Thought on Presidents Day

If a woman were to become President, she would probably pass a law that said you had to sew in the afternoon.  Jonathan

Hunkering Down

Miracles are hard to find in winter, but the season presents plenty of opportunity for the endeavor.  There is enough spare time to bundle up, take excursions and make discoveries.  Or you can hunker down close to home.  Winter is for intimacy, for snuggling up together and reading something warm and cozy, for clasping warm mugs after snowball fights, for sinking into pillows....winter has an opaque quality, so that all of your memories of the holidays, sledding, pine cones, and greenhouses are muted, as if seen through frosted glass.  And they are all flavored with hot chocolate.  Winter has a tough exterior, but it keeps a warm heart.

 Tovah Martin, A Time to Blossom

Proper Timing

repost from the archives (circa 2011)

 

In Boston, one day, she had an unusual experience.  While Papa and Auntie Hoyt waited out of sight somewhere, she had to go by herself into a large room in a department store and listen to someone dressed up like Santa Claus read a Christmas story and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  This seemed odd to her for at Thanksgiving time, she was not ready for Santa Claus.  In Cranbury they got through the turkeys and the pumpkins and the Pilgrims before they brought out the Santa Clauses.  She was quite relieved when the whole occasion was over and instead of being abandoned, she found Papa and Auntie Hoyt waiting, beaming, at the door.

Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes

Little Orphan Josie

She's certainly perfected the look of a waif with her scraggly hair, dirty face and oversized clothes.  

 

Now she has the story to go with it.

 

 

She invited me to her "house" today and shared her tale of woe.

 

"(Sniff)  My mother, she is dead and killed.  (Sniff)  My father was killed by soldiers and is dead.  (Pause, gulp).  My grandmother is dead and killed.  (Sniff, sniff, shake head)  My grandfather is killed by soldiers and is dead.  (Sniff)."

"When I was down beside the sea...."

 

 

A wooden spade they gave to me

 

 

To dig the sandy shore.

 

 

My holes were empty like a cup.

 

 

In every hole the sea came up    

 

 

Till it could come no more.

 

 

Robert Louis Stevenson

Summer's Last Stand

The kids suddenly had the idea for a lemonade stand, and seeing as it is the last day of summer and the ingredients were all on the counter anyway, I said "yes."

 

I was afraid they would be very disappointed but business was booming; even the mailman stopped to buy.  Jonathan handed out free rocks and leaves.

Matthew explained their distribution of earnings like this, "Mom, you can have half for making the lemonade, and Stephen can have half for helping, and I'll get the other half."  I guess I know what we'll be working on in math today.

Scouting: Year Three

Matthew has been eagerly awaiting this day: his first den meeting as a Cub Scout.

 

 

Jonathan was consoled when I scored a uniform in his size at the thrift store

 to pair with a hand-me-down neckerchief.

 

 

Doug will be heading up Matthew's den of Tigers.

 

 

And Tootsie was not to be left out.  "When I grow up and I am a boy, then I will be a Scout, too, and wear my socks and go camping with Dad and all the boys."

Marriage Requirements

At dinner tonight, Stephen announced that one day he would get married.

 

 

"But I don't want my wife to work."

 

 

"And she has to love God and not want to smoke."

 

 

He's going to be quite a catch.

The Budding Artist

 

"I cannot draw the Sistine Chapel because my paper is too small."

Bridal Bouquet

 

 

"I have pretty flowers.  I get married like you do, momma!"

Redeeming Love

"I wish you weren't in my family so that I could marry you."

 

 

That sweet remark saved this little boy when he later took pruning shears to my crape myrtle.

Pantry Love

"Oh, I just love to clean pantries," Donna said.  The two girls held hands and ran across the lawn toward the Hollister house.  

The pantry was a large walk-in closet entered by a door in the kitchen.  It was bright and cheerful, having a window high on the outside wall. 

Shelf after shelf was covered with red and white paper, and on them were stacked neat rows of canned goods, spices, bottles of ketchup, maple sugar, and other good things to eat.  On the bottom one stood yellow canisters of flour and sugar.

"This will be fun to clean," Donna said as the three girls surveyed their chore.

The Happy Hollisters and the Sea Turtle Mystery by Jerry West

 

Via



Via

Via

Oh, how I love an organized pantry!  Aside from the beauty of clean and neat, I think it conjures warm memories of my childhood.  One grandmother had a walk-in room off her kitchen which housed neat rows of cans and jars (and an ample supply of Little Debbie treats!).  My other grandmother had a basement kitchen for her canning, and there was a storage room brimming with jars of apples, beans, tomatoes, and my grandfather's attempts at wine.  At home, I loved to sort and rearrange our own small walk-in pantry (I think my mom appreciated it?!).

But my favorite kitchen of all was an old house belonging to one of my teachers.  As a child, the ceilings seemed to soar.  A bank of windows brought a flood of light into the room.  Cabinets opened to reveal of myriad of shelves for storage.  But it all paled in comparison to the jewel: a butler's pantry!  This darling room was accessed through swinging doors and had lovely rows of cabinets for china, silver and much, much more!

Sadly, I don't have a pantry. I do have a coat-closet-turned-food-storage, but it doesn't function well in the capacity of pantry mostly due to the fact that it is too deep (pantries should be 12-18" MAX). 

But this girl can continue to dream of those organized shelves filled with food stuffs to feed a small army of hungry children.

Now is the Month of Maying

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Spring, clad all in gladness, doth laugh at Winter's sadness.  Sir Thomas Morley

A Milestone Day

Matthew has been anticipating this day for a long time.

 

The day when he graduates from Tub Scout to Cub Scout.

 

He walked around with an extra strut all day, and after donning his new uniform he announced, "I looked in the mirror and I looked good."

While the Crossover Ceremony was last night, official den meetings will not start until August.

 

 

But for now, he's glad to be one of the Big Boys.

An Outing

"I'm taking my boys to the museum."

Rain Gear

 

"I want to wear my rain-rain-go-away coat."

On Making a Home

"...This is really the jolliest little place I ever was in.  Now, wherever did you pick up those prints?  Make the place look so home-like they do.  No wonder you're so fond of it, Mole.  Tell us all about it, and how you came to make it what it is."

Then...the Mole, his bosom still heaving with the stress of his recent emotion, related - somewhat shyly at first, but with more freedom as he warmed to his subject - how this was planned, and how that was thought out, and how this was got through a windfall from an aunt, and that was a wonderful find and a bargain, and this other thing was bought out of laborious savings and a certain amount of "going without."

The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

"Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening"

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

 

 

 

 

 

My little horse must think its queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

 

 

 

 

 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

 

Robert Frost