Sunday in Raleigh

1. Jack comes looking for me with a book in his hand. He wants me to read him an illustrated version of The Little Drummer Boy. I sing it rather than read it and he likes that.
1a. I love reading a book to a child on my lap. Mari's favorite books are "Fancy Nancy".
2. The shopping options are endless in Raleigh. There is so much more than we would ever need. But, we had fun mending the gaps in Steve's wardrobe. The crowds of humanity, the three sales people per every customer, the dizzying array of merchandise, it left me giddy.
3. The quiet peace of church was an oasis in the midst of a busy weekend. The pastor took an ancient text, the Book of Daniel, and made it applicable to the strife and war in our world today.
3a. I notice that Jack is very keen on the music.

Goodie Bags, Jack, Apples and Caramel

1. In the tradition of my mother and grandmother I brought the grandchildren a goodie bag. We've always made it a habit that the children depart (or grandmother arrives) with a little bag filled with treats.
2. Jack the toddler is now Jack the little boy. He positions himself right in front of a person to get their attention and then he talks. He sought Steve out to show him his pajamas.
2a. Sometimes Claire interprets for us.
3. All weekend long, the house was filled with the aroma of apples. We brought Claire two bushel bags filled with drops and she had applesauce, apple butter, and apple pie all going at the same time.
3a. She also made this amazing sea salt caramel.  You know what I'm making tonight : )
      

Winding Down the Week

1. Henri was due for a grooming and B. offered to show me how to DIY (and save $45!) Henri was mostly chill for the experience and now he looks very dapper.
2. J. was using his chain saw back in the woods. It sounded like fall.
2a. Steve helped J. the following night and came home with a truck bed full of winter wood. It's Ash and it smells nice to walk past the wood pile.
4. Claire told the grandchildren I was coming to visit. She wrote me and said, "Mari is so excited you are coming. Before bed she was playing "a little game of nonnie" and pretending to drive to your house." Grandchild love is different from any other love I know. It's a joyful love, boundless and fun. To know that a little child loves me in a big way, like a celebrity, well... it's humbling. I'll do my best to return it in kind.
5. It used to be that Steve would often play DJ while I worked in the kitchen. I asked him to play DJ tonight while I cleaned up after dinner and then baked cookies. Here are two of the several selections he played. It's the variety that makes it fun.  : )

Beautiful Galleries, I Want What They're Having, Too Funny!

Just a stick...

...until you look closer.

  1. I returned from my walk with treasures...a pocketful of acorns and a beautiful stick.  The intricate patterns are tunnels made by bark beetles and other insects and they're called galleries. I think the designs look like a combination of  ancient writing and folk art.
1a. This is my second such stick so, I think I've begun a collection. I picked up the first stick on an island on Lake George, New York. It's so beautiful, I could never bear to throw it away so I've hauled it around with us for twenty five years.
2. The local, very nice, retirement home donates its old menus as scrap paper to our school. (An entire box of it.) I pull some out for menu ideas: Lobster Bisque, Summer Tuscan Salad, Coconut Cake, etc.
3. Oh my goodness, this blogger's videos made me laugh!

Making It Up Later, Fit for a King, I'm Out Here!

1. It was one of those mornings when I woke at three a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. I muddled through work on the promise of an afternoon nap. I arrived back home, foggy headed, where Henri joined me on the ugly recliner for a one hour, blissful nap.
2. Dinner would be late and we had to wing-it. Thank goodness for B.'s fresh eggs. We had Western omelets that were so good, I wouldn't have replaced them with any other fare.
3. Squeezing the last few minutes of daylight to dusk on the porch and watching the day come to a close. Any mild enough weather for porch time is icing on the cake at this stage of the season.

Men Playing Games, Nut Gathering, From Long Ago

1. Whenever I see Steve run it makes me smile for the oddity of it. It is a rare and unusual sight which prompts us to call out, "Look! Daddy's running!".
2. There's a huge chestnut tree whose branches hang over a fence and into the town park. Hand-sized, spiky green hulls split open and reveal smooth, mahogany chestnuts. I carry one of the chestnuts around in my pocket where I can finger it's smoothness. Every so often I take it out and admire it's wood-grained color.
3. A neighbor, whom I knew in Birmingham fifteen years ago, phoned me out of the blue. I have not spoken to her since we moved away from there, but I think of her often. Oh, that accent is something else and I loved hearing it and her! Her little boy was a little slip of a four year old when I knew him. She tells me he is now over six feet tall and weighs two hundred and seventy pounds. We shared a good laugh over that.

Feeling Creative, Ginger, Narnia in Fincastle

1. Spending a rainy, dreary Saturday morning in a creative environment somehow feels just right. Not at an art studio, but at our local home improvement store. Talk about inspiration!
2. I chopped a pound of fresh ginger in the food processor. It smelled so good that I continued to inhale deeply from the bowl after I emptied out the ginger. Steve brewed a batch of ginger beer for me, experimentally. We'll see how it turns out.
2a. Coincidentally, I baked hermit cookies today and they're filled with candied ginger. I kept a few pieces of the candied ginger aside to eat.
3. Our local, historical Fincastle Presbyterian Church hosted a C.S. Lewis weekend. Tonight we heard Will Vaus speak on his book, "The Hidden Story of Narnia". An excellent speaker, the Reverend Vaus is a C.S. Lewis authoritarian who has written several books. Click here for one of his blog posts on the subject.