as cozy as spring

Summer Morning

We woke up this morning, started off with strawberries and yogurt whilst listening to Ladybug Picnic.  I sipped my coffee in the backyard and the children picked tomatoes on vines that towered over their heads.  It was cool enough to go for a bike ride.  Sarah wished that we would have our favorite weather the other day.  I thought, "Pfff!  Fat chance of it raining in Texas in June."  But July is (almost) here and thunder is in the air.*

My Dad brought us a bag full of blueberries.  I thought nothing could compare to the wild blueberries my sister brought us from New England, but East Texas blueberries are surprisingly delicious.  So delicious that I don't even scold my son for climbing right up on the dining room table and diving in (or blurring my blueberry photo with his chubby little hand).  And the color!  That color is just breathtaking.  That last photo is Tyler Florence's Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars.

*Name the poem that line is from for...  Well, you win nothing but I would high five you if you were here in person.

My baby boy.

My son turns five in a few weeks.  He has asked for two birthday presents; Star Wars legos and a suit with a green tie so he can marry me.  

Patterns in blogging

I don't have much to say.  I'm very excited about our third grade curriculum and our pre-K curriculum (which is: teach him to read).  I'm knitting and sewing quite a bit.  I'm trying to keep the weeds to a minimum out in the garden while also trying to keep everything watered - futile to be sure, but I try still.  My grandfather, my gardening hero, was raking leaves in his front yard one day while more leaves showered all around him.  "How do you stay motivated, Papa?" I asked.  He replied that he took it one leaf at a time.  Even if two or three leaves took its place, he wouldn't have to pick up each leaf more than once.  

That was an unexpected tangent, but there you have it.

Getting to the point!  Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I had a miniature anxiety attack over the responsibility of my children's education?  I received an email from Charlotte essentially telling me to "Relax.  Look through your archives. You panic every year at this time."  Oh that made me laugh.  It's embarrassing enough to see your own emotional patterns emerging but to know that you've documented it all publicly so that everyone else can see it too!  But I did relax and everything fell into place rather quickly.  

So when I started to feel a little bored with blogging and wasn't motivated to write, I checked my archives again and saw this.  It is just summer, just the heat sucking the spark out of all of us.  That's not to say things aren't pleasant.  They are, but pleasantly mellow.  It's funny what you can find when you peruse your archives, patterns in nature notes, patterns in attitudes.  And it's even better that I've made some wonderful friends along the way.

I hesitate to mention this - it rained yesterday, but almost exclusively in our backyard.  Heaven sent, quite literally.

My life in verbs.

**Typepad isn't working for me this morning.  Sorry for the abrupt ending.  More tomorrow.

Reading - The Penderwicks with Lucy.  Mostly Sandra Boynton with my son.  He's on a Pajama Time kick.  I'm picking up Persuasion today, having finished Mansfield Park.  There was one plot device in MP which stood out as a bit too similar to one in Pride and Prejudice.  But this is me reading as a someone who has very little knowledge of what was going on then.  Overall, an enjoyable read - it made me appreciate writing as an art form rather than just a way to communicate.

Eating - Tomatoes.  There are a few weeks in late June where I feel like all I do every day is chop and process our garden tomatoes.  Woe is me.  I've made three big batches of salsa and am trying to find new inventive ways to cram tomatoes into every meal.

Knitting - Hermione's Cable & Eyelet Hat - What a great (free!) pattern.  I started yesterday on one for Lucy.  It's super, super easy and the instructions are very clear.  Even if you don't like Harry Potter (but why?  Why don't you??) it's a really cute hat pattern.

Speaking of Harry Potter and knitting!  Sunshine Yarns had a store update last week featuring Harry Potter inspired yarns.  Oh my.  Most everything sold out in a matter of minutes, but I was determined.  I had saved up for weeks, foregoing such trivial things as regular meals and air conditioning so I could splurge.  

From left to right: Crookshanks in Worsted, Crookshanks in Twist, and Butterbeer in Sport.  Aren't they dreamy?

Starting:  Third grade (I guess!).  We started our "school year" yesterday.  And my spacing is not working right in Typepad right now, so I will write about that tomorrow .  I can't even see what I'm typing anymore.  Clearly, as always, forgive any typos.  Weird!

Standing Still

 

Happy Summer!  Now we feel justified in complaining about the heat. ;)

I'm not here.

I'm over on Ravelry.  Question:  How much time can one spend thinking about sock patterns and/or sock yarn before one is considered mentally unbalanced?  The problem is that there are a lot of people (esp. on Ravelry) who spend a lot of time thinking about sock patterns and/or sock yarn so it's just so hard to tell if I've lost my mind entirely.  

And oh my, did you hear?  Obama killed a fly!  Never in the history of the world has such a big deal been made over someone killing a fly.  Good heavens, news media!  That's two presidents with awesome reflexes, though the clip of Bush ducking the shoe is far funnier.  I could examine that like it was a priceless work of art, the anger and courage that prompted the shoe to be thrown, the slight smirk from the president as the show flew by...  It was beautiful.  It was beautiful if you didn't like George Bush and it was beautiful if you did.  

That's about all I have to say right now.  I'll try to pop back in soon with something of value.

Affectionately yours,

Jenn

Reading Notes

I'm starting to really love Mansfield Park.  I'm about halfway through.  You have to tell me - Does Sir Thomas remain likable throughout?  If his character changes, it will ruin the book for me.  And I loathe Mrs. Norris.  Lady Bertram just cracks me up - 

 "Yes, she does look very well," was Lady Bertram's placid reply.  "Chapman helped her dress. I sent Chapman to her." Not but that she was really pleased to have Fanny admired; but she was so much struck with her own kindness in sending Chapman to her, that she could not get it out of her head.

That is hilarious and my favorite part of the book so far.

Jane Austen fans can stop hating me, for I've become one of you.  

June

June in Texas looks lovely.  It feels like 108 with a bazillion percent humidity.  

Hats!

One for him...

And another planned for her.

Fair Isle Tutorial - The design on my son's hat was largely improvised and it's a wee bit off in parts but he loves it so that's all that matters.  It's June in Texas and he won't take it off.  This is all from the stash of Tahki Cotton Classics I picked up on clearance this winter and expected to knit up right away.  Better late than never.  I plan to graph out my daughter's hat before casting on.  But I must get to planning our her education first.  Thank you all for your handy hints and tips.  I feel a wee bit better.  

I want to teach them everything.

I'm a bit anxious right now.  I am having trouble narrowing down our focus areas for the next year.  There's so much to learn and I want to do it all and I want to do it right now.  I want to add in French and Greek.  I want to study Roman, British, and American history right now.  I'm feeling a bit panicked at how much we haven't covered.  The responsibility of their education just feels really heavy right now.  I wish I didn't care so much.  

Long time home schoolers - or just involved parents - how do you stay focused?  How do you choose?  How do you just accept the fact that you can't cover everything?  What do you cut?  I'm stuck in this awful indecisive fog.  help!

And on a lighter note:  Do y'all remember the They Might Be Giants CD 'Flood'?  Wasn't it so good?  I'm craving 'Birdhouse in Your Soul'.  In non-related news I cannot stop listening to that Commodores song from a few posts back.