiday blues, I am thinking about the metamorphosis of one of my houseplants from a benign little sprout to a monster!

Two summers ago a friend had her regular house/lawn party where she gives her guests a small plant as a departing favor.  Last summer this plant grew to be a rather large specimen and developed little plantlets at the tips of its leaves.   (Click on the pictures to enlarge.) Each one of the little plantlets was like a seed or a spore, and several took root voluntarily when falling into pots of soil beneath the 'mother.'

The philodendron shares its pot with a plantlet.

The plantlet stakes its claim over a another volunteer growth.

I called my hostess, and asked her to identify the plant.  She had to consult with her daughter, and then gave me the basic name of Bryophyllum.  I did some research on the Internet, and came up with the Latin name of Daigremontianum.

Common names for this plant include Mother of Thousands, Mother of Millions, Devil's Backbone, and Flopper. Any of these names would be descriptive of the plant, but I chose Mother of Millions, because it has a nice alliteration and no religious connotation. 

 I gave my sister one of the 'babies' growing volunteer. 

It continues to prosper, but it won't produce any plantlets until next summer, if it follows the example of my plant.

This fall I brought the plant indoors and marveled at the size of it.  In the three or so months it has been sitting on a table by the east downstairs family room window, it has grown to gigantic proportions.  Some of this growth may be due to its attempt to take advantage of the eastern sun that comes into the room over the outside hedge. 

The poor thing has roots exploding

from the pot, as you can see on the right.  Maybe this is why one of its common names is Flopper!  I wonder if I should, or even could,  move it to a more commodious container.  It's not complaining now,

except that it is rather spindly.  Perhaps it craves more light.  Otherwise, though, it seems to be making do.  What do you think?

In this photograph the morning sun is highlighting the blossoms.

Hey! Surprise.  This morning, a day after I posted this blog, I examined the leaves at the end of those spindly branches only to discover that they weren't leaves at all, but FLOWERS!  This plant reproduces by plantlets and flowers.  What next?  Maybe I will soon hear it say, "FEED ME!"

Company and Carrot Pudding

 I told myself while I was decorating the house that I was doing it for my own pleasure.  But once it was done I wanted to share the house with friends and family.  Therefore, I invited my family and two of my friends for my mother's recipe of carrot pudding.  Most hostesses would think nothing of inviting 7 people over for a meal, but not me.  I went easy on myself, and asked this intimate group over for dessert.

 I complained while making the pudding two days in advance, that I had forgotten how labor intensive it was.  Both the cup of raw carrots and the cup of raw potato must be grated.  This took forever. I also found time from the preparation to fix supper and clean up, so I didn't finish the carrot pudding (which also has a cup of dates and could be called carrot date pudding) until 11:00 PM.  I put the two cans of pudding on to steam in the canning steamer because it's big, and set the alarm for 3:00 AM.  I slept on the living room couch, but woke about 10 minutes before the alarm, turned off the heat and let the cans cool the rest of the night.

Table setting:  I do this only a few times a year so I
feel inclined to keep a visual record of the occasion.

When I was younger...about 30 years ago...I ground the carrots and potato in a food grinder, thinking that the carrots would be fine enough to cook to soft during the 4 hours of steaming.  However, I could feel the tiny bits of carrot when I ate it, so I returned to the laborious task of grating.  You also have to be careful not to scrape your knuckles!



One of the best things about the pudding is the sauce made with 2 teaspoons of butter, a cup of powdered sugar and a raw egg. I was reluctant to use a raw egg in the recipe, but finally mixed the three ingredients together, zapped them in the microwave for 30 seconds, mixed in 2 tablespoons of rum and set it in the refrigerator for a day.  Before serving I whipped cream and added a cup to the sauce (yummy!) as it was served.  Delicious!

Friends and family:  my husband's back, my sister - Mary Sue, Carol,
Marjory (hmmm, what IS she thinking about?), Trudie and my brother - Whitney.

 I noticed, however, my sister and brother asked for second helpings, while my friends did not.  It is one of those desserts that brings back memories of our mother and of home.  My husband also ate a second piece, but that may have been because our supper was pretty skimpy. I ate a second piece after company had gone, because I wanted to make sure everyone had had enough, and I could relax with a last cup of coffee.

Recipe for Carrot Pudding

1 cup flour                                         1 cup sugar

1 cup grated raw carrot                      1 tsp soda

1 cup grated raw potato                      1/2 tsp each of

1 cup (8 oz.) dates                              cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg

(Cut up dates into flour                        1/2 cup butter creamed with sugar 

so they don't stick together.)                

Mix thoroughly and steam four hours.  (I use 'tin' coffee cans or cans of similar size. If you can't find a 'tin' coffee can, use smaller vegetable 'tin' cans. 

Cover the top(s) with aluminum foil and a plastic cover if that is to be had.)  Serve hot with the sauce described in the blog.  Use 1 tsp vanilla for flavoring if you don't care for alcohol.

Decorating for Christmas in Slow Motion

Yes, it took me four - I counted - four days to decorate the house for Christmas.  Most of the decorations are stored under the stairway.  First day I handed them off to my husband who carried them upstairs or left them in the downstairs walkway.

The last couple of days I worked on hanging garlands on the staircase, wondering if the results were worth the effort.  Finally, we lugged our forlorn Christmas tree out of the garage and upstairs. 

We arranged red and green lights on it, as it looses more of its own white lights every year. 
Of course, once lighted, nearly any Christmas tree looks lovely and warm. The ornaments on the left are made of camel bone.  I brought a number of them from Egypt where we lived for ten years in the 1990's.

The mouse on the right is the newest addition to my collection. 
The two mice behind glass are George and  Martha Washington-
won in the 'Christmas Basket' Drawing several years ago.

Our church is famous for its handmade mice that are sold at the Christmas Bazaar every year.  Since I am working during the bazaar, I have trouble finding the time to buy a mouse. This year I was able to buy the last mouse available.

This little lady arrived last year.  Notice her tiny earrings, and her cat with yarn ball beside her.

Other arrangements around the house included these angels flying over the
dining room table, making silent music.

This in just one of the Santas I display around the living room.  He is the most lavishly attired.

Of course all of the empty or nearly empty boxes and sacks need to be returned to storage underneath the stairs.  Grooooan! 

Will all this stuff go

 into this little space? 

Yes, it did, and with my husband handing the boxes and bags to me it took less then ten minutes.  Now in January (hopefully not February), all these boxes and bags must come out again; Christmas decorations must be packed away.  However, I promise I won't write a blog about that!

Thanksgiving - "The Best Yet"

Since Joyce was due to attend a Thanksgiving Friday wedding in Northern California, it appeared as if their family was not going to be able to come for Thanksgiving this year.  I pulled out the stops in a campaign to change their minds, and in the end, Wade's family came to Columbia for an early (Tuesday, the 23rd) Thanksgiving.

They left Los Angeles Friday evening, the 19th, and didn't arrive here until about 2:00 Saturday morning and immediately hit their assorted beds.  They had only 4 full days here, but they accomplished quite a lot.  Wade helped his dad buy a Toshiba laptop and a wireless modum.  He also helped straighten out various technical problems and replaced the burnt out light bulb above the door on the front porch.  He even took an interest in replenishing our bird feeder on the deck.

Our neighbor had offered us the use of his family's basketball goal and driveway.   Zach and his dad played one on one, and I realized that Zachary was master of the outside shot.  When Cody arrived, Wade and he played against Zachary.

Cody rode our small bike with Joyce while she ran, and Zachary rode my lonely bike (I haven't ridden it since I broke my hip in the kitchen almost 2 years ago.) with Wade when he ran. On Monday the two families, Wade's and Steven's, went swimming at the ARC.



Left to right:  Zanib, Joyce, Zachary and Cody
play Sorry

 Youssef's cousin Zanib, arrived on Sunday - a happy addition to the social milieu.  She brought gingersnaps, glazed walnuts,  a pomegranate, a pumpkin cream cheese cake for Thanksgiving dinner and other good things.

Zanib, Joyce and the kids were soon playing Sorry. Later, I joined the game, and came in LAST.  What a surprise.  However, the game is mostly based on luck so I shouldn't stew.  However, skillful players can even turn luck to their advantage.

Thanksgiving Tuesday found the grand kids getting reacquainted with one another.  Here they're playing Pop Then Hop.

Thanksgiving dinner was a group affair.  I made the 24 pound turkey, getting it in the oven by 8:00 A.M.  Joyce made the sausage stuffing (a wonderful recipe with pecans, sage sausage, celery, and apples), and the sweet potatoes with marshmallows. Zanib was her trusty peeler and chopper.  Marjory brought mashed potatoes, steamed green beans with red pepper slices and pumpkin pie.  Shauna brought pumpkin cake bars that were a godsend, because the 2 kinds of pumpkin pie wouldn't have been quite enough.  Mary Sue brought yummy cranberry relish, a chex mix appetizer, and her daughter lovely daughter Suzanne.  Wade and Steven sliced the turkey, although  Wade served more in the advisory capacity. As we were getting the dinner on the table - the hardest part of any meal - there were 6 women at work in the kitchen.

Once we sat down, twelve of us,  I realized that there were 3 religions represented around the table:  Christian, Muslim and Buddhist.  (There may have been an agnostic or atheist in the group, too, but we won't go into that.)

Left to right: Cody (eating), Sarah, Sidney, and Zachary

The grands had their own table where they didn't have to worry too much about manners.

After dinner, the other five women washed and dried dishes and silverware, while I put things away.  Lovely arrangement!  Thank you, you beautiful ladies.


After dinner it was time for family pictures.  Surely, you know all these people by now, but just in case here they are:
Back row, left to right
Wade, Whitney, Marjory, Steven, Shauna
Middle row, left to right
Joyce, Youssef, Nancy, Mary Sue, Suzanne
Front row (kids):
Cody, Sarah, Sidney, Zachary

Wednesday morning was time to say good by.  This was when I was happy to hear Wade say that it was the 'best Thanksgiving  yet.' He and his family had a grueling few days ahead of them.  They would catch the plane from Kansas City in the afternoon, get into LA Wednesday evening. They would drive to Northern California Friday to arrive an hour or so before the wedding, just in time to change into their good clothes.  The next day (Saturday) they would drive back to Los Angeles.

Joyce knitted two mufflers while she was here, of which I was the lucky recipient. 

 On the right, I am modeling one of them.  The other one is ruffly, made with the same kind of wool. Very chic.  Yes, I know, I was being a bit silly in this picture.

Last photo.  Boo hoo.  Or nearly the last photo.  Believe me, I have more. 

Zanib left soon after Wade and his family.  She had slept 3 nights on the

couch, poor thing.  On the right, she

smiles her wonderful smile with Youssef and makes the best of it. 

Sidney and Sarah

Finally, I dropped in on Whitney and Marge the night before Steven and Shauna left, to take a picture of the only girl grands in the family.  I didn't think I'd taken a picture that had done them justice. I still haven't.  They had just gotten ready for bed. A perfect end to a perfect week.