very much

geesh. i just realized how very much i used the words very much in yesterday’s post.

yet you were all so kind!!!

and then i went and changed things again….

excepting my proclivity for using the words very much…

for i very much love our weedy-sunflower “trees”. they grow multiple sunflowers. and they are so tall and colorful. and they last well into summer.

i very much love the little boy who arranged this car club gathering on my ironing board.

(i might start using the word little boy rather than baby…because, well, just because he isn’t really a baby anymore.)

 i very much love the flowers on this little plant…picked for me by the biggest boy…and how they brighten up the spot in my kitchen where i stand and wash countless dishes….because i am too lazy to load things into the dishwasher!

so, friends, what are you very much loving right now????

making home: the color orange

it is still lingering here and there.

the color orange.

like in that curtain on the door that goes out to the laundry room.

the paisley print is vintage. from the fifties. my grandma gave it to me. and i actually first made it as a witch cape for sophia when she was 4. i always wanted to do something more with it. and voila! now it is a curtain!

and there it is again on a little seasonal side table in the dining room.

i like how it adds an element of warmth.

the table and the color orange.

my mother will totally disagree with me.

she is a beige person.

thankfully that is one quality of hers that i did not inherit.

i am not afraid of color.

i even added a bit to my hair recently.

highlights.

they make me feel young again.

i promise i don’t have orange hair.

i am not that brave.

thank you alice, for reminding us to look at the little things that make a house a home.

just peachy

no pun intended.

those peaches are peachy. and juicy too!

but i am just peachy.

not juicy.

the farmer’s market is in full swing here. we withdrew our membership to the local CSA and are going instead. weekly. to the market. to pick out what we want. as opposed to getting a box per their selection. is it more costly. yes. because by the time we get there. naturally everyone is hungry. and then there are the vendors. and then everyone is thirsty. and then there are more vendors. so. i become mean. “we are only here for fruit and veggies.” i say. “so starve.”

not really.

we drink fresh-squeezed o.j. and taste all sorts of delicious samples. one week we try mexican food. another greek. sometimes i throw in a beaded ring (why those are swarovski crystal beads, mama! (as if that should matter) ). or an exotic looking bracelet. and if i am feeling really generous, honey sticks. and of course if i say no, nana says yes. she is nicer.

on a different note: i am knee-deep in piles of sympathy clutter. you know that stuff which every person who knows you “homeschool” likes to send your way. 2 million sheets of orange paper from the neighbors. 10 lbs. of foamy/shape/ stickers from the mechanic’s wife. the 37 spiral bound notebooks from great-grandma.

oh, yes, folks. it’s ALL going in the trash or to the thrift store.

even some much-loved artwork belonging to the children i love so dearly.

there will be some tears. hence my strategy of using black trash bags. it is harder to see just what mama is throwing away.

and frankly, being clutter free makes me just peachy too!

now if only i felt that way about really. officially. starting school………………

merry

i am home alone. i was supposed to get up bright and early and head out to finish my Christmas shopping, but i couldn’t bring myself to leave until i took a few pictures and did some sewing. i only have a few projects on my list: some more wool felted lambs, winter/Christmas pillowcases and a joy banner. i have been keeping it simple. focusing mainly on doing things with the kids. i am done decorating. and this week will be spent doing our baking and tying up a few loose ends on some homemade presents.

somehow i can breathe a little easier knowing that we have a break from school.

all in all i am feeling rather merry on this very sunny. warm. saturday morning and i hope you are too!

well wishes

thank you, thank you well wishers. your sweet notes were so lovely to read. so i am sharing my flowers with you. they are from one of my sister-in-laws. she is just the nicest sister-in-law ever. and i say that even knowing that she’ll never read this. doesn’t even have a computer. but look at all those flowers from her beautiful garden…maybe i’d have a garden like that too if i didn’t have the internet!

can you see i am trying to find ways to be fashionable even though i am sick. one has to be creative you know. after days and days in just pj’s. these little socks made my morning.

daddy has taken the well kids to the pumpkin patch and to buy another rocket as the one they launched yesterday disappeared. i am deeply saddened that i can’t take pictures of either of these endeavors so instead i will use my free time to sketch and plan my bend-the-rules garden. more on that later. when this tired feeling is gone.

i’ll leave you with an up close of those flowers. and some well wishes from me to you….stay healthy friends. and if you can’t, then at the very least find your prettiest socks and put them on. they will make you feel just a little bit better.

 

 

afternoons and evenings

because it has been so hot i have  forgotten how much i love fall afternoons. the weather. the way the sun shines just so. making everything golden and bright. it is probably a lot like the very early morning. but i have never been a morning person so i don’t always appreciate its’ beauty.

today, captivated by that beauty i vowed to bring the kids outside every day around 3. no matter what they are doing they have to bring it outside. we have plenty of chairs and a table.

do you like how the jack-o-lantern doubles as a place to collect nature treasures we find on our walks. we started out with just a plastic mummy who came along for the ride. but as you can see we had quite a haul by the time we were done. we were especially on the look out for twigs as my girl is working on some twig furniture for her fairies.

the only creative thing i had time for were a few simple little ghosts. i have been told our house is not spooky enough. too many pumpkins. so i am hoping between the spider webs and the ghosts we are progressing to a higher level of “spooky”.

i started dinner really early again today. i am never sorry when i do. it makes our afternoons and evenings so much smoother. i browned two roasts in a little bit of olive oil and spices. marinated them in soy sauce, garlic and red wine. 2 buck chuck from trader joes. and let them cook slowly for about 2 1/2 hours. while we were outside i kept getting little whiffs and they smelled so yummy. i also made rice and a lentil stew. just lentils, carrots, onions, butter and olive oil. have you noticed i put butter in every thing? really i do. and i always try to justify it by adding olive oil too.

it is evening now. everyone is in pajamas and ready for bed. but i hear cutting. and drawing. and now someone just slipped me a note. it is really a picture. it is me and him. on a magic carpet ride he says. i could really go for one of those about now. but there is still so much to do around here. so at least for now i think we’ll stay put. and with that, i will say goodnite.

an earl gray day

i am sharing the name of my new favorite tea in todays post title. at least it’s my new favorite tea for this week. 2 bags of earl grey, vanilla soymilk and a dash of organic sugar. i don’t have the slightest idea what bergamot is. but i like it.

i just realized that i am suffering from a little deja vu or groundhog day. depending on how you look at it. as i found myself in the kitchen. making lunch. it is wednesday again. piano and guitar lesson day again. and there i was making spaghetti. again. only this time i did not use a jar of some overpriced organic sauce. today it is just good ol’ hunts traditional.

so if it is just a bad case of groundhog day i have learned my lesson. i spent less money this week on sauces.

the deja vu thing could just very well be that this is my life. love it or leave it. and maybe i haven’t really learned anything because i could swear that by wednesday of last week my kitchen was cleaner. what did i do differently?

maybe i didn’t have the blahs. maybe i wasn’t trying to read and understand a tale of two cities so that i could share long drawn out conversations about gothic themes in british literature with my totally disinterested teenager. who btw is currently napping with a blanket over his face. bored out of his mind.

maybe i’m bored out of my mind too. the most exciting thing that has happened to me today was when in said kitchen, attempting to tackle said mountain of dirty dishes, i somehow squeezed the soap bottle and a bunch of little tiny bubbles came bouncing out. floating up into the air they caught the light reflecting in the window from outside and were so colorful and pretty.

being at home too much can be a dangerous thing, wouldn’t you agree? this post just might very well reveal me to be on the brink of insanity. at least maybe a mild case of it.

my girl is standing at the window whistling to the bird next door. it is answering her back. that insanity thing could very well be genetic.

must. attempt. to socialize the children. this. week.

i really loved the discussion over at jaimie’s regarding introverts and extroverts. i have sort of been thinking about the whole issue a lot lately anyway since my girl had a crying fit the other day because she was lonely. the boys had been gone all day with dad. my parents came and went. it was just me and her. and i was no fun because i was feeling under the weather. anyway, after a few aspirin-for me- and a nap i invited her on a bike ride. it was a good distraction for both of us. fresh air does wonders. but the whole incident left me thinking about not just her mental health, but all of the kids.

but i’ll save that for another post.

and i’ll close with some constellation cards.

aren’t they lovely? we were sorely disappointed to miss the meteor showers last night. middle son was terribly sick with a cough and fever. couldn’t really see the logic in ripping him out of bed at 2 am to take a trip outdoors. it sounded so adventurous and fun. at 8 or so last night everyone was willing to go. but when i failed to wake up for the alarm i had so carefully set for 2 am i knew it just wasn’t in the stars for us to venture out.

maybe next time.

and i didn’t even entertain what superwoman would do in a situation like mine. she probably never even has sick kids.

cleanli-ness

downstairs there is a mixture of murphy’s oil soap smell and a pumpkin and cinnamon candle is burning. wonderfully clean floors make me wonderfully happy. and sore. because i am the one who mopped ’em.

i carved myself out a knitting niche in the library. it is a seasonal thing i guess you could say. although it was in the 80’s again here today. good ol’ sunny california.

the house is too quiet. my children have not returned and i went out on a limb and left them another night with my mom and dad. they are up in the mountains doing things like watching the deer come down from the mountains as they often do up there at dusk. just mamas and babies though. such pretty and graceful creatures they are.

as for me i really had to get the notebooks organized and finished because they are vital to any sort of homeschooling success (for me, that is).

my hands smell like grapefruit, saffron and sage because i made some cleaning spray. it works so well. no streaks. usually. except i think i put too much of the saffron and sage oil. that could be a problem on the mirrors. but it wasn’t while i blissfully cleaned miles of white wood molding that lines every wall in this house.

i spied some yellow leaves on my walk to pay the water bill this afternoon. we have three ginormous trees in our yard. each a different kind. and i am really enjoying watching them change colors. now all the raking that need to be done, well, that is another story.

my husband is working late. but we have an actual dinner date. and we can do that. go out late. because there is no one here to need us. i wonder how people without kids survive. i don’t even know what to do with myself. except maybe learn a few new knit stitches with that lovely skein of halloween colored yarn. albeit a tiny skein. which means tiny stitches. i do know a dolly who could use a new scarf and hat.

this was a long day and frankly i accomplished way too much. i need my children…….

what i also do in my spare time

i was so sure this was a hawk. or maybe a bald eagle. (just kidding!) but what do i know. so in my spare time-the kids are with my parents and i am supposed to be catching up on paperwork- i sat here instead with the north american wildlife book on my desk and proceeded to identify some birds i had recently taken pictures of. i am now of the opinion that this is a prairie falcon. and it preys on other birds. and it very mysteriously has been hanging around my yard-even before black pearl disappeared. trying to trick me with those big, serious eyes. it is a beautiful bird, that’s for sure. but a chicken murderer? i don’t have proof. yet.

a feel good post?

 

it seems silly to sit here just to write that we are knee deep in books about the north american explorers, that beautiful feet has the greatest timeline figures and we like eating pomegranetes with lime and chile. that piano lessons, trips to the park and library filled our day yesterday and that i did some verynecessary deep cleaning today. and how when our fans aren’t in use they have a faux fur look to them that wasn’t very appealing. (i can’t believe those dust bunnies can climb so high!) so thanks to a visit from nannie and papa today, i got the help i needed and i scratched a whole bunch of things off of my list. that feels so good.

it also feels good to know that i am almost finished with the alphabet quilt and not a moment too soon as the mornings and nights have been awfully chilly in this old house.

and finally, it feels good that we’ve found our fall rhythm. i think. we are pretty settled (it’s only been 5 months) and with the rosary at the center of our days, i figure that the Mother of God knows what she’s doing, even when i don’t!

i am not sure what else i should write. except maybe that my eyes aren’t feeling so good. i have that kind of soreness that is i can’t pinpoint. like it could be that i am just over tired or it could be that every time we go to public places we love-like the library and the park or necessary ones like the grocery store, i feel like i can see swine flu germs everywhere.and i don’t know if i am just being paranoid, although i did get a call from the charter school the other day stating that there were confirmed cases of the swine flu in the two closest learning centers. fortunately i did not enroll my kids in any classes this semester, really just for busy-ness sake, but perhaps healthwise it will turn out to be a wise choice all around.

so…the perfect ending to this feel good post? a cup of chamomile tea. a story and bed. my energy levels at night are pretty much nil without the caffeine. are you tired of hearing me gripe about that yet? i may never be good at blogging again……

ps. at least this was a little more eeyore and less mrs. hyde!