"Someone" With Irish Twins

Possibly my favorite thing about reading is that I always learn something new. Reading Alice McDermott's Someone last week was no exception. But I have to wonder why what I learned took me so long. Where have I been? First, a comment about this book: I really enjoyed it. It is what I call a 'quiet' book - no murders, no big drama, just a beautifully told story about one "unremarkable woman's unforgettable life".

What did I learn that I had never heard before? The term Irish Twins. Me, the person who has long read and identified with everything Irish! The definition of Irish twins is roughly, "children born in succession within one year." Just like the term "No Irish Need Apply", "Irish Twins" has a similar derogatory connotation from the tide of immigrants coming to America to escape the potato famine in Ireland.

Our family has had a few sets of actual twins in the last hundred years, beginning with Dad's Uncle Lawrence's Bernard and Bernadine in the 1920's. Thirty some years later, another of Dad's cousins had twin daughters. (His Uncle Leslie's daughter, Elvera.)

Here are those twins, Lois and Linda with their mother, Elvera, and my Grandma Bessie (Dad's Mom) off to the right side.

Twins continued with my brother's born in 1974. Yes, they turned 40 in January. This photo of them was always one of my favorites:

Ron with Andrew and Ruth with Lorrie.

My niece, Lorrie, would grow up, marry, and have her own twins, sons Aidan and Erick. The above picture was their birth announcement. They lived on Rose Garden Lane at the time. Cute and creative, huh? That's my niece.

So, while my brother has actual twin  grandchildren, I have two sets of those Irish Twins - my oldest son's children, Zachary and Katrina:

Zachary was born September 10, '85 and Katrina was born the following August 27, 1986.

And my younger son's Ki and Kathryn. These two are exactly eleven months apart, September 14, '92 and August 14, '93. They really were mistaken as twins when younger.

So now that I understand what Irish Twins are, I'll be aware if there are any more in our family. Wonder what I'll learn new in the next book I read?

Addendum: After reading this post, Elvera's oldest daughter got in touch to tell me she also has twins - a boy and a girl. I have to conclude that twins do run in families, in our case, the Duncan clan. I also thought of another set of 'Irish Twins' - my cousin Glen's oldest boys, Kevin and Kendall born about 11 months apart.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Life Goes On

Yes, life goes on, though this year it feels like "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Winter Goes On!" I do hope having a long, cold, snowy winter presages an early, warm, lovely Spring. I for one am ready for it.

The snow and cold have only contributed to my usual problem with SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Thankfully the longer days are beginning to help. It has always been hard for me to pull myself out of the depression I feel. This winter I have mainly just lost myself in whatever book I'm reading and let the days go by, waiting.

Other contributions to my depressive state have been the increased pain in my arthritic knees - to the point I was ready to call my ortho surgeon and schedule knee replacement surgery a couple weeks ago - and the less than satisfactory results of last fall's cataract surgery. Well, that's not quite right - the cataract was successfully removed - it was developing Cystoid Macular Edema after the surgery that has me bummed. A month of eye-drops therapy did help some, but learning that there would be no further improvement was disconcerting. One of these days I'm going to blog about "The Left Side of My Body".

That New Year's post I did about writing a daily affirmation/statement of gratitude did not last long, lost to the onset of negative feelings. But my daughter's lovely Bookish Dark post, "Gratitude", yesterday was just what I needed to remind me I have much to be grateful for:  http://www.bookishdark.com/ Spring is on its way! - At least in Oregon.

The weather finally moderated enough last week that I got back to exercising at the Y and also visited a new friend in her assisted living apartment. Maxine is such a joy to talk with - a woman who has seen her own share of life's travails, yet stays engaged in living. Just spending an afternoon with her made me feel so much more positive about my own life.

Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, Life does go on. Thank goodness.

This One's For My Ch/Kristine Nieces

Two of my nieces share a name - my sister's daughter, Kristine Lynnette, and my older brother's daughter, Christine Marie. They share another trait, each has expressed a desire to buy and renovate houses. At one time or another they have commented about asking their cousin, my son Douglas, for advice on how to proceed, as this is something Doug knows much about. He has been building new homes and remodeling old houses for many years.
Christine and husband Dale have purchased a home in Florida with plans for some renovations. I don't know how extensive those plans are nor how far along they are.

Kristi and husband Ryan have purchased and completely remodeled their home here in Creston. In addition they bought a neat old Victorian house across the street with thoughts of remodeling it. I believe their plans have changed on that, but it would still be a gorgeous home if they did. (I did suggest to Doug that he could buy it from them and renovate it.) This is that house, front:

Just seeing the pictures again makes me wish I could see it completely renovated. Such a neat old house. It is on two full lots. This is the house on the back side:

Oh, if money were no object! Now, Kristi and Christine - the reason for my blog is to show you pictures of Doug's most recent renovation. This is the house as it looked last August when it was purchased:

The house was built in 1880. Doug said it had been vacant for twenty years. This is what it looks like now:

Everything about it is new except the gorgeous hardwood floors and the stairway. It took them about five months to renovate. The property is on the southeast edge of Redfield next to old Highway 6 and about five miles from the interstate - an easy commute to Des Moines. I'll let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves:

These were all pictures I took at their open house yesterday. Doug & his partner in this endeavor are shown above at the top of the stairs. Tim is from England where he had also renovated some properties. He said the whole procedure there was much different than in the U.S.

The following pictures are ones I took from their listing of the property:

I share my niece's desire to buy and renovate houses - it is something I had always wanted to do but never could. At least I get to live it vicariously through my son.

Just A Summer Clan Gathering

I've been sorting, shredding and recycling papers - as I said "I plan" to do in my last blog. And while doing so, I came across, again, something I saved years ago that I felt strongly about keeping and sharing someday. Well, today's the day.
I'm very proud of all my grandchildren - what grandmother isn't? This is something my eldest granddaughter wrote the summer she turned eleven years old. I had a portable electric typewriter the kids loved to "work" at. I'm copying this from the original, just as Katrina wrote it:

                              JUST A SUMMER CLAN GATHERING

THE people at the gathering were Alyssa, Katrina, Zach, Shelly and Doug Botkin. Ian, Linda and Leslie Lynam. Ruth and Ron Lynam and Mike Beavers.

Ruth and Ramona Lynam and Bud Shaffer live at the place we are gathering at. We arrived here on Saturday, July 13 and we will be leaving Sunday, July 14. Leslie and Linda brought a lot of fireworks for after dark. They brought them from Missouri because thats where they live. Ramona gave Katrina and Alyssa Baby-Sitters ClubBooks.
     They were volumes 10 and 12.

     Katrina read a lot of her book that night and so did Alyssa,
     Katrina's was called "Claudia And The Boy babysitter".
     Alyssas book was called "Claudia and the new girl".

     Ron and Ruth were the first ones to leave. Then Mike Bevers left.

       Then Ian, Linda and Leslie left. The last ones to leave were
       Alyssa, Katrina, Zach, Shelly and Doug Botkin

       Katrina got to ride the rideing lawnmower for her first
       time. She going to be 10 in August.

       Zach and Katrina's last name is Johnson.


     Alyssa spent her time makeing a war bonnet to go with her dream-
     catcher.

     Zach's favorite thing to do is play video games with Bud his Grandpa

     Zach's favorite game on Sega Cd is ESPN Baseball Tonight
     and his favorite game on Sega Saturn is Madden 96 the need for speed

     Bud favorite game on Sega c is Beyond the limit
     formila 1 championship. And his favorite game on
     Sega Saturn is Frank Thomous Big Hurt Baseball.


       Zach has a sega at his house..

Bud made a new golf course for his grand children to golf on Alyssa Katrina Zach and Ian had a tournment.

                        By
                             Katrina Johnson

Katrina and Grandpa Bud playing golf on the new course.

I remember being so impressed by Katrina's reporting of our summer gathering - including the use of the word clan. I have tried to leave it just as she wrote it. Yes, there are a few misspellings and punctuation errors - but look how many there aren't! For her age she did an amazing job. I was proud of her then and I'm even more proud of her today. She is a very caring young woman with a busy life trying to balance family, work and free time. I doubt she's had time to write any stories or reports lately, but if she has, I would love to read them. I wonder if she remembers writing this?

What Will Be Seen In Twenty-Fourteen?

There's nothing like a New Year to make one determined to start 'doing better'. I didn't make any resolutions, but I did make a short list of things I 'plan' to do each day. Just little things like ''clean something". So I started by cleaning my 'office'. It can get so cluttered when I take out boxes of pictures looking for a certain one I want to use in a blog. Also on the list is "shred some documents". I tend to wait for months before I shred and then spend hours doing it. This year I'm going to shred some each day until I get caught up and then shred on a regular basis.

"Scan some pics" is on the list. Our son Mark's Mom died last month. Bud doesn't have a lot of family photos, but what he does have I want to get scanned into the computer. This photo of Bud and Alice was taken at Christmas, 1976, when Mark was two years old. I didn't cut Alice's son Todd in half, that is how the original was taken.
In addition to Bud's pictures, I also have my son Doug's photos from his early years to scan. I borrowed the photo album I had given him years ago and need to get it back to him. There's also all the old family photos Mom and Grandma had. If I just scan a small bunch each day......

Even though I didn't make it a resolution, I want to make an affirmation or statement of gratitude each day as well as a few lines about the day. To that end, I will be using this 2014 Ireland daily calendar. As I tear off each day's page I will jot down something for the day as well as that day's affirmation or gratitude. The one for January 1 was: "I am so very, very grateful I got to achieve my 'lifetime' goal of going to Ireland."

Of course there's 'exercise' on my daily to do list. Thirty-three years ago this month, when I didn't even know who he was, I saw my handsome husband (to be) out running in the frigid January weather. I admired him so much for what I saw as his dedication to a healthy lifestyle.

Now he does most of his running at the Y, but at least once each month he runs outside. Yesterday's temp was in the single digits and the windchill was -15 when he ran more than three miles up around Lake McKinley to welcome the New Year. I still admire (and love) him so much. Today's calendar page reads: "I am so very, very grateful for my wonderful husband, Bud."

So while Bud welcomed the New Year in his way, I welcomed it in mine - with coconut shrimp and champagne. New Year's is one of the three times a year when it is a tradition of mine to have champagne. It will be interesting to see how long I keep up with those things I plan to do each day. My track record for changing for the better has never been too good.

What's to be seen in 2014? A trip to the Gulf Coast next month, a new great-grand-baby in July, a more active year than last was now that I feel recovered from my stroke, lots and lots of good books to read and whatever else comes my way in this first year of my 70th decade. Sláinte!

December 2013 Reading List

Nine books on the December read list: three 3.5's; two 2.5's and four 3.0's.

Anne Hillerman has taken up where her father left off. And while I appreciate her keeping Tony's characters alive, I do not feel she is the writer he was. Spider Woman's Daughter is her first Joe Leaphorn, Bernie and Chee book. This is one of the 2.5's.

The other is Elizabeth Adler's Please Don't Tell. I like Adler's books and usually rate them higher. This one was not her usual 'beach book' - somewhat darker. A serial killer in the San Francisco area has sisters in his sights.

Chris Bohjalian has become one of my favorite novelists. Idyll Banter is a collection of his essays about the small Vermont town where he lives. I've given it a 3.0. This book was a gift purchased for me by a friend who died before he could give it to me. His wife brought it to me this summer.

I feel I should have enjoyed The Spymistress by Jennifer Chiaverini more that I did. It had all the right ingredients - a loyal unionist living in Richmond during the Civil War AND based on a real woman. I think more details about her espionage exploits would have helped - 3.0.

Adriana Trigiani has been one of my favorite authors for a long time. I always look forward to her latest book release. The Supreme Macaroni Company is the continuation of Valentine Roncalli's life. She expands the shoe company, marries Gianluca, has a daughter, stresses over whether to live in New York or Italy. Still giving it a 3.0 even though I didn't think it was as good as her books usually are.

Lisa Wingate is one author of Christian books that I can read. Her writing is uplifting without being preachy. I thoroughly enjoyed The Prayer Box - having it set on the Outer Banks added to my pleasure - 3.0.

Of all the books I read this month, my favorite was Gail Godwin's Flora. Godwin is another of my long time favorite authors and Flora was my great-grandmother Duncan's name. Set during WWII, ten-year-old Helen is left in the care of her mother's cousin, Flora, for the summer while her father works on a secret weapon at Oak Ridge. Helen is precocious and controlling. What happens during the two and a half months with Flora haunts Helen's life forever - 3.5.

A Question of Honor is the fifth book in the Bess Crawford series by mother/son writing team of Charles Todd. I love these mysteries set during WWI. This one was no exception. A solid 3.5.

And finally, another 3.5 for Rhys Bowen's Heirs and Graces - A Royal Spyness Mystery. Bowen is a fun mystery writer. I think this is the first Lady Georgina Rannoch book I've read, but will watch for more. I'm a fan of her Constable Evans mysteries and especially her Molly Murphy series.

Christmases Past - No Ghosts

One of the regular blogs I read this morning asked for memories of a favorite Christmas toy. I won't say this doll and teddy bear were my favorites, but they were among my firsts. A few years later I wanted sets of dishes. Those I got, but they were made of tin or plastic when what I really wanted was a china tea set.

This is a photo of my first son playing with a doll from my childhood. She (can't remember what I called her) was probably one of my favorite gifts. I do remember sneaking downstairs Christmas morning and seeing our dolls before my sister got up. The auburn haired doll in the yellow dress had my name on the tag while the blonde in the pink dress had my sister's name on it. I switched tags because I wanted the blond doll.

Possibly my favorite doll was this one which I received as an adult. I had attended a church luncheon and bazaar in my hometown at the beginning of holiday shopping season and bought some raffle tickets. I think what I was hoping to win was a quilt, but didn't expect to win anything. So when Mom answered the phone later that afternoon and said it was for me, I was elated to learn I'd won the doll. Pretty sure I named her Annie.

Doug's second Christmas (1963) when we lived in the Methodist parsonage in Brooks. It was fun to see the holiday through my child's perspective. Wish I still had that beautiful old buffet in the background. Hard to believe I bought it for fifty cents at an auction.

Ten years later and Douglas was excited about receiving a pair of platform shoes to go with his favorite bell bottom pants. He was into the disco craze (1973).

Another twenty years (1993) and one of the best gifts for all of us, but especially for my son, Doug. We hadn't been able to have my oldest grandson with us for many years, so when arrangements were made for him to be with us that year, I didn't tell anyone. My best present was to see the look on Doug's face when he saw his oldest son in our living room. Being with family is what it's all about.

Doug wasn't the only one to ride that Wonder Horse for miles and miles. His siblings and cousins had their turns riding and rocking on it, too.......

Until it came time for another generation. Now Brock has two little boys of his own. Isn't that horse still around somewhere?

Merry Christmas to all. May you enjoy time with your loved ones this holiday season.