The Beginning Glimpses of Summer

 I am back from Charleston! And trying to settle in at home.  Frequent travel is challenging, but I am getting it down to a science now.

This time around we stayed at my dad's house the entire time, with two exceptions: on Friday morning the children and I walked to get croissants at our favorite local bakery, and on Sunday morning we all went to church! Otherwise, we were at the house working in the yard: pruning azaleas, pulling out wisteria, tackling Virginia Creeper, etc.  I even startled a snake! (He startled me, too.)  On Sunday after church it rained, so we took the opportunity to sit and watch Babette's Feast, a film I'd never seen but my stepmother loves.  I loved it, too!  Danish films have a special place in my heart since Annie was named, in part, after a character in one! I highly recommend Babette's Feast (1987) and Ordet (1955). 

Now we are home for the bulk of the summer. June will be an at-home month; we are hoping Dad will come visit us then.  Annie and Finn both have drama day camp for a week, Annie has church camp (not overnight, just day!) for a week, Finn turns 15 (!), we are attending a wedding, an outdoor violin concert, a ballet, and (well, Annie) a quinceanera! I have an extensive list of things I'd like to try to tackle during our time at home, of course, as well as some writing projects to do. We hope to return to Charleston in July for a bit more yardwork and some beach time. In August, we hope to have my husband take a "staycation" for a week at home before Finn picks up the first two of his four online classes on August 20th.  I know it will all go so quickly.....

We have wrapped up (or dropped off, as the case may be) most of our schoolwork at this point so that we are just left with math for both children, plus some history and literature readings for Finn.  I really enjoy this time of the year, the beginning glimpses of summer, when the schoolwork lessens and we join the pool (next week!).

Today my father has his first scan since going off of chemotherapy, and staying on only immunotherapy.  I pray that it shows that the cancer is still at bay, and that the immunotherapy is helping his body keep it under control.  His hair is quickly growing in, and although he is tired, he's doing so, so well.  Please say a prayer for him, if you're willing.  

The most exciting thing in our lives right now is supposed to happen tomorrow.  Stay tuned for photos of The Thing That Annie Cannot Stop Talking About and The Thing That Will Keep Her Occupied All Summer.  Oh, the excitement, the sweetness, the thrill!

Tomorrow.....

Alvin's Bible

 Our family inherited this tiny little Bible from the estate of a family friend. 

I just love the inscription, from "Mother." I am fairly sure she gave it to him when he went to college.

"Read and study it every opportunity and you will find strength and help for every need." 

Yes and amen. 

For My Father

 In a few days I'll be able to tell my father happy birthday in person, but I had to settle for the phone on his actual birthday.   When I called him we chatted for a long time, as we are wont to do, and he said to me "time goes so quickly.  Don't waste a minute of it! Enjoy it." 

He enjoyed his career, and he has enjoyed his dozen years of retirement, in which he has done volunteer work (representing foster children in the court system, and grassroots political work). 

My Dad has taught me so much in life.  

{Dad with a newborn me!}

He taught me to drive, to laugh, to love music, to prune azaleas, to take my civic responsibilities seriously, to not take myself too seriously, to stop and smell the roses, to love my children well.  And so much more. 

{Dad with my little sister}

He is funny, intelligent, passionate about politics, self-effacing, a ready dispenser of wisdom, an excellent driver, a lover of ice cream, and an unfailingly good and calming presence in a crisis. 

And small creatures love him. 

I love my Dad!

Annie Embroiders

 Annie learned to do a basic embroidery stitch last week: backstitch. It's my favorite stitch because it's so tidy.  She wanted to make a tote bag for her friend's birthday, and I felt that this was an excellent way to continue busting up the fabric stash (it'll take years, friends. years).  I ironed on the transfer; Annie did the embroidery. She did most of the stitching; I did the cutting and logistics (and I boxed the corners).  Her skills are developing nicely, I think!

A banner with her friend's name on the front....

...and an ice cream cone in the back right upper corner....

...and Annie wanted to use the lining fabric as the "top" of the handles.  Really cute!

Well done, Annie!

A Heavy Sky

 This was a heavy, heavy sky over the valley.  They were calling for severe storms.  There was a stillness that was not quite eerie, but approaching it, as this thick cloud cover rested over every edge of the horizon.

This week I've felt sort of like I'm under a heavy sky: overly tired, brain-foggy, not quite focused.  Getting things done, but not well.  And not my finest self, personality-wise: distracted, scattered, a little cranky, unmoored.  I suppose we all have these times.  I'm weathering it by cutting my to-do list way, way back, and making peace with a less productive period of time.  

But whew, I'll be glad when this heavy sky lifts, and the sun shines again!

Finn Climbs the Mountain

 Yesterday the weather was so beautiful, and a friend texted to see if Finn wanted to go for a hike early in the morning.  Yes! Sure! So he met up with a crew of parents and kids, and hiked to the top of the mountain that crowns our county, and then looked out over this.....

And the hiking was nice and all, but he said the highlight of the morning was walking back down the mountain and having a conversation with a friend of ours, who spent part of her growing up years in Mexico, and who is one of Finn's Spanish teachers. Of course, they had the conversation in Spanish! And of course, Finn loved this!

He just finished Honors French 2, on the heels of Spanish 2, and had a perfect and near-perfect score in each class.  

It's a big and beautiful world for our globally-minded boy.  I hope he gets to see every bit of it that he wants to see, and I hope he always finds his way back to the little house on the edge of the little farm--even if it's just for a quick slice of gingerbread and a cup of tea, and sitting on the porch enjoying the roses. 

Keep on climbing, Finn! 

The Already and the Not Yet

My husband and I were recently discussing vacation plans for this year, and realizing all the limitations we were bumping up against.  Quebec City?  The kids don't have passports yet.  The Gulf of Mexico?  Our car isn't reliable enough, and have you seen rental car prices lately?*  Utah?  Have you seen flight prices lately?**  Also, there's the unknown of my Dad's condition. We know how he is now.  But how will he be in three months? In six?  We need to stay flexible. My husband will be extremely busy at work this summer.  And both our children will be enrolled in classes next year, so there's that factor: they'll have a more traditional school schedule starting in late August. And, finally, I am already doing lots of traveling back and forth to Charleston. So. We wait. We decided to probably take a "staycation" here in late August, and just see how everything unfolds.  

{my dad's senior portrait!}

We have been in this place before, and I think it's a place of growth.  I do not believe that it's spiritually healthy to be always able to choose what you want to do, all the time.  I have seen this before in times of uncertainty, and I know we will see it again and again: the unique grace of dwelling in the unknown spaces.  It brings to mind the idea of living in the already, but the not yet.  That is a place of faith all believers have to dwell in at various points in life, and my own experience is that it's the place of good, hard growth.  The pruning and the waiting and the believing.  

{spending a late winter day up on the mountain my in-laws own--that's my father-in-law as guide!}

God provides what we need, when we need it.  He goes before us to pave the way.  This has always been the case.  

{sunset at home}

So as badly as I'd like to go Somewhere New and get some wind in my sails, I feel called to contentment in this season of waiting. And I do see what God is doing in all our hearts.  He's making room for the unknown.  He's cultivating faith in us that all things do work for good.  He's turning our minds and hearts to Him: reminding us that life will happen the way He plans it, in His time.  

{quilt top I found in my other grandmother's attic}

So we are devoting ourselves to living well here in the already, and hoping for good and beautiful things in the not yet.  

*This is due to the current car shortage.

**This is due to the extraordinary price of fuel!

Banana Bread to Cure What Ails You

 Back when my husband was going through cancer treatments, we lived in North Carolina for a couple of months. One day our longtime pastor and his wife and another good friend decided to come visit us, and our pastor--who is an excellent baker--brought all sorts of baked goodies to share.  They were all delicious, but the banana bread spoke to me. I loved it so much that I ate a sliced, toasted and spread with almond butter, served with dark Yorkshire Gold tea, every afternoon until it was gone, and I'm not sure anyone else touched it. It was a wonderful comfort food during a very hard time. 

When a friend's family was going through a health crisis with their daughter a year and a half ago, I took them a loaf of this banana bread.  It seemed to make everyone feel better. We suspect it has healing properties!

At some point I also left some banana bread muffins with my Dad in Charleston.  He called me later to point out how good they were, and how good he felt.  So this is definitely a recipe to cure whatever ails you in life. :) 

The Best Banana Bread

(from the kitchen of a kindly Presbyterian pastor)

Mix at medium speed until well-blended:

*3-4 medium-sized very ripe bananas (I have used 2.5, to fine effect)

*2 eggs

*1/2 cup olive oil

*1/4 cup buttermilk

*1/4 cup orange juice (if you don't have orange juice, you can just use another 1/4 cup buttermilk--this is a flexible recipe)

Then add the following sifted ingredients:

*2 c. unbleached flour

*1.5 tsp baking powder

*1.5 tsp baking soda

*1 tsp salt

*one-half to one full cup of sugar (I use sucanat, and I use a scant half-cup)

Mix all this at medium speed until well-blended.  At this point you can add some nuts if you like--I don't!--or add a few very generous handfuls of dark chocolate chips (60% Ghiaradelli)--which I do. 

Pour into an oiled and parchment-lined loaf pan and bake 1 hour at 300 degrees or until a test toothpick comes out clean.  

Eat, and be comforted!

Old-Fashioned Flowers

 I like old-fashioned things: doilies, milk glass, embroidered linens, tablecloths.....and I like old-fashioned flowers, too! I was thinking the other day that I sure have a lot of old-fashioned flowers in my yard--these are flowers that seem like the sorts of things grandmas might have planted decades ago. I've planted all of these myself: 

the dwarf lilac outside the bedroom window...

the enormous bleeding heart by the front porch (I also have a couple more bleeding hearts elsewhere!)...

the lily of the valley, also near the front porch.....

...and peonies and irises and day lilies all around (but none of those are in bloom just yet). 

I haven't had much time at all this spring at all to work in the yard, with commuting back and forth to Charleston, and then, when I'm home, with taking care of all the bits of domestic life that get a little neglected when I'm not here.  But that's okay.  The flowers carry on without me (so do the weeds, rest assured), and they all know that I'll turn my attention to them as soon as I can.  

Gardening is my favorite thing!