Short Story Long

a walk around the block a prayer a real hug a Proverb a short nap a good stretch a glass of water a deep breath maybe a little chocolate

If my blog comments are an indication, I'm not the only one who finds it is very difficult to "lie low" these days.  If we don't quickly reply to emails, texts, and have a passing understanding of the latest news, trends, scandals, etc., people get concerned.   It's as if there is a vacuum that holds us all against the lighted screens.   Much to their dismay, people with my cell phone number can confirm that I often leave it at home!    Between editing pictures, writing patterns, and searching for genealogy clues, sitting at the computer is more challenging..  However, once I can pull myself far enough away from screens to focus on real things, priorities realign in a way that allows tight muscles to relax.  There's nothing revolutionary, but here's what works for me.   -I turn off the sound on my cell phone , and leave it on a short wall where it can be plugged in to charge.  When it is silent, I can sometimes...

A beetle on a recent photo shoot. I didn't think the eclipse would be a big deal, and it was my first "normal" day home, alone, in months, so I made no plans.  As the moment arrived, I did go outside and spend time enjoying the changing shadows -I  had no glasses or other viewing equipment.  What a regular/expected thing, and yet so glorious and unique and bonding.  I wish I had made the effort to share this experience with someone I love, but I'm glad I didn't miss it.  Celestial events like this always remind me of the short story, All Summer in a Day .  Heartbreaking.  

The last few weeks have been busy with few things concrete enough to post about (or photograph).   As we are about halfway through the year, and our busiest weeks of summer are now past, I am hoping to savor this week, to reestablish routine and remind myself of the things I want to accomplish this year.  I haven't crossed much off my list of goals for the year, but I have crossed off a few.  It is nice to have a benchmark, to know I am not just treading water.  And there is still half the year to enjoy, a little time to reach a few more goals.  I see my kids spending a lot of time bored, with their imaginations limited by charging cords and gaming limits. I think, I hope, we will spend some time in the next two weeks, offline: drawing, hiking, walking, reading, knitting, exploring, photographing, tasting, smelling, hearing.  Maybe I'll finally get the finishing done on this beautiful jacket.  I'll let you know!

While perusing my canning cookbooks, I came across some pear recipes.  In the end, the one I used was online, here .  My boys were skeptical of the star anise but we made it once as-written and it is pretty great.  And we wondered, are there other kinds of anise?  I went and got more pears for another batch (and pictures, of course!) I made more peach preserves.  It's the easiest thing to come by in large quantity, a box of good peaches, and a crowd pleaser, definitely.    I used my favorite recipe as previously posted . And lovely strawberry... preserve.  Jam?  I'm not sure.  Poor strawberry stuff, no spices; just lemon and sugar - and I used all the lemons.  I ate that strawberry after the pictures, and it was delicious. I'm thinking that these would all be perfect for a tea party, and perhaps I should make some lemon curd.  Have you made lemon curd?  I'll have to look for a recipe unless you can sugge...

It feels a little like cheating to call this #1 on my list, because this is not the project I had in mind when I made my list.  However, the summer is zipping by and technically, it is going to be a Christmas gift.  I need to knit a few more so that I have one to keep, and can bear to give the rest away!  The best part is that it pings at least three things I love - knitting, gardening, and savoring the small wonders in life.   Every year I ponder cutting my lavender so that I can use it for something, but I think, I'll do it after I get a picture that does justice to the lavender plants .  And then I leave it for the bees.  And then... it is past its cutting prime.  This year, I did not hesitate, because I'd found this cute little sachet pattern and I knew it would be lovely to dry some lavender.  I also have bits of vanilla bean that weren't quite fine enough for the vanilla sugar, and when I remember where I put them, I think that will ...

I'm watching the cats for my neighbors, and they left a note saying to help myself to the flowers, especially the peonies.  Yes please!   I cut every one that was blooming.  Hey, they'll be dead by the time the neighbors return, anyway.  Smells like... mothers and grandmothers, and being loved.

Long story short (never thought I'd say that here!), I have not wanted to blog much, lately.  Sometimes I wanted to and I couldn't get to it.  I like my blog to be full of light and joy, and in the moments I could see the light and joy, I was too busy to blog.  Face it, I slog through January and February, and parts of March, to get to Spring.  So here I am, getting back to normal.  The past year, I have done a lot of things I didn't expect, like going to all the Stitches conventions and finally making some good money as a knitter or / and photographer.  When I have late night calls to my hotel room from tearful little hearts, it makes me reexamine what's driving me.  I know in my heart that the number one job I have is wife / mother.  (They are not the same job, but they are pretty hard to separate, most of the time.)  I also know that having something new to learn, to contribute to, to be proud of, outside of my family unite, gives me ...

We drove past a neighbor with a fairy ring this morning, and she was kind enough to let me loiter in her yard for a few minutes this evening, so that I could get a few pictures of it.

You have been a good month.

My cat, Stitch.  We also have a black cat, Trixie, but she slinks in the shadows.

I saw a quote yesterday on someone's blog to the affect of 'children spell love t-i-m-e,' so when I saw that mine were getting antsy today, I found some things in the closet that had belonged to dear Marie , or g.g., as they called her. (Great-grandma.)  Because I know, summer can seem boring while you're in it, and so fleeting later.  I taught them Chinese Checkers; I hate to tell you that I won but no one would listen to my strategy recommendations!  Then they taught me Pirate Code.  And then two looked through all the wonderful marbles while two of us had a nap. 

Today, the boys and I went garage saleing: $ 4     black stool - never enough chairs here.  .50 tin measuring cup 2    pair of license plates and a vintage childrens' book with great illustrations 2    vintage camera, book for #1 boy, and a present - secret, of course! 0    old stereo cabinet 2    three costumes, a pair of shoes, and they threw in a pair of license plates 4    blue jar We started out with everyone wanting to buy everything at every stop but we worked on being savvy junkers and just looking for specific things we collect, we need, we'd really use.  It was fun to see them getting the hang of it:  a book in a series we were already reading, for example.  Pretty good troopers.  We also got strawberry lemonade from a classmate sitting on the corner.  It is our policy to buy lemonade from kids on corners whenever possible.  ...

Refreshed living room paint.  After: Before: FYI, my house was not built in the '20s, it's a few decades newer than that.  The new paint is Mineral from Behr (Home Depot).  Loved the two-in-one primer/paint, it covered really well in two coats.  It's a beige-gray, and although I knew it was going to be lighter than the green, I definitely expected it to look like colored walls.  Alas! the only reason I know for sure it is not white is because the mantel is white.  Other than that, I love the new airy quality it has brought.  I repainted the black parts of the fireplace (including the brass door frames), and am planning to paint the brick surround.  I was going to paint it white but now I wonder if it will be camoflaged, so I'm thinking perhaps white wash .  What do you think I should do?  Since I haven't decided yet it has not gotten done.  It definitely has to be painted, BFJ and I were a bit liberal when we...

Monarda 'Jacob Cline' Thanks for all the comments saying I'd be missed, that meant a lot.  Funny, though, it's only been a few days and I sometimes go longer than that between posts anyway.  If you want the long version - and let's face it, that's why you read my blog, right? - I had this program I'd downloaded a long time ago, can't remember why, and it never did anything.  Of course, at the time, I had my antivirus vaccines all up to date, but recently I was cleaning my computer out (so I thought) and deleted that file.  At this point, my antivirus ware was no longer current.  Little did I realize this program was just dormant, waiting for the day I would delete it to completely eat my computer!  Before it really got going, I pulled the plug, literally.  I am very fortunate to have a friend who actually said he would fix the whole thing  in trade for dinner.  He took it for a few days and here I am, better than new.  He upg...

This morning I had a photo shoot without people.  Sometimes that's easier but then on the other hand, it's hard to tell objects to move just a smidge this way, now back a little...  Anyway, I took the boys to the park with me and we hiked around for quite awhile.  One thing I noticed while we were walking around was just how many types of grass there are.  For example: On the way out of the park, this house caught my eye.  I've been thinking I should photograph it before it gets torn down, so I pulled over next to it.  It was crushed during last year's storm .  While we were nosing around this building, chasing rabbits, a gentleman came out of the building we'd parked in front of.  Zoom was less than thrilled that we'd been caught trespassing.  How could his mother be such a hooligan!  Instead of being angry, the gentleman chatted with me for awhile about the crushed house.  (The owner, who'd recently purchased this 160-...

This week:   my lilac is budding, and I'm hoping this is the year we see flowers on it. turkey vultures are circling and my husband could not be more thrilled.  cats are sleeping on unmade beds. I've finished my first Christmas gift of the year.  At least, I think it's a Christmas gift, but I'm not totally sure.  We planted a bunch of seedlings yesterday and are planning our garden.  I cleaned up my laundry room and you can walk all the way from one side to the other without stepping on any clothes!  Now there is lots of room for me to see all my unfinished projects. I got to my local yarn shop twice this week, once for a baby shower and once for a book club meeting.  Everyone enjoyed Possession.  I'm working on two different commissioned knitting pieces.  I'm mulling over which sewing project I should finish up.  I have caught some snippets of Rockies games.  We had a fun day yesterday; one of those plan-as-you-go days that we ...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  We've had a busy weekend and I didn't get any good green pictures so this will have to do:  sweet potato vine and coleus from last year's summer pots.  Lots of lovely greens! Thank you all for commenting on your favorite books; lots of great recommendations.  I picked the next book for the book club, Possession by A.S. Byatt.  I've read it before but it's been a long time.  Once, I was discussing books with one of BFJ's best friends and he was listening so intently to me about this book, I couldn't believe it.  Finally he said, "So... no one gets possessed?"  Ha! no wonder; it's not that kind of possession, its about (fictitious) writers.  Anyway, I look forward to exploring all the books that are your favorites.  And I would just like to say that I would have responded to your comments directly but most of the comments did not have return emails.  Although Shawn, I neglected to reply to you ....