the heart in life

One of the greatest and most priceless truths about aging is the wisdom gained throughout the span of years. Wisdom that has been tested over the days and years of your life. I have yet to meet a person who does not have some regrets, but for those seeking a life of wisdom in continuity, thankfulness arises in spite of the many and various trials we must go through during our lifetimes. One day you wake up to the discovery that wisdom has, indeed, at the least bloomed. 

I believe the true source of wisdom comes from the Word of God. James 1:4 tells us to ask for wisdom. James 3 says wisdom that is not from God is earthly, sensual, and demonic. 

 I perceive that the heart of everyday life is also God given. The little things I enjoy in my ubiquitous, ordinary life are His gifts and I would be wise to recognize them as such, and likewise foolish not to thank Him for each and every one of them.

Water Kefir

Oh, I am happy to give you Part 2, and how I do love Part 2 of things... usually.

The second brewing time gave a huge increase of natural carbonation. This time I used grape juice. It was super delicious, and an added plus, my husband loves it too. I am planning to use this juice I purchased at Aldi today for my third batch.

The little "chef's", brewing cap came with the kit I bought from Yemoos. She sits on a shelf in my kitchen with my cookbooks. Every two days she gives me good kefir water.

Figs

And speaking of figs, Andrea has spoken about her abundance of figs this year. Figs are not a fruit, but flowers actually, an inflorescence- "a cluster of many flowers and seeds contained inside a bulbous stem."

Two summers ago, and I can not believe it has been two summers, I baked a batch of fig newtons.The intensity of time and effort it took to prepare these tasty treats have kept me from doing them again. I was on the search for an easier version and I think I found it.

This cookie bar includes oatmeal and the top is an oatmeal crumble pressed down after the other  two layers have cooled. You still must make the fig filling, like a jam, but that is the most time consuming part of this recipe. My husband had put them into the refrigerator before going to bed last night. That is where I found them this morning, before I had cut them into bars. Cutting them chilled was a bit of a crumbly mess, I was attempting to eat up the crumbs on the plate before the photo...but I did not succeed, but I enjoyed trying to nonetheless.

 Monarchs and Nature Study

Monarchs have been visiting my garden for the past several weeks, shy at first, flittering away before I could make sure they were in fact monarchs and not viceroys. But just yesterday they came closer to me while I was cutting zinnias in the garden and JOY!, they opened they wings wide to verify they were in fact monarchs.

And this praying mantis was observing me in the cutting garden as I stood in the sunshine.

Family Visits

My son and his wife celebrated their fifteenth wedding anniversary recently by going away two nights. They have five children, the children are divvied out to family members, and seven-year old Gordon came to stay with us. 

A Quote

"Have regular hours for work and play, make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success."

~Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

whetting the appetite

 Interesting thought that is, whetting the appetite. Usually those who live at my house or visit their appetites are adequately whetted to begin with so it is not something I must do, but what fun it is to offer appetizers which are never turned down by anyone. I consider it an informal invitation for a meal's beginning. Company for dinner almost always welcomes a few prepared finger foods to set on a pretty plate or platter. Those hors d'oeuvres will be perhaps more elaborate and more time is allowed for our company to sit while I am finishing up with the main meal.

 Many Saturday evenings in the summertime as we are wrapping up an active day, an early evening is planned usually including something special being cooked on the grill, then the enjoyment of including a few simple hors d'oeuvres set on a board or platter invites a slowing down of the evening and is very pleasant indeed.

But, I am also finding that on these these late summer weeknights, my husband appreciates my little bit of extra effort. I choose a weeknight that is not rushed, prepare a simple appetizer platter and call for my husband to come down and join me in the living room while the supper meal waits for serving.

This is my latest summer hors d'oeuvre offering.

Boursin cheese, coarse pepper Tilamook cheese. 

Sea salt almond crackers, roasted almonds and  fresh figs from my tree.

 My husband comes down with a sigh of pleasure We sit with music on in the background...whetting our appetite properly.

water kefir revisited

If you have been my blogging friend through the years, you might recall that I like ferments, the preparing of them and the partaking of them. For several years I religiously brewed kombucha and would drink it often, for its supposedly health benefits and because I  enjoyed the beverage overall.

I never did get into purchasing kombucha at the store, thinking the high price just wasn't my way of doing things, especially since I had this live cultured scoby sitting in a large jar in my house! But in the log haul I realized I was the only one truly drinking kombucha in my household, though sometimes Charlotte's present violin teacher would drink a served fizzy glass when offered. I also came to the realization that I preferred eating my ferments over drinking them; I simply like drinking water more as a beverage.

  But where would one be without revisiting or reconsidering a previous idea? So it is with me deciding to try my hand once again to making a ferment to quench my thirst, yet this time with water kefir. Had I actually drank water kefir before? Yes, I was offered a glass by a friend back last summer. It was tasty and I left her home with a jar of offered kefir grains. But timing is everything and the time was not then. Until now...so I ordered a batch of water kefir grains from Yemoos. And I am happy to report I am on the second day of my 48 hour beginner ferment. I will definitely mix mine with an organic fruit juice and I will give it a second ferment. Stay tuned.

And...since I am talking about the drinking of ferments, I want to mention I do drink  Homemade Ginger Ale (sometimes referred to as Ginger Beer) during the summer season. I keep my gingerbug in the refrigerator all winter and it is revived in the springtime, usually requiring a second batch brewing  to get it to the desired fizzy stage. I find this ginger beverage gives a super quenching of thirst on a hot summer day. Very refreshing! And best of all my husband enjoys drinking it too, and so do others that visit my home.

                       Now for the results of my first water kefir ferment:

I  allowed the kefir grains to ferment for about two days,  strained the grains and poured the kefir water into  brown flip- top bottle with the addition of a small bit of tart cherry juice. I had read that depending on the temperature of where you placed the sealed bottle for a second ferment determined how long you should allow it to set before refrigeration.  Since I have a warm kitchen I allowed roughly 30 hours. I was surprisingly happy over the amount of fizz I was able to get for the very first time. It was delicious and refreshing and an extremely simple brew.

Be Ye Glad

I penned a little note this morning to send away to my sewing friend thanking her for hosting our Sewing Group just this past Saturday in her gracious home. I knew it must be put into the mailbox before noon to go out. I opened the screen door and I noticed that it was steadily raining.  Always clinging to the adage that" I am not made of sugar, I won't melt", I confidently opened my umbrella and headed down the graveled driveway. The sharp pitter-patter of the raindrops hitting my umbrella and the rain's nervous tapping on the tree's leaves along with the abrasive crunching of my sandals on the gravel filled me with marvelous sound/word pictures.  I was reminded of how I once read that Laura Ingalls Wilder in her Little House series learned this art as a young girl while describing the prairie to a blind Mary. 

We have become accustomed to movies, videos, and YouTube channels showing us everything,  leaving us with little or no  imagination needed to fill in the gaps. Have you ever read a book, then later watch the movie version of that book? How different was it from the pictures you had developed in your brain? Did the characters look similar, were the rooms described in your own mind the same as those depicted in the movie? And this can function the other way as well. You may watch a movie and then read the book. How influenced are you by the characters developed in the movie? Did you imagine them basically the same way? Did you continue with the movie's character images, its  furniture, houses, streets, and location?

Early this morning I went outside and the refrain of this 1987 song came to my mind,

Oh, be ye glad
Oh, be ye glad
Every debt that you ever had
Has been paid up in full
By the grace of the Lord
Be ye glad, be ye glad, be ye glad

I owned this CD back when I was a younger woman and I am extremely glad every time I sing it thinking about what He had purchased for me.

"I will rejoice and be glad in Thee: I will sing praise to Thy name, O Thou most high."  Psalm 9:2

an ordinary place

                                                                        

This is a day

when the road neither

comes nor goes, and the way 

is not a way but a place.

                                              -Wendell Berry

I love the ordinary. I love place, the place I call home, my home with all its carrying-ons, duties, and daily substance. And the many days when I do stay at home this place grounds me, matures me, and provides hours of ordinary flourishing in so many ways.

 I personally stress the making of lists and the hand-written recordings of diurnal events and happenings scribbled within the pages of my daily journal entries. Therefore, when I come to the end of a busy day at home, my place, I know without a shadow of turning the deep soul satisfaction fostered from the achievements of this place and consequently of the upmost importance it holds.

                                                               

                                                           

                                       

                                      

for the love of trees

 There is an old Joni Mitchell song that goes "They paved paradise and put in a parking lot". For the nineteen years we lived in the suburbs  we will attest to that truth as being central in our desire to leave the suburbs and move back to the country. We watched the approaching changes get closer and closer, taking out the woods and creeks and putting in roads and houses. I understand perfectly, people need homes to live in and as the town grows, more land must be developed and houses must be built.

Now we reside in the country, loving the deep woods, open fields, and picturesque ridges. We own 34 acres where our home sits, and 3.5 acres across the street where our guest house is located. Since we moved here three years ago we could compose our own song that goes something like this..."The trees grew big and they called in the timber men...". So many areas around us have been timbered, and we were even contacted about having our trees timbered too.

Just the incessant noise of the large machines that take down one hundred year old trees is stressful enough, though fascinating to see the power of those wheeled machines, but to see the changes in landscape and watching the wildlife scamper and stand puzzled takes a stout heart indeed.

We wanted to buy more land around the guest house, but in the process of contacting the land owner, we discovered she was already under contract to have the land timbered. Grace filtered through, remarkably so because the logging company agreed to sell us some of the trees in the places where our property borders close to the timbering. But trees come with a high price tag, however, we were able to buy all the land as timbered, which goes for a less price. Therefore, the "timbered" land we are purchasing  in the long run we feel was an equal weight exchange overall.

Now for a few extra things to share this last day in July. Everywhere I go I hear people hardly believing July is ending, how about you?

I have been wanting to share a blog post from Under An English Sky. Shirley, a former homeschooling mother, writes an encouraging and inspiring blog and I for one anticipate her book when it is published. When I first read this particular writing, it was as if she had been reading my heart and mind. I had struggled with what I had been witnessing in our culture, and though I do little social media, what would sometimes pop up on my YouTube feeds from homemaking sites I actually acknowledged as spurious created home living.

Slow Living Today Is an Attitude, Not a Dress Code

A slow, intentional life is still very much achievable in 2025. It’s about your mindset—pausing, choosing what matters, and sometimes saying no to good things to make room for the best ones. ~Shirley

Isn’t Romanticising About Deeper Meaning?

The phrase taps into something universal—a longing to reject superficiality and embrace authenticity, simplicity, and connection—the very depths we feel placed in our hearts by our Creator. That’s beautiful. But chasing it through staged aesthetics? That’s another story.~Shirley

visits, burgers, and limelights

Charlotte and Issac are in that season of life that invites changes and sometimes those opportunities and changes can happen quickly. But then we have been praying for the Lord to lead and guide, and for His will  to be done in their lives. In the middle of some major changes they were able to visit for a few days.

I found the most remarkable burger recipe and if you like burgers, and I mean big burgers, then you might want to try this recipe. My husband purchased a
gas grill this summer so he has enjoyed grilling despite the heat and threats of thunder storms. This burger will be memorable and especially popular with the men, young and old! Women  like it too but might only be able to eat one-half of this whopper burger. I actually made my buns too.

The recipe is on Youtube, not her blog. You can go and watch all the little details regarding the recipe, but I will give an ingredient list and the simple process to see if you might like to go and listen to the video.

Hamburger meat, salted, peppered with dash of Worcestershire Sauce

Flatten 1/3 cup of raw meat between parchment paper and fill one patty side with onions and cheese, or whatever you might like. We had some that wanted onions and cheese and some only wanted cheese.

Gently scoop up the other patty and place on top of the filled part, pinch to close.

Take the burger and put on top of two pieces of criss-crossed bacon, tooth picking the bacon together.

Grill until done. 

And today I wanted to say a few words about my Limelight Hydrangeas. First of all I must declare I do love hydrangeas, any variety. Yet limelights are unequivocally my all time favorite at the present.  These bushes around my patio are three years old. I prune them late winter using the 1/3 or 2/3 cutting back ratio, I pruned mine 2/3 this past year. One produces more blooms, yet smaller, the other encourage larger blooms but less of them. I hit the jack pot and had the best of both on my bushes. A bounteous display of large blooms.

 I  am able to adorn my dining room table with these flowers  for weeks. Their fragrance has become even sweeter with the humid heat.

It is a gardener's joy to have flowers to cut and bring inside all summer long. 

a sunflower tale, part 2

Remembering my woeful sunflower tale back in June, I could not wait to share my sunflowers that bloom along the back vegetable garden fence.

Sunflowers in sunlight.

"Ah sunflower, weary of time

Who countest the steps of the sun

Seeking after that sweet golden clime

Where the travellers journey is done”

– Ah! Sunflower, a sunflower poem by William Blake

while the canner jiggles...

Finding myself committed to my kitchen lately as I can vegetables, I like to listen to certain podcasts. I have lately gleaned much enjoyment while listening to Classical Et Cetera from Memoria Press. 

Because I intentionally choose to read Great Books every year I've enjoyed several of their episodes on that topic. 

Then please share your reading habits.

blueberry morning

Bright and early after a heavy night's rainfall my friend and I donned our rubber boots and enjoyed the bounty of these marvelous blueberry bushes. I  felt rather like a bear as I munched along while picking.

There are four very long rows of berries in this field. We always begin our first pickings on the lower limbs, but by the end of the season we will be toting along our ladders to reach those berries high on the top branches of the bushes..

Some are already in the freezer, many being kept in the refrigerator for eating, and six cups will go into this Rustic Blueberry Tart dessert I will serve tomorrow night when company comes for dinner.

*And, as many of you know John MacArthur went home to be with the Lord this week. I've enjoyed listening to all the tributes online given to this Faithful Servant of the Lord as I go about pickling and canning in my kitchen. Mrs. White wrote a beautiful post you may read on her blog. 

So many posts, so little time...perhaps your "song" too?  I have missed being here posting, reading and commenting on all your posts. Alas, there is a formulated plan to record the rewards of my lovely July. So stay tune if you would like...

bountiful living comes in many ways

"A person who is growing a garden, if he is growing it organically, is improving a piece of the world". -        -Wendell Berry

Monday morning and the garden has yielded baskets of fresh produce. It is happening all over again, the same rewarding story every summer. Back in the spring we sowed  all those little seeds into the soil anticipating a harvest. The harvest is just getting strong. 

 The final harvest for the lettuce and beets. I pulled all the lettuce because it becomes too bitter in the mid summer's heat and  all the beets just needed to be pulled out of the ground for storage. They will store in the refrigerator for quite some time.

Tomatoes are coming in strong now, we even had our first BLT this weekend. The little cherry ones are ripening too.

Potatoes, most of them dug; they did so much better in the raised beds on the side of the house this year. What a satisfying chore is digging potatoes if done early enough in the day!

Peppers, though the heat will affect them for a spell, I have been trying to pull the large ones.

And the blackberries... are as jewels on the vine, our first year!

This past Saturday, my daughter stopped by for afternoon tea. She called saying that is what she wanted to do. I was honored. I brewed a pitcher of hibiscus tea, added mint syrup and a slice of lime, served iced. Very Refreshing.I had whipped up a batch of banana chocolate-chip muffins to serve alongside pieces of fresh cut-up peach.

“As far as her mom was concerned, tea fixed everything. Have a cold? Have some tea. Broken bones? There's a tea for that too. Somewhere in her mother's pantry, Laurel suspected, was a box of tea that said, 'In case of Armageddon, steep three to five minutes'.” 
― Aprilynne Pike, Illusions

Meet Knox, her dog.

And we had a front row seat to observe the hummingbirds.