two strawberry girls

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today... August 29, 2015

Outside my window...the sun is shining, it is very still and many people are watching the weather to see what storm Erika is going to do.

I am thinking...about baking some chocolate chip cookies, moving three chickens to the chicken tractor to open up the small side of the coop to the new brood.

I am thankful...that when I flipped the mower in the front ditch I climbed out with all of my limbs in tact. I am so very sore but so blessed.

I am wearing...yoga shorts, t-shirt and flip flops.

I am creating...three "new" rooms. Cleaning out and redoing the office, a new school room, for just two of us, and the old school room into a new guest suite with small studio in the corner. It feels so nice to clean out and re-purpose these spaces.

I am going...furniture shopping!!!

I am wondering...how to commit to the Lord whatever I do so that He can establish my plans! Yes I understand what Prov. 16:3 states....

now to to get that from my head to my heart.

I am reading...The Lobster Chronicles. A true story of one woman's life on an island in Maine.

I am hoping...to find help to move the last few pieces of furniture around; the big heavy stuff that has to go up and down stairs.

I am learning...zentangle. Just got all the supplies and we are going to use that new space to do some fun learning in between the biology, history, algebra and writing.

In my yard...things are looking nicely cleaned up. Wanted to get a lot of extra mowing done just in case we get a bunch of rain from this storm. Didn't have any intentions of riding the mower off the driveway into the ditch!

In my kitchen...banana bread, homemade burritos, homemade red sauce, lots and lots of veggies and experimenting with a sourdough starter shared by my brother in love!

In the homeschool room...new spaces, new curriculum and a motivated student,

for the win!

A favorite quote for today...Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.

Charlotte Mason

A peek into one of my days...this is what happens when you leave your phone on the counter. Love this group of kids to the moon and back:)

One of my favorite things...clean windows. Hoping to clean the windows in my nook today. Yes even though the storm is coming. I look out these windows all the time and my view is muddied.

From the board room...I know I must be the only person on earth that does not have a board!

Link to Peggy to create and share your own Simple Woman's Daybook.

Saturday, August 08, 2015

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today... August 8, 2015

Outside my window...it is cloudy. The chickens need tending, laundry needs hanging, cars need washing, and some yard work would be lovely. A weather forecast calling for rain will make this quite challenging.

I am thinking...it is going to be nice to start school. A summer full of work makes normal routine sound like a piece of cake.

I am thankful...for all that work that I so easily complain about. I am thankful for a team that is dedicated to the vision and strives for excellence.

I am wearing...Olukai sandals, of course.

I am creating...new dish clothes and a quilt from a quilt top my mom had in a closet. Piecing a quilt is a fun creative process, but my favorite part is the quilting.

I am going...to visit friends in Lake Butler. This is not on the calendar; but I'm praying that this well create a self fulfilling prophecy.

I am wondering...how to get furniture to magically appear in my living room. We are almost desperate for new couches and I can not find anything I really like or that is decent quality. This is almost as frustrating as shopping for new bras! Uugghhh!

I am reading...The Lobster Chronicles. A true story of one woman's life on an island in Maine.

I am hoping...for a tip to the sea. Very Soon!

I am learning...I am much happier when I accept the fact that I have no control.

In my ~~garden~~ jungle...things are very out of control.

In my kitchen...my children are fixing all their own meals. This is so sad, and so true. I/We have been away for the last two and a half weeks and it's every man, woman and child for themselves.

In the homeschool room...yet another huge shift. There is only really one child really left. She is the last to be still taking piano lessons, she is the last one I will sit at the table and work on writing assignments and she now has less than one year until she can begin her driver's education. How can this be? How have we suddenly reached the end?

A favorite quote for today...The cure for anything is salt water - Sweat, Tears or the Sea. Isak Dinesen (I believe this with all of my heart!)

A peek into one of my days...I, for the first time, did Emma's clipping. She is so good and never complains. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. Just wish I had taken before photos.

One of my favorite things...Jimmy Fallon's, Thank You Notes. Silly, I know!

From the board room...I know I must be the only person on earth that does not have a board. Occasionally that "last child" I spoke of, in the homeschool section, lets me browse her board.

Link to Peggy to create and share your own Simple Woman's Daybook.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

small town

I love my little town... This morning I had to run a few errands. I began with a stop at the bike shop to pick up a repaired bike, three stops at the tiny stores in search of a favorite treat for a care package and the farm store to get supplies. Lastly, a stop at the post office to mail said care package and pick up a box of chicks. Which also doubled as a perfect spot to have an hour long conversation with a friend. Small town living at its finest and a blessed way to ease into the weekend!

Thursday, January 01, 2015

good bye 2014...hello 2015

the dock - New Year's Eve 2015

Last night the view was rough, cold (okay cool for those of you that are in cold climates), windy, and even though not visible, there were whitecaps on the waves. It seemed fitting for the very last day of December 2014. Not a wonderful month to remember and yet I find myself not wanting to forget. We did, after all, survive! We muddled our way through a hospitalization, my dad had a peritonsillar abscess, all seven of us had the flu, (the one that the flu shot did not cover, which was okay because none of us had the flu shot), my husband devleoped walking pneumonia, a young man had a pilonidal cyst; not one young man, but two young men! Gave the flu to my mother and father-in-law, and Hannah had a neurological scare that almost sent us to the emergency room; a pretty big deal since none of my children have ever been there.

It was a pretty rough ending to a year that was very joyous at times and incredibly difficult at times. But no matter what I want to remember.
I want to be grateful in good times and bad.
I want to count it ALL joy, James 1:2-8.

So, the following celebrations were cancelled during all of those trials:

25th anniversary

2 birthdays

a graduation party to celebrate our two oldest boys graduating from college, on the same day, from the same school, in two separate ceremonies (5 of us were sick)

49th anniversary

Christmas Eve...

This was the view from the swing last night and I have practice keeping my focus in the right place. This is my favorite spot to bring in the new year. So sweet all tucked in the woods, beautiful surroundings, reflective, kids enjoying themselves. Sometimes we stay the night and sometimes we don't. It's always different yet never disappointing.

I must say I like calmer waters, and the air a bit more still, when I spend time in that swing. Never the less I still want to be there. This is my favorite spot to ring in the new year and it doesn't matter what the weather is.

the dock - New Year's Eve, not 2015

Hoping we have much to celebrate in 2015 and we can all stay healthy!

I also know we will weather any storm!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Four Seasons :: Autumn Challenge {Day 30 of 30}

Hoping to complete this challenge with Peggy...

the last of the autumn challenge posts

30 days is more than 10% of my total posts, that's pretty sad considering the number of years it has been in existence

so, I think there needs to be a give-away for the 300th post and it needs to happen before 2015

SO happy I did this challenge and it made me accountable to being in this space.

Thank you, to the couple of you that commented.

Maybe I'll consider the next season challenge....

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
So thankful for these girls and this season of their lives.
We do a lot of laughing....priceless!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Four Seasons :: Autumn Challenge {Day 29 of 30}

Hoping to complete this challenge with Peggy...

FOR TODAY, November 11, 2014, Veterans Day

Outside my window...it is a chilly November day!

I am thinking...I can't believe he called me. I contacted a guy, that posted his story on Glenn Beck's website, and he called me. We had a two and a half hour conversation about Glioblastoma, brain cancer that his mother, and my father, has. He was a wealth of information on so many levels and it felt like I was trying to drink from a fire hose.

I am thankful...

Veterans that have fought for my freedom. Freedom is NOT free.
for every minute that I spend with my dad. No matter how much time that is it never feels like enough.
that I am going to complete Peggy's, The Simple Woman's 30 day Autumn Challenge.
for anything that forces me to slow down, cold included, but it is not enjoyable.

In the kitchen...rotisserie chicken and whatever else they can fix for themselves.

I am wearing...jammies, on before dark, and dark's before dinner...still on now and it's lunch time the next day.

I am creating...another batch of soap and another pot of soup.

I am was going...to Bible study last night but I have a very yucky cold. I left my house at 8:30am, and returned about 5pm, just about the time I would have had to leave for Bible study...just couldn't do it.

I am wondering...why we have no cure for the common cold.

I am reading...a lot of articles, studies and information on Glioblastoma.

I am hoping...we get a good report at Duke next week.

I am looking forward to...a family trip this weekend that will include a Friday night football game, a baby shower and a walk on the beach.

I am learning...to be still and know that He is God!

Around the house...things are shaping up. Decisions have been made, supplies purchased and facelifts are about to begin.

I am pondering...just how quickly life can change.

A favorite quote for today...Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see. Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place

One of my favorite things...shopping with my girls. Two of us prefer not to shop at all so that means it doesn't happen frequently but when it does we have a good time.

A few plans for the rest of the week: packing, schooling, orthodontist, music lessons, work, pretty much the usual.

A peek into my day...