May 22, 2008
A Roadie Looks at Forty...
Turned 40 today. Sometime in the near future I'll update this entry with ruminations on hitting this milestone.
As for spending a nice relaxing day lounging about the house, well that just ain't happening. Started the day by hitting the road at 7:30 to pick up chemicals down in Winchester. Started seeing some black rot out in the vineyard, most likely due to all the rain we've been having so I need to pick up some additional fungicide to squash this annoyance before it goes any further. Picked up a few parts for the auger at Tractor Supply then headed home. Dug some fence post holes until I got fed up with digging up rocks by hand, then traded the auger on the tractor for the sprayer. Put down the third spray of the season, mostly fungicides but also a special fertilizer - BM86 - to hopefully mitigate the green shot we saw in last year's Cabernet Franc clusters:
Topsin-M - 1.5 lb per acre
Microthiol Special - rate 4 lb per acre
Dithane DF Rainshield Nt - rate 4 lb per acre
BM 86 - 2 qt per acre
Seve and the guys will be out after the re-entry interval passes to do some shoot positioning and vine training. So far the vineyard is looking great!
Posted by Stephen at 3:59 PM
May 13, 2008
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Shannon!
Love,
Stephen, Tristan & Duncan
Posted by Stephen at 12:51 AM
January 14, 2007
Duncan's First Visit
We brought Duncan over to the new house today for a peek. He seemed relatively uninterested and slept through the whole thing...
Posted by Stephen at 4:42 PM
January 11, 2007
Duncan Gregor Mackey
Shannon, Tristan and I are proud to announce the birth of Duncan Gregor Mackey, born at 4:35 PM on Thursday 11-January-2007.
10 lbs. 6 oz.
22 inches long
15 inch head
14 1/2 inch chest
As with Tristan, Shannon elected to have Duncan naturally, with no epidural or anesthesia of any kind. Due to her condition of polyhydramnios and Duncan's apparent large size, our midwife Paula Senner insisted on breaking her water a week early. Good thing too, because another week in the womb and he would have been over 11 lbs! Here is the play-by-play:
8:00 AM - arrive at Birthing Inn
8:30 AM - shoot some footage for the HGTV show
9:40 AM - Paula breaks the water and strips the membranes
10:30 AM - Contractions increasing in intensity, walking the halls
11:00 AM - First big contraction, still walking
12:00 PM - 7 cm, second stage labor, staying in room leaning on yoga ball while standing beside bed
2:00 PM - on all fours in bed on yoga ball, not comfortable
2:30 PM - moved into the tub
3:45 PM - transition, extreme contractions and pain
4:15 PM - getting out of the tub, moving towards the bed
4:30 PM - in bed, laying on right side
At this point, Paula checked her and realized Duncan was here - she quickly grabbed her gown and gave me Shannon's left knee and told her to push. Two pushes and the head was out. Paula told her to pause while she checked his shoulders, then told her to push again. Two more pushes and he was out, born at 4:35 PM!
We are so happy that Shannon and Duncan are in perfect health and safely back home. Thanks for all the well-wishes from all our friends and family, and special thanks to Paula Senner of Loudoun Community Midwives, as well as her colleagues Wendy Dotson and Margie Brandquist for their incredible care, support and faith in women who want to experience natural childbirth. It couldn't happen without you!
Posted by Stephen at 11:07 PM
July 18, 2005
New Baby!!!
Tristan Connor Mackey was born today at 1:46 AM - 9 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long. Shannon delivered him naturally without drugs or epidural using the Bradley Method of natural childbirth.
Tristan's picture from the Birthing Inn
Momma and baby are doing great!
Posted by Stephen at 8:31 PM
Our Baby Is Coming!
Shannon woke up this morning about 5:30 AM feeling some light contractions. They picked up in intensity about 7:30, but since we had two false alarms this week we didn't want to get too excited. So I went over to the vineyard to continue tying vines. I checked in via cell phone about every 15 minutes, and sure enough the contractions were picking up in frequency and intensity. By 11:30 we decided I needed to get home to get ready to head to the hospital. Our baby boy is coming!
Posted by Stephen at 2:57 PM
December 5, 2004
Bye Bye Connecticut
No matter how badly you want to leave somewhere, there are always some mixed feelings. Today we are leaving CT for good, and although we are so excited to get established in VA, this was Shannon's first house, and our first home together. Lot's of great memories here. It's funny how years from now when we'll go to tell a story, we'll precede it with "Back when we were living in Connecticut..."
Here is the place where we fell in love, dreamed up a vineyard, got engaged, sought and earned career advancements, travelled all around, lost a Grandma, got married, endured the frustrations of remodeling, and enjoyed the final results. Here was our first Christmas together, and the place where we hosted our first Thanksgiving dinner. Too many firsts to list!
Seems like we're caught in a whirlwind right now, and many of the memories are buried beneath the craziness of the move, but I think that in the years to come, we'll look back fondly on our time here - if for no other reason than to remember it as the place where two lives came together and were forever joined. Whatever hardships we've endured over the past two years will fade with the passage of time, and the love and laughter will live on.
So to 152 Vista Terrace we say "Thank You. Good Luck. Goodbye."
Posted by Stephen at 4:07 AM | Comments ( 1 )
June 12, 2004
Wedding Day!
Wedding day! Someday we'll write up the complete story, but for now here is a nice blog by our buddy Brian. Just a few pictures here until we upload the entire gallery: candle lighting, wedding party, reception tent. Thanks to everyone who helped us make it happen - you know who you are!
Posted by Stephen at 8:54 PM | Comments ( 1 )
March 29, 2003
Proposal
We're engaged! Someday I'll write up the whole story and link to it, since it was so awesome. Quickly though, we got engaged on the exact same spot we met at the Dade County Youth Fair almost ten years ago today. Total surprise!
Posted by Stephen at 4:47 PM
