One Month Ago, Yesterday......

....our Blue made his First Communion.

May He draw you ever closer to His most Sacred Heart,

dearest Blue.

September.....

It is almost over, and has been so full!

Family from out west came to visit for almost a week, and it was so hard to let them go!

We are four weeks into school, and I am teaching four now too. I think we are finally finding our groove. (I think we are, anyway;) 

Soccer season just ended on Saturday, and Big Brother's team won second place in the championship games! My Knight was/is the coach, and I was so proud of them! Boots didn't do too shabby this year either, scoring the only two goals his team had in their game.

My camera has been collecting dust in a corner of the counter lately, so unfortunately I don't have many pictures to share. But it hasn't stopped me from enjoying all of the beauty around us!

The bean field turning from bright yellow to gold, backed by cerulean skies.

Trees, just starting to change color.

Golden sunlight, highlighting the hills and dells outside my kitchen window.

Glowing bonfires on cool clear evenings.

Misty mornings.

 Jars of  just-canned crab-apple jelly and pickled beets on my kitchen table.

Big pots of hot tea.

Little people.

Their smiles.

Their hugs.

Their voices.

I hope your September has been wonderul too!

Remembering St. Martin's Feast......

....was it really just a week ago?!

First Holy Communion

His big day was this past Sunday.

I wasn't quite ready......

.......he is growing up too fast.

But he was ready.

And that is all that really matters.

My dear dear Boots.

May you forever stay close to Him.

From Our Fourth of July....

 

We went to spend the day with my folks, where I admired mom's flowers...

while the kids and the men played golf on grandpa's "mini-golf course."

After which, we ate barbecued chicken, several sides, and lots of flag cake.

(Miss Posy helped me make and decorate it.)

Then there was a solemn reading of The Declaration of Independence and Patrick Henry's The War Inevitable.

And plenty of fireworks.

Such fun!

Hope you all had a happy Independence Day!

Eight Years.....

Dismas......

I always wanted to "introduce" you to Dismas, but somehow never got around to it.

We brought him home on Ash Wednesday, three years ago, and named him after 'the Good Thief" who died next to our Lord on Calvary. And this past week, on Ash Wednesday, we had to put him down. Afterwards we brought him home again, and buried him.

It was so very hard.

He was such a good dog.

Such a part of our family.

We miss him.

Sharpening Pencils for the Children...

....with my old hand-held sharpener.

And suddenly I went back in time about twenty years.

I remembered how I used to save the long shavings from my colored pencils and form them into mini-roses.

Then I would save them in my pencil box, because I thought them too beautiful to throw away.

Memories of those simple things....

...of those simple times...

...it made me smile.

All Souls' Day

"The just shall be in everlasting remembrance:

he shall not fear the evil hearing."

~Psalms 111, 7.

"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord;

and let the perpetual light shine upon them."

~4 Esd. 2, 34. 35.

Pear in October Sun

The pear tree, just over the hill, has been giving generously of its bounty. The children have been bringing a steady stream of its delicious sun~ripened fruit to the house. ~But it disappears almost as soon as it arrives....;)

The pear tree is an old friend of mine. I remember enjoying its pears every autumn as a child. And they taste every bit as good now as they did then!

Red Geranium in the Afternoon Sun

Found her on clearance today, and of course, I couldn't resist.

Brings back happy memories of my grandma, who had red geraniums blooming on her back porch.

Lent: Day Thirteen

I have been saving my husband's old work jeans ever since we were first married ~almost seven years ago! The plan was to eventually turn them into what you see above; a sturdy picnic-ing and lying-under-the-stars quilt. I cut out the patches about a month ago, and have spent the last two days piecing them together. And I've been thinking of all the long hours of farrier work, washing trucks, and loading trailers that these jeans have seen. Back when my husband was working two part time jobs (and going to school full time) so that I could stay home with our first two children. I love him so much.

Morning with the Piano Tuner

He came this morning, and the kids were entranced. They loved seeing the insides of the piano and how all the little hammers strike the strings to make it play. It brought back memories from my own childhood, and the wonderment I felt when the kindly old man who tuned our piano came by. As much as I loved watching him tune it, my favorite part was how he played it when he was done. I remember wishing so badly that someday I could play as well as he did.

It was like magic.

Memorial Day

Remembering all of those brave soldiers who gave their lives in service of our country.

May their souls, and all the souls of the faithful departed, rest in peace.

My Grandma's Roses

For those of you who may not know, the house in which we live was first inhabited by my maternal grandparents. Actually, it's nickname "the cabin" was originally given to it by my grandmother. Out front are two lovely rose bushes that she planted and tended. They were gifts from her children. Grandma loved roses, and they seemed to love her too, as they always bloomed beautifully under her loving care. I have many memories of going to visit her as a little girl when she lived in town. Once her roses were blooming she would always send me home with one; the stem wrapped in a dampened paper towel. How special it made me feel!

A few weeks ago, the five year anniversary of her death passed. I miss her very much, and feel so privileged to be able to tend these lovely roses that she left behind. But as lovingly as I may tend them, I think they still are blooming just for her.



And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Apple Blossoms

I ran out this morning, during a light rain, to gather these lovely blossom-covered boughs. Apple blossoms have always been very dear to me. They bring back so many memories from my childhood.

My dad built me a tree house when I was about four, in an old crab apple tree out behind our home. It had two levels -though I liked to pretend that a little seat he later added above the second level was actually a third floor. It's blossoms always smelled so sweet. I loved to pick them!

Years later, when I had grown a bit big for the tree house, an old apple tree down by the pond became my favorite place to spend time alone. It had the perfect obliging branch for swinging up onto its slanted trunk. Sometimes I'd be perched in it with a book, and other times just with my thoughts. It is gone now, as is the crab apple tree..........I do really miss them sometimes! It's funny, but you really can make such friends with a tree.

My dearest memory, though, is of a Sunday during Spring when I was probably about four or five. I had been sick, so I had to stay home from Mass with mom. When dad came home, he picked me up from the couch and carried me outside to the apple trees. They were all white with blossoms. He lifted me up to let me smell them, and then gently stripping a blossom from one of the branches, tucked it behind my ear. Then he carried me back home. It is a memory I will always treasure.

~So, I made Miss Posy a little bouquet this morning.

She was so excited, and immediately set it in the center of her little table.

I think we are making some new apple blossom memories to add to the old......;)