State Visit

I had such a delightful visit with Vickie, Steve and Olivia Ruth the other day. I’d invited them to lunch as I’d not yet seen the baby and she is now 2 months old. I didn’t want to just drop in on Vickie, as I’d not care for that myself. Two Rottweilers are also a good deterrent if you need help getting rid of unwanted visitors. Also, I just think it’s a good idea not to take your germs to a very new baby and any new mum probably needs time to get herself organized. (On that score, I wish her good luck; I’ve been working on that all my life and I don’t have a kid to confound the process).



I enlisted Bill’s help in tidying the place. There wasn’t that much to do, but I hate vacuuming. Also, I’ve been knee deep in sewing and knitting so there were little messes everywhere to pick up. Bill teased me that we must be having a State Visit to agitate so much over a simple lunch.

I’d planned to have a cold chicken and pasta salad for lunch, so if the baby was fussy it wouldn’t matter that the food was cold, but on the day the weather was so wet and miserable I thought something hot was required, so it got changed to chicken and rice soup. Salad from the garden; well, the lettuce anyhow, plus chopped fruit with yoghurt. Disgustingly healthy, I know.

I think most babies are frankly quite funny looking; many are positively homely and a few are cute. I think it’s rare to see a really pretty baby – isn’t that a terrible thing to say? I couldn’t get a good picture of her, having left it late and she was beginning to tire, but when she was up and alert – and she seems especially attentive and interested in things – she was very pretty. I think it was that white suited her pale complexion and it gave her face a distinctly feminine look.

I bought a couple of tops and an outfit for her. I also made them a CD with all the Tightwad Gazettes I’ve scanned, something any new parents could find useful, I think. I am looking forward to buying baby clothes and stuff again, and probably every one of their family members is thinking the same! They may need a bigger house; or they could just Ebay half the stuff instead of tripping all over it.

Steve left to return to work and Vickie stayed on another hour or so. We had a lovely visit about everything and nothing. It seems odd to see her with a baby, she’s not stereotypically maternal, but she was absorbed by Olivia and completely patient. She even mentioned wanting to re-home Harley, the newer of the dogs, and said she could see a time when they didn’t have dogs, as Buster is up in years. Talk about an about-face! Steve seems deeply contented in a way I’ve not seen him before. I think Olivia Ruth is a real blessing to them both, something I would wish for all babies -- and parents -- but especially babies.