The garden

On Thursday, I spent the whole lovely afternoon in the garden.  I had tests I could have graded and a very messy house I could have cleaned, but the warmth of the late October day, the backdrop of golden woods, and the incredibly weedy garden in need of harvest and clean-up beckoned.  It appears that Jane Brocket felt the same way the next morning and abandoned indoor pursuits for all there is to see and do in the autumn garden.

My golden backdrop

First to be harvested...my one Meyer Lemon.  This is the same tree that bore about 15 lovely big lemons last summer.  This year - 1!  I think it is time to repot and fertilize.  The tree will come inside very soon and overwinter in my sunny dining area.  Come next spring, we hope to be graced with sweet lemon flowers and hopefully, more than 1 lemon next summer!

Though there is only one lemon, it is huge.  I am contemplating what to do with it - lemon curd, lemon tart, lemon sauce for gingerbread....this article offers more possibilities and makes me wish I had a lot more Meyer lemons.  I like #'s 13, 16, 25, 50, 61, 73, 89, 96. and 99.  Meyer lemon marmalade - wouldn't that be something.  Mmmmm.  The fragrance of this lemon really is something special.

So, I picked my lemon and went on to the garden.

The basil bed was first.  It has been so prolific but we are sure to get a frost before long so I pulled out all the basil plants.  This afternoon, Joel helped me take all the leaves off the plants and I made a huge batch of pesto.  When the parmesan cheese ran out, I just went ahead and processed the basil with olive oil and garlic.  This puree will be ready to be made into pesto and will go in the freezer when I get more parmesan.  I also made a couple of ice trays of basil cubes.  Just basil pureed with a bit of water, spooned into the ice trays, and frozen.  These will go into a ziploc in the freezer to flavor soups and sauces this winter.  (Thanks to Julie Todd for this idea!)

Next, I transplanted the cilantro plants that I had started from seed a little while back.  I've been told this is the best time to grow cilantro.  This is an experiment for me so we'll see.  Parsley always does so well through the winter here, so I have high hopes for a top terrace bed full of cilantro this year.  I may rig up a row cover for that top bed to protect it on the days it does get really cold here.

Then on to the peppers.  Also quite prolific this year.  These two, basil and peppers, are always my best "crops."  I picked a huge bowlful of peppers, the last ones on the bushes and then pulled out all the bushes and dug the bed.  Tonight peppers are roasting - they'll go on pesto pizza tomorrow after church.  Another six or seven will get stuffed with polenta sometime later this week.  The rest - maybe roasted (my new favorite way to cook and eat peppers) or chopped and frozen for later.

After giving the terrace beds a forking over with the spading fork, I planted some romaine lettuce, brussel sprouts, and cabbage.

Aren't brussel sprouts cute?  That's one pictured below...

I've never grown them because I'm not really sure I like them.   I'm willing to give them a chance, though, and will be looking for the best way to prepare them.

I still have collards and broccoli to go in the ground, but the soil in the retaining wall garden is quite "heavy" and doesn't drain particularly well.  I'm hoping to add some compost in a day or so to lighten it a bit and then get those other fall veggies in.

The spinach bed from the summer is still going strong.  This "perpetual" spinach has also been incredibly prolific this summer.  I am curious to see how it will fare through the winter and hope that the kind plant man that talked me into buying the seedlings will be back at the Farmer's Market next spring.

A good bit of weeding, trimming back, and tidying up finished off the afternoon.  It is almost November and I still have flowers.  Joy!

A week ago...

...we were anticipating our NYC weekend adventure.  You may remember my camera woes on the trip. I did get a couple of fun shots, though.  Enjoy!

 We had finished our amazing desserts at Cafe Lalo and a kind server took this photo of all of us...

Andrew, Matthew, Abbi, me, Joel

Matthew and Joel in Union Square on a misty Saturday morning, the trees were so beautiful, though this shot doesn't really capture them - it was a pretty drizzly day.  Still, NYC in the fall is delightful, rain or shine!

I teach for moments like these...

We carefully followed directions.  Paint clear nail polish on the back of a green leaf, covering at least a square centimeter.  Let it dry.  Take a small piece of clear packing tape and place it over the dry nail polish.  Peel the polish off.  Place this polish and tape section on a microscope slide.  Then take a look.

As as teacher of 9th grade biology students, the moment that comes next is what I'm going for, hoping for...

Amy slid her microscope slide under the lens. I stood back while she focused.  The next words...

"Oh, wow!"

I totally agree.  I teach for little moments like these.  Moments of discovery, awe, and wonder.

"Where science does not teach a child
to wonder and admire,
it has perhaps no educative value."

Charlotte Mason

_______________________________________________________________________________

If you're wondering what we saw, we were looking at guard cells and stomata on the underside of a leaf.  The botanists among you will know that this is where carbon dioxide goes in and oxygen goes out of a photosynthesizing leaf.  We were looking at something like this:

The Simple Woman's Daybook

I have often enjoyed reading these daybook entries of friends.  Here's mine for this afternoon...

Outside my window...sun tipped golden woods

I am thinking about...how good it feels after a hard workout

I am thankful for...a whole day at home

From the learning rooms...a new read aloud, Evening in the Palace of Reason

From the kitchen...fresh bread, salmon with lemon pepper, collard greens and roasted sweet potatoes

I am wearing...black shorts and a sweaty blue t-shirt

I am creating...a knitted sweater

I am going...to small group tonight

I am reading...A Praying Life and The Snoring Bird  (two very different books!)

I am hoping...my anatomy students studied for their test tomorrow!

I am hearing...a cricket chirping

Around the house...little piles of papers, books, unfolded laundry

One of my favorite things...a perfect cup of tea

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Teaching tomorrow at co-op, working with Matthew on college applications, coffee with a friend, planning for a bridal shower, garden clean-up!

Here is picture for today...

the library at Messiah College

"Green" walking

Tonight, I came across this little tidbit in the workout summary section of my MapMyWalk page.

Green Stats: 

Total Workout Days: 12
Distance Traveled: 54.18 mi.
Gas Saved: 3.01 gallons
Money Saved: $10.47
Carbon Offset: 58.3 lbs. of CO2 

Carbon offsets?  I had no idea.  Good old Wikipedia tells me that "one carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases."  I've got a ways to go to reach one carbon offset, but hey, at least my workout regimen is helping to save the planet.  Not like those people driving to gyms to workout on electric treadmills.  No carbon offsets for them!

I also see that by walking for 12 days, I have saved $10.47.   At that rate, I'm thinking it won't be long til I can use all that money I'll be saving to buy some new shoes or some nice winter workout clothes...or both!

Who knew walking was so frugal and so, um, green!

Just doin' my part, folks.  Just doin' my part!

Home again

Well, I didn't go to Purl or the Met, but that's OK, because we had a wonderful time just wandering.

Matthew, Joel and I went out early to walk.  We made our way to Union Square and bought scones, apple turnovers, and cinnamon raisin bread.  On the way back, we picked up coffee and had a lovely little breakfast back at the apartment.  That's a nice way to start a New York Saturday.

A bit later, we headed out, hopped on the #4 line and made our way to 86th Street and Central Park where we walked....for hours!   It was a bit drizzly, on and off, but not cold, so we strolled and strolled and strolled.  We came upon a fall festival complete with music, face painting, food and more.  We watched a juggler on a unicycle.  We saw the most adorable little boy who looked like he was about 18 months old, splashing in a puddle and laughing in that baby belly laugh way that makes everyone around smile and want to laugh, too.  We saw a wedding party and a large bird of prey being photographed (not in the same place!).  We remembered movie scenes from places in the park and marveled at all that beauty in the middle of the city.  What an incredible place Central Park is.  If I lived in NY, I think I'd walk there every day.

After a visit to the Apple store on 5th Avenue (for Matthew) and a bit of window shopping (for Andrew), we hopped back on the train.  Closer to Rob's we found pizza (for all 3 famished boys and hungry mom) and enjoyed a leisurely late lunch.

Our only travel "adventure" was on the NJ transit that evening.  Our train back out to Metropark left a half hour late and instead of taking 37 minutes, it took 2 and a half hours!!!  I was happy to have knitting and a book with me!  We finally made it back to our car and headed south, arriving in VA around 2:00 AM.  We left Grammie's this morning and got home again around 3:00 this afternoon.

What a wonderful, wonderful trip.  I wish I had pictures to show you, but my camera battery died and I forgot to take my camera charger!  Aaaaargh!  Abbi loaned me her camera, but her battery died, too.  So, I have only a few pictures which I'll upload and show you tomorrow.  I have mental pictures aplenty, though, and will try to share a few more of those with you in the days to come. 

For now, I am thankful for a fruitful, fun, safe, exciting, interesting, memorable trip with three of the most wonderful young men in the whole world.  Thanks for a great time, guys.  Let's do it again sometime!

What to do this morning?

It's gray but not raining...yet.

I'd like to go here, but that's not really on the boys' list of places to visit in NYC.

We all want to go here.

We might go here.

And who knows what else.  The boys are still sleeping, even with a siren whining and fire engine horn blaring outside.

Excellent day

It has been an excellent day....

6:15 -  Walk in the dark in the Armstrong's neighborhood, the ducks in the marsh quacking as though laughing, arms pumping, walking toward the end of a road just near the water, the sky just beginning to show the very tiniest streaks of pink as the sun began to rise.

7:00 - coffee, honeydew melon, Val's hospitality so warm

8:15 - on the road, driving north on the Garden State Parkway with autumn trees aflame at spots along the road, through the Pine Barrens toward the city.

10:33 - car safely parked, tickets purchased, standing on the train platform waiting for the train to Penn Station with my boys.  Northern NJ is pretty bleak from the train.  And then Penn Station and welcome to New York!  We took our time and walked down to NYU, enjoying the sights along the way.

1:00 - NYU info session and campus tour.  We learned a lot.  Matthew will apply.  Andrew is ready to transfer - well, not really, but he loved it, too.

3:30 - walking through the farmer's market in Union Square, hot cider and scones while we wait by the Mother and Child statue for Abbi to arrive.  Andrew talked her by cell phone to the spot where we stood by the pumpkins and then...hugs all around.  We headed back to Rob's to stow our stuff and rest a little and then out for dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant.

7:30 - subway to Chinatown and an hour of looking through stalls with hats, scarves, knock-off bags, belts, watches, sunglasses, you name it!  I felt like I was back in China or India or somewhere else where shopkeepers try to lure you into their open shop and bargain.  Fun!

And then I lost track of time - another longer subway ride to near Central Park and a short walk to Cafe Lalo (seen in You've Got Mail - remember when Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks meet and she has the rose in the book - that place!).  We had the best desserts ever, and lots of laughs and fun with Abbi.  The boys and I took a vote and it was unanimous.  She is perfect for Rob!  Though we're sorry we're not going to see him on this trip, it was a whole lot of fun fun having Abbi to ourselves for an evening!

10:15 -  Rain! and a cab ride back through Times Square and on to Rob's place where we are all now exhausted from two full days of non-stop college visiting and a full evening in the city.  Listening to the rain and the sounds from the street, cars splashing by, sirens, voices, the city.  I realize we are retiring early for New Yorkers, but we are all ready to call it a day.  A very excellent day!

On our way...

A, M, J and I are on our way to visit colleges.  We're stopping in VA for the night and heading to Messiah College in PA tomorrow morning and then on to their Phildelphia campus in the afternoon.  We'll spend the night with dear friends in NJ and then on to NYC early Friday morning.  After our info session and tour at NYU, we'll spend some time doing something fun in the city Friday night and Saturday!

It is such a treat to travel with my guys.  How they make me smile!  Plus, with two other drivers, there's a good chance I'll get some knitting done in the car.  Yeah!

Sometimes there are bumps

Even then, I give thanks for...

462.  my marriage that has room for disagreement and discussion

463.  the security of commitment that pushes through the discussions

464.  the sweetness of oneness when the talking is finished

465.  opportunities, through conversations and counseling of others, to be reminded of great truths

466.  the refining that happens in my own marriage when I talk to others about theirs

467.  three engaged couples, J and K, B and E, R and A....so  excited for them!

468.  the wonder of new commitments, the hope, the growth ahead

469.  the sustaining power of the One who makes us one

470.  forgiveness, restoration, and the hope of the gospel, lived out in our own and many marriages around us

471.  Coty!  We're fast approaching 30 years with its bumps and smooth scenic paths; slogging through swamps and walking soft forest trails under shade of magnificent hemlocks; climbing over rocks in the fog to reach the still fog enshrouded summit and hiking at evening to view glorious sunset from the peak. Sometimes the traveling is a hard climb, sometimes a pleasant stroll, sometimes an invigorating trek.  Up, down, over, around, through...but always side by side.  I'm thankful for this man with whom I've walked these years.

"As you gave the ring to one another and have now received it a second time from the hand of the pastor, so love comes from you, but marriage from above, from God.  As high as God is above man, so high are the sanctity, the rights, the promise of love.  It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but the marriage that sustains your love."

--written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Letters and Papers from Prison, quoted by John Piper in This Momentary Marriage

Thanks, buddy

There is something very wonderful about being really tired but knowing that you will be so much happier in the morning if you clean the massive mess in the kitchen before you go to bed and you dread washing all the loaf pans from the afternoon's bread baking, scrubbing the pot with hardened cauliflower soup that scorched on the bottom, and drying the huge mixer bowl so you'll have room to stack the rest of the pots and pans on the dish drain... but you walk into the kitchen determined to get it done....and then you find a son standing in front of the sink, sponge in hand, water running, dishwasher open, scrubbing pots and doing, without being asked, the big job you weren't very excited about doing.  That, my friends, is very wonderful.

Dinner tonight...

Extra healthy enchiladas....

A random Friday afternoon ramble...

It's quiet right now.

Coty is upstairs studying.  So is Matthew.  Joel, too.  A house full of studious people at the moment...except for me!

Walking has been great this week.  Rest on Sunday, 2 on Monday, 4 on Tuesday, off on Wednesday, 5 1/2 yesterday, 3 in a little while this afternoon and 8 again tomorrow.  My feet are holding up and legs feel great and I have the best walking buddy ever!  I don't think I would have even imagined doing this if it hadn't been for Heidi.  I love how our pace is so well matched, I love planning for walks and the feeling of mutual accomplishment, the wondering about shoes and winter walking clothes, the questions about what kind of hydration gear to use on our long, long walks to come - Camelbak hydration pack, fanny pack with water bottles, etc., etc.  We are so seriously thinking about walking the Myrtle Beach marathon.  I feel this close to being ready to send in my check but figure I'd better give it a few more weeks of training before I commit.  I have not felt so physically fit in a while, and we've only just begun.

We dissected the pig stomach yesterday in class.  It was fun.  Really. I told my class that when I searched for a dissection guide for the pig stomach online, I kept coming across recipes!  They weren't impressed but one of the kids did think the piece of pig stomach he cut off looked like  a piece of bologna.  You gotta love dissecting.  I do. 

Knit Night last night was a relaxed delight.  We sat around the table, the five of us, with our cups of tea and plate of cookies, bagel chips and hummus and knitted or crocheted away.  A baby hat, a baby bib, a test bit of crochet that was pulled out after not having been worked on for awhile, a shawl that will be a gift, a sweater.  I love how knitters and crocheters so love to share ideas, ooh and aah over patterns, suggest yarns, and help, help, help each other.  We will have another Knit Night in November and hopefully, every month to come!  It is a great big aaaaaaaahhhhhhh, contented sigh, sweet company kind of gathering.

Thomas comes home tonight for fall break!  Yeah!!!!  We are so ready to see him!

I am cooking another huge mess of collard greens for Rescue Mission tomorrow.  The house will again smell of soul.

Andrea brought zinnias last night.  They are very, very cheery in my kitchen window in glass jars.  And with the sun shining a bit today, they look especially bright and happy.

I have a rather large editing job to tackle in the next few days.  I always think it will take longer than it does.  Getting started is the hardest part.

I need to cut all the basil in the garden before the frost gets it.  I am very glad I live in a place where the frost doesn't kill things in mid-September.  I'm also glad that my gerbera daisy, that crazy rescued daisy, is blooming again.  It seems to like the cool weather better than the heat of summer.  I have one lemon on the tree this year and it has finally turned yellow.  I want to think of something special to do with my one Meyer lemon.

I am going to New York next week with Matthew and Andrew!!!!!!   We will visit NYU, one of the schools where Matthew plans to apply and we just may get to meet someone very special who is now engaged to someone else very special!  Now, I just wish Erin and Luke and Clara could come down to the city next Saturday.  That would be amazing!

Enough of the rambling.  I am heading out to the tree house to drink tea and read.  I haven't done that in a long time.  Seems like the perfect thing to do for the next hour.

Knit Night Tonight

Oatmeal cookies are in the oven, the teapot is warming, mugs are out....

A few friends will be coming over this evening to sit and knit.

Aaaaaahhhh.........

Walking

I promised you a post on distance walking.  Here it is. I dedicate it to Joel because he is indirectly responsible.  About a week and a half ago, he asked me to take him to play tennis with a friend.  This involved driving him to a neighborhood about 20 minutes away.  Since I didn't want to take him over, come home, and then go back and pick him up, I called my friend, Heidi, who lives in the same neighborhood.  I though we could go for a walk while Joel and Cooper played tennis.  She was free so we met at the courts and went for a very brisk 45 minute walk on the streets around her home.   That was the start....

Heidi, inspired by her cousins, who were supposed to be doing the Avon Breast Cancer Walk in NY city this past weekend, decided to begin on a distance walking training program of her own.  She told me about it on our walk, sent me a link for a training program , and invited me to join her.

I've often thought about walking long distances.  I can't run anymore - too hard on my joints, but I do love to walk.  My walking, though, is not really what could be called training.  I have been rather hit or miss for the last few months.  Sometimes I walk several times a week, sometimes not at all.

When I looked over the training program Heidi sent, I started getting really excited.  When I heard that she had walked 10 miles the Saturday after our first walk together, I was in.

So, here's the deal.  I started using the Avon training program, linked to above, and reading more about distance walking online.  I may use that program or this one.  I love the MapMyWalk website and use it for mapping distances and keeping a walking log.

Last week, my first full week on the program, I sort of jumped ahead of schedule.  I think I could safely do that because I'm not starting from zero.  I have already been doing some walking.  So last week,  I walked 3, 3, and then 4 miles during the week and on Saturday, Heidi and I walked 8 together.  That was exhilarating!  Well, maybe not right at the end.  But when I got home, hydrated, soaked my feet in ice water, and thought about having just walked 8 miles, I was pumped. 

Sunday was a day off and just now, at 9:30 at night, I went out for a 2 mile walk.  I do not usually go out at night to walk.  But now I don't want to entertain the thought of missing a day of walking, even if that means going after dark on a cool evening all by myself.  Actually, it was a lovely walk.  The air is fresh after the rain and pleasantly cool, the crickets are chirping, and the neighborhood quiet.  One dog barked at me and one car passed me. Very peaceful.

It is very, very helpful to have a goal and a friend with whom to pursue that goal.  It is exciting to think about doing another endurance walk on Saturday with Heidi.  It is fun to talk about cross-training and weight training, stretching, hydrating, shoes, and ways to keep ourselves healthy as we work toward a distance goal.

Since I began my walking training program, Coty and I have talked more about marathons (he used to run them and would love to run/walk one again if he could do it under 4 hours without hurting his knees).  He came downstairs this morning and told me about the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February.  Walk a marathon?  Could I do it?  Should I do it?  Most marathons limit the amount of time that participants can be on the course.  The MB marathon is listed as a walker friendly one and gives you a full 8 hours to complete the 26.2 miles. That seems very do-able.  I'm thinking hard about it and getting excited at the prospect.  But I'm only into the second week of my program so I'll wait a couple more weeks to decide whether or not to sign up for the marathon.

In the meantime...I'll just keep upping my weekly totals, Lord willing, and taking it a step at a time.  And Joel, if you want to go play tennis, just let me know.  I can always go for a walk!

"The outline of God's heart"

"Thanks is never for the things. Thanks is for His touch.

That gifts have no significance in and of themselves. Gifts only have meaning in that they trace the outline of God's heart.

When everyday is thanksgiving day, earth's heart fuses with heaven's"      

                                                              -Ann Voskamp, Holy Experience
                                                                        

441.  An impromptu house full of young adults after church

442.  Conversation on the porch with young women

443.  Time to hear people's stories

444.  Time to cook together

445.  Loving arms and caring words from many at church for a hurting one

446.  A long-distance phone call from J in Egypt

447.  Frugal shopping finds

448.  Muscles and feet that recovered quickly from a long walk

449.  Tenderhearted, affectionate sons

450.  Teamwork in church leadership

451.  Laughter in a business meeting

452.  Sacrificial giving

453.  Conversations in the parking lot

454.  Little ones waving good-bye to a big one they love - Isabelle, Ezra, and Levi to Albert!

455.  The excitement of a new reader

456.  A surprise visit from Sara

457.  Outrageously abundant basil harvest

458.  Hot tea, warm scarf on a cool morning with a hint of rain in the air

459.  Hard studying boys needing no prodding

460.  A quiet morning for work

461.  Constant encouragement and reminders to give thanks from Ann (linked to above).  She helps all of us who read her to remember from Whom our blessings flow and to Whom we sing our songs of praise.

.

Birthday celebration dinner

My very wonderful parents came yesterday and we all went out to a Greek restaurant for birthday dinner...

Our waitress and another server brought me this birthday treat - kind of like fried doughnut holes with honey, cinnamon, and walnuts with Happy Birthday in chocolate around the edges and a cute little Greek flag for good measure.  And they sang to me.  Very sweet.

And then home for key lime cheesecake that my mom brought. Oooo, it was good!

I don't feel a bit guilty about eating all those birthday goodies because I walked *8 miles today!!!!!!

______________________________________________________

*more on distance walking in another post...it's a new adventure thanks to my friend, Heidi!

A milestone and more thanks

When I had small children, I had a very hard time imagining that I would ever be a grandparent.  It seemed so very far away.  But now it is here and this birthday, I celebrated as a Gramma.  One of the sweetest little birthday greetings I got was a photo text message of Clara that read, "Clara says Happy Birthday Gramma!"  Very special!  And how special it will be when she is talking and I actually get to hear her say those words.  Instead of thinking that such moments may never come, I now find myself thinking about them, looking forward to them, imagining reading Alfie and Annie Rose books with her, showing her Tasha Tudor paintings with corgis in them, making cut-out cookies, perhaps teaching her to knit, planting flowers with her...and more.

I miss that little girl like the dickens!  And I miss her mommy and daddy like the dickens, too.  I miss seeing their smiles as they gaze into her eyes, watching them talk to her, play with her, comfort her, dance with her.  I miss seeing Erin in the rocking chair nursing and Luke holding Clara and reading to her about bits and spurs!

But this morning, instead of focusing on the missing, let me give thanks for the gifts, the joys of this new season.  I praise you, Father God, because you have poured out blessings in abundance, this year through the gift of a new life, a new one to love.

I give thanks for...

421.  Arriving at the hospital before Clara was born.

422.  Being able to be with Erin just a bit before the delivery

423.  Being able to hug Luke when he was worried about the impending C-section

424.  Amazing nurses, so kind, fun, helpful, and loving

425.  A very sweet, warm doctor

426.  A family practice doctor who made a call to the hospital and held new baby Clara like he'd had a whole lot of practice holding newborns... very, very sweet

427.  A great hospital room with a view of the mountains and the monument, really lovely

428.  The chance to cook and clean and care for Erin for a nice long time after Clara's birth

429.  Middle of the night wake-ups to take Clara to Erin to nurse...I'd get up anytime for those two!  So special to wake that little girl and take her in to her sleepy mom

430.  A very wonderful son-in-law who is a great new dad.  It is a real blessing to enjoy relaxing, talking, whatever...and feel so "at home" with your son-in-law!

431.  Healthy baby, healthy mom

432.  Being able to witness the "birth" of new parents, to see their love for their baby girl, seeing Erin nurse and cuddle with her, watching Luke hold Clara for the first time, bathe her, change her diaper.  They are a great team!

433.  Friends and supportive community

435.  Watching Coty and Clara gaze into each other's eyes

436.  A sleeping baby on my lap

437.  The anticipation of new uncles meeting their niece - it happens at Thanksgiving.  Perfect!

438.  Phone calls, facebook pictures, ease of staying in touch - it must have been so hard on my own parents when Coty and I went off to Kenya and had the first grandchild (Erin) there, way back when - no internet, scratchy phone connection and certainly no instant access to pictures then!  The world has changed.

439.  Knowing that baby Clara has another set of very loving grandparents that will get to meet her next week!

440.  The joy of sharing the love of this little one with extended family on both sides.

On my birthday...

I'm thankful for...

401.  Making it to 52!

402.  Family and friends who make having a birthday sweet.

403.  Birthday phone calls

404. Legs to walk, lungs to breathe, arms to swing, eyes to see, friends for conversation and encouragement as we walk

405.  A new plan for distance walking

406.  A new book and the offer of help in learning new yoga positions to help my RA

407.  New plans for healthy eating

408.  Thai soup

409.  A glorious fall day

410.  A porch swing and a good book

411.  Thoughtful gifts

412.  A photo text of baby Clara - loved that, Erin, sweetie!

413.  32 years of walks, talks, and birthday celebrations with Coty

414.  Sweet memories

415.  Joel, doing the dishes, at this very moment, unasked.

416.  The thunk, thunk, thunk of falling acorns

417.  Cool night air and cricket song

418.  Mama and Daddy coming tomorrow!

419.  Fall gardening

420.  A very special long, long, long time friend

Reunions, Part 3

Most of Saturday was spent cooking, cleaning and getting ready.  Many, many thanks to Coty and the boys for all their help.  We even rehung the front door so it would close properly without the doorknob falling off!

Around 4, Babu and Wendy (one of the board members for the Children's Home)  arrived.  I could hardly believe he was here in my own home!  What a happy reunion.

We had dinner together and then a group of folks came over for dessert. Babu talked for a bit about the work he does in Bapatla, showed some pictures, and answered questions. It was an informative and moving evening for folks. As one dear friend said, "My heart is deeply stirred."

Sunday morning, Babu was introduced in church and he read one of the Scripture passages in Telugu. One of the things I love about our church is that we value diversity and include other languages in our service. Because we have a number of Chinese students that worship with us, we often read scripture in Mandarin. I don't think there were any other Telugu speakers there yesterday, but we still appreciate just hearing how others in faraway places hear the word in their own tongues.

Once again, I felt deep joy in being a part of this little church. I looked around and saw people from China, the Philippines, Honduras, India and the Congo. I saw children adopted from Cambodia and Liberia; large families and single people; black, white, young, old, and all ages in between. I heard small children and babies, papers rattling, and a few cries.

I cried at the end of the sermon...tears of deep gratitude and amazement, remembering the hard times and glad for it's lessons. Joy filled for the faithfulness, perseverance, and humility of so many and the abundant fruit so evident around the room. If you were there and heard the sermon, you will understand those tears.

After church, about 30 people came to our house for lunch and to hear Babu. Again he spoke about the work in Bapatla and answered lots of questions. So many people had a chance to speak with him individually. He held babies and played with children. As we were standing around before we ate, I saw him hugging Ryan, adopted from Cambodia. It was a sweet picture.

Babu speaking to everyone gathered in the family room...

  ...and enjoying conversation afterwards.

When the guests left, we all crashed.  Babu and Wendy headed upstairs for naps.  Coty and I turned on the football game and snuggled up on the couch to watch sleep.


In the evening, all refreshed, we headed over to the Farson's for a visit with that wonderful family and several of their neighbors.  Yet again, Babu spoke about his work and answered questions.   He was so happy to get to see Grace and to meet her folks.  What a precious time of connecting and who knows what will come of it?

This morning, after a leisurely start and a good old Southern breakfast of eggs, grits, and biscuits, our guests headed out.   We had such great conversations all weekend, such joy in spending time with Babu and Wendy, and were happy to be able to introduce them to so many friends. 

Reunions, Part 2

Saturday afternoon, these dear ones came to visit.  We miss Eric, Kari, and the girls so much since they moved out of the area.  What a treat to see the girls again and see how much they've grown!

Reunions, Part 1

We have just had a very, very wonderful weekend full of reconnecting. It started with my college freshman hall reunion dinner on Friday night over in Davidson. Most of the women were staying for the rest of the weekend, but because of our special guests coming on Saturday, I only went to the dinner on Friday. It was a lot of fun reconnecting with women I haven't seen in a very long time. I look forward to the next time we get together. Here we all are...

To be continued....

Hospitality

"Just cook something good to eat."

Advice I gave to Amber once. She reminded me this morning.

I have company coming tomorrow - people who have never been in my home before. I am tempted to work myself into a frazzled tizzy getting ready, a long, impossible list staring me in the face and daring me to get it all done. Do you think of all kinds of household projects that have to get done before they come! I do. How silly.

The list will not be all checked off.

But that's OK. The sheets will be clean. The floors washed. The bathroom scrubbed. Fresh towels. And there will be some good food on the table. Nothing complicated. Just good, healthy food served with gratitude for the privilege of hosting someone very special.

I am so thankful for...

396. A good morning walk

397. A sky tinged with pink

398. A day of good work ahead and no place to go til evening

399. Coming downstairs to a clean kitchen, thanks to the boys' diligence

400. A restful night's sleep