What I've Been Enjoying

The library's sale shelves. I've gotten some great stuff for very little, and I enjoy supporting the library. I try to stop and check at least once a week.

My orchids are all blooming at once.

We spent a few hours in Indianapolis, and I truly enjoyed fabric shopping at the French Seam fine fabric store. I got several stunning pieces to make summer things for Daisy. If you're in the midwest, go there.

I'm finishing up my poetry collection and turning it in tomorrow. 

I've been working at the Sisyphyean task of using up my scraps of jersey by piecing a string quilt. You cut your scraps into strips and sew them to a fabric base. I'm using 10-inch muslin squares and I need to make 81 of them. I do about two a day. I'm not racing through this project, but it is so satisfying to see the scrap heap diminish.

Kale from the garden!!

What I've Been Enjoying

The girls and I went camping at a Dark Sky state park and *finally* learned the constellations once and for all (I hope).

Many daffodils.

I'm in a poetry writing class with Clara.  I obsess over it way more than she does.

A new compulsion to walk--I try to walk every day, even days when I've already run. I have a favorite two-mile trail just three minutes from the house, and it's on the water. Yes.

The rosemary is blooming.

I am blessed with lots and lots of work.

Good Morning!

All is well here--I've been without photo capability for the last month as my photo processor (the Composer) has been working every single evening outside the house. Life continues on rich and full! Back soon with lots of gorgeous projects. Beads. Yarn. Paint. That stuff.

The Light in Winter

Why was winter never my favorite season? The light is so beautiful--the long shadows, the low sun, the golden woods.

Pickles

A few weeks ago a tiny, teenincey (as we say in the South) kitten showed up on the back porch. He was almost too small to eat crunchy cat food. But he kept at it manfully.

We are not keeping him. We are not keeping him. But we feed him twice a day (breakfast at 7:00 a.m., tea at 4:00 p.m.) just like we do Mr. Collins, the dignified ginger tabby that's been hanging around the porch for a couple of years.

We're still not keeping him, but since Daisy has initiated him into the pleasures of petting and lap-sitting,  it looks like we're going to be able to get him to the vet for a fixing and some shots. I think that battle has been won.

A Baby at the Stone House

Strictly speaking, when these pictures were taken, baby August was still in the hospital.

But he is at the Stone House now, thrilling everyone with his dimpled chin.

Unexpectedly, I ended up attending the birth and helping Eliot coach Emma through her labor.

She was magnificent--such strength and determination.

And she is richly rewarded for all her hard work.

Turning the Living Room Around Again

Today was one of those too-warm and too-waspy days that come right before the weather changes.

Felix was over part of the day so I put him to work doing some heavy lifting--he carried Frederick's large cage out into the yard so I could hose it down for it's bi-annual super-cleaning

And he moved all the living room furniture around for me, to re-orient everything around the fire, which we will be lighting tomorrow.

Pretty New Things for the Sitting Room

My mother's neighbor had a garage sale and passed on the leftovers--so I got this sweet hooked rug which Fitzwilliam loves to settle on.

And this big green platter which is perfect for all the mail that comes here for Felix and Molly. And anything els outgoing.

First Day with Lily

We did our first day of dog-sitting baby Lily and everything went SO well. She's much better behaved than any puppy I have known. I was cracking up at how soundly she slept when she finally crashed for a nap. I vacuumed about two feet from her head here.

Five Photos of a Collie Puppy

Felix and Molly have acquired a collie puppy named Lily.

She'll be staying with us on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.

We've never had a dog around, but Daisy is fully in love.

Can't think why.

An Electric Beauty

We've loved our manual typewriter in the past, but I was recently given something that outshines them all--an early electric model. Its awesomeness stems from the fact that the mechanism is still an individual key coming up and hitting the paper with a nice report--but it's POWERED. So crisp. So fine. Such a snap. And you can type really fast without the keys tangling. It's a dream.

This very machine was used for decades in the office of a teeny-tiny railway line that served our town and one town over. Back and forth, just the two end-stops. And now it's mine, thanks to the railway manager's daughter, who is a painting studio friend.

The Ancient Path

"Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good is, and walk in it."

That's right, we're using a rotary landline as the main house phone. Fun to dial, and impervious to lightning.

One-Man Band

"Does this make me look like a one-man band?" Clara asks as she heads out to teach piano . . . and cello . . . and violin.

Yes.

Making Lotion

I accidentally checked out a library book on making your own bath and body products. It's called Little House Living and it's by Merissa Alink. I figured it was a decorating book but it's all about the magic of making these awesome things at home.

After reading some recipes, I realized I had most of the ingredients at hand, and I dove in. I made an eczema salve and sent it home with Felix whose skin is sensitive to the dust of gardening and home renovation. Still waiting for some feedback on that one. I do know that the moisturizing lotion I made for myself is the most effective skin treatment I've ever used. My skin feels like a baby's!

Also, have you smelled cocoa butter?

It's like living in chocolate land.

Dog Days with a Cat

We're in the dog days of summer now, and the cats are spending much of their time indoors in the air conditioning. We do our gardening very early or very late, and we swim at least once a day. A month of summer life left before school things kick in.

June Looks Like This

June looks like this.

 It also looks like cars to buy, insurance policies to deal with, paperwork to complete, tree trunks to cut up and remove, gardens to tend, grass to mow, and trainings to attend . . . .

Daisy at the Organ

Daisy's piano teacher is also a church organist, so she was able to begin organ with her today!

Little sandals, big sound.

Tic Tac Toe

Saturday night a raging thunderstorm rolled in. At 1:00 a.m. I heard the loudest crack of lightning I ever remember. A few minutes later the Composer (who always gets up if there's weather) came back to tell me that our huge red oak tree had been struck by lightning. . .

and had fallen on all three of our cars. Only two are even visible in the picture because Bella's is so thoroughly covered by tree trunk.

Yes, we've got three cars out in the driveway smashed under a tree. Hoping that when the tree guys get them uncovered, there will be one that isn't totaled.

But seriously: we can hardly believe that this monster didn't hit the house. Parts of it were *under* the overhang of the porch roof. Thank you, Lord!

Barn-Raiser

Whew! I have been fully occupied with a houseful for the last few days. The young adults gathered over the weekend for a barn raising on Monday (photos to follow). With three houses in the mix for hosting now--our Schoolhouse, the Stone House with Eliot and Emma (that's them at the end of the table below, Emma in the red sweater and Eliot up on the stool), and Felix and Molly at the Meadows--there seems to be no limit to the number of people we can include! Everyone ate here, and everyone worked together to build and garden on Monday--it was fantastic. Much accomplished, a few sunburns, and lots of food eaten.

Several of them are taking off tomorrow on a road trip to points north, and life will settle down. I have quilts to show!

Asleep in the Velvet Chair

I was winning the Sister lottery this week as she had chosen my velvet chair for her naps. Sadly it looks like things have moved to the laundry room windowsill, but was nice while it lasted.