Life on the Home Front: Week 8 and 9

The last two weeks have been full: the weather is feeling warmer, leaves are on the trees, school is nearing its end. 

David had a Zoom recital for cello! So painless for the parents -- no place to drive and show up on time and it only took 15 minutes to get through all the students! We are thankful for our cello teacher and David's weekly lessons!

Leaves on trees make a huge difference. The world feels completely different. I love trees. They make me so very happy.

We've even managed to start eating outside when the weather is warm and dry enough!

A glimpse into a weekend moment: Laura relaxing on the couch with some strawberry-rhubarb pie.

I am getting the gardening work done a little at a time. Already the garden is farther along than when I took this photo. I'm excited for June when the flowers are at some of their best!

Our local Red-shouldered Hawk nest -- I love taking a walk and checking on things. If the hawk is not in the nest, he is sitting on a nearby tree keeping watch!

Flowers are a huge part of my life right now. The week of Mother's Day I worked four full days at the flower shop. The demand was so great, even with three people working, we had to turn people away.

Working with flowers makes me so happy and towards the end of the week I start getting excited for Monday to be back with them.

The Mother's Day flowers were so very, very beautiful!

We have a number of dedicated tea drinkers in our house and poor Michael now has to share his pot with the diligent students who share his study.

One of the most refreshing things I did in the past two weeks was to take time to watch The Sound of Music with Laura while I sewed. I did this the day after the week in the flower shop and singing along with all the music filled my heart with joy. Laura loved it too!

Another thing that brought me so much joy and happiness these last two weeks was re-reading Susan Branch's two "fictional" books about her becoming an artist. LOVED them all over again and for those days I was imagining myself holed up in her cottage on Martha's Vineyard.

I'm moving forward on art ideas -- and art workshop ideas! Those on my newsletter list will be the first to know my ideas for the fall (sign up in the side-bar if you aren't already).

With church being online we had time and energy for Mother's Day breakfast this year. A special treat.

Somehow it is Saturday again and I am working on planning out my week, chores, gardening, and moving furniture around to better suit our family's needs. Laura is getting her own room in the loft for the summer. It's so cute I want it too!

And how cute is this mole? Every year we have a high school junior in the house we get an adorable mole project for that person to do (I don't remember which class assigns this). James' turn this year and we have a Samurai mole.

And now it's time to go find some lunch and transition to other chores. Have a good weekend!

New York City #1

I've just returned from another trip to New York City! Every time I go I am amazed and grateful for the opportunity. I'm also discovering how fun it is to return again and again to the same place and the sort of relaxation that comes with not needing to see everything or do everything in one trip!

This trip I had the delightful experience of meeting in person someone who has been an online friend of mine for several years -- Elizabeth over at Roosje: {little rose}.  It was fun to actually talk in person about everything that we have in common: our faith, our love of tea, and our love of good literature! 

Our first stop was Harney & Sons (the tea store). They had so many teas for sale it was hard to have a look at all of them! 

I'm sure many of you recognize these distinctive tins. Of course it would have been fun to bring home a whole shelf worth of tea! 

Since we had some time to kill before our tea lunch reservation we decided to try out some of Harney&Son's tea. I tried the decaf Darjeeling. It was all right, but not impressive enough for me to buy it. I think drinking tea without milk makes me very sensitive to the steeping times of tea and the resulting over-abundance of tannins if the tea has steeped too long.

We hurried ourselves away from Harney&Sons in time to make it to our reservation at The Crosby Street Hotel. The hotel was full of light and lots of wool-based decor! You can see lots more pictures on Elizabeth's blog.

And now for our lunch! Just look at this gluten-free spread we were served up! Gluten free scones, chickpea "fries", the most delicious curried chicken salad on fried rice paper (what a perfect idea!), smoked salmon on gluten free bread, quinoa bread with eggplant spread, macarons, chocolate cashew "cheese"cake, almond tea cake, and pistachio pastry. We were both impressed with the beauty and originality of this gluten free selection. I just noticed on the Crosby Hotel website that you can now order a "Detox Tea" from them which will include an amazing assortment of food that is gluten, dairy, egg, and refined sugar free! That is unbelievable!

Elizabeth chose a gorgeous flowering green tea and I chose to have the second flush Muscatel Darjeeling. Delightful!!!

We were both amused by this collection of pictures of Queen Elizabeth.

Here's a little glimpse of the interior of the room where we took our tea.

 The hours went by all too quickly! We both lamented that in person meetings like this could not take place more frequently. We left in time to make a quick stop at Purl Soho, a mutual favorite.

Inside the walls are lined with luxury yarns and luxury fabric! Both fun to look at and "pet".

I loved this colorful display of knitted swatches and scarves.

And the Liberty of London fabric -- there is something about Liberty that calls out to me.

And the blue palette:

Oh and the little fat quarters! Each one more beautiful than the last! Elizabeth suggested making a quilt that would be mainly white fabric with touches of Liberty thrown in. A very good idea.....someday!

Aha, this picture shows one such quilt idea! And it also shows the Purl Soho Pup that I've made so many of! Fun to see an original in person.

It was hard to dash away and say goodbye but I needed to be up at Christy's in time to babysit little Nathan who is cuter with every picture and who took to me immediately for which I was very happy!  

And so my latest New York adventure was off to a wonderful start. Next we will visit the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and the incredible tree peonies!

Words and Wool

It's high time for another post about knitting, sewing, and reading.

I finally finished my Ramona Cardigan which I started in January and had nearly finished by Valentine's Day. I got within 7 rows of finishing when my hands and arms took a fit and refused any more. Many thanks to my sister for finishing the cardigan for me (including complementary blocking!!). Next up was where to find buttons. I refuse to spend money I don't have on buttons. It took me over a month but when we were in NC my aunt took me to several thrift stores and I found a sweater with the 7 required buttons for only $2. Yay! Now that our weather has taken a downturn and is frosting and snowing I can put my new cardigan to good use!

It took three weeks for my hands and arms to return to normal after that last weekend of knitting. It seems that any repetitive motion is causing joint pain and carpal tunnel like pain. I had hoped to avoid these problems until I was in my 80's!!! Ten or fifteen minutes every day or every few days may be all that I can manage on knitting or crochet. This has certainly thrown a small wrench in my idea of creative enjoyment.  I am still thinking through what this means and how I can change my creative outlets. It's funny that I have specifically prayed recently for God to lead me in which areas of creative expression I should pursue more in depth. It seems that perhaps this may be a way of showing me that handwork may not be the area!

I stitched up these lavender sachets for the shower I helped host in March. I used vintage sheets, vintage trim, and recycled linen which had all been thrifted.

And I managed to get Mr. Basil Fox sewn together as a baby gift. I love these animals from Posy Gets Cozy.

And I managed to finish the owl bunting for the shower as well. It was so cute! I used Bunny Mummy's free pattern and then just crocheted the owls together.

Two of the boys got time with me to sew things in the past month or so. David is all about foxes and we found this pattern on Etsy to make this pillow. We all love it!

Fortunately, I had the pieces of this tea cozy made before my hands gave out. This went out the door to a friend.

James chose one of these Purl Soho Puppies and our twist was to use leather as the contrasting fabric. It was so cute!

Everyone was eager to make Lithuanian Easter eggs this year. It's now a tradition! Grandma joined us too.

So thankful for our friend Daiva who opens her home for this each year.

James made an intricately dyed dragon egg.

These were my eggs this year. I think I like the black one best.

I took a tea cozy to my aunt when we visited in North Carolina.

James came down the stairs this week with something to show me: his raccoon covered in raccoon armor! How cute is that??!!!

And I have finally pulled out my Jane Brocket inspired quilt and begun quilting it. I love the freedom of quilting these days -- using large DMC thread to quilt in long running stitches. Couldn't get over how my tea cozy matched the quilt!

I was at Rachel's school this week when I spotted this van and driver. Turns out this is one of the vehicles that brings all the umpteen books I request to my library each week. I think the driver thought I was a bit crazy with how profuse I was in my excitement about the library and how thankful I was for his work!!



As for reading, yes, there are a few books to catch up on here:

Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter. This was my first time to read anything by Gene Stratton-Porter (hard to believe!). She was a native of Indiana and wrote in the early part of the twentieth century. She wrote many novels incorporating nature into them in large doses. She also was heavily involved in nature conservation and education. She reminds me a bit of an Indiana version of Beatrix Potter. We all enjoyed this book set in Indiana's Limberlost forest about 100 years ago.

A Girl Of The Limberlost  by Gene Stratton-Porter is a lovely novel in which some of the characters from Freckles appear in the sidelines. It also takes place on the edge of the Limberlost and is the coming of age story of a girl (Elnora) neglected by her widowed mother. Elnora loves nature and collects rare moths. The novel tells how she puts herself through school and seeks to win her mother's affection.

  Applesauce Needs Sugar by Victoria Case was a lighthearted novel that almost seemed to be based on true facts (perhaps from the author's family). It takes place about 100 years ago mostly in the Canadian Northwest and tells of the rollicking everyday adventures of a very large family, the heroine being the mother and how she manages to care for her family.

Idol Lies by Dee Brestin was a very good and challenging book aimed specifically at women. It discusses the things in our lives that can so easily take away the affection that is mean for Christ, leading us into spiritual bondage and dysfunctional living.

Malice at the Palace: A Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen is an easy mystery set in London in the mid-1930's. It is told from the perspective of a "lesser royal" who happens to solve mysteries. I wish I had known at the beginning that many of the incidents and people in the story are based on real facts and persons.

Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace by Sarah McKenzie is a short but excellent book for homeschoolers on how to foster a sense of peace and rest in the midst of what is often crazy everyday life. Of even more help to me has been the author's podcast which is called Read Aloud Revival. I can't recommend it enough!

The Minute Boys of Bunker Hill (w/glossary) by Edward Stratemeyer. This is a sequel to the Minute Boys of Lexington involving the same characters and of course the Revolutionary War. This book involves the Battle of Bunker Hill and being a prisoner of war. Parts of the book (battles) were not as fast-paced and interesting as the first book but I think that's because the author was trying to put in a lot of true details from history. The children still enjoyed it!

My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life by Ruth Reichl was such a fun read that I ditched nearly all the other books I was in the middle of to read right through. The book is actually a cookbook but most of the recipes are ones I would never be interested in attempting. It's more the actual memoir that gripped me -- Reichl takes the reader through the sudden closing of Gourmet magazine and the difficult year in her own life that followed that.

Eating for England: The Delights and Eccentricities of the British at Table by Nigel Slater. I loved this book with its short little snippets about all kinds of British foods from scones, to puddings, to farmer's markets, to rock candy. Slater is probably my most favorite food writer. The only thing to beware is that he has no qualms about throwing in off-color comments here and there.

The Silent Traveller In Edinburgh by Chiang Yee was a brand new discovery for me! Yee was a political refugee in the UK in the early twentieth century and took up writing travel memoirs all over the UK. He also illustrated his works with his own Chinese painting renditions of these British scenes! Not only that, he writes like an Englishman but quotes all kinds of Chinese poets and writers! It's the strangest mix, which made it intriguing to me. It's a little slow for modern readers but a fun discovery.

The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming by Sally and Sarah Clarkson. I couldn't wait to dive into this book organized by the months of the year and full of tons of practical ideas on how to make a home atmosphere and develop a family culture. This book is full of lots and lots of ideas to use with one's own family! One thing to remember is that Sally and Sarah are giving you lots of ideas on what worked for their family and you need to consider what works for your family -- it may be different, but this may inspire you to new ideas.

Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds by Jen Wilkin. This is SUCH A GREAT BOOK! If anyone wants recommendations on Bible study and how to do it, this is where I will point them. It is a short, easy to read book that communicates why we need to do Bible study and how it can be done. This book and Tim Keller's book on Prayer would be my go-to for practical assistance on developing and growing one's relationship with God.

Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Estate Became an American Icon by Howard E Covington was the perfect thing to read in the days before we went to tour the Biltmore with my aunt and uncle. It tells the story of Biltmore's beginnings in 1895 up to the present -- how it passed through the family and how the family figured out how to make money in order to keep it up and running. If you are headed to Biltmore anytime soon you may find it worthwhile reading.

Phew! I think that is all for now!!! Hop over to Ginny's Yarn Along for more ideas on knitting and reading.

Please note this post contains affiliate links. Thanks for shopping on Amazon through my blog!