Garden Day at the Ranch

Yesterday afternoon I visited my friend Sarah at the Triple L Ranch.  The weather was perfect for enjoying the outdoors, so Sarah and I set to work preparing her garden beds, newly framed by her hardworking husband David.

We watered the dirt to help break down the huge dirt clods, then started breaking up the soil with rakes and pulling out rocks, throwing them in orange buckets.


(Not that anyone could possibly remove all the rocks around here, mind you.  But at least we were getting the big ones.)

Fearless Rebekah went on an adventure with Gal the dog.

Then, of course, Rebekah wanted to play in the dirt too. ;-)  

Silly bug.

Never a dull moment with this one around!  She's so fun.  Today she was proclaiming loudly, "I love you, Mommy!"

Little Isaac woke up, and that was all of garden work for the day.  Inside we reviewed some verses we're memorizing together (we're about 3/4 through Isaiah 53), got dinner ready and the table set (with the help of Rebekah and a little neighbor friend), and then as I was leaving David arrived.  He was kind enough to snap this picture for me. Even Gal managed to jump in just for the picture.

"No, look at Daddy, Rebekah!"

Home again home again!

Always love the drive back, and it was a beautiful time of day.

Declaring His glory pretty well, don't you think? :-)

What I did with my Friday

Today I got to stay at home mostly - yay!  I confess, I was a bit lazy.  Here's some of what I did: 

• reading
• blogging about my book
• cleaning kitchen
• more reading, reading, reading...
• making dough for challah and cinnamon rolls
• having a splendid time seeing Tangled with my lovely mother
• coming home to bake my breads
• eating cinnamon roll
• next up - more reading!

Tangled was fun.  Aside from a possible jab at stay-at-home daughters, or rather, "horrid over-protective mothers who repress them and keep them from following their dreams"... sigh.  Poor girls like Rapunzel don't get to do anything but clean kitchens and make cinnamon rolls and read and blog...

;-)

Yes. Anyways.  I don't want to make a huge deal of that, since the repressive "mother" was a actually a witch, and not Rapunzel's mother at all.  And real stay-at-home daughters are rarely locked inside their houses!  Home is base of operations, not a pretty prison like poor Rapunzel had. But Rapunzel thought she was running away from home, from her mother, and even though she clearly felt wrong about it some of the time, it might need more discussion with little kids. 

Otherwise I liked it very much.  Aside from the above possible problematic interpretation, it's a classic story of a girl who longs to see the beautiful, wonderful things in the world, has adventures, falls in love, and eventually discovers she's a princess and has a family much better than her vain, fake, lying kidnapper.

I suppose it's a bit like we Christians, when we find we're royalty and children of God.  How can we go on living the same way once that's clear, and continue to submit to our old tyrants of safety and comfort and sin?  And perhaps even non-Christians suspect there's more to life than meets the eye, that greater powers are at work "outside the tower," beyond what they can see and touch.

If only we could get out and see the flying lanterns!  They can't be just stars.  We have a feeling they mean something.

Alright, enough rambling.  Good review here.  Have a lovely Saturday!

P.S. The horse was tremendous.  

P.P.S. I really shouldn't do two posts in one day, especially when I have such trouble doing even semi-weekly posts.  This is not a regular thing.  End of public service announcement. 

Rambles from a borrowed basement

Here I am, sitting on the floor of a lovely homeschooling family's basement, where Sarah and Catie (sisters of the groom) and I are staying.  Another young lady (Courtney) is over practicing violin duets with Sarah for the wedding.  They're both great musicians.  Ah, I love homemade music :-). 

In midst of listening to Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, I was over on the YLCF, reading some excellent reposted articles for single ladies on love and trusting God.  Excellent stuff, about beauty, expectations vs. ideals, patience, and God's perfect faithfulness to give us the "no"s that will actually turn out to our greater joy. 

Good stuff.  I am so weak, but He is strong.

The fact of the matter is that the only way to true peace with regard to our future mate is by way of an age-old path called surrender. In fact, it’s the only way to true peace about anything. And the more comfortable we are with that idea, I believe, the happier we are in this life. We sometimes think of surrender as a last resort, an arms-folded acceptance of an unpleasant situation, rather than the gateway to all the delights our Father’s blessing and joy. 
~ Lanier ~

Surrender.  Not mournful, but eagerly expecting good things from  my Father.  That's what I need and am praying for. 

In other news, my brother Sam (the best man... in many ways, thinks this adoring sister ;-) ) drove down last night from Iowa- hurrah!  Dear quiet Sam, friends with jolly Aaron since they were nine years old.  I still haven't seen him yet - he's hanging out with the bride's family, and Joy and Aaron (or "Jaron," as the about-to-become-one-person is being affectionately called, hehe!)  It's funny seeing the confused wildness that happens even with a small wedding, with friends coming from all over, and families galore, and pennies pinched and rehearsal dinners hand-decorated....

"The brisket in the borrowed freezer needs to come out to thaw!"

"Don't forget the black pants!"

(playing with kids at the park) "Wait, Ethan, you probably shouldn't be eating sand."

"Ellie, you like gnawing that lotion bottle, don't you?"

"Emmie, how did you manage to fall down again?" 

"Can you add something to the lists for Wal-Mart and Sam's?"

It hasn't been all stress, though.  Not with these folks. :-)  Earlier we three "big girls" did have time to play with the littles in water.  It was an amazing fountain at the park, designed flat and slanting into drains, so it barely holds water. But it shoots out these sporadic streams of water, so the adventure is to run through and try to not get wet...  A few of us didn't dodge in time, but then, getting splashed is fun too. ;-)

Farmington is lovely.  It's a pretty little edge-of-the-mountains sort of town, with enough hills to be pretty but not block the huge sky.We listened to the new Andrew Peterson CD about five times driving up from Albuquerque, across the rolling hills, and last night in the pouring rain as we drove around town running errands.

This is a very odd post.  But ah well.  :-)  I think we're about to head off to the next thing soon, so I should wrap this up.  Dress rehearsal this afternoon, then the rehearsal dinner, then tomorrow the two giddiest people in the world will share their first kiss and head off to their secret honeymoon destination "somewhere in Colorado."

They're about to go dancing in the minefield, and sailing in the storm.  :-)  May the Lord bless their new family with greater things than they can imagine.

(picture added August 24, 2010)

Drizzly Day

This morning I went up to write at Barnes and Noble.  I indulged in a warm and chocolaty Cafe Mocha (with whipped cream, of course!) and a pizza pretzel, purchased with the help of a gift card.  Thanks, Jonny my dear brother! 

The whole day has been foggy, grey, wet.  A bit chilly.  You'd think it would be perfect to get tons of writing done.  But instead I mostly read about self-publishing (probably the route we're taking with the Hope for Relationships book) and looked at the Forgiveness chapter. I also looked at the Chicago Manual of Style, which I've read is a necessity for serious writers.  In a quick flip-through, though, it seemed huge and confusing to me, and most of it seemed like stuff I'd never need to know.  And it was about fifty bucks.  Maybe I'll get it on sale sometime.  Maybe. 

Then I ran an errand, came home, deboned a chicken, and made soup and stock and a bowl of chicken meat for chicken salad later.  While listening to Adventures in Odyssey and the Boundless Podcast.

After that, I went to visit my friend Sarah C.  She's perky, sensible, cheerful, and wise, and she's excited about so many of the same things I am (like homeschooling, wives staying at home, gardening, frugal meal-planning, raising animals to eat, sewing).    We've been walking together every week lately, but since it was not so nice outside today and her little girl, Rebekah, was still sleeping, we just talked and ran to the post office (Sarah's husband was home - don't worry!).  Sarah is such a blessing, like the older sister I never had.  I'm so thankful the church body is really a family, and I actually do get her as a sister! :-)

Then I came home and wrote a flier for the tea party we're having after AWANA Quizzing. Drove through the drizzle to pick up Bob from basketball practice.  Came home again, ate delicious Chicken Enchilada Soup if I do say so myself... hey, I may have mixed up the ingredients, but God made them, so I think I can be delighted with soup to His glory. :-)  And watched a  Leave It To Beaver  episode on Netflix with Whit (Bob), until he left (again) to watch another MCA team's game.

And here I am, writing this rambly post, listening to the chicken stock on the stove boil down so it will take up less room in the freezer.    Thinking about the book I've been reading - Passion and Purity.  Wondering how best I can trust God and wait patiently for my man to lead at the right time.  (Until we both say "I do," only God knows for sure who he is, anyways!)   I'm thinking about how much I assume I know guys' minds, when I ought to have a quiet spirit and respect them enough to speak or be silent as they choose.  Lord, help me!

Well, I'd better stop blathering on.  Tomorrow is near.  Besides normal book and house work, I need to research the science behind bread, learn what kinds of bread they made in the medieval ages, dig out books on calligraphy and knotwork and illuminated manuscripts, and maybe repair my blue medieval dress.   Three dear and creative kids are coming over for a fun homeschool afternoon in a few days, and I need to be prepared.  What fun - I don't even have my own kids yet, and already I get the joy and excitement of practicing hands-on teaching!

Oh dear, I'm about to fall asleep here.  Have a lovely Tuesday night, and I hope your Wednesday is full of happiness in God! 

Rainy Days - Perfect Cooking Weather!

(image from the BBC production of Little Dorrit)

It's been rainy here today - I love it!  While I was driving Whit to school, we listened to Andrew Peterson's Clear to Venus album and kept hearing rain mentioned in songs.  I thought that was cool. :-)

Today I have done the following:

-Smashed my finger in the suburban door.  Ahaha, that was painful.   But what could I do but laugh?  I only smashed it because ... well, not quite sure how it happened. It had something to do with the umbrella...

- Made chocolate cheesecake, with raspberries and whipped cream as topping, for my brother Whit's birthday.  Hurray!  He's 16, and quite a fine young man.  I am a blessed sister in each of my brothers. :-)

- Baked chicken from the freezer, since the oven was hot... I guess we'll have chicken again...  Hey, in pita bread! Mmmm...

- Ground some wheat...

- ...And mixed up some dough for pitas, which is rising at the moment

- Washed dishes 

- Listening to musicals and Frank Sinatra

- Spent too much time on Facebook...

- And now am finally sitting down to do some editing/writing.  With mint tea and a sprinkle-decked donut.  Aren't I so disciplined?  (no answer needed, thank you)

 ~~~

Little Elba, how’s the rain in South America?
Does it fall upon the rooftops of the sick?
Do they thank the Lord for coming up with such a great idea
and dream about a place beyond all this? 

~from Andrew Peterson's song, Land of the Free~

Little Pretties

 I thought I'd pop in at my blog for a few minutes.  Greetings from my desk on a beautiful Saturday afternoon!  Doesn't this cup of garden flora look delicious?  It smells like a whole field of wildflowers and honey.  Mmm....

And don't candles make you feel studious and excited?  I love how they brighten up any little corner.  They're almost like cats on the hearth, a dog at your feet, or the perfect background music.  Why in the world does a little fire enchant us so? 

 

Here's Little Dorrit the Desk, and the lower edge of a hat quilt that was handmade by my great grandmother.  

Alright, as you can see, my desk is so pretty and cozy that I must get back to work at it. Goodbye for now! 

A Morning in the Life

With all my bookish posts lately, I feel the need to write something more personal and everyday.  I enjoy getting glimpses of people's habits and schedules, so howsabout a "what does your morning look like"  post? Mine's often a little like this:

~~~

Alarm!!!!!! Promptly shut off and ignored - bad habit!  Finally... ok. Get up.  Up.  Up....  Stumble into the kitchen and turn on the coffee pot (if I set it up the night before... otherwise there might be a pot to wash and beans to grind first) and commence to wake up.  Here would be the part I get dressed for the day... if I had picked out my clothes the night before, which I usually don't.  Another bad habit. 

Now Coffee and Bible and sometimes Journal! :-)  This makes me happy, especially when I'm up early enough to spend time pouring out thoughts and prayers onto the page.  Journaling does not make one more spiritual,  and the words of Scripture are far more priceless than any feeble prayer or thought I could scribble.   But for me it's an amazingly rich and rewarding discipline. When I get beyond mechanically reading to actually "seeing," the real excitement and wonder begins.  And the best way I've found to do that is to write to the Author, to ask Him about it and try to say it back to see if I understand, and to record my life in little marks as a way to tangibly offer myself back to Him.  Sometimes the morning is rushing, and distractions fill my head, and nothing makes it onto the page.  And that's alright, because there are no commands about journaling or Quiet Time At Six A.M. Or Thou Art Not A Christian.  God doesn't show up in the morning between 5 and 7 and then disappear for the rest of the day.

About 6:30, time to make lunches for the Bob and the Mother!   Usually sandwiches, fruit, sometimes yogurt and cookies...  Pumpkin cookies today, which I actually made last night!  Haven't cooked enough lately, so I was excited (as were a few other folks around here, I think!)   They stay at school for a huge part of the day, so they need lots of sustanence!  The Mother stays busy teaching Latin and preparing and grading, and Bob sits discussing in classes like Greek and Logic and Great Books and Algebra and Bible and History.  Bob also studies up at school and later runs with the cross country team, which practice ends around 5-5:30, so he needs a LOT of food.  He's a bit like a Hobbit who has drank gallons of Ent water, who also runs all the time and is decidedly not rounded.  Just imagine.  

Breakfast! Today it was eggs and pumpkin banana bread.  Sometimes this is our quiet little family time at the kitchen table, when we eat together and talk, but today it didn't really happen.  I wonder why? We all seemed a bit distracted and rushed...  Oh, and  uh...I was probably too distracted on my laptop at the kitchen table to invite sitting and talking.    Oops.   

And then they're out the door, and the house is still.   Now, on to the stuff of the day!   I need to write for work for about five hours, water plants and do some cleaning, maybe make some pizza dough for tonight, and do a little brainstorming and work for something that's happening tomorrow...  It might not all get done.  That's the potentially frustrating beauty of this job - flexibility!   May I use it as a blessing today, and not a curse.   
 
So, that's just a bit of my flawed morning, lived by a flawed girl, but blessed and led by my Father in so many good ways which I don't deserve.  

I pray you have a blessed and exciting day, my readers!   Remember, the Lion is not safe.   But He is good.

~~~

P.S.  My brother Zach, who has been gone nearly 2 months, just returned from Peru!  He had the coolest beard, but is back at work today so I'm afraid it's gone now. Praise God for his safe return and all his adventures!  

Writing, Reading, and the North Wind

Last night I did something very frivolous. I ordered the NaNoWriMo travel mug, all for myself. *guilty grin* I had considered it before, but it seemed wasteful. But last night, I just did it. So there. I am not under a law to never buy nice liquid-holding containers. Well, but wouldn't a NaNoWriMo T-shirt be better, I pondered? It sounded more excusable. But I decided - Nope. A mug will be far more useful to me, and more fun. This is an amazing mug. I plan to make it pay its own way over many, many years of supplying me with warm caffeinated fluids.

Today I wrote for work most of the morning and a little into the afternoon. Then I did some dishes and a tinsy bit of housework while listening to Adventures in Odyssey, and then I settled myself on the floor with pages of story spread out, reviewing story bits I barely remembered and trying to make sense of a decent plot out of it all. Not there yet! This is one reason I so regret not finishing my first NaNoWriMo story. Once you loose the flow and forget where you were going, it's immensely difficult to pick it back up and finish the thing. At least for me. Especially when I tried a while back...meaning I now have at least three different versions to sort through. It could take a while.

Then the rest of this evening, while eating some amazing vegetable soup made by my lovely Mother, I have been swept away in Worlds Unseen, a fantasy novel by a young lady named Rachel Starr Thomson. She is a bit older than I am and still lives happily at home with her family. She has become a very inspiring example to me of the both dependence on family and of the energetic productivity a young lady can thrive in, instead of just sitting around waiting for life to start at marriage or diving off on her own lonely career. I have grown to respect and admire Rachel over the years, first through her thoughtful posts on Boundless, but also on her own blog, which I link to in my sidebar.

Rachel's book, Worlds Unseen, is amazing, and the first book is free to download. Beware, though. If you like well-writen fantasy from a Biblical worldview, it will suck you in! I already know I will be buying the second book (and possibly a hard copy of the first).

The air has been still and warm most of today and this evening as we all waited for the predicted cold front. No wind, no wind... But a few minutes ago, I heard it. The trees rushed as the North Wind came sweeping through branches and fences, proclaiming in wild and familiar voice the coming of cold. It was a thrill to recognize it's coming. I forget... How I forget!

More writing tomorrow, hopefully of both work and fun, and perhaps I'll finish the marvelous story about Maggie and her assorted friends, and the strange and wonderful and frightening world she lives in.

Oh, and tomorrow...er, today (I need to go to bed!) is exciting for another reason, too. Can you guess? Find out in my next post! Here's a clue: it has to do with a two literary characters who share something.

Classes... Crazines... Is there a connection? ;-)

Greetings, Folks! Happy Independence Day! Yesterday we celebrated the 4th with our church out on the Triple L ranch, so today has been nice and quiet. Aside from the glorious thunder and pounding rain, haha! Lovely. I've been catching up on work, listening to Mr Eben's talks,

sipping Twining's Spiced Tea from a lovely tea cup,

enjoying candlelight and thunder and rain,

and knitting furiously on a scarf that's been unfinished far too long. I seriously need to branch out into hats or blankets, or at least do some patterned scarves. But hey, it's fluffy and mindless work. Just what I need sometimes.

So, that's my silly picture post, complete with weird hair and Woot! shirt. The camera on my laptop is too much fun! Have a grand day, and remember the freedoms our fathers died for!

gathering, baking, visiting, and other putterings

Today, I

• went to friends' house where I gathered eggs, watered plants, and fed dog, fish, and cat their respective foodstuffs
• tried my hand at angel food cake, since I have extra eggs... success!
• visited with Grandma
• plodded along in Ivanhoe
• searched for quotes to add to my writing
• cleaned the kitchen
• admired the huge bunch of garden flowers bursting from a mason jar on the kitchen table
• enjoyed a light pattering of sprinkles
• quaffed plenty of coffee and nibbled a square of Ghirardelli raspberry-filled chocolate left from Christmas (I know, how could it last so long? I s'pose I have a habit of hoarding my stocking goodies for special occasions, or impulsive moments when I actually remember my hidden treasures)
• looked forward to a family coming over tonight for tea, desert, and conversation... and maybe a little Speed Scrabble?
• watched the Mother make homemade chocolate syrup
• found this horridly-funny-yet-true quote:

“She's the sort of woman who lives for others - you can tell the others by their hunted expression."
~C. S. Lewis~

A brief list of today's doings

Today, Rael did the following:

-made bread, cinnamon rolls, chicken stock, and chicken salad
-ran an errand for Zach and retrieved Whit from MCA
-washed lot dishes
-tinkered on the piano a tad (which is more than she usually does)
-discussed the myth of preditory pricing, and how the government owes people green bubble gum
-inspected seedlings sprouting outside
-dumped compost
-anticipated the P&P-watching night
-listened to Mossflower
-washed more dishes
-laughed in pity when The Old Clunker (my old laptop which needs a better name) died on her twice in three minutes
-read a few promising parts of my novel
-laughed when the Mother brought home left-over food consisting largely of...chicken salad
-amused herself by lazily posting a list instead of a well-crafted series of sentences and paragraphs
-had so much fun writing in third person, she decided to leave before the Gollum-speech catches up to her, precious