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Firefly Chapter 2
1. When I was young, we lived next door to a very old, distinguished-looking, library and my father used to bring home a stack of books as tall as I was each week. Books to read aloud to me. Some of my fondest memories are of sitting curled up in my father's lap while he read all sorts of books to me.
2. My favorite flower is the lily-of-the-valley, but I am also quite fond of lilacs and hydrangeas. When I was growing up in New Hampshire, we had a large lilac bush that was heavenly. It was nearly as tall as our barn which it grew beside. Lily-of-the-valley grew wild in great patches in the shade of the woods.
3. I am in the middle of reading Northanger Abbey. I am taking an extraordinarily long time finishing this book for some reason. My daughter, Lily, has already finished it and is waiting impatiently for me to finish it, too. She doesn't want to give anything away. I need to hurry along with it because I have already committed to reading four other books before the end of January. I have also been contacted by a book publisher to review five more books on my blog. If I thought I needed something to get me back into reading, I certainly have it now.
4. I am actually looking forward to eating fish sticks, macaroni and cheese and green beans for supper tonight.
6. When I was Clara's age, my favorite thing to do during recess was to either finger knit or use a wooden spool with four nails in it that my grandmother made for me to knit long coils with. I also enjoyed playing with the kindergarteners on their playground. I always liked being around young children. The other girls would play soccer, but I was not much of an athlete. Interestingly enough, the girls played what was called "goal" soccer and the boys would play "base" soccer. "Goal" soccer was considered a "girls' game", but it is what we know of as traditional soccer today. "Base" soccer was similar to baseball except the boys used their foot instead of a bat and a soccer ball instead of a baseball.
7. When I was Lily's age, my best friend was "going steady" with a boy for the first time. I always felt as though he disliked me and wouldn't mind getting rid of me entirely. He probably wouldn't have.
8. I know haiku and I am not afraid to use it.
9. When I was little, I believed that the trees made the wind by pushing the air around with their branches.
10. One of the first words I ever read was on the back of a truck parked in a church parking lot next door to my house. (Yes, we had a library to the left of us and a church to the right). I was riding my tricycle around in the parking lot with my dad. The word was "Chevrolet". I told him, "Look! It says "chevrolet"!". Except I said it phonetically.
11. My husband is home! I must go prepare our fish stick feast!
12. My husband wants me to tell you I have beautiful eyes. Can you tell I am running out of ideas? I must be very boring.
13. Ask me something about myself so I have some good TT fodder for next week! (Yeah, I know that wasn't exactly enlightening, but I am running out of ideas.)
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From My Window
Morning, November 29, 2006
Turkey Time
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When the Frost Is on the Punkin
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,
And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens,
And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;
O, it's then's the times a feller is a-feelin' at his best,
With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes to feed the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here --
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees,
And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees;
But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock --
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,
And the raspin' of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn;
The stubble in the furries -- kindo' lonesome-like, but still
A-preachin' sermons to us of the barns they growed to fill;
The strawsack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;
The hosses in theyr stalls below -- the clover overhead! --
O, it sets my hart a-clickin' like the tickin' of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin, and the fodder's in the shock!
Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps
Is poured around the celler-floor in red and yeller heaps;
And your cider-makin's over, and your wimmern-folks is through
With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and saussage, too!
I don't know how to tell it -- but ef sich a thing could be
As the angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me --
I'd want to 'commodate 'em -- all the whole-indurin' flock --
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock!
James Whitcomb Riley
Count Your Blessings
1. The pretty pies my daughter, Clara, prepared from scratch.
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Cherry-Berry 
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Apple-Cranberry 
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2. The way my daughter, Lily, is so peacefully curled up on the sofa with her head on her father's shoulder.
3. How my husband remembers me even when he forgets my Dr. Pepper.
4. Hot tea and Pepperidge Farm Chessmen.
5. Our cozy home, my warm dress, and my sweater. (Can you tell I like being warm?)
6. The pre-cooked Thanksgiving dinner in my refrigerator.
7. That God has carried me through some of the saddest days of my life during this year.
8. How our home is crowded with good books. Some read, some unread as of yet, and some waiting to be read again.
9. For cranberry sauce with real cranberries and even for the jellied kind; because that's the kind that makes Lily happy.
10. The wooden plaque over the door in my living room that reminds me to
Psalm 46:10
11. The comfort a certain puppy has brought to my life.
12. The family God has given me. Both immediate and eternal.
13. The blessing of good health that my family enjoys.
Birthday Presents
My birthday was last week and I just thought I would share what my sweet girls gave me.
Name Them One By One
This week is the American Holiday, Thanksgiving! I know that there are several BFS Classmates from all over the world but I hope that you will join in our celebration of giving thanks.Our assignment this week is to blog about your plans for Thanksgiving Day.....share your day in any creative form. Please try to include family traditions, your menus, who carves your turkey, do you save the wishbone, the list could go on and on.
I was having a difficult time with this assignment because as a family we really don't have any Thanksgiving traditions to speak of. For years we used to get together with several other families in our congregation that didn't have any family nearby for Thanksgiving. We would all sign up to bring various traditional dishes and meet at the building to spend the day together. There doesn't seem to be as great a need for it, apparently, so we no longer do that.
I tried to think about the Thanksgiving traditions from my childhood, but they felt too painful to contemplate right now. My mother is dying from Alzheimer's and, since she was so central to our Thanksgiving traditions, it made me rather mournful to think about it all.
My mother was a very good cook and she planned far in advance. I, on the other hand, do not always enjoy my forays into the kitchen and have never really put together an entire Thanksgiving dinner on my own. This entire past week I could not think of one thing to say about how our family was going to go about celebrating Thanksgiving.
Thankfully, my beautiful girls stepped in with some wonderful ideas as to how we should celebrate the day. Clara, who has always enjoyed cooking, made a list and went to the store tonight with her father so that she could get up early tomorrow and start making pies. From scratch! She's picked out some rather interesting ones from our Southern Living cookbook. One is an apple-cranberry pie and the other is a cherry-berry pie. Lily, who is a wonderful romantic and is rather good at thinking of how things ought to be, has come up with some new traditions for our family. She has suggested that we play very many games and watch The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe together. Lily went to see the movie at the theater and we have had the DVD forever, it seems. We were all just waiting for a nice day for all of us to watch it together. Lily's ideas seemed most agreeable to all.
Now, my little secret. I have ordered a fully pre-cooked Thanksgiving dinner! Laugh if you must, but think of how much more time I will get to spend with my family. And for that I am very thankful.
Prairie Plush
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--Mrs. John Berry, settler, in a letter to a friend "back east"
The Equuschick's Alphabet Survey
Surveys, surveys, all over the internet. Who makes them, and why, and why can't The Equuschick, she wanted to know. She could not discover why, and therefore she decided she would entertain herself with such an activity.
Favourite Animals: Dogs and Banjos
Favourite Bad Habit (You know, that one that you like too much to even try to break. You like being addicted.): Napping
Favourite Cookie: Raspberry Coconut Tarts
Favourite Drink: Vanilla Malteds or Eggnog (non-alcoholic, of course)
Favourite Egg Style: Fried (I, too, like a good egg sandwich with cheese melted on top of the egg, lots of mayo, lettuce, salt, and pepper. Tomato is acceptable only if it is fresh from the garden.)
Five Favourite Fiction Books: How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Favourite Gadget: My camera, of course!
Favourite Hymn: Unto Thee, Oh Lord
Favourite Ice Cream: Rum Raisin or Eggnog
Favourite Jam: Raspberry
Favourite Kid's Books: Peter in Blueberry Land and other books by Elsa Beskow, The Root Children and other books by Sibylle Von Olfers, The Tomten books by Astrid Lindgren, the Flower Fairy books by Cicely Mary Barker, Tales from Grimm and More Tales from Grimm by Wanda Gag
Favourite Love Song: Tupelo Honey by Van Morrison
Favourite Memories: I have too many precious memories to just choose a couple of random ones. Memories are like precious stones that I like to turn over and over in my head. Some of them are more polished from time and constant handling and some are sharper and have clear facets. Some are so sharp they are almost too painful to handle and remain so no matter how much time seems to pass. Favorite memories aren't the same as memories of important events. The day I was baptized, the day my husband was baptized. The days my husband baptized each of our daughters. Those are important days. My wedding. The days I gave birth to my babies. These are all precious and important. My heart, however, is often drawn to the moments that weren't nearly as important in the grand scheme of things. The summers I spent with my grandmother. Playing in the yard as a child and smelling Thanksgiving dinner coming from my house. Sledding down the snow-covered drive with my mother's arms wrapped around me. Curled up on a snowy, winter day in New Hampshire, reading Little Women. That summer evening on the beach when my husband-to-be told me he wanted to take care of me for the rest of his life. Nursing my babies. These are the memories that I savor.
Favourite Nonfiction Books: The Bible (I really do not enjoy reading for information. There are very few non-fiction books that I would call favorites. There are some biographies and autobiographies that I have read over the years that I've enjoyed, but nothing I would call a favorite. I am very much an auditory learner and a pleasure reader.)
Favourite Operatic Song: When I have one, I will let you know.
Favourite Piece of Music at the moment: If by 'piece of music' you are implying that I am cultured enough to know how to play a musical instrument or even read music, I am afraid I will have to disappoint you. Well Tempered Clavier by M. Ward will have to make do.
Favourite Quiet Spot: I long for a quiet spot, but have yet to find one.
Favourite Reading when you're sick: I'm very blessed in that I don't often get sick. However, when I am sick enough to retire to my bed, I am not usually well enough to read. The one time I can think of that I was bed-ridden, I tended to reach for my Bible for comfort.
Favourite Song that you want played at your funeral (Obligatory weird question, sorry. It isn't a real survey if it doesn't have at least one very strange question.): I'll Fly Away
Favourite Task: Laundry. Albeit it's not the task it once was; I love taking dirty clothes and making them clean again.
Favourite Ugly Animal: The Platypus
Favourite Vintage Book:
Favourite Writing of C.S Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia
Favourite Word That Starts with X: Xylography
Favourite Yellow Wildflower: Japanese Honeysuckle
Favourite Zoo: The Smithsonian National Zoological Park
Frontier Girls
The girls and I went on a field trip this Tuesday to a "frontier settlement". Here are our thirteen pictures from the year 1725.
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1. Off to do chores! 
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2. Fetching Water 
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3. Hauling Wood 
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4. Home Sweet Home 
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5. Building a Pen 
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6. Pig Pen? 
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7. Playing Quoits 
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8. Bartering 
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9. Caught napping! 
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10. The Desk & Chamber Pot 
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11. Drying Flowers or Herbs 
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12. The "Kitchen" 
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13. The Fireplace 
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Overdue Books
If you are anything like me your stack of purchased to-be-read books is teetering over. So for this challenge we would be reading 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand and haven't read before. No going out and buying new books. No getting sidetracked by the lure of the holiday bookstore displays.The bonus would be that we would finally get to some of those titles (you know you picked them for a reason!) and we wouldn't be spending any extra money over the holidays.
I just read about this over at Bona Vita Rusticanda Est this weekend. Tim's Mom, in turn, had read about it over at Krakovianki. Thus I have decided to post about the From The Stacks Winter Reading Challenge myself. Here are the books I have chosen:
1. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
2. My Antonia by Willa Cather
3. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
4. The Beauty of Modesty: Cultivating Virtue in the Face of a Vulgar Culture by David J. Vaughan
5. Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America by Jeff Pollard
If anyone else decides to join in the fun, let me know. I'd love to see what others are reading!
Growth
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It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."
Elizabeth Stone
Someone Throw Me A Sword!
Currently in our world today, there is still of lot of persecution. I believe that most of us, blogging here, are enjoying our freedoms, to not only believe what we choose to believe but more importanty we can do it openly and without fear that we will be made a public disply and tortured. We can write our thoughts and feelings and even quote scriptures freely. We can go to a library and choose a book to read of our choice. I am very grateful to all those who have served or are currently serving in any military to protect these freedoms.This week's assignment is taking a deeper look into our spiritual lives and the warfare that we are individually facing. I'd like everyone to seriously think and then blog about a situation in your life where you know that the enemy is attacking you and challenging your spiritual growth. What area in your life are you feeling burdened or challenged? The purpose of the assignment is to use this as a tool to arm ourselves better for this battle not to make you uncomfortable. If this is too personal for you, share an area in your life that you have perservered in a spirtual battle or share your feelings on freedoms in general.
ARM YOURSELVES and take time this week to thank our past battles that have created and protected our freedoms that we enjoy today. Try to visit at least one fellow Blogger Classmate and leave a comment to encourage them in this battle.
When I first read this assignment, I thought immediately of my clever title. I had visions of light sabers in my head. Sadly enough, though, I couldn't remember what the sword in the armor of God referred to. I had to look it up online. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ouch. The word of God. My Bible is lying near the door where it was left when I came home from Wednesday night Bible class.
There are many spiritual battles that I am faced with each and every day. Is it any wonder I have been faltering? I may have my helmet on, but I certainly am not going to get anywhere without my sword. Just last night I was brought down by my own gluttony and greed.
I keep finding myself glaringly aware of my shortcomings and equally determined to work on these things in my life. Unfortunately, I am like a new cook without a cookbook. Except, of course, I do have a cookbook. I just keep thinking I can do it on my own. I am only too ashamed of the recipes I have come up with. Even more so of the results of putting those recipes into practice.
When did I decide I was so full of God's word that I didn't need it anymore? I know that you can hide His word in your heart, but I'm afraid I was not masterful enough to get the entire conversation into mine. He's still trying to talk to me and I am off trying to do it on my own. Babbling to myself.
I am going to commit this day to reading my Bible each and every day, searching out His will for me in His word. I am tired of stumbling around without the one thing that can stay me through the battle.
Firefly Chapter 1
1. My wardrobe used to consist of blue jeans and various shirts, sweaters and sweatshirts, but I started wearing dresses exclusively about two years ago. I feel more comfortable and more feminine since I have made the change in my wardrobe. When I was growing up, I went to a Catholic school and was required to wear a jumper-style uniform. When I had to attend public school, my mother had me wear dresses. I hated wearing pants. Now I am comfortable once again.
2. During the winter, I wear thick cotton tights with my dresses. I also dress in layers. I won't list any unmentionables, but suffice it to say there are very warm underthings available out there for layering. This actually keeps me warmer than wearing pants. And this is very good for someone who considers herself cold all the time.
3. I am five foot ten inches tall and wear a size twelve shoe. I also weigh twenty pounds more than I did when I got married. Yeah, I was too skinny back then.
4. I have been married for over eighteen years. My husband is very, very handsome and opens the car door for me. One of the things that attracted me to him was that he was probably the first man who knew how to say 'no' to me.
6. I have two good-hearted daughters. They are three years apart and are ordinarily very kind to one another which makes my heart glad. I always thought I would have many more children, but I am entirely content with the two God has blessed me with.
7. I am in my tenth year of homeschooling. And, yes, I am counting from kindergarten, when my eldest was five years old, and not from birth. You can refer to the 'home education' links in the right sidebar for some of the more useful things I have found. I truly feel, though, that you need very little "curriculum" to educate your child properly. I will go so far as to say you really needn't buy any prepared curriculum materials at all.
8. I love to collect old books. Really, really old books. I especially love old books illustrated with beautiful engravings. I like to use the engravings to create graphics for my blog. I just got a new book in the mail today. It is called The Young Folk's Book of The Heavens and was published in 1925. That doesn't make it too terribly old, but it is such an interesting book! Pluto wasn't even discovered yet! It wasn't discovered for another five years. Now we have decided it is not a real planet, after all, and have designated it as #134340, a minor planet. Did I tell you I love old books?
9. I'd like to say I am a photographer, but I merely take pictures.
10. When I was little, I thought I would grow up and be an artist or a writer. I also thought I wanted to work with children, be a veterinarian, and become a nun. I'm glad this life affords me the ability to be a little bit of everything I wanted to be when I was a child.
11. My favorite colors are green, purple, blue, and brown.
12. This coming Tuesday is my birthday!
13. And, finally, just in case you were curious, I am no longer Catholic. I was merely raised Catholic.
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Bereft
It is not an easy thing to lose your mother. Once, when I was three, I lost my mother in a grocery store. I remember looking at a row of canned food and then looking up for my mother and she was gone. She was there and then she was not. I can't tell you how I felt at that moment because there are no words adequate for the feeling a three-year-old has at the loss of her mother. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to get any easier with age.
For the past year or so now, I have felt that three-year-old curled up inside of me crying inconsolably, "I want my mommy." I do, too. I want my mommy. I want her so bad and I can't find her anymore. And, this time, she's not looking for me.
When I go to her house, I open her drawers and find things arranged just as she left them. Her neat, little address book tucked away in a drawer with her pens and pencils and envelopes. I read the entries in her address book written in the neatest handwriting you have ever seen. Some addresses or phone numbers carefully erased with new ones penciled in. I try to find the most recent changes. I realize what seems like yesterday was actually several years ago. My mother. Always so neat and organized. I feel like I am peering into a time capsule. Like I am being ricocheted back and forth in time. Just a few years in time, but seemingly a lifetime apart.
I run, crying out for my mother, but she is not there. She was just there a minute ago. I just looked away and she was gone. Somebody help me find my mother. I want my mother. I want her now. I run up and down the wide aisles and I can't find her anywhere. She is not rearranging her pantry. She is not busy decorating a wedding cake. She is not sitting quietly on the couch tatting. She's not sitting at the dining room table carefully writing a letter to an old friend. She's not out in the yard talking across the fence to a neighbor. She's not bringing the clothes in from out on the line or ironing shirts or watering her plants...
When I was five, I watched my mother leave me. I was the oldest of her four children and we all had pneumonia while my father was away on a business trip. When he came home, she told him that she couldn't take it anymore and she was leaving. And she left. I watched her from the kitchen window as she walked down the side street and away from our house. Away from me. I don't know where she went. I don't remember when she returned.
I'm looking out that same window now. I know where my mother is going. I know she won't be returning to me. I want to cry out and bang on the glass, but she is too far away now.
It is not an easy thing to lose your mother.
Autumn Walk
Gentian
SO all day long I followed through the fields
The voice of Autumn, calling from afar;
And now I thought: "Yon hazel thicket yields
A glimpse of her," and now: "These asters are
Sure sign that she of late has passed this way;
Lo! here the traces of her yellow car."
And once I looked and seemed to see her stand
Beneath a golden maple's black-drawn boughs;
But when I reached the place, naught but a band
Of crickets did perform their tuneful vows
To the soon fading grass, and through the leaves
The quiet sunlight, falling, blessed my brows.
Till, as the long rays lengthened from the west,
I came upon an altar of gray stone,
O'er which a creeper flung with pious zest
Her flickering flames. About that altar lone,
The crowding sumac burned with steady fire;
Before it, stately, stood a priestess; one
Who turned to me her melancholy eyes.
I saw her beauty, ripe with color's breath,
Yet veiled, as when on wood and hill there lies
A mist, a shadow, as of coming death.
And while I gazed she faded; swift I clutched
Her fringed cloak, which rent, my grasp beneath.
And she was gone. As fluttered to the ground
Its many fragments, I with sudden fears,
Stooped, vainly seeking them, when all around
The blue fringed gentian smiled up through my tears,
As one who knows his welcome will be warm,
Although sad news to his beloved he bears.
~Elizabeth Green Crane~
Window
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Thursday Thirteen Ed. #65
1. Banjo is our family's ten-month-old, Boston Terrier puppy. His official name is Sebastian's Blue Banjo. It kind of sounds like a Picasso painting doesn't it? Or maybe the name of some really cool, acoustic folk band's newest album. That's what I always thought, anyway.
2. Banjo has been raised on a combination of acoustic folk and classical music. Whenever we have to leave him at home, I try to leave some music on for him so he doesn't feel so lonesome. Personally, I think he prefers M. Ward
3. Banjo is a good napping dog. If I ever need a friend to curl up with and take a little nap, he is always glad to oblige me.
4. I always thought we would teach him really great dog tricks; but, although he knows quite a few, he finds them all quite demeaning as he is such a very bright person.
5. Banjo is well-read. We are currently reading Austen's Northanger Abbey together. He feels we are dawdling, though.
6. Banjo is well-travelled. Not only did he take an eight hour ride home with us when he was about eight weeks old, but he also accompanied me both to and from my parent's house this summer. They live about eight hours away, too. I think he likes riding in the car. As I said earlier, he's a good napping dog.
7. Banjo snores. I mean, he really, really snores. Fortunately, I like snoring. My husband has been at it a long time. I find it soothing.
8. When Banjo grows up, he wants to be a professional, dog toy tester. We have yet to find a toy that he cannot chew through. He actually started eating his crate, so we had to buy him a new one. This one seems a little tougher, but when I hear him trot back to his crate, I keep my ears open.
9. Amazingly enough, Banjo, for all his chewing, has never chewed on anything he wasn't supposed to. Well, except for his crate.
10. Banjo doesn't care if I spend the entire day in my pajamas because I am feeling blue. In fact, he seems to like me even better on those days.
11. Banjo currently has the hiccoughs. Hold your breath, boy!
12. Banjo's mother weighed twelve pounds. His father weighed twenty pounds. Right now Banjo weighs sixteen pounds. I wonder what he will weigh when he is fully grown. I think he is pretty much there, but we shall see.
13. If you don't have a Banjo, I don't suggest you run right out and find one. You might be more suited to a piccolo or, then again, you may find a grand piano or a bassoon is just the thing for you. Or you may find that you are not musically inclined whatsoever. And that is okay, too.
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