Life in the South, the legend of T-Bone

Well, lets just say James is adjusting nicely to the South. His knees are scraped, he has a partial farmer tan, he is covered in mosquito bites and has bruised shins. You would think he was the bubble boy in the Netherlands, based on how pristine and unscathed he was before this visit. He has been talking up a storm... just repeating everything. About once a day we have an interaction where it takes me FOREVER to figure out what he is saying. He patiently repeats over and over again until it gets through my thick skull. Most times it is something I have just said to him-- like this morning when he was saying "recycle-- street" and I thought it was "motorcycle-- treat". Fortunately, we work it out eventually. James now says his own name, well in a way. He calls himself Mames, though he can't beat my cousin David and his wife Katherine's daughter Elizabeth, who has refered to herself as "Zeeps" for years now.

We spent this morning having a grandkids photo shoot out at the family farm. It was HOT, and, well ...James is two-- the other kids (3 Steedleys and 1 Campa) did beautifully. The bulk of the shots will (I think) be of three clean and adorable smiling Steedleys, holding one tiny baby Campa, while James runs squealing around the group. He would just not sit still. I was not about to force it, and the photographer (who specializes in kids) has seen worse I am sure. Let's hope. She has a very Dutch name, Vondersmith-- so we knew we were in good hands. Man is she patient-- incredibly calm, cheerful and absolutely excellent with kids. I have been in the presence of a photographer that thought she was good with kids but was kind of scary. It was a friend's wedding photographer's assistant I think, and she kept saying "I'm gonna tickle you" to the children of the wedding party throughout the day. It was freaking us all out! Anyway-- I will link to photos of the shoot when the time comes, she said it should be ready in a few weeks. In general I will be thrilled with one of them all in the same frame, for posterity's sake.

My parents' neighborhood has undergone some changes in the past few years. The houses on either side of theirs have been sold to families who buy the houses as an investment, but use them to lodge their college age students while at VSU. It is a little surreal that our lifelong next door neighbor is no longer there. Her presence in childhood was always a backdrop for our life. She was a piano teacher, avid birdwatcher, gardener, and Asian cooking expert. Now there are three trucks in the driveway next door who belong to three dudes I have never seen or heard. I saw one had dropped some litter from their truck on the driveway last week and I literally stopped in mid-walk. I was in shock. This lady would NEVER leave trash in the driveway. They probably keep a schedule in direct opposition to ours. We wake up anywhere from 5:00 (my dad) to 6:30, and are in bed between 9 and 10:00. I imagine they don't get rolling until then. I asked my parents if they had any trouble with parties, noise, etc. My parents' bedroom is unfortunately on the first floor on that side of the house. My mom said they had weekly parties on thursday nights last year, and they could hear them occasionally rabble rouse or have arguments with girlfriends in the driveway in those days. However, things have gotten better. As my mother put it, "you know, you hear things over time--- one of the fellas living there last year was named T-Bone, and he apparently was a bit of a troublemaker". T-Bone has moved on. Things have quieted since. Thank goodness. I never thought I would be speaking with my mom about her troublemaking neighbor T-Bone, that is for sure.

My mom invited a few friends over to meet James at the end of last week. It was delightful to see so many family friends and try to catch up with them in a short amount of time (an impossible task). Since then several more people who couldn't make the party have dropped by and it has been wonderful. Just so nice to visit and to have them meet James. My daily naps have gone by the wayside, and I will have to catch up on rest in Enschede.

The word from Mike is that things are busy, but still really exciting, informative and fun. This week's course is on converting trees to timber, and involves many regional road trips to small sawmills, wood lots, and forests. They have been identifying trees and learning about forest management as well as some forestry rules and regulations in the state of Massachusetts. Early in the week he said this course involved less hard labor and more short trips in the car. Next week they drive 12 hours to Ohio to help the Timber Framer's Guild restore the Hertzler barn.

That should be amazing. I wish I was going to the old fashioned barn raising-- like Mike's sister Mary Liotta that makes me think of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, and I would love to see Mike and the guys build a barn while also astounding us with their acrobatic dance routine. My favorite brother was always the sweet, sensitive youngest brother Gideon (played by Russ Tamblyn).

I think Mike's time online will continue to be limited, but I can assure you all I will try to hold of the birth of his second child until he can get home and post several blogs about his summer. I know he is burning to share his photos and stories with us all.

Soon we will be heading back to Atlanta, this time to Roswell to visit the Maier grandparents. We are going to have a great time.

Until then, here are some photos of everyone's favorite little guy.

Here James gives his pretend horse (one of the great toys in Bammy and Peppy's grandparent stash) a drink

The table before the party at mom's house. Yes, we moved the chairs before guests arrived, but they were there for the photo-- sorry.

James decimating a petit four after the party. He is hooked, and all we ask is that you never say the words "cake" or "cupcake" in front of him.

In the bath, above, and working on his potty training below. He actually only wants to do this, and nothing productive, if you get my drift. I am trying to keep it lighthearted and stress free for now.

First Frame

I (Mike), finally have a little access to the internet so I will try to post some updates on my summer travels. I am at cousin Clare and Brian's in Northampton for the day after my first two weeks of apprenticeshipping at the Heartwood School. I flew into Newark on a wednesday and was able to see some family in Jersey before taking a long train ride up to Pittsfield, the closest town of any size to the school. I jumped right into the first timberframing class monday morning and haven't really paused for a breathe since. Our class for the week cut the frame for a lakeside cabin destined for CT from eastern white pine that had been roughly dimensioned down. We (20 paying students ranging from college students to retirees, and 4 apprentices) followed a steep learning curve about the basics of the square rule method of framing- which involves dimishing joints and cutting housings to a consistent dimension regardless of the shape of the timber.
I felt saturated with new things by the end of the second day but everything was paced well for safety and trying to incorprate the interests of the whole class.
My room is above the schoolhouse and has great ventilation.



Mass can get pretty muggy and buggy in the summers but we put up with deer flies and mosquitos at certain times of the day and then it began to cool down at the end of the week. The school sits at about 2000 feet above sea level- I've actually had a few nosebleeds trying to accomodate from the below sea level of Holland. Or maybe from exertion...
Anyway its hard to encapsulate something without some space for objectivity, but I would have to say my whole impression of how to build is being redefined. We used power tools a couple times so that we would be able to be familiar with them but otherwise everything was done (at a surprisingly quick pace) with hand tools. I never imagined I would be cutting 8x8s with a hand saw but it is actually quite effective with a sharp tool.
Here Dave Carlon shows proper tenon cutting technique. This guy is a jedi master with hand tools. He makes it look like butter- so easy; and incredibly patient with such a big group of students.


Here we (the apprentices the day before) are taking this pile-



and making into this pile.



Everything has to be stacked in order of how it will be cut and then later in order of assembly because with square rule it just fits together (truly like magic) if it is laid out correctly. We did put the floor frame together just to check the fit-



But everything else went in a truck and went together with oak pegs on raising day.

As the tallest and having travelled the furthest (though there were folks there from AK and NM) I had the honor of nailing the spruce bow to the top of the rafters.

The other apprentices are great- from Eureka CA, Toronto, and Savannah GA. We are a diverse crew but have had a great time getting to know each other (quickly) and cooking together in the evenings. I will share our internet connection with them now and post about week 2 later tonight I hope.

How-dee

Kat again-- things are good here. Had a wonderful weekend entertaining Dorthe and Keith visiting from Charleston. My parents fed them well-- one southern delicacy after another, including fried chicken, peach and blueberry cobbler, rice with peas and pepper relish, tomato sandwiches (aka "mater") and fried green tomatos. We were all stuffed, and spent hours and hours talking and catching up. A good time was had by all. They are also expecting, so it was fun to talk baby stuff, and watch Dorthe knitting away on many adorable projects.

We had an excursion to the local peach farm and it was so nice. A little hot but there were many many gorgeous fruits and veggies to choose from. We also enjoyed the homemade ice cream. James would not give it a try. A sense of recent clinginess and the arrival of his incisors has made him less than willing to explore new foodstuffs, and boy did he miss out!!! Hopefully a steady diet of organic yogurt will get him through the next weeks.

James is fearless in the baby pool, desiring nothing more than to jump and fall, splash and go in-and-out, and in-and-out. We spend a bit of time back there every afternoon. We are all interested to see how this will change his hair-- I am always hoping for a tint of red (perhaps in honor of his namesake "Red" Dalton, or maybe because I just love redheads so). Not holding my breath though.

Mike had a GREAT time at his first week of classes. As the team member who'd traveled the farthest (and because he is tall) Mike was chosen to nail the evergreen on the peak of the completed roof of last week's cabin. This week they make an earth and straw bake oven. We're all waiting to hear how this turns out. Feel freee to read all the course descriptions on the Heartwood website (follow same link as above). Mike attends from "timber framing" through "homebuilding".

here are photos of James at the peach shed, a group shot with Keith and Dorthe, and some shots of 'fearlessman' in the pool.

Swim time, New Baby, Fat Lip, Big Boy PJs

We have had a busy few days... as usual. James is doing fine in South Georgia. A nice trip to Aunt Lizzie's house yesterday for some pool time was a welcome relief. It was 100 degrees here before noon today (that is 37.8 C for the metric savvy), and 105 (40.6 C) a few days ago. Last May when we visited James was a little timid about the water, but those days are gone. Despite being clueless about swimming, he was very happy to jump in from the side time after time, with his cousin Micajah. His pregnant mum could just barely keep up. You can see his diaper becoming significantly more full as the minutes wore on. It was a regular disposable, and it was like a water balloon by the end. We transferred to a more liberating diaper cover, sans diaper. Aunt Lizzie and the crew also have two new, very sweet kittens-- Bandit and Tiger, whom James was nuts about. He ran around the house saying "two- CATS"... "two- CATS" over and over again.
We also went to a book signing for the Sweet Blessings cookbook yesterday afternoon. It was at a very fancy B&B and I was terrified of James causing a ruckus, though he was fine, and the hostesses assured me they were comfortable whether I was or not. We had some delicious cake and left the fancy party to the people with better motor skills.
We also had a surprise visit in Homerville from Mary Roberts, who used to babysit us when we were kids. How cool is that? She brought photos of her daughters' weddings and was able to meet James and visit with the rest of us. It was delightful. Mary is an avid Hollandsenieuewe reader, and it was neat to hear about how she keeps up with what the Owens/Steedley/Campa/Maier crews are doing via this website.
Just as few were flying into the states my dear friend Julie Small Smith was in the final days of her first pregnancy. On Friday June 22 she and Shaun (and of course the pups Max and Lizzie) welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. Shelby Ann Smith was a whopper-- 8 lbs, 5 oz, and 21 inches long. Julie had a difficult time but fortunately EVERYONE is healthy and great now. Is she beautiful or what???
Mike is most likely in Connecticut as I write this. Today the crew traveled there to install this week's project, a cabin. He has had several 10 hour days and says the deer flies and mosquitos are plentiful up there. He sounds busy but extremely happy, as his dream summer becomes a reality.
In proper Maier tradition I will share a photo of James most recent tumble-- he has been addicted to stairs ever since arriving in the states. He quickly mastered the Gould's carpeted staircase, and has enjoyed going up and down, up and down, the split-level 3-step staircase at my mom's. Today he misjudged the distance and bit his lip on the way down-- though he was laughing about it within moments.
Finally, we tried big boy PJs for the first time last night. It is traditional in the Netherlands to sleep in a sleepsack, which we have loved. As we are anticipating the arrival of a new one, I have been directing James towards some "big boy" concepts to make certain he doesn't go into shock when the new one arrives. We have been talking about the potty ALOT (probably too much), and we anticipate his transition to a bigger bed by the end of this year. One step along the way is the change from a sleep sack to real pajamas. We made a trip to Old Navy earlier this week and found some great ones, including this bug covered pair which says "don't let the bed bug bite". James was VERY proud of himself when he put them on last night, so I took a few shots this morning as he played with my dad's train set.

Until very recently James only thought of autos as something to point at, and perhaps did not realize one could also ride inside them. All we need to say to get him to go along on an errand is "would you like to ride in the auto", and he heads for the door. Here is a shot of him clambering into his grandmother's vehicle.

Bits and Pieces

Hello again loyal readers-- Katharine reporting from Valdosta here. We have been settling in, James is doing well and we are all enjoying visiting with the family. His language continues to grow exponentially. He repeats almost everything I say, which can be quite humorous! He's got a funny little Dutch/Southern pronunciation mix that is entertaining. When he says "bye-bye" and "Micheal" (for his cousin, not his dad) there is a definite twang on the "eye" sound. Today we were continuously re-enacting a train disaster on the model set by disengaging part of the track and waiting until the train was very close before repairing the tracks. Each time he yelped "fix it" and "oh no!", but the oh no sounds like "O NEW", which reminds me of that eu sound in many Dutch words.

He still wakes up talking about Micheal, Emily, and Sophie (his cousins from Atlanta). He must be wondering where they have gone. No new Valdosta photos-- we have been inside avoiding the heat. We spent some time this morning playing in the garden, but we avoid the heat of the day. Instead I will provide some photos from our ATL jaunt. Here are James and his cousins playing at the park and enjoying some pool time in the backyard.

As for Mike's adventures-- the word is that he has been extremely busy. In some ways I think he imagined he would have time for a little blogging while at Heartwood, but I do not think that is the case so far. He sent an email at 5:30 AM on the morning of the first day of school-- so excited about the day that he had awoken early. This week they are creating a cabin that they will then put together in Connecticut on Friday. They spend time in lectures and working/measuring/cutting all day (there are surely more official words for these tasks, but I thought some news is better than no news so I am winging it). They have an occasional evening program, and will be traveling to Ohio later in the summer to build a structure there. On one of the first nights they spent HOURS sharpening their tools. This week's speaker is a timber framer/author whom Mike really respects. So it is basically like Christmas for him every day. Though I say that knowing he misses me and James. His parents will manage a visit near the end of his term, and I am already wondering how they will get Tom Maier to leave the place once he visits-- it sounds to me like his idea of hog heaven. Car-less Mike has made a deal with the other apprentices to take charge of the kitchen/cooking in exchange for an occasional ride into town or for errands. He is also keeping an eye out for places to which we might like to re-locate at the end of the year. So-- the news is he is busy and happy!

Apparently his classmates are a cool group: a pair of California winery owners, a Mennonite gentleman, a nearly retired military man, a Richard Dreyfuss lookalike... the list goes on. He is also really excited to be surrounded by such a group of hard-core timber/building folks. He is right in his element and learning as much as possible. FYI his e-mail access is limited during the next weeks (and he is super busy), but if you'd like to drop him a line he can be reached at:

Mike Maier

c/o Heartwood School

Johnson Hill Road

Washington, MA 01223

Here are shots of cousin Micheal by the baby pool (he and James share similar muscular physiques)

The twins

James on the slide

Riding/driving the auto at the park

Michael and Emily prepping the cooler

James in his super Euro Bob shorts ready for a swim

Valdosta, Valley of the East

Greetings from south Georgia-- Katharine again here. I have made my way down from Atlanta to Valdosta, and boy is it hot down here. Actually it has not affected us so much, as we have spent a lot of time acclimating in the airconditioning. The insects are amazing, too-- so many more and so much diversity in the swamplands, as opposed to the colder climate of the Netherlands.

James has continued to adjust to the changing scenery. He was a little off this morning, and a bit overwhelmed with the onslaught of family yesterday, but by midafternoon today he was getting his Valdosta groove on. He spent the late afternoon building (and destroying) block towers with my dad (called Peppy by the grandkids) and reading a book of farm animal sounds with my mom (called Bammy by the same crew). Peppy is a model train enthusiast, and had a mini train set up for the kids in the living room when we arrived. James has enjoyed it immensely. Here are some photos-- forgive the indoor dark shots, trust me it is worse with a flash.

The photos show James helping Peppy build a tower, the extreme delight of crushing the tower, reading a story with Bammy, and wearing Peppy's work hat!
More to follow soon