My Dear Readers, have I ever told you how thankful I am for you? Well I am! You all make my day with your comments and the ideas that you share! I must say, I never knew that a blog — and other bloggers (and non-bloggers ) would open up such a lovely new world for me, but over the years it has certainly been true!
Now, my morning started with a good belly laugh. Are your teenagers (or even younger children) invincible at bedtime? My children are invincible every single night! I say, “It’s time to go to bed. You are gonna be tired in the morning.”
“I’m not tired!” That’s the answer I get. Followed by, “I won’t be tired in the morning.”
Okay.
But boy the next morning! I admit, I do the same thing, but I guess moms just know they have to get up no matter what and put on a happy face. Well, this morning when Princess of the Universe emerged from her little warm bedroom-cocoon I began singing Good Morning to her in a cheerful voice.
“Shhhhhhh!”
I had to laugh. She shushed me up right away, without being rude, but without a single bit of uncertainty that she did not want any cheerful voices.
That was the end of that conversation! But we can talk, can’t we? And I want to tell you about some recent finds. Oh my!
This skirt is all cotton A-line with panels with quiet stripes in a chevron pattern. I love it. It is the perfect length for doing lots of things — not so long that it gets in the way, but long enough to be modest for being out-and-about-busy.
Annie does not care what I wear when we are out, as long as she gets walked, but it is nice to be dressed for the day and feel like I am in something that suits the day and what I’ll be doing all day! As you can see, Annie is ready to move on!
Ahhh, layers! My friends! I love layering things. Long-sleeve white T with a flouncy-collared tank.
Annie has to smell EVERYTHING for EVERY SQUARE INCH, from the time we walk out the door until the time we go back in.
Note to self: anything that blooms like this in January needs to be in a future garden.
skirt: i.e. relaxed 4$
long sleeve white T: Express 3$
flouncy tank: Charlotte Russe 3$
tights: new but thrifted 1.39$
shoes: diba USA 5$
Enjoy this day! I am off to work and everything else I do every day!
Thank you so much for stopping in today! I meet you at the door this morning, hot tea in hand, posing a question. My oh my, did you know that a Quadrille was a square dance for four couples that had five parts or movements? I did not. I guess I never really read Alice in Wonderland ’til now. Why, I have seen multiple versions in movie form through the years, but did I ever really read the book?
When I saw the title LOBSTER QUADRILLE, I immediately thought creature, which would be my custom, as you know, but who knew that there was a dance going on with lobsters!? I will never view lobsters the same. No. You?
And speaking of whiting shoes in the ocean, I am quite sure that Charles Dickens spoke of blacking — think 19th century London — in at least one of his books. Hard Times comes to mind. Ahh, do we not love these stories that hail from the mind of England and speak of its children and countryside and, as hard as it was, the industrial revolution?
While reading some on line, I came across an interesting-looking web page. Famous Victorians. Will have to explore it a bit further before I recommend it wholeheartedly, but it does appear useful on first glance.
NOW! On to THE ALICE TREE!!
Only one ornament to speak of today (and likely will be adding more info to its back later today) but it’s an important one nonetheless: THE REAL ALICE. Did you know there was a real Alice? A young girl for whom the story was originally written? Yeah.
She’s quite a pretty little girl. Looks like a little sprite to me, ready to run off and dive into a rabbit hole herself!
Today we are reading WHO STOLE THE TARTS? And tomorrow will be our last day of reading and I think I will declare Thursday to be the day that all ornaments are finished up (for I have a few in the works, which time has not permitted me to finish) and placed lovingly on THE ALICE TREE! Do join me on Thursday or Friday when the whole tree, complete and finished, appears on the blog. I will be drinking tea by THE ALICE TREE for the duration of January. Ahhh, lovely!
Glitter…
glitter makes me HAPPY. Especially big pretty silver glitter. (But I also like gold and red and pink and blue.)
And now, a picture to share with you of the latest brooch. Hopefully going into the shop tomorrow with a couple more Renoir brooches.
I love the red hat! A touch of red is very pretty to me these days. Maybe it’s this need I have for color now. Color sometimes equals joy. JOY. Remember?
Finally, I would like to share some pictures of my beautiful grandbaby (according to Michaela, this creature made me a grandma for the first time).
Lazy. Fat. Self-centered. Hungry. I love her to pieces. She’s every grandma’s perfect grandbaby.
She lazily lifted one eyelid to peek at me, wondering if perhaps I had a doggie treat for her, but quickly slammed her eye shut again when she saw the camera.
My oh my, have I been horrible again. Every day I think about you all, my dear friends, but then I find myself at quarter to 10, knowing I have to log in and type. The break midday brings errands and trying to cook, pay bills, keep the apartment clean, etc. Life is certainly busy. John has finished driver’s ed and we have taken him to get his permit. He is driving me around. I spend some free time at the old house visiting with Joseph — times when it is just the two of us and I can help him out with things or we can practice karate. Sometimes he comes over here for a night. Here I go again, promising to blog more. And it’s not an empty promise! I mean it! I really do! The days just run together, but I miss you!
Comfortable clothes? Yeah, still dresses. Oh, I love dresses! Nothing like a dress and some sort-of heels with ankle straps to make a person feel happy! When I say comfortable, I think I mean that I am buying things that I might not have brought a year ago. I know that my style is still fundamentally the same — girlie girl, somewhat eccentric, layers, dresses, you know the drill — but now I am enjoying adding some shorter dresses (nothing too short!), different style hats (I have always loved hats, but have you ever seen me in a ball cap?) I am just having fun in the process of healing. It has been a very, very good thing, and I know now that the door I walked out of is closed behind me. The only way I could think to describe it to people I have spoken with is that I fell as far as I could before I opened my parachute. I came to my senses right before I hit the ground. And I cannot go back.
Maybe one of the most healing things I have done was to get back to my karate. Doing regular physical exercise has been good for me. (Now, I just need to get back on the treadmill! It’s been about three weeks! Yikes!) I am now working on knowing all the curriculum to test again around early spring for my next belt. It is a wonderful diversion, and I get to be around others (including Joseph) and the exercise is always good! Not to mention, you just don’t realize how your dominant side rules your body and mind until you take on a sport or artform that requires you use both sides of your body (and thus mind) equally! And that’s all I’m gonna say about that!
I promise that I will soon take some pictures of some thrift stores when I visit, but knowing that you wanted to see some of that, I snapped a picture with my phone, while I was sitting at a stop light, of downtown Durham, on my way to The Scrap Exchange. Love the trees! It was gray and drizzling that day, but something about this intersection made me happy!
And speaking of The Scrap Exchange, I always shop there, want to come home and be creative, but then it is work, work, work. Seems like I get home just to have time to put things away, and then crafting must wait until another day, but so far the days are not coming. I long to make dolls and pins, and make the wildly funky pink skirt that I see in my mind (from scraps), but the days just don’t work out. It’s so busy right now! Soon, though, I will get my mind wrapped around my new life and I’ll settle how to have that time.
Now, don’t get grossed out. I have had comments on this photo and what it looks like, but dear friends, this is a picture of mussels, which I just cooked for the first time. Olive oil, onions, garlic, tomato paste, white wine, and oh my they were SO GOOD! And full of B12, which I desperately need! Symptoms of B12 sometimes plague me — numb foot during exercise, numb or burning tongue, canker sores, depression… Can we say that again? Depression? Anyway, mussels have a ton of B12. It’s amazing how much different I felt the morning after eating my fill of mussels!
And as far as cooking, I tend to eat good because I love salads and vegetables, but John and Michaela are so out of the groove that we lived in at The Old House. There, I cooked for six people and was married to The Hunter-Carpenter. We ate huge crockpots full of venison, dried beans, cornbread, homemade desserts. I drank herbal infusions. Joseph kept gallons of sweet tea made all the time. We drank a gallon of milk a day. I picked fresh greens for our salads. Venison, beans, greens. And lots of it! Get the picture?
But here? I am not cooking for six. Small amounts of meat burn in a great big crockpot. I just could not get my mind settled to cook for us. I was throwing out leftovers, burning stuff, but I have found something that works. A friend kept telling me about how a steamer works, so I bought an electric steamer. It has two trays, and I can cook entire meals for the three of us, and it is so easy!
Last night we had scallops, asparagus and mushrooms in the steamer, and then at a friend’s suggestion, I sprinkled parmesan cheese over the asparagus and mushrooms after cooking! The mussels cooked on the stovetop in the meantime! It feels so good to be getting settled into where I am right now. There are days that I feel so sorrowful over what might have been and over having to walk away from something that in my heart I had bound myself never to walk away from, but…
The other day I was able to spend some time with my three sons. We gathered around Daniel’s new (to him) truck. It was good to be with them all at one time. They laughed and cut up (and argued a little as brothers will do), and I hated to part with some of them again, but all feels well and they are finding their way too right now. (Love Joseph’s hat!)
I cherish this time with John and Michaela, especially knowing how quickly the years fly by and just how “overnight” your children leave the nest.
Annie-wise, absolutely nothing has changed. Unless, of course, she has simply become more rotten. If that was even possible!!
She gets an abundance of attention! She is so spoiled! Yesterday at the thirft store I found her a winter coat. Oh my. Pictures coming soon.
So, here we go again. Work calls. I have spent my break with you this morning, something that has helped me more than anyone here! I need this outlet! It’s such a cleansing thing to write. If only I had more time for it!
Enjoy this day. This very day! Every single minute that is good and “just right” is a minute to keep in your heart and not let go of!
No, it ain’t over ’til Annie Fatso Beagle of the Universe sings.
I know I said I would be back yesterday, even if just for a weather report. I tried. I did! Late last night I said to myself, “It’s time for that weather report.” But Michaela had been doing research on the computer. I had been on the computer earlier in the day. My image files were open–all 9000 of them. Gimp was open. Pandora was playing Michaela’s music, which is sort of different than mine. Facebook was open UH-GAIN. Research sites were pulled up. The computer decided (in her wisdom) that she was gonig to lock up. I decided (trying to have some wisdom) that it was too late to reboot and start all over. I was hoping my internet friends would understand if I pushed things over to the next morning. So here I am!
Yesterday, Annie wanted to do a photo shoot. We said yes.
She wanted you to see the freckles on her paws. (She gets that from her grandma.)
She also wanted you to see how she has two personal trainers around here who help her do her stretches. I’d say she’s the most spoiled fatso beagle in the universe. Wouldn’t you?
In other news, we killed a black widow right outside the door last night. Folks, not the next building, but just three feet from my welcome mat. The one creature I never saw in The Wild Little Garden has invaded us here at the cottage. I am thinking that the bright and lively maintenance crew here, who have so far stripped the faucet in my kitchen so that it whirled around on its base and had to be replaced and were unable to tighten up a towel rack that kept falling off the wall, just shooed the black widows to the next building, which would be where I live.
My oh my, my creature appreciation skills are being challenged! And my apartment maintenance appreciation skills are challenged as well.
Life is such a gift. I am thankful for every single day. Enjoy this day!
PS — Don’t forget to go to the post right below this one to put your name in the hat for the print “Bamboo” if you want.
Annie Fatso Beagle has this little game she plays with John. He holds her and they sort of whine to each other. I should have gotten my camera out sooner. Annie had tired of the game a bit by the time I did get the camera out, but you can see her “talking” to John.
If the movie won’t play above, maybe this link will work:
You will be sick of me, folks, by the time this is over. But it is my born duty to fulfill blog requests and since someone asked to see fashion, you are going to see fashion.
Now, if you have stumbled here by way of a search engine after you put in the word FASHION, you might want to go ahead and leave now. This is low-price G.W Boutique (that’s code for Goodwill) fashion show. High dollar labels show up at random. Sometimes things get brought home to be cut up and sewn into something else. Brace yourself.
This “dress” is actually, I think, a long beach cover-up. I have no idea. I just know it jumped out at me as something that needed to be hanging in my closet. Right color of blue. Machine washable. Under 4 dollars.
It’s fun to wear casually over a longer skirt or pantaloons. (Mom, where are my pantaloons?)
As a side note, a blog is a very important device by which you can send subtle messages to your friends and family.
I figured since Annie is in the picture (AGAIN) you might like to know that she voiced some acting aspirations today. She’s wanting to try out for a part in Star Wars. If there ever IS another Star Wars.
I told her that if she would be quiet and not howl between now and the time the next Star Wars movie comes out (don’t tell her there won’t be one) I will take her for auditions.
But really, wouldn’t she be great? She practices this look all the time. It practically gives me chills. I twirl around in my thrift store fashion and there she is, looking at me as if she just pooped popped in from another galaxy. We are thinking she’ll try out for the part of Darth Bowl.
Well, you’ve wasted another prefectly good handful of minutes being at my fashion show, so try to go enjoy the day.
And you who showed up by way of a search, I do hope you’ll come back.
Every morning, I walk Annie. She trots along looking important and flaring her little nostrils, sniffing out things of interest. Usually it’s a dog across the complex to whom she howls. Sometimes it’s a chewing gum wrapper underneath the shrubs. Sometimes it’s a beetle trying to crawl quickly away. But sometimes it’s just nothing.
At least nothing that I can see.
But wait. We are talking about scent, not sight.
Anyway, right on the very spot of whatever it is that I cannot understand, Annie loses all sense of dignity.
She no longer cares about the handsome poodle who is usually out when she is. You can forget about impressing the muscular lab who is so friendly and looks like such a good catch. And you can even forget about that nice old countrified man who said to us one day, “That’s a purdy baagle.”
No, there’s no use hoping for manners or pride. Annie has to roll in whatever it is that is calling out to her beagle heart. She falls to pieces over something stinky. Right in front of the world.
You know those harnesses they make for uncontrollable children, so that you can visit places like Carowinds and, although you won’t likely have a good time, you won’t lose your toddler? (I know whereof I speak.) Anyway, have you ever tried to hold onto a wild toddler in one of those? I’d say it’s a very similar experience to trying to keep Annie from rolling in something that I probably don’t even want to know the origin of. I have learned from experience that it’s easiest just to act like you don’t know the dog at the end of the leash, even though it’s attached to your hand.
And that, my friends, is your beagle lesson for today!
Yes, my dear friends, Rose Cottage is beginning to bloom. Now, we have our share of thorns. We do. Apartment life is different from old-established-neighborhood life. There are children wandering around without much supervision. There is the matter of being very, very quiet, because we don’t want to get reported as being LOUD NEIGHBORS. But apartment life has its good side, too. The utility bills are lower. There are no property taxes. Maintenance is a phone call away, and included in the rent. There are lots of good people wandering around. There’s a pool. There’s a weight room. Anyway, we are settling in here and we are calling it home.
“Let’s go home,” we say, after doing our shopping.
Remember when I was such a brave reporter last week and went looking for new thrift stores? Well, the throw (above) is something I found that day. It is large, soft, and in good shape. For 3.99. And Annie has claimed it.
You already knew she had claimed the purple chair, but you should have seen her when I pulled off the other throw to be washed. Her expression was a combo of “what are you doing?” and “it’s about time!”
The minute, no, the second I had this new throw over the chair, she jumped up and gave it good sniffing over. Then she made a few turns in the chair (as is the custom of dogs) and then she plopped down and went sound, sound asleep.
I mean, she could barely open her eyes to make sure it was only me with the camera and not a beagle snatcher.
At least we can admire the roses visible above Annie. Even if no one ever gets to sit in this chair and enjoy looking at other parts of the throw, like the part their arms would rest on, if Annie would move. Like how soft and new it is and I should be sitting on it.
I digress.
I keep thinking about making myself a dressing table. You know, something little and sweet with a pretty, covered-in-frills chair, where I can sit and look in the mirror and think. And fix my hair. And worry about wrinkles. You know, the stuff women do. It’ll be the place where I finally say, “I don’t have time to sit here any more, and I cannot stop the wrinkles anyway.” Then I’ll put my brush away and go do something important.
But really. Don’t you think a girl needs a place like that?? I do. And I’m gonna make a place like that. I am combing the thrift stores for just the right teeny-tiny table and just the right frilly-covered chair (like the movie stars have).
You know, I was looking at old pictures on my computer today. At previous Junes, to be exact.
I remembered these roses. I remembered my garden, waiting. A garden with a part of my heart in it. A garden that may not be mine again.
But there will be other gardens. I have my new garden. My garden of fabrics, and half-painted canvases, and fresh flowers in a new dining room.
No, as I sat on the front steps, where my life used to be, I could not have dreamed that I’d be gone from there in just a couple of years.
This sounds all sad. It’s not. Don’t be sad! Okay? I’m not sad.
It’s just that we only have today, something I’ve been saying for an awful long time. We all only have today. That’s all. I have my rose-covered throw. For the moment. I have my bright pink polka-dotted pajamas that make me happy. (Had to throw in something crazy.) I have my John and Michaela here with me–I hope for forever. But today… We only have today. So I am enjoying Rose Cottage. I am waiting. Living and waiting. Waiting, but living in the meantime. And I have no idea what the end of the story is.
I find myself happy. The apartment home is turning into a cozy little nest. Counseling continues. But, again, I don’t feel free to bring all the issues to this blog. My heart is just filled with thankfulness over all of my friends and the encouragment I find in you all.
I bet you can guess what I am doing a lot of! Yes, transcription and QA work! But now with the house apartment quiet during the day, I am really enjoying my work. I’m not torn between school and work anymore, and Michaela is T-H-R-I-V-I-N-G!! Her teachers are awesome. They are so kind, and they have worked tirelessly to get her on track for the EOGs. (That’s end of grade tests for those of you who are lifelong homeschoolers.)
Michaela had been in a different math program here in our homeschool. She had been working at a different pace. We were using a different style altogether. And she walked into a public school about a month before EOGs. Yikes! I am so proud of her!
I was in The Wild Little Garden yesterday. Yes I was. I had planted some vegetables in March and then left without even a goodbye. My patch of onions is gorgeous! I looked at them yesterday and pulled one. Imagine them in a few more weeks! I am sure you can see my new made-in-Italy (thank you Goodwill) pitcher for holding utensils. Love it!
Our rabbits, all except one, have been adopted out. Two went to neighborhood children. One went to a homeschooling family with four gorgeous, smart daughters. One went to a little homeschooleded girl who is a brilliant artist with a brilliant musician mother. Three went to a sweet homeschooling family who drove about 1-1/2 hours to come get them. Actually it was the dad and his sons who drove to get them. He was getting them for his wife. Ahhhh. Love. Only Toby Keith remains at the old house.
Be assured that this move has not dampened my adventurous spirit one bit! I just gave Annie a bite of a tostada. With pinto beans on it. (This may lead to a separate post.)
There are new gift tags in the shop. And over the next few weeks there will be more and more gift tags going into the shop! I love making these! I must get pictures of my little art nook on here so you can see it! It has been a lot of fun setting that up. Art has truly been an outlet for me, even before the move. I am working on framing all of the canvases I painted before I moved and putting them around my bedroom/art studio.
Well, this is just a little break. Lots to do today! So I gotta run.
I am the mother of four delightful children: a 23-year-old son, a 20-year-old son, a 17-year-old son, and a bright and bubbly 13-year-old daughter. I share an apartment home with my 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. My little home on the internet is called Rose Cottage because of my love for gardening, roses, and all things romantic and Victorian. Welcome.
I'm a North Carolina girl and I love sharing North Carolina links and information. I do medical transcription from home. My hobbies include making sweet little dolls from clay who are named and have their own stories to tell. I also make old-fashioned brooches. These are for sale in my Etsy shop.
For 13 years continuously, I homeschooled some or all of our four children, but the time came that our homeschool had to be closed. It was the end of a beautiful chapter in my life. I will always be a strong supporter of homeschooling and I will continue to review books and maintain my homeschool website, The Healthy Homeschool.
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing
1810-1884
What You Do
Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
) would open up such a lovely new world for me, but over the years it has certainly been true!
for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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