traces of her

Early August and the anticipated days of having Ivy with us for several days burst upon us and these were busy days outside our usual routine, if there is truly any routine to speak of in the summer months. She left with her mother and a kiss blown with little hand to mouth, I caught it through the car window as they drove away at the end of the visit. This morning I looked around my home and the traces of her were still there. I miss her, and those early morning  with her just "showing up" were dear. We would go outside on the patio, she with her early morning hair bringing back a great flash of memory of those mornings years ago when  her mother would greet me  in like manner, and then seven years later, her Aunt Charlotte as well. "Messy Hair Mornings" we called it.

We managed to pack a variety of activity into those few days...

And after she left we continued on as before, just without Ivy. I do wish she lived closer by.

music camp

I will not bore you with the obvious, the obvious fact that it is late August and I am about to blog about a week during the middle of July.

But since one of the main reasons I blog is to keep a memory book of sort, here goes... and thanks for bearing with me...

After dropping Charlotte off at music camp in South Carolina I was able to spend the entire week with a friend. A dear friend of mine, a past backyard neighbor, one that I had shared early summer morning walks together for fourteen summers..."solving" the world's problems as we jokingly would say. But seriously we walked and prayed...not many things were considered off the charts regarding prayer. She moved away last summer and I still remember that June afternoon she beeped her horn as she and her husband drove past my house leaving for good. I would spend many evenings looking toward her house looking for "her" lights. So now I walk alone, but I still miss her.

 One of the things we talked about several summers ago was a music camp she highly recommended for Charlotte, so when that became a reality she extended the most gracious invitation for me stay the entire week with her. Plans had already been formulated which involved a few hours travel one day,  to Cashiers and Highland, a place she knew I had been wanting to visit.

 The last day of camp my husband drove down  to get us and we were delighted to hear the high school orchestra students perform a most amazing afternoon concert. Charlotte had informed us it was music 24/7, yet I still find it difficult to believe they sounded that good after only five days of being together.

Grill Marks for dinner, huge burgers with a variety of fixings to choose from for a $10.00 price tag. This restaurant was featured on Food Networks "Cheap Eats" back in the spring; not bad for a burger and fries night.

twenty gallons of sweet

"I meant to fninsh the spring-cleaning today, but I'd only done three hives and then I had to stop. Now I shall swell," Lady Finch said fussily, peering at her chin in the looking-glass that hung over the fireplace.  
              The Native Heath
              Elizabeth Fair

Finally the day of honey harvest arrived.  Sunday afternoon was the only time Witt had available before leaving to go out town for his new job, so in the hot garage we stayed for several hours in order to extract the honey from the wooden frames. The bees were actively buzzing outside the garage door, therefore, all doors must be  tightly closed to prevent them swarming in to the honey. Yet a few strays still made it into the garage, but as long as you left them alone you were okay, there is that fine line equaling complete cooperation by man and insect.

My kitchen is presently a mess of sticky sweet...emphasis on the sweet since I do not allow the stickiness to stay around very long, all it takes is a wet washcloth after all. We lightly strain our honey(filter without pressing), then we bottle. This year our bee supers have yielded around twenty gallons of honey! We are well- pleased.

August Yarnalong

 Yes, I am still knitting the same sweater I began in June, but it is summer after all and there are so many adventures that just do not involve knitting, and I must confess here that during my evening knitting times I find myself nodding off to sleep...while knitting...you know what that means don't you..."tinking" or unknitting the next night! And while this Swans Island Merino wool is a perfect knitting yarn for these hot days of summer weather, it is a fingering weight which for me translates as slow going since I am not a fast knitter. But it is an extremely lovely knit with a pattern that is easy to memorize and I am presently on to knitting the second shoulder.

 Back in high school I first read The Chosen and it was one of those novels that stuck on a "mind board" as an excellent book. When Alan was visiting back in the spring, we discussed certain books I should read and after he left I happened to discover this book in his extensive book stash, my memory was jarred and I just knew I must read it again this summer. Because of my growing love of Israel and the Jewish people which has evolved over the years, I understand its story so much more, yet I realize I still know so little. And I want to know more.

Joining up with Ginny and her Yarnalong this first day of August.