A Week to Reset

The secret to enjoying the cabin, our annual vacation spot, 

is to embrace every kind of weather and water level. 

We were so busy packing and preparing our homestead for a week away, that no one really registered the heavy rains we had before we shoved off on our vacation adventure.

We arrived to high water in the beloved creek next to our cabin.  That means no swimming and especially, no unsupervised swimming.  

However, that means kayaking.  Lots and lots and lots of kayaking, which is quite the treat for these land-lubbers.

At one point, an elk ran across the creek right in front of us.  

Another time, Blossom1 and her paddling partner got to see two deer swimming across the creek!

That's in addition to osprey, bald eagles, cedar waxwings,

and this delightful flock of mergansers we saw every time we kayaked various stretches of the creek.  When they are frightened, their liftoff resembles running on the water.  They are my favorite waterfowl to encounter!

Every day, we predicted the creek would go down and then a shower or two would shuffle through our little hollow.

We embraced showers too.  Showers just mean reading and afghans on the porch... 

tea and hot chocolate on the couch...

a nap whenever the mood strikes...

bike rides and meandering walks in the sprinkles...

listening to the creek's full melody.

We also like to take Ranger rides,

(rain or shine)

especially to a favorite state park

to get Perry's ice cream

and drive trails around the rim of the mountains

to find a favorite new vista.

And then, maybe some more kayaking...

to admire flawless skies

and happy Blossoms.

Then, delicious doughboys, grilled chicken, mountain pies, burgers, s'mores, wood-fired pizza, and foil packet taters and onions.  

Campfire cooking is superb.

Later in the week, we hiked to find a legendary swimming hole five miles back in a remote wild area.

Of course, I admired mushrooms 

and fungus.

Blossom4 admire the toad population.

Binney explored every waterway and led the way

through every sketchy, disappearing trail infested with stinging nettle and bramble... 

but we found it.  

A seldom visited, iconic back country swimming hole.

My sandal busted 2 miles in.  Blossom2 saved the day with her duct tape.  I hiked the rest of it that way. 

And the Rugged Mountain Man baptized Blossom4.

Vacation together is always memorable.  

Times of rest.  

Time to reset.

Time to be truly remote.

Time to realign.

Delightful times.

Life Lately

Every now and again I like to share random thoughts from life lately.  Here's the latest:

Lately, I've been listening to this fabulous podcast about actually liking your kids.  I am very late to the listening-to-podcasts game... for no particular reason at all.  As the Blossoms get older, I do find myself with some measure of quiet as I work on some tasks and that's where this podcast comes in.  I truly believe that children are a blessing and I felt like every minute of this episode was totally worth listening to.  It left me feeling inspired, with practical tips for liking your kids... and keeping a Godly perspective on the blessings I've been given.  As for the rest of her episodes, I'm not really interested in listening to birth stories, but I am always game for more nuggets of truth that solidly point me in a Godly direction.  

I've been reading Home Work: A Memoir of my Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews.  It's a biography about her Hollywood years, which were HECTIC, to say the least.  This was a $0.99 snag at my favorite thrift store.  It's been a while since I was on a biography kick.  Though I truly enjoyed reading about her part in the making of the Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music movies, the rest of the book left me feeling stressed and not covetous of the Hollywood life AT ALL.  My takeaway: Interesting read, but I won't be rereading it.  And, because of her descriptions of her parts in some other seedy movies, I didn't feel that I wanted the girls reading this either.

Additionally, Blossom2 mentioned wanting to read Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope.  We adore the movie so I took her suggestion.  It was positively delightful, and, as usual, better than the movie.  It ranks up there with Pride and Prejudice and North and South, in my opinion.  Mary Thorne finds a way to be kind, when she's being persecuted for her birth. Her public humiliation is known by the entire town, and yet, she is kind.  Maybe I'll enjoy some of Trollope's other writings; we shall see.

I've been sipping Bubly Key Lime Pie Sparkling Water.  YUMMMM!  My sister recommended it and it was a very fun change of pace from my other summer favorites, Waterloo Summer Berry and Bubly Grapefruit!

I've been savoring post vacation days... which means, a few days to catch up on normal, non Fair-driven project before we fully dive in to the all-out school routine.  I'm not in a hurry.  We've completed so many heavy duty 4-H and community service driven projects over the past few months, that there's been an awful lot of school this summer.  That being said, a couple of the Blossoms overhauled their desks already and they sure do look nice and tidy!  Or maybe the whole schoolroom just looks better because the endless Fair to-do lists are off the board!

I've been focusing on trying to follow through with my Blossoms.  We're just a busy family and it's really easy to let things slide.  There's something to be said for finishing a task and finishing that task thoroughly.  That means that I'm trying my best to find said Blossom and call her back to the job site to finish what she was told to do.  Interestingly, I don't feel like any kind of yelling leads to peace in our home, so I've been working on going and finding said Blossom, instead of yelling for her.  That's a chore.  Our property isn't small, per se.  Yelling a full name off the back porch, followed by a hearty, "Git in here!" is certainly tempting... and yet, I've been going and finding and instructing instead.  May God's grace help me to persever so we can see the fruit of it.

There you have it ~ a few "latelys" of our little life here in the Hollow.

Snapshots from our recent cabin vacation.  More on that soon hopefully.

 

Cute Bunnies All Dressed Up

Last year a new contest was debuted at our fair, the Dress Up Your Fair Animal contest!

Blossom2, who bakes A LOT, was a pastry chef with a bunny cupcake!

(Wentworth looks absolutely THRILLED, doesn't he?)

Blossom3 was a sleepyhead with a tired bunny.

(Lacey was quite obviously very sleepy.)

Blossom4 had a royal bunny in a purple robe and fancy hairpiece.

(Lillianna certainly has a regal bearing about her, doesn't she?)

Blossom1 had a basket of TY Beanie Bunnies "for sale."

(Arabella, Cleopatra, Celia, and Tennyson were excellent TY Beanie Bunnies and only one was guilty of nibbling her TY tag!)

It was too cute for words!

In a week of brutal work and time commitments, we enjoy the cuteness... and then we get some Bubble Tea!

Choosing to Rest

Coming out of an immensely busy season of Fair preparation, the Fair, school preparation, and garden work, I'm finding that rest doesn't just happen.

Rest must be chosen.  

There is a time to work.  

A time to work hard.

A time to work long.

A time to work wisely.

A time to work even when weary.

And a time to rest.  

Sometimes we must give our best shot to the work that must be done, 

but it isn't always finished 

when it's time to choose rest.  

On Daisies

 Give me ALL the daisy sort of flowers.

I'm sure there is an official sort of name for them, but for me, they are all in the daisy family. 

"Daisies are such friendly flowers."

Coneflowers are like a daisy's older cousin.

What with all the daisies, coneflowers, and black-eyed susans that are in bloom along roadsides everywhere and in my kitchen sink garden, I smile often at their cheery ways.

Easy Date Nights

Some of the most relaxing date nights have been a quick ice cream date and chatting on a bench along a local nature trail. 

It's pretty and quiet and peaceful and so good for the two of us.  

We chat about the children and logistics and decisions and jokes and plans and whatever comes to mind.  

There's always more we could be working on but we admonish the Blossoms to behave and then, we drive away to choose our ice cream and relax for a bit.  It's totally worth it.

 

Lessons

Lessons from the past few weeks:

~ Give others the grace that you wish they'd give to you, whether they deserve it or not.  The people we least want to give grace, are usually the people that need it most.

~ Praise the Lord.  Always, always, always praise the Lord!!! Every day and in every situation, through every bump and through every misunderstanding.

~ Be Godly, even when you've been terribly wronged.  You still want a clear conscience before God at the end of each day.

~ When you're tired, don't let the one tiny thing that didn't go quite right overshadow all the other good and beautiful things the Lord was able to do through you, His servant.

~ When you finally sit down for a second, take a deep breath and rest your mind.  Stop and pray.  Roll the things He has done over and over in your mind while you gaze out at the hazy blue green mountains.  He can speak when we stop to listen.

~ Read the Word, even when you're so tired you don't feel like it's soaking in.  Read the Word.  It's spirit nourishment when you can't feel it.  You don't have to feel nourishment.  His Word nourishes through all seasons, all the time.

Through the busy seasons, I am thankful that leaning on Him sustains us.

Sewing & the Little Girls

 Every year the Fair is my arbitrary deadline. It's my self-imposed motivation to do a sewing a project with the Blossoms.

Blossom1 graduated from my sewing school this year. Blossom2 was independent and rocked a beautiful apron with only a few minor pointers from me.

It was sewing with the Little Blossoms that I found to be particularly good for the soul.

Or, more accurately, good for my mama heart.  

Not in the everything-is-peachy-and-rosy kind of way.

HA.

Instead, through the nitty-gritty of sewing new curtains for their room, 

I noticed their developmental growth.  

I noticed their maturity rising.  

I noticed how they pushed through when things got bumpy.

As I stood over their shoulders and pointed and instructed and encouraged and took a deep breath to be patient again and again, I was thankful to be a part of a project that thrilled their souls.

Some day, I hope they remember with a smile, that we sewed together.