No Shoes, Stepping Out, Answers

1. Music echoes through the hall as I approach the music room. The keyboard is set on a steel drum sound and Mrs. C. is bouncing on her bench while she plays a lively Jamaican tune. The children's singing is a carefree sound. Glancing down, I see Mrs. C.'s socks. She's taken her shoes off.
2. It's been a week of mild fall weather, beautiful sunsets, and soft breezes.
3. A friend and historian has finally found an answer to a search she's been on for many years. Read here about Pvt. Samuel Helms. It's a fascinating story and I can imagine an historical fiction novel written from it.

A Day in Song and Pictures

1. I'm sitting in the living room, drinking my morning coffee and watching the news. I can hear Tess singing in the shower upstairs. I push the mute button so I can listen to her pretty voice. It beats the news.
2. Throughout the morning, teachers and staff stopped by the office to pick up their mail. I had just distributed class photos to all their boxes which included our own personal mug shots. One by one, I began to notice that each teacher had the same reaction. They would take a peek at their photo, shake their heads, grumble something in disgust, and walk away.
2a. After viewing my own photo, I commented to M. that I definitely should have bought the full coverage make up in Raleigh last weekend.
3. In contrast, later this evening, I pour old family photos out of an envelope onto the counter in search of something. These candid shots of my sister dancing on a picnic table, family gatherings at tables laden with food, my dad flexing his muscles, these all make me smile.

Contains Honey, Eighteen!, Last Harvest

1. Drats. I knew I shouldn't buy the candy corn...it's too fun to eat. I have the addicting habit of biting off the wide, yellow bottom first.
2. Tess plugged in the twinkle lights that I bought for her upcoming birthday party. They're orange like candy corn. When she found the extra light that makes them twinkle, her eyebrows went up in a mischievous way. She just had to make them twinkle.
3. I quickly picked the last of the green beans before it got dark. (Which is too early, by the way!)
3a.. W. came across the field with a bag of goodies from the farm store: apples, summer squash, zucchini and broccoli.

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!