at the shore cum amica mea

So it was that on Thursday afternoon we headed out to the beach, two young girls (Charlotte and her friend), me and my friend, and Rancher, the Boykin Spaniel, squeezed into the back seat between the  girls. But excitement was way too high to let anything bother, even the sometimes heavy traffic and scattered rainstorms.

We read. 

I read this book while my friend read her latest book club's selection by Diane Mott Davidson.

We knitted.

We walked.

Some of us walked quite a bit to the pier in the rain making "enoing" possible.

And of course, Charlotte danced.

Having friends is a sweet form of respite. Doing the things we enjoy together, laughter, and hours of conversations flowing of life's current events while recalling the years of old memories. This friend lost her husband in a tragic air plane crash well over five years ago. Of course, we talked of him and of her three grown sons, remembering our sons many adventures together through the years. 

Now Charlotte has gotten to know this friend better, and thankfully we are still making memories

music flow wrapper

She* gave it to me with a blessing. "Take it, knit it up", she insisted as she pressed the pattern into my hand. She assured me she would never knit this wrapper. So with pattern in hand I made a trip to my local yarn shop on a cold day in January and selected the yarn for this unusual one size fits all sweater.

Then I knitted throughout the sometimes snowy, many times windy, usually cold days of late winter, early spring.  As I watched the swirling snowflakes, as I drank hot coffee in coffee shops, and as I sat through many episodes of "Heartland" and "All Creatures Great and Small" at home in the evenings, I knit with a challenging pair of yarns, learning how to do Japanese short rows, and then upon realizing I did not like the look of those short rows with this yarn, I ripped and re-knit, preferring the German short row method instead.

But the day came when le bleu monster of a sweater was completed and blocked, and don't you know, the spring weather turned chilly once again giving full opportunity to wear it a few times before its summer sojourn in the cedar chest.

*Charlotte's wonderful and lovely piano teacher

a thick book

 As the list of books I want to read grows, my list charts, my piles of books, and shelves are only becoming larger and larger, but that is okay because the perfect time will perhaps present itself and I will actually begin to read a particular book. But many times certain books tend to loiter or make about- faces. 

When Alan was visiting back in May we spent quite a bit of time discussing books and various works of literature, since he is an English major afterall.  Middlemarch was one of the books he mentioned I should definitely read, and when GretchenJooanna mentioned a May/June read-along for this George Eliot classic, serendipity's charm performed its magic and I joined in this read-along line and sinker. Now that it is the middle of May, I am well into Book 2, and every time I pick up this book to read a bit, I become more hooked.

may in a jar

Time if ticking away and the "merry month of May" is in full-swing

which means sun-kissed ripened strawberries and grabbing our buckets and heading out to the fields. Therefore, I absolutely must not allow another day to come and go without sharing this simple combination, I like to call May in a Jar,  of strawberries, honey, and mint, which also just happens to be abundantly thriving in the garden at the present. The sweet taste of the strawberries mingle perfectly with the honey-infused syrup and fresh mint leaves creating the most delicious springtime ambrosia.

1 cup water
1 cup honey
1 quart strawberries

1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

Bring the water to a simmer on medium high heat and whisk in the honey until it dissolves. Continue to simmer for five minutes, remove the pan from the heat and allow the honey syrup to cool.

Wash and hull the strawberries. I cut the smaller ones in half and quarter the larger berries(we can grow some rather large berries in these parts).  With your hands, tear the mint leaves into pieces, then I like to layer  the strawberries with the mint into a two quart jar so the mint is dispersed throughout. After the honey syrup is cooled to room temperature, pour it over the berries. Cover and keep in the refrigerator for a day. 

I enjoy eating this completely as is, but it can be served with cake, ice-cream, whipped cream or yogurt. Enjoy!

marveling

Early, at daybreak, she was placed in my arms. She was my first and last child to have been born at a birthing center, and after the  necessary baths and clean-ups, we strapped our newborn daughter into a car seat, got into the car to travel an hours drive, and as we turned down the long- graveled driveway to the farm, I sighed. We were home. That afternoon as the sun was pouring through the west-facing window I was in bed with my newborn daughter in my arms and how I marveled.

Today I continue to marvel

If I could have written a story that day of the thoughts I was pondering in my heart  as I held her, and the gamut of dreams and hopes I carried through the ensuing years for her future it would not looked anything like the reality of  what her life is today, twenty-two years later. Yet, I still marvel.

It is truly Rose's story to tell, it is not necessary for me give the details here and I only possess one perspective of a complex situation. This journey has changed me in more ways than I could express, but my sight is staunch today as I boldly look at the future for His total redemptive plan, I refuse to see anything less. What started in 2013 reached disproportional limits by 2014, and from there we hung on trying to stay afloat, constantly praying, sometimes with deep wailing, and trusting, always trusting the LORD.

She lives with her beautiful daughter four and 1/2 hours away from us at the present. She  is working  full-time and going to school. Neither she nor her daughter have contact or support from her estranged husband. To say I am not proud of her would be nothing short of a lie. I am tremendously proud of this courageous daughter of mine. And I marvel at His grace.
                                                       
                                          Happy Birthday sweet Rose!

"The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." Isaiah 35:1