Behind
July 25, 2009 at 7:14 am (Compelled, Family, Grow)
It’s deep summer. Our blogging heroine (BH) has realized she’s out of time. School starts in less than a month, and last Monday morning dread filled her heart. She doesn’t have time to write, but agreed to a quick interview.
Ivey: So. You’ve had all summer. What is the problem?
BH: For one, I hadn’t even started thinking about school yet. I always need to go through our books for the coming school year, put away last year’s stuff, and order anything I need. Norris Public Schools called me and asked if Katherine was really coming this year, since I hadn’t sent in her New Student Form, which I didn’t have. I actually did get her immunizations taken care of before I left for Vegas, so they would actually let her in the school. Unfortunately, I was even more behind with Maddie’s shots, and she had to receive six of them. I mean, I was behind.
Ash and Kat before the big Jonas Brothers concert. Kat loved it. Ash…went.
Ivey: Back up. Katherine is going to public school? Really? I thought you were a die-hard homeschooler.
BH: I do homeschool, but my identity is actually in Christ, not where my children go to school. I try to do what I think is best for my kids, and Katherine, her father, and I think this is best. She is taking 3 classes in the afternoons at Norris, and 2 at our homeschool cooperative. None at home. It will be strange, but I’m sure I’ll figure out what to do with all those extra minutes.
Ivey: Back up again. Vegas?
BH: Yes. I know. I have the impression people don’t think I’d choose Vegas as a vacation destination. I must be pretty transparent. However, since my husband wanted to go to a woodworking convention, and I like my husband, I decided to go. I filled my days with gawking at immense, sprawling casinos (the Mirage covers 120 acres), while Marcus compared cabinet software. From my point of view, I got the better end of the deal.
Yes, an actual picture of our blogging heroine in the Bellagio. She stood here a long time, as it was 112 degrees outside.
Best thing I saw in Vegas.
Ivey: Why else were you so stressed out this week?
BH: Quarterly tax returns are due next week, and I was a bit, or maybe a lot, behind. Really behind. I also do the books for the homeschool cooperative, and I was, for want of a better word, behind.
Ivey: What did you do this summer?
BH: Not sure what I did when I was home. Laundry? I cooked a little. Mowed some. Not sure about the rest. I gave my pastor grief on Facebook, but I don’t think that took up the rest of my time.
Ivey: What does the rest of the summer look like?
BH: A lot more of this:
And this:
BH: In my defense, someone gave me the corn to freeze. But the 2 rows of potatoes – I brought that on myself. I noticed my potato-digging accomplice took a picture of the rubber duck potato:
BH: The tomatoes are just starting to ripen. That means canning season is almost upon us. I mean me. Oh, yes. Why do I do this to myself? Ouiser says it best in Steel Magnolias:
Annelle: Why do you grow them, then?
Ouiser: I’m an old southern woman (not quite). We’re supposed to wear funny hats (I do), and ugly clothes (my gardening clothes are not attractive), and grow vegetables in the dirt (that’s me). Don’t ask me those questions. I don’t know why, I don’t make the rules.
Ivey: Besides canning, is anything else on your agenda before school starts?
BH: I have wanted to paint my dining room, but haven’t felt like I’ve been home long enough to tear into it. Ashley pledged to help me before she flies the coop. So we’ll probably paint my ultra-traditional dining room a lovely shade of nontraditional blue.
Ivey: Flies what coop?
BH: Ashley is packing up her clothes and books, which is all she needs, and moving in with Grandma. I’ve grown accustomed to the idea, I guess. Our biggest problem now is book ownership. Half of “her” books are mine. I actually let her have my nice hardcover of Jane Eyre today, she looked so big-eyed and needy. Of my book, that is.
Ivey: What about the younger girls? What are they doing?
BH: They are helping with projects around the house, getting a swim in now and then, and have started playing together again. I had all this stuff “planned” for them to do this summer, but then wondered what on earth I was thinking, as far as expense and time. Eventually their creative juices got the best of them, and they started this:
BH: The Polly Christian Church, Pastor Prince Charming, presiding
Ivey: Is that sacrilegious?
BOG: The Polly Modern Art/Cafe Shop, and…
…Bill’s Bar and Grill. Creative juices, yessirree.
Ivey: Hmmm. Thank you for your time.
BH: Glad for the break.
As soon as we got home from vacation
July 7, 2009 at 1:51 am (Grow)
I barely took this picture in time. So, so tasty. Thanks, Katherine.
Jennifer Hinrichs will be out of the office…
May 7, 2009 at 3:09 am (Children, Grow)
I have found it burdensome to be in the house lately, much less at my desk. I am easily irritated when I have to run errands. I have much more pressing, important items to take care of.
Like smelling wild plum blossoms.
Admiring tulips.
Gazing at the blue sky through redbud blossoms.
Comparing the flowers on my different varieties of apple trees.
And disbelieving that my horridly dismembered peach tree has the capacity for such beauty.
While I’m drinking in spring, I must admit my mind is elsewhere…
Don’t ask me why this hit me like a ton of bricks.
I have to practice emergency breathing techniques.
I pinch myself, but I’m not waking up.
I’ll let you know how Mom fares through this new adventure.
Picture credited to Kerri. Thanks. I think.
Snow? Let’s garden!
April 5, 2009 at 1:59 pm (Grow)
What do I do when I hear I’m in for nasty, wintry weather? Play in the garden, of course.
I bought rhubarb, asparagus, garlic and onion plants this week, and my fingers were itchin’ to get them in the ground. So I did.
I bought 4 big packs of these baby onions, and pooped out after planting 3 packs. I know. I’m a wimp. But I was afraid I would run out of room for anything in the garden besides onions.
Those are the asparagus pits. You don’t finish filling them up with dirt until the asparagus starts growing.
This is the hole I noticed when I first went out. When I was digging, I looked up, and saw a ground hog filling up that entire opening. I swear. I sprinted for my camera, but the ground hog showed himself no more.
My little goldfinches chirped away as they gorged themselves on black sunflower seed. Remember when their feathers were dull? See this. They’re ready for courtin’ now.
I finished up as much as I was able, then headed inside for a change of scenery. Later in the afternoon, it started raining on my freshly planted garden.
So delicious.
I’m aware that some people are under a foot and a half of snow today. But we’re not. And I’m thankful.
March 23, 2009 at 2:19 am (Grow)
No, our pets didn’t die. These markers are to warn pedestrians not to walk over my newly planted lettuce and spinach seeds. Not exactly Martha Stewart-inspired markers, I realize. She would have cute little tiles naming the seeds’ names and birthdays. I don’t need it to be cute. I just need to get it done.
I planted a week late this year, as March 15th is usually the target date. But hauling wood has been a higher priority this week. Lettuce, onions, radishes, and a few other things are “cold” crops, which can withstand quite chilly weather, including freezes, in the spring. I haven’t bought onion sets yet, but they are next. Nothing else gets planted until the beginning of May.
Yes, these are two VERY LONG ROWS. While I was planting my 8 packets of seed, I was wondering when I would just plant enough for myself. But the truth is, I love to share. I can’t keep a good thing like fresh lettuce to myself. It makes store lettuce taste like alfalfa. In 48 days, look me up if you want a really nice salad.
That is, if you like salad. Rebecca walked up to me while I was planting and looked at the packets. “Oh, no,” she said, as she dejectedly walked away. She has visions of eating lettuce for every meal. And she is right.
Pitter-patter
March 23, 2009 at 1:41 am (Grow)
My elm tree makes my heart go pitter-patter, especially in the spring. Maybe it is because elm trees are so rare, since many were killed off years ago by Dutch Elm disease. Maybe it is because it used to be hidden behind other unsightly things in our backyard, and we discovered it after building our addition. Maybe it is the red fuzzy things that appear before it leafs out. Pitter. Patter.
If I were a poet, it would definitely inspire lovely verses. But I don’t mind just being a layman, enjoying God’s beautiful gifts, even if I can’t put them into words.
Patiently waiting
March 10, 2009 at 3:54 am (Grow)
Waiting for spring reminds me of this passage:
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:22-25
Winter can be so barren. Not the sparkly, fresh-snow winter, but the brown, dead grass; the gray, heavy sky. Sigh. Today I went to check on spring. I have a pretty good report. When the weather turns inhospitable this week, keep reminding yourself of the following evidence that winter is losing its sting:
Crocus. Always the front runner in the race for spring.
Daffodils. Don’t they look like little green fishy lips pushing up out of the water? Maybe, just a little?
A cotoneaster bush is ready to blossom. I can’t remember seeing these little red dealie bobbers before, but I was immediately taken with them.
My sweet, mangled peach tree has made it another year, defying its split trunk with swelling buds.
So there you have it. Just as we groan for not only this season to be over, we groan for our True Spring, when we will defy our fallen flesh, and be brand new creations.
A break from winter’s gloom
March 7, 2009 at 3:23 pm (Grow)
My Paper White Narcissus bloomed only 2 weeks after I started it. “Starting” it entailed putting rocks into a little jar, setting the bulb on top of the rocks, and filling the jar up with water up to the bottom of the bulb. This would be the epitome of little effort=big results.
The flower is in a high-traffic area, and sets a smile on the face of all who pass. Ashley suggested 4 such bulbs in the window next winter. I thought it would be nice to start several at different intervals, so you would have at least one blooming for several months (as of now, the bloom has lasted 2-3 weeks). If you share this sentiment, go to Campbell’s next winter, and buy yourself some bulbs. I think this one was 1/2 price, for 79 cents. 
