Juniper

To me, the tiny blue juniper cones are what make a holiday wreath or a swig of pine branches on a door so beautiful. They add that frosty, wintry blue color. They are the spice of the season! Here they are on the farmhouse front door:

 

 

Let me just add this from Wiki:

A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers. It is not a true berry but a cone with unusually fleshy and merged scales, which gives it a berry-like appearance. The cones from a handful of species, especially Juniperus communis, are used as a spice, particularly in European cuisine, and also give gin its distinctive flavour. Juniper berries are among the only spices derived from conifers, along with spruce buds. 

 

On December 15th, late into the evening, while winds howled and temperatures outside soared, Juniper was born. She is as tiny as a newborn, healthy as pie, and totally adorable. 

(From her first face-to-face, via phone, with her sister, Primrose)

The winds never let up once, but we were safe and everyone was feeling, well, rather celebratory!

But in the morning, my whole focus comes back to Primrose. I have one whole day with her (parents and sister are coming home tomorrow) and she has this one last moment of being an only child. It's huge to suddenly having a sib. Primrose was anticipating the changes for a while now and since she is a girl who is very in touch with her own feelings and with those of her family, I was not surprised to hear her voice apprehensions about how this will all play out. I have told her many times that eventually it will be grand and I think she believes this to be true, but still, I am determined to give her a last whiff of being the one who sets the rules of the game. 

(playing with beads from Aunt Goat, aka my older girl)

(breakfast with grandma)

(I tell her the headband she's chosen for her dance is from Poland...)

After last night's winds and storms, the air settled and winter came back to take its rightful place here, in the upper Midwest. The sun is out, but it's some thirty degrees cooler and still gusty, though not at last night's levels. Nevertheless, I coax Primrose into a walk while the sun is pretending to make it a warm day out there. I had placed an order at Floriole Bakery and Cafe and we set out to pick it up. With a stroller, since it is a bit of a walk (across the river and into a different neighborhood of this very neighborhoody city).

(a tad windblown, picking up our stuff at the bakery: like in Paris only different!)

(can the wind sweep the cap away??)

And the evening? Well, I'm trying to keep the house in order for the arrival of Juniper and parents tomorrow. Time for some of us to finally meet this already greatly beloved babe!

(Remember how I used to take timed released photos of Primrose and me by the white cube when she could hardly stand unsupported on her wee toddler feet? Some things never change...)

with love...