My great-granddaughter

This is Natalie, my granddaughter, holding my great-granddaughter Kameron. The sock-monkey belongs to Lyndsay, my Georgia grandchild. Click to watch the video and see Kami talking to the monkey.

We're still getting rain every day, which puts a damper on some of the plans we had for Jim's visit.

After they took the muffler off the Oliver, Cliff and Jim kept running it up and down the road fast because when the turbo kicks in, there's a whistling sound they both enjoy hearing. Cliff may never put a muffler on that tractor again.

They've now fixed every little leak and each slight problem the old (1974) tractor had. Cliff's "winter project" has been taken care of in three days, with the enthusiastic help of our son. I think the only thing left for Cliff to do is paint it!

Yesterday Lyndsay helped me muck out the horse stall; she opened the gate for me each time I took the full wheelbarrow to the compost pile and back again. She also had a horseback ride on Blue in the round pen.

This morning, all is quiet, since Lyndsay spent the night at my daughter's house with her cousins; not that she's a noisy child. She's very quiet and well-mannered. Yesterday afternoon, I couldn't find her anywhere; but I know her well enough to be confident she wouldn't go anyplace she shouldn't. After much calling and searching, I found her in her dad's bed, sound asleep.

Cliff and Jim have already headed to the shop; who knows what they'll find to do today. I have turkey in the oven, and it smells great!

Be sure to vote in my poll on the right. I personally voted "no"; I'll be interested in seeing what the majority of you think.

Unexpected windfalls

I have a new great-granddaughter. I know the customary thing to do is to announce it as soon as you know there's a pregnancy.

But these days, things aren't always preplanned. Sometimes there are no wedding bells preceding the birth announcement. You wait around, scared to commit, because you aren't sure you'll ever have any access to the baby.

Well, I met my great-granddaughter yesterday, and she's lovely. So far, so good. I hear she'll be visiting tomorrow. We'll see if we can't get a four-generations picture, just because that's what my mom's family always did. I have to keep those old family traditions going.

That's Kami with my son-in-law, taken last night.

Isn't she beautiful?