{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Amanda Soule

On Our [suburban] Homestead

Two front yard apple trees in blossom.

Newly planted strawberry patch.

Shelling peas finally starting to grow

Last year's kale made it through the cold winter

Recently transplanted berry patch likes its sunnier spot much better

Red romaine babies

New planted sunflower house taking hold

It has been a slow start this year but things are finally starting to happen in the garden.   I have lots of projects going on outside (my husband calls it crazy, I call it ambitious), but I simply can not contain my sheer joy at being outside on our little plot of land, laying down more roots.  There is something so soul-satisfying, so good and so right, about digging in the dirt.  After a day of working and playing in the garden, my back hurts, my arms hang nearly limp at my side, more dirt has worked itself into its permanent summer home under my nails, and my heart and my head are at peace and at rest.  Oh the good, good earth.

Yarn Along: 27 April

Joining Ginny again for the Yarn Along...

Oh my friends, it is finished!  The B.O.B. is done just in time for tank tops and shorts here in the Northeast (pictures coming soon as I am switching the buttons on it).  Never mind, though, I am pretty happy with this snugglely little package.  The blocking worked... a little too well.  It is quite large but I never wanted it to be form fitting.  A sweater of my own, I say, a sweater of my own.

While the sweater was blocking, I knit up some little chickens from Knitted Animals for three Easter baskets.  These look very homemade; I find them endearing, my kids do not. 

And on the reading front,  I have been bouncing from book to book, unable to contain my burgeoning interests in so many different things.  A few titles that are on my bed stand right now: The New Complete Guide to Beekeeping, Knitter's Almanac, A Charlotte Mason Education, and Pocketful of Pinecones.

Corner of My Home: Entryway

I have been meaning to post a Corner of My Home, and this post last week inspired me to finally do it.  

We moved into our current home in March of last year, having already done some (badly needed) work on the house and with a lot more to go.  While it will always be a work in progress over here, the bulk of it (removing the pool, redoing the kitchen, the floors) has been done.  Once the dust settled from the renovations, we were left with an only somewhat finished house and a lot (for us) of space to fill up.  

We had neither the budget nor the will to purchase furniture, hang up pictures, put down rugs, or do any of the other things that make a house feel like a home.  Slowly but surely over the course of the year, pictures are going up, rugs are going down, and vitality is seeping into our space.

The entryway, like most entryways, is a loading and unloading station.  We put on, we take off in this rectangular space.  The puzzle (for me) with the space was/ is that there is room for a little more, but not much.  My husband, who is better able to "see" a space, immediately envisioned a mini-work station for us: a place to store mail, keep our laptop, etc...: a pretty and practical place.

For many (many) months, the little bit was just in transition.  Our phone rested on the floor, along with our coats, our computer and lots of dust while I searched for the perfect bench for the spot.  Then, I gave in and boy am I glad that I did.  I do not spend much time actually sitting at the desk, but when I do, I love it.  

A Barbara Garrison print, my Nikki McClure calendar, my favorite photo from our wedding, my knitting needles, and other little bits and pieces make this a happy and harmonious little nook within our little house.

Nature Study Monday: Magnolia Tree

The later part of my childhood was spent in Texas, a perfect place for the Large Flowered Magnolia Tree, yet I do not remember them.  I am not sure how one can forget, or simply not notice, this exotically blossomed and stately tree, but somehow I managed.

Our magnolia trees are in blossom right now here in Northern New Jersey and they are a breathtaking sight.  For some reason, though, my heart nearly quickens when I come upon one; their blossoms are so fleeting and the very sight of them reminds me that they will be gone.

The history of the tree is an interesting one.  I assumed that they were all indigenous to Asia, but this is not the case.  Some of them come from the southern part of North America. Interestingly, they evolved to be pollinated heavily by beetles.

Magnolia trees do not blossom for very long here (a week or two?), but their petals look almost as lovely on the ground around the tree.  I simply love them.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Amanda Soule

They Arrived!

Meet Chickie, Monster, Doo, and Rocker, named by (respectively) our 5 year old daughter, our four year old son, our 21 month old, and my husband.

We are head over heels for our new friends.  They arrived in a cheeping box on Tuesday and we have been enamoured ever since.  Given our very young (and somewhat clumsy) hands, I am not as sure that they are as glad to meet us, though!

They are warming under a (very bright) heat lamp and cheeping away in my husband's basement office.  I did order a dark red light/heat bulb to replace the one we have because it seems entirely too bright.  I read that chicks may peck at each other less and sleep better with this type of light.  We will see...

Right now, we are just happy that we have four healthy new additions to our house.  I can barely contain my excitement about our adventures to come with dear Chickie, Monster, Doo and Rocker.

Yarn Along: 20 April

Joining Ginny again for the Yarn Along...

Much of the knitting and the reading happened on the go this week.  I have worked my way through the heel on sock #1 for my brother's Christmas socks.  I really love having a knitting-on-the-go bag.  For our recent trip to Ithaca, I didn't need to plan for a project at all--just grabbed my purse.  Socks are such a great portable project.  Each year I have made my brother's socks out of cotton or wool.  This year, trying to economize, I bought some Paton's sock yarn with a little bit of acrylic and I am just not liking the yarn.  Has anyone ever knit with this?  I do like the color--just not how it feels in my hands.

The B.O.B. is blocking as I write.  I am hoping that it will help ease some of kinks in the project.  It is slightly too short and slightly too narrow around the bust.  This is really the first ever proper blocking job that I have done so wish me luck.  Hopefully I will model it in all of its glory next week.

As for reading, I have ventured into very, VERY scary territory--Elizabeth Zimmerman--encouraged by many of you.  I plan to make a sweater for my husband this year using unraveled yarn from an unwearable sweater I made for him years ago.  With a little help from the queen of knitting, I am hoping this one will be more successful.  And, on the homeschool reading front, I am still reading Pocketful of Pinecones and Homeschooling: The Early Years (loving both of these very different books).

I can't wait to see what all of you have been up to this week!

Ithaca: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Our family headed to Upstate New York over the weekend while the outside of our house was being stripped and prepped for painting.  We had to leave and it was a good excuse to do some more exploring of the northeast in pursuit of our dreams of owning land.  Our last trip led us to Vermont; this trip we found ourselves in Ithaca, New York.

There is something about this little college town that has captured my imagination.  It is collegiate and grungy, pastoral and urban, crunchy and conservative, and has just enough variety to hold our attention.  What a place.  What a funny, quirky, scattered, together place.  I. love. it.

We took a driving tour of the Cornell campus, hiked the waterfalls, ate at the Moosewood Cafe.  It helped me edit and expand my dreams (do we want a family cow?! should we live by a lake?).

That's the good.  Now for the bad and the ugly.   My husband got a stomach bug, it rained half of the trip, our two oldest children each had a middle of the night tantrum that awoke the rest of the family (and kept us awake) on two separate nights.  No amount of bribing or threatening  (no pool time? no Milano cookies?) could help three sleep deprived kids (and two grumpy grown-ups acting like kids) keep their cool during the day.

But we made it home, only a little worse for the wear (I wonder for how long the words "hotel" and "car trip" will give me cold sweats).  We will venture out again, although when we do I hope the poor people staying next to us in the hotel do not recognize us.

Nature Study Monday: Fern

My family and I took a trip to Upstate New York this weekend.  On one of our walks, my son stopped to take a look at a fern, saying "Look Mama, a prehistoric plant."

I have no idea how he acquired that little piece of information, but it is true.  Ferns date back to the Cretaceous period.  Did you know that ferns do not come from seeds?  Somehow, I did not.  

They have neither seeds nor flowers, but instead reproduce via spores.  I am still not clear about how exactly that happens as I do not have the brain space to absorb it right now.  They do look lovely up against the slate that they grow around, though, that is  for sure!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Amanda Soule

Outside and In

The weather has been moody lately.  70 degrees one day, bitterly cold and rainy the next.  I am trying to have a store of both outside and inside ideas because we never know what we are going to get around here in April. A smattering of this and that, of outside and in, makes up our days these days.

outside

and in

Are you outside or in these days (or both)?

Yarn Along: 13 April

Joining Ginny again this week...

The reading and the knitting have been so so good this week.  Life has been full and busy and varied, yet there has been still so much of both.  I am not sure how that happened, and I likely will not be able to repeat it next week.

I finished the neck on the B.O.B. and have worked my way up the right side panel.  Once I finish the left one, I will add the buttons, graft the armholes, and don it (with sweat marks) in our now 70 degree weather.  Perfect.

Two big endeavors are coming to  close at the same time as I also just finished The Good Life.  Because our first homeschooling year is upon us, I decided it was time to start planning.  Based on your recommendations  (thank you!), I have reserved A Charlotte Mason Education at the library.  In the meantime, I have started Homeschooling: The Early Years (for some logistical help) and A Pocketful of Pinecones (to get an idea of what a Charlotte Mason education really looks like).  I really like both of them so far.

A Calming Kind of Quiet

Today my mind was swirling, and it was the kind of swirling that takes me off guard, that sneaks in, nearly blindfolds me, and leads me down a path that I know well, but when I am a-swirl (and blindfolded!), I don't know where I am going until I get there.  And then I don't know how to get back.  Except I do.  I found my way back today.

Oh that twistly, twirly ragged path that I get on sometimes--littered with insecurity, with self-doubt, with all kinds of ugliness.  If I just stop, take a look around, sniff the air, feel the ground beneath my feet, I can find my way back to my place of my own.  And no one even has to lead me there.

Nature Study Monday: Mourning Dove

This not-so-lovely bird has, to me, the loveliest and saddest of calls (hence the name, I suppose).  Their coos can be heard at any hour of the day around our house and each time one calls, our toddler looks about and asks, "S'tha, Mama, s'tha."  And then, upon hearing the bird named, says, "See?  See?"   It's call is one of the few this novice birder can recognize so I am happy to answer him.  The Mourning Dove's call sounds so much like an owl's that I assumed it was one for years.  A little less exotic but as beautiful still.

Mourning Doves nest in trees and are not timid nesting by humans.  In fact, my aunt has hosted a Mourning Dove's nest on top of an outdoor light for a year now.  We are anxious to see if they will return to their nesting site this year (as they sometimes do).

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  

Amanda Soule

Yarn Along: 6 April

Joining Ginny again this week...

Oh my, has it been a whole week since I last posted?  Nothing like the Yarn Along to pull me away from sick kids and sick visiting family and back to my blog.  Boy, that rotavirus is a doozy!

Through all of the sickness, I did not manage to get much knitting done.  I finished the last ball of yarn and there my sad little sweater has sat (while the weather warms up!).  I worked my way up the neck; I still have a couple more inches on that (which I shall start tonight with my newly scored skein of Rowan Cocoon).

On the reading front, I am (still) about to finish The Good Life.  I am baffled at the energy Helen and Scott Nearing must have had.  I find it hard to sit down myself, but these two?!  I believe Scott Nearing was 87 when he finished building a stone garden wall.  Oh~~~

On my lap this week has sat a very content little 20 month old as long as we are reading about or looking at or mimicking anything train.  So there you have it...