Monthly Archives: January 2011

a little window gazing

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Husband is traveling and, let me just say, times like these remind you that parenting a houseful is ideally a team sport.  So am knee deep in taxi driving and answer keys.  Bear with me. 

After seeing all the typos in my last post I decided to just regale you with local scenery from my walks versus try to compose a coherent thought – which you know, can be a challenge on a good day lol. 

Fockenberg-snow-door-web

German winters can be damp and gray which is a drag for a lot of people.  But I truly love the texture and change in color in winter. 

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The stacks of tiles in the siding and the stacks of logs in the shed all seemed wonderfully geometric on this walk.

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Like with wardrobe and home decorating and black and white photography, a (near) monochromatic scheme makes subtle patterns and textures really shine. Light and shadow become the principle players and it's all very exciting to me. 

So exciting in fact I am noticing patterns all over.  More to follow on that. Look around your world today.  If you find something beautiful in the usual leave me a link. : ) 

 

corners of my home – and a sale

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Have I shown you my apothecary jars?  Someone stop me if I have.  I just know I am way behind in show and tell.

When I got the typewriter last fall I saw these brown jars sitting nearby. More and more rich earthy neutrals like these really draw me in.   Still, it felt too extravagant to buy it all so I went home.  Then I thought about them for some time. ; )  When I went back the next time they were still there so you know the rest of that story.  They live here next to the vintage German globe my husband snagged at the flea market last year.  

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And yes, they are available as a print.  Just click on the image above. 

While you are shopping, take advantage of the framing offer.  When you get to the checkout you have your choice of a dozen frame styles from contempory to beautiful carved woods.  I am offering them at cost.  You can also opt to have the prints mounts on matboard or foam board and lustre coated which I highly recommend.  The finishes, also, are offered at base lab cost. 

now and then

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Took this picture of Tess and remembered a couple very similar images taken almost two years ago.  

Tess-jan11-choc-web

So I tracked them down to edit for comparison.  She is getting to be such a big girl.  The bigger they get the happier I am that I take an insane amount of pictures. 

So glad she still has a bit of that sweet baby face too. : ) 

Tess-09-choc-2-web

Tess-09-choc-web

Snowy Garmisch

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Playing around with some images from Bavaria.  There were a ton of cross country skiers during the day.  

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This other was taken between Garmisch and Innsbruck.  The cool thing about both was that they were taken from  the passenger seat of the car – moving, lol.  I wasn't sure I would be able to use them but they were perfect to use as the base sketches for digital canvases so I am a happy camper. 

 

Castle-sketch-garmisch

7 Quick Takes

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(more at Jen's)

1. Directionally Challenged

It is possible to get through the majority of your day wearing your black stretchy yoga pants backwards.   Like, you could be standing in an itty bitty craft store basement trying to find a glue gun stick, reach around to rub your back,  and suddenly feel a string and go "Wha…?"  and then it dawns on you.  Its the drawstring.  Mmm hmmm.  

My Gram used to say you had days when you didn't know if you were coming or going. Apparently pants can have those days too.  Then you need some chocolate. And maybe some Motrin.  And a maybe a quick run into the grocery store ladies room to set things right.  That all helps. Hypothetically speaking. 

2. True story - 

While driving big kids around  there are preschoolers bickering in the back seat, prompting an exchange like this:

"He hurt my book!"

the other:

"Did not!"

the first:

"Did too!"

Me:

"Apologize to the book please." 

This actually made them all happy.

 

3. Bad hair dogs day

We somehow have dogs again.  I am not responsible for this decision but have been coming around.  At least until we got them groomed.  They have been bounced around in 3 other homes in as many years and haven't been groomed in many moons.  They needed name tags when we picked them up. : o  Wow.  We now have THE ugliest little bald dogs on the planet, God bless 'em.  Seriously. I need to take a picture of these ears – assuming they don't catch a strong breeze and float away before I get to them.  Stay tuned.  You gotta see these. 

4. All tied up

Dh decided to wash his  running clothes before he left for his trip.  I was heading out to run an errand but said I would run down to throw them in.  No, no, he assured me.  He could do it himself.  Just could I show him where the buttons should be set on the machines?  That is never a good sign. Still, I showed him.  He kissed me goodbye with that very confident look that made me just a smidge uneasy.

When I came home I heard a knocking sound in the laundry room.  I asked if someone was in the laundry room?  "Nope" he says.  "I washed my clothes and they are drying now."  I asked if he threw his running shoes in too?  Nope.  Probably was my cue to explore further but I didnt.  He called from the laundry room a while later.  "You've gotta see this!" he tells me.  There he stands with the entire contents of the dryer in one tight wad, completely tied together with string.  Apparently a spool of thread was near the dryer (I had some sewing supplies in the room when pressing some seams I think) and one landed in the dryer with his load where the whole thing unraveled winding round and round and round every piece of clothing.  I am not sure you could repeat the result if you tried lol!

We are easily amused. But you knew that, didn't you. 

 

5. I Heart Edu-Software

I picked up a SchoolZone kindergarten cdrom  set for the littles  this week and we are LOVING it. For $20 it replaced all the workbooks they had – save for some printing prctice  we are still working on, which is huge when the paper man comes only once a month. They are much happier and more productive during the big kids' school time now when not playing with the giant wooden train set and the play kitchen.  They are so excited to 'do school' when the rest of them are. Please don't turn me in to the twaddle police 'k?  This is between us. ; )   

 

6. The Fog is Lifting

Had a little happy realization today.  I didn't have the GPS on,  and haven't most of the week.  And my image editing software textbook didn't make my eyes cross. As we finish our second quarter I can say that I feel fairly up to speed with our correspondence school program and testing/grading/reporting system. And I can now open my PO Box in front of strangers because there are no more expletives nor vocal prayer to the patron saint of combination locks.  Woo Hoo!

When we moved this time I was prepared. I knew that as exhilarating as this would be, there would be months of haze where my brain would be like a sponge so saturated with data that it would be leaking all over. (Granted #1 take may contradict my feeling that it is wringing out some lol) I didn't fret too much but it IS disconcerting when every. single. thing. is well, foreign.  Different sounds, different smells, different signs, different procedures.  New. New. New. Everything New.  Today was a blessing. We are finally at the point that it isn't ALL new now.  And the new information I do take in is sinking in versus overflowing into a big puddle. 

 

7. Lovely links:

Becky inspiration – easy transformations with patterned paper and a freebie to frame for February.

Picture a day fun from this family

Been all over A Lemon Squeezy Home blog.  Check out the tutes.   I feel I must make this now. You know, after I get my own clothing situated on myself correctly and all. <g>

A Merry Heart

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"Sometimes she said, 'A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.'  And it was true.  

Smile-cup-web

If you turned up the corners of your mouth, you just couldn't help smiling!"  - A Lion in the Box 

(oh how we loved this book!)

Debi Pearl once shared a story where her husband mentioned the "pretty clerk down at the general store."  For the life of her she could not recall a 'pretty' woman working there. All she was aware of was a rather homely, heavy set woman.  When referring to her by name her husband said, "Yes! that's the one!"  She was puzzled by this but when they visited the store the next time she noticed how the woman was always laughing and smiling and her enthusiasm was infectious. So infectious, it was, that it transformed her into a most attractive, engaging person despite her natural physical attributes, someone whom people flocked  around and whose presence brightened the room.

She paused and took note.  One of those pondered in your heart moments.

A fascinating post script to that story was that some time later they ran into the same woman in the grocery store, ranting at her daughter, her face twisted in anger and disgust.  When her name was mentioned the husband could not believe it was her. The very same?  Yes, it was.  In her agitated state she bore so little resemblance to the bright and sunny woman they had come to know he could not even recognize her.  

I think of this story often lately. Everyone is beautiful when they smile. Smiles turn wrinkles into happy exclamations – for which I am eternally grateful lol.  They draw those around us in and warm cold hearts. Even our own. 

I have come to realize that a smile does not have to depend upon everything going well. It does not need to mean that we approve of all that happens around us. It does not rely upon the behavior of others nor the accomplishment of our goals, nor the happy resolution of our problems.  Rather it is a vote of confidence. It is a salute to the One who works it all for good no matter. It is a gift to others.  It is a gift to ourselves. I am determining not to be stingy with smiles.  They are free after all and tend to multiply as we give them away.

The world always looks brighter from behind a smile.  ~Author Unknown

(Shown above are mitts knit by the gypsy. LOVE love LOVE them.  Thank you for making me smile!  Sending you back a smile of your own from a happy little mug from my childhood.) 

some linky love

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I am very bad about getting things up here lately.  Need to figure out that sidebar share widget.  Meantime, some good resources lately:

An oldie but goodie – If you did not read Large Family Logistics' website a few years back you can still glean some of the best information here.   I printed those when they first were published and have referred back to them again and again.  Very helpful. 

Beautiful hand painted calendar available free here. at the Creature Comforts blog.  This could be great inspiration for homemade gift giving for Christmas.  And yes, I am thinking about that in January. I figure it will take me all year to make and prepare gifts so ALL our crafting this year is done with that in mind.  

If you take nothing else from this little link visit please consider this resolution from the blog's author:

One of the many resolutions I made for myself this new year is to spend more time creating art (not just looking at it online). I don't really consider myself to be an "artist" in the traditional sense of the word, but I do love it whenever I set the time aside to work on it (which is hardly ever I'm afraid – hence the resolution).

Looking online is great inspiration.  Don't stop there though. Make something. : ) 

I am trying to get materials ordered for these peg people.  Even if they don't turn out quite like Alice's. So pretty.

Applique onesies and infant shoes here. Couldn't be easier – at least the onesie part.  And this sweet floral onesie actually looks like something you would want to have your baby wear. Would be really pretty with a tiny skirt in coordinating fabric too. 

We can make this even easier.  Follow Sally Shim's video tute here. 

A thought. Trim does not need to be white. I love the use of a glossy black for trim, doors, and cabinets. 

Aprons.  This reminded me. I am very bad about wearing aprons. My shirts attest…

Totally out of the blue here.  Had seen an article about how cleanliness and order make even the most modest home lovely. It is absolutely true. No matter what you are working with, everything can look good when very clean and decluttered.  This mobile home tour shows just that.  

And now I realized how long it has been since I caught up with Sally Shim's blog and am all distracted lol. We talked about a 365 project the other day.  How is this for a quick album – go through last year's pictures and pick ONE image which represents a highlight from each month. 

 

ok off to be productive.  Mostly. : ) 

now we are six

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Brendan stayed up late tonight, alone with his mama, much the way his journey into this world began six years ago.  He started up the stairs a while ago.  Down he came before long, announcing that he just couldn't sleep. The truth is, I couldn't either.

His Daddy is travelling tonight, as he was that other night six years ago. I don't sleep as well when he is gone and, especially this night, my head is full of remembering and forgetting and humble awe. 

  "Just one story, please mom?"  he asked.  So we read together while the house slept.  These lines linger with me:

"Mr. Herriot," he said, "do you ever feel that sometimes when unexpected things happen, they were meant to, and that it works out for the best in the end?"

"Yes," I said. "I often think that." - Blossom Comes Home, James Herriot

I often think that too these days, though it has been a hard sell at other times in my life. Brendan came into our lives at a time when I was quite certain the unexpected was suspect at best and generally to be avoided. I wanted nothing more than 'predicatable'.  I wanted to go to sleep every night knowing exactly what the next morning and those that followed would bring.  You are chuckling, yes? An impossibility if ever there was one and yet, with that goal firmly in mind, I told my husband no.  No, I couldn't move again. No, I can't imagine life being good any other way than this one way. No I cannot do another scary thing.  No.  
Of course you know what God said. He said the same thing my dear Gram said, "Oh yes you can." And He began to show me exactly that, beginning with Brendan's birth. 
I am so grateful for this little man, so full of surprises from the very beginning. So grateful for the journey our lives have taken together. So grateful for 'yes'. 
Brendan-6-bday-web
(The story of Brendan's birth is told here.)

thank you

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Our girls are off on another adventure today. Allen took them to the train station early this morning. It was a late night before and we were a little foggy headed all around.  The girls grabbed lunches and bags and I handed him his to-go cup and a slice of toast and off they went. 

Later when he returned home he stopped me and said while driving home he had looked at his cup and thought, someone had gotten up before him, made him coffee and sent him off fed.  It occurred to him he had not thanked me for that. He worried we might take these little things for granted.  Even if they happen regularly they are no less wonderful. 

He does his own wonderful things – like figuring out train tickets and handling early morning rides so I don't have to.  As do our kids. And our friends.  How often do we stop to tell them?  To consider how those little acts of love lighten our load and brighten our days?  It's not a unique problem….

 11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a] met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

 14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

If you have a pack of thank you notes tucked in a drawer someplace, pull one out.  Tape it to the fridge. We don't need a program.  Just a little reminder. It helps "make us well".  

Today is a very good day to say, Thank You. I will start.  Thanks to you all who have popped in to say hello or drop a note in my box.  It means the world to me. God bless. : ) 

Tess-cocoa-garmisch-web
(someone else who is very grateful for her cuppa – Tess and her cocoa in the kitchen in Garmisch)

 

 

A Welcoming Home

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Fockenberg-tower-house-snow-fence-web

"A welcoming home is a place of refuge, a place where people worn down by the noise and hostility of the outside world can find a safe resting place. 

A welcoming home has a sense of order about it.  Not stiff, stultifying order that goes to pieces over a speck of dust or that sacrifices relationships in the interest of cleanliness, but a comforting, confident sense that that people, not possessions, are in charge of the household, that emotions are expressed but never used as weapons, that life is proceeding with a purpose and according to an overall plan." 

–The Spirit of Loveliness, Emilie Barnes

I am often asked for book recommendations.  The truth is I don't own a plethora of home and family books,  and not many new titles.  I tend to read and reread many of the same older titles (which are often less glitzy, less edgey) and continue to find quiet inspiration. I am trying to jot down passages that speak to me.

Be encouraged. It can take many years to really assimilate these messages and to live the vision, depending on your personal background coming into marriage and motherhood. Many more than I had expected!