Category Archives: nature

Flowers, Daughters, and Books

books, family, nature, quotes

“When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food.”  –Desiderius Erasmus

That seems to be my attitude this fall. I got a little money, and then when I got a little time, I did order used books online, and the packages started coming. This stack was one day’s delivery, and when I saw them overflowing the mailbox my heart went all a-flutter Christmas-like.

What was inside all the wrapping will take another blog post to reveal.

 Before I could even get those out of the packages, I took some hardcovers I wasn’t currently reading and stacked them in such a way as to hide an electrical outlet. Mr. Glad said it didn’t look as stylish as the arrangement pictured in the Pottery Barn catalog.

I just got back from the North Country where Seventh Grandson lives. In the two weeks since I’d been there, cold weather and dwindling light had taken their toll, and the trees weren’t as colorful. These berries were an exception.

As soon as the trees and shrubs go dormant, they are due for a good pruning, having been neglected for a couple of years after the former owners departed.

Gifts I received this week: a Ukrainian matroyshka doll from Kate, and some horse chestnuts, a.k.a. buckeye pods, from a granddaughter whom I got to see one day. There are as many nuts there as children in her family, so I told her it would remind me to pray for them all.

 

 

 

I enjoyed time with my daughters for a few days. We walked in the meadow, talked, cooked, and played with Baby Scout.  

 

One day when I didn’t have time to stop the car, I saw herds of black cattle grazing quietly while making a scene on golden meadows like this one.

 

 

Back at home, snapdragons are enjoying Indian summer, and the pumpkin hasn’t even turned soft yet!

When I drove up to the house I was greeting by a glowing rose.

November and All

church, family, home, nature, poetry, travel

Today I burned a candle on the dining table at dinner, for the first time since Winter brightened into Spring many moons ago. Now our world is dimming once more, and a little extra light strengthens the heart, reminding us of Him Who is The Light of the World.

I wore my new wool tweed jacket for the first half of dance class, the hall was so chilly. And tomorrow I drive north again, where it’s even colder, at nearly 4,000 ft elevation, too.

Baby Daughter is with us for a few days, which is why we are journeying there, so she can greet Seventh Grandson, her Seventh Nephew. For the drive, we’ll take our umbrellas for forays out of the car, and poetry for hope and vision of the warm home awaiting us up the road.

The Mist and All

by Dixie Wilson

I like the fall,
The mist and all.
I like the night owl’s
Lonely call–
And wailing sound
Of wind around.

I like the gray
November day,
And bare, dead boughs
That coldly sway
Against my pane.
I like the rain.

I like to sit
And laugh at it–
And tend my cozy fire a bit.
I like the fall–
The mist and all.


What I Will Miss

animals, church, family, home, nature, travel


I’m driving home tomorrow, and look forward to seeing my
dear husband, and cat, and garden. Also joyfully anticipate going to church!

 

 

 

 

 

But I will miss:
1) The quiet and understanding presence of my daughter.

 

 

 

 


2) The soft cheeks of Baby C., the sweet smell of his head, and milk on his breath.

3) The calm and contented feeling that comes when Baby falls asleep in my arms.

4) The deer grazing and ruminating on the lawn front and back. It’s their home, and the fawns even take naps out the back door.

5) The forest.

6) Three cats who are different “people” from my cat. The one pictured here is Hannah, who lost an eye to an infection as a shelter kitten.

7) The whistle of the train as it passes several times a day.
Right now I’m just very grateful for the past twelve days. Glory to God for all things!

Baby Week

family, food and cooking, home, nature, pie, travel, ,


During the week that Seventh Grandson was born, I did take quite a few pictures, but I only lately managed to make them available to my blog. I present a sketchy photo journal of my time here with the family so far.

When I arrived in town, walking was the order of the day. Behind the hospital nature paths wind about, surrounded by ponds and trees such as these birches.

 

 

I am sleeping in a room with this quilt. A grandma in H’s church made this quilt as a wedding present last year. This year she sewed a smaller quilt for Baby.

During the waiting time I sat in a corner of the hospital room and worked on potholder tops. This one uses some scraps from the crib quilt I made earlier.

After a while I did a second free-form design in aqua and purple.

In my sewing basket were two ratty and thin potholders I had basted together already. While H. was in early labor I put a bright spicy new cover on them/it. That item doesn’t need to go home with me and get stuffed and backed, so I gave it to her potholder drawer already.

 

 

Fast forward to Day 3 or 4, and Baby is wrapped in The Quilt, showing its cozy Minky backing.

I took a video of eight deer on the back lawn, while the fawns were prancing about playing with each other. And this still shot of one of the deer looking into the laundry room window. The deer often study us through the windows when we are watching them.
It was raining the first two days of Baby’s life, and when the rain stopped, the leaves had become autumnal.
Some Jonagolds that we got at the apple farm ten days ago went into this pie, which I baked in H’s convection oven. Maybe the oven is the reason it came out looking so perfect? It didn’t taste perfect, though, because those apples don’t have enough complexity in their flavor.

Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of the household cats, and the most curious about this new resident.

She caught her first mouse this week.

 

 

 

When Baby was six days old, H. wrapped him up in a Moby wrap and we three took a walk. We ended up at the back of their property, with its big Ponderosa pines…

 

…and their cones.
The maple tree in the back yard is changing. Baby is changing every day. I wish we lived in clans all together, so I wouldn’t have to leave one part of the family to go be with another. It’s a reminder that this world, always leaving something longed-for, is not our true home.