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A Little July Celebrating
For oh, I don’t know, THIRTY years or more (actually, a few more than thirty) I have been celebrating July Fourth in one very specific location and in one pretty traditional manner. July Fourth, for the majority of my life, has meant a trip to the farm in Virginia. Last year all the things were cancelled and so staying home was the way July Fourth went down. This year, due to a month-long cross-country trip by the patriarch and the matriarch, and also a gall bladder being removed from same patriarch, July Fourth at the farm was once again a no-go. Did I weep when I heard the news? I…
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five finds friday (berg keeps being funny, trip highlights and delicious drinks)
Without school to guide me, I just don’t know what day of the week it is. Also – side note: I can see that my Mailchimp subscribing idea is not working correctly. I see that it sends you an email but the mail contains nothing. No link. No post. Just annoyance. I’m angry at Mailchimp. And I want another idea or option so I’m going to start working on that. After the ranch. Or something. In the meantime, if any of you know a better mass mailing/subscribing option, I’m all ears. Better yet – if any of you want to magically make that happen, I’ll pay you – in London…
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afterwards.
Well who even knows where to start? A whole bunch of a lot of stuff happened in the last few weeks. I’m sitting on my porch, enjoying the new and improved twinkly lights that accompanied graduation on this porch a few Fridays ago. Our school year is complete. I homeschooled a sixth grader, a seventh grader, a sophomore, a junior and a senior. My teaching at Meadowlark is done, for now. I finished my third year as a Writing and Literature teacher. I’m going to sincerely and deeply miss my students but next year I won’t be in the classroom. I’m not finished with education. I’ll still be on the…
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a little this, a little that
I wouldn’t actually want to live a life that went in a steady straight line. Steady straight lines aren’t really my thing. But this month – this past week – I’ve been bumping and trotting along a hundred little paths. Here are some of those paths and where they’ve been leading: I’m working with two very talented local artists to create a mural on the side of a building in Travelers Rest. I’ve long wanted to bring some new art to the streets of TR. I’m no artist and actually painting a mural would not register in my skillset. But organizing and promoting and gathering the right folks together –…
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five finds friday (there’s beautiful bags and blast from the past soda and kind students)
Hello Friday, my old friend. I don’t want to talk about any words that start with Q or C. There were some gloriously pleasant spring days this week. I’m grateful we’re not jumping directly into scorching days. I think South Carolina often does that so I am thankful that there’s been a tiny delay in that this April. funny This week there was a meteor shower and the kids and I stayed outside lying on the trampoline in the dark for a long time, watching the night sky and joking around. London kept taking terrible photos with the flash and without the flash. The results were pretty amusing. fashionable I’ve…
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thirty years of July Fourthing.
Yes. Totally aware that it is practically August. And I’m fine with writing a post about July Fourth. This year we think we calculated that it was Year Thirty for our annual July Fourth at the Farm. That’s kind of big deal. What started out three decades ago as a couple of neighboring families and friends taking a tubing trip down the Pigg River, hosting a cook out and shooting off fireworks into the Virginia summer sky, has turned into an annual family reunion and event that calendars get rearranged for and that is held as some sort of holy ground by those of us who love it best. The…
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love. via sour dough bread.
I love my kids. But that’s nothing unusual – right? Moms love their kids. It’s kind of our job. But you know what is extra special and humbling and wonderful? When other people love your kids. When other humans in your life nourish your kid’s strengths and encourage her talents. That’s lovely. That’s beautiful. Mosely loves to bake bread. She has been trying a handful of recipes off and on for years. Some with wild success – rosemary bread, for example. Some with not-her-favorite results. Bread is finicky. Dough rising is affected by temperature and humidity and length of time. I’ve never been a pro at it myself. But Mosely…
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The weekend ramble (the framily comes to town)
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July Fourth and the Farm and a Few Photos
Twenty-seven? Or has it been twenty-nine? I can’t remember which of those numbers is accurate, but either way, it’s been a LOT of years that my family has been celebrating the fourth of July with my framily. It was just an idea a couple of decades ago. A casual “let’s have dinner together on July Fourth” sort of plan between a handful of families who lived near one another in the glorious state of Virginia surrounded by the ever inviting Blue Ridge Mountains. But over the years it has become a staple on the calendar. A must do. A can’t miss event. It’s part reunion…
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July Fourth – celebrating it all week long.
For the last 27 years I have spent July 4th at the farm in Virginia. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s my favorite holiday. (Well, I did miss one holiday gathering the summer I worked as a camp counselor at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park.) The party is traditionally the Saturday nearest to July 4th and this year that puts the party on July 7th. Which meant that we stayed in our own actual town for the official Fourth of July! It’s truly a best of both worlds scenario for us this summer – we get to celebrate our favorite annual tradition…
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Five Finds Friday (funny photos and my dog’s grin and how we homeschool)
It’s been a good week. And a rainy week. And a regular old week week. All at the same time. Like it does. funny London likes to take my photos and turn them into silly things. Recently she grabbed this silly photo of herself and did this. I like that she can laugh at herself too. Also. Ryder’s birthday was this week. There was a dog cake made. And – he’s smiling in this photo – isn’t he? fashionable Oh these gorgeous kantha blankets from Basha and Open River Imports. They are incredibly beautiful. flavorful Sometimes history meets…
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Five Finds Friday (tzatziki sauce. big feet. tats.)
I don’t think I conquered a Five Finds Friday post last week – maybe it was Farm Week? (It’s too hard to keep up.) This week has been oppressively hot. We’ve had theatre rehearsals and auditions and I am so glad for an organization like our local Logos Theatre where I feel good about my kids receiving both quality and safe instruction on stage. I’ve started staring at the lists of plans and books and ideas to begin to homeschool a FRESHMAN this fall and I feel both excited and horrified, capable and out of my league. I only have TWO children left in elementary school and…
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farm, framily, feelings, photos
At the farm I didn’t write very much. I brought a couple of books to read, but I didn’t open them. I stayed up late every night, talking in the quiet hours with Emma and Sarah and Sally, with whomever stayed awake and was chatty. I didn’t rise exceptionally early because my kids are late sleepers and those of them who were not were capable of having a bowl of cereal downstairs with the other early risers. We saw rainbows more than once at the farm. Once, as the rain begin to chase us, we chased the rainbow’s end. It seemed so perfectly catchable. It…
