birthdays that mark time

Seriously! She's fourteen? I know it's cliché to wonder where that time has gone but it has zipped by so fast. I tried to heed those warnings from older moms. I tried to stop and enjoy them as babies, toddlers, little ones. I wanted to savour it all. But there were diapers to change, bellies to fill, tears to wipe and all the rest too. I have enjoyed these "golden years" as my three kidlets have been independent from me and yet not too much yet. They no longer need their noses wiping but sometimes still the tears. And now she's fourteen. I'm not ready to take the gold out of the days. Rather I'll buff it up nice and shiny. I watch her grow, see those thoughts starting to sound so adult-like. I see her learning to navigate the world with integrity. And I'm proud of her. So proud.

I've not been in picture-taking mode for months. Instead, imagine...

...the sound of remote control cars endlessly circling has been the background along with frequent refreshings of our new worship CDs. The kettle has nearly continuously refreshed the teapot with yet another new flavour to be poured into lovely pottery cups just big enough for my hand and small enough to necessitate a refill, again and again--it was the year for tea gifts!
*happy me*

With cold sunny light pouring in the windows and a cozy woodstove within arm's (or back's) reach we have felt little need to venture far. A few walks or runs for the brave, church and gatherings with friends. Christmas weekend has been a haven. Our hearts are full to overflowing with our blessings and we have been challenged to renew the keenness of our awareness of God and our ears to hear him through a more intimate and deliberate relationship with him.

As today leaves thoughts of Christmas behind and turns towards the new year, so my thoughts turn slowly and thoughtfully to the next year and the plans that already start to fill it. I have a window of planning time--a whole week to work at some of those ideas I'd put off till 'later'. Likely 'a whole week' will be not nearly enough time but I hope to not waste it. Yes, it's Christmas holidays and we have friends to visit and turkey to eat. Life's pace is more relaxed though no less full and my mind has time and space to roam and to return refreshed, hopefully with ideas blossoming into concrete plans. I hope as this year unfolds for myself to be gentler with my family, more dependant on God and thus productive in lasting, satisfying ways. Ways that may not be obviously lasting but by their very rightness will be satisfying.

Perhaps my words are leaning towards the philosophical and esoteric. My apologies for the confusion since I am hinting only at my thoughts and not stating them clearly.

Ask about it over a cup of tea someday....

We saw the moon!

The moon was so bright before bed that we all trooped outside to be in the moonlight as though day. Even as we stood there chatting, the clouds blew in across the sky; not a flutter of wind at ground level but lots way up high. We looked at each other in dismay* as we wondered whether it would clear before the lunar eclipse at 2am. Not much we could do so we set our alarms and went to bed.

It was cloudy at 2am. The sky orange at first but then darkening to a smudgy charcoal grey and finally nearly black. But no moon. We checked all the webcams from the NASA website and although we did see the moon for a while most of the sites went offline from heavy traffic. And anyway, it just wasn't satisfying watching it on a screen. It didn't seem real. I had already been out to see the smudge in real life so when I glanced out the window hopefully, again, and saw a star I flew to get my coat and boots on. The boys had all gone to bed so it was just BTG and I who nipped outside and saw the moon! God cleared a little patch for us near the time of totality just enough to see the moon dark and red with a bright ring around its edge. It only lasted about five minutes--maybe ten but it was enough!

I had to share it. I saw the moon.

*fun to actually write that line!

There's lots going on around here. I just don't feel like blogging about it. I'll get back to it sometime.

So, after pulling (rather, digging) out all our kale plants months ago, I noticed yesterday that we have more growing again. I know I've mentioned that I have kale in past blogs. I just checked and found two references, one here. But I've not talked of it enough for you to understand much of how this new sighting makes me laugh and the kids groan. It's too bad I didn't take pictures the first year when I planted out 6 little seedlings that quickly grew to be huge plants. I didn't really like kale before I planted it. You'll discover that's typical of my gardening habits. I plant some things so that I'll learn to like them and with some exceptions I usually do. Of course there are some things I think I like that I learn to dislike. Well, I quickly learned to like kale. We had so much of it I had to eat or be eaten. Search for kale recipes online and you'll most often come across kale chips. Worth a try. And it became my favourite way to prepare the greens. You see, kale doesn't get mushy like spinach. It gets crispy. And when you add a little oil and sea salt to the mix it becomes a snack worthy of any potato chip bag. K2 shared my enjoyment--a little too much at times until I learned to double my batch size. The plants survived a few frosts, tasted fine and continued to grow until they were covered by snow. So much for my kale. I hoped that maybe one plant would survive the winter as the package said but it was a long shot.

So I thought.

The snow melted and first one plant then another and finally a total of 8 plants grew and thrived. (How good is your math?) We--as in me and K2--were eating kale in April long before any other plant showed its tips. They went to seed, I dug them up, giggled when a new one that had seemed dead resurrected and then went to seed. It has literally been months since I dug up each and every plant. I found myself craving kale so that I even bought some from the market to make my chips and stir-fry with my cabbage. It wasn't as good but I didn't have to inspect it as closely for caterpillars.

And now there's a good sized plant again on its way. Kale into November again this year and who knows? maybe spring? One day I'll post a picture for you and you can smile with me at the silliness of kale that won't go away.

Charlotte Mason Meets the Digital World

Really, when someone describes the purpose of a conference as clearly as this I'm happy to just point the way to the author.

Please also follow the link to the Charlotte Mason Digital Collection!

This was a conference I so enjoyed to be a part of. In addition, as if the exciting happenings in the world of education weren't enough, a big part of the enjoyment came from the times outside the classroom. Time to visit with friends late into the night, a lovely hike, drives to and from the conference place, my hostess's beautiful home and family and friendship. She also drove us around so I could concentrate on visiting with her and not trying to follow those infernal directions that keep getting me. Will someone please put a GPS in my head? I admire the people involved in this conference so that I felt thrilled to be a part of the fun. Thank you, Deani!

And one more link for you. My son heard from my Dad that a new concerto written by Vivaldi has just been discovered and is scheduled to be played in full concert in Perth, Scotland in January, 2011.

Fog and Soup

I've been reading Carl Sandburg poems lately. I like them.

BUBBLES

Two bubbles found they had rainbows on their curves.

They flickered out saying:

"It was worth being a bubble just to have held that rainbow thirty seconds."

SHIRT

My shirt is a token and symbol,

more than a cover for sun and rain,

my shirt is a signal,

and a teller of souls.

I can take off my shirt and tear it,

and so make a ripping razzly noise,

and the people will say,

"Look at him tear his shirt."

I can keep my shirt on.

I can stick around and sing like a little bird

and look'em all in the eye and never be fazed.

I can keep my shirt on.

LOST

Desolate and lone

All night long on the lake

Where fog trails and mist creeps,

The whistle of a boat

Calls and cries unendingly,

Like some lost child

In tears and trouble

Hunting the harbor's breast

And the harbor's eyes.

It would be worth your while too to look him up at the library or at a used book store. Rainbows are Made is the book I'm enjoying. I also have his Complete Works from the library. FOG is his most famous poem. We love SOUP.

Share your favourites with someone, will you?