Maple Syrup Time

5-17-2020 Note: this most likely was published in March 2015, not May. Snow and maple syruping are all done before May.

Today is a beautiful day to be outside!  With temperatures in the 40's, Bob and I decided we needed to get the sugar maple trees tapped today.  Our little bear Hamish, who always loves adventures, wanted to help.  I got out his wooden sled and he got to ride on it and take care of the pail of spiles.

Bob went to "the helpful place", our local Ace Hardware, and bought a new 7/16" bit for his drill.  The portable electric drill was much easier than the old brace and bit he used to use.  Hamish wanted to try everything, but Bob told him he wasn't strong enough to hold the drill or hammer.

Hamish was content to get spiles out of the pail and hold them while Bob drilled.  A pail lid made a pretty good seat.

"Thanks for the spile, Hamish."

"This is fun being inside the pail.  I hope Dad doesn't put the lid down though, while I am in here!"

"Sap tastes good!  Maybe not as good as honey, but my mom said it is much better after is is boiled and made into syrup.  I can't wait, but Dad said it will be a few days before we start to boil it.  We need a lot of pails full.  This was fun!"

Gypsy Rose, the Second Left-Over Bear

Gypsy Rose was finished at the same time I finished Hamish, but because she was a gift, I didn't write about her right away, and then I got sick and didn't have the energy or desire to write.  I decided today, that I can't wait any longer.  She needs her story told.

As many of the other bears were, she was finished on a trip to visit Bob's parents.  I think she has the sweetest face of all the bears, and just calls out for cuddling.

Hamish is on the left and Gypsy Rose is on the right.

Fortunately, some of the bears live close by, so she got to meet Othar and Benjamin one day when Davey and Bobby brought their bears over to my house.

In February,  it was "Take Your Bear to Work Day" at Bay Street Orthopaedics, so I decided to take this bear.  My co-worker Tina helped come up with the name Gypsy Rose.  She is helping Tina with some of her work.  It's a good thing that was just temporary information, because Gypsy got hold of Tina's pen and scribbled all over the paper.

Gypsy Rose is being a little Nosy Parker here, sniffing at one of her favorite foods in the cup.  Tina ended up sharing her oatmeal with her, since it would have been rude to eat in front of a baby bear!

I decided when I started making the last two bears that one would be for my daughter-in-law Jenn's birthday. The trouble was that Jenn's birthday was quite a while after Gypsy Rose was finished.  I started feeling bad that she was the only bear left to be adopted.  One day in April, Jenn called me and said she was in Traverse City, so I quickly wrapped the present and headed to Jenn's mom's house where they were having a ladies family gathering.

Jenn had seen a few photos of Gypsy Rose and was hoping she was going to be for her.  She was surprised and a little teary-eyed when she opened the early birthday gift.

I am so happy Gypsy Rose got to go to a home where she will be loved, and will get to live with four of the Griswold bears.  Hopefully they will all have some wonderful adventures.

Deb, Jenn's mom, also fell in love that night with Hamish.  I let him come along with me so he could see who was going to be Gypsy Rose's mom.

I don't think it is possible to be too old to love a Teddy bear.  I am thankful that all of Griswolds and Left-Overs have such wonderful new homes and mommies and daddies.

These will probably be the last bears.  Maybe their moms and dads will write about more of their adventures.

Hamish Loves His New Clothes

I mentioned before that Bob's bear Hamish is named for one of the characters in the Braveheart movie.  I have had it in the back of my mind for a little while that he needed some clothes to go along with that character.

I wanted to go to Petoskey yesterday to visit my daughter Becky, and asked Bob if I could take Hamish along with me.  He said that was a good idea, since he was going to work and thought it would be good for Hamish to have an adventure.

Becky and I had talked about making the bear a kilt, so she got out her selection of plaid wools and Hamish picked out the pretty blue one.  He knew his daddy would like it because it was a color  he could see (Bob is color blind, but can see blue).

Hamish is sitting here while Becky is cutting the fabric after she took some measurements for his kilt.  She needed a long strip of fabric for pleating.

Hamish is "helping" her pin the pleats.  He learned about sharp pins the hard way!  Ouch!

The pleats were stitched down and then he tried on the kilt.  It looks just about right.  I took it to the ironing board to press the pleats, so it would look nice and swishy when he moves.  Guys and kilts are just about as bad as little girls with their twirly dresses.

While I was pressing, Becky got out her leather, punch, and buckles and created a belt.

She is making the final adjustment before trimming it to the right length.  Hamish is quite proud of his REAL leather belt and big buckle!

Well, isn't he a handsome lad?!

The over the shoulder cloth really adds to the outfit, and pressed pleats really are swishy!

Bob and Hamish both are quite happy with the outfit.  Happy birthday from Becky!

The Left-Over bears and all the other Griswold bears have been one of my favorite projects.

Stay tuned for the story of Gypsy Rose, which will be coming soon.

The Pink Pony and the Third Left-over Bear

While on vacation last week, Bob and I visited weaving friends, Lou and Betty, down in Arkansas.  Lou has several Newcomb looms, but doesn't use the flyshuttle mechanisms on them.  When I told him I bought a Weaver's Delight loom to restore but it didn't come with the tube stuffing machine (the pink pony), he offered the one he didn't use to me.  Thanks Lou!!

We went down to Arkansas on Bob's birthday, and while we were at Betty and Lou's house, I gave Bob his present.  I found out he never had a Teddy bear as a child, so I gave him my third left-over bear, T14.  Bob named him Hamish (pronounced Hay'-mish) after a character in the Braveheart movie.

We had a bit of fun with Hamish as we traveled home this past Saturday.  I taught him how to read a map so he could help his daddy with navigation.

We played our usual game of cows and horses, getting points for them on our side of the road, and extra points for white ones.  If we passed a cemetery on our side of the car, we lost our points.

Hamish kept telling me he wanted to ride the pony, and I thought he was talking about one of the ponies in our game.  Then it dawned on me that he overheard us talking about the pink pony, and that was what he meant!  When we stopped in Hannibal, Missouri for lunch, we got the pony out and let him ride.

Hannibal was kind of exciting for Hamish.  He threw his arms up in the air when he saw his first train!  "Here comes the train!  Here comes the train!  Yipee!!" he started to yell.  He was jumping around so much, Bob had to hold on to him for dear life, since that fence rail was right over a cliff!

The train was passing over the Mississippi River from Illinois and entered a tunnel through the hill.  Bob knows all the good train-watching spots and we were fortunate one came along before we got on the road again.

The rest of the trip was uneventful.  We did see the statue of Mark Twain and then a couple more trains in Indiana.  I suppose there will be more train-watching trips in Hamish's future.

Baby Teddy bears do get tired, especially when they try to stay awake for the whole trip.  Hamish was so afraid he was going to miss something!  He made up for it on Sunday we got home, spending most of the day sleeping. 

We are glad to be home, but not glad for the cold and snow.  It's melting quickly though, and spring is promising to be here soon.  Snowdrops are blooming and daffodils will be showing their sunny faces with a bit warmer weather.