Monday was my sister’s birthday and we met each other and some friends for lunch.
After lunch I took her home and she gave me a birthday gift (which was last month…we hadn’t seen each other). I opened the package to find beautiful April Cornell napkins and a tablecloth. It’s funny because I had already eyed these things at one of our mutual favorite shops (Marshalls).
The colors match my much-loved Fiestaware.
And it’s perfect for spring!
**** “I like to think my domestic style is a statement of my ultimate aspiration to create a welcoming, lived-in, loved, used and abused space for living.” Jane Brocket
The music for this post is a rendition of the song “The Road Home”, which was one of the pieces sang this weekend at the New England Music Festival. Unfortunately, I do not have video of the actual performance, but this is one from youtube, which gives an idea of the caliber of singing we enjoyed from Grace and her peers. (they sounded just as good if not better)…….
Grace and Her Weekend of Singing
My daughter Grace is 15 years old now and in the 10th grade. Recently, she tried out for the New England Music Festival and made it, so she has been extra busy with preparations for this important event.
We have three teenagers involved in High School extracurricular events and I feel as though I miss seeing Grace the most. Her older brothers are involved in sports which means during the competitive months I see them performing on a constant basis. But Grace is in music and drama both of which do not have as many performances, but a rather lot of practicing— so I don’t see her until about 6:30 or later every school night. I do miss her very much at times, but Grace is the type of individual who thrives on being busy. She is very much like her Dad in that way, but she seems like more of an extrovert. Although she does like reading and writing, she comes alive around her people, especially her role models (teachers and older students and friends).
I watched her get on the bus Thursday morning at 6:30 for school, with Jacob carrying her suitcase for her, and I felt a little anxiety knowing I wouldn’t see her again until Saturday. Thursday was the day she and the other students travelled to Keene, New Hampshire, for the music festival. She doesn’t have a cell phone so she would only be giving us brief updates using a friend’s phone.
It is amazing to me how much the dynamic of our family changes with just one person away! Each one of our children is a perfect fit into our family, we love them so much and thank God continually for this stage of life when all seven are still under our roof.
I prayed continually, asking the Lord that she would do well and that her cough (left over from a resent bout with the flu) wouldn’t be a problem. He answered those prayers and more; the girls stayed with a host family and one of the girls there was a believer. Rich received a text message from Grace that told us that she and her new friend talked about the Bible and sang together with two other girls. They tried naming the 12 tribes of Judah, sang camp and Sunday School songs, went through all the contemporary Christian songs and artists that they knew, and generally had a wonderful impromptu Bible study during one of their free evenings. Oh it just thrilled my heart to hear all about it later on. There is another girl from our town that Grace loves, her name is Isabella, and she is a believer also, and was on this same trip staying in the same home as Grace. God is so good in these small but oh-so-important ways!
Despite the fact that Grace is busy, she is faithful to attend the boy’s sporting events whenever she can. I thought it was only fair that with all the support the boys get from their parents and siblings with their sports, we should ALL go and support our dear sister/daughter in this special concert that she auditioned for, so I wrote a check for 96 dollars in order to purchase 8 tickets for Rich, myself, Jacob, Ethan, David, Caleb, Seth, and Sarah. We all eagerly awaited the day when we would take our little trip to New Hampshire, and Grace was happy and secure in knowing that her family would be there, enjoying the program.
Rich got a new watch that keeps track of his exercising and also gives him his text messages– and it came in the mail on Friday, which was a huge annoyance because he spent all Saturday morning not getting excited about the day trip, but silently in the corner trying to get his dang new watch all set up! It was a much needed lesson of patience for the rest of the family. Finally he got himself dressed and we got the children ready to go, too. We left the house at about noon and stopped for lunch on the way, at Crackerbarrel. My Facebook friends already saw the picture Jacob took of Rich and I together at the table. While we were sitting there at the table Rich asked me to text him…so I did…and his watch never received it…(can you believe it? after all that!) he was so annoyed. Thankfully, at the time of this writing it is working better, although still not quite right. (technology saves times and wastes time).
In any case, at the Crackerbarrel, four of us ordered breakfast and four of us ordered lunch. I had a chef salad and coffee. Caleb bought himself a new stuffed cat from the gift shop and named it “SeaCat” because it’s fur is blue and green like the sea. It’s one of those Ty stuffed animals that have HUGE glittering eyes. Those are all the rage in my house lately with Seth, Sarah, and now Caleb. Sarah has about six–all cats–, Seth has two dogs. They play together with them and it’s the cutest thing.
David bought jelly beans because he made a candy dispenser out of legos and wanted to try it out. It’s the neatest little thing. You have to insert a coin to get your bean out.
Jacob got salt water taffy.
Then we were back in the car on our way. The whole trip was only about 2 hours. I thought I had downloaded two new books to my kindle but alas when I went to read, I found that they did not download after all, so I passed the time by my iPhone and/or doing nothing. Rich brought his iPad and had the kids watch an inspirational message given by a military man.
We arrived in Keene with 45 minutes to spare and found a delightful BOOKSTORE of all places! We love bookstores and this one was perfectly charming, independently owned, containing new AND used books. I bought a few charming used children’s books (one of which was titled The Doll’s House, and was illustrated by Tasha Tudor). Then we went to the school to find our Gracie-girl again. I could not wait to get my eyes on her.
We already had our tickets, so we got in line, and I kid you not it was probably a quarter of a mile long. We were behind about 200 or more other people waiting to get into the auditorium for this choral concert. David almost died. But once the line started moving we were in there quickly– in the very back of the auditorium, second to the last row. Rich and I sat with Sarah between us and of course her little feet were in the air because she wasn’t heavy enough to keep the seat down. I had her on one side and Seth on the other and it was all I could do not to get irritated with them BOTH asking me questions DURING the gorgeous songs. I finally got through to them that the could not talk during the performance, bless their hearts, the music wasn’t moving to them, but I had tears on my face throughout all the pieces, it was just so beautiful.
I saw my daughter the moment she came into the room. All of the singers filed in quickly and she was the last in line on the stage bleachers. (there was another set of bleachers on the floor) I thought I had missed her and didn’t know how I could have, I thought my motherly eyes would recognize her even from such a distance away. The room was large and we were in the back, but then I saw her and my eyes teared up. Someone had braided her hair for her and she looked so pretty and energetic. She was wearing her glasses, I had been worried that she didn’t have them with her, but she did, and she looked beautiful, even Rich turned to me and said so. We were proud that she was in such a nice big group of singers from all over New England. We were happy for her in achieving this experience.
The music began, and like I said before, the pieces were beautiful. There were God honoring songs, to glorify Him, and then the last piece, a fun and happy number “Skip to my Lou” that made us laugh. They clapped during that song, I don’t know how the conductor kept the beat with all the rhythms going at once.
Speaking of the conductor, I noticed Seth (he is six) “conducting” in his chair as he watched the performance and it struck me that when I watch, I usually see the concert through the eyes of one of the SINGERS, but my small son would have none of that. HE was THE CONDUCTOR! I love it. I never pretended to be a conductor. The pianist, yes. A singer, yes. Conductor, no.
All too soon the concert was over and so we filed out of the room to wait in the hall with about a thousand other people. Finally I saw Grace heading toward us and the first thing she wanted me to do was take her picture with a set of twin boys. The boys were singers who were homeschooled and Grace loved them (in a friendly sort of way). Then she bid me to follow her back into the auditorium so I could meet the manager of the entire festival, who has a deaf daughter. Grace wants to be a deaf interpreter so she immediately began a friendship with this man and they signed to each other. He wanted to show her a video that his daughter’s deaf camp put together of the song, “Happy”. We all stood around and watched it on his iPad and then it was time to say good bye. He said he would be looking for her next year.
I took a picture of Grace with the conductor, Jerry Blackstone, too. He was a grammy award winning musician and from what I heard was very good with the kids. He certainly got them singing beautifully in only two and a half days of work!
Grace chatted to us all about her experience on the way home. We only stopped twice…once at a gas station to take advantage of New Hampshire gas prices and another time to pick up a pizza closer to home, for dinner.
Pictures
the text Rich received from Grace
Jacob and Parker, on Saturday morning before we left….hanging around waiting for Dad to get off his watch.
Ethan petting Sherlock right before we left for our trip.
New Hampshire mountains
the bookstore we found
just a small section of the audience waiting for the singers to enter and the concert to begin
Caleb, Ethan (with headband) and Jacob, three of Grace’s brothers
the program
The last pose of the last number, “Skip to my Lou”
4 large eggs 2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoon almond or lemon extract 1 cup unsalted butter, melted 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 cup sliced almonds (optional) (I used slivered because it was what I had) Preheat the oven to 325. Lightly grease a 9 by 13 pan. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the eggs well, until light colored and thick.
Add the sugar and salt, continuing to beat until shiny and pale yellow.
Add the extract, melted butter, and 1 cup flour, mixing it in gently.
Mix in the remaining 1 cup flour. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the nuts.
Bake the bars for 30 to 35 minutes, until the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan and they’re a very light gold color. Remove from the oven and cool before cutting into squares.
As we waited for them to cool, we read a few library books……
Then, we went into the kitchen to cut into the cookies. They had baked nicely into a soft, cake like bar, and the smell of almond was like aromatherapy. Unfortunately Sarah wasn’t partial to them. But her Dad and I liked them very much. (the other children are at school, so I don’t know what they think of them quite yet) I especially liked the almonds on top. Because they weren’t mixed into the batter they stayed nice and crisp, as a nutty nut should be.
The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. ~Henry Van Dyke
I am almost certain that the first time I heard of Kombucha was from Eyes of Wonder’s blog.
*********
A few months ago I was at the bookstore with Grace and I randomly found a book in the cookbook section titled Delicious Probiotic Drinks. I sat down with my daughter across the table writing, to browse through it, and liked it so much that I went home and ordered it through amazon. When it came in the mail I once again enjoyed looking through it several more times and felt determined to try to make Kombucha. (the book also contains directions to make kefir, ginger beer, and other naturally fermented drinks)
My friend Hannah-Banana makes it, which made the process seem much more doable. She has the experience and was a much needed inspiration.
I do sometimes make plans to make something (like soap) and never get around to it. I hoped that this wouldn’t be the case with the probiotic drinks. Eventually, after the cookbook had collected some dust, I bit the bullet so to speak, and went on Amazon to order the things I needed to make my first batch. “I want to do this, I’m going to do this, and it may as well be NOW.”
My bag of starter (SCOBY) came on Ethan’s birthday. So I set it aside on the counter (oh no, will I EVER get around to it??).
I felt that I simply must just take the plunge, so using the print out that came with the SCOBY, and my valuable book, I nervously sterilized my equipment and made my first batch on a Friday night. (the 6th of March, day AFTER the birthday).
In a nutshell, what you do to make the drink is to brew a tea solution with one cup of sugar, then add the SCOBY, put cloth over the top and let it sit for a week or more to ferment.
“The probiotics and yeast (the scoby) eat the sugar, which ferments the beverage and results in a drink that is acidic, probiotic-rich, and mildly alcoholic.” ~Julia Mueller
My gallon jar of tea and SCOBY was placed in my closet. It needed to be in a warm, dark, quiet place and after thinking it through I felt that my closet was the best room in the house for such things.
Over a week went by and I started texting Hannah through Facebook (she should live next door, but she lives in Alaska) about when my Kombucha should be done, did I do it right? Should I have used soap to scrub my jar? Should I have used tap water for the tea? She could sense my anxiety and told me not to stress, all would be well.
Indeed, the print-out did encourage saying a blessing over your beverage and sending it nothing but good vibes…..so I took a deep breath to release the stress, checked my jar, took a few pictures to send to Hannah, and she agreed that it really did look as though it was thriving. The SCOBY was growing.
Seeing the new scoby forming filled me with pride.
I put it back in the closet for three more days, when I decided to be brave and try a sip.
I’ve had Kombucha from Target before so I knew what to expect….and my taste-test tasted great!
On Monday night, with Grace sitting at the counter making me laugh, I chopped up a fresh pineapple and bottled the drink for it’s second fermentation.
I took the scoby off the top of the jar with my hands and put it in a glass pitcher with 2 cups of the tea (to use for the next batch), and then poured the rest into the plastic pitcher.
Then I poured the tea out of the plastic pitcher through a funnel into the bottles, in which I had added a few tablespoons of pineapple.
I ended up with six bottles to put back in the closet to ferment. I opened up the first one last night and it was delicious. Um, the kids don’t seem to like it though. Rich had to work very late last night so he has to try it later on today. He’s had the Target Kombucha and I sure hope he thinks our home-brew is just as good, if not better.
Did I mention that it is fizzy like soda? But it’s healthy! Low carb! Pro-biotic! Mildly achoholic! Pretty exciting stuff but you do have to have a taste for it. I’ll let you try when you come visit me, dear local friends. 🙂
I have another gallon of it brewing in my closet and it should be done by Monday. I told Grace that Monday night bottling will have to be our new tradition. It was fun to have her company in the kitchen. Next time I will try a different flavor, too.
To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple life. ~John Burroughs
Look at my pretty eggs. It’s been months since the hens have laid. Indeed, I give thanks for the one persevering Hen who kept on despite the dark cold days of winter. A sign of spring is that the rest of them have finally started laying again, too.
I carried them home in the pockets of my jacket yesterday. Dave brought home four more today. SO thankful for this simple, delicious pleasure.
{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
With fingers shaking with exhaustion, I bring to you day four of our admiration for all things handmade. Yes, I am tired, but it is only the common tiredness of motherhood, so I am thankful. For instance, it’s taking a long time for Seth’s amazon.com order to come. He asks so much for his little dog Duke which he ordered days ago. Seems like forever. And another boy is having a little trouble, and another one (a girl) doesn’t get home until way after dinner is over, and a couple others stay up too late playing video games, and another one forgot to do his homework, and another one was so grumpy…..and several are still coughing. But, it’s not a big deal, the sun is shining and soon the snow will be gone along with all the problems. LOL
I read Seth and Sarah Curious George and the Pizza this midmorning which gave Seth a powerful hunger for pizza of our own. Did you know that when a child is recovering from being sick you’re supposed to do whatever they ask? Me neither, but in this case it seemed good and proper so we got in the kitchen, argued about who was going to stand where, and made HANDMADE pizza and they were so cute that I had to document the process with the camera.
Seth was telling her that his was going to be better but she didn’t care.
She was busy spreading around sauce and she was entirely capable…. sauce sauce sauce, rub, pour, slap, sauce.
And then when it came to the cheese…..she put a tiny bit right in the middle. Very amusing.
What she really wanted to do was eat all the dough raw but we talked her out of it.
Seth’s was stuffed crust.
We each made our own pizza and we all exchanged slices with each other.
Seth, can I have a piece of yours? Sure!
Do you want a piece of mine? Uh…. Okay!
Try mine!
She had to blow on her pizza a little bit and we made up a song about it.
I was pretty proud of mine, too! We were all proud of our pizza.
On Saturday, my Mom and Dad gave me a handmade wooden box , and they also gave me this handmade trinket hook board.
I hung it up today, it was obviously made for the wall above my sewing table. It should have only taken two holes in the wall, but of course it took me four since it was a struggle for me to get it straight…….(don’t tell Rich)…..
They decorated it with buttons from my childhood clothes. I loved these heart buttons then, and I still love them now. (first day of Kindergarten dress)
They used other little odds and ends, too. I hung some of my necklaces from the hook on the left.
And a beaded necklace, with a paper heart made by Dawn, was hung on the hook on the right.
The two metal pieces are an “S” for my initial, and a “38” for my age. Everything was meaningful……
Even the board was from my Grandfather’s chopper (farming machinery).
zzzzzzzzzzzzz
I’ll be back tomorrow with no words, for a “this moment” friday post.
Good morning! The sun is shining, my house is relatively clean (miracle), I have two delightful children by my side (one is getting over the flu) and there are strong, talented construction men in the bathroom making much needed updates and repairs. All is well. God is so good to us, filling our lives, which can be so very very dreary, with many blessings and encouragements. I am so thankful to belong to Him, thank you Jesus for your care and guidance and love.
TODAY, on “handmade”, day NUMBER THREE, I share with you a photo of a very little something I made for my dear mama recently. It is a small wall hanging made of scrappy pieces, and embellished with lots of sewing, some beads and buttons (NOT plastic, just because mom and I love heavy glass beads and old buttons)….snips of ribbon, and my very first humble attempts at crazy quilt embroidery.
I actually forgot to take pictures of it before I gave it to her. This is a phone pic that I had sent to Joanna and Dawn asking for their opinions on it. Dawn suggested buttons and I did sew some on (after I took the photo). I placed vintage white ones down the flowery red ribbon.
I sewed a metal ring to the top, just below the edge so it was hidden, for her to use in which to hang it.
I’m anticipating making another! It was a perfect little project for my busy life, because it’s small, unfussy, there is no pattern…… it’s almost instant gratification.
Here are a few pictures of the photos which inspired me on pinterest:
I LOVE them, they are so pretty and creative. I’m thankful for the inspiration on pinterest and the blogging world! In the spirit of such, how about (pretty please) sharing your favorite pinterest or blog links, featuring handmade crafty sorts of things, in the comments?
An absolutely lovely handmade gift arrived in my mailbox on Saturday.
It was thoughtfully created by my friend Dawn, of the blog 4:53. Dawn has been an inspiration of mine for years and is constantly working on the most beautiful little crafts of all sorts. She sews, works with papers, paints, embroiders, and loves so many of the same things that I do, including our Savior and Friend Jesus, that I consider her a Kindred Spirit of the very best kind.
It was such a pleasure snapping pictures of the loveliness, but first I had to politely ask kitty Sherlock to step aside. He thought the pretty thing covered in flowing ribbons was a cat toy.
Don’t worry, dear Dawn, there was no harm done by the naughty cat.
The journal was held together by an elastic which had a fabric flower glued to it (the back of the flower was covered with felt to make it look neat). Once the flower was off, I eagerly opened the book, which was bursting with pages upon pages of pretty touches.
Most of the pages had a folded-over edge, with an embellishment such as a tag, quote, playing card, or doily sewn to it. The ends of the threads were left long, making for delightful dangling out the top and bottom of the book.
two favorites: books and Jane Austen
In truth
a family is what you make it.
It is made strong, not by the number of heads counted at the dinner table, but by the rituals you help family members create, by the memories you share, by the commitment of time, caring, and love you show to one another, and by the hopes for the future you have as individuals and as a unit.
~Marge Kennedy
Thank you, Dawn, for this beautiful gift. I’ll cherish it always, and very much enjoy adding some of my own *jots and tittles* to it, too.
For more information on this journal and a peek at many of her other works, visit Dawn’s lovely site. She would be more than welcoming to see any visitors that might happen to drop in. You just might want to pour yourself a cuppa something’ hot before you do, so you can pleasantly linger. 🙂
Since childhood, I’ve been surrounded by creativity, by “makers”. Grandparents, aunts, and mom especially. It seemed as though every visit with family involved an informal show and tell, and every Christmas or Birthday involved a handmade gift or two. As I think back on those days I realize how much those times influenced me, even when I was little and focusing more on play than on what the grown ups were doing.
Consequently, I have grown up into a profound respect and appreciation for a variety handmade items and find that the things made by individual people move me in ways no factory made item could. For example, if you take an item purchased from Target and place it by the side of the same type of item made by your friend or neighbor, the handmade wins every time. It oozes with an aura of thoughtfulness, love, personality, giving of time and energy, and warmth.
There is a spiritual element to the handmade, too. One of the names for God is Maker.
On Saturday, we had a nice day-long visit with my parents, beginning with the unwrapping of gifts.
The first thing I opened was a beautiful wooden box that Dad constructed and Mom beautified. It was so meaningful that they made it together.
They used a seashell for the top that matches the color and grain of the wood.
I wondered as I opened it why it was so heavy.
Gently lifting the lid, I discovered fiesta coasters to match my collection of dishes! There were nine of them, one for each member of the my family.
Underneath the coasters was another thoughtful touch. The bottom was lined with an old map of my hometown, including the location of Rich’s and my first house.
This simple wooden box is a priceless gift and one that I am honored to have received from my parents. I will happily use it to beautiful my home, and hold coasters.
“Everyone who has any talent at all in sketching, painting, sculpturing or carving, should have the opportunity to use that talent. The expression is important for the person, and can tremendously enrich the lives of other people. What can you do?” Edith Schaeffer
Good to be Home 