Our house when it was still a school. At least we think that's the case. There isn't much different about our current house. Makes us realize why the windows are so drafty--they're 70 years old. We saw this photo on a little placard at the local elementary school as part of a display of schools in the area. This year another elementary school is being combined with the first and they took down the photo. We were gutted as we'd not thought to take a picture of the photo. (We meet for church in the school.) What a gift to hear my Mom casually say that she'd taken a picture of it. We don't have the fence around the property or the bell in the tower although the tower is still there and one or two metal fence posts got left behind. The great big maple behind the house is actually two maples. One is left to us, the second having fallen down the day before we took possession.

It's fun to look at this piece of history. Odd though to realize the connection we have with what feels completely disconnected from us.


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We've been watching a monarch egg grow into a caterpillar, feeding it leaves to keep it growing. As we kept our eye on it we knew to watch for the J shape thanks to this beautiful post. So when I saw the J yesterday I got very excited. It changed overnight so we missed the whole transformation. But what a beautiful thing all wrapped up in green. I'm happy to continue watching the changes that will take place and look forward to the results.

Perhaps I'm just too busy.

In truth, this summer has been full. We have spent hours at the Lions Pool while the kidlets swam length after length for the swim team or learned new skills during lessons. They were so tired out from those activities that we rarely used our family pass for open swims. Since July started we have done little else in fact. While I watched the swimming from my lawn chair on the hill under the one shade tree I was able to visit with other moms also crammed in under the one shade tree. It's been a hot summer. Last year I had the same routine except that I remember it being peaceful and here's why: it was a cool summer last year and I did not sit under the one shade tree but down the hill a little on a blanket so as to be in the little bit of sun that there was. However, the moms (none of whom I knew) preferred to sit on the flat in their chairs at the top of the hill. I got lots of reading done last year. It was lovely. This year has been lovely in a different way. I know many of the moms and have been able to visit and strengthen relationships.

But I think the real reason for not posting much is that the routine has been so very different from school time. I have not wanted to spend as much time at a computer. The rhythm has been different. Now swimming is finished and for the next two weeks until school starts we will take a breather from the programmed while I continue to prepare for teaching.

Is busyness bad? I don't think it has to be. When it is a type of fullness and richness instead of overwhelming. When all the extra space is pushed out and I am squeezed to the edges--that is unhealthy. That is what I try to avoid. Sometimes I am successful and sometimes less so for a season. There is just so much out there that I want to enjoy...

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A thought for today

"One of my correspondents asked where one is to draw the line...I am unsure where the line ought to be drawn, or how to draw it. But it is an intelligent question, worth losing some sleep over....

...if we are ever again to have a world fit and pleasant for little children, we are surely going to have to draw the line where it is not easily drawn. We are going to have to learn to give up things that we have learned (in only a few years, after all) to "need." I am not an optimist; I am afraid that I won't live long enough to escape my bondage to the machines. Nevertheless, on every day left to me I will search my mind and circumstances for the means of escape. And I am not without hope. I knew a man who, in the age of chainsaws, went right on cutting his wood with a handsaw and an axe. He was a healthier and a saner man than I am . I shall let his memory trouble my thoughts."

~Wendell Berry

Comments?

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Picking Potatoes from the Pumpkin Patch

First tomatoes

Fresh picked squash blossoms. I have known that they are edible and as far as I can tell these are prime candidates for cooking. Since nobody else is home for me to offend I decide it's a good night to indulge my sense of adventure.

I looked up cooking options in my cookbooks of which I have a large selection. Stuff. Deep fry (tempura?) or sautee. Sauteeing seems easiest but I suspect that the tempura method would taste nicer. Stuffing I don't even consider.

I find a recipe for tempura. Decide that it's a large recipe for five blossoms even if I did halve or quarter it. And besides there's the oil to heat up and the amount of oil used doesn't change for five blossoms or fifty. Sautee it is.

Here they are sauteeing. Olive oil.

I made a soy/ginger sauce. Eating this was an enjoyable experience. The small one tasted best. It was eaten before I took the picture since it cooked fastest. As soon as they hit the plate they flattened and I immediately saw the benefits of stuffing. There are more growing in the garden. I could sample pumpkin and squash of various kinds. But I'm really not sure there's much point. Perhaps for a special meal where I want to impress. But I try not to do those kinds of meals anymore--the try to impress kind. I'd rather have friends who just enjoy getting together. Even if our meals end up impressive at times, I'd rather that not be the focus.

(Why is this next picture off to the side? Sorry.)

I followed up my "meal" with dessert: mango fried in butter, sprinkled with salt and drizzled with maple syrup. A gorgeous way to finish. I would have added blueberries but I didn't get around to it. Besides, they would have stained the rich yellow colour.

This was a fun experiment. I've posted more photos at our nature site.