Monday, June 24, 2013

This is the week!

Hello everybody in blog land. This is the week, the week I bake a wedding cake and 5 slab cakes, the week I steam iron the veil and make chilli for the rehearsal party, the week I find a dress to wear to the wedding, the week I go out and pick those lovely purple wild flowers growing in the ditches to add to the bouquets for the front of the church, the week I clean my house especially well...

This is the week I help my last girl child slip out into a life of her own. And I will miss her. I am trying not to think about that. I am so happy she has met the man God prepared for her, happy she is soon going to be managing a home of her own, creating a family. So this week will be all about preparations, blessings given, busyness...somewhere inside of me I would love to stop time, drink endless cups of tea on the front step, wander through the flower beds, run with her through the sub divisions on moon lit nights, laugh at stupid movies. But this is the way of things, and mothers down through time have experienced the bitter/sweet of watching their daughters go.

I am thankful to God for the wonderful (extended) years I have shared with her.

Reuben, you are getting a gem!

Friday, June 14, 2013

Summer's Comin'

Maybe we will finally get some warm weather soon! Summer is almost here and we have only had a few days that were really nice and warm. I know we will probably soon be complaining about the heat, but for now, I wish the temperature would climb a bit so the chill would be off the river and we could swim! My favorite part of summer is diving into the blue of the St. Lawrence River with my two youngest boys. Well, that and eating fresh food from my garden....and playing out in the sunshine with my various grandkids....and going for long lazy bike rides....and walking on the trails...and...well, you get the picture. Anyhow, warm would help.

We have several semi-serious buyers on our house. Looks like it may be a busy summer.

In two weeks, we have a wedding. My youngest daughter (who is my 3rd oldest child) will be marrying and leaving the nest. I will then be the sole woman in a house with 4 menfolk. I will miss tea on the front step, quick runs to Goodwill, long walks and late evening chats. I will miss her sometimes messy presence, her sweet smelling hair products drifting through early mornings, our flash fights by the kitchen sink that always end with, "Well, we cleared the air, lets have tea!" I have loved mothering my girls (her sister got married two years ago) and though I absolutely love my boys, there is a special bond with daughters that I am ever grateful for.

You may not see me as often over these summer months. I will pop in as I can. I will get more serious again in the fall. Hope you all have a wonderful summer. Drink deep. It will fly by, I'm sure!

I am thankful that God gave us these wonderful seasons to enjoy. Each one holds its own unique bounties. I am glad too that they give us a picture of how steadfast and sure God is.

Psalm 74:17  Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

Genesis 8:22   While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

An early morning visitor wondering where the baby bunnies went

This little plate has stood behind my sink everywhere we have lived

Daisies among the raspberry plants

..and Phlox in the back yard.


Blessings, Anita

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Ahh, The Garden

Gardens are a big part of my life. From early on in my childhood, I realized the importance of owning and working a little plot of earth. As a child, it seemed that the purpose of a garden was to grow food for a family. As I neared adulthood, I realized it was much more. Gardens give us a reason to be outside in nature. The turning of the soil is therapeutic, symbolic of a fresh start, new hope for growth. And I think in all of us, there is a pull back to the land, some desire planted in us by God, reminiscent of that first garden long ago.

And so, once the full moon in May has passed, and the earth feels warm enough to the touch, I find myself out in the yard with several of my children around me, dropping seeds into trenches, patting soil around tomato plants, gently transplanting flowers.

Thank you God, for this bit of beauty I can help prepare, and for the pleasure it gives me and my family.