pretty, happy, funny, real

 Pretty-roses picked by my husband. He not only grows pretty flowers, he arranges them nicely and then sets them on a little table by my new chaise lounge!

 Happy-Estelle, happily enjoying my new chaise lounge! We envision happy summer afternoons spent reading under the hickory tree!

 Funny-Someone gave Stuart a shirt that says "My mommy loves me" and Ella wondered why no one got a similar shirt for her.Here she is trying to wear Stuart's shirt, while wearing a pair of sunglasses left  at our store last year!

 Real - Not only is my living room a REAL mess, but last night Stuart was playing with the coffee service from the u-pick tent. He put coffee in to a bunch of cups, and when we discovered him, he added stir sticks to the cups and started handing them out to us. It was so charming I could not be upset. He may have a future at Starbucks!

More coffee, ready to be served! Joining Like Mother, Like Daughter for another round of pretty, happy, funny, real!

whirlwind

 The last week has flown past in a whirlwind of activity. It has been fun-entertaining family and friends, baking bread to sell at the store (we have a certified kitchen) and the usual business of farm life. I am trying hard to stay calm and happy, to get everything done that I need to do, and to not mourn my lack of time for reading and knitting. The benches have been returned to the garden, and I have promised myself breakfast in the garden tomorrow. Always a nice way to start the day!

 The stress and craziness of strawberry season seem to fade into the background sometimes, and it is usually our customers who cause that to happen. I so much enjoy our customers. For the most part, they are friendly and happy. We talk about canning and jelly making when they call to get u-pick information, they bring me recipes and articles, and we talk about how good farm life is. Yesterday, one of our favorite customers brought me this canvas rug she had made. She did the painting herself, and I LOVE IT!!!!! It is in my kitchen, adding much charm! Totally made my day!

Also? Watching these six together always makes me happy! I loaded a Bob the Builder movie for Stuart, and before I knew it, the whole gang had gathered around to watch! There are always these moments that remind me to seek the joy in each day, that even amidst the stress and hardships, there is good to be found. Although, quite honestly, I am still trying to see the good in realizing that I need to give up coffee!!!!

pretty, happy, funny, real, the mostly pretty edition

Garden in early morning

Roses in the bedroom

And in the dining room

The large pale yellow rose in front is called Jude the Obscure

And, a funny little Stuart wearing my dish washing gloves!

The roses are in full bloom, and I have vases of them all over the house. Even if the rest of the house is a mess (which it frequently is during strawberry season), having vases of beautiful, fragrant roses makes me feel like things haven't slipped to far! They add a note of calm and beauty to the crazy business of this season. There really is something about that horrid old cliche about taking time to smell the roses-every time I stop and breath deeply of their scent, I feel a little bit more calm! Lending credence to my statement that this season is crazy busy is Estelle, pictured delighting in her little brother, with some major decollete showing. I was so swamped that I did not even notice her outfit until I downloaded the picture! Ooops! At least she did not go anywhere wearing the dress! Linking with Like mother, like daughter for the weekly pretty, happy, funny, real posts!

rambling thoughts when I should be in bed

I love this picture! It was taken just a month before my father took our family on the two year adventure of living in Italy. I am in the middle on the left, looking like Shawn Cassidy just walked past me. This picture always makes me laugh-the only one who looks decent is my dad. We had been at the beach all day, one last trip before moving. My mother was in a frenzy, as we all had sand in our hair and marshmallow goo smeared all over us, the remnants of the hot dog and marshmallow roast we had on the beach. We are not co-ordinated in any way. No matching outfits, no general color scheme. Just a little bit of everything. That is my family! Today has been one of those days when I wish it was all still like it was in 1978. My father, strong and healthy and fit, playing football and softball with us and taking us hiking and on long walks that always ended at Baskin Robbins. My mother, all sparkling wit and sharp minded, cooking horrible tuna casserole and pruning her roses while we rode bikes. I honestly would not trade my current life for anything. I am so happy as a wife and mother, and love this big, noisy, happy crew of children I have been blessed with. I love life with my golden voiced farmer, the only man who can make me laugh until I am wetting my pants and gasping for breath. But, some days, I just want my daddy back. I want to play pinochle with him, to bid him sky high and watch him throw down his cards in disgust. I want to hear his smiling voice, to take a long walk with him, holding his middle finger as I did when I was little. Some days, it seems easier to long for the distant past than to pick up and carry on with courage and joy. This has been one of those days. Tomorrow, I will rise at 5:30 to begin the strawberry season with a bang, and the next few weeks will be so busy I will have no time to look forward or backwards. It will be all I can do to get through each day's work, and still have the energy to brush my teeth before bed. I am half excited, half dreading it!

In which I return to blogging-again!

Mock orange blossom. The tree is in full bloom!

So, after having my computer back for only a week, I lost internet access.  I shelved the problem because I assumed the problem was that we could not pay our bill and had our service disconnected. This afternoon, I called to make a payment and requested our internet service to be reconnected. The lady told me that we should not have been disconnected, and told me it was actually a tech issue. So, she got me some one from the tech department and he tried to help me get back online. This man, while kind, was unable to resolve the problem. He called some one else, who spent 45 minutes trying to get me online. He finally concluded it was a router problem, and started blathering on in very technical language about the problem and how to fix it. I was kind of zoning him out at this point, and started pushing some buttons and clicking some troubleshooting options. Two minutes later, I had full internet access. I have been reading Conformity to the Divine Will for book club, and the author talks about how everything that happens to us is a result of God's will, and so we can look at the events of our life with a sweet detachment, knowing these things are the result of his will. I don't totally agree with all he says, but if you told me that God willed my internet to be non-functional this week so I would get a ton of work done, I would agree. My whole house is clean, shelves and cupboards organized, laundry is all done and put away (I even ironed) and all the baby and maternity clothes were removed from storage and taken to Goodwill. I went from two closets full of boxes to four boxes in one closet. It is a nice feeling, and I love this sense of peace and orderliness with which I am entering this very busiest of seasons!

pretty, happy, and real, no funny!

Pretty-Roses from the garden! The pink one is especially fragrant!

Happy-Stuart, watching videos of tractors with his Daddy. Not just happy, but pure bliss!

Real-With four coffee nuts in the house, this is what the counter looks like much of the time!

Joining like mother like daughter for another round of pretty, happy, funny, real. Except I have no funny photo. Funny things really do happen around here, pretty much all the time. It is just that they are usually said, or not easy to capture on camera.Things like my daughter (10) helping her brothers dig an underground fort while wearing a pink,sequined evening gown, pumps with silver sequins sown on them, an old, fancy hat, and elbow length white gloves. Or my seven year old running in to the house, flinging her arms around me, and saying "Thank you for not making me wear a zucchini!" and then running back outside. Turns out, she meant bikini. That is life at my house-pretty, happy, real, and always funny, even if I have no photographic record to prove it!

A week with no internet!

Roses are finally in bloom! My house is full of little vases of them!

Stuart, happily playing with my his Fisher Price parking garage.

The sweater, lacking the sleeves and band on the collar!

So! After my last post, I realized that my computer was still not working correctly, and back to the shop it went. Now, after a week with no internet, I am finally back up and running. I have not been able to connect my printer, but if I call the shop they will walk me through the process. I must say, the internet free week was very pleasant. I cut flowers, my gracious mother in law fixed the mistake in my sweater and I got a lot of work done on it, and I got caught up on a lot of jobs that needed to be done before our busy farm season begins. I am so happy to be almost done with the sweater! There is such a feeling of accomplishment, and I love how it has turned out so far. I am going to try to figure out how to do the sleeves on my own, so I can actually get this project done and start on a sweater for the farmer. The school year has ended, and I am already working on plans for next year. Some friends and I are hoping to start a Catholic classical education co-op, which I am so excited about. We are meeting every week or two to hammer out details! Ella just brought me a latte, so it is time to sit down and puzzle over my knitting instructions while I have some caffeine pumping through my veins!

In which I return to blogging!

First bouquet from the garden!

It has been a week since I last wrote a blog post. In that week, my poor computer has been sick with a virus. I took it to the store at which I purchased it on Monday, and they took away the virus. I got the computer home, and could not get online. Took the computer back, and they told me they could not help me. So, I went to another store (small, locally owned) and they removed 125 more viruses! I think I am back up and running. I also dropped a bunch of stitches on the sweater I am knitting, and don't know how to fix the mistake. I have felt lost with no computer and no knitting all week! I would like to say that my house is now immaculate and the laundry is all clean and put away, That is not the case. In spite of not having my favorite distractions, the week passed in a whirlwind of activity,and I am not sure if I would have found time to blog or knit this week anyway!