lacing up

It’s time.
It’s for a Start Over.  A Re-Do.  A Reset.
God has given me a little intel these past couple weeks.
He’s shown me that, after Him, my husband is to be my #1.  My go-to guy.  My friend.   And he is.
He’s reminded me that girl friends are also crucial to emotional well-being.  And they are.
Once again, I am reminded that every moment is a gift, and that my response to situations makes a difference.  And it does.
First there was.
And then there was no more.
With great sadness, there came great peace. 
And a chance to try again.
And so, I put on my lace-ups, and I head down our country road.
Seeking solitude, among other things.
Rethinking the choices I have made.  The “little” ones, mostly.
Lacing up my shoes seems small, but to me, it means
a second chance.  an opportunity.
let’s go…

(Bryan and MG riding/running this summer)

Antiquing, we two

Antiquing.

It’s a thing we do.  THE thing we do.

Since we first started dating 16 years ago, it’s been a thing we do.  We don’t indulge nearly as much, and the visits and shop hops are much less frequent (read: a couple times a year), but oh, how we love to go! 
In the mountains of NC, where we used to live, we spent Friday and Saturday evenings at The. Best. Spot on the planet: City Lights bookstore and café.  Our Saturdays were spent hiking and/or antiquing (or “junking.”  Guess is depend on how you want to look at it. lol) 

Now that we’re in VA, and have 4 children, our trips to antique stores are limited to when we go to our hometown in NC. 
And we ALWAYS go to the same one.

And we each have our favorite vendors. 

And we get to hold hands and sneak a kiss here and there and act like two people who are all kinds of in love, and can just be Bryan and Sally – husband and wife.

And friends, we NEED this time. 

All married couples NEED time to reconnect, and remember who we are, not as parents, but as friends, lovers, (yes, I went there!), goofballs. 

We can be US.

How do YOU reconnect with your husband?

(linking up at Women Living Well)

a light thought for the weekend

A #6 aluminum needle has been known to furnish an excellent emergency shearpin for an outboard motor. 
~Elizabeth Zimmerman

Ok, the picture doesn’t *exactly* fit the quote.
In my defense, I present you several items to consider:
1) it’s a knitting picture with an Elizabeth Zimmerman knitting quote
2) the knitter is Elizabeth Zimmerman
3) Elizabeth Zimmerman
4) It’s Elizabeth Zimmerman proving that she taught MacGyver everything he knows.

There.  I think about covers it :)
Happy weekend knitting!

Evening Family Devotion with Daddy

Observations:

Good heavens, I love this man.

Perhaps starting right before bedtime isn’t the best idea.

Or maybe it’s just the full moon.

No matter.  We need to work on the habit of Attention.

Daddy, HR and EK seem completely nonplussed by SA’s antics
(Does the training of Attention apply here, too?)

Where is the picture of MG starting the same acrobatics?

Heavens to Betsy, I love these children.
(who is Betsy, I wonder?)

Watching your husband of near 13 years read and talk about stories from the Bible is pretty darn awesome.

Dare I say that it makes the heart go pitter-patter all over the place?

 

~Family Devotion Time.~

It’s our current WIP :)

news flash: earthquake!

Did you feel it?
We are here in the western part of VA, and it was wild!
MG ran down stairs right as I began to feel it, and I honestly thought it was the washing machine acting up.  We did the wrong thing and went outside!  It was over before we got outside, but we were all extremely shaken.
As we stood there and I gathered my thoughts, the idea of an earthquake came to me, but I just thought that we don't get those.  Friends, I was thinking our house was crumbling, but could figure out no reason why such a thing would happen.  We have planes that come by, shaking the house on a regular basis, but this was more of a full-body shake! 
The FB feed started rolling in...  Is that bad I went to FB first?  You know, I had to see if I was losing my mind, and was comforted to know I wasn't :)

The United States Geological Survey says the earthquake

happened at 1:51 p.m. ET with an epicenter nine miles

south of Mineral, Virginia and had a depth of 1 km.
(NPR news article credit)

...epicenter in NOVA...felt up to New York...down to Georgia...5.9...some felt nothing...

credit

Thankful it's over, thankful for the mild experience (I think), thankful for the safety, thankful for such a powerful God, in whose palm I am resting. 

No matter what. 

Did you feel it?

In the Garden, mid-August

Our garden is down to some pepper plants and tomatoes.  We are planning cover crops and the fall garden – yay!

I had a picture of the garden space, but it’s pretty sad, so I’ll leave hidden away, hee hee!

Our very. first. RED. pepper.  SO EXCITING!!  We finally ate it tonight, and whoo whee, was it ever worth that wait! (and let me tell you, folks, the amount of patience I have could maybe fill a thimble)

Pigweed, I don’t like you.
Thorny Pigweed, I REALLY don’t like you.

   
Most of our 9 tomato plants ::  They look pitiful, don’t they?  I spent {mmhphphhph}hours pulling off darn near every bit of plant bit that had the infamous leaf mildew.  It was crazy.  I once feared that doing this would end up killing the plants, but I got several of them down to near-nakedness and as you can see from the picture on the right (look at the right-most plant), they pulled through.  The picture on the left is of 2 of the 5 plants in the Cage.  They ARE sorry, but are still producing for us :)  Any ideas on that mildew mess?

MG (resident herbalist, botanist, naturalist, geologist) has finally planted 3 of her varied packets of seeds: Rosemary, Thyme, and Parsley ~

  

I need help confirming these two guys. 

The left is a CRAZY mint-like invasive that has been in our “flower”bed in the front of the house.  This space only gets partial light, but that hasn’t yet stopped it from spreading all over the yard.  It has a hardy, square-ish stem, and smells sort of licorice-like.  It’s a deep purple, with immature leaves of green. 
Is this safe?  Edible?

Suspect #2 doesn’t alarm me in the least, but it’s all over the garden, and I want to make sure it’s ok, and most of all if it’s useful and edible.  I had this idea it’s lamb’s quarters.  The stem is ridged, if that helps at all.  The picture doesn’t exactly catch it, but the here is a lighter, almost “dusty” quality to some of the leaves.

How does your garden grow?

Linking up at Homestead Revival's Barn Hop this morning!

How to Make Lemonade

EK loves to plan parties, set up parties, dream of parties, attend parties--the whole bit.  She wanted to make lemonade and who am I to say no? 

That stuff is a party in a jar, I tell you! 
(Oh, I know why I usually say no – 1) it’s messy,  2) it’s messy, and 3) it’s messy.  At least up in here it is, :)  And then there is the issue of children wanting use *gasp* big knives.  I’m working on that.)

Once the plan was agreed upon, EK said I should put it on my blog!  YES, my sweet girl, yes! What you are getting is our first ever, family-orchestrated tutorial for how to make

LEMONADE!

I am not sure it’s really even a recipe.  It’s basically 1 cup of water, sugar and lemon juice.  You tweak it to make your taste buds happy!  I think this is a great first-timer’s tutorial!  (You will also find plenty of commentary, lol)  If you are a “just the facts” kinda gal, scroll way, way down to the bottom of the post and you’ll get the “recipe” for lemonade. 

Enjoy!

Lemons. 
We used nigh on a whole bag, I think 8 or so.

HR is demonstrating with great skill the introduction of 1 fluid cup of water to a pot. 

Followed by MG, who is introducing the cup of sugar to the cup of water AND the pot. 

EK then introduced the whole gang to a stove top and Mrs. PC Mix & Scraper.  (Fave PC tool, ever)

EK is just like her mama – she loves to mess.  Can’t keep her (or me) away from stirring and piddling.  She is keeping things moving and happy in there, just as a party should be – moving and happy!

Meanwhile, the lemons are being cut.  Notice on some of the lemons, I have used my trusty-rusty Pampered Chef Zester.  I almost always zest my lemons before cutting into them.  I then pop them in water, and freeze them.  It’s so easy to pop a block of frozen zest and add the thawed goodness for banana muffins, or whatnot.  Mmmm…

Oh, where was I?  Oh yes, kids, pictures, lemons and commentary…

Once all the lemons are cut, you SqUeeZe…

…SQUUUEEEEEZZZEE…

…squEEEEEEze…

and then squeeze again for good measure.

- - We now have the components of our lemonade!  - -

Let’s get this party in a jar started!

First, pour in the simple syrup into your pitcher (we used an empty half-gallon Mason jar).  Warning: The pot may still be very hot, so please be careful if you have little ones around!

Now, add your fresh-squeezed lemon juice.

Next, fill that sucker up with cold, cold, cold water (as HR always refers to water)! 

Put a just-woken toddler on your hip, a silly grin on your face, and stir!

If you have a daughter with the gift of hospitality and all-out party-planning fever, you will notice that your counter had cups set out and prepared looong before the sugar ever began to dissolve.  I happen to have one of those…

(I love this girl!)

Set lemonade in window for effect. Put the party in a jar lemonade in the fridge for a few hours until The Hospitality Princess can no longer wait for the party to begin!

What with all this talk of party, I think I should share with you the special little party that EK put together with two foci: the lemonade and MG.

makes my heart melt, it does.  you have to come back and see!

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

For the “recipe” that you can simply copy, minus all the pictures and silly commentary, look no further!

Party in a Jar, aka, Lemonade for a Party of 5

**Ingredients**

• 1 cuppa water
• 1 cuppa sugar
  (I know, “white death.” Usually, we’re good, but I kept it with the traditional, as that’s what I know.)
• bag o’ lemons—enough to get about 1 cup of lemon juice
• water
• patience and muscles

**Here’s whatcha do**

1. Combine the cuppa water and sugar in a pot and heat until dissolved.  Stir occasionally.
2. Cut lemons in half  Squeeze the life out of those guys.
3. Combine the syrup, juice in a pitcher, then add water to the top.  You may want to add ice cubes.
4. Refrigerate until nice and chilled. 
5. Add lemon slices, mint leaves, raspberries, whathaveyou for extra loveliness.

So from my children to you, enjoy the treat!

Joining in: 

 

~Simple Living Thursdays~

To all my lovely readers,

My apologies for being so silent in this space.  There is just so much going on here!  I can't wait to share it all with you, but it will be a little bit longer.  I have several reviews I need to get caught on, a giveaway, and WHOA!  We officially start playing school Labor Day! 

I really need to be tending to 500 other things, but I saw this on Raising Homemakers and wanted to make sure you knew all about it!  It's a whole bunch of great blog articles written by terrific women!
Have a wonderful day!

Guest Post: Nature Study and Artist Study: Georgia O'Keefe