Look! Beauty!

I'm pondering beauty. I found some beautiful people and I'd like to tell you what I think is beautiful about them. Above, Ed Wynn. He was the loveliest Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins, wasn't he? Aren't those eyebrows fantastic? I like his long chin and his subtle smile. Incredible.

Look at Tasha Tudor. Her hair is soft and feminine and her dress is simply divine. Take a look at those hands! Those are "can do" hands, for sure.

Wendell Berry. Don't you look at that face and want to be his friend?

Maria from Sesame Street. Isn't that the prettiest combination of eyes, nose, and mouth? Her heart shows all over that face!

Aunt Bea. Can't you hear her sweet, warble-y voice? Don't you wish she was looking at you?

My favorite literary dog - Winn Dixie. He's supposed to be ugly. Nope.

Look at J.R.R. His smile is as inviting as a hot cup of tea.

Oh, Maya. You are gorgeous.

Elegant writer, Amy Tan

Puglsey. He's all kinds of cute, isn't he?

No explanation necessary.

Madeleine L'engle. There was something so enchanting about her

Do you know Corrie ten Boom? Look at her twinkly eyes. Stunning.

Every line. Every shade of rose. Every flicker of brown in eyes that looked hard to see what He sees.
Isn't that a sweet dose of beauty?

Nests

Hi Everyone! We have so many nice birds around here. I was at Birdie and Miss Bug's today while their mom and dad went to the baseball game and out to dinner. I spied an old bird house on the side of their house. Don't you love birdhouses? When we moved to Seattle we lived by a lake while our house was being built and there were so many birdhouses in the trees. I find bird houses such an important gesture of hospitality. However, the best example nature gives us of bedtime brilliance: the nest.
The nest above is in Sydney. I do not know what it is for.

Have you read The Wheel on the School? It tells of sweet children in Holland who try to lure storks back to their village. Jeff and I read it when he was little. He still has a nice hardcover copy.

While watching the little girls, I knit my i-cord lanyard. It's not quite finished, but I think I'll knit a nest next. Garden Mama featured a sweet nest with knitted eggs on her beautiful blog. The nest above was pictured on a bird rescue site.

Cats are good nesters, aren't they? Before I was a teacher, I cleaned houses. One lady I cleaned for made cozy little nests for her cats. They were all around the house.

There are so many kind robins in our yard this spring. They hop around hunting for worms and let me get very close to them. I found these robin eggs on the web. Isn't that the softest, most inviting shade of blue?
Is your house your nest? Your bed? I think it's wonderful that teenagers never want to get out of their beds. I have only felt that way when I was nursing babies or sick. I get up because I get stiff and sore if I stay in bed too long. Do you ever have those divine sleeps when your whole body is relaxed and calm? Why don't we have those every night? I think there is something secret about sleeping that we haven't discovered yet. Your mind sorts out details while you sleep, but what else happens? I remember trying to outsmart sleep when I was a child. I thought that if I just kept thinking about being awake, I wouldn't drift off. Of course that didn't ever work. Sleep IS necessary. duh. How do you make your bedroom all dreamy and cushy? I'd like to know.
Granny told a lot of stories today, folded clothes, washed dishes, bathed babies, combed hair, and smooched soft little necks and Granny's ready for sleep. Sorry for the rambles.
Oh, Gwen said that gnomes give her the creeps. Do they give you the creeps? I like their little red hats, but I'll give the gnomes a rest.
Thank you for coming by. I hope you had a happy, nesting weekend.

He Got Married

Mr. Gnome found a wife. Three purchased gnomes is quite enough for spring. I'll give myself permission to buy more gnomes when school is out for the summer.

Blossoms are everywhere! I took this picture as we were driving away from the grocery store.

This beauty is in Kelli's front yard.

Oh, I wish they lasted longer!

This one is in Kelli's backyard.

Miss Bug chose a new dolly!

Wilbur strikes a pose.

Here is my answer to the heat in my classroom. I figure if my feet are cool, I might be, too. Sorry about the wayward toes.
I cut a big chunk from my left pointer finger today when I was slicing something. I really need to be careful with knives. Anyway, I have a large bandage on it and I am having a hard time typing. OH NO!
I hope you have a springlike weekend, a nap or two, a pear, a tall glass of something sweet, a chance to make something and read something. I wanted to make an i-cord lanyard for my school ID, but now with a sore finger . . . I may try it anyway.
Thank you for stopping by and saying hello.

Rain

We are enjoying delightful April showers. I'm going to need my smiley face umbrella today. We get downpours so rarely in Denver. Yesterday it was so stormy that there was a tornado warning out near my school. We spent an hour "duck and covering" and waiting out the storm. Because I grew up in Washington State, I love rain.

When our kids were young, we spent almost every summer at Young Life camp. This is Malibu Club on a rare sunny day, but most days I juggled the stroller, a big umbrella, raincoat clad preschoolers, and walked up the boardwalks to meals and then back again to stoke the wood stove in our deliciously damp smelling cabin. As teenagers heard about their Savior, I busied myself in the background. Our kids have epic memories of their rainy summer days in British Columbia, privileged guests in a remote wooden camp in the Princess Louisa Inlet. It's rare for a rainy day to come and go without my heart revisiting Malibu Club.

This is my golf course. When I was four years old, our family of seven moved from a cute little cottage in town to a modern five bedroom home across the street from this golf course. None of us ever mastered the game of golf, but we spend days and days of our childhood looking out the window at hole # 9. Gumbo Lily reminded me of this today because she posted about her prairie yard. Rain or shine, dedicated golf enthusiasts played. Big golf umbrellas spotted the landscape and roads winding around our neighborhood offered views of sand traps and water obstacles. I don't enjoy a rainy day without my mind floating back to my memories of that glorious green view and even the smell of the club house.

Here's Mary, one of my literary heroines. Remember what the sudden London downpour did to the chalk pavement pictures Bert drew?

Yes, tut-tut the rain is pouring down and spattering on our smooth driveway. The neighbor's crab apple tree that greets us this spring morning, well . . . it's just about ready to come into glory. I can't wait.
Rain is so cleansing, so nourishing. It reminds me of a song I like:
Rain Lord oh rain Lord
Rain Master Jesus, rain
Rain your Spirit in my heart
Rain Master Jesus rain.
I'm so glad He does.

Goodness

Isn't this pear as pretty as a poem? I have eaten three pears today. They are so sweet, soft and juicy. Heavenly.

My friend made me a bracelet. It's so delicate and "busy" in a good way. I find myself looking at it all day long.

Pretty soon, there might be a gnome in every room of our house. Do you think I could make a gnome sunhat?

I'm watching the first season of Lark Rise to Candleford and it's a treasure to savor. I'm going to stay up late and watch it AND do a little hooking with my basket o' colors. It's raining. Bliss.

Creative Materials

Let's rejoice at happy things like strawberries - four containers for five dollars. This means generous portions for strawberry lovers. Grateful.

I'm moving stuff. One of Jeff's friends is coming to stay with us (live with us) and the basement (aka Pom Pom's creative mess) must be straightened. I'm moving all my creative materials up to the guest room. Now the guest room shall be my "creative materials and books" room. This doesn't sound like a big deal, does it? I wore clunky clogs to school today and my feet are KILLING me, so each time I came upon something interesting (every two minutes) I sat down to look at it. I opened old journals and found funny artwork.

I found some of my old school stuff. It reminded me of those blissful years just a short time ago when I sat in the college classroom with all the youngsters (smile) and drank deep from the fount of knowledge. Going back to school at 42 was challenging in many ways, but because I found the content so engaging, I loved it. Look at my notes! If you were a 19 year old sitting by me and you just happened to look over at my notebook, well let's just say you'd probably roll your eyes. What can I say? I'm a doodler.

Even though it is going to be exhausting and sweaty work, I will move my books and bookcases upstairs to my newly established little work room because I love to gaze in adoration at my books.

I had all my yarn, needles, cross stitch stuff, patterns, and sewing notions in a dresser. It is taking me forever to get it all relocated, especially when I have to touch it all, fondle all the different sizes of needles I forgot that I had and make some wishes . . . I wish I could fiddle around with all this pretty stuff. I wish I could take a day off (not possible - the kids start their research tomorrow!) I wish I had just a tiny bit more energy.

I'm not anywhere near finished, but I wanted to dash outside before the day disappeared completely. I know you all love forsythia.

Look at this sassy-faced girl! She's so resilient, so perky! I wanted to give her a little round of applause, but of course I had my camera in my hands.

I went through the house to the back. Worm eating robins were waiting for me there. They are growing fat.

Good night moon.

Here's another illustration by Jane Dyer. I wish I was this princess because I think I'd be okay with a fairy and two bugs administering a nice little foot bath just for me. Tomorrow, it's back to comfortable shoes. I know better.
Don't you feel romanced by spring (or autumn, my NZ friends) and aren't you thankful for all the real things? The true stuff. The sweet little gifts of life.