Monday, May 27, 2013

Scribbles and Doodles

 The four grands are back at home.  We enjoyed them very much. Each one has little super powers and captured our love and devotion AGAIN.  Grands = good!  I am very tired because I am no longer in kid wrangling condition.  I took a three hour nap this afternoon. 
 When I woke up, I cleared off my art table space and moved the junk off the chair.  Doodles.
 My friend Lisa who lives in Minnesota is my art buddy.  We send each other art packages.  I am so moved that she drew one of my favorite spots on Earth.  Thank you, dear Lisa.
 This is one of my favorite artists.  I like her use of color and the way she gives her people pinheads.  
This is where Granny sits.  Two shawls at the ready.  When I knit the butterfly wing shawl a few summers ago I had no idea that it would bring me so much comfort and warmth.  I used Lamb's Pride yarn.  I have knit many wonky things in my thirty some years of knitting, but every now and then I achieve a little greatness.  

Oh, I am very ready for summer.  When I think of school, I think of all the "stuff" that lives there.  I want to flee from it and dejunk our house, too.  I believe I need just a few things, you know?  Can you think of ANYTHING we need a lot of?

I'll pop in again soon.

"The final word is love." ~Dorothy Day

Friday, May 24, 2013

Pansies and Cornbread

A flower fairy came yesterday morning (the gnome-giving neighbor!) This morning the breeze is dancing with the tree branches and the birds are chirping and IT'S FRIDAY!  Yay!
I made cornbread.  Gluten-free!  It was yummy!
I was home yesterday because I took the day off  so that I could take Bill in for a routine medical procedure (all good!) and I nursed my cold all day.  I am feeling much better today!  I watched Out of Africa AGAIN.  Oh, I love it so very much.  Do you?  I kept asking myself why I love it the way I do and I think it's because Karen Blixen was so determined.  She was unapologetic when she asked a lot from her life and the people in it.  She worked hard to make things happen, too.  It dawned on me that doing the little things that make eating and sleeping lovely are important (her dishes and her pretty bedroom).  She continued to accept invitations to hobnob with the community even though they sort of judged her and she walked forth with a lot of courage.  I know it's a movie, so they jazzed some features of her life up quite a bit, but the scenery and the music . . . delightful.   I cry when the coffee farm burns and when she says goodbye to her workers.  Of course I cry when the lions rest on Denys Finch-Hatton's grave.  
Reve also left three big peat pots of purple pansies (how's that for alliteration?) and this is her regular type of doings.  She is a garden ambassador/garden  mentor/flower fairy through and through.

I leave you with a Gladys Taber quote,
"The whole land has a changed look now that the winter etching is gone, everything is sweet and blossoming under the May moon."

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Morning of May

 Hello, it's me again!  We woke up very early this morning and when the sun came up, the clouds were stunning.  PINK!

 Look at the promise of peonies!  Can't wait!
 Iris buds.  Aren't they full and plump?
 Another variety of peony loveliness!  Did you know that if you move your peonies, they don't bloom for three years?  They like to stay put.  Me, too!
 Within a week, the maple leaves have come to the party!  Go ahead, have a climb.
 The books on my art table are just waiting for me to leisurely pull them out, one by one.  It's kind of an odd combo, isn't it?

 I found something very wonderful at Office Depot . . . polka dot duct tape!  I have covered the spines of many books at school with it as well as my Bible's spine.
 As soon as school is over, I shall have a lovely study (again) of my beloved The Wind in the Willows.  Mags is still waiting for Badger.  He's reluctant to fly, but he is also compiling his travel "to do's" and they involve visiting many people all over the world and helping them out  a bit with home keeping and hospitality.  Do you want to be a Mr. Badger hostess?  You can!
 I've got some seed planting to do.  Whee!
 I still have my gingerbread house stickers on my walls from two or three Christmases ago.  I never tire of candy and cupcakes.  I'm not eating gluten anymore (or dairy) because of my sinuses, so I am going to learn to bake gluten- free tea treats this summer.  
 Look what my mama sent!  Two of her childhood books!  Yahoo!  

She also sent this sweet tea towel.  I see many tea parties for one (or many more some days) in my summery future.  Thank you for your concern for my cold.  I had a long sleep last night and I have cough drops and cough syrup to get me through today.  I feel a lot better.
This weekend = GRANNY CAMP (and GRAMPY!) so four little darlings are coming to our house.  I am going to vacuum, change the sheets on cozy beds, plan some activities, and shop for Goldfish crackers, bananas, gummy fruits, apple juice, tasty breakfast cereals, and chicken nuggets.  Sound tasty?
Atticus is walking and talking, so he'll keep this granny busy.  
Okay, time for my breakfast smoothie, a shower, and my quick zip to school.
Thank you for checking on me today!  You are so nice to do so.  

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Yard Tricks

 Look at Birdie!  She's doing "cartwheels" and soaking up some sunshine.

 Miss Bug did her own version of yard tricks.
 Notice the glasses, the cute feet and the jazzy outfits.  Go Birdie!

 Knocking on the fairy door.  Landscaping needed.


There are a few lilacs growing and they smell divine.  God makes flowers smell indescribably delicious, doesn't He?
I have a cough and I'm a bit achey.  I'd like to sleep in a warm envelope of a bed today, listening to an audio book, and ignoring the clock.  Instead I will listen to an audio book at school with some very nice twelve year olds.  Have you ever read Freak the Mighty?  Oh my goodness!  It is a wonderful novel about friendship and change.  You'd like it.

Back to the garden . . . I am feeling extremely hesitant to spend fortunes on plants.  It's seeds for me.  Hollyhocks, sunflowers, morning glories, zinnias, and nasturtiums.  Herbs, too.
We've had some beautiful rains here.  Yay!  We're on water restrictions so we are so thankful for God's water.

Have a flowery day, friends!  Thank you for popping by!  (BIG HUG!) 


Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Post Mother's Day

 Come inside this fairy house, won't you?  

 Have some peaches and cream.  Don't babies look perfectly darling when they wear bonnets?
 Here's Birdie!
 Cousins go in and out of the Wendy house!


There were so many tulips for sale on Mother's Day.  I think tulips look good enough to eat, but of course I don't eat them.  
School is VERY busy and looking at my planning book, I sort of get the shivers.  There is too much to do.  
I'd like to do a little knitting or read for hours.  Soon I will.  Oh, and the garden . . . YIKES!
How does your garden grow?

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Yay for Moms!

 I spoke with my dear mama this morning.  I do love her voice.  It sounds like a lovely melody.  My dad is still in the rehab center, getting strong.  She and my dear sister will be with him, watching golf on the telly, this Mother's Day.  
As you can see in the photo above, I must tidy the Wendy house.  Sam was washing dishes in the sink.  We're having a nice warm cookout for dinner.  Blue skies for Mother's Day!  Nice!
 Do you think this squirrel is a mother?  She sure goes to great lengths to get sunflower seeds.  Time for bird food.
 April and Brad have me this feeder.  Can you see Mr. Gnome's bird?  
 Jeff gave me a yellow bird.  She glows in the dark.  
 Can you see Lizzy and Sam's footprints?  Butterfly wings!
 My dear gnome-giving neighbor brought this snail watering can over yesterday.  Did you know that garden snails wear pearls?

 My friend Jennifer has chickens and her girls are laying like crazy just now!  I'm so glad she shares with me!  
 I'm making a strawberry, cucumber, and spinach salad to go with our cookout food!  I shall run to the grocery and buy more potatoes for my favorite picnic food:  potato salad.  Yum!
 Such a blue-sky day in my neighborhood!  Can you see the hills (mountains) in the distance?  Soon the leaves on the maple trees will show themselves and we're hoping the cold didn't halt our fruit tree blooms.  My peonies are shooting up!  Happiness!
I DO love being a mother.  My own mother showed me how to do it.  I am so proud of our kids and I like their ways.  They are smart, they care for others, they pay attention, and they love Jesus.  
All women have the gifts to be mothers.  I know women who do not have children, but they are full of sweet mothering characteristics and they bless others with love.

Followers