a daybook entry

 I keep journals. I keep daybooks. Somewhere in betwixt it all there is a blending with piecing my days much like a beautiful, quotidian quilt... one that is much loved and much used.

Since I have enjoyed reading some of your similar posts regarding your days and since I have included a label saying"daybook" on my sidebar, I believe it is proper on this lovely Monday in October to do a daybook entry. 

Outside:

The weather is still pleasant and calming to one's soul, "specially ordered" I am thinking. The luminous full moon shines in the evening's sky alongside the pinky-colored glow of the setting sun. I look forward to beholding it again later today. 

Gardening:

Finally, I planted the little pansy plants into the long planter. I bought these plants several weeks ago, I have watched them grow while watering them, but not until today did I successfully plant them in the intended place. Certainly, they are ready to be cut back at this stage. Also, I am cleaning up the cutting garden, gleaning a few peppers, okra, and herbs. The blackberry bushes are awaiting my pruning , hopefully later this week.

I removed the leaves from the dried oregano stems that were cut back in June.

In the Kitchen:

Canning pears. I declare I believe pears are one of my most favorite fruits, pommes for sure. I ordered 20 pounds from Azure this past month and I have them on my October order too. We eat pears daily and I preserve the rest. 

Menu Planning:

An easy week of meal planning overall. My husband is out of town tonight, then on Wednesday we eat at church. That only leaves three nights with two meals of leftovers already covered in the refrigerator, chicken pie and spaghetti.

Reading:

 Reading biographies are a favorite genre of mine especially those that have the addition of material depicting a particular historical time frame.  I read The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson about two months ago. It is about Winston Churchill and England during the beginning of WWII. I found it quite interesting and informative. From there I decided to read a book about his wife, Clementine (pronounced "Clementeen").  

I am also reading His Word in My Heart By Janet Pope and Spiritual Warfare, The Battle for God's Glory by Jerry Rankin. The later is one my Sunday school class decided to read.

Handiwork:

Continuing on with the embroidery project I have shown in the past, but I am now back to knitting a carry- along project, a simple sock using # 2 double points and Patons Kroy FX yarn. Today, I brought down from my third floor sewing room the quilt I promised my husband last winter. It is ready to be pinned together for the forthcoming hand quilting to begin. I am looking forward to the cooler evenings and the engagement of that peaceful endeavor.

Venturing:

I walked the ridge, but that is not actually getting into the car and driving anywhere, though I will be taking Ivy to Swimming practice around 5:30 today.

Planning:

My high School 50th Reunion is this weekend. The only reason I agreed to go is because my dear childhood friend ask me to go with her so she would not have to go alone. Though it will be nice to walk those halls of my high school memories after so many years.

Bible and Memorization:

We are studying the book of Daniel in Precepts this year. I am continuing with my James study and hope to have it completed by early November. My daily devotional includes Acts and John at the present. I am currently memorizing James 1:1-14.

Around the House:

  An itch I get ever so often...rearranging furniture in certain rooms of my house. 

Quote:

"In the rush and n rise of life, as you have intervals, be still. Wait  upon God and feel His presence; this will carry you evenly through your day's business."     -William Penn

a day at home and a poem

 Morning by morning new mercies I see. Observing the sun rise just outside the dining room's east facing window, though the sun comes up much later these late September days.  I am once again arising and coming down the stairs while it is still dark. 

 This was the first year I was able to purchase from a local nursery a common rue plant, also called the "Herb of Grace".  The plant being young did not yield the spring blooming yellow flowers but the bluish green foliage is beautiful...and tasty nourishment if you are a swallowtail caterpillar! This was a delightful discovery...rue is a host for the black and giant swallowtail both of which I was able to distinguish.

With needle and thread in hand I continue stitching tiny garden flowers on linen of teal allowing quiet moments of creative peace to my day.

There is a day

when the road neither

comes nor goes, and the way

is not a way but a place.

                                                      -Wendell Berry

the spirit of youth

"April has put a spirit of youth in everything.

                                                      ~William Shakespeare

 And with this "spirit of youth" birthing in my heart, my sixty plus bones longed to get outside to delve into the inviting soil as I planted lettuce, beet, pea, and bunching onion seeds as well as gathering the ordinary mop, vacuum, and old clean rags to begin the room by room spring cleaning inside.

But there is also the continual habit of observing, listening, smelling, and feeling the change of the season...new beginnings.

The celebration of His Resurrection is rousing in my heart too. The daily devotional readings, the vivid images imparted in my mind from the famous paintings of artists I've studied over the years, and the familiar hymns I find myself singing throughout the day.

And I've also completed a winter project, this pair of socks  began in 2019. But finally by sheer force of will I am happy to report they are finished! I did not appreciate knitting with the wool, though it is a lovely yarn with pleasing colors, nor did I like the *Signature needles that I used for knitting them. These two things evidently made it easy for me to slip them into a basket until I happened upon them this winter and realized I must, yes must, finish them. I am inserting a photo of the heel, each sock heel was knitted differently. I did the one on the left and maybe I was not wearing my reading glasses or I did not read the directions closely enough, whatever, by the time I got to the other sock I realized I was supposed to do the heel with ribbing. It is intended to be more "wear-worthy". Rather than redo the first one I decided no one will notice and I did actually want to knit the heel with the ribbing. That is my sock knitting mismatch tale. But they are finished and very comfortably wearable.

 One of the books I am currently reading along.

Embroidering is the current gentle art that is stirring my spirit. My sewing group met at my home Saturday before last and I was able to begin a new project from this book, my third creation.

I enjoyed listening to this podcast one evening as I was cleaning up the supper dishes. Hannah Anderson was the guest sharing one of her books, Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season and Spirit. It is on my list of books to read.

How has the "spirit of youth" engaged you?

blueberry morning

Happy Homemakers Monday

It is heating up again. This week we will zoom up into the 90's during the day. The AC is still off thus far, it is now lunchtime, but it could be switched on by tonight or tomorrow. I find it takes a couple of days for the changing of the temps to affect the inside of the house fully. There is a slight breeze now though.

I am siting on the screened porch watching the butterflies flit from butterfly bush to zinnia drinking sweet nectar, all in the bright sunshine. The tufted titmouse's are feeding on the feeder at my side and I hear their chatter. 

The farmer in the field next to our home is cutting his hay for the second time this year. I love to hear the sounds of the tractors and just thinking about harvesting in general always gives me a lift of hope. There is a substantial hedgerow there that borders our property with this field so I only glimpse the very small part of the tractor in certain areas of our yard. I was upstairs and glanced out the window to see his red tractor go by earlier. It is a huge field so it takes quite some time for him to get back around to our border.

The blueberries have been in abundance this year and I have had the opportunity to pick sweet delicious organic berries at a friend's house, her treat. This morning I baked a dozen blueberry muffin for breakfast. My freezer is packed with blueberries for the coming year.

I feel rich.

I have  been quite active this morning already. A long walk at the ridge and then some gardening, picking beans and pulling up a patch of dead sunflowers stalks out front. I had dressed in a green cotton skirt and a linen top for my morning's outside work. 

Venturing 

I will be leaving the house around 3:30 this afternoon heading to a town about an hour away for an Investment Club I am still a member of though I have moved out of state. I have thought of selling out, but I do enjoy this group of ladies and I am actively learning about the stock market which I am sure I would not be doing if I was not involved with this group on a monthly basis. We have an advisor from Merrill Lynch who keeps us on our toes, especially when we get assigned to the Portfolio and New Investment committees.

Menu Planning this week. Well, we have foods in the freezer from last year that need to be eaten now, like kale, swiss chard, turnip greens, and field peas. These are some foods we are preparing our soil for a fall planting this week. Ergo, my menu plans will incorporate these foods. The greens foods are easy as a side dish or if even thawed and cooked they can be tossed in with certain pasta or egg dishes. And we will be having egg dishes this week too due to the abundance of eggs.

This is last year's turnips.

My husband has requested spaghetti so that will be on our plates  this week.

And I have so many cans of salmon. We enjoy salmon patties and I can prepare this meal in a short period of time served alongside potatoes and probably one of the greens, kale, from the freezer.

Reading

I posted my 2024 Reading List. I am happy to report that when I finish East Of Eden I will have completed all the books on this list. 

Planning

Without fail I am embraced by feelings from my past regarding what happened at this time of year for over thirty years. I would spend the summer months planning our homeschool curriculum and just about now we would be  ready to open the new materials and begin a fresh new school year. It was one of the most exciting times for me personally. But that has been four years since I had as student in the home so this year in a burst of mind activity I decided why should I stop! I've always loved learning, that is what I attempted to teach my children, to be lifetime learners.

But, I need a plan to stick with and this was the year to do so without any reservations. I will be blogging a post on the specifics later this week if anyone is interested. But I am already  super motivated. I am even enlisting my husband to go along with me with one of the subjects.

Embroidering/Sewing

I finished the Thimble Pip. By the way this pattern is the second stitching item I have completed from Lorna Bateman's book, Country Gardens. 

I sit on the porch for a little while every early evening and hand quilt while listening to a new podcast I just discovered.

The Art of Home.

Bible and Memorization

 Daily devotional reading: I Kings 13 and II Thessalonians 5

I have memorized up to Hebrews 3:1-4. For my method of Scripture memorization I learn at least a new verse every day or two. And I review what I have already memorized. This takes about 15- 20 minutes a day of concentrated work. During the day you can use some mind time going over whatever verses you would like.

"Give me a moment to cry for joy. 

It's so delicious to cry for joy."

~Charles Dickens

Our Mutual Friend

After I had left the front porch where I had sat while doing my quiet time, this is what I saw from the front door, my two outside cats enjoying the morning sun.

Louie is the red hairy one in the top, he is old.

And Myrtle, the tabby who we adopted when we moved here. She must have belonged to the man who last lived here and died; she welcomed and loved us from the beginning.

I am on to my housekeeping chore of the day, ironing.

today with Happy Homemaker Monday

G.K. Chesterton says,

“There are two ways of getting home; and one of them is to stay there. The other is to walk round the whole world till we come back to the same place ...”

                                                  one morning at sunrise

Happy Homemaker Monday

In keeping with the dominant calling, or I will even go as far as to call it a dominant purpose/role in my life, which is to celebrate being the woman God created me to be and through the careful study  and instruction of His Word to live as a woman content as being foremost a keeper of the home. I am as an older woman even told to encourage the younger woman in her godly role.

So I decided this was a solid place to post what most of us know to be the best calling. Thank you Sandra for getting us all connected!

*Outside 

It is still hot, yet the mornings give a bit of a reprieve. Only 68 degrees this morning. The weather channel online reports even cooler mornings this week, dipping down in the high 50's. Daytime temps will adjust to high 70's low 80's. Bring it on!!!!

*What concerns me right now in attention and thoughts

Preparing for a major change in my husband and my lives as we forego application for SSA and Medicare. When did this all come to be????? Let me warn you ladies it takes some research and counsel with options and such, especially the Medicare that is not free and is basically a socialist program that has evolved over the years. I do not have enough points to claim SSA on my own, yet our government still allows me to receive half of my husband's FRA and Medicare on his account.

My husband and I have been careful with spending and and we have been able to save for our retirement accounts through the years. We are very thankful. I know how hard it can be when you are younger and everything is so expensive and you have mouths to feed and bodies to clothe and braces and... but you will appreciate any effort you made it in the days ahead. Make a plan and do not get carried away with the culture's idea of "living only for the moment" and the need to be spending money you do not really have to spend. Staying home helps😊. And maybe heavily limiting shopping on Amazon and online sites. Your plan is individual for sure and you might not be able to save much, but do make a plan...every bit you manage to save adds up over time.

Food: Preserving and Daily Preparation

The summer garden is slowing down, that is all but the green beans that have taken on new life with all the rain. I pick about every other day. I pressure can pint jars with the extras, and I am  thinking of making a few jars of dilly beans with the next pickings.  We continue to eat delicious servings of greens beans with our meals.

Today I plan to take some chicken breasts and prepare a chicken fry with onions, peppers, garlic, red, yellow and orange peppers, curry paste, and zucchini. This will be served over rice alongside a green salad.

Breakfasts mostly consist of eggs and toast. Though I am hankering for a bowl of oatmeal. We just have so many fresh eggs from the hens.

Lunch is dependent if my husband is here for lunch, then I must be more intentional. Today was tuna salad with crackers, watermelon and pears.

As for the rest of the week's dinner menus:

Tuesday...Fried chicken  with mashed potatoes/gravy and you guessed it, green beans.

My husband has been asking me to fry some pieces of chicken for dinner. I will cut up a whole chicken and fry half of it saving the other half for another dish. I use either coconut oil or palm fruit shortening for frying.

Wednesday... I thinking of serving a one dish meal that I found on Pinterest. Lemon Ricotta  Pasta with arugula

Served with fruit.

Thursday...salmon cakes/potato salad/greens

Friday...Pizza using this cottage cheese crust.

 Cottage Cheese Recipe

1 cup cottage cheese. Process in food processor until smooth.

Add 4 eggs

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning. Mix this all together with the smooth cottage cheese.

Spread ins a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees 20-25 minutes. Check as it cooks, it should just golden brown.

 Pull it out of the oven and add any sauce, cheese, and other toppings. I made one using an olive oil base with pesto,  sliced tomatoes, feta cheese. It was quite delicious.

*Reading

I am presently reading two books that are a part of my 2024 Reading List. This list will be posted sometime this week on this blog. If you would like to read the list you might want to check back...

East of Eden by John Steinback

Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss

*Gentle Arts

My hands have been itching to begin some new stitching ventures. But first I must complete several things I have been working on, or at least complete most of the things I have started.

This needle pip that my sewing guild began last spring is first on the list. The embroidery has been done on both sides and the construction of the pip is complete.  I am embroidering Palestrina stitch around the outside.  

Excuse the lighting. A storm had come up quickly. we even lost power for a bit and I had to delay finishing this post.

Also, cotton dish cloths are knitted as I travel in the car on short trips. So easy and mindless and very practical in the finished item. I am knitting them in yellows and blues, using up balls that I had in my stash.

The quilt I hand pieced throughout the cold winter months and began hand quilting just as spring arrived has been existing a dormant life over the summer, but just recently I have picked it up to do some handquilting a few evenings...so much pleasure in that craft.

The natural light from the window in the corner of the dining room was an excellent place to quilt. Here I was also altering Ivy's flower girl dress for Charlotte's wedding. back in April.

I begin most mornings outside on the front porch where many mornings I behold the sunrise.I sing praises to my LORD and I pray and read HIs word. I have been in Hebrews and I Thessalonians. I am memorizing Hebrews chapter 2.

"Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (verse 17).

                                       

  Blessings!

march & april & may

 Due to the course of things and the months squeezing in terribly wonderful ways, my own remedy is to create one blog post to embrace the months of March, April and May. Here is my attempt at the highlights keeping in mind I do this as a means for my own form of posterity. And yes, I am posting this the last week of June, of course, though it was began in April!

MARCH

During one of Ivy's spring break days we spent a great deal of time in the woods and then came back to a snack of popcorn, cheese, and warm tea enjoyed outside. She loved borrowing my Canon Rebel camera to take pictures of me😊.

A small gathering of young ladies and mothers for an overnighter beginning with pizza on Friday and ending on Saturday afternoon with a high tea.

Some days in March were unbelievable cold, others were unbelievably warm. On those days of warm temperatures I could not resist taking a little time for tea and stitching on the quilt I began this winter. It is sewn using the fabric of my fathers' pajamas, the ones I inherited when he died in February 2011. During the move I found a bag of his pjs that I intended for creating a lap quilt. This was the winter to make it. I did the piecing on the sewing machine, but the true delight was in the hand stitching on cold winter evenings by the fire.

APRIL

                               Resurrection Sunday gathering

Drying dandelion blossoms for making salve and continuing with  a calendar of firsts journal.

 Embellishing with cast-on flowers and an initial for one of Violet's summer dresses.

And a pair of boots to keep the spring mud off my feet!

Practicality is the key.

MAY

A trip to Louisville to gather Charlotte and her things for coming home during the summer months. This was taken on the walking bridge between Kentucky and Indiana.

A decided place composed in the front lawn to plant a variety of zinnias, calendulas, and sunflowers one bright morning in order that I may enjoy composed moments when they bloom.

An evening watching Breanna dance...oh, how I loved those times of my life with my own children performing, and now I am watching my granddaughter's performance.

Last but not least, on the 29th Charlotte entered into the second decade of her life. Twenty candles were lit with family and friends gathered to celebrate. When she was born I remember thinking how old I would be when she turned twenty. She is twenty...but surely I am not that old!

Relaxing

I drank a cup of ginger tea while on the glider, the old glider we found out in the woods years ago and dragged back to paint. It has been returned to gliding ever since, what it was created to do.The afternoon's sun was as a balm, affecting me in soul and body with its gift. Reminding me once again how each and every day is a gift to be enjoyed in its uniqueness.

 I have received many magazine subscriptions through the years and I have several containers of magazines to prove it. Let's just say I have a difficult time trashing old magazines. Currently, we receive magazine subscriptions to World, Our State, and Bee Culture; I have all but stopped the others except for one particular magazine, my personal favorite, Piecework. I love reading its informative articles  about the art and history of handiwork around the world.  

So on this day after my long walk, I was overjoyed to see the newest issue had been delivered right to my mailbox, and I had a moment to relax before beginning dinner.

An article on buttonholes especially piqued my interest since I actually do make my own buttonholes by hand and I would very much like to master this skill. This issue includes a buttonhole sampler you can make yourself. I am thinking perhaps I can convince my sewing group to take this on for a future project...

"I was thinking my stars that I'd learned to make nice buttonholes"

L. M.Alcott, Little Women

march...

... a month of wind,  soft snow falls, monogram embroidering, and knitting, of course, always knitting.

 One morning while Charlotte had her violin lesson, I sat in a coffee house while the snow swirled outside.

Outside one balmy afternoon, the wind was playing the most lovely tunes on my wind chimes, and I was embroidering boutis (another guild project). 

Louie, Charlotte was downstairs practicing her violin and he hates it!

My smocking(sewing) guild started a project several months ago that I have found extremely enjoyable, hand- monogramming onto pillowcases using the satin stitch. The satin stitch takes some practice, but I can say my stitches became more even by the time I had completed the second pillowcase. A good tutorial can be found on NeedlenThread.

silk ribbon emboidery

All it took was a Saturday morning gathered around a dining room table with a few ladies, an array of silk ribbon in beautiful shades of pink and green, and an intended project for creating a thumb pin cushion. 

I came home and after finishing my pin cushion(see in right hand corner), I went online and ordered a book and some spools of silk ribbon. Now I am accumulating my own stash for future projects. A new love of hand sewing has been birthed.

bee bullions

A project of sewing bullions on a cream-colored linen diaper shirt.

Of course, it is for Ivy Elizabeth.

And of course, I will sew her some pink rompers to be worn with it.

crocheted edgings

 It is time to step aside of my usual posts "of the days before the wedding"; I'll add more of those posts  later.

Today I wanted to share some of the dainty edgings which I promised (sorta) I would share on a post recently. Both of these soft  flannel receiving blankets were gifts for a special mother-to-be at a baby shower I was delighted to attend this past weekend.

Gray Scalloped Edging:

 Aunt Lydia's Classic 10 crochet thread

#5 crochet hook

Mark every 1/2 inch all around the hem of the blanket; poke holes with your needle, then sew a blanket stitch around the entire edge. It will look like this when it is finished.

Single Crochet(SC) around the blanket.

 Chain(CH) 3, 2 Double Crochet(DC) in next sc. That will make a total of three stitches in the one sc stitch.

Ch 1 *SC in next ch, 3 DC in next chain, Ch 1*

Continue with this Pattern * until you get to the corners. 6 DC in each of the four corners.

Pink Scalloped Edging

SC around entire blanket stitch (after sewing your blanket stitch as in gray edging)

*3 DC in first ch, SC in next chain* Repeat.

At the corners, 5 DC

 In the corner of the pink polka-dotted blanket, you will notice I embroidered a simple chubby bird with a few lazy daisy flowers. I planned to use a sea foam green thread for the lace and bird, but when I found out this baby's colors were pink and gray, I decided to use light gray for the edging and a darker gray for the outline stitch of the bird.

 I hope she likes them...this little girl.

 I found one of Rose's receiving blankets, worn and tattered, tucked under her mattress when I went to move her bed several weeks ago. This blanket was hand sewn by a very special, older woman over eighteen years ago. Isn't that a happy thought, to think someone might find one of these blankets tucked in a comforting place years down the road? What a lovely story to be told!