Looks can be deceiving

This picture makes it appear as though I have a walker on my hands. 'Tis not the case. Since Andrew discovered standing on his own in the dandelion field, he has not stopped. But, he is also perfectly content to just stand there~he doesn't even TRY to walk. Don't know how THAT can be fun, but hey. Whatever floats your boat.

Thus far, he has only managed five steps in a row. Most of the time, though, it is two steps then PLOP!

Cha-CHING!

It has been a positively DELIGHTFUL day, this fine sunny Saturday.

We heartily ate cinnamon buns, straight from the oven , when we awoke and then MINUTES later, I left! :-) (But the absence of my family is NOT why it has been delightful!) This morning the gardeners of the church gathered together and exchanged perennials, wit and wisdom as they do, apparently, ever year in spring.

Matt stayed home with the children for the two hours I was gone and while he was working on his deerhide with children in tow, the empty Panda spaces in my arms were promptly filled with a plethora of flowers.

I didn't have perennials to share but I am not a 'come empty-handed' type of gal, so I headed to the greenhouse and bought two flats of Alyssum at .99cents a piece. I felt like I had even just a SMALL contribution and it made me feel better.

I got more than 15 different plants-for FREE. I don't even KNOW what some of them are (out comes my Garden Plants Encyclopedia!!!) but that doesn't lessen my excitement. Here is a list of some of the plants that I KNOW.

*Lily of the Valley
*Coral Bells
*Tiger Lilies
*Day Lilies
*Lemon Balm
*Bee Balm
*Miniature Lilac
*Rasberry bush
*Snapdragons
*Oregano
*Large Burgendy Iris
*Siberian Iris (small and purple)
*Rose
*Larkspur
*Bleeding hearts
*Gooseberry Longneck something or other :-)

There are about five more that I don't know about. Can you BELIEVE it? Is that not just a POT OF GOLD?!?!

A *little* bit of me is a tad bit sad at the whole ordeal. Instead of being able to do any landscaping with them (as I would have loved to do!) I will get to enjoy them in pots. I just don't want to permenantly plant them in the ground and then leave them when we move in the coming months... It makes me sad to not be established anywhere. Again. I do so LONG to put down roots.

I am trying to push that bit of grumbling down and instead focus on the great blessing of it all. I am just so thankful that their are women (and men) who willingly and happily share their time, expertise, and their means for the furtherance of others. I have seen it time and time again at this church.

I must say, this church has many gifts that I haven't witnessed in a church in years. They really are a FAMILY. They do SO much together, are so ACTIVELY a part of one anothers' lives. Definately NOT the 'Hi on Sunday' type crowd. If ever we can no longer be a part of this family, I will leave with them a piece of my heart.

Anyway. Just thought I would share my happy news. I just finished potting ALL of those plants! Phew-was THAT a job! But a GOOD one! ;-)

If you are interested in gardening or would like to BECOME interested in gardening; perhaps you're garden is bare but you can't afford anything more-or maybe the Oregano NEEDS to be thinned out for the sake of your other plants...I would encourage you to set up a perennial exchange in your church or community. I know of people who set something like this up on Freecycle and barter cycle too!

It really is a FANTASTIC thing.

Dutch tiles

I promised Mari-Nanci a LONG time ago, a reveal of my Dutch tiles, and FINALLY I get to it. Coincidentally, it is Friday and therefore, I participate, ANOTHER week in Show and Tell! ;-)

I have a very strong Dutch heritage and so anything Dutch is special to me. The only real 'collections' I have are Dutch tiles and Delpht things. This is the start of the Dutch tiles. My 'someday' kitchen will have these tiles bordering along the ceiling. To dream, I would say I would also have a sunroom-pale yellow walls, white wicker furniture; where I can display all my blue and white Delpht.

Each of these tiles are especially dear to me because each seem to represent this family and our love of the land and of the old ways. Each of these I have received as a gift from my Oma and Opa (grandparents) for Christmas or, as they call is St. Nickolas. I still remember the first one I got. It was the year I was to be wed. I remember thinking- 'My Oma and Opa finally view me as an adult because now I have been gifted a Dutch tile!"

The one with the Mother and girl at the cheese basin I got when Corynn was just a wee one, if you look closely the Father is right outside the door, milking the cow.

There is one of a man hauling milk by boat with the help of his wife (the first one I got) , one of a man making klompen (Dutch shoes-which Matt would LOVE to learn to do someday...), and the plate is of men working with a workhorse (creatures we hope to own one day!)

Anyway~that is my (quite small still) collection of Dutch tiles, so dear to my heart.

Can I get an Amen?

I found a jewel! I found a jewel! I found a jewel of site for Homeschooling Moms! I stumbled across The Well Drained Mind and read the sidebar-and I realized it so closely parallels to what I want to convey here, at Renaissance. Read it....I'll wait.

This blog is about how to maintain a sense of self in this all encompassing life altering decision we have each made, for all manner of reasons, to homeschool. There are plenty of blogs out there devoted to being a Mom. There are plenty devoted to the challenges associated with homeschooling. But I think there are few where many voices can speak to how we can maintain and grow as individuals through this process. This is not a message board. It is not a place for rants. It is not a place to talk about your kids and their accomplishments. (That's what personal blogs are for.) It is a place to share common struggles but more than just that. Hopefully all contributors will carefully aim to help others in their pursuit of personal growth (be that spiritual, emotional, continuing education, physical, social etc...) whether that be through helpful insight, stories of personal victories or probing questions that make us think about things from a new angle.

Of course-I DO rant about my kids. AND my accomplishements. Trust me-those things will NEVER change. :-) But I am so passionate about the need to guard and protect yourself from getting LOST in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

While the above site speaks mainly to Homeschooling Moms-this message is NOT just for those of us who homeschool. Just HAVING children creates a danger for self-sacrifice so encompassing that one day you wake up and realize...20 years has passed and you don't know yourself anymore. But even THAT doesn't include everyone.
It is for those of us who are WOMEN. God has given women the natural tendency to nurture. No matter WHAT stage of life you are in. Those older women who care for their husbands each day and help to mentor the younger women around them, grandmothers, wives, women who have young children. Everyone is prone to putting others before themselves. That is not bad-it is good. But there must be time for YOU, too!

Everyone will benefit if you take care of you. You know the saying-if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy? Yep. There ya go! Pursue interests. Read. Experiment. Take time to enjoy things YOU want to enjoy. Be a learner. Define yourself. Change. Grow.

I have seen firsthand what it is to lose your identity and to be known only as 'so and so's Mom.' It is a tragic thing. It is sad. And I imagine, it is scary for those women to ever be by themselves. Who WERE they? They don't recall...

I have come to think of this blog as a life book for my children. (I fully admit to being a bit morbid here, but bear with me...) Someday I will not be here. I don't know when my time to leave this earth will be, hopefully when I am OLD and crotchety. But if not...if the Lord calls me to Him before my children grow into adults-I want them to have a way to remember me and the life we had together. But most importantly, I want to still able to offer them life lessons. I want them to KNOW their Mama. I want them to learn things from me that I might not have gotten the chance to teach them in real life. I want them to know what has driven me. What I have felt passion for. I want them to learn from me what I had to teach myself.

And this is one of those lessons that I hold dear to my heart. That I am passionate about. Look at the title of this blog. Renaissance-Encouraging pleasures and thought into the MANY realms of womanhood.

Motherhood is an amazing thing. But don't let it define you.

~~~~~~~~~~THAT WAS A RANT AND A HALF!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that THAT is over...go here to read the most recent article submission on The Well Drained Mind. It is an article encouraging women to pursue their own interests in the summer months, just as we encourage our children to further their own interests during that time. (That is a very QUICK summary, so just go over and read it yourselves...) It ends with a few questions which I will post here for you all, because I am interested in hearing your responses and learning more about you!

So, with summer approaching, what will you be planning to do with your time?

What will you be learning?

What skills might you improve upon?

Here are my answers to it...

Summertime, for me, is full of gardening, canning and preserving for the winter. So-THAT is what I mainly do with my time. Just because I do that every year, however, doesn't mean I don't need to IMPROVE on it. So-these things also go on under 'skills to improve on', as well. I also want to improve on the quality and artistry of my photographs as well as improve the quality with which I sew and crochet.

What I am going to LEARN this summer? I have already begun my adventures in wine-making. I also have plans to construct a water fountain myself, create a water garden (with Corynn.) and learn to cane and refinish old rocking chairs. (I have two.)

What about you?!?

Reason to Rejoice!!

My camera and connective cable were not not dead, only maimed! With a day of rest, and new batteries...all seems to be working fine now! Hurray! Good-because I have pictures to share! ;-)

This week, I have really been working hard to take care of the not-so-fun but necessary projects that needed to get done, along with trying to put my house BACK together again as it was dismantled piece by piece. Changing winter/summer clothes over and sorting for a yard sale, among other things. I am only half-way done.

Now that the weather has turned nicer, one of my PRIORITIES was to tackle the FUN-and-needed task of getting our patio furniture out on the patio. Since it was used (minus the umbrella) in our KITCHEN during the winter, we now have a huge open field of linoleum in there, pleading for something, ANYTHING, to cover it. I still haven't decided what to do about that.


But no matter-we practically LIVE outside in the warm weather ever since we were gifted our patio set. Lunches are daily eaten on the patio, dinners often and I can ALWAYS be seen sitting out there with one project or another on my lap during naptime (at least until canning goes full speed ahead...)

So-indoors goes out and I have created my own little haven. Come, have a looksie...

Potted geraniums line the stairway-the two upper ones were made even fancier by adding a few other flower and foliage into surprisingly inexpensive (it pays to shop Amish!) urns.


Behind the large table, there is an additional seating area with two chairs and a drink table for guests. It is strategically located in the SHADE of the patio. Behind it is a gorgeous plant (can't think of the name) that I have added white lights to for nighttime entertainment. To the right is a little plastic picnic table for the childlings to sit at and to the left is my newly acquired planter stand. It can be enjoyed from anywhere you sit and seems to create more of an outdoor 'room' atmosphere. As you can see, it needs to be filled up a bit more! :-)

I lined the edge of the patio going out to the yard, with some of my 'herbies'. I have planters on the ground-and more fragile ones up on this make-shift bench (HOPEFULLY to deter any Panda or Dutchess 'accidents' from taking place...) I was quizzing Corynn today on the different mints we have-apple, pinapple, speari and peppermint. She also knows which plant is chives. Give her the summer and she'll know the rest by sight and name.

Here is my big pot of 'herbies'. I am happy to announce, my sage overwintered indoors perfectly well. I have a flowering climber for the cross.

And THAT is my patio! I hope you enjoyed my itty bitty tour!

Make do with what you have

I ran out of pots and soil before I ran out of plants so around the yard I went, on my own personal scavenger hunt. I found this trunk that had been uprooted and thought it was PERFECT! I upturned it so the cut (flat) side was down and I planted the last bit of geranium and alyssum in the hole/bowl that the roots naturally created. I sprinkled some forget-me-not seeds as well. You'll have to firm down the soil pretty good, even perhaps adding more until it is established. Make sure to water it GENTLY. But I thought it made for a really cool looking arrangement!

Doing its stuff

If you click on this picture, it will enlarge, and then you will see what I love about this picture. Proof that my wine is doing it's stuff! It looks more like orange juice now but as it ferments it will become more clear.

It was super easy to do, which makes me SO excited for strawberry season. Strawberry wine-I simply *MUST* try it!

And because I can't help myself-here are some close-ups.

I just can't resist.

Yellow Symphony

Goldilocks

When I spotted this spent bloom, I just couldn't get over the gorgeous curls it produced as one final showstopper before its end.

The Dragon's head, cut off

The battle of Good and Evil continues on.

First, the Good.

I am pleased to announce, my house is on the verge of immaculate. Most times, unfortunately, it must first be insanely, ridiculously, disgustingly despicable before I take the plunge of a deep clean. Yesterday, it got to that horrible point where there was not ONE tidy room to escape to (perhaps it was coming home from a week away, perhaps due to bridal shower preparations, or more likely due only to my sheer laziness) and so the uncompromising Mrs. was drawn out from within once again.

Suddenly-every room was a target and everything WITHIN the room had a to-do list all its own. I am an all or nothing kind of gal-so when I get in my funk-I roll with it.

Here is what I accomplished in a (rather FUN, I might add) day:

Kitchen:

~Moved furniture out of kitchen, swept and mopped
~Beat the rug
~Made Dandelion wine
~A load in the dishwasher and a bit of handwashing to boot.
~Made peppermint tea
~Cleaned and mopped utility closet
~Worked a bit more on clearing my desk
~Reclaimed my desk chair...so I had to clean about 6 months of Andrew GUNK from it)
~Sorted and cleaned the inside of my diaper bag

Bathroom:

~Moved EVERYTHING out of bathroom, swept and mopped
~Washed mirror, soap and toothbrush containers,
~Scrubbed toilet and SHOWER (this is a downfall of mine...)
~Cleaned heater
~Beat rug
~Sorted magazine and book basket

Dining Room:

~Cleared table
~Washed tablecloth
~Wiped down chairs
~Swept and mopped

And I did all of this DURING NAPTIME. (gasp!)

OUTSIDE of naptime I tackled...

~Organizing clutter and general tidying up of basement (let me tell you...one sentence does NOT do justice to the job THAT was!)
~Potted nearly a dozen pots with one or several plants
~hung laundry on line and dried, then folded
~finished (with the exception of sewing on four buttons) a sewing project soon to be revealed!

I was very pleased with the work that I got accomplished...and a bit ashamed, too. If I can get THAT much done (when I am motivated to do so) in such a short time, WHY is it that the house is EVER in a state that would embarrass me? Gives ME a reality check, that's for sure.

Now for the EVIL EVIL EVIL.

Something is wrong with the connector cable to my camera, leaving me unable to download any of the photographs that I take. The dragon's head is cut off, so to speak. Though-MY dragon was the friendly, tongue-licking-like-a-dog type so it is not necessary a GOOD thing that it has been slayed. It IS, however, EVIL EVIL EVIL that I have no way to share photographs until further notice.

Perhaps some will sigh with relief, I know my right thumb and pointer (the camera duo) will.

DANDELION WINE

While Kelli is enjoying fields of blooming wildflowers, the only things blooming in our fields are dandelions. As pesky as dandelions can be-I do enjoy them (shhh-don't tell!). I have already received my fair share of dandelion bouquets-and no doubt, have many more in store. But most especially, I am excited because, after a couple years of WANTING to do it- I am fianlly going to try my hand at wine making this year. So-Dandelion Wine-here I come! :-)

(I also want to try out strawberry wine when the time comes...) If any of you are wine makers-if you have tips-share 'em! My hubby has made beer and cider but I didn't have anything to do with those processes except sacrificing my kitchen for the process. This time it is all on me! :-)

Yesterday, the children and I went out to gather the needed dandelion heads ( TWO QUARTS!) and now that I have finished posting ALL the photos from THAT adventure, it is time for me to be OFF to the kitchen to get my wine made. I'll keep you updated.
;-)

Recognize anything?!?

Perhaps a little horsey, being put to good use?!

No ordinary day

While to most this seems like an ordinary picture of an ordinary child standing in grass, to ME it is an EXTRAORDINARY shot of a very special Panda drawing himself up into a standing position without pulling himself up on anything! A first!!!

WAHOO for my ever-growing boy!

Yes-you are a hotshot!

Twosome

Sidenote: If you notice Corynn having her hands near her ears-or her head cocked so that her shoulder is touching her ears, don't be alarmed. She is not being forced to pose, nor does she have an ear infection. This is her 'security blanket' and it appears everytime she is just a wee bit leery of something. It happened to be particularly windy yesterday-and she is pretty frightened (seriously) of the wind blowing her and her things away. Strange girl. I have never known a child to be afraid of the wind...I think I read her The Wizard of Oz at too young an age...

then I jumped in too.

Telling stories

Clever bear

Even the Panda got in on it. He worked diligently-taking handfuls of the dandelion heads out of my basket and then putting them back in one by one. When I saw him putting just taking handfuls OUT of the basket and not putting them back in-I came over to stop him and this is what I saw. Apparently, he decided he wanted his HAT to be HIS basket.

In reward for her efforts,

I thought a golden crown was in order.

On walking...mostly

Andrew had his RUMP heavenward as he tried to catch up with his sister. If only that boy would start to WALK-things would be a LOT easier for him. But then I wouldn't be able to enjoy his cute little rump in the wind! hehehe

He LOVES to walk next to me as I hold his one hand. We do that when I am in a particularly patient mood.