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………………

if you want something done right

too bad.

that about sums up my morning.

and with that attitude i feel like i am sort of telling Our Lord: i will walk the way of the Cross with You. but can i just put my comfortable-est shoes on first? and i don’t want to break into a sweat. and oh, can we stop for a drink of purified water?

my whiny list of demands could go on and on.

but instead i will to stop there.

and in a new breath. with that same free will.

i will instead ask for the grace to be thankful.

 for soap and water. because it cleans up a myriad of messes.

and for Confession and Holy Communion. The two Things which are the toughest on grime.

the grime that is me.

you see it is so tempting. as an adult. to look at the spills and messes of others and think yourself above it all.

but thankfully. at least this morning. the beam in my eye. is so obstructing my view from on high. that instead i am trying to use the frustration towards a greater good.

after all: there is nothing quite like a good spill to get one down on the old knees to pray……

exchanging nice-eties

thank you for all of your sweet birthday wishes! i really wish i had the time to write an individual note to every person that wished me well yesterday. just know you are in my thoughts and prayers.

it was a lovely day. the weather. the company. the homemade cards. birthday poem. and the two cakes. yes, there were two cakes. it’s as if the ones i love are trying to make me fatt-er. God bless them.

someone taught the baby to ride his bike sans training wheels yesterday. there should be rules against this sort of thing on mama’s birthday. i didn’t need to have a piece of my heart torn out.

“i am kind of a big boy now,” he told me. rubbing salt in the wound.

i realize that this same someone is just picking up where the biggest brother left off with him. this is something siblings do. helping each other to grow up. a concept completely foreign to me. the only child. the helping part. not the growing up.

i am, after all, a grown up now.

changing the subject a bit: my first japanese iris bloomed. how tall and graceful she is.

this is blooming too. i thought it was a hollyhock at first. but now i am not so sure. i would like to know though. i like to be on a first name basis with all of the members of my garden.

i’d like to know that gopher’s name too so i can yell at him to go bother someone else!

well, i’ll leave this space now. wishing you all blooming flowers. soft yarn. sticky baby kisses and cake. and any and all other nice-eties that your heart desires. it is still easter people. hooray!

but i have to get back to my spring cleaning.

except i never got to bleaching those sinks.

not yet anyway.

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…….

on creativity

my tools

yum! bubblegum pink

our first egg ever!

oohing and ahhing...

egg art

old lace and new pillow cases

finished pillow cases

 

“to be creative is to be like God. To know how to take the things God has created and extend them further in acts of our own creating, to search out in one’s head an idea, and work over it with a mind and hands, selecting this, combining it with that, cutting away, discarding, adding, fitting and finally bringing forth something new-this is how we are made to be creators like our Father.”

~excerpt from We and Our Children, Molding the Child in Christian Living

***

finding the time to do some mama creative things during these extremely hot days isn’t easy. most of my activities revolve around keeping 4 children of such varied ages-busy. and alive. especially since the bickering seems to increase with the temperature. away from the television. and even finding things for them to do that keep them out of my hair for a while.

i cannot believe what an event the first egg was! here i was thinking i was the creative one today, getting two projects off my to do list completed. all along those chickens far outdid me! the kids were so enthralled at the discovery of this one precious egg. we were rather busy for quite some time. guessing who the lucky girl was that laid the masterpiece. discussing nesting boxes and plans on expanding the coop. there was even a hushed discussion as to who was going to be the lucky person to eat this first of many. middle son, in a hushed voice, noted that this was different because the ones that come from the store are already in a package, we don’t know the chickens. but this. this is OUR egg.

so i know i wasn’t supposed to move it. my hubby is an expert ya know. he lived with his grandmother one summer and apparently he learned all the tricks of the raising chickens trade. but that egg was too precious to us to be left out there with all those ladies. they step so carelessly on each other, in their water and food. that egg would’ve been scrambled for sure!

anyway, i did manage these two projects today, along with a thorough dining room, front room and girl room cleaning. tomorrow it’ll be the kitchen, bathrooms, and my room. wednesday the boys’ rooms and the loft and upstairs closets. although the loft will probably take me into friday. but it is time. after all we have been here since june. school will be starting before i know it. and we need a place to learn. and create. and play. an organized space close to the computer for the teen. space for the kindergartner. and a table for the middles.

well, hope you are finding ways to keep cool and be a little bit creative! i don’t know what other projects i’ll be able to squeeze in. especially since coconut kisses and chocolate chip cookies are somewhere in our plans this week. and for some reason things like that make me tired in this heat. can somebody tell my kids baking isn’t even legal when it’s 113 degrees outside? geesh.

ps. with regards to the corn tortillas, yes, they were good. a little salty. but i served them kind of like tostadas with a scoop of turkey chili beans, sour cream, lettuce and cheese on top.