cookies

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Shanda

It’s a beautiful, cloudy, cool morning outside. There is a heap of laundry to fold and some sloshing around in the washer getting washed, as I type. It’s a soothing sound. Seth and Sarah are playing with the kittens. The dog is at my feet.

Awake at 6, I spent half an hour with my older ones before their bus came. They talked to me about things that were important to them. Jacob had a field trip yesterday to Salem, MA. Grace and I sat together on the couch. Ethan was busy getting ready for school. I have come to enjoy the early morning visits together. Sometimes Grace asks me to braid her hair.

Rich has been gone on a business trip and will be home later tonight. He’s still parenting, though, and I had to laugh when Jacob told me that last night at 10:30 he got a text from him, “Jacob, are you behaving yourself? It’s time for you to get to sleep.” Jacob and Ethan were in the middle of playing a computer game together so it was a good thing they got the instruction from their Dad, I was sound asleep at that time. They felt like he was watching them and I’m thankful for my husband.

I had a frightening experience this morning but now I’m laughing about it. Caleb was ready for school early enough to play with Seth and they were downstairs in his room when I heard screams to stop my heart. Caleb was screaming for help in the most terrifying manner. I ran down expecting glass? blood? broken bones? a wild animal attack? electrocution? These screams said the worst was happening to my precious boy. I got down there and found him: upside down. head first and completely inside not one, but two sleeping bags. on the floor. with his pant leg caught up on the dresser knob, with the dresser about to fall on him, and Seth just standing there. Apparently Caleb was originally on the bed when Seth pushed him off. I was more upset with him for being so dramatic than anything else, so the lesson learned (one hopes) was “Do not Scream and Cry for Help so Terrifyingly Unless Things are Truly That Bad.”

My son David has been reading nonstop, that new Percy Jackson book. I stopped by Barnes and Noble yesterday to get it for him. Ethan wants it next, than Grace.

David’s remarks when reading:

“I love reading a new book. Because there is suspense.”

“I love home.” (getting curled up with book on the couch and smiling)

“Mom? Isn’t it funny when you’re reading a book- you can’t wait to get to the next page but then when it’s at the end you wish there was more?”

**********

The fall colors have peaked at our place. Most of them have dropped off the trees but there are still some steadfastly hanging on.

This is the red tree I was sitting under just last week…..now it’s mostly bare branches.

The pines by the pond have been dropping their old yellow needles.

Carpeting the ground beneath with them. They smell so good I think about making a pillow.

pine needles and leaves on the pond

I find it so fascinating that this bee’s nest was being built and was hanging up in the trees and we never saw it until the leaves started coming down. (down by the other pond)

Old Sunflower; I waited for so long to bloom that I can’t bear to pull it up just yet.

Leaves in the stream

vine in the trees

I took these a few weeks ago when Rich took the boys out into the woods to collect fire wood.

He is blessed with a fine crew of sons.

It’s no wonder I’m always making cookies to fill these hard working stomachs.

Oh that reminds me. On Saturday Rich was gone at Jacob’s football game and I had a hair appointment so Grace and Ethan were watching the little ones for us. When I was in the chair my phone rang and it was David, wanting to know if he could make cookies. He is eleven and has some experience with baking so I said “yes”.

When I arrived back home, I was greeted with the sight of the ugliest cookies I’ve ever seen. They were caramel colored, spread out over the entire cookie sheet, and glued to the pan. There were three pans of them, a big, deserted bowl of dough, and no one around in the kitchen. Poor David! He did perfectly fine except for the fact that he put powdered sugar in the dough instead of flour. These particular chocolate chip cookies were made with three kinds of sugar only, and no flour whatsoever. It took a long time to get them off the pan. They practically WERE caramel.

I made some on Monday with Seth. I love making cookies and have perfected chocolate chip, if I may say so.

I share my tips:

the recipe off the bag of chips

pure butter; no shortening ever

an extra teaspoon of vanilla

plenty of extra flour to make a softly stiff dough (I added two and a half more cups for a double batch on M. but it was a rainy day)

add only half the amount of chips called for in recipe; I always double the recipe and add just one bag of chips

no cookie scoop, chocolate chip cookies that are all the exact same shape and size are boring (just like people)

I always enjoy eating raw dough and give spoonfuls out to the children, too, raw eggs be darned!

bake ONLY until very slightly brown around the edges, take them out when still half done and leave them on the tray for about five minutes, (they will continue baking) then remove to cooling racks.

this is the way to chocolate chip cookie perfection; tender, soft and not too sweet

Ahead of me is an entire day of staying at home. Later on this evening I will go out to gather up the older children from school, but for now I can putter around in my pajamas, care for my little ones and do some home-making. I have a big pork roast in the fridge to figure out for dinner and perhaps I will make more cookies, since the ones I made on Monday are gone.
“Only the heart, with love afire,
can satisfy the soul’s desire.”

~James Terry White

glorious colors of fall

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Shanda

a simply lovely life

Hello, my friends. I hope and pray that you are having a good day so far and that you sense that God is near to you, as He truly is. He loves His children so very much and is delighted with the ins and outs of what makes each one of us uniquely His creation. He knows every detail and desire of our heart. It is amazing to me that we can go to our Father with anything, any struggle, any longing, and He will listen and answer in the very best way that we need. I can trust Him with my life, and the lives of all my loved ones. There is so much security and contentment in His care.

I was outside this morning for a little while with Seth and Sarah. I took a blanket and my Bible study lessons out with me and watched the children play as I made a few phone calls. I sat under a tree that was nothing but red leaves. The sky is clear and blue today, and the sun was shining brilliantly through those leaves, making them looking like little stained glass windows from nature. We didn’t last long outside. Seth and Sarah were on the see-saw and Seth got off his end, causing Sarah to slam down on the ground. She was very upset, and wet, too, from playing in the pond, so we went back inside. I dried her off and gave her and Seth each a plate with grapes and graham crackers. I turned on one of their little shows and took a few minutes to myself. I went outside with my camera and back down to that beautiful red tree………

I thank you God
for this amazing day,
for the leaping greenly spirits of the trees,
and for the blue dream of sky
and for everything that is natural,
which is infinite,
which is yes.

ee cummings

And then, down to a yellow one by the pond.

I do so treasure the
freedom of being me,
nothing more,
nothing less,
and that it’s okay.

Jewels, from eyes of wonder

For thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion,
and gracious, long-suffering,
and plenteous in mercy and truth.

Psalm 86:15

I picked a few tiny branches and a couple of red zinnias from the garden.

I used a scarlet fiesta tumbler as a vase.

The kitchen windowsill.

Our little orange cat named Sherlock was cozy on the back of the couch on the quilt I made.

I love having cats around, they are such dear things.

Have a wonderful day, my friends!

You are loved.

meanwhile, outside

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Shanda

It was just after seven a few nights ago when I went for a walk down the road with my daughter. On the way back home, we saw some interesting berries up on the bank so I went into the house to get the camera. As usual, with the camera in my hands, I found more and more things to photograph.

I always intend on purchasing a wild berry identification book. The ones we found were bright red, in clusters of six, arranged in the middle of an oval leaf. I would like to know their name.

Our house looked calm and beautiful in the end of day light. Laundry hanging, the lawn mowed so nicely by my hard working sons.

I’m always followed loyally by my small sons and daughter, with bright eyed curiosity.

More berries (’tis the season), these were on single stems. I picked wild blackberries for Sarah today and offered them to her. I wondered if she would find them too seedy, but she ate them up and asked for more.

Today I searched the wildflower book for this blossom. It is currently growing down at the stream and the butterflies love it. I thought I had identified it as a Spotted Joe-Pye Weed, but the leaves did NOT smell of vanilla when crushed.

I am so grateful to live with ponds. They offer endless discovery and beauty for the entire family.

Another view of the homeplace.

Charming cattail, growing by the pond. The one in the middle is wearing a flowing scarf.

Gathered a light green chicken egg, from my flock which is down to 10 hens.

And eight darkly shining little bugs.

“The God who fashioned flow’rs and trees,
Delights to give us things that please,
And all His handiwork so fair
His glory and His love declare.” Margaret K. Frazer, from A Treasury of Poems

this and that

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Shanda

“Did you ever try to calculate in dollars the pleasure that you receive from seeing or hearing the first spring migrants? Birds are interesting to most people because of their mere presence, their songs, their colors, or their habits. Persons engaged in nature-study are led outdoors and thus have opened to them many other nature fields.”

~Handbook of Nature Study, Anna Botsford Comstock (a wonderful book)

When Rich came home last night, he found Jacob watching Seth at the swingset and Seth’s mother wandering around down by the stream, camera in hand. I was outside during the last of the evening hours and discovered a pair of ducks. Aren’t they pretty? Do you see the female duck in that picture above? If it wasn’t for that spot of blue on her wing she would be almost invisible. We wonder if they will live by the stream this spring, to hatch out babies.

The weather has been so beautiful and it is supposed to be near 80 degrees today. I want to be outside, but it has proved to be rather difficult with little Seth…..who is very busy, fast, daring, and curious about everything.

His new thing is climbing the ladder of the playset all the way to the top, which really stresses me out. I don’t want him to fall.

Look at his bright face. He’s just so happy to be growing and doing big boy things, like Caleb. And anyway, we are both sleeping like logs at night from all the adventures.

These are the books I picked out for the little boys when we were at the library yesterday. Spot is always a favorite character, along with the Beatrix Potter books. Sausages is a book we have borrowed and read before, and David was so pleased to see it when he came home from school.

Jacob’s read: The Return of the Shadow. He has read all of The Lord of the Rings, and this book is great for him because it shows the different text revisions that Tolkien went through, before the final book was completed. He keeps reading parts of it out loud to me because he finds it so interesting. I think it is good for him because he is learning about the process that authors go through as they write literature.

Ethan is reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond. It is a book I chose for him and told him he had to read. I have seen it on several book lists for his reading level, and it is one that I read as a teenager. He also picked out a book about trapping and a book about falcons (inspired by his last read, My Side of the Mountain).

Grace picked out a book about identifying animal tracks, and an animal story. My pick for her was The Red Fairy Book, and she is devoring it. She reads so fast I wonder if any of it is staying in her mind!

It makes me happy when they enjoy the books I pick out for them. By the time I am done raising children I am sure I might enjoy being a librarian! In a way, I’m already one. Isn’t motherhood grand? You get to try all sorts of jobs.

Next is a photo of the kitchen table, for the lovely lady who said she likes seeing pictures of it. I remembered her note this morning as I cleared the breakfast things away, and I was inspired enough to wash it off good, and lay down a small square tablecloth from my friend Bridgette, a crocheted doily that I bought at a tag sale, a circle doily from Ireland (a gift from Joanna), a rose scented candle that I lit only for the picture (Seth climbs on the table at every opportunity), and paper butterflies that Grace and I folded (I got the idea from another blog).

This is David’s special drawing lately. I have seen many many versions of this brick house. This one is extra nice because of the bird feeding station. And I love the blue bird that’s flying stiffly up by the roof. David is a real artist, you know. (He told me.)

Something funny: Yesterday I was making chicken divan for dinner, and I was pulling meat off a rotisserie chicken to use in the casserole. Seth was hanging off my legs, fussing at me, so I put a piece of meat in his mouth and said, “It’s CHICKEN!” Off he went, running to the window in the livingroom, to look for our chickens! He was saying, “chicken! chicken!” in his baby talk voice. I had to laugh and feel sort of bad, I wonder if he’s going to be confused for a little while, seeing chickens outside and eating chicken at the table?

An example of why my brain becomes overloaded: Yesterday, I was making dinner in the kitchen, while talking on the phone with my sister. Seth was with me and kept grabbing my skirt and fussing. Caleb was also by me, saying “Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Can I have a jellybean?” The next thing I know……in came Ethan and Grace with a wriggling SNAKE, so I could admire it. Now that I think back on it, I kinda wish there was a hidden camera in the kitchen, video taping it all. I’m sure it would be really funny to watch.

Have a great day!