FIBERGUY

Our friends, Lois and Rich, came to meet Juliette last week after we arrived home and we also got to see them again on the bon voyage for Adair & Ken. Rich was kind enough to forward all the photos he took and I thought some of you might enjoy seeing them.

Update: Sorry about that! I thought the public album at Facebook would work OK for those of you who weren’t members. I’ve changed the photo album application in my blog so I don’t have to rely on an outside host. The new album browser appears below.

This picture is a really good visual metaphor of how I’ve been feeling since Friday afternoon. Fuzzy and out of focus. I’m tired. So tired. Emotions right there at the surface, ready to burst forth at the slightest provocation. If I could get one good night’s sleep it would do me a world of good. I know, whine, whine, whine. Well, deal with it – that’s how I feel. And if I could just carve out about 3 hours of time somewhere to get caught up with two household tasks that I really *need* to get done (balancing my checkbook and getting caught up on paying the household bills), I would feel so much less stressed. Maybe tonight. Pray for a miracle.

Don’t know what a pram is? Pram = A conveyance for baby transport, “perambulator” in full

The warm air and breeze felt nice!

Her hands warmed up for the firs time since she came home.

This pram came as a gift from Harald’s parents in Norway when he was born quite a few years back. It’s pushed quite a few family babies since then, and the tradition continues!

Pictures from Tuesday

Tuesday was the day she got her belly button and her first bath before meeting great aunties and uncles!

Not a happy camper – little dumplin’.

Asleep in papa’s arms after her morning bottle.

Here are some pictures taken Monday night at the hospital after the entrustment ceremony and after we all arrived safely home.

At home in her crib after getting her jammies on the first night.

At the hospital chapel right after the entrustment ceremony ended.

Papa holding her at home for the first time.

Here are the first pictures of Juliette Rayne, born Saturday night at 11:13.  She weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.  She’s got a cute little head of hair, and lungs that are working just fine, thankyouverymuch.

It seems as if everything is a go for the adoption to go forward.  The plan right now is that she will be discharged tomorrow, after a brief entrustment ceremony with all the parents and grandparents at the hospital.  Then we go into the period known as “legal risk” which, hopefully, will be all over in a couple of weeks.

This has been such a long journey, but I know it will end well now. This child is such a blessing to everyone.

How can you not love this elegant beauty? It’s from a small bit of peony taken from the Hall family homestead up in Lutsen. It’s really taken off in our yard and this year is full of blooms. We don’t know exactly what type it is, but then again we haven’t done a whole lot of research to try and find out. Harald’s mom says it’s probably at least 50-60 years old. And best of all? It’s a fragrant variety with a sweet, old-fashioned rose scent. Heavenly!

Update: After checking out several peony farm web sites, this peony looks amazingly like one known as “Gay Paree.”  How apropos.

As Harald so rightfully challenged me last night, it’s time to get some pictures after promising two weeks ago to do so. Even though I’ve been gathering pictures for several weeks, I am going to start with a picture taken just this morning. Sorry it isn’t clearer, but these are among H’s most precious additions to the garden and they are blooming particularly beautifully this year. They are Martagon lilies, a very old type of lily. Now, if you aren’t familiar with them, you wouldn’t know that the blooms are impossibly small – probably no more than a couple of inches across. Click here to read a good primer on Martagons.

I know most of you have been very patient with me over the last few months. Given the loss we experienced in early April, blogging just hasn’t been at the top of my list of things to get done. But spring has once again arrived in earnest in Minnesota and despite our near-total lack of rain in May, plants are busting out all over. Along with their beauty, hope itself has blossomed once again in my heart. I have been eagerly gathering pictures to share with you all. I’m not going to wait for August this time. I will post them with some frequency, but probably not everyday so as to avoid beauty-overload.

And thanks, really, for being patient with me. I do so appreciate it.

We left on Friday right after H got home from work and we had a lovely and easy drive to SE Minnesota.  Descending from Preston into the deep valley where the charming town rests was almost like driving backward into time.  You got this feeling you were going somewhere that time has forgot.  We got into Lanesboro and found our B&B, Habberstad House, a truly gorgeous 1897 Queen Anne home that has been lovingly restored down to the smallest detail.  We didn’t get in until a little after 6:30, so we were too late for the cheese and wine party, but they brought us glasses of wine to enjoy as soon as we were in our room.  The Scandinavian room was just beautiful.  We had this marvelous balcony overlooking the gardens and the water fountain.  You could smell  the sweet scent of magnolia from two trees in the garden below.  We sipped our wine on the balcony and then left for dinner.  We chose a place called The Vintage and we had the most marvelous meal we’ve had in a while.  We each had salads, and H had the paté (he said it was as good as any he had in France) while I had the spring pea bisque.  We each had the pork loin chops, and we finished with dessert.  We ordered a not-too-sweet Austrian Riesling and all that food and the bottle of wine came to $98, which just floored us.  Afterward, we headed back to the B&B and noticed there were ominous clouds to the south and lots of lightning.  We had a stormy evening from there on out, but we slept in that lovely bed with the softest cotton sheets I’ve ever felt and drifted off to the sound of rain on the rooftop, which was something delicious to hear.

We got up on Saturday and I took a long soak in the Jacuzzi whirpool tub.  We went downstairs and I took my knitting with me since breakfast wouldn’t be ready until 8:30.  We just enjoyed our coffee in the period parlors and met all the other house guests as they came down.  It was a charming and diverse group of people – three professor friends from UW/Madison, an elderly couple from Chicago also doing the art tour, and another couple from the Twin Cities, very friendly, just there to get away for a while.  We had apple dutch baby pancakes, and a fresh fruit salad with yogurt, and fresh banana bread served with a warm butter sauce, and fresh juice and coffee and it was quite the splendid set up.  And the hosts of the B&B were a really friendly, outgoing couple originally from the Twin Cities.

We took off after breakfast and started the art tour (see the brochure) in Lanesboro where several of the venues were, then made our way along the Root River (which is apparently a lot like the topography of Norway) to Houston, then on to Caledonia, Spring Grove, New Albin (Iowa), and finally ending up in Decorah at Seed Savers for our garden transplants.  We bought some pottery along the way and I hope to get some good pictures for you.  I didn’t take any pictures on the trip – to be honest, I didn’t want to do anything except take it all in.  And the weather was gray and icky, but we both really enjoy just riding through the countryside seeing new little towns, discovering places we haven’t been before.  We left Decorah about 5 on Saturday and ended up back in town by 8:00, but it felt like we had been gone much longer than that.  Beulah was so happy to see us both she just cried and cried when we got to H’s parents’ house.

We spent yesterday just laying around.  The knitting muse hit me over the head a little after breakfast, and I spent a good part of the afternoon adding some Scandinavian color work patterns into the front of the sweater I am making for Harald.  Oh, it did come out looking a treat.  I can’t wait to finish the front.  Maybe this week.  And it rained off and on all day yesterday, water our gardens and lawns desperately needed, so we just stayed in and didn’t do anything.  I did make a chicken and mushroom risotto recipe with a nice salad for dinner, and that was just right on a cold and wet day.

When I got on the elevator at the office this morning, it felt like I hadn’t been at work for a very long time, even though it was just a normal weekend.  I guess that means we had a really good time getting away.  All in all, I would say it was just what the doctor ordered.  And we love Lanesboro.  We plan to go back, maybe as early as June for a shorter day trip.  It’s only 30 minutes south of Rochester, so it’s completely doable.  And we are definitely going back in the fall when the leaves are changing.  And we are also planning to go back to Spring Grove, which we discovered on Saturday.  Ironically, there was a story in the Sunday travel section of the newspaper all about Spring Grove and how it was the first Norwegian settlement in what is now Minnesota.  And we got great plants at Seed Savers.  And Mom is getting better and has really seemed to turn the corner and has started eating again and sounding much more like her old self.  So, today it’s all good ….