Catching Up

Lake Michigan--gorgeous!

It really has been two months since I last made a blog post!  This summer has been full of traveling, gardening, and planning.  Two trips took us to four states I had never been to~~Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Michigan.
One was a ministry trip and the other a really truly vacation.  A quick trip to West Virginia was also a ministry trip, but we got to visit with some very old, very dear friends, so it felt more like a vacation.  Also, we attended the national convention of The American Association of Lutheran Churches, which is our denomination, in Minnesota in June.  I'm ready to stay home awhile . . .

The flowers have been spectacular this summer, especially the zinnias and marigolds.  For the first time, I grew the marigolds from seeds and they are enormous.  The zinnias are abundant too.  The vegetable garden has struggled somewhat due to lack of rain (yes, we water it, but it's not the same as rain somehow, is it?), and anyway, by this time of the year I'm ready for it to be over.  Not the flowers, just the veggies!  We have gotten a decent amount of green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and spaghetti squash.  For the second year in a row the cabbages were completely worm-eaten and a complete loss.  It seems they won't be successful without some sort of cage or netting to keep the loopers off, and spending money on it gets us quickly to the point of diminishing return.  I give up!



We've begun another year of ministry to our local college campuses, which means the resumption of our every-other-Friday dinners.  The array of nationalities represented at these dinners is really something wonderful.  Besides our American friends, we've hosted people from China, Turkey, Haiti, Brazil, Morocco, India, and Japan, and ages range from less than a year old to mid-fifties.  Educational levels include everything from special ed to post doctoral researchers and visiting scholars.  My job in all this is as a support person.  Along with my husband, I plan menus, shop, cook, prepare, clean up, and extend a glad welcome in the name of Christ to each guest.  For more on the various outreaches we're involved in through Wittenberg Door, go here. 

The big news for me is that I'm homeschooling again!  I loved homeschooling my own two daughters, so I  was thrilled when the opportunity arose to teach my granddaughters.  The older is in first grade and the younger is a preschooler.  Every morning, their dad drops them off and we learn and grow together until their mother collects them about four hours later.  It is so rewarding to lay out for them a feast of good things to nourish their hearts and minds!  I will try to post with specifics soon. 

Playdough Spelling

On a field trip to the nature center in a neighboring town.
The little girl in the middle belongs to another family. :)

We began school the Tuesday after Labor Day.  The first two weeks were a time of adjustment and working out a few kinks, but we are settling in now and making good progress.  I will keep you posted! 

 

Happenings

I used to dream about how much time I'd have when my children were grown.  I'd sew and read and blog and and volunteer and wonder what to do with my time!  Ha!  When your husband is in ministry and your grown children and grandchildren live nearby (one still at home, which is great by me--she has legitimate reasons), you're as busy as ever, just with different things . . . or maybe not so different after all.  Here are some highlights of what I've been up to for the past month:

Hospitality--This academic year we've been engaged in a lot of hospitality related to Wittenberg Door.  We have hosted as many as twenty-five people at once and we've had people from all over the world--China, Haiti, Brazil, Japan, Jordan . . .  Most recently, friends from China (mother and son) came for dinner and to fish in our pond.  We have made some great friends and hopefully pointed some people to Christ.

Grandparenting--Elizabeth spent several weeks in Latvia and Lithuania during April and May ministering to at-risk teens.  This is an on-going ministry that her entire family engages in in various ways.  Sometimes, it involves us too since there is much practical support needed here at home while she is away.  My part involves extra childcare and grandmother duty (with assistance from Dave and Hannah, of course).  It's my joy, but it's also exhausting!  There's a reason God gives children to young adults!  We had two sleepovers, made Mother's Day gifts, played in the hose, cooked, read lots of books, worked in the garden, went fishing in our pond, took trips to library, grocery store, nearby state park, nursery, and family fun center (which is not so fun for adults but the kids love it!).  Some highlights:

Plant picks for Mother's Day!

Gardening--Spring was so late this year everything is behind by two weeks!  My pansies have usually been done in by the heat by now, but they are still going strong.  We finally managed to get the vegetable garden put in and spruce up the flower bed, however late.

The veggie garden has tomatoes, cabbage, spaghetti squash, cucumbers, and green beans.  There is still a little space left, so I'm going to pick up some herbs next time I'm shopping.  Though it looks rather empty now, we know from experience that the plants will fill out and be quite crowded.  I took this picture through the fence:

The bucket is for throwing random rocks in.  Dave tilled deeper this year and brought a lot of rocks to the surface, so every time I'm out there, I pick up whatever rocks I see and toss them in.  The bucket is almost full, plus each corner of the fence has a pile to keep critters out.  Keeping them out is an ongoing battle here!

Though every year I add a couple perennials to the flower bed, I planted a lot more of them this year.  The allium bulbs I planted three years ago started out as six, but they have increased to eleven flower-producing bulbs.  I love love LOVE these and look forward to them every May.

They look like something from Dr. Seuss!

Blooming wild on our property are coreopsis and daisies.  Love!

House--There is a screened-in porch off our bedroom that needed some attention if we were ever going to use it consistently.  Before it was sparsely and uncomfortably furnished and just needed some TLC.  So I finally gave it the TLC it needed, rearranged the furniture (including adding some pieces and taking some away), and bought cushions for the metal chairs.  There is still more I want to do, but it's soooooo much better now!  In fact, I'm sitting on it while I write.  It's shady and cool and so pleasant!

Flowers in Winter

If you're like me and Must.Have.Flowers, even in wintertime, let me give you a few ideas for bringing blooms into your house without breaking the bank.  Besides buying bouquets at the grocery store, which is what I do when all else fails, there are other inexpensive ways to do this.

Did you know shamrocks bloom?  I didn't until I saw my daughter's.  Every March, you can find shamrocks for just a few dollars at the grocery store (or better yet, be blessed with a start from someone dividing an overgrown plant, as I was from my daughter).  They are hearty and withstand a fair bit of neglect; in fact, they hate over-watering more than under-watering, and burst into bloom, randomly but often, with delicate white flowers.

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Amaryllis, not yet fully opened, on left; poinsettia on right

Amaryllis bulbs are cheap in the run-up to Christmas.  They are easy to plant and care for and will reward you with big, gorgeous blooms that last for a couple weeks.  The bulb will even re-bloom if you follow the instructions on the package.  I try to time mine to bloom on Christmas Day.

Of course, poinsettias are a staple of Christmas decor, and now they come in a variety of colors.  My favorite is the traditional red, and I always buy at least one every December.  This year, I saw tiny ones available for just over $2, though it is possible to spend much more for bigger plants.  With proper watering, they last a long time, too.  I have a friend who once had a poinsettia plant that grew to the size of a small tree!

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Photo: Southern Living

Paperwhites are another winter flower easy to grow from bulbs.  Pick up a package when you get your amaryllis; they are often sold together in the same display.  These sweet white flowers are perfect for January.  Just plant them around Christmas time and you'll have flowers in the dead of winter.

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Photo:  Optimara African Violets

African violets are fussier than any of the flowers I've mentioned, but when they bloom they add a spot of bright cheeriness to your home.  Once they bloom, the tend to keep on, but I've only once managed to get them to re-bloom.  That may be due to my lack of care and skill than anything else, though.  Be sure to feed them African violet food to keep them healthy and encourage re-blooming.  Little pots of African violets are available from grocery stores usually in the late winter or early spring.



When nothing else is blooming in the house, I buy a bouquet from the grocery store to fill in flowerless gaps.  And there's always the hope of a bouquet on Valentine's Day. :)  But with mums, zinnia, and lavender blooming into November and crocuses and snowdrops beginning in February, there are only three months out of the year in which it is a bit challenging to have flowers.  The luxury of flowers doesn't have to cost a lot.

Scenes from My House

It's hard to know what to say when you've taken an unintentional two-month-plus blog break.  How do you jump back in?  Do you apologize?  Do you explain?  Do you just reappear?  I think I'll go with the third option but give a brief explanation:  I was just plain busy!  At least once a week I thought about my poor neglected blog, but everything else crowded it out. I don't know if I'll do any better now, but I will try.

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After a week of clouds, the sunshine was very welcome.  The morning sun held warmth and brightness.

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We had our first freeze near the end of October and I thought my flowers were done for.  They were, except not all the geraniums in the barrels near the house got nipped, and they continued to bloom.  But another hard freeze was on the horizon about a week later, so I gathered all the blossoms that remained and put them in a vase on the kitchen windowsill where they are blooming still.  From here on out it's store-bought flowers for us until spring.

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My birthday dessert, which we shared, from the local French bakery. So rich and gooooood!

Sorry for the bad lighting!  It's dark by 5:00 . . .

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English food gets a bad rap.  I can say that with authority now that I've taste-tested a variety of authentic English foods.  In fact, the only bad English food we had the entire two weeks we were there was the pasta we ordered at an "American Italian restaurant."  Dave and I had cornish pasties on the train between London and Cambridge that were absolutely delicious!  And this was just train food!  In September, I decided to try my hand at making my own pasties.  They were a respectable first attempt, but I hope to refine my recipe and technique over the winter months.  They don't look too bad, do they?

Again, bad lighting . . .

Zinnias

Zinnias are such rewarding flowers!  They are easy to grow from seed, they flourish even with abject neglect once germinated, and then they burst forth with bright, big blooms.  Once they start, they don't stop until frost.  They stand up to drought conditions, too.  To top it all off, they make great cut flowers that last and last.  Zinnias are excellent flowers for children to grow because they are fast-growing and don't require diligence.  Just clip off the faded ones so more will appear.

What's Growing Around Here

So far-- and I'm keeping my fingers crossed!-- our vegetable garden is doing really well, especially compared to our first two attempts since we moved here in the summer of 2014.  Take a look!  (Photos by Dave)


The cucumbers are blossoming~

There are no blossoms on the beans yet, but they sure are lush!

Little tomatoes are forming~

And little cabbages are growing in the middle of those enormous leaves.  Something about cabbages makes a garden look so abundant.

We also have cauliflower and herbs growing.  

In the flower department, these are a few things blooming in my flower bed~

And these wild roses are creating quite a show just now!

Hey, I'm Still Alive!

Hi, there, she said sheepishly.
 
I didn't mean to take a long blog break; it just happened.  There was nothing earth-shattering, but day after day went by without time for blogging.  Hopefully, I can pick it back up.  Here's to trying, anyway!

Since we last talked, my part-time, on-line teaching job has come to a close.  I've been teaching young people on-line about the great masterworks of classical music and the people behind them for fifteen years, and I look back at that period of my teaching life with great satisfaction.  But it was time to move on.  Family life had become too busy and demanding.  By the way, all you young mothers out there, don't think that once your kids grow up you will have time on your hands.  No sirree.  Grown children have different needs, and the support you can give is essential.  My mission continues to be as a ministry partner to my husband, but I've discovered being available for my grown children also takes time and energy.  Not that I mind.  I'm happy to be there when they want and need me.

Here are just a few highlights from the past six weeks~

Hannah embroidered these for our family to give to two confirmands in May.  The one in the silver frame is for a young lady, the black for a young man.  You can find more of Hannah's beautiful work in her Etsy shop.

My goodness, I do love allium!  I planted six bulbs in the fall of 2015 and they have multiplied to ten.  Allium blooms in mid-spring, so these are finished for the year, but they are wonderful while they last!

Arane picked these for me.  Sweetness! 💕

We took a quick trip to Rockbridge State Park on a beautiful day in May.  Kids love nothing more than to paddle around in water with no one hurrying them!

Dave and I in front of the rock bridge~

  

Photo credit:  Elizabeth

That's all for now.  More to come soon!

Spring at My House

New mailbox which actually closes!

April Already

Whew, it's April already!  That means the redbud trees are blooming and the daffodils are just about over.  Dave and I have been hoeing in the vegetable and flower gardens in preparation for planting.  He's going to till once or twice still, and besides, it's too early to plant.  I did get some pansies into pots.  The allium are growing full speed ahead.  When they bloom, I'll share pictures.  They are absolutely stunning!

The grandkids have been here everyday for the past six workdays. It's always fun, but it's sooooo exhausting!  They'll be here tomorrow too, but then it's back to normal.  We've made crafts, baked cupcakes, played games, played outside (between rainstorms), fed the geese and ducks, worked in the garden, washed cars, sorted Hannah's buttons, watched movies, read books, had baths, been to church, ridden a carousel, eaten and played at Chick-fil-A, visited the baby chicks and bunnies at the farm store with Grandpa, been grocery shopping, laughed a lot and even cried a little, because that's life.  Here they are helping to clean house~

What sweeties!  We are so happy to have everyone together in the same town now.  It's been year since Elizabeth and her family moved here and it has been great.  Grandma duty has kept me busier than ever, but I'm thrilled we can offer more hands-on support and encouragement.

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Hannah has been working hard on things for her Etsy shop.  She's got some really neat stuff, including Hamilton-related things, baby quilts, doll quilts, and some kitchen items.  The embroidered tea towels are exquisite!  Her prices are reasonable and the workmanship is excellent.  Check it out!