Sleepy mornings.

This has been a busy week... like most weeks.
Next week will be a busy week.... fun, and I'm looking forward to it, but busy.
Last night, we attended a local highschool talent show.
At first, I admit, we thought to skip it.  Our son was part of an 'act', but we thought that we'd have a rare 'date' night and have dinner, out, together.  Actually, we were having dinner when we realized that we were alone... my 'usual' waitress at a local restaurant asked me where were my 'kids'.  The kids she referred to were one of my own children, a selection of band kids and several adults with whom I often eat in advance of all things band.

We ate a leisurely meal and STILL ended up needing to hang out in town and the show had just started.  The proceeds all go to the local Memorial Home for an emergency generator. So... we attended.  It was cute.  The 'bad boys' of the highschool drumline took first place.  Even if I am a drumline mom, they did a great job.  It's an awesome thing to see 9 young men work so in synch as if they breathe one breath.  They'd all worn all black and were truly a good looking bunch.

Anyway, that brings me to this morning. The menfolk that are here are asleep... quiet and warm, it's a pretty Sunday morning.  Cloudy and overcast, the light is soft about the place and nothing at all is stirring on the farm.  My morning coffee smells and tastes wonderful and the quiet... the quiet is so peaceful and calm.
Rest comes in varying forms and I love early mornings that are like this. I find them restful enough to 'store up' that feeling for when I'm tired and world worn.  I take a lot of comfort and find peace in being the first one up.  I love knowing that my family is sleeping just a room away, and sometimes, I peek in and smile.  I love to see their sleeping faces, all sweet and at peace.

So, I'll sit on the porch, with a fleece blanket and my coffee and watch the world come to life... but I'll relish these solitary moments and the quiet beginning to my day.

So... I'm not good at this posting everyday thing.... really.

Life is too busy... routine life that is... have recently begun to figure out that part of the issue is being part of the working world again AND band season in combination.

A few weeks ago, the morning after our school sponsored an Upperstate Band Competition, I awoke to an insistant husband...  He insisted that I get up and eat breakfast (he had cooked) and that we WERE going on a day trip that I had planned but had decided to abandon.

We went to SAFF.  Southeaster Annual Fiber Festival... Crazy fun for those who knit and/or those who love animals who produce fiber.

The man packed a surprise picnic... AND talked me into dressing and getting in the car.  He drove mountainward and it was beautiful.

The colors were near peak and the drive was leisurely ... nice to spend time with each other, considering the hurried-ness of the last weeks.

We get to SAFF, and the man produces the picnic... and it was really, really nice,,, tablecloth... the whole thoughtful thing....

So, at SAFF, my agenda/travels begin in the outdoor venues.  A real favorite is petting the bunnies and trying hard not to take one home. (We've 'done' bunnies before and I'm thinking... uhm... no!)  Then you walk around to the alpacas...

Hello!  Gentle humming... soft brown eyes... the most incredibly soft coat.

There are Llama's...   LOOK at these eye-lashes...

And so I'm walking along... enjoying the sunshine... sidestepping the mud and like always, I'm just talking away... and I get a couple of funny looks... so I turn to discover... the man is gone... GONE... Not walking along listening intently to my every word... (OK, so that part is not a surprise!)

I KNOW the man.... I'd better find him...

uh. oh...  That's the contemplative stance...  He's thinking about it...

No... no... no.... Let me run back over there...

Turns out the whole pen full of males were CHEAP... owners needed to unload them TODAY...

Those darned creatures were making eyes at my husband... and this is exactly how we landed a horse, many years ago, when we had no pasture fences.    I tell you, the man has a hard time resisting eye batting.

Couple of things saved us...  I can be very convincing,,, ok... so we'll accept the term 'bossy'... and we had driven a smallish car to SAFF (How many critters CAN you put in the trunk and back seat of a Ford Focus?).

We're an excellent balance for each other... keep each other 'in line' so to speak.

Might we someday need to own some alpaca and llama?... indeed... I'll about guarantee it...

But for now, we're good. 

The river's high!

Living on the river has it's positives and it's negatives.

And sometimes, even the negatives are meaningful.

After a two day hit of rain from Tropical Storm Ida, we have a full flood stage on the river.
The raw and powerful surge of water coming down from the mountains and foothills remind us that life is not within our control.  What, on the average day, is a mild mannered, peaceful and very lazy river, was by midday, a muddy and spread far out of her banks sort of crazy river.

We forgot to move the camper.  And noone has braved the rain to go and check.  The guys I work with jokingly said that while they were out replacing a kiosk panel that they saw a camper go floating by...  tis possible... but more likely  if the water got up to the camper, then it's full of muddy water and propped up sideways on a tree.  Sigh...

The park has interpretive signboards under water and trails that I'm told we'll spend two weeks trying to find again. 

In the morning, I'll take a few minutes and go down to the river and watch.  I love the river most in the peaceful phase... but I  like to see it in every light.  From various favorite spots along the river, it helps to 'know' this place that we live.

One of the nicest things about a flooded river, is that everything usually comes up pretty clean after a flood... a new downed tree here or there, but a new and deeper channel of water and new sandy beaches and a blissful perfect quietness and cleanness.  The water this moment is muddy and angry, but in a day or two will be calm and quiet and clear again...  it will be cooler with the late autumn weather, with little puddles of leaves caught in an eddy... well worth the walk, well worth the moments to sit and think.

The Nest

Pretty much everyone who knows me knows that the fullfillment of my life has been being the mother of my three children.  Having a husband who has given me that great joy and with me, provided for them is also a true blessing.  For these, God's blessings, I am truly grateful.


This was a gift to me, from my child.

It speaks to what we have intended as parents, all along.

"...room to grow and built to last~"

Wedding thoughts.

I have a half-brother... half.... brother..... weirdo phrase...
he's not half of anything,
... he's a whole brother.
Another way of putting it is that we shared a father.
We also share a sister.
He shares his son with me,,, my only nephew.

I really didn't get to know him at all until we were adults.

I love him.

Today, he was married. 

I welcome his bride to our family.

I will pray for them as they become a family.

For all the joys and all the struggles that life in a family entails, I wish them strength for the journey.

Quote of the day...

The less routine the more life...   amos bronson alcott

Indeed...

We live a lot here... a LOT!

Camelias

One of autumns most beautiful surprises in my yard are camelias.  I have both sasanqua and japonica camelias
which are next to perfectly carefree, grow in the moderate to deep shade under my mature old oaks and bless the cold and dreary days of fall and winter with these amazing blooms.

Though our nights are quite nippy  lately... we've had a few early frosts... the blooms are magnificent... covering the 10 foot high bushes with a layer of pinks.  The little pollinators have been busy with this last of autumn burst of blossom and I've enjoyed the delicate bloom as well as the steady drop of what looks like pink snow flakes onto the ground below.

Several years ago, I planted a holiday camelia... which should be dark red and bloom nearer to the winter holidays.  It's been a slow starter for me, but I am so looking forward to having red blooms in vases brightening up the house.

Another fall favorite of mine is the ivy.  I know folks have very differing opinions on ivy, but I enjoy my ivy.  The colors of it, dappled in the sunlight are simply beautiful... a dark and glossy green year round, but especially when the winds are cold and all the rest of the gardening world is dull and brown.  I use ivy in holiday arrangements a lot and it keeps forever in a windowsill vase.

As it becomes time to put the garden to rest for the winter, I value the things that I can bring inside... to brighten the shorter days and to remind me that seasons come and go quickly.