Owl Creek Cottage

Caiden Writes

Enjoying Guineas

An Article on Guineas

My name is Caiden, and I own chickens and guineas.  

Guineas, when still keets, look just like chicks.  After a while they get an ugly thing on their heads, and their tails point straight down.

If you love your guineas as babies, they will love you.  You can put food in front of you, then wait for them to come over.  When they do, you can pet them and they will not run away.  

 Guineas are good for many things:  they rid your garden of pests and don’t destroy your plants; they are like alarm birds and can be used as roosters; they are not aggressive at all; they eat snakes, grasshoppers, and ticks.  You have to protect them from snakes in the beginning, because rat snakes will constrict and eat them.  So you have to sink wire around the edges of their enclosure and leave a little door so they can get out, and put chicken wire so they can see and get used to the other chickens.

You’ll need a heat lamp for them in the beginning.  

Keep them in the coop for the first two months, so they’ll grow attached and not wander away.  When you let them outside, you have to watch them and always love on them so they will always love on you and return to their coop.  

I love keeping guineas.

 

A Perfect Labor Day

(Let's pretend it's still Labor Day.  I wrote this and forgot to post it!)

 

Labor Day dalliances:

~quilting on the deck under gentle sunlight before breakfast

~croquet and Bocce ball on the back lawn--discovering that Addie has a serious arm!

~an easy hour of lessons, followed by an impromptu four-person nap on the Happy Room floor

~dinner outside, then a bike ride down country roads and back

~playing in the yard until dark

~ditching baths to watch an old episode of "All Creatures Great & Small" instead,

~then little ones tumbling into bed, giggling and whispering to each other under covers.

Everybody falls asleep fast, and I resume my quilting in a silent house.

Perfect.

Moving Ahead

It was with delight I wrote down today's date in my journal:  August 31st is one of my favorite days because it's the last day of August.  Here in Texas August is never fun, but this year we've set record temps nearly every single day.  It won't actually be any cooler tomorrow on September 1, but there's hope that fall is coming, and that's enough for me.  

It was also Caiden's birthday yesterday, and I've been dreading it the entire month.  He turned 10, and it's a milestone for us, being our oldest child.  I'm not really looking forward to my kids growing up!  I love them the way they are, and although logically I realize I might feel differently another decade from now, right now I can't fathom it.  

He wasn't sad at all, and we celebrated with great fanfare:  morning birthday party with smoothies, muffins, and all his gifts.  In late afternoon my husband picked us up and took us out for a Fancy Fondue Dinner.  The kids were in heaven--cheese, meat, and chocolate in an abundance!  We went around the table to talk about Caiden's gifts, strengths, and just what we plain love about him.  It was a long, fun dinner, and we came home to set up the tent we got him.  All three slept in it and, unlike true camping, actually slept in past normal!

(At dinner)

While my husband set up the tent, one of our dogs chased a skunk and got sprayed, so we sent him outside to stay until the smell fades, and then I realized water had leaked inside the boys' bedroom into their window seat.  I stayed up til nearly midnight washing wet dress-up clothes and sleeping bags, bleaching the window seat, and pulling up carpet.  I went to bed so tired that I didn't even have time to be sad that my firstborn had turned 10!

So today we're moving on.  He's fully 10, and happy to be so, and I can't really be sad that he's growing up since he's such a terrific young man!  Well, a little sad.

First Week

We finished our first week back in school, and it was a good one!  I was overwhelmed at the thought of adding another student so close to having added one just last year, but it turned out much easier to have all three doing their lessons.  Addie was very happy to have her own books and stickers and notebook, and once she was finished for the morning, she was very happy to play quietly while the boys worked.  I've decided the easiest periods of homeschooling are when the younger ones are napping babies or are in school themselves.  The preschool period is a rough one to figure out!

My husband brought home an ice cream cake for the kids this week and took me to a restaurant converted from an old school, to celebrate our first week back.  We had our first "Recite Night" last night at dinner, with each child reciting to Daddy his or her memory work and narrations from the week.  It's a nice way for him to be in on what they're doing, and for them to have an "audience" to impress after a week of hard work!

So now it's Saturday, and I woke up happy, knowing most of my work for the week is finished.  With my husband in the ministry, we go to church both days of the weekend, so I try not to do much work outside of cooking and tidying on the weekends.  So  besides writing down assignments for next week's checklists, all I need to do is clean the Happy Room.  A week of all of us in an 11x13 room during lessons makes for a messy room!  

I have several projects up in my sewing room, hoping for attention this weekend, and I'm about 30 minutes' worth of work from finishing up a Wonderful Wallaby for Grayson.  I made Addie one in aqua in June and made Gray's in his signature color, green.  (He went to the allergist in all green the other day:  green crocs, shorts, and shirt, and I was sitting next to him knitting his green Wallaby, and had to laugh at his love for this color!)  Caiden's is next, and I'd love to make myself one, too.  It's basically a knit version of a hoodie, and I'm using Spud and Chloe's sweater yarn, so soft!  I'd also love to get a few hours up in my little room this weekend, to work on Addie's fall dresses.  I made new, longer versions of this pattern from last year:

That's one of last year's dresses; this year's are for the fall with darker colors and can be worn with a cardigan or little pullover.  It doesn't get cold here until around Thanksgiving, so these will get a lot of wear.  Her apple one (See first day of school picture in post below. )was worn every day this week--it's very satisfying to sew for her!

A little sewing, a little tidying, a little napping--that's what's in store for this weekend!  Next week Scouts begins, Caiden has a big birthday, and we inch a little closer to fall.  There's much to be thankful for today.

Stairwell Silhouettes

I bought these frames several months ago with the idea of putting my children's silhousettes in them.

Finally this week I realized it was now or never.

After discussing options with my uber-creative sister, I landed on the easiest and most fitting one:

Fabric!  I traced each child's outline on butcher paper, cut it out and traced it onto fabric.  After using spray adhesive to back the oval cardboard of the frame, I cut out the fabric silhouette and used more spray to adhere it to the background fabric.  

It's perfect for our home, considering my love of textiles, and our bland, vanilla stairwell is now graced with silhouettes of our children.  

 
And at the top of the stairs, I painted "The Happy Room" outside the door of our beloved school room.  

I'm so pleased with the results that I find myself going up the stairs for no reason other than to enjoy it.  Satisfaction is a heady feeling!

Back to School

After a long and carefree summer, we are back to school.  I borrowed the idea of a treasure hunt from my friend Erin and hid clues throughout the house and yard, eventually leading up to the Happy Room, where a table full of fun supplies and books were displayed.

After the kids found their loot, I had an "appointment" with each one to go over their books, checklists, and notebooks, including any special perks like stickers for Addie, a reading road with a big reward for Grayson, and the new books Caiden has been salivating ever since I ordered them months ago.  The entire time took about 2 hours, including lunch, and now I think we're ready to officially start lessons Monday.

As always, a first day of school photo on the old fallen tree in the back pasture.

I'm trying not to compare this year's picture from the first one in our house, three years ago.  They are growing up, so I am just enjoying each day as it comes, knowing once it's gone, I can't have it back.

The Grandmas' Quilt

If I were to write one of those "This summer I . . ." reports like I had to write in third grade, I'd definitely include this:

My mother gave me a hand-pieced quilt top last summer.  It was made by my great-grandmother and great-great grandmother nearly 100 years ago!  It is pieced out of their dresses, and when I saw it hanging on a quilt rack in my mom's house and went starry-eyed, she gave it to me, but  I had to solemly promise to quilt it within two years.  

Earlier this year I pulled it out and really looked at it.  The top had never been washed or exposed to light before I got it (I didn't wash it, but I did fold it and put it on a bench by my front door.).  My mom said it had been stored in a dark basement on a shelf for about 70 years when she got it, over 20 years ago.  She had stored it somewhere dark in their house, and I'd never even seen it before.  It is in absolutely perfect condition, not a single pulled thread or worn fabric!  My husband loves it; he works with graphic designers and says he'd love to photograph it to study the design with them.  I love it too--I don't know anything about graphic design but do know a great quilt when I see one!  And my children love it because although they never met my grandma, they've heard so many stories and love knowing it was made by her grandma!

It is too big for me to machine quilt, so I pulled out needle and thread and worked on it most nights.  I'm not a perfectionist at all, so I actually finished it in early July.  My stitches definitely got better as time passed.  I took it to my parents' house on the 4th of July to sew on the binding and then put it in the washer.  That's when my parents told me the entire history, that it had never been washed, and I nearly had heart palpitations when it was in the dryer!  But it came out just fine, and of course I immediately took it home and took a nap under it!

Now it's back on the deacons' bench in my entry, and I can't wait for it to be cold enough to sleep under it every night!  I am so thankful for a long legacy of women in my family who loved to sew and knit and crochet and create.  My children and husband are reaping the benefits, and although I'll never have the time to do everything (or even a fraction) of the projects in my head, it is extremely satisfying to look at an entirely hand-sewn quilt and know that it has been handed down through the generations and is still loved today.  And that I had a part in making it!  

And since I loved quilting it so much, I went back to my mom's and borrowed another quilt top to quilt--this one belongs to her, and I can't wait to finish it and take it back to her!  Eventually :)

Summer's End

Today I finally imported the photos from our vacation.  We start back to school on Monday, and I'm trying to get everything done before my hours are not my own again.  (Actually, they're almost never my own, but homeschooling definitely claims more of them than summer break does!)

We had a lovely, if extremely hot, summer:  Vacation, lots of fun excursions and swimming with friends, first time to summer camp for Caiden (Oh, I missed him so much!), and eating tons of ice cream, but it feels nice to be getting back to a more regular life and routine days.  This week I'm doing little projects I never seem to get around to, like painting the stairwell to cover all the handprints, and filing last year's schoolwork.  Not very fun, but I won't have time after this week, and I'd love to scratch off "Paint the stairwell" from my painting to-do list that's been hanging up on the board since last year! I'm pretending that the baseboards in my bedroom have only had one coat of paint on them since last summer . . .

Addie starts kindergarten this year, which is shocking in my mind--wasn't she just born yesterday? I made her a sweet dress out of apple fabric for her first day, and she begs me daily to "just start school today?" I know her first day will be a success, just between her new dress and pink Hello Kitty notebook!

Here are a few pics to end our summer holiday:

Caiden climbing a mountain of snow in Colorado!

Best friend brothers doing life together

My cautious middle child

The darling of our family

I'm hoping to do a better job this fall of writing and documenting my sweet family.  Caiden turns ten in two weeks, and with Addie also beginning school, I am daily reminded how quickly they grow up.  I don't want to forget any of it!

Happy end of summer to you, too :)

Grayson Reads

Very quietly, over the course of the long winter and first sweet days of spring, Grayson turned into a reader.  With absolutely no fanfare he blossomed from that painful word-by-word (and sometimes syllable-by-syllable) stage into fluency with voices and chapters and reading just for fun.

When asked how I taught both boys to read--and love books--here's what I say:

1.  Surround yourself with books.  Books of all types, in all rooms, always accessible and always treated well.   If you consider them special, eventually so will the others.

2.  That said, make sure the books you have are quality.  Short series (Boxcar Children, Magic Tree House), etc. are fine to spark an interest, and we certainly have our share of them, but if you want children who read increasingly good literature, you have to feed them a diet of increasingly good literature!  

3. Read to your children, even after they're old enough to read to themselves.  For us, breakfast and lunch are perfect reading times.  We've read Heidi, Chronicles of Narnia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, several Oz books, Tumtum and Nutmeg, and so many more.  It's a captive audience!

4.  Use a simple program or reader, if you want one, nothing fancy and complicated that's going to be more work for you than is worth it.  I used Alphaphonics with Caiden and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with Grayson.  We didn't finish either book--by about halfway, they figured it out and took off.  Fifteen minutes a day, max, and the rest was spent reading to the boys randomly and just for fun.

5.  Be a reader.  If you don't value reading, and instead spend all your free time watching TV, it's going to be hard to convince your children that reading is worth their time.  If, on the other hand, you celebrate their 5th birthday with a trip to get their own library card, and salivate when you pass by the local bookstore, you're probably well on your way toward inspiring young readers.

6.  Above all, don't despair if your kindergartener isn't taking off reading.  My two boys are polar opposites in just about everything, and it took one longer to "get it" than the other.  Reading is part skill, part timing, and part "magic," and if you're relaxed about the process, you'll be surprised one day to look up and see that another book lover has joined your ranks!

Now we just need to figure out how to tie shoes and ride the bike without training wheels . . .

Savoring the Days

Propped up in bed, snuggled by two warm little boy bodies.  Grayson is sick today, so we are home from church and haven't moved very far from where we woke up!  I am surrounded by my Bible, journal, and all the stuff I seem to accumulate for my quiet time.  Coffee, always.  I have a lot to do (also, always) but am pondering instead.

Laundry, gardening, dishes, bills, more laundry, errands, tidying, and still more laundry:  all those have to be done, but in the rush to do, I can easily miss the more important things: reading to the kids (Narnia right now), squirrel watching with the cat (who thinks he's an albino squirrel, I'm convinced!), scooter racing down the drive, having picnics on the deck, playing baby dolls with Addie on the porch, baking together, staying up late to watch the stars with my husband, sitting and not multi-tasking while on the phone with my loved ones, reading a good book slowly.

I am finishing up a project in Addie's bedroom--projects are so rewarding and often so necessary, but always seem to suck up all the free time and money!--and once it's done, I'm committing to being project-free for awhile, just to slow down and savor all the things that are truly important.  I have to fight my nature not to embrace another project, but remembering that these little ones aren't so little and won't stay little very long, helps me keep it in perspective.  

I want to savor the days and not look back on them when we're all old and think, "Well, I may not have spent enough time with the kids, but our house sure did look nice."  It's a hard pull for me, because I love the excitement of planning a project and all the creativity that goes into it, but I always get bogged down halfway through and wish I could just be finished already!  But wisdom comes with time, and I'm realizing that House Beautiful (or Garden Beautiful or Sewing Projects Galore, whatever) can't compare to a life spent well with the four greatest gifts God has given me, my husband and children.  

Pressing on today. 

The Real Us

A recent picture, minus my husband, taken after a conference at our church.  The girl who offered to take the photo tried to get a shot without bunny ears or weird smiles, but I told her, "This is what we look like and who we are.  There will be years of perfect family photos, but I want to remember us as we are right now."

So here we are, bunny ears and all.

Really, knowing these kids, twenty years from now we'll still have bunny ears and crazy smiles.  And I wouldn't have it any other way!

A Breath of Fresh Air

We have guests coming in tonight for the rest of the week/weekend, so the kids are helping me prepare the guest rooms.  

After a flurry of activity, hauling sheets and towels to the washer, running the vacuum, emptying the trash cans, I head upstairs to finish my quiet time.

Addie bursts into the room, "Smell my bref!"

This always makes me cringe.  Usually she says, "Smell my hands!" after petting the dog, and that's not my favorite smell.

But I inhale, and she is sweet, spicy, not bad at all.

"What is that?"  I feel slightly nervous when I can't identify things she has eaten.  She did eat a grasshopper leg last spring, after all.

"Rosemary!  It's eat-able!"  and she skips away, very pleased with her culinary discoveries.

The scar from her heart surgery is faint but always there.  A constant reminder of God's grace.

Her birthday is Mother's Day, and she will be five.  Five is always a hard age for me; it's the beginning of them growing up.  We have enjoyed her first four years so much, that I tell myself it's okay she's turning five, because she'll be even better.  She is nothing if not a breath of fresh air, quirky and funny and full of life.  

Today, as I run errands and prepare for guests and do mountains of laundry, busy and quick on the outside, I'm slowly pondering in the quiet places of my mind what a wonder she is, and how favored we are that God has placed her in our family.  

Still

I'm slowly waking up from a long winter's nap.  An unintended break, but when I don't feel like writing, I take it as a sign to back away and take a breath.

We've been relishing spring, even to the point of taking off school for a couple months to enjoy the best season in our region.  

Our days are filled with planting flowers and the garden, playing chess, reading books, always, and hours upon hours spent on the porch.  Addie wheels furiously up and down the long drive on her bicycle, and the boys hunt for grubs for the chickens.  We eat dinner on the deck, take naps in the hammock, play on the tire swing.

I am rested.  Our long-standing projects (painting baseboards and trim never ends) are finally getting done.  Yardwork is catching up.  Life is better lived at a stroll than a sprint, yes?

Deliberately slowing down has been a good thing, a necessary thing, and it reminds me of all the many graces that are around me, when I stand still long enough to see.

Lately

These first couple weeks of the year have been so nice, and so calm! I love putting away the Christmas decorations and enjoying a simpler, less cluttered space. It seems to cast a tone of simplicity over the month of January after all the scurrying and warmth of December.

We've been enjoying Christmas presents,

(See those hands on hips?  She doesn't like to share her crown!  Baby of the family and only girl!)

forcing the cat to participate in photo shoots,

spending lots of time together up in our Happy Room, learning together,

and doing lots and lots of healthy cooking (and eating!).

We are participating with our church in our annual Daniel Fast, and I have found so many delicious recipes this time around:  snickerdoodle smoothies, amazing vegan taco soup, and more.  I have really looked forward to this fast and am already committing to sticking more closely to it when the fast is over--we feel too good not to!  

Today my mom is driving in to spend a couple days with us.  I love having her so close now, after 16 years of living several states apart!  We have very little on the agenda, other than lunch at Whole Foods today, knitting by the fire, and lots of cooking and talking.  That's why I love January so much--none of the regular activities have started up yet, and my homebody instincts are in full-force as I try to get the house and our routines back in order after the holidays.  I even spent a few hours in my garden last week (Before the freezing temps hit Texas) and got it winterized.  

So that's what we've been up to lately--a little of this, a little of that, and thankful to God for all His blessings, especially the little ones.

Thirty Seven

I saw this boy when I was 18, newly in college, and I noticed him first for his stride--everywhere he walked, he walked with purpose--head forward, moving fast, on a mission.  Then I noticed he was better dressed than any of us at that basketball game, and that he was flocked by friends.  Then he looked at me, and I noticed those blue eyes, and that was pretty much the end of me.  

A few days later we met, and while driving down the Tennessee back roads on the way to explore a cave with a group of people I didn't know, I heard him talk about his first Love, Jesus, and that was pretty much the beginning of us.  

Looking back, I can't quite believe I even went with him on the caving expedition--I am scared of everything creepy and am highly claustrophobic.  You'd never catch me in a cave now.  But I went, even with a large group of people I didn't know, because somewhere deep inside me I knew I needed to get out of my shyness and meet some people before I curled up and died of homesickness.  What I didn't know is that I'd meet my husband, and that for the rest of my days, I'd be smack dab in the middle of a party, always surrounded by people, music, noise, laughter, and everything else that he loves.  What I didn't know is that he would be the end of my homesickness, because he would become my home.

Going caving was a good decision.

Today he's 37, and we don't crawl around in caves anymore.  We've grown up, and now I'd never get in a car with people I didn't know.  I do responsible things like pay the bills and eat greens and change the air filters in the furnace.  I don't stay out all night in a cave, lighting candles to put in the crevices, and reading Psalms while people I don't know strum their slightly-damp guitars and sing praise songs.  

But that night, I did, and I'm so glad.   Today he's older, but that purposeful stride hasn't changed, he's still always surrounded by friends and music and noise and laughter, and his passion for Jesus hasn't wavered.   He's still one of the best things that has ever happened to me.   Happy Thirty Seven. 

(That's us shortly after we married, wearing the backpacks.  It was been quite a journey ever since!) 

Thirty Seven

I saw this boy when I was 18, newly in college, and I noticed him first for his stride--everywhere he walked, he walked with purpose--head forward, moving fast, on a mission.  Then I noticed he was better dressed than any of us at that basketball game, and that he was flocked by friends.  Then he looked at me, and I noticed those blue eyes, and that was pretty much the end of me.  

A few days later we met, and while driving down the Tennessee back roads on the way to explore a cave with a group of people I didn't know, I heard him talk about his first Love, Jesus, and that was pretty much the beginning of us.  

Looking back, I can't quite believe I even went with him on the caving expedition--I am scared of everything creepy and am highly claustrophobic.  You'd never catch me in a cave now.  But I went, even with a large group of people I didn't know, because somewhere deep inside me I knew I needed to get out of my shyness and meet some people before I curled up and died of homesickness.  What I didn't know is that I'd meet my husband, and that for the rest of my days, I'd be smack dab in the middle of a party, always surrounded by people, music, noise, laughter, and everything else that he loves.  What I didn't know is that he would be the end of my homesickness, because he would become my home.

Going caving was a good decision.

Today he's 37, and we don't crawl around in caves anymore.  We've grown up, and now I'd never get in a car with people I didn't know.  I do responsible things like pay the bills and eat greens and change the air filters in the furnace.  I don't stay out all night in a cave, lighting candles to put in the crevices, and reading Psalms while people I don't know strum their slightly-damp guitars and sing praise songs.  

But that night, I did, and I'm so glad.   Today he's older, but that purposeful stride hasn't changed, he's still always surrounded by friends and music and noise and laughter, and his passion for Jesus hasn't wavered.   He's still one of the best things that has ever happened to me.   Happy Thirty Seven. 

(That's us shortly after we married, wearing the backpacks.  It was been quite a journey ever since!) 

Thinking Green

If I were to describe the month of January, I'd say it's the color green.  Green is the color of renewal, new beginnings, fresh starts.  I find myself decorating and even wearing green more once January begins; even though spring is still far off, it seems like it begins, at least internally, at the beginning of the new year.  

So of course I noticed the cover of a magazine lately, featuring Dr. Oz and his green juice and smoothies recipes.  I bought it, remembered that I have a never-used juicer (A green one, no lie!), and tried the juice.  To my surprise--and relief--it wasn't bad.  In fact, the third day, it was mostly good.  My husband and oldest son have tried it and said they'd even drink it again.  So we've been making them these mornings, varying the ingredients depending what I have in the fridge.  There's something satisfying about starting the day knowing you've done something so very good for you!

Here's the basic recipe, if you're like me and crave a little green:

Juice the following:

1/2 cucumber

bunch parsley

several handfuls fresh spinach leaves

3 stalks celery

2 apples, any variety

1 teaspoon freshly-peeled ginger root

I also add a couple handfuls baby carrots, although this makes it much less green in color!

(pre-carrots)



When finished juicing, stir and then squeeze half a lemon and half a lime over.

Drink with a straw.  If you have chickens or a garden, you can give all the leftover pulp and peelings to them (it).  Or throw it in a soup?  Either way, everybody's happy!

It tastes like a foamy ginger ale with very overt hints of vegetables, which may not tempt you, but  compared to the heaviness of typical American breakfast fare, it's fresh and light and doesn't drag your gut down.  So it's a good tradeoff!

Perfect for kick-starting those "get healthier" New Year's resolutions!

And there's always the fall-back plan for those less brave:

Make a regular smoothie (milk, strawberries, bananas, orange juice, etc.) and throw in a handful or two of fresh spinach leaves and some flaxseed.  They're never taste it!

Happy Drinking :)

Not the End

Today, in honor of it being The Last Day of the Year (My favorite day!), I'm planning next year's projects.  My husband gave me a Kindle for Christmas, and of course it needs a cover.  I found a tutorial that looks good, although I don't think I'll do the strip piecing.  The sewing loft was transformed into a wrapping station over Christmas, but it has been returned to its original condition, vacuumed and ready for sewing to begin!

Looking back over the year I did a huge amount of sewing--everything in my bedroom, quilts for the boys' beds, gifts, and everything textile in the family room.  But I didn't do much fun sewing--curtains are highly rewarding but not very fun in my book.  This coming year, I want to do fun sewing.  Actually, I want to do a lot of things!

As always, my "want to do" list is far too big for me to accomplish this next year, but I like having something to work from.  Like everybody else, my goals to eat healthier, exercise more, read the entire Bible, never raise my voice, stick to the laundry and cleaning schedule, knit and sew beautiful things, and read all the books I've ever wanted to read--I probably won't finish 2011 accomplishing all of those entirely, but I think it's safe to say I can get further along with each one if I at least try.

That's what today is:  a day full of hope and optimism.  Who cares about realism on New Year's Eve?  This might be the end of this year, with all its successes and failures, but it's also a wish cast over the coming year, that what's coming will be even better.

So to you and your family, Happy New Year's Eve!  The best might just be around the corner . . .

Slowly Finishing

Yesterday Obadiah tried out his wings, jumped off my sewing room loft onto the hard floor 15 feet below, then remembered he doesn't have wings.  A vet visit and x-ray later, the cat has a bad sprain and is limping around pitifully.   We've all taken pity on him and have carried him around with us, or let him lie in our beds half the day, or talked to him in baby talk and crooned over him.  I think he's enjoying this.

After abandoning high hopes of getting much done today, I settled on trying a green smoothie (more on that later), folding the laundry and covertly putting away the tree ornaments, followed by eating ice cream.  It has been a fully satisfying, albeit fully unproductive day.  Perfect for after Christmas, no?

Tomorrow I will put away more decorations as stealthily as possible--people in my house mourn when the decorations come down, so I have to be gentle, make brisket for dinner, and slowly soak in the last day of the year.  Lots of goals (Oddly enough, I made goals instead of resolutions this year, posted them where I could see them, and actually achieved over 90%.  A record!  Those experts know what they're talking about.) to work on tomorrow, but for tonight I'm relishing the end of this  Slow Day.  And while I'm at it, I'll blockade the stairs to the sewing room, so that Obadiah can finish his day slowly, too.

The Cat Who Came for Christmas

Years ago, when my brother was nine, my parents gave him a cat for Christmas.  I was in on the surprise, and it was so fun to see his face when he realized there was a cat under the tree!

Earlier this year we put our aging cat to sleep, and the kids were crushed.  Caiden's #1 item on his list was a kitten, even after we told him we Were Not Getting a Cat.  He said he'd leave it up to Jesus and Santa to decide.  We explained that Santa doesn't give unapproved presents, but that if Jesus left him a cat on his doorstep for Christmas, we wouldn't turn it away.  Because where we live, a cat does not show up on the doorstep for Christmas; it would get eaten long before it made it to the front door.  

He must've prayed hard, and Jesus must've changed somebody's heart, because just before Christmas, a little 4 pound present showed up on the doorstep inside a gift bag.  

 We had a full house, so Obadiah received quite a welcome.  

And yes, he's a Persian, so yes, there will be lots of grooming involved.  And yes, I was quite happy not having a litter box in the house or cat hair on my bed.  But in the long run, Caiden's total joy trumped all those practicalities, and Obie, our Cat Who Came for Christmas, was the best gift given this year.

And like my mother aptly stated, with a home full of children, dogs, and chickens, what's one little cat?  Our sentiments exactly.

Friends

Best friends, right at home:  it doesn't get any better!

A Pampered Birthday

Our faithful dog, Scout, had another birthday.  Addie, his biggest fan, pampered him by brushing his hair (with her own hairbrush, no less) and then taking a nap with him.  
He might look unimpressed here, but don't believe him:  last night I found him stretched out under her quilts and pillows again, sound asleep.  He knows a good thing when he sees it.  Silly dog.

Making Lists

It's a sunny, chilly morning today, and I am propped up in bed against a landslide of pillows, enjoying a candle, coffee, and my Bible.  The children are watching a movie as a special treat, and it is quiet.  After a week of Thanksgiving festivities and a houseful of people, it is odd for it to be so quiet.

Yesterday, while my husband took his parents and Caiden to the fishing store, I sat down to make a Very Important List, accompanied by pumpkin pie and piano music.  I typed up a list of all the books I could think of that I'd like to read in 2011.  It was deeply satisfying, and after I finished (If that could ever, actually, be finished!  You book lovers know what I mean.), I visited my library's website to see how many are there.  

Two problems:  

1.  My list has 135 books on it.  That is way---way---more than I read in a year.

2.  Of those, the library has 34, and we already own 21.  That leaves me a lot of books to borrow or buy.

But no worries!  I figure I'll read the first 55 and then figure out the rest.  Anybody with a hobby knows there will never be enough time (or resources) to complete all the "want to's" on the list, and just making the list is half the fun.  If I read even half of my list, that will be more books than I've read in a year in decades.  

On the list, if you're looking for suggestions:

Island of the World, by Michael O'Brien--suggested by Sarah Clarkson, who is a source of many of my choices, between her beautiful blog and her wonderful book.

Hannah Coulter, by Wendell Berry--suggested in "Honey for a Woman's Heart"

Kidnapped, by R. L. Stevenson

Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton Porter  (Have you read "Freckles"?  Wonderful!)

A Man Called Peter, by Catherine Marshall

The Man Who Was Thursday, by G. K. Chesterton

The Space Trilogy, by C. S. Lewis

Winter Cottage, by Carol Ryrie Brink

The Yearling

A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving

and many, many more!  It is, if nothing, an eclectic list.

And of course I'm sketching up lists of Christmas gifts-- holiday baking--Christmas cards--goals for 2011--and so on!  I am a list maker through and through, and my journal is filled with them. (This year's lists were mainly of house projects to do, but with the completion of the family room facelift, the only things left to do inside are minor, paint a wall here, change a light fixture there.  It is nice to finally have all the big work done inside.)

Eventually today I'll need to get on some work clothes and get down to serious cleaning, but for a few minutes more, I'm just enjoying the serenity and solitude.  And my lists.

Happy Thanksgiving

From our family to yours,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is a Party

Fridays generally go one of two ways:  dinner party or family party.  If we're not hosting others, we host ourselves with homemade pizza on paper plates, then finish off our "party" with a movie, playing Army (the boys' choice), or something like that.  But tonight is an Official Party.

Here's what I'm making:

Mexican Layer Dip with homemade guacamole and pico, plus chips of course.

Thinking on that makes me wonder what else I could possibly need?  So, for the others--

my somewhat-famous baked beans, jalapeno cheese grits, and white chocolate mousse tarts.

The rest of the menu will be a surprise, since we're divvying the food up, potluck-style, but as long as there's guacamole and chocolate, I'll be perfectly content.

I love parties.  Clean house, spiffed up yard, candles lit, friends gathered, food enjoyed.

I hope there are leftovers!  

Tonight

I am thankful tonight, sitting here in the dark and mulling over the day, for these:

my children's faces, warm and sleepy, bundled under the covers

the reassuring nudge from an old and faithful dog

down comforters above and chilly sheets beneath

flickering candlelight

a book finished, and another one waiting

the long-familiar and much-treasured face of my husband

dark, cold, deep nights

a Love more faithful than the morning

 

And you?  What are you especially thankful for right now?

1218 Words About Reading

This is what has been going on, for those of you who'd like to know but:

A.  Don't actually know me and can't call me to find out, 

B.  Know me and have my phone number but have been on vacation for a week (Yes, you, Bridget)

C.  Know me, have my phone number, and have called me, but I haven't actually called you back yet.  *This applies to pretty much everybody who calls me.  I am terrible at checking my voicemail, and lately I've been Deeply Consumed, so that makes it even worse.  Add to it that my "quiet" time to call people is limited, and only a few select people can stand to talk to me when everyone in the house is awake.  We are not what one would call a quiet family.

Anyhow,  we've actually been up to very little. I have been seized by a fit of reading lately, and the stack of library books on my nightstand rivals the Empire State Building in height.  I've made it my day's work to sneak as much reading in as possible. This involves "accidentally" locking myself in the bathroom with a book, taking lengthy baths at night when the kids are asleep, instituting a "Reading Hour" in the evenings before dinner, etc.  I've even been suggesting to my husband, "Don't you need to go see a movie with friends?" so that I can have several hours of complete silence to hunker down in bed with a book.  

It's all very sneaky, until the weekend, when I give up the pretense and just get down to it.  Sunday I spent most of the afternoon lounging in my window seat, drinking tea and eating dark chocolates, which made me feel like a very happy queen.  Later that night, when Addie wandered out of bed and saw me in bed, reading while drinking cocoa and eating dark chocolate (see a pattern?), she asked if she could just sniff the wrapper.  I promised her that when she least expected it, she'd find her very own red foil-wrapped chocolate on her nightstand.  It was like I'd given her the Hope Diamond, she was so pleased.  Even better was the next afternoon, when she woke from her nap and found it.  It takes so little to make a fellow chocolate lover happy, doesn't it?

So this is what I've read recently, since people have asked:

The Book of the Dun Cow, by Walter Wangerin--It took me a little bit to get into it, but oh, I loved it.  It does help that I have a rooster and a henhouse, and a dog, but I would've loved it regardless.  It's a beautiful and terrible story, and I can't wait to read its sequel.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, by Trenton Lee Stewart--not as good as the original, but still entertaining, and Caiden loved it.  I love any book fit for children with 400+ pages, because he got his love of reading honestly, and it's hard to keep him in books.  

The Midwife's Apprentice/Matilda Bone, both by Karen Cushing--The Midwife's Apprentice is a Newberry Award winner, and I found both of these books fascinating because of their focus on Medieval life.  I am also very glad I didn't live then.  Although recommended for kids Caiden's age (3rd grade), I'll wait to hand these over to my kids until they're at least 12 or so, I think.  But I am well over 9, and I enjoyed them both.

The View from Saturday, by E.L. Konisburg--took a while to get into, then ended up loving it.  Also a Newberry Award winner, also recommended on the dust jacket to ages 8-12.  Definitely will save this for mid-teens, both for some content and for the significance of the storyline.  It was wonderful, and I would hate for my kids to read it too early and miss the meaning.  

Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis--Newberry Award winner (See a pattern?), and I loved it.  I hate to use the word darling, but it was a darling story.  Oddly, four of the five above stories involve orphans, so obviously I have another pattern going.

Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, by Brian Jacques--Jacques authors the wonderful Redwall series, and I wanted to read this to see if I could pass it on to Caiden, who is nearly done with the series and is in serious need of more books.  I'm going to wait a few years, but this is a story he'll love, despite the fact that the main character's best friend is a black lab.  (Our lab, Shadow, is decidedly not Caiden's BFF.)  Another orphan story.  And, even better, it's the start of another series.  

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Seznick--a Caldecott award winner, because it is half-words, half-pictures.  This is a really clever way to write a story, and Caiden and I both read it in an afternoon, despite the fact that it's like 600 pages long--have a kid read this, and he'll be very impressed with himself.  Guess what?  Another orphan.  Looking at it now, this makes me look like I planned it, but I just pulled books off the shelves at random.  I promise.  

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, by Allison Hoover Bartlett--a serious departure from everything above, this is the true story of a serial rare book thief.  I saw it at the bookstore and was intrigued, and my library had it, probably to remind would-be book thieves not to steal from the library.  (Did you know book thieves do that?  We just generally lose books under the dresser or to Shadow.  Somehow I always owe our library.)  No orphans in this story, by the way.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows--I avoided this one because I generally do that when a book comes out highly praised by everybody in the world.  It's like when you hear a movie is The Best Ever, you go see it, and you come home disappointed.  I didn't want to be disappointed, and I wasn't.  This was great--stay up way too late great.  Completely written in letters, (and yes, there's an orphan), it's wonderful.  I just finished it tonight, in the tub, with dark chocolate, and I think someday I'll read it again.  I really, really loved it.

So now I'm on to the remaining stack, which mysteriously replenished itself this evening after a quick jaunt to the library.  I'm looking at The Maytrees, by Annie Dillard, but you never know.  The sequel to The Fiddler's Gun is coming out soon, and if I see at The Rabbit Room that it's for sale, I may have to temporarily suspend others in the pile until I can read that one first.   I loved Fin's story in the first book.  (Yes, she's an orphan.  No, I don't know why half the books I read involve orphans.)

If you are still reading, then bless your heart.  If you're sorry you ever asked what I was reading, then that's okay, too.  Normally I don't read this much, but I do keep a journal of titles I read each year, so if you're insane about reading, feel free to ask what I read in, say, 1997, and I can point you toward more great books.   

 

Soup for Autumn

We'll get back to talking about books soon, but right now here's an old recipe I have for a good autumn soup.  It's from the hollers of western Virginia, served by a lady named Sandy.  I don't even know if I ever met Sandy, but not only do my mother, sister, and I love her potato soup, I've also passed it on to my mother-in-law, who has blessed her entire church with it.  Sandy, your soup has a delicious legacy!

With no further ado:

Peel (or don't) your favorite potatoes--lots of them.  Cube them (or dice them) and set them to boiling.  Once they're soft, you can leave them be or slightly mash them--this all depends on how you like your potatoes.  I like huge chunks; my husband likes tiny pieces.  And sometimes we like them smashed.  

Once the potatoes are cooked, add chopped/diced onions, celery, carrots.  Dump in a bunch of dried parsley, and simmer until the carrots and celery are soft.

Take a can of cream soup (any type you like) and a can of evaporated milk.  Whisk together in a separate bowl and heat about 2 min. in the microwave.  Pour into your soup pot--if you want your soup to be more of a chowder, remove about half the water first.  If you want it soupy, keep all the liquid.  Or anywhere in between!  Stir together, add about 1 tsp. salt and 1/t tsp. pepper, and let it all simmer very gently.  Don't let it boil.

Top with grated cheese, sour cream, bacon, and our favorite, Chipotle Tabasco sauce.  But it's also delicious just with a little coarse salt and freshly-ground pepper.  Serve with crusty bread and salad, and everyone will be happy!  Thank you, Sandy.

*You'll notice very vague directions in this recipe--think of soup as a type of dish, rather than a recipe, and just make it how you think it'll taste good.  And it will!

Pardon My Ponderings

These are the things I've been pondering lately:  

Whether "The Thirteenth Tale," by Diane Setterfield, is ever going to have a sequel.  I loved it, and I hope so.

How it took me several pairs of curtains to discover the easiest way EVER to sew them.  But I'm thankful I eventually did, because it made sewing the ones for the family room presto quick!  Since I generally despise sewing curtains, that's good.

The odds of being able to ever go on a book retreat by myself.  Ideally, it would involve staying in a tiny cottage somewhere fall-ish, and doing nothing but reading books in an armchair by the fire for a week.  Somebody would cook me delicious, cozy meals (of course) and provide limitless hot tea and coffee (of course) by day and cocoa at night.  I'd read all the books on my list, with no interruptions or bedtimes.  The odds are not in my favor, but I can dream.

Why it is so hot right now.  November, in my humble opinion, should be chilly-with-a-hint-of-cold.  Instead, it has been warm-with-a-hint-of-hot, and that's irritating after 7 months of heat.  I'd like some winter, please!

How untimely it is, being mere weeks before the holidays, that I'm gripped by the sudden desire to start practicing the piano again, after a lapse of about 10 years.  I really don't have the time to do this, but I can persuade myself by saying I'm doing it to be able to play beautiful Christmas carols next month.  But really?  I didn't need another hobby right now.  Or, actually, ever.

And last, but not least, I'm pondering the fact that my husband never fails to surprise me.  I redid the family room to surprise him, but when the curtain fabric showed up in the mail, I was truly disappointed, sure that he was going to hate it.  I finished the room this week, and upon the reveal, his favorite part, hands-down, was the curtains.  You'd think after 16 years together that I'd know him better than that.  What's really infuriating is that he loves being a mystery to me, and this just cements the fact that he is.  (But I'm sure glad he liked the curtains!)

Those are the things I'm pondering tonight.

For Baby

Here are a few sweet baby things, if you have a baby or know a baby or have heard a baby's coming:

A set of two snap-style bibs,

and the backs:

And a sweet little dotty set:

You can find them here.

Cheering Up

Today is gray and chilly--perfect for November after a long hot spell for months and months!  Here's how we cheer up our gray days:

Music is a must!  Bach's Cello Suites, Joel Clarkson's "A Thousand Dreams" album, old Rich Mullins' albums, "Quiet Christmas," and so on.  Quiet and calm but uplifting.

Candles--our fall favorite is the Paula Deen pumpkin candle a friend gave me.  I also love the "Cashmere Woods" scent by Glade.

Reading on the couch, all cozied up under our electric lap blanket, accompanied by the candles and music.

Laundry, too:  a humming dryer of warm sheets and towels makes the laundry room and kitchen warm, and everybody loves the smell of clean clothes!

A hot lunch.  I make quesadillas a lot; they're our alternative to peanut butter and jelly, which takes first place in our hearts here.  

Today we're having all of our school in the great room, cheered by all of the above, and I foresee hot cocoa at some point, followed by naps for all.  (Except me; I'm forging ahead on curtain sewing.)

As I type, Grayson and Addie are walking around wrapped up in their new Snuggies.   Humor also cheers up the grayest of days!