HomeLife
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. - Annie Dillard
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The Sign That London Read
So. Since I’m working with Hands On! that means extra trips to Hendersonville to the museum. And I’ll take any excuse to head to that fantastic Main Street. Seriously – I feel as if it’s a mini-vacation just to cross the border on the beautiful mountain drive and wander up and down the sidewalks. (And no, I’m not working for the town of Hendersonville. Although I probably would.) Anyway. The kids and I have a pretty basic routine to our excursions. But this trip we stopped at a little area that said “bird sanctuary” that Danny and Beckey had pointed out to us last time we were there together. It…
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a change of pace.
There’s been a lot of talking going on in our house the last few days. And I’m almost weary of words. (Can you believe that?) But what I’m not weary of – and what I feel like focusing on anyway – is something else. The simple beautiful. I needs me some of that. When Emma was here for a visit with her boys last week she brought her camera. (Because she’s an incredible professional. Paper Story Photo & Design, friends. That’s where it’s at.) And while I wasn’t looking and while she wasn’t nursing her newborn son, she must have snapped some photos of our new old home. All I…
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Once Upon A Saturday: A Chicken Story
This weekend these chickens moved into their larger, more luxurious accommodations. This weekend this chicken smoked us out of our accommodations. The end.
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good words. V.
“Quality time” can never substitute for ordinary days spent doing ordinary things together. – Elisabeth Elliot
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Fox and the Great ‘Ricket Round Up
This one. My last. And yet somehow a new beginning. He sleeps with twelve or more matchbox cars under his pillow. When he finds a blue truck that has escaped its under pillow hideout, he scoops it up and laughs. He reaches under the pillow, stashes it safely and pats the hard collection he’s got going on. He’s a little obsessive. Along with the hoarding, you know. Right now he’s all about “rickets”. Which are actually crickets. Which are actually grasshoppers. And he’s been spending his days combing the field in pursuit of the camouflaged creatures. He’s relentless – he is. With a little help from his sisters and…
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this weekend’s miracle.
Last Friday a miracle occurred. A real live miracle. A miracle five years in the making. Or, more like, sixteen years in the making and five years in the un-making. In fact, it is the un-making that is the actual miracle. Over sixteen years ago two goofballs with no life experience got married in a cow field in Virginia. And then those goofballs had the good fortune to each acquire a decent job with two decent salaries. This good fortune lasted for a few years. Then a move to another state, two less-than-stellar paying jobs and the cash flow abruptly ended. But the two goofballs, despite a few years of…
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the swing.
What childhood is not made better by the addition of a front yard swing?
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once upon a table
There once was a table. A red table. A table that used to be brown. A table that held years of roasted chickens, beans and cornbread, RC Colas, mashed potatoes and banana pudding. This table inspired poetry. This table served as a sideboard in my grandma’s living room because her kitchen was too tiny. It was the first kitchen table we placed London’s toddler booster seat up against. We used it until the booster seats outnumbered the grown up chairs. And then it became the extra table. The table I refused to give away despite Kevin’s truthful assertion that our home had no space for an extra kitchen table. Particularly…
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me neither.
I do not understand how anyone can live without one small place of enchantment to turn to. – Marjorie K. Rawlings
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shadow boxes: reigning in the small stuff.
It seems that all of my life I have been collecting little things. Do-dads. What-cha-ma-call-its. Bric-a-brac. Knickknacks. Trinkets. Odds and ends. A myriad of items that are literally small in size. And sometimes those littles wind up on shelves improperly displayed. But more often, those tiny treasures are stashed in boxes with lids with nary a chance to be viewed and appreciated. Enter – our new house. A house with many extra walls, tall walls. This begins the story of my love affair with shadow boxes. I used empty Clementine crates for boxes next to each kid’s bed for their own personal treasures. (I already have hoarders for children –…
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haphazard. erratic. random.
How cute is this kid when he’s wearing only a pair of pants? I’ve been trying out a handful of recipes from my “cook this” Pinterest board. This weekend I made the recipe for Oatmeal Sandwich bread. I laughed when one commenter said, “Our family devoured this in three days.” Our family devoured this, warm from the oven, piled with butter and strawberry jam, in about eight minutes. It was the best bread recipe I’ve come across in a long time. (And another great way to use some of the fifty pounds of oatmeal I bought in bulk. Yeah – fifty pounds.) I also created our own taco seasoning. We’re having…
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I just can’t help myself.
This house has been all blessing. Despite the high cost of heating it this mild winter. Despite the plastic covering some of the windows, the paint chipping at every corner and the mismatched stairwells and moldings and door frames. Despite the one bath tub and the small hot water heater and the sloping floor in the dining room. Despite all that. Maybe it’s the spring talking. The incredible bursts of colors blooming in our yard that distract me from work and school. Or the pollen that has overtaken my senses. Made me all woozy and sentimental and I don’t know what else. (Kevin and I both cried while watching a…
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Groceries: Another Challenge for the Revolution.
Who wants to start a conversation about money? And food? If we were all seated together at a table somewhere it would either get really loud right now or uncomfortably quiet. It just depends on how you roll, I guess. Our family has been on the Low to No Revolution for manymanymany months now it seems. I haven’t been continually writing about it, but I have been continually living it. We’re still using that homemade laundry soap. It’s definitely cheaper. And I made our own hand soap and bath soap a while back and it’s super long-lasting and fragrant. As for the shampoo – well, I don’t know. I used it…
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mid-week ramble. is that a thing?
