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“Every day look at a beautiful picture, read a beautiful poem, listen to some beautiful music, and if possible, say some reasonable thing.”
Goethe
Join us in Quotable Sunday! Leave your name/link here and next Sunday you’ll be added to the list!
For more Quotable Sunday visit:
Five years ago on this day you married me and everything changed, forever.
Love you.
xo, K
Because mermaids eat crab
And wear mermaid dresses (I didn’t have the book, but really wanted to make the Flower Girl dress from Weekend Sewing- I think it turned out great! I hand-finished the inside bodice (it’s lined), used french seams on the skirt, and hand-rolled the hem- next time I’ll widen the armscye I think)
They go clamming
And find treasures on the beach
Sometimes they hide along the water’s edge, in the seagrasses
And they definitely eat cupcakes
Especially if they are turning four years old
And then it’s back to the farm.
Sorry I missed Quotable Sunday over the holiday weekend- we were at the coast celebrating, and then had someone’s birthday yesterday. Join me this Sunday for more quotable fun.
Hello, I am here to distract you from the fact that I have no chocolate photographs to show you. Because the chocolate was a big melty mess that I am going to try again tomorrow night. It’s not as easy as it looks. Maybe I needed to do larger molds, like she did? Or maybe I should have tried to temper the chocolate? I don’t know. Anyway, tonight I worked on Bunny’s dress instead, which is turning out really cute, even though I really wanted to make the Flower Girl dress but didn’t have the book. I am totally winging it, and it’s a surprise so of course I can’t try it on her, but it’s still going good. Really! I hope.
So! Instead! I have other things to show you. Like photos of our little mini-field trip today.
Just fifteen or twenty minutes away lies Wings of Wonder, which I had never before heard of, even though it’s apparently been there for seven or eight years or something.
It. Was. So. Cool.
Can you see them in there?
Or maybe this is a better view?
So amazing. It was like a fairyland in there. It was HOT, and the butterflies were just everywhere, languidly flapping their wings and floating around. Beautiful. Kinda made my camera wonky with all the humidity, but what a lovely experience.
Then, since we were so close by, we rode the river ferry.
Except for that when we said “ferry”, the girls thought “fairy”.
And riding on a ferry when you were expecting a fairy? It just isn’t as much fun.
It’s coming up!
Last minute present bought from Elsie Marley (photo credits belong to Meg of Elsie Marley):
I couldn’t resist. Bunny’s favorite color is blue, and you know how she loves horses.
Of course, now I’m feeling all sad that Birdie isn’t getting one, which may necessitate another Elsie Marley purchase.
I still need to make her dress. Am debating between Weekend Sewing-style or easy-peasy shirred elastic style. I think in the end it will come down to what I have time for, which isn’t much, since we’re leaving for the coast on Friday morning, and plan to celebrate on Saturday. Which means everything needs to be done by Thursday night.
Chocolate needs to be molded, too. How about I show you that tomorrow? Good motivation to get it done now, rather than later.
Every year we go over to my parents’ home to photograph the blooming of the wild delphinium. It’s in the woodland where my husband and I were married, and they always hit their peak just before our anniversary, making me all sentimental and mushy.
This year we’ll be celebrating our 5th anniversary.
It doesn’t sound like long, but it feels like we’ve been together forever. In a good way. A very good way.
In five years we’ve lived in four houses,
had three children,
two cats,
and one extremely happy marriage.
“Flowers are the living food of the spirit; they are the symbol of life itself.”
Charles Masson
“The great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world.”
John Burroughs
Join me in Quotable Sundays with your own photo and quote- leave your name/link here and next Sunday I’ll add you to the list!
Okay- first, I want to thank you for your outpouring of kindness and support on my last post. I haven’t gotten back to all of you yet, but I just wanted to say- you moved me to tears, to laughter, and most of all, to wish that everyone had such amazing women in their life. What an incredible group you are!
Second, I want you to know that as soon as I wrote that post, and reading all the comments that came in after it, I felt overwhelmingly better. I’ve been floating on a cloud ever since. I’ve been able to handle less-than-perfect circumstances with grace and joy, and I’ve been able to see the good side of everything, these days. Do you see the gift you’ve given me?
Third, I want to share with you the supremely fun day we had today:
Walking around after our weekly Farmers’ Market trip.
Playing in the fountain on the waterfront.
Then, a local farm that had loads of animals for the children to play with- they were so thrilled, as they plan to be farmers when they grow up (and Bunny, of course, is going to be a cowgirl, too).
They really loved these very friendly Muscovy ducks. I was sort of surprised, but they were so, so sweet. Hmmm…duck egg omelets, anyone?
Alpacas are SO soft, especially baby ones.
Sweet lamby love.
Isn’t that cow cute? We also picked up some raw milk while we were there- so wonderful that we can get it so close! I can only hope your Saturday was as glorious as ours.
(I’m trying out the mosaic maker to condense these posts a little bit, but when I make them into mosaics, the quality and color of the photos just isn’t as good- does anyone else have this problem? Or does anyone care if I just post the big photos I regularly do instead?)
See you tomorrow for Quotable Sunday- just a photo and a quote. Please stop by and leave your link tomorrow if you want to play along!
“The one essential thing is that we strive to have light in ourselves. Our strivings will be recognized by others and when people have light in themselves it will shine out from them.”
Albert Schweitzer
I haven’t felt very shiny this week. We reached the six week mark with Bee on Saturday, and I have this feeling that everything is now supposed to be “back to normal”, that I am supposed to be navigating with grace and aplomb this new life with three little people, and I’m not. I am tired and out of sorts. I yell at my babes (wince). The house is a shambles, there is a mountain of laundry, and I can barely eke out those three meals a day. I hesitate to mention all of this here, because this is my happy place, and I like to focus on the happy, the beautiful, the joy. However- as you must know, especially on those beautiful, happy, joyful blogs, that is not the whole story, the whole truth. It’s not the complete picture of how people really live.
There is always such an outpouring of love and assistance at the beginning, after you’ve had a baby. Everyone wants to bring food and do your laundry and take care of the kids. You let a lot of things go, overlook many little struggles, because you know that you are all adjusting, and that’s ok. You give yourself a little extra leeway because you are recovering- physically, emotionally. And then you have your six-week postpartum visit and say goodbye to your midwife. Everyone else around you goes back to their own lives, their own routines. Then the mama is left to pick up the pieces, pick herself up, and try to go forward.
Initially I tried to reclaim our carefully cultivated rhythm that we had before- before we even got pregnant with Bee. I quickly realized that this was not only impossible, but unrealistic. We have our Bee now, and I couldn’t imagine things any other way. She is so full of love and snuggles and sweetness and has brought so much to our family! Our new routine must enfold her, as well. My big girls have grown and changed, too. They are not the same people that they were almost a year ago. They aren’t even the same people they were a month ago! Life goes so fast with little ones.
And so it’s begun. The dance of watching, observing, learning, waiting, thinking, planning, trying. The dance of self, others, time, space. The mundane yet beautiful dance of cooking, cleaning, washing, maintaining. Mostly, the dance of striving, failing, striving, succeeding, striving, always striving, to cultivate that light inside so I can give light to others.
How do you do it? How do you cultivate your light?
“Paint the walls of your mind with many beautiful pictures.”
William Lyon Phelps
(I still want to do quotes/photos- I’m thinking about making it a Sundays thing. Are you with me?)
Did you know that this is Children’s Book Week?
There are plenty of awful books for children out there, but instead of ranting about that, why don’t we focus on the positive? I’ve mentioned some favorites here before, but thought I’d add ten more of our favorite books/authors, just for fun. In no particular order:
1. The Angus books, by Marjorie Flack
We love Marjorie Flack, and the Angus series of books particularly. The books are beautifully illustrated, some pages in black and white, some pages in this simplified colorblocking, and the stories are filled with child-size drama, like what lies beyond the big green hedge. The other books in this series include Angus Gets Lost and Angus and the Cat. Angus is our most beloved dog! The books themselves are a little hard to find, but worth it. Your library probably has copies.
2. Jamberry, by Bruce Degen
I am not even quite sure why this one has endured as a family favorite. It’s a little, sort of nonsensical, rhyming book about berries that could be used to make jam, like blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc. I think our love of it surprises me only because the adults love reading it as much as the little ones do. It’s catchy and fun, even the one thousandth time. And as this one is Birdie’s favorite, we’ve definitely read it at least that many times.
3. Little Fur Family, by Margaret Wise Brown
Margaret Wise Brown (also the author of the ubiquitous Goodnight Moon) is just generally a safe bet, but this one is hands-down our favorite. We actually have the board book version of this, which looks different, but I think we are nearly ready to graduate to this version, which is very tiny and covered in fur, just like the little fur family. We’ve read this so many times that I can recite it out loud (actually, this is very handy for car rides): “There was a little fur family, warm as toast, smaller than most, and they lived in a warm wooden tree…” Her cadence in this book is so soothing and beautiful, you just want to be a part of this little fur family, too.
4. The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats
I have to be honest. I don’t really like most of Ezra Jack Keats’ books. Please don’t stone me. But this one- oh, this is one of those that I could read every day. The story is simple, but full of the events that a child remembers- making tracks in the snow, making snow angels, wanting to be a part of the snowball fight but knowing that you’re not old enough- yet. My favorite part: “He told his mother all about his adventures while she took off his wet socks. / And he thought and thought and thought about them.” Bunny’s favorite part: “Down fell the snow- plop! On top of Peter’s head.”
5. A Hole is to Dig, by Ruth Krauss
Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak did several books together, including this one, A Hole is to Dig, which is honest, frank, and funny. It determines such things as what buttons are for (to keep people warm), what eyebrows are for (to go over your eyes), what hands are for (to make things- my favorite!).
6. Children’s books by Lois Lenski
Before I had children I mostly knew Lois Lenski as a writer of books for young adults, but she has written so many lovely books for young children as well. Cowboy Small is Bunny’s favorite (as she intends to be a cowgirl when she grows up), and they are fun for adults to read as well as for children to hear. Other don’t miss books: The Little Train, easily the best young children’s book about trains, The Little Fire Engine, Spring is Here, Policeman Small- I could go on. None of her children’s books have disappointed me.
7. Season books by Gerda Muller
If you are a Waldorf mom, you already know about these books of the seasons by Gerda Muller, wordless wonders that depict the seasons each in their turn. We have looked at these books every day, without fail, since Bunny was small, and there is always something interesting to be found in them. The illustrations are full without being overwhelming, sweet without being cloying, and the girls love looking at them by themselves and with a grownup equally well. Autumn just happens to be my favorite because it’s my personally favorite season, but all of these books are really wonderful.
8. Books by Tasha Tudor
I probably should have used the picture of Pumpkin Moonshine instead of One is One, because Pumpkin Moonshine is the girls’ favorite (much giggling over the fat runaway pumpkin that sends an old man on his bottom, and shivering with delight over the scary pumpkin moonshine). The real strength of Tasha’s books is the illustrations, which are singular in their loving depiction of children at their plumpest and sweetest and nature at her most beautiful. Which is not to say the stories are lacking, for they are equally as delightful.
9. Sandra Boynton books
I was prepared not to like these books. I don’t know why. Did she do illustrations for a card company in the 80s? Something? I don’t know. There was some sort of association that kept me from picking these up for a long time. My husband was the one who brought home our first Boynton book, all about belly buttons, and I was only a couple pages in before falling in love. These are the kind of books you chant at random because the cadence is so singsongy and fun- “Oooooh, belly button, you’re oh so fine- oooh, belly button I’m so happy you’re mine!” Again, none of her books have disappointed; they all have the same elements of fun, nonsense, and upbeat rhythm.
10. A Tree is Nice, by Janice May Udry
A tree really is nice, isn’t it? This book reminds us of all the reasons why, and ends with an injunction to plant a tree of your own, all without sounding preachy, truly a feat (given all of the preachy environmental books for children I’ve seen out there). It’s a children’s book in the best sense of the word, in that it takes the child’s view of the beauty and usefulness of the natural world.
I’m so glad there is a whole week to celebrate children’s books- it should be a whole month!
Please, take a moment to share- what’s your family’s favorite children’s book?
