a thin mint day

she was a blonde little thing with curls he said

she was standing outside the hardware store with her daddy

"mister, would you like some cookies?"

he said he was going in the store to buy some things and would see her on the way out

she remembered

"mister, do you still want some cookies?"

"how much are they"

"five dollars mister"

"thank you, mister"

wonder if she'll be there next time he goes

i might put in an order

lemons and green leaves

My friend Ronda has this delicious lemon tree that I picked from last week.

I'm going back for more I think.

Maybe I should juice some for her while I'm at it.

They are the juiciest things ever!

One must multi task in this life right? Otherwise, how do you get things done?
I picked some olive branches off the trees in the back yard and put my lemons to sit in warm water. I don't know if it dilates them or what, but it sure helps with the juicing.

After removing the eucalyptus branches from the preserving liquid, I reduced the jars to three and filled with with olive branches. Off to that closet shelf they went. I am going to be so very patient and wait 4 weeks for these things. I have a tendency to think that something has sat long enough or the toaster is only 4 years old when really ... it's been here for 15 years. This time, I'm using the calendar.

The eucalyptus is out and drying for a week. My fingers are seriously crossed that I didn't take them out too soon. The bottom of the stems were black and the leaves felt like they should per the instructions. Please, please, please .... don't dry up! I have places for a few of you.

Onward to the lemons. I have cuts on my hands that aren't exactly fond of lemon juice. Gloves on and juicing action. I have enough juiced lemons right now to make gallons of lemonade. I could handle gallons more of it!

Yum!

White going brown??!!

Apparently, the last thing I clean around here is my master bathroom mirror. Please excuse that.

These were taken before I cleaned. Serious.

That white streak of hair there? I have grown to like it. I have stress induced alopecia at times in my life. It gets a little challenging when it is on the crown of my head and I have to figure out how to hide that one. Other times, I end up with random spots on my scalp that lose hair. It comes back. Sometimes with the use of steroids, sometimes oils, sometimes just plain ol' grows back.

I sort of named that white streak. I can't share the name with you, but it showed up at a great emotional cost. And, seriously, I have grown to like that little bugger! It has sort of been a badge of honor of sorts. A reminder of what was.

Several days ago I realized that the roots are not white anymore! What??!! That white streak is "growing out" and before long will disappear with hair cuts. My sister told me when this happened, that now every hair I lost was going to be replaced with this luxurious white. Apparently, nature had another idea!

I think there is a message in there. (Other than those mismatched switches on the wall.)

We all walk through troubled times in our lives. When it is done it is done. When it is over it is over. I fear, realistically, that there may be more white spots coming, but it looks like this story might be in its final chapter. Who am I to rewrite the book that God has written. I have had the privilege of long distance meeting someone who has helped me greatly. Through emotional release therapy by telephone, I am in a much happier place today. My thoughts are softer, kinder and gentler. They don't seem to be stuck like a warped cd, running the same track over and over again in my mind. I no longer sit and stare into space, too mentally and emotionally exhausted for simple thought. I am learning to laugh again. Slowly. That was my hope when I started this process. To be able to laugh. To be able to cry. I was existing like an automaton, going through the motions of living while my mind was stuck in an unhealthy place, dwelling on things that were not in my control. They affected my entire being and I didn't believe there was anything I could do about it. But there was. There always is. Isn't the Serenity Prayer a great lesson to each of us that struggles?

God,
grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change,
the COURAGE to change the things I can,
and the WISDOM to know the difference.

Serenity: a state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.

Serenity is what I was in search of. Serenity is what I was in need of.
Slowly ... I think I am finding some semblance of that peace and calm.

What happened last week?

Periods of time that disappear into the past.

Days where you're not exactly sure what the dickens you did.

Hours where you know you could have done something that was lasting.

Then it's gone and and you're left wondering what it was you filled that time with.

This past week.

Sort of one of those.

Monday evening this was us. He worked on contracts. I worked at the sewing machine.

The other week I started cleaning bags out of a closet and was sort of flabbergasted at how many hours of sewing those unfinished projects needed. No time like the present to get going, right? With Pat Conroy's Lord of Disciplines playing in my ears .... thread has been flying off the spool whenever the opportunity presents itself. 

Both Jari and I have been aching something ferious. He overdid it and his back is messed up. I have a hip and lower back that are causing serious angst. I had this great idea. We take that good ol' Ortho Ease into the sauna and try some massages. He is ultra picky on massage therapists and can't find one he likes anywhere. Or he finds one ... waits ten years and can't find her again. After this trial ... I decided the massage table might just be a whole lot easier. Isn't this just the most darling space every?! The man is seriously talented.

I have a week off in March and Jari took that week off as well. Dreaming here we go. Hours spent looking for somewhere to go. Everyday I came home to another idea. Fly to Alaska and go winter halibut/king fishing in Homer. So I start hunting for a yurt to stay in. Then we're going to do Alaska and Hawaii in the same week. Then we're going to a small island in the Bahamas. Every idea he suggests, I'm off researching the hows and wheres. Finding flights, ferries and lodging. The new passports came the other week so the world is available to us. Long flights are not my thing as sitting gets a tad troublesome. So we dreamed .....

 I mean hours and hours on that good old www looking for somewhere. And then came the weekend. The air conditioning/heating guy came over and measured the rooms and layout of the house, taking into consideration the changes we will someday make. The exotic travel plans went out the window and the home project blew right in. No long vacations for us. No Caribbean blue waters. No wintery clothes shopping for colder climates. Maybe a quick jaunt somewhere for a few days to get away .... and we are redoing the ducting in this house instead, along with a whole lot of rewiring and all that kind good stuff. I am seriously anxious to see an electric bill this coming summer after all of it is done. The simple pleasures I'm telling you.

I spent some more time sewing miles of thread into fabric, had some stomach issues (too much bread maybe or pain induced nausea) and then went to the funeral for Pearl Johnson on Saturday. What a classy and kindly woman who had a most beautiful funeral service. Oh my heart aches for the family and loved ones. Once again I am left wondering why I didn't take more time out of my days to visit her. Will I ever learn this lesson?

Alyx was over with the boys in the afternoon. This is the tile in my kitchen and dining area. It has these little white squares sprinkled around between tiles. When Jari's dad was here, he thought I had dropped napkins everywhere and tried picking them up for me. Dominic thinks they are paper pieces. Every. Time. They get a wee bit of coloring action. Every. Time. A different square. Love this little guy!

The house got scrubbed this week.

The bills got paid.

The food is still on the grocery store shelves.

I did some self physical therapy and am walking a little better.

The chickens are spending their last week pooping on my patio ... they have a new mansion.

The bulk trash got picked up ... again!

I tried the mashed potatoes from Costco and am sold.

I have a second evening of Yoga coming up this week with some fun ladies.

And I am one week closer to a houseful of fun visitors the end of February!

Have a great week!

Laina's wheat bread

I don't bake bread. I haven't used my nice big metal bread bowl for a number of years for yeasty things. This bread is my favorite. It has honey in it to make it a treat for my taste buds.

I cut the recipe, dumped the ingredients in my trusty and well loved bread machine. Once it was done mixing and raising for a bit ... I put it into my own bread pan and one pie pan for a flat bread, raised again ... and baked.

Serious deliciousness.

Laina's Wheat Bread

4 c boiling water
1 c evaporated milk
2 sticks oleo
2 pkgs dry yeast
1/2 c honey
4 c wheat flour
1 tbsp salt
8 c white flour

Heat water, oleo, salt & honey together in a saucepan. After cooling mixture, add 1 c evaporated milk & yeast dissolved in 1/2 c warm water. Add wheat flour and mix well. Let stir until mixture bubbles. Add white flour, enough to make dough stiff. Let rise. Shape into loaves. Let rise until 1 inch above pans. Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.

** I used regular milk and butter instead of evaporated milk and oleo. Nor did I do all this mixing in a saucepan. I just melt my butter, warm the water/milk a bit and dump it all into the bread machine.

Eucalyptus and a tree felling

In the last few weeks, Jari has taken down a few trees around here. We had a completely dead pine tree in the back that had to go. Brown brittle needles that made a serious fire when we burned them. The woodpecker was kept busy for a while anyway. Then went the second tree. The roof was getting damaged by the tree and when your husband is in the roofing industry ... the roof comes before the tree. So away that one went! To be honest, I had no clue what he was cutting down until it was down ... and then I sort of freaked out a little bit.

This would be contemplation. Serious contemplation. The branches that he could reach were gone  and we don't have one of those lovely chainsaws anymore. Planning in action.

At this point (or somewhere along the line) I did issue a serious warning. And I mean serious. My hubby can't even handle the smell when he walks into a nursing home to visit and I have promised him (altho' that promise is not necessarily signed in blood) that he will never live in one. At the point where he was balancing the ladder to do something insane, I told him if he fell and injured himself to such a degree that I couldn't care for him ... to the nursing home he was going. His boss obviously would like him in one piece as well ... that dear man showed up with a chain saw and the tree was down. Sort of. Maybe after some yanking with the truck and some bark flying and all that kind of fun stuff.

That evening I learned that he had felled a eucalyptus tree and I went into panic mode.

Meanwhile, little man was busy chasing chickens. He doesn't think they should be out and about enjoying the nature outside their enclosure. Every boy should really have some critters in their life ... until they are ready to start laying eggs. Then I don't know what we are going to do.

Eucalyptus panic had me on the good ol' Google. Do you know that a bunch of preserved eucalyptus sells for $50??!! Penny pinching do it yourself Finn over here started collecting.

I made three bunches for the sauna. I don't use a sauna whisk but there are three hanging out there now adding some nice aroma to the cedar.

Next came the process of preserving. I am itching to make some wreaths out of the stuff I collected. Off to Sprouts to get some vegetable glycerine. Following the instructions found here, I mixed 1 part glycerine to 2 parts boiling/near to boiling water. Let it cool for a bit and then poured it into jars.

Glycerine isn't exactly a dollar store item nor is the price. I have 6 quart jars filled with eucalyptus doing their thing so there is only about an inch or inch and a half of liquid in the bottom of each jar. I did go back and add some more near the end of week 1.

I had a minutes idea to move some into bigger containers until I took a bunch and saw this going on. Little beads of silicone are traveling up the stems to the leaves or wherever they need to be to do their job. I promptly put them back in the jar and set them right back where they were. At some point I am going to need the surfaces they are sitting on and will probably move them to a cool closet shelf that happens to be open (can you believe it?!) at the moment.

I should be able to use the fluid again once these branches are done and next on the list are olive branches. Our house stays nice and cool in the winter time allowing for plenty of preserving. If these work, Hobby Lobby may have just lost a customer in their greens department! Sprouts may have gained one whenever their glycerine is on sale!

We are users of Young Living oils and have been adding eucalyptus to the sauna rocks. Oh. My. Gosh. Talk about clearing out those sinuses! I also tried to extract oil from leaves by placing them in a crockpot mixed with other oil on low for nearly a day. Big problem. Oil boils on low in my crockpot and my house wreaked of burned oil. Perhaps I should have just left it on warm but am not up for that one again. I would turn it on low and then on warm or off. Repeat. Repeat. I am going to make one more attempt at the oil business. Mix some torn leaves and soak them in oil for several weeks to see what happens. They are suppose to sit in sunlight so maybe a try at a window sill will do the trick. Will let you know if that one fails or has me picking more eucalyptus leaves in the neighborhood!

My fingers are itching to put wreaths together and just fill plain fun glass on the mantle with a a sprig or two.

A great big Happy Birthday to the man who entertains most of my whims and fancies! He celebrates another year of living today!

I am so very thankful for you.

work days

I have the biggest helpers ever.

Yes, the power source is hidden.

life with triple d

dominic ... donuts ... dirt

christmas

Christmas Dinner with our loved ones that were in town.

This might be the first year in very many that I didn't want to take down Christmas. Something about the peace and calm. I am in love. The tree went away earlier, but much of the rest left Saturday evening. Yesterday was Loppiainen or Epiphany and it is the custom of many localities to remove Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve. 

Next year ... don't be surprised if they are up in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

welcome jameson

A blessing of the Christmas season.

Alyx & Tarron were blessed with the birth of Jameson the day after Christmas

and brought this little guy into our world to love.

On Christmas morning I googled "emergency home birth" and filled a basket with the recommended goods. She made it through the day and the basket remained intact and unused. Whew! The last two babies born to my daughters have made quick entrances into the world. Not that I want to start a midwifery career but  best to be ready!

Isn't he the cutest ever?!

The boys are in adoration mode. Little love is being loved up big time and Auntie Tia (or as Dominic calls her Auntie Tata) is in town to fight over him as well!

Oh my heart just bursts looking at this photo. There is nothing on earth like the sweetness of baby snuggles.

a new day to start the new year

In all likelihood, I have lived more than half of my life.

Statistically, I probably have a whole lot less days than that left on earth.

365 days of blank slate lie before me if that is God's plan for my life.

I'm sitting in the recliner chair this morning with my feet up wondering what I should do with them.

I typically don't let too much grass grow under my feet, but am I walking with the wind or bucking the tide?

What am I really suppose to be doing?

There are certainly obligations that are non negotiable.

They are sort of like breathing.

What about the rest of it?

Did I spend the past year being my best me?

That could be a whole dissertation.

One that I have promised myself to start writing about.

Maybe you can learn something from my walk.

Maybe you won't feel alone in yours.

So this year I will spend some time in quiet. Let my thoughts go where they will. It might be a scary place to live ... we shall see!

I craft for my mental health. I craft because I love to. I craft because I do.

That isn't going to stop as long as I have life in me.

This year I will try to share more projects with you.

Relationships.

Another dissertation in the making.

This year I am going to work at them. My heart rate just kicked up with the typing of that sentence and it wasn't a  just completed a marathon and am thrilled kind of heart rate jump. 

This year I plan to take more time to soak in the beautiful world that surrounds me.

This year let joy outshine sorrow and hope triumph over fear.

As another blank page waits to be written, let the lines I accumulate be ones caused by laughter and not tears. Let the gray hairs be carried in on wings of joy, not despair. Let me be thankful for the blessings of each day given by God.

May your New Year be filled with grace, peace, love and joy.


** Interesting that as I was uploading a different photo to this post my computer just quit. Stopped. Needed to reboot itself in the middle of adding that photo. I guess it wasn't suppose to be the photo I ended this post with and this post wasn't about that photo. As it came back up, everything else was there but that one photo. I listened. I think this post was about the one it let me load.