ripeness

Yesterday afternoon I drove across town to a friend's house to pick some muscadine grapes, an old southern variety my friend's husband called Cowart, and I believe him. I definitely knew the look of the grape but the true proof was when I popped one into my mouth tasting the intense sweetness  of the juicy flesh as it was released from the tough skin of the grape. I knew that delicious sweet taste from memories of my childhood.  So...under the grape arbor I ventured sticking a ripe grape into my mouth every once in a while as I picked, only being slightly unnerved by the insects zooming by my head.  Home to the washing and throwing away bits of dried leaves and bad grapes that were dispersed throughout the grapes.

Jelly making time has now begun.

music in my mind

I go about the day performing my daily housekeeping chores; how I love keeping a home! And as I am keeping I hear lovely music in my mind. You know like when you are watching a movie and there is background music and it all fits together so beautifully? 

A grand "performance" radiating peace and joy.

                                                          ( photo image from Pinterest)

these past two days

"Let all things be done decently and in order".

I Corinthians 14:40

I like order. I would even go as far as to say I need certain semblances of it in my everyday life, therefore, this scripture might have a tendency to create a spirit of self-maintaining smugness. I do not want to misread what the Apostle Paul was speaking about in context to the church in Corinth, nor do I desire to miss what was clearly stated in principle.

The Word of God is powerfully alive and intrinsically applicable to everyday life, so I would be wise to allow the Holy Spirit to draw me higher up and further in all things, as in everything I do.

The past two days have been make-up days as are the days followed by being away from home. The first day I was busy with laundry. Loads and loads of laundry, which means the washing machine and dryer were seemingly constant in use, I was hauling around baskets of clean laundry to fold and put away throughout the day. The house needed a weekly clean as I was not able to get the house in tip top shape before leaving for the beach, so that was in process.

And then unexpected interruptions presented themselves. My pastor's wife was terribly under the weather so I made a pot of homemade chicken soup and fresh bread to take to her hoping it would provide a bit of comfort.

 An appointment for the cat was scheduled and schooling was tended to get back on track 

since we left most of our schoolwork back home on the desk while we rested at the beach.

Today the refrigerator was cleaned, old food was tossed and containers washed, walnuts and pecans were soaked and put into the dehydrator, emails were answered, and an unexpected morning's visit from two lovely ladies that were going from door to door, and in the mode of our conversation clearly said they did not believe Jesus was God. I invited them in and with decency and order I shared God's truth from I John 5. I am praying for them and I hope they come back.

And of course, I have managed to write this post....

coming home and remembering

Being at the beach takes on an essence that makes remembering sweet.  One of my sweetest memories of this past trip was coming through the screen door and hearing Ivy repeat her Granddaddy count the cracking of the eggs in the pan. 

"One...one.

Two...two

Three...three"

Then there were these sweet and lasting moments too.

the sun and the moon

First it was my husband and me enjoying the setting of the sun over dinner...yes, just the two of us. 

 Back to the cottage to watch the girls on the beach as the moon was rising in the west.

Lastly, we sat on the porch and beheld the bright moon and its stunning reflection on the surf.

The first day ended with a very tired Ivy being put to bed and games of * Flinch on the kitchen table.

His faithfulness like the ocean tides

We are heading to the shore tomorrow. And with sheepish intention I declare that last week we were holding our breaths as Hurricane Dorian began to roar past the coastline. All is well, the boards have been removed from the windows and we are looking forward to sitting on the porch to watch the beautiful sunrise and observe the shifting tides. It has been an entire year since I was at the shore and it completes a year with its steadfastness.

But there is this small matter of packing and alas, I am so desperately home bound.

she makes bagels

Being a person that eats bagels but a few times a year,  and a quick stop by*Panera will provide delicious bagels at any time, to even entertain the thought that I should actually bake bagels at home seemed rather ambitious. But since this has been the summer of baking, especially with Einkorn flour, I became progressively intrigued with the process of making my own bagels. The boiling of the risen bagel-shaped dough shaped by my own hands (fun!) in baking soda water was definitely the most unique part of making a batch of bagels. And toppings certainly seem essential for presenting good tasting bagels to over-the-top delicious. A mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon is my family's all time favorite topping, but I believe  caraway or sesame seeds make for a tasty savory bagel too.   

Have you ever tried to make bagels? They are chewy, delicious and seriously taste like bakery bought bagels. Who knew?

the first monday in September

Sweet September. It  is as if the month molds a story, one of lingering yet moving on. A threshold anxious to be crossed while "dinner is still being served in the big dining room". Once I accept what can not be changed, I can enjoy its sweetness.

The day was warm, a day that made you sweat even while you were sitting still. But the fluffy clouds dotting the blue skies, the girls begging to go to a park, not alone we say, made us gather our chairs,  thermoses of cold not too sweet tea, our current reads, and off we went. Under the shade of old black walnut trees we sat as if we had nothing else in the world to do. And for the moment we didn't.

It was sweet.

the time of the swallowtails

Late summer is hanging around but some things remain constant and are looked forward to with great anticipation. Such are these days when the swallowtail butterflies have left behind their tiny eggs, almost overnight they hatch and the "munching begins".

I can hear it, if only in my imagination.

 

 Let me do a turnabout in time with the dream of a new perennial garden late last summer, and thus  a garden space was began in the back yard back in the fall. The few photos depict the different stages of growth in this garden. Like all evolving gardens, I have made decisions for next year's garden based  on what to plant and where to plant. The swallowtail butterflies would arrive on hot, sultry afternoons fluttering from sweet flower to flower while I watched from the comfort of air-conditioned rooms. 

Now back to the munching scenario which actually begins in the spring as I am walking through the nurseries gathering parsley plants. " One for me, five for them" is my chant, yet knowing full well that the swallowtails could choose all six of those lush parsley plants munching them to the stubs! 

It makes me happy, knowing the swallowtails will return in numbers once again next year.
And it is as the parsley was only pruned!

springtime in the south

"This is spring."

I remember the years we were living on the farm and lambing season arrived with so much  highlighted anticipation. We would do all we could in the autumn to allow breeding with the intention that all the ewes would lamb somewhere between early to late March, this was shortly after shearing their long wool fleeces in mid- February.

Some of those days of lambing would be balmy and beautiful making all the extra time at the barn light and delightful, but there would certainly be those nights of freezing cold weather too, and you  simply took the good with the bad. It was springtime in the south and it was lambing time!

I walked today and spring settled deep in my soul. The potted pussy willow is blooming, the pear and plum trees are blooming vigorously, the daffodils are dancing in the breezes and spring has opened its door wide. If and when the colder temperatures do show themselves again, it is okay because its springtime in the south.

daily measures

I have been reading quite a bit lately about the renewing of the mind. The basis of this thought for me is based on the Holy Scriptures which states that I am not to be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of my mind in order that I would by proving, discern the will of God (Romans 12:2). First and foremost I renew my mind through the careful reading and meditating upon His Word regularly, trusting fully in the Holy Spirit. I am dependent on the Holy Spirit to renew my mind in all that I do, think, or say. Renewing my mind also involves looking at everything I do in the light of God's Word, and then giving application from His Word to the daily happenings in my life, no matter how big or how small that might look at any given moment.

This morning while I was busy in my kitchen, MR. C. came to tune our piano. I continued with the making of a loaf of sourdough Einkorn bread and made a tasty vegetable beef soup; Charlotte sat at the kitchen table doing some of her school work occasionally interspersing  questions about a paper she was writing. It was restful hearing the dramatic rising and falling pings of the piano in the next room mixed with gentle choppings and occasional stirrings of the soup while the levain was set with the flour to rise for five hours.

 The field of ornithology fascinates me, and my husband is kind to indulge me in allowing the backyard feeding of these creatures year round. Recently I ran across excellent sites, here and here to aid in learning to recognize various bird sounds. As I take my daily walk many times I hear more than I see, therefore it would be extremely helpful to being able to detect several of the birds by their beautiful calls and songs. 

(Above photo): During the cold months I will sometimes place sunflower seeds at my kitchen window ledge, then as I am busy at my kitchen sink I am able to enjoy my feathered friend's closer visits.