What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Necessary Evils



The roofers came this week and began the task of roofing our little mansion. In order to protect our 'stuff', I had to tear down my precious patio. Plants, furniture, everything!

I didn't realize how sad, lonely and pathetic that monster slab of concrete was without the loveliness of living.

It was no longer a pretty spot-and certainly wasn't inviting.



Of course, having a truck in our front yard doesn't help much either.



I couldn't BEAR to see all loveliness vanish or my entire patio to become stark and cold. So I crammed as many plants under the protection of the front door roof as I possibly could and I made it my personal goal to FIND beauty even if I had to create it myself.
That
(That was an admirable goal-true, but didn't do much to change my attitude about the constant banging and hammering sounds...)
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~*~



Mums, up close.


Just today, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glimmer on the petals of a flower pot. My brain passed it off as a waterdroplet-then I realized, "uhhh-no, that can't be. This is INSIDE." Upon further inspection, I see one of my children thought they should make the flower just a little bit more beautiful.

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Panda



Calling Papa at work, on the 'phone'.



Who is that boy in the window?



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Weekly Photo assignment



I have been participating in a weekly photo assignment, this week's assignment was

In My Life

I took this picture because it seems that, with a four year old and a one year old, a day in my life doesn't go by without bumps, bruises or bleeding of one kind or another.

OR magic kisses.
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Friday, September 28, 2007

I spy



A corner of my home.

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Little Bits of Love



Corynn gathers flowers whenever she gets outside. I have collected them at my kitchensink windowsill and enjoy every ounce of their beauty, while it is still here.

I think that a certain Panda bear has been internalizing that because he has begun doing the same thing. His are not so beautiful, but are just as (if not more so) sweet.

His little legs waddle him toward me faster than he knows how to deal with and his chubby arms with a non-exsistent wrist holds up to me a clump of dead grass. Or a handful of pebbles. Or a stick. And with a HUGE grin and a sweet sparkle in his eyes he says (with great pride in his voice...

"DEEEE-R" (there)

It is just SO precious and it warms my heart like I never knew a dirty rock could.


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Gold

Yesterday, the sun peaked into the kitchen in a single spot. Coincidentally, on the already gold (now much more so) pears.
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Calorie Exchange



My back is arched. My eyes are squinty. My neck is sore and my fingers tingle.

All because I spent entirely too long at this techno-box in order to swap calories!

I am SO pleased with all of you who have emailed me or left me notes saying you are ACTUALLY trying to recipes I post that now, I am actually THINKING about and PLANNING what recipes to share!

I am loving the feedback, so keep it up! Head on over to Kitchen Riches, Of the SLEW (and that is NO exaggeration) of recipes I posted, SURELY there must be SOMETHING you want to try out!
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Thursday, September 27, 2007

September Block of the Month



This block was a fun one. It sortof blew my mind, actually. I never would have known you could do this, unless I was shown-and it is so SIMPLE in theory, too.

It's called a Disappearing Nine Patch. All you do is stitch nine squares together-to form a nine patch.



Then you cut it in half. and in half again (to make quarters).

And rearrange....and rearrange...and rearrange.

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After this many variations I gave up. I am sure there are more. It's crazy you can get SO many fun, interesting and complex looks by such a simple dimple technique.

This is the one that I chose, and stuck with. It is on its way to Germany as we speak.
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The funny things I do...



Yesterday morning, after hopping out of the shower, I noticed how MAGNIFICENT the sun was as it was rising. I had already plopped the kids down to eat their breakfast so I quick THREW on some clothes-mismatched and all-and ran outside with my camera.

Anyone knows that the sun can change its look ENTIRELY within a moments time.

Here I am, running barefoot, mismatched clothes with a bright coral towel still wrapped upon my head, camera bopping along with me...down the lane beside my house in order to get the trees out of the way. It was a sight, let me tell you. But it was worth it for the sight that I beheld.


It really was SO very beautiful.


After I took a fair amount of photos, I decided it was time to head home. After all, the kids were still eating their breakfasts and I had to ship-shape up before my parents-in-law arrived.

I was briskly walking back to the house, in the same shape as when I had left (though now the tightly wrapped towel had become disheveled and lopsided), when I noticed a van in the driveway and half a dozen or so Amish men blocking every entrance into my home.

The roofers had decided to work that day. and I decided to look like an idiot.

In truth, I do that quite often-but most times I don't get caught.



So-THAT was fun....
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The funny things a CAMERA does...



I took this shot and it turned out like this.

I took the one below it-and it looks entirely different. I don't know what I did. Maybe metered with the sun and without. There are SO many variables... ugh.


I thought, "Self. It is nice to get the sun in the water-but lets add a ripple effect for some variation" so I chucked a stone into the pond. You know for ripples. (If I would have been good, I would have captured the 20 or so frogs that hopped hysterically to land when I came close...)


Only when I was home did I realize that somewhere between the THROW and the ripples, I snapped another picture. Cool. Always a perk, eh?
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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Out to dry



Very soon my kitchen will be halved in size. As soon as the weather cools down (and stays PUT) I will be bringing in my patio furniture and once again-I will have a kitchen table. I have enjoyed the nice open floor of my 'summer kitchen' but the extra table/counter space will come in quite handy during apple season.

The other day, when we were having that cold spell (not so anymore-it will be 87 degrees today!) I brought in quite a few plants, cut off some herbies to dry, and did just some general overall plant preparations. Here are some of my herbies...hung to dry over the door in the kitchen.

I hope to house quite a few herbie pots during the winter, because I think I have gotten spoiled using fresh herbs. Oh the SMELL of them.

See the lavendar? That is ALL that my baby lavendar plants produced this year. Well, that minus a few stalks I tucked into washclothes when company came.

SOMEDAY, I will have lavendar plants with MASS profusions of aromatic purple beads lining the way to my door. I promise you that.

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Bittersweet

I got my last package from my secret sister yesterday. sniff sniff. I sure did like getting mail. sniff sniff. I will be so sad, now that it is all over... HONK-Kerplfffffff.

What a way to end it though...with chocolate truffles! And goodies for my little munchkins to boot! Jane, from Prairie Girls was my sister in hiding...and I am so glad she was! Taking a gander at her site-the first thing that popped up was her precious girls in PRAIRIE bonnets! Now tell me-is that not the PERFECT match for me?!?

Jane-thank you so much for these many months of special treats, encouragement, and making me feel extra special. You have brightened my day so many times-and I will be sad to lose you! I look forward to spending from now on getting to know YOU via your blog! Thank you so much, secret sister!


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many faces



Every single day I come into contact with these faces, and MORE. She is so weird.

She must get that from her fathers' side of the family...

;-)
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