By Lynn, on September 16th, 2011%
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your kind comments. The light is shining here, finally, and it is like a veil is lifting. Hard to describe, but it is true.
Yesterday I had to go to work for a meeting, and you know what that means! Goodwill pitstop on the way home!
You say you like this thrift store fashion stuff, so I am giving it to you! This dress was perfect, 4 dollars, with the tags still on it. You cannot really see it so well, but it is in the process of being washed right now and I will show you more of it later. It has little “belts” on each side of the waist to tighten the waist up and zips all the way up the front. It’s long. I love it!
Yesterday, I had the occasion to be in The Wild Little Garden. Not many words here, but just notice the growth, the arbor (surrounded in gardenia, pokeweed, morning glory and lady banks!) and the creatures. I still find it beautiful but it’s a place of my past now.
Oh, do you see the life there! Yes! But do you also see the wild there? I was pondering this yesterday and thought all day of the lessons that once came to me daily from my garden. I think God can speak to us from this wonderful nature he has created.
The Wild Little Garden used to be wild by my choosing, and it was kept a “maintained” sort of wild. Now, it is just wild and unkempt and unattended. The huge morning glory that has entangled itself with every other plant is beautiful right now, it’s true. But for every wild thing there right now, there will be 10 wild things next year. The paths will not be clear. The balance will change. The beauty will leave and the inattention will be glaring out for all to see.
Reminded me of my spiritual life. Scary to let even one weed grow, because where there is one now, there will be 10 next year. Or tomorrow.
Anway, as I already said, The Wild Little Garden is a place of the past now.
In karate news, my karate class was last night and I love, love, love it. What is karate without the occasional anime hairstyle?
Enjoy this day!
By Lynn, on August 10th, 2011%
You know me and my creatures. You know all the mornings I spent in The Little Wild Garden looking at beetles, slugs, snakes, spiders, wasps and all the creatures that come to a wild garden. While I was very content, I must admit that I kept an eye out for one of these.
The black widow. But never in my garden, never did I see one. And while I always had an eye out for one, I must also admit that I was very glad I never actually saw one. (Who wants to garden around black widows?) But here without a garden, here in my apartment, she’s living close by. And not just one, but two that we have seen. So how many more are here?
Now, while I am certainly fascinated with creatures, I do have a healthy respect of the dangers that some of them pose. I am going to report this finding to the main office here so that they can do what they need to do and probably do some more looking to see if there are others. I really would not want to see anyone get a bite.
Black widows are elusive, but they do live around people. They will bite, but they are not particularly aggressive, at least from what I have read.
They are living in cracks between the bricks. And maybe you can tell from the pictures that this widow is fairly large. So is the one who lives just a few bricks down. 
We have talked so much about fashion lately, let’s just mention the black widow’s fashion. Little black dress. Red hour glass. She’s elegant. She just needs to move to another location.
Enjoy this day!
By Lynn, on February 27th, 2011%
Over the course of the weekend, I managed to get outside for a few glorious hours and work in The Little Wild Garden, only I’ve decided that this year I may not let the garden go so wild. I’m sort of in the mood for something more formal. Not that I can pull that off in any way, shape or form, but a woman can try. A woman can dream!
I got one of the beds all cleaned up, removing debris still hanging around from winter, putting down just a tiny bit of mulch from bags purchased at the garden center (had to have something until the “official” truckload of mulch arrives) and filling up a birdbath that I brought from another part of the yard. The birdbath has changed even since the picture. Birds don’t like being so low to the ground, so I moved the top portion up higher to a really cool stand I found at The Scrap Exchange over the winter. (Pictures to come later.)
I bought three little pots of pansies. Three. Only three! Are you hearing me? Home Depot has never seen such restraint. Especially from me. But there was a little conversation going on in my head: Look, you can have a yard full of pansies or you can pay the phone bill. Which will it be?
I disturbed no less than four little snakes, all coiled up in dreamland underneath the leaves. Poor creatures. They did not seem too upset with me. Well one of them did. The one in the picture actually. See him sticking his head out, trying to get away? The others just stayed coiled up and were happy to be put back under some leaves in another part of the garden.
Creatures. You are here. You will bring spring. And not a moment too soon.
I trimmed brown, dead leaves off of the hellebores, which are blooming, by the way! Be still my heart!
Another creature, a delicate wintery-white spider. Incredible. Where have you been, little creature?
“I’ve been hiding,” says the little white spider.
Looking through some pictures tonight, I came across a blast from the past, Miss Michaela sitting by the very bed that the little white spider was in.
How sweet is she? Too sweet. Just too sweet. My baby. Even when she’s 90, I tell her, she’ll be my baby. Only I probably won’t be here when she’s 90, unless I live to be 125, so then I say, even when I’m 90, you’ll be my baby. Only I may not live to be 90. So I just say, you’ll always be my baby. That covers everything.
I noticed that in this picture the rock wall that borders this bed had not been put in yet. Over time, the carpenter put rock walls up around every single front garden bed for me. That was a lot of work! A lot. Remind me of that when you hear me complaining, okay?
I suppose I should move on to a few other things that I need to do. That means I need to stand up from my chair and go to another room.
Happy Gardening. Happy Spring-Is-Not-Far-Away.
By Lynn, on August 18th, 2010%
The mornings are still hot. Even when we first wake up, we are met at the door with North Carolina’s humid, heavy summer air. Still, I know that September mornings, and then the cooler mornings of October, are not far away.
The morning sun was causing my green tea to absolutely gleam in its little Japanese cup yesterday as I started the day. I thought of school, how I live my life, household things that needed to be done, and getting some “Mother Culture” in for myself during my days off.
Time surely flies. Yesterday is over now, and here I sit, this morning with a cup of coffee, wondering again how to order my day.
Tomorrow’s our first co-op of the school year. I hope to do a school post soon about how we’ll use Beyond Five In A Row, Ambleside, and the other eclectic sorts of things I tend to do around here.
One thing I can tell you is that we have five huge “Charlottes” (writing spiders) now. You can be sure that our science and nature journaling will begin with these amazing spiders.
Argiope aurantia with a cicada (if that tells you how big the spider is).
By Lynn, on August 9th, 2010%
I know I said that I knew I didn’t fall off the earth, but maybe I did. Maybe I did fall off the earth. I’m wondering if maybe I should have stayed gone. And yet wondering why it took me so long to get back. Those of you who are so busy you feel like you are meeting yourself coming and going will know what I mean. The rest of you: congratulations.
Annie can vouch for me that I’ve been extremely-crazy-busy lately, with barely time to cook. And the carpenter can vouch for the cooking part. As you know, Annie sits with me when I type all day, and then when I’m gone, as the carpenter says, “her world turns upsidedown.” She’s been upsidedown a lot lately.
The school year is approaching and there are things I want done before the school year arrives. This past week I had a huge personal-household-tax-related-yucky-business-matter to work on. That’s all I’ll say, but realize that over the past two weeks it has consumed HOURS of my time. I’ll just be glad when it’s over. I’ve also gotten a yearly physical (not that anyone needs to know that) and, dare I say it, a colonoscopy. I joked about sharing the colon pictures on here, but I guess no one would ever come back and I could just shut the blog down completely. (My children didn’t speak to me for a few hours after I returned home from the appointment with my colonoscopy pictures.)
Annie, on the other hand, does not care how gross the hepatic flexure looks on paper. She still loves me. Thank goodness for that.
I’ve also been busy with bun-buns. We have eight now that I suppose we’ll have to keep for awhile. When it was time to sell the last litter to the pet store, someone beat us to it and the pet store had all they could sell and then some. So here we are. The phone rang the other day and when I answered my sister jokingly said, “Uh, yes, is this the petting zoo?”
I don’t like for the bunnies to be always in cages, getting little exercise, so I’m creating some places for them to run and enjoy eating violets and clover and laying in the grass. Coco is first to enjoy one of the timeshares I’ve set up in the yard. She is totally loving it. I hope that when the fruit of my loins numbers in the dozens, someone will make a place for me to run and jump, too.
I accidentally let a rabbit get loose last week and you know where it headed, right? Yeah, over to Mr. and Mrs. Perfect Vegetable Garden’s house where it plopped down in a flower bed and began voraciously ripping foliage from some things in bloom. I didn’t see it right away, but my oldest son, who’s tearing apart yet another engine in the yard, came inside and said, “Mom, there’s a huge black bunny in the neighbor’s yard and it doesn’t run off when you walk toward it. I think it’s one of ours. Did you let one go?”
Goodness gracious, deja vu, here we go again. By the time I got to the neighbor’s yard, Midnight was carrying out the aforementioned voracious eating spree. I shook some lamb’s quarters at her and caught her pretty easily. Thank goodness for little miracles.
On the gardening front, there is only one path down which one can safely walk these days. I’ve set up buckets of machetes at the entry ways of the other paths, just in case anyone feels inclined to cut their way into the garden to look at creatures with me.
I don’t know, it just feels like time is going by faster these days. Or am I losing my mind?
I had to put this picture in (above) because I just love the bright green fern you can see in the background and how it contrasts with the dark spider legs but sort of dances with the bright yellow on the spider’s back.
I’ve also been busy (and delightfully enchanted) with the farmer’s market. I love the time with my mom. I also enjoy meeting new people and seeing now-familiar faces. I have quite an inventory of pins building up and a few dolls to choose from, so I think it’s going well. The little doll house was a hit with the children and with a few adults as well! We were asked it if was for sale, but I made it especially for my mom, so maybe I can make one or two more in the future to sell. We’ll see. It was so much fun to make, but I realize I’m already at my limit as far as things to do. At any rate, don’t my mom’s little clothespin dolls look so sweet in their new home?
Finally (and I’m not sure why this picture is so faded on one end) I’ve slightly rearranged my living room (uh-gain). I had to. I found an extremely sturdy, real-wood bookcase at Goodwill. Upon being put in its new place in my “pink room,” it was immediately filled with books. I asked my husband, “Can you believe there were this many books floating around the house without a home?”
Without giving it a moment’s thought, he said, “Yeah!”
Hmmmm. I say one can never have too many books.
I have to work today, so I better close for now. I hope that my weeks can begin to slow down a bit now and I can focus on school and getting everything ready for that.
Enjoy this day!
By Lynn, on July 29th, 2010%
Anyone who knows me knows that every summer I’m on the lookout for my very own Charlotte. This morning, I found her.
I went out this morning to try and pull some weeds. Every bed, every walkway needs major attention, but these summer weeks have been so dreadfully, dangerously hot, I just cannot do what needs to be done. Within 15 minutes the sweat is pouring and one who’s not used to working in 100-degree heat feels a bit faint, especially with a bum thyroid.  At any rate, I figured at about 8:30 this morning that I could get an hour of weeding in if I stayed hydrated.
I pulled an armload of mint from a bed and looked up to see this lovely creature. Be still my heart! Yes, they(Argiope aurantia) can shake their webs furiously when they feel threatened, and I’ve read that they can deliver quite the bite, but my Charlotte merely turned around — upsidedown and rightsideup, as if posing for a photo shoot. (Well, maybe she did shake the web a bit once or twice.)
Crawling in closer, pulling back mint and phlox, and looking through the lens, I’d lose sight of Charlotte for a second and wonder, has she pounced off onto my head? Then she’d come into view again, still sitting there, pretty as ever.
I do love creatures. I’m quite flattered that another Charlotte has taken up residence in my little wild garden.
By Lynn, on July 24th, 2010%
I was asked the question last night, and I don’t mean the “will you marry me” question, but rather this question: “Mom why do you have to take pictures of every creepy-crawly thing?”
I just have to. And if you have to have a reason why, I can give you one. The zoom shows you things you can’t put your face in close enough to see, though I would do just that if I thought I could without getting bitten on the nose. You can see the hairy legs on the spiders. You can see all their eyes. You can see their pretty colors. You can see what feels like emotion to me, the human, when you can see a praying mantis face enlarged x20.
This big spider lives somewhere around my front porch, but it does not come out during the day. I had to go out with the flashlight and light up the web and take the picture. Can you imagine a close-up of this in natural light? Wow.
In World Beagle News, Annie Banannie, a.k.a. Fatso Beagle, continues to snuggle up behind her owner while her owner churns out the medical notes for people just like yourself. Where would the faithful transcriptionists of our country be without their beagles? One can only imagine.
Annie closes her sleepy green eyes with just a soft touch and a kind word. Is there a better heating pad for the back than Annie? I think not!
On a final note this morning, I was all set to wear a fun new pin to the Farmer’s Market today, but alas I was not able to go. One of my sons needed to be somewhere and since I’m the mom, and since the carpenter had a prior engagement, well, there you go.
I’m off to type!
Enjoy this day.
By Lynn, on July 14th, 2010%
Well, club members, it’s that time again. Time for another of my fabulous hit songs from the mid 1970s. The songs just keep getting better and better. So grab your mop or broom or coffee cup or dust rag (or whatever it is you hold in your hand while you stand and stare) and get ready to sing!
Whoaaaa, is that a club song, or WHAT? And not only is it your choice what you hold while you stand and stare, but you get to choose what you want out of life, and out of your club president. Do you want saugar canes or honey? Knowing how my presidential mind worked way back then, I’m not sure I choose saugar canes. It might be safer for you if you just go with honey.
In other club news, I have chosen our membership chairman. Yes, dear friends, it is Annie, a.k.a. Fatso Beagle, the love of my midlife crisis. I noticed the other day that she is really good at standing and staring. Yes, here she is holding onto her knotted up sock, staring at the ceiling.
I zoomed in to give you a closer look. As you can see, she is not looking at me, and there’s no one else in the room, I promise. She is totally focused on the ceiling. What she saw up there is up for grabs. I know I look very much the same way when I am trying to decide something important, i.e., whether or not to move a large metal blanket cabinet down the stairs for the dozenth time, and trade it for a sewing desk (insert heavy object of your choice here) which will be dragged upstairs for the dozenth time. No wonder my children hide under their beds when I look like that.
Oh dear. I have wandered off topic again. Yes, it happens frequently these days. I was telling a dear friend just the other day that I am much like an ameoba lately. Room for only one thought at a time, I’m afraid. If only I were like a certain carpenter man I know, who really made me laugh (hysterically) the other day when he said he had enough gray matter to run a power plant. I think men just say things like that whether it’s true or not. Just sayin.
So back to WHY Annie will be the membership chairman. I have made a very keen observation. She does not bark at everyone. Only some people. Some people she does not bark at and some people she does. (How’s that for saying something forward and backward?) Anyhoo, I got to thinkin’ that maybe she’s barking at people who are not real good at standing and staring. In fact, it seems highly likely that this is the case. So far, the people she has barked at (relentlessly) are people who strike me as not being very good at standing and staring at all! Are you getting a picture of how the membership process will work?
Well, that’s all for club news for now. Let’s talk about creatures.
I wish this picture had turned out clearer, but basically I had to lie down on the ground with the camera almost in the wet dirt to get this. The web is nearly horizontal and the spider was on the ground side of the web. It was just such a pretty sight after the rain, I had to share it with you.
I love these little green creatures you can see on the tansy. I’m not sure what they are, but they are here every year. They can really hide well on plants that are colored just like they are. They sometimes jump on my arms when I bushwhack my way through the garden.
And speaking of that, I have more chores to do than can be done. Makes me want to just sit down and do something mindless, but I’m afraid of what carpenter man will say when the lady banks and trumpet vine finally grows up around the doors and windows so that we cannot exit or enter the house, and what he might do if there’s nothing for supper except cereal and cucumbers (again).
Enjoy this day! It’s bright and sunny here and we got buckets of rain last night.
By Lynn, on June 29th, 2010%
Jumping is such a nice word. You can jump around. You can jump rope. You can jump for joy. You can jump at an opportunity. How ’bout jumping on the bed? Or jumping in the swimmin’ hole?
And then there’s the Jumping Spider. Yikes. Actually they are beautiful creatures clothed in bright jackets. Many of them have an almost fluorescent patch on their thorax and abdomen. I was hoping to get a picture of one of our huge black jumping spiders for you, but they stay hidden pretty well. This one caught me off guard. I tried to get an excellent picture, but he was pretty jumpy. (I crack myself up.)
Anyway, Michaela and I will be busy doing our own jumping around. We are going out to shop for a new dress for her, as well as a nice pair of shorts for her to play in. I would like a new pair of combs for my hair, but I don’t have to have anything. I mostly want a date with my darling daughter.
In the meantime, Queen B. will be in charge.
I know you’ll find Annie to be kind and attentive, and perhaps a bit bossy, but in the most adorable way.
You’re in good hands.
By Lynn, on June 26th, 2010%
It is sweltering hot here. The last few days it has been around 100 degrees, and that is with the North Carolina humidity, mind you. There are days when we get announcements on the radio that it’s best to stay in because it’s dangerous for the young and the elderly to be outside.
I sprayed the plants off this morning with a cool stream from the hose and watered everything I have for sale. Doesn’t take long for pots to turn completely bone dry with the soil sucked in from the edges of the pot, all leaves pitifully wilted.
I then went, in search of creatures, through the garden. I think even most of the creatures are hiding in their leafy green houses because it’s just to hot to be out in the sun. Except the mosquitoes, that is. They are pesky and annoying and I wonder just what good they do. They are creatures, after all, and I suppose they qualify as food for something out there, which gives them some credit, but I am hard pressed to find anything else endearing about the things. They follow me in clouds around my legs. Just a part of the North Carolina summer.
This is a tiny specimen of a jumping spider. I almost didn’t see him. We have some really huge jumping spiders in the garden, and I very much want to get you a picture of one this year. They are even bigger than those I have seen in years past.
My little wild garden needs a bit of trimming. I let it burst out of its boundaries until, well, about this time of year, then it requires some love so that people can walk through. People other than me. People who are not so excited about rubbing shoulders with creatures. The poor mailman continues to cut his way through the Lady Banks that sweeps down into his hair and the pokeweed that’s now 8 feet tall and hanging in his way, and the mass of arugula, mint and rosemary that reaches for his legs when he comes up my sidewalk. He homeschools, and he knows we do, so he presses on.
The sunflowers are starting to bloom, some tall, some short, and some taken down to the ground by aggressive cucumber and squash vines. All is fair in love and war. And gardening.
The bronze fennel has a gorgeous, dainty, lacy bloom. This plant, if you’ve never grown it, is quite interesting. It has an odd taste that I like but can’t take too much of, if you know what I mean. It’s sort of a licorice taste to me. Sort of. Fennel is very good for you, however. I put it in salads.
Now, this creature was smack dab in the middle of the vegetable garden, probably having just chewed a hole in something that I wanted to keep. I did not kill him — may regret that later, but I carried him off to another place. I don’t have time to ID him this morning and I’m not sure what he is. Any ideas? Any thoughts about what vegetable he’s out to destroy?
Not sure you can see the hummingbird. This picture was taken yesterday from my work desk, through the office window actually. This sweet little hummingbird hangs out around the bee balm and loves sitting on the little archway I’ve put out there for the cardinal vine to climb on. When the hummingbird is not there, a couple of cardinals rest there.
Not any clearer really, but a little closer up.
I do have to work today. Sigh and double sigh. It’s not easy but I try so hard not to complain. There are so many things I’d love to do for an income — things that I’ve tried in the past and had success with, but for now we need the insurance that my job provides. So I try to enjoy my work. Some of it is actually quite interesting. I’ve already done notes this year about snake bites! Yes. A bite from a snake, up close and personal, and requiring emergency care, antivenin and a hospital stay. I am fascinated with snakes, I must say, but I don’t care anything about being bitten by one.
So I’ll look for the good in things and keep doing what I have to do right now. If I’ve learned anything at all in my 47 years, it’s that life certainly does pass by in seasons, and this season too shall pass.
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About Lynn
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. The Players
Lil Ol' Me
Son Daniel, 23
Son, Big Joe, 20
Son, John, 17
Daughter, Michaela, 13
Annie Fatso Beagle
My Symphony
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.
Contact Me 
I would  for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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