My mom has a couple of turkeys in her yard, so my sister and I — acting like a couple of turkeys ourselves — went out to visit with them.  Thought you might want to see while I get together some other pictures from our visit today.

Lynn

A few things I discovered (and rediscovered) in the garden today.

A near-ripe tomato.

Garlic chives in bloom, calling to the butterflies and bees alike.

I can’t help myself.  I have to gently touch the soft yellow vest on the carpenter bee.

The beauty berry bush.  Do these look like big grapes to the garden faeries?

Grasshopper is caught and cannot easily hide his bright green garments against the bright red rose petals.

Good night.

Lynn

Last night was a pretty relaxed night.  My work day was finished up early (3:30) thanks to starting early yesterday, and I’m hoping for a close follow-up to that today.  Anway, my youngest son had a friend to spend the night last night.  I did a lot of cooking yesterday, starting with a crockpot of barbeque chicken put on before I started work, along with a big pot of turnip greens that slow cooked all day (yum) and then I put spaghetti sauce on during lunch.  When work was done I cooked the noodles and made a big salad and baked some seasoned croutons from sour dough bread that was not getting eaten quickly enough.  I basically had two meals done so that people could eat what they wanted last night and then have leftovers today.

I really like this picture, for some reason.  The shadows in the background are awful.  I look like I have two noses, two mouths, and my nose is big enough without the help of a shadow, thank you. 

Still, I love the way Princess of the Universe has on one of my aprons.  She asked if she could wear it.  You can wear any of my aprons any time.  I also love the way she is holding onto me as she moves away from the stove.  If you are worried about safety, she’s moving out of the way because the cookie batter is starting to get hot.  It’s an old recipe that you boil on the stovetop, and while I let her help me add things to the pot, I do the stirring when it gets hot and then boils, so she’s leaving me in this picture.  She’s leaving to go talk to Papa Bear sitting in the next room singing opera while he plays solitaire on the computer. 

Before she left she me, however, we listened to him singing, making up his own words.  She said Daddy’s being a silly-pie isn’t he?

I said Yes, that’s why I married him.

She said, Can I tell him that?

Yes.

Does the black and white make the shadows better?  Hmm.  Maybe worse. Never mind.

I heard Princess of the Universe telling Papa Bear what I’d said.  He answered her in his big booming voice, If a husband can’t make his wife laugh once in a while he ain’t worth 2 cents on a tater sack.

I stood there stirring the cookies, wondering what 2 cents on a tater sack was, anyway.  I guess you’d want to be worth that much though, at least.

Lynn

Today has been a lovely day.  I started my day by going to The Original Mattress Factory this morning and purchasing a new king sized mattress and box springs.  Can I say it felt so good to pay cash for something that big?  We have waited a long time, though, to get a mattress and we really, really, really need a new one.  I told the salesman that they might want to send a camera crew to film a commercial since my husband will likely cry tears of joy when he sees the new mattress. 

Would you care to know that we have actually taken wire cutters and cut pieces of wire coil poking out through our old bed?  Probably not.

Well, enough of that.  Let’s move on to better stuff.  Like our little tea party today.  It was short and sweet.

My children make faces for the camera.  They inherited that from their dad. 

I only wish I had pictures of when we used to have tea parties when the boys were small.  It was so much fun.  They did more talking than listening on most days. 

We talked a little bit about Tasha Tudor today and how she lived the way she wanted to live.  She lived out her dream of having her home and garden set up as if in another time period.  We talked about her weaving and making her own clothes.  We talked about her dolls.  She was something else!

Then Princess of the Universe read us Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say.  I always cry.  I’m such a sap.

Perhaps you’d like to know what name Princess of the Universe pulled from the hat?

Drum roll…..

She pulled AMBER.  So Amber if you’ll e-mail me at

lynn @ thehealthyhomeschool.com

and send my your address, I’ll get the dresser in the mail to you. 

Have a wonderful night.

Lynn

Storybook Woods is hosting Let Us Remember, a day to remember Tasha Tudor on her birthday, August 28th.  Sadly, Tasha Tudor passed away this summer. 

Feel free to use the above button on your website.  I have the button in my sidebar linked to Tasha Tudor’s website, to help people find out about her wonderful artwork and the very creative life she lived.

In celebration of her birthday, I am giving away a little doll house dresser.  Tasha Tudor loved her dolls and her doll house things. 

As I mentioned earlier, this dresser has tiny little matchbox-drawers and tiny drawer pulls, so please use caution that little parts like this can present a choking hazard for very small children.  I just worry. 

To put your name in the hat, go to this post and leave a comment.  Please note that I moderate my comments, so if your comment does not appear right away, no worries. 

Also in celebration, I will be having a little tea party, with a new picture book, for my children this afternoon.  Tea parties with children are wonderful, even with little boys, and even though my boys are getting older, they can still sit down and listen to a great book and have tea with their mom. 

Enjoy your day.  More to come later – with pictures!

Lynn

Maybe you already know this about me, but I thrive with a little bit of clutter.  Just a little. 

Maybe this is not really clutter, but I have a lot of stuff in my living room.  It’s really the only place I can work on crafty things.  No bonus room here in this 1921 house and no basement.  I do thinks like sewing, and scrapbooking, and card and tag making right in my little cozy living room.

See what I mean about the clutter?  I do keep my clutter organized, however, thank you!

My vintage sewing machine makes me happy, so I like to have it on my desk – my sometimes sewing desk/sometimes craft desk.

I took some time on the front steps the other day to read my new Victoria magazine (yes, Mary, I did) and also to organize my new planner and purse.  I love little times like that. 

It won’t be long before the geraniums will have to come in, or they won’t make it.  They don’t like winter here.  Don’t worry, I am decluttering the upstairs to make ready for my house plants to come back in.

Yes, that day outside was so nice.

Today, however, it is VERY rainy, and very gray, so I am inside at my little desk, and working in the house, redoing some things upstairs and washing clothes.  And cooking.  I like days like this, too.

It’s almost like nighttime in the house today.  The lamps cast a bright glow on things, though.

One more thing and I’ll go get busy.  Again.

Princess of the Universe loves her new teacher.  I’m so happy for her.  It does take a few days, however, to adjust to getting up early and working all day, so she came home, put on her little eye covering and took a nap on the couch.  It was so sweet to walk in and see this.  I had to get a picture, and no need to worry about the flash, right? 

Lynn

PS — don’t forget the doll house dresser give-away!

Thank you so much, Kristina, for The Smile Award.

This award comes with a set of rules:

1. The recipient must link back to the award’s creator.  (It’s interesting that the creator of this award is so young.)
2. You must post the rules to receive the award.
3. To receive the award, you must pass it on to 5 others.

4. You must fit the characteristics of the award recipient. (below)
5. Post the characteristics of an award recipient.
6. Create a post sharing your award with others.
7. Thank the giver.And here are the characteristics of award recipients.

~ Must display a cheerful attitude (not all the time - we’re all human!)
~ Must love one another.
~ Must make mistakes
~ Must learn from others.
~ Must be a positive contributor to the blog world.
~ Must love life.
~ Must love kids.

Thank you so much, Kristina!  

If no one minds, I am going to have to wait just a bit before passing this one along, as I have passed on so many memes and such lately, I’m afraid I’m overwhelming people.  So, just a bit…

Lynn

I want to give something away on August 28th, Tasha Tudor’s birthday.  I will have Princess of the Universe pick a name and we will give away this little doll house dresser.

Yes, the little matchbox drawers may be a bit wobbly, but so is Pooh’s spelling.  The inside surface of the drawers will probably be covered before it’s done.  Not sure yet.  The inside edge of the matchbox drawers don’t show up near so much in real life.

This dresser has tiny little batchboxes with tiny little drawer pulls, so there is a choking hazard for little children and I would NEVER want anyone to get hurt with something I made.  So just please heed that caution.

We will pull the name on August 28th, right before Princess of the Universe gets tucked into bed, and I will post the name of the recipient either Thursday night or Friday morning.  I would love for you to have this artsy little dresser.  It does not have to be for a doll house.  I think everyone needs miniature, homemade doll house furniture!!

Just leave a comment on this post so I can put your name in the hat before 9 p.m. on Thursday evening. 

Lynn

Story Book Woods is wanting us to remember Tasha Tudor.  I think it’s a wonderful idea, of course.  I first saw this over at The Pink Gate and I am so grateful that this was shared.  You know how I feel about Tasha Tudor. 

Visit Story Book Woods by clicking on the picture above and spread the word.  We’ll be remembering Tasha here. 

Here’s a link to the post on Story Book Woods on how to share in the day. 

Lynn

Michele at My Blessings From Above has given me an award!! (blushing). 

The “I Love Your Blog” Award.

THANK YOU, Michele!!  Now I get to spread the blog love.

Michele at Hedging My Bets - Keep sharing your wonderful, creative ideas and your excellent outlook on life.

Louise at The Pink Gate for being like a magical, wonderful, with-the-best-music-ever get-away every time I visit.

Heather at Blog She Wrote - Keep sharing your many amazing homeschooling ideas and your great stories!

Stacy at Everyday Gifts - Keep sharing your sweet family life and your everyday gifts.

Robin at Bittersweet Punkin for being like a vacation every time I visit you and for always reminding me to be happy.  You’ve got great music going on too!

Rue at Rue’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Life for always making me laugh and smile.  And having great music, too.  

Mary at Across the Pond for taking me across the Atlantic Ocean in the most graceful and artistic way ever!! 

It’s so hard to just pick 7.  Also, you know how I feel about memes and awards.  If you see your name here, take this award and spread the love!  If you’re too busy, just know that I love you and your blog and that’s all.  I know not everyone has the time to do awards and memes.  

The rules for the I Love Your Blog award are:
1. Link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Include the award on your blog.
3. Pass it on to 7 worthy bloggers with links to their blogs on yours.
4. Notify your recipients

Lynn