the love part

hi, echinacea

Day three of our weekend alone: Lady Gaga is pumping in the livingroom and I'm listening to two nine-year olds' rendition of what it would be like to be at a dance. I'm hearing "country bumpkin" and "pretend like I picked the boy up by the waist" and "sort of like Ron Weasley's hair?"  and "aaaaaaawwwwkward!" I think it's best that I'm sequestered in the bedroom where there is late afternoon sun and two kitties happy to indulge my stillness.

We finished a present this morning for our neighbor, who has coveted Ani's doll since she got it, almost two years ago. Yeah, it takes us a while to get around to some things...

Ani's feeling a bit unsettled by how unglamorous "old Megsy" is looking next to "Melodie", but I still love her most.  I want hair as green and soft as this...

Megsy, with a new dress sewn by Ani

the new doll on the block, much of it sewn by Ani

We've had some company this weekend.  Sarah came over for help with her fabulous owl costume (which I managed not to get a good photo of), and Molly stopped over to unwind from her week.  Both visits helped us funnel off some of our cooped-up energy and kept me distracted from feeling sad about the way the weekend turned out.  Ani, for the record, still has the scratchy voice but is going full tilt in the imaginary play downstairs. Things are just about back to normal.  We're still forgetting to eat lunch and have had a large bowl of popcorn going for days now, but the laundry got done today and I made a little headway in the art room, meaning that a) you can walk in the door and b) you can see the surface of the art table, which are huge improvements.  

We've listened to several James Howe stories (Howliday Inn and Nighty Nightmare - it is Halloween, you know) and our beloved Roald Dahl (James and the Giant Peach, The Enormous Crocodile, The Magic Finger - all read by Roald Dahl).  And balls. I've been making balls. It must be getting on towards late fall; I've been itching for some felting. It's very meditative and they are so beautiful and satisfying to touch. Ani found a stash of acorn caps (what - in our house?) and has been giving them little hats. I just want bowls full of them.

Ani presented me with this portrait of the two of us today.  I love everything about it, even the gramma hair that she insists on giving me. I know the nest on my head is difficult to portray, but really, it is not a grey bun on the top of my - oh never mind, I'm getting distracted from how sweet this drawing is, full of the biggest kind of love.  That has been the best part about this time together, the love part.

This post is a part of my attempt to write a post every day in November. So far so good.